Ask Mattel > Mid-October Answers

1.) FakeEyes 22 asks: Any idea if/when we’ll see a new DCUC All-Star Assortment and are there plans to include Hawkgirl? She’s ideal as the first release was a tough find and she was heavily featured in the JLA/JLU series.

All-Star figures will continue to ship all year, with at least one All-Star in each case pack. No plans right now for Hawkgirl as a single, but she will be back in a Wal-Mart two-pack later this year! (more…)

Ghostbusters II 4-Pack found at TRU

I came across this 4-pack at the Framingham, MA Toys R Us this afternoon. I considered it, but decided not to get it.

I know the set is based on this scene from the movie, but I think Mattel was a bit too “faithful” here, because there’s basically nothing to appeal to me other than the outfits.

For $60, here are a few things I’d want from this pack:

  • Sunglasses on Peter (doesn’t require a new head sculpt–a separate piece, like Egon’s glasses, is fine)
  • A jar of slime
  • Four–not one, not two, not three, but four proton streams.

I suppose this set is more for fans who haven’t been picking up the online releases and want some “regular” ‘Busters, and therefore the sunglasses on Peter might be unwelcome. But give me a break–this set was tailor-made to include the four proton streams. Imagine how many of these they would have sold if they’d included them? Hell, take out the Slimer and the trap and throw in the proton streams and I’d still have bought it!

But as-is, I just can’t bring myself to drop three Jacksons on this thing. Oh, and the Winston is kind of creepy, because it’s the mustache head sculpt, but the mustache isn’t painted, making it look like he got punched in the mouth and his lips swelled.

Happy(?) Roboto Day!

It’s Roboto Day. In honor, I present you with this massive scan of the incredibly awesome Earl Norem Roboto poster. Click on the poster for the really big version. I spent hours slaving over a hot Photoshop to fix this thing up–it had fold creases crossing both axes and glare from the industrial-sized scanner I used–so you’d better appreciate it.

Will Backwards-Shoulders-Gate affect Roboto’s sales? Will any MOTUC collectors who don’t visit related websites have any idea Roboto’s shoulders are reversed? For the answers to these and other questions, tune in to next week’s exciting episode of Danger Mouse!

Pic of the Day

Invasion of the Saucer Men at Twilight 5758

Invasion of the Saucer Men at Twilight 5758 by Brechtbug

TV Series looking for toy collecting addicts

None other than Mumma Ghostal passed along this Craigslist ad. Thought some of you might be interested in giving it a shot.

Can you never get enough of your childhood toys? Do you collect toys, or feel the need to dress up as make-believe characters? Are your friends and family upset over how many, or how much time you spend with your toys?

A major cable network is looking for adults who cannot stop obsessing over toys to appear on a new television series. This documentary program will look into the causes and consequences of your toy “addiction,” and will explore how your obsession with toys affects your day-to-day life. Psychological insights may be provided.

If interested in appearing on this series, send your name, age, location, a current photo, and a brief description of your behavior to casting@20west.tv

If you decide to contact them, keep in mind that it sounds like this is a Hoarders-type show, looking for people whose toy collecting represents a strain on their social lives and mental health. I’m considering emailing them, but the truth is no one cares about my collecting (at least, not that I know of). But maybe I can get a talking-head role or something.

Doc Thomas Reviews > Deformation TrainRobot

A millennium ago when I began chiseling my personal Word of God upon Poe’s stone tablets of wonder and virtue, I reviewed a very special toy, one that had elluded me for some time until I finally chanced upon it and had it delivered to my front doorstep – the Thomas the Tank Engine Voltron, Voltromas. This caught the attention of kind reader Onigaijan of the fantastic site Fanboy’s Closet, who emailed me to say he’d come across two of Voltromas’s children! He very kindly sent me them to me, to review for Poe’s site as a follow-up to the grand original. Presenting: Deformation TrainRobot! (more…)

Toy Aisle Trolls > Omega Raptor

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com. Also, please note: I’m deliberately being over-the-top with my condemnation of these people–I don’t actually wish bodily harm upon them. Just severe mental anguish.

Poester Engineernerd sends in this instant classic:

I’m pretty sure both the left-hand and middle ones are both wrong–not sure about the third one–but at least the middle one is, y’know, Iron Man. The left one, though–I don’t even know who the hell that is, never mind what he’s doing under the name Omega Factor Armor. Nice of the scumbag who did this to include his accessory, though.