- In theory, Mattel’s summer SDCC exclusives will be announced tonight on G4’s Attack of the Show. I’ll be busy at that time, so you won’t get my commentary until late tonight. Feel free to use this post as a discussion thread until then. That’s assuming G4 actually airs the segment tonight, but either way, Mattel says they’ll announce the exclusives on Mattycollector.com on Friday.
- Just for the heck of it: write down as many guesses as you have for the exclusives (across all lines) and I’ll send the one who gets the most right a $15 Amazon gift certificate. If you already know any of them, though, be fair and don’t play. Power Pals also excluded.
- I still have a gigantic pile of stuff I have to review. I ended up just opening some of it and skipping the review, most notably DCUC Wave 16. I’ve been considering doing less organized reviews, and rather just sort of talking about the toys and characters in general (with plenty of pics). Do people prefer the more organized reviews–do you come for the articulation stats, the assessment of the paint and so forth? Or would pictures + general commentary do the job?
- As I believe I’ve been hinting, PGPoA is due for a big update in just a few weeks. In the meantime, updates may be a bit spottier than usual.
- I finished my second playthrough of Dragon Age II last week, and my feelings remain pretty mixed. The story, while thin, did present some tough choices, but the design & gameplay were lacking (I especially hated the repeated locations–the tract-housing mansions–which seemed very late 1990s to me).
- On a final note, I asked NECA on their Twitter account whether we might see some Portal 2 toys from them. It seems Valve prefers to do their merchandising in-house. Bit of a bummer, but maybe they’ll create some Portal 2 toys of their own (they do have some plush toys).
Nik
General reviews are fine. if you just want to discuss the whole wave or something with out reviewing every one toy in depth that seems a good way to go about it.
Reverend Ender
Agreed. Totally cool with general reviews. Anytime someone writes (well) about toys that I like, reading it is like crack for me, whatever the content.
Esbat
I hope whomever landed the Bioware game licenses puts out some mixed Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2 series, the same for Mass Effect.
Fengschwing
I like the reviews as they are, broken down into their segments, but I'd still read whatever the format.
toyman2581
I'd actually like to see a combination of general and specific reviews. Keep it simple for the most part, pics and light discussion. I couldn't care less about articulation but I'd still like to know about the paint apps and QC issues.
I loved Dragon Age 2 but the reuse of areas did bother me. The gameplay and storylines were great but it could've used some more exotic locales.
Poe
So no one wants a gift certificate for maybe 20 seconds' worth of guessing? Cool, more money for me.
PresidentJuggernaut
I'll take a shot at some Mattel SDCC exclusive reveals…
MOTUC is tough… I would like to see Eldor, and he'd be easy enough for them to make. I've seen others suggesting a Gwildor pack-in, and that would be awesome.
I'm thinking maybe they'll kick off their Back to the Future liscense, with some variant of Doc or Marty. Radiation suit Doc Brown could be cool, and would be the type of specific variation that we are seeing with Ghostbusters. And/or a Mego style Doc Brown.
And also some sort of Hot Wheels DeLorean time machine. Maybe larger scale, or with flipping wheels for flight mode, or even a version of the time machine train.
For Ghostbusters, "World of the Psychic" Peter Venkman. W/ hairless cat.
For DC Comics, Hugo Strange. Why not. Maybe just a new head on a Batman body, as he has appeared in the comics. Possibly an Arkham City tie in.
For Green Lantern, a variant or repaint Movie Masters Hal Jordan. Maybe civilian version, in a flight suit. I also see them releasing another repaint of the crappy 3 3/4" Green Lantern, with constructs/pack-ins that will make it hard to resist.
ero
I really, REALLY miss the reviews. Please do more, and please don't change the format.
I don't know enough about the entire gamut to wage a complete guess, but I think MOTUC will be Modulock for the single pack with a high piece count. The three pack will be two Horde Troopers and a repaint of Hordak with a lighter face (a la Filmation).
DCUC, I suspect, will be some sort of Lantern package, and since I'm not well versed enough on Lantern stuff, I can't really guess.
This may just be wishful thinking, but I think we're going to see a surprise reveal of 6" The Real Ghostbusters. Maybe just one or two figs, but each with a pack-in ghost, which will be the standard going forward. I don't think they're ready to give up on GB yet, but clearly the line is faltering and in need of some energy.
Brad Rader
My guess for DCUC is for red lantern Atrocitus. Motu I'm gonna say is modulok. I'm sure there are more but that's all I got.
Glenn
SDCC Reveals
Ok, these are what I'd like to see, not what I think they'll reveal.
I don't care about part re-use and what the slave labor Chinese factories can or can't do. I just want to see:
MOTC
Rio-Blast
That dude is weird. Guns in his chest and legs? That can't be comfortable.
I can see the bio now…
"Everything is robot parts except his heart, which belongs to Ram-Man." Don't pretend you haven't thought that. The guy wears chaps!
DCUC
The Legion of Substitute Heroes 48 Pack.
I NEED my Chlorophyll Kid!
Ghostbusters
Chair Sitting Venkman
You know that scene where Bill Murray is siting down in that chair? Now you get to own it. Hooray!
Batman Classics
Chair Sitting Batman
You know that scene where Batman is siting down in that chair? Now you get to own it. Hooray, again!
CARS
How about they make a toy that explains what the hell these cars are exactly. They were built for humans, but there are no humans to be found. Have they been wiped out in some humans vs. sentient car mega war? Is this some kind of Maximum Overdrive thing? It really creeps me out.
Back to the Future
Who cares. That movie is way overrated.
dayraven
reviews- do whatever you like. you'll have a better time, and a happy poe leads to happy poesters.
dragon age- i have to honest here… i was a table top gamer for a number of years, and would be again in a heartbeat if i weren't completely unable to make friends 🙂 and once you've done that, it ruins video game RPGs entirely. i played DA:origins and was kind of unimpressed. i played the demo on DA2 and wasn't sufficiently impressed to drop the coin. eh… that said, repeateded anything in a game that costs you 60 green backs sucks.
matty exclusives-
ghost busters- dana as Zul, packaged in box to make her appear to hover over her bed
BttF- libyans in truck box
Cars- geisha mater and samurai mcqueen
MOTUC- Eldor with book
MM- ryan reynolds as hal jordan, comes with scarlett johannson scented "stinky pinky"
Snarf! Snarf!
MOTUC: There are supposedly 2 exclusives, the 3 pack and the one with many pieces…
Many pieces involved: NA He-Man.
3 Pack: Kowl, Loo-Kee and Cringer…
AmericanHyena
@ Poe:
LOL…damn it, Poe. I was hoping no one else would notice!
Here's my crack at the exclusives.
DCUC: Ambush Bug. The show exclusive is Cheeks.
MOTUC: Modulak/MultiBot (If it can be only one, Modulak). Show packaging is in the style of his original box, while website version is the standard MOTUC style packaging.
Back to the Future: 1950's Doc Brown.
Ghostbusters: One of the Ghostbusters in marshmallow deco that hasn't been released so far. (I've stopped collecting the line and don't remember which have and haven't been.)
Green Lantern Movie: Early release of that monstrous lights and sounds Hal Jordan. Or the movie version of Stel.
Cars: Some variant of Mater from Cars 2. Possibly tuxedo Mater or something like that.
WWE: It will either be a classic wrestler or a classic version of a modern wrestler. Not Undertaker. I'm going to say either an older era Shawn Michaels or a retro-DX two pack.
AmericanHyena
If there IS a three pack for MOTUC, I'm calling the Horde Troopers.
@ dayraven:
Damn…plain Hal Jordan (minus the stinky pinky lol) is a pretty good guess. Wish I'd thought of that one.
PrfktTear
@ Glenn: I'm at work and I just let out the LOUDEST snort ever reading this…
I love the Legion of Substitute Heroes 48 Pack and "Chair Sitting Venkman"! I was going to suggest "Stalker Venkman" for the scene where he's waiting for Dana outside the symphony hall.
Then there's the 2-pack, "Proc-Tor: Eternian Proctologist" which is based on an upcoming episode of Robot Chicken and comes with a Man-At-Arms with a newly sculpted "colonoscopy exam" face.
Mark
Hopefully some Voltron stuff.
AFOS
SDCC guesses:
MOTUC: I'm going with the popular choice of Marlena and space suit. I'm not even that interested in it but it's been parroted so much at this point I'll be disappointed if it's anything else.
As for the 3-pack, knowing that past SDCC exclusives have all been He-Men, I'm guessing some kind of legacy set with Oo-Lar, NA He-Man and 200X Adam.
DCUC: Composite Superman. It's both offbeat and mainstream (Batman & Superman together) and it ties in with the Legion boxset.
Young Justice: This would be easier if I knew what scale the exclusive will be. If it's 6 inches, Miss Martian because they don't think she'd sell at retail. If it's 4.5 inches, maybe a set of figures painted in their black stealth suits.
Ghostbusters: Stay Puft. Wishful thinking on my part but they have to make him eventually.
Green Lantern: A set like the Avatar exclusive where the figures themselves aren't as appealing as how they're packaged. Something with a cool Oa backdrop.
FakeEyes22
I want a composite Superman/Batman!!! Great idea.
My guesses
MOTUC: Stinkor & Oediphus packed together. 3 pack is the figures from the '87 film that made it to the vintage toy line.
GL film. A regular Hal GL, but with no mask, a unique deco(like translucent green) or light up feature.
BTTF – Hot Wheels Delorean in a unique deco, maybe from part 3, or some lightning or fire sculpted effects
DCUC – original Kyle GL and polybagged fridge!
Robot Superman with a Mxyzptlk. An era specific Batman with Bat-Mite
Ghostbusters: Something 6" and Kenner styled or a Mego styled Tully.
Voltron: Sven, the dead blue pilot who won't be sold with the blue Lion.
12" Movie Masters Clark Kent.
THE PR0F3550R
SDCC Guesses:
MOTUC: Ram-Man
DCUC:
Wonders Twins vs Power Twins exclusive 4-pack.
Zan and Jayna vs Adam and Adora. Exclusive Gleek, Orko, and Kowl figures as accessories.
Young Justice: Batman (Terry McGinnis)
Ghostbusters: Janine Melnitz
Back to the Future: "Dark Vader from the Planet Vulcan" Marty McFly.
Green Lantern: Aladdin
VENENOR
Poe, if its a possibility I'd be willing to help review items. Shot u an e-mail BTW.
My SDCC reveals are:
MOTUC – I'm leaning toward Queen Marlena. I'm also thinking that we could see the twins as babies to recreate the theft of Adora.
DCUC – I'm going with something Green Lantern-centric. Maybe a fully translucent Green Lantern figure.
Ghostbusters – I'm gonna go with the Terror dogs in a 2 pk or a 3pk with the dogs and Gozer
AJ
Re: SDCC Reveals
Apparently one of the regular posters at the he-man.org forums has "leaked" that it is Marlena. I'm not sure where the "many pieces" comes in, but there is speculation she will come with Cringer and possibly other accessories.
As for the three-pack, I'll go with Star Sisters even though I think it's too obvious, but I don't know why other figures would make sense in an exclusive 3-pack apart from some kind of Kenldor, Skeletor and Demo-Man 3-pack.
Re: Reviews
I like the detailed reviews, but for "existing" or "previously reviewed" lines (e.g. DCUC, MOTUC), then a brief review would suffice unless there is significant paint, quality and/or articulation changes, etc.
FakeEyes22
Well, the segment skipped the MOTU stuff.
You could see Cringer and Marlena, as well as the 3 pack…which was Polly Pocket characters dressed as She-Ra, Catra, and someone else. No thanks for me on that, but Marlena looked nice with her space suit. and dress.
Marshmallow Man!! $70…I'll still give it a shot. It's massive.
Swamp Thing! With internal articulation! And on exclusive "N-Men?" At least I don't know what they are, but I hate missing out on extras.
6" super poseable cartoon Voltron is pretty cool. It would be pretty sweet for those who are into Revoltech of classic robots.
Kilowogg is huge. It seems weird that such a prominent character won't be at retail.
Again, Polly Pocket…fun idea, but it definitely falls short of what everyone seemed to be expecting.
RM
Un-articulated Cringer makes me weep inside…
FakeEyes22
@ AOFS
Your wishful thinking has come true.
@Pretty much everyone besides AOFS, including myself
You guys shouldn't go to Vegas anytime soon.
Oh yeah, it looked like there was a Barbie in Green Latern packaging. She's probably Carol Ferris, which is probably exactly as exciting to me as it sounds.
The Marshmallow Man didn't look super hugeat first, but when ToyGuru stuck a 6" Ray next to it, the Ray looking miniature. If Marshmallow Man had knees, that's where Ray would be.
Killowog is really big, so I can see why he's not retail for that reason. It just means there's one less desireable retail GL to justify my collecting them all to build Parallax.
I think, once again, the most impressive thing here is the amazing job Mattel does on some of the con packaging.
Swamp thing's in a themed box with his name. Inside that is a Swamp thing biodegradable cardboard-type full front face mask that acts as a tray for the large figure and his really nice looking swamp base/stand.
Mashmallow Man's box double-gatefolds open to reveal a really nice looking NY city street backdrop. I think it would look really great behind a GB collection.
I wonder if there will be an additional segment tomorrow to actual show Marlena and Cringer, Polly Pocket, and whatever else. There was a roughly 4" figure of some guy in a cylindrical shaped package with dark hair and a jumpsuit. Is this maybe how they found Superboy in stasis on Young Justice?
My final guess that I'm too late for?
It probably won't be on AOTS, but they've got to have a character from Cars 2, right?
Damien
General reviews are cool with me, Poe. I tend to skim the more detailed articulation/paint breakdowns. Especially concerning lines we're all familiar with at this point.
I mean sure – make a note if the articulation is less or more than normal. But otherwise it's a waste of your time to regurgitate the 'this figure has standard POA for the line: including XXXX' line.
Paint is an even more worthless thing to cover, since it's not going to be true for every figure anyway.
Touching on the high/low points, important differences from the usual stuff in the line, general thoughts, and lots of pictures is all I really care about in a review.
But that's just me.
Barbecue17
Marlena seems good. We will have to see how the swapping works out. Cringer: Disappointing.
The 3 pack? Looks like we all just got Matteled again, folks. 😉
Swamp Thing and Voltron are pretty cool looking, however.
FakeEyes22
I think Marlena looks great. I love the 50's space suit! An orger noticed she's got a rifle from the '87 film! Awesome.
I kind of wish that with all those pieces they had just tossed another body in there and charges $10 more. As it is, I'll probably want 2 of them, as will everyone else, so that gives up potential WSOD, sellouts, and a bunch of extra pieces and Cringers.
@Poe
I love your reviews, but I say make it easier on yourself and just focus on what you find the most fun or disappointing about a figure rather than adhering to a rigid system. For articulation, you can just mention how it deviates from standard. Otherwise, just skip it or link to an older review from the same line. If you've had random ideas of how to review differently, go ahead and try them out! Whatever makes it less tedious for you means more good reviews for us to enjoy.
izdawiz
MATTEL reveals-
DCUC
Some kind of two-pack nobody really wants with a tiny sidekick character packaged separately that runs out two days into comic-con.
MOTU-
Bikini He-Man w/ Bronze "statue" variant
CARS-
Lightnin' McQueer – A very stylish pink variant of everyone's favorite racecar
GHOSTBUSTERS-
Bloody Venkman – same as Courtroom Venkman, but with a spot of blood on his cheek where he cut himself shaving
MOVIES-
Some kind of an oversized lantern that is actually a just a lantern and carries a tiny little lantern with it. In five different colors.
Kid Nicky
They showed Barbie Carol Ferris at Toy Fair.
AJ
Marlena looks good. Cringer, not so much. It's interesting that they're going with "swappable" clothes for Marlena.
I wonder if we will see similar "alternate outfits" with future female figures, especially the POP figures. Perhaps She-Ra V2.0 will come with both her "cartoon design" dress/armour and her "toy design" dress/armour.
I have absolutely no interest in the Polly Pocket figures. I'm only mildly surprised that Mattel and Toyguru allowed the speculation about a MOTUC 3-pack to run rampant without indicating that it was simply a MOTU-related 3-pack and was not directly related to the MOTUC line at all (unless all future POP figures in the MOTUC line are going to be Polly Pocket sized).
Does anyone have more details on the Voltron figure? Is it a 6" scale, highly articulated Voltron based on the cartoon design? If so, that sounds great. I will be sorely tempted to try and obtain one, depending upon the purchase price.
ero
AJ wrote:
Yes.
americanhyena
Am I the only one that LIKES the Cringer?
I love the face. I think it's cute/funny and very appropriate.
While the space suit is neat (and the laser rifle is pretty bad-ass), I will totally be displaying Marlena with her crown head and Queen garb.
Also, do my eyes decieve me or is her other accessory the Goddess's spear?
Mysterious Stranger
Anyone heard if they are doing preorders again this year?
toyman2581
@ americanhyena:
I'm with ya, Marlena and Cringer both looked AMAZING.
Glad to see Stay Puft because the Ghosbusters line really needs a shot in the arm. $70 is a bit steep though. I'm still picking one up but the hefty price tag might push the collectors that are on the fence away rather than renew interest in the line.
PresidentJuggernaut
Damn, my picks were devastated…
Swamp Thing! That's really sweet, and the hidden articulation thing is interesting. Hope that skin isn't going to crack or rip. If the Un-Men were included he'd pretty much be a given, but now he's a maybe.
6" Voltron is sweeeeeeeeet. I'm thinking that it might come to retail eventually though. Same with Kilowogg, who he definitely mentioned would be available "first" at SDCC.
Mr. Stay Puft is impressive and I'm definitely interested. I wasn't impressed till he put that 6" figure next to him. That diorama is tempting too. Shippings got to be like $15 at least on that thing?
clark
I stopped buying DCUC a while back due to the $15 price tag, but that Swamp Thing has to be on my shelf. I don't remember another SDCC exclusive I've ever wanted as much as that Swamp Thing (but I've also been waiting for him to make it into the DCUC ranks for a couple of years, as he was always #1 on my most wanted obscure characters list).
Voltron looks very cool, but I can't imagine that they would not release him at retail later, so I can wait and hopefully pay half the price.
Queen Marlena looked pretty cool from the images I saw. Too bad Cringer is not very articulated, but he looks great.
Stay Puft is awesome, but can't afford him so I'll move on.
Movie GL figures……don't interest me at all.
Poe
@ VENENOR: If you sent me an email I didn't get it. Try poe AT poeghostal.com.
googum
I was just going to say, I'm ok with less organized reviews. Even disorganized ones: "Um, I bought this…sometime in the past. And it came with…a thing not here now…"
Lemonjuice_McGee
PresidentJuggernaut wrote:
Kilowog will be available on Matty Collector after the show. The GL Movie Masters figures of him and Green Man (he looks like a big bullfrog) were too large for retail pegs and the stores were bitching, so they're gonna be Matty-only. I was actually surprised to see Kilowog since he was already announced as coming to the website. They should have brought out a flight-suited Hal instead.
Fengschwing
Swamp-Thing at last. Does anyone know if he's going to be available at retail or on the site or something after SDCC or are Mattel going to screw those of us who can't afford to fly to the States again?
Fengschwing
Scratch that, seen the segment now, I can live with out the Un-Men. The 'exoskeletal' (surely 'endoskeletal'?) articulation looks interesting, I guess Mattel already do that with Barbies limbs, so I guess they have it down pat.
VENENOR
Poe wrote:
No problem Poe. Just forwarded the e-mail. Thanks for the heads up.
PresidentJuggernaut
@ Lemonjuice_McGee:
No, I am aware about the Matty sale, but I think Kilowog is really coming to retail, though I don't remember where I heard it. Obviously he's too big to be with the rest of the series, but he would make a great store exclusive. After all, he is one of the major Lannterns. Companies often due the "first at SDCC" thing for toys that come out again later (Mattel's own 4" Buzz Lightyear, Hasbro's Galactus)