BANE ! by Isaac Renteria
Bastards of the Universe > “Sword pull…not an aphorism”
BBC America ran Excalibur quite a few times a couple months back, which led to me having to eBay this Merlin figure, from Lady Pendragon. I know there was a figure for her as well, based on the 90’s Rob Liefeld comic; but I couldn’t tell you if they were any good. (Yes, I can: probably not.)
I’m kind of surprised there aren’t more King Arthur and Merlin figures: even if you don’t base them on a movie version, it seems like they would sell all right. I do know there’s figures for the newer Merlin program, but I haven’t seen it, and if you have to explain that this kid is going to grow up to be Merlin, the figure doesn’t really appeal to me.
Interview with customizer Masterenglish
Masterenglish is the customizer behind my April Fool’s joke this year, a figure of 339/1 in Masters of the Universe Classics style. To find out more about this customizer and his amazing work, I followed up the custom commission with a few questions.
Masterenglish
Real Name: Jon English
Base of Operations: masterenglish.deviantart.com/
History: Born in 1764, I started customizing wooden and tin toys available to me through various outlets, including the local general store and blacksmiths. My very first custom was a branch I pulled off of a tree, it seemed much too ordinary so I embellished the branch with trinkets of silver tinsel and ornaments of various colors, soon to become very popular around winter time in what would become known as America of the States United.
Pic of the Day > Spock, is that Vulcan porn?!?!? by gibbspaulus
Spock, is that Vulcan porn?!?!? by gibbspaulus
Toy Aisle Trolls > Rodian Deadeye
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.
Phil of Battlegrip found this sad sight at Target.
Supposed to look like: This
Problem: Rodian was swapped with…some military dude. Is he G.I. Joe? CORPS?
Karmic payback: The offender accidentally swallows the loose Rodian figure while wolfing down his post-trollage-celebratory Taco Bell dinner, causing an intestinal blockage and resulting in a hospital visit that costs him approximately 150x the price of the toy if he’d just paid for it like a non-worthless member of society.
New Thundercats Trailer
I actually just watched the original Thundercats cartoon for the first time yesterday, so it’s interesting seeing the twenty-five year difference with the new show. Aside from the obvious–much better animation, storytelling, character designs, etc.–the new show also has a stronger anime feel (though the original show did too–anime just wasn’t as stylized back then).
The other thing that struck me was how similar this felt to the 2003 He-Man cartoon. We have a bigger, older-looking version of the main character, a la King Grayskull, for example. Even the art style, particularly the backgrounds, seems similar.
There’s also a LOT of the Battle of Helm’s Deep from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, from the archers to the exploding wall. There are worse things to rip off, I suppose.
Is that voiceover at the beginning the same guy playing Hugo Strange in Batman: Arkham Asylum? (I think it’s Corey Burton, but while he’s listed for Arkham City on IMDB, I’m not sure that’s been confirmed.)
Thanks to Topless Robot for the link.
Pic of the Day > Lord Covenant by Ximena Faunes
Lord Covenant by Ximena Faunes
Odds ‘n Ends > Wondercon/Joecon Edition
- My friend Popeonabomb was at Wondercon yesterday, and he took some pics for me – primarily of MOTUC and the Golden Age Batman & Joker. You can check ’em out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/poeghostal/sets/72157626418374964/
- I’ve been reading the G.I. Joe: Special Missions trade paperbacks from IDW. The concept, as described, really appealed to me–Joes performing “realistic” military missions. I’m enjoying the heck out of them, and between that and the incredible awesome reveals at JoeCon this weekend, I’m now actively resisting getting into G.I. Joe collecting. Which is kind of amazing, because G.I. Joe has been around forever and I never had the slightest interest in it (I was a He-Man/Transformers/TMNT kid). But Hasbro seems to be going balls-out with stuff like this and especially this. We’ll see whether I can hold out.
- Some news bits from Wondercon: according to Scott Neitlich, Leech will have no other head, his jaw is not articulated, and Hordak’s armor will be vac-metallized (i.e., chrome).
- As you know, I’ve often discussed expanding the scope of this website to encompass more geek-related, but not necessarily toy-related, topics. I just as frequently have shot the idea down, deciding that keeping a laserlike focus on toys is the best way to keep the site popular. However, I’ve found I do need some sort of outlet for my non-toy geekishness, and to that end I’ve decided to create a spinoff website that will allow me to write about non-toy stuff. All I need is a title…Poe Ghostal’s…Pop…something? I don’t know. As such, I’m holding a contest! Post your suggestions below. If I decide I like any of them enough to use as the site’s title, that person will win a special Sword of Ages variant–purple hilt, black blade! Enter as many times as you want.
The Real Story Behind 339/1
Obviously, yesterday’s 339/1 figure was a custom. It was created by customizer masterenglish as a commission for me. You can see a gallery of masterenglish’s amazing customs on his DeviantArt page. One of my favorites is “Swamp Chomp,” who would have fit right in to the vintage line.
The above art, by the way, was created by our own MechaShiva. I asked him to create one of those one-panel comics that appeared on the back of the vintage MOTU cards. He tossed in a couple other well-known MOTU knock-offs for good measure. (He also emailed this thing to me the same day I asked for it, using powers mere mortals like me can’t understand.)
Some other tidbits:
- 339/1’s head is made from the mustache-less Man-At-Arms head. I was surprised no one noticed that. I guess everyone tossed that head in the accessories box like I did.
- The packaging image was Photoshopped, but not the way you’d think. Masterenglish created an actual insert that said “339/1 – Wrestling Champion,” but when I tried to get 339/1 into the packaging (ME had left the bottom slit open), it wasn’t really working and I was worried I’d scuff the paint. So I took a photo of the empty package, a photo of 339/1 and then used Photoshop to make it look like he was in the package. I thought it worked pretty well–did anyone notice?
New MOTUC Reveals at WonderCon > Leech & Hurricane Hordak
Posted by Mattycollector on their Facebook page.
I’m psyched for Leech; he was one of my favorite Horde members, and the toothy head looks fantastic.
But…Hurricane Hordak? Really? I can safely say I would have taken any He-Man or Skeletor variant before this figure…OK, maybe not Spin Blade He-Man. (Although even that would have had a certain eccentric charm.)