MERCENARY WRAITH

September 1, 2008 | Poe

All apologies for the lack of updates–a combination of a busy week and a general lack of items of toy-related interest is to blame.

As any regular reader of this blog knows, I don’t collect any G.I. Joe figures. However, I’m always interested in a great toy (for instance, I own the Sigma Six Sky B.A.T.–that thing is just a cool). And I have to say this guy looks awesome:

I know nothing about the character, although the short bio on Hasbro’s site sounds pretty cool:

MERCENARY WRAITH was known for years by the G.I. JOE team and the COBRA organization. Each group hoped that the skilled spy and fighter would choose to join them. In the end, DESTRO was the only one who discovered what MERCENARY WRAITH truly lived for: chaos and destruction. MERCENARY WRAITH doesn’t care about causes or sides, right or wrong; he cares only about the next mission or battle, the next chance to cause harm. Using stolen technology, he acquired a stealth assault suit that makes him virtually invisible. He is protected from weapons fire by impenetrable ceramic plates and is an expert marksman with the built-in forearm cannons. The only flaw in the suit is that an outline of him can be seen if he moves too fast, but by then he is so close to this target that you only get a quick, shadowy glimpse before MERCENARY WRAITH makes his move.

He looks and sounds like the Joe-verse’s Boba Fett, specifically designed to make geeks go wild. Heck, I’m surprised he hasn’t given Snake Eyes a run for his money in popularity.

Anyway, he’s such a cool-looking toy that I just might have to get him…if I can find him. He’s so cool I assume he’ll be shortpacked or otherwise impossible to find. For those of you in the Joe loop, when is he due out?

Prince Adam mock-up

August 22, 2008 | Poe

I mocked up this MOTUC Prince Adam using a He-Man photo from Mattycollector.com…and, well…he looks like Prince Adam. That’s about all there is to say.

And yes, I want him to come with the purple sword.

Everybody into the Pool – DCUC Wave 4

August 15, 2008 | Poe

(NOTE: Contest is now closed. Good luck all!)

You know the rules by now – you pick a day, post it in a comment below, and if my case of DCUC Wave 4 arrives on that day (or closest to your chosen day), you win the extra figure. It looks like this time it will be a Batman Beyond figure.

Is it fun? You bet! Just ask our previous winners, AskedForIt and Dwaltrip. Both of whom are eligible again. And I totally heard them say they were going to beat you this time, too. Are you going to take that? (more…)

Poe Gets Married

August 11, 2008 | Poe

I’m back!

Wow, so much has happened since my last post. I got Lobo, King Grayskull, DCUC Wave 3, a new computer, and oh, I got married, too. I’ll get to all that other stuff later in the week–today is the official post-wedding post. (more…)

THURSDAY THUNDER

August 7, 2008 | Pete

It amuses me to have such a portentous title about, well, really nothing.

Sideshow has listed Medicom’s RAH DBZ Piccolo up for sale. As a closet DBZ fan (shutup), I gotta say…he looks cool. Really cool. I wish there were a line of 6″ scale DBZ figures with ML or DCUC level articulation. SOTA would do a great job, I think…look at their Street Fighter figures. Then I could do entire Fanwank strips of two DBZ characters grunting at each other while they power up! That’s like a month’s worth of strips, right there!

I’m a genius.

Oh, and it’s not really toy-related, but for a fun little time-waster, Sea of Green, author of the Hoosier Journal of Inanity, linked to Fábrica de Heróis! earlier this week, which is a cool little hero generator that allows you to build characters in the DCAU style. The page is entirely in Portuguese, but the creator is at the bottom, and is pretty self-explanatory once you click that ‘Criar!’ button.

That’s all I got today. Have fun!

Inadvertently Inappropriate > The Top 5 Mind-Scarringly Bad Toys

August 6, 2008 | Pete

So Poe and I were chatting online last Wednesday night, and somehow the topic of discussion turned to hilariously inappropriate toys. I say, “We should do a write-up on this…a top ten or something.” Poe says, “Go for it.”

So I did. I present the top five mass-market toys that should probably never reach a child’s hands:

(more…)

The Return

July 31, 2008 | Pete

That’s right, folks…I’m back. Cue evil laughter…wait for it…now.

You guys get me for a whole week this time. Of course, there’s not a lot of toy news to discuss, it being the week after SDCC, but Poe has another ‘5 Questions’ up, and I’ll tackle next Tuesday’s Odds ‘n Ends. Other than that, we’ve got a wide open schedule. So, tell me. Anything you’d like to discuss? Any opinions on Hasbro’s announcements for the Marvel Legends line last week? Ooh, here’s a good one that always pulls a lot of answers: What new character (I.E., one that hasn’t been done in ML-scale before) would you like to see most in the ML line?

Here’s mine.

I know we’ve seen a LOT of green lately, but there’s just something so…cool about a humanoid pteronodon. I’d have customized one already if that DCSH Man-Bat exclusive weren’t so expensive. My second choice, in light of the Guardian announcement, would be more Alpha Flight figures–Sasquatch is lonely.

What about you guys? Any picks? Hasbro’s announced quite a bit in the next few months, but there’s still a lot more they can do with the line.

SDCC Predictions

July 23, 2008 | Poe

I thought it might be fun to toss out some predictions as to what new revelations we’ll see, toy-wise, at SDCC.

Here are a few of my predictions:

  • DC Universe Classics – I expect the wave six line-up rumored in my earlier post will prove accurate, with Kalibak as the BAF. For wave seven, I’m picking the following names completely out of the blue: The Flash (Wally West, w/ Prof. Zoom variant), Deadshot, Batman (modern), Captain Cold, Raven, Brown Man-Bat BAF.
    Mattycollector.com exclusive: The Question
  • Movie Masters – Dark Knight Two-Face, DK Commissioner Gordon, Keaton Batman and Nicholson Joker.
    Mattycollector.com exclusive: Movie Master Batpod
  • NECA Ninja Turtles – Foot Ninja, Shredder, April w/ opening-mouth Mousers, Triceraton

I don’t know enough about G.I. Joe, Marvel Legends, Transformers and such forth for guesses on those, so feel free to throw some predictions in the thread below.

Ode to an Odor (A poem in honor of SDCC)

July 23, 2008 | Poe

In honor of the San Diego Comic Con‘s most infamous trait, I offer this poem.

In sunny San Diego our story begins,

A starry-eyed lad’s first Comic Con.

He picks up his badge and posters and pins

And enters this geeky Avalon.

At first he is wowed by the sounds and signs

This celebration of pure fanboy bliss,

It’s only as the shock declines

He begins to sense something amiss.

At first he thinks, what’s that smell?

Faugh! Some stranger has sneaked a cheek,

He pushes his way through the swell

Hoping the putrid scent to cheat.

But our poor hero is not aware

This stench is beyond all known or reasoned.

Formed of sweat and body hair

It is many–it is Legion.

No news is…not news

July 21, 2008 | Poe

I’m still recovering from my bachelor party over the weekend. Between that and the fact that we got to the IMAX showing of Dark Knight a bit late and had to sit in the front row, I’m going to hold off on giving my thoughts on it. I want to see the movie again first.

I’ve got plenty of stuff in the pipeline for PGPoA, but right now a lot of it is on hold for various reasons. Fortunately SDCC hits this week and I can commence my armchair coverage.

You might notice we’ve done a little rearranging of the sidebar, including adding a “tip jar” (a.k.a. Top Spots). Here’s how it works. Running this site ain’t free, and while ads help to cover expenses, they don’t necessarily amount to a fortune. And so, if you enjoy the site and just hate all that disposable income clogging up your bank account–and you have PayPal–you can toss some money in the Top Spots tip jar. The minimum is $5. As an added bonus, you can then add a link to whatever website, web page, YouTube video, or WoW clan you want. It’s not exactly advertising, but it’s better than just giving me money for nothing, right? …right? Bueller?

Also keep an eye out for a brand-new, vintage Red Kryptonite menu image this week.