A Question for Collectors: Thoughts on Reviews of Free Toy Samples?

March 2, 2012 | Poe

I’m working on an article about the practice of reviewing free toy samples provided by toy companies. I’ve got a good number of quotes from reviewers and even one from a toy company employee, but what the article needs is some thoughts from the perspective of the review readers (or viewers, in the case of video reviews).

So if you’d like to participate, please send an email to poe@poeghostal.com with answers to the following questions:

1.) As a consumer, does whether or not a reviewer got a toy for free affect how seriously you take the review, or how much weight you give to its opinions?

2.) If you do tend to view free sample reviews more skeptically, in what way are you skeptical and why?

3.) Do you think there’s any difference between free sample reviewing in the toy industry and, say, IGN reviewing a videogame, CNET reviewing a new smartphone, or Rolling Stone reviewing a new CD?

4.) Ultimately, do you think there’s any problem with reviewing free samples of toys?

I can’t guarantee I’ll quote everyone who emails me, but I’ll definitely use some of them. I’m really curious to know your thoughts.

Does Mattel Hate Geeks?

March 1, 2012 | Poe

Pardon the inflammatory title, but that’s more or less the gist of Paul Nicholasi’s recent post “Geek Is Still a Dirty Word,” detailing his shabby treatment at the hands of Mattel’s public relations people over the last two Toy Fairs. Money quote:

More than anything, it saddens me that things like this kill my love of collecting toys. Why am I meant to feel like I am doing something wrong when I give free publicity to a company? More often then not, we even go so far as to buy the toys we’d like to cover, as it is quicker than trying to squeeze a free sample out of a multi million dollar outfit. Shouldn’t they be very happy we are so enthusiastic about their products? If they are forced by their bosses to squeeze 100 of us into a room all at once to shoot their toys, shouldn’t they be doing their best to assure that THAT experience is as comfortable, polite and smooth as it possibly can be? […] Why is it ok to treat me like this? Because I am with the “collector press” or the “nerd herd” as I’ve heard reps call us. I’m a geek, and my love of what they produce only makes me fodder for ridicule in their minds.

While I’ll admit I tend to be skeptical of geek communities’ tendency to immediately perceive ridicule from anyone outside their cliques, I’m not sure the “geek” thing is the true problem here. It might be part of it, but I think Mattel simply doesn’t give a shit about the smaller press outlets,* who happen to produce almost all of the collector-based toy coverage. It was far more important to give the royal treatment to retailers and, to a lesser extent, the reps of larger press outlets, if any (under this scenario, I chalk up ignoring the MTV rep more to incompetence and unprofessionalism than deliberate neglect).

Regardless of motive, there’s no question Mattel is doing itself a great disservice by treating collectors this way. They’ll never grow the Masters of the Universe brand into a massive multimedia franchise like Transformers or G.I. Joe if they don’t embrace the fandom. Why that lesson can’t sink in, from the executives on down, is baffling.

* Outside of a very small cadre of fan sites with close personal connections to Mattel staffers.

Toy Fair 2012 Roundup

February 14, 2012 | JediCreeper

MOTUC Toy Fair 2012 1

Hey Toy Fans!  Nate here, in some circles, I’m better known as JediCreeper, on Twitter I’m JediN8 and to a tiny number of you, I’m the weird guy who won’t shut up on the Average Intelligence Podcast.  I had the good fortune of attending the 2012 Toy Fair and Poe was kind enough to send me to both the Hasbro and Mattel fan appreciation events, to cover them for him.  It is there I learned that even a native New Yorker is not nearly as pushy and shove-y as geeks with new toys.  Here are some of my thoughts on the stuff I got to see.

Poe’s note: you can check out a gallery of Nate’s pics from TF2012 here.

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Toy Fair 2012 Updates, Part II

February 12, 2012 | Poe

There’s already a ton of news and the damned show hasn’t even started yet (though it will have by the time I get this post up). On a side note, the Mattel collector show–and subsequent MOTUC reveals–will be at 3pm ET today.

JediCreeper is going to do a write-up tonight, including the Mattel event. In the meantime, he’ll continue to tweet all day.

I’ve also uploaded a ton of Hasbro press pics of yesterday’s reveals, which you can check out on my Flickr account. If you want to see pics of the Horsemen event, including pics of the upcoming Raven and Vampire Queen figures from FANtastic Exclusive, I recommend this gallery from PCN.

Updates from Hasbro Collector’s Event

February 11, 2012 | Poe

Just a reminder, Poester JediCreeper is reporting for PGPoA from the Hasbro Collector’s Event at Toy Fair today. Follow his tweets here.

Pics to come!

More Little Godzilla Pics

February 6, 2012 | Poe

Bluefin Tamashii Nations USA updated their Facebook page with more pics of Little Godzilla from the Space Godzilla effects pack.

The crystals are pretty lame, but the figure is fairly large and articulated. It’s also ridiculously cute, but I’ll console myself and rationalize my purchase by thinking that my future child will like it. The crystals are rather lame, though.

Spy Monkey Armory Series 1 Goes On Sale Today at 3pm ET

February 3, 2012 | Poe

Just a reminder, the Spy Monkey Armory Series 1 will be on sale exclusively at www.spymonkeycreations.ecrater.com at $20 per set/colorway starting at 12pm Pacific Time (3pm ET) today. Be sure to check out my review, and also check out the neat designs Matt Doughty of Onell Design created with them.

Some notes from SMC:

PayPal will be our exclusive payment provider. We will no longer be accepting checks or money orders.

Shipping costs:

Domestic USA:
– 1 or 2 sets ship for $2.82 via First Class Mail
– 3-6 sets ship for $5.15 via USPS Priority Mail
Small Flat Rate Box
– More than 6 sets ship for $10.85 via USPS Priority Mail
Medium Flat Rate Box
Canada and Mexico:
– Up to 6 sets ship for $12.95 via USPS Priority Mail Intl.
Small Flat Rate Box
– More than 6 sets ship for $32.95 via USPS Priority Mail Intl.
Medium Flat Rate Box
International:
– Up to 6 sets ship for $16.95 via USPS Priority Mail Intl.
Small Flat Rate Box
– More than 6 sets ship for $47.95 via USPS Priority Mail Intl.
Medium Flat Rate Box
We are charging the exact shipping rates provided by PayPal from the USPS, and tried to go with the most cost effective shipping methods available. We wanted to add a low cost shipping option for small International orders however our current store and payment set up does not allow for that. We will continue to explore shipping options as we grow and will do our best to give our customers the best options available to us.

New “TMNT Classics” Figures from Playmates

February 1, 2012 | Poe

Everything old is new again. Following in the footsteps of Mattel’s MOTUC and Bandai’s Thundercats Classics, Playmates brings us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classic Collection. They’re basically super-articulated versions of the 1980s cartoon Turtles. They look VERY MOTUC-style. And yes, I’m on board for this line–unlike Thundercats, I actually collected TMNT (…a lot).

No news on a release date yet, but apparently we’ll see more of these at Toy Fair, and there will be a second series.

More pics and the exclusive scoop at MTV Geek. (Thanks to Joe Amaro for the tip!)

Update: On more reflection, I’m less psyched than cautiously optimistic. Playmates tried super-articulation before with their Fightin’ Gear Turtles and the results were mixed; the articulation was plentiful but poorly engineered, especially the articulated fingers which couldn’t hold their weapons tightly. Moreover, I can’t think of a single previous Playmates figure, of any line, that had quality super-articulation. [But feel free to remind me if I’m forgetting something.]

Also in the figure above, the head looks too big and the swords too small. I’ll definitely get a Leonardo–because I always buy Leonardo–but whether I end up wanting the whole line remains to be seen.