Odds ‘n Ends > Tokyo Drift

July 22, 2008 | Poe

ODD: For years now, Red Kryptonite and I have been exchanging 100-email Gmail threads. Around the 100th email, Gmail forces you to split off into another thread, so at that point we just start a new “volume.” I think we’re on the seventeenth or eighteenth volume now. Anyway, at some point we got in the habit of distinguishing them with sequel subtitles, and now I’ve decided to rip that off for future Odds ‘n Ends posts. Mostly because I hate trying to come up with those “Edition” titles.

END: Rumored line-up for DCUC Wave 6:

2601100194 DC Universe Wave 6: Dr. Impossible Action Figure
2601200194 DC Universe Wave 6: Hawkman Action Figure
2601400194 DC Universe Wave 6: Killer Moth Action Figure
2601000194 DC Universe Wave 6: Mr. Miracle Action Figure
2601300194 DC Universe Wave 6: Shazam Action Figure
2600800194 DC Universe Wave 6: Superman (Black Suit) Action Figure
2600900194 DC Universe Wave 6: Superman (Red Suit) Action Figure

Not sure what a “red suit” Superman is, but one guess is it may be a new “standard” Supes to replace the one from DCSH. I’d be more excited–Captain Marvel (Shazam) and Killer Moth are great news–but I’m too impatient from waiting for wave three.

Incidentally, my new must-have figure for DCUC is Deadshot. Given his appearance in Justice League Unlimited and the JLU line, I feel pretty confident we’ll see him in DCUC soon. Incidentally, in case you missed it, the Fwoosh has a sneak peek at a DCUC Blue Beetle (wave unknown). Congrats to VeeBee of Fwoosh, who’s been lobbying for this figure since day one. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Per Edition

July 15, 2008 | Poe

ODD: CornerStoreComics gave an update yesterday on shipping for DC Universe Classics and Movie Masters; Mattel “should be shipping” DCUC3 “toward the end of this month.” In my grumpily pessimistic view, that means I’ll receive my figures sometime around August 15. Dwaltrip, it looks like you’re gonna win. I’d be very happy to be wrong, though!

END: Sadly, it seems Random Happenstance will be closing for the time being. Googum has some of the best figuretoons out there, and he will be missed. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Zur-En-Arrh Edition

July 8, 2008 | Poe

ODD: In what is only the latest of what can only be termed an episodic farce, Red Kryptonite’s laptop was stolen last week. This is the third time this has happened to her, I believe. While insurance will cover the replacement, it will be some time before The Toybox can resume its regular schedule. I hope you’ll understand. Let’s all blame the anonymous jerk who stole it at the coffee shop. And remind RK never, ever to trust humanity again.

END: I completed my collection of the Toy Island Universal Monsters figures over the weekend. I was able to pick them up on clearance at KB Toys for $8 a pop, which is much, much more worthwhile than the $13 they were charging at TRU when the figures first appeared. I’ll probably review them for OAFE sometime in the future, since the only other major review–Michael Crawford’s–is pretty negative, and personally, I think the figures deserve better.

ODD: Please welcome the newest addition to the PGPoA blogroll: Toy Figure Times! Formerly the fantasy-focused Green Dragon, the site has been relaunched with a much broader focus on action figures as a whole. To celebrate their grand opening, they’re having a very cool giveaway.

END: I must praise my good friend Shocka with great praise for tracking down an Attack Armor Batman for me. I’ve already customized the fellow into the coolest blue-suit Batman ever made, if I do say so myself.

ODD: Be sure to check out my latest review over on OAFE, Iron Monger (v2).

END: At long last, ToyFare has a blog! It’s FarePlay, “your best bet to get your favorite ToyFare-y goodness in the 29 days a month between issues.” Check it out! (Hey wait…are they saying I’m a “bootleg blog”??)

Odds ‘n Ends > Vitalogy Edition

July 1, 2008 | Poe

ODD: Saw Pearl Jam in Boston last night (OK, the Comcast Center in Worcester, but that won’t mean much to most of you) and am still recovering from three hours of standing and woo-ing. I thought Eddie was trashed by the end of the show, but hey, it only added to the fun. I got to go to the concert courtesy of Mike, my cousin and best man for my impending nuptials. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Subtraction Edition

June 17, 2008 | Poe

Is it Tuesday again already? Man, time flies…

ODD: I beat The Simpsons Game over the weekend. Wow, that game is short. I think my total play time was under six hours. And I still got through 60% of the game, meaning I could wander around and find all the other hidden items and so forth and still only spend another four hours on it.

END: I’m reading a great book by Susan Jacoby called The Age of American Unreason, about the history of anti-intellectualism in America. I highly recommend it. It’s great up until the last few chapters, where Jacoby’s discussion goes from history to the present day; her criticism of the “culture of distraction” loses the sense of objectivity found earlier in the book and begins to read like an older person shaking her head at the sad state of the world’s affairs without entirely understanding it (I was particularly miffed by her assessment of videogames, which she seems to think are still based entirely on points and body counts–which, ok, it is for many, but not nearly to the degree it once was). But I’m being unfair by dwelling on these minor criticisms; it’s really a great book. Check it out at your local library.

ODD: One of my OAFE compatriots, Shocka, has referred me on occasion to Walter Chaw, the acerbic and often contrarian film reviewer for Film Freak Central. I find him an enjoyable read; you could chop down a forest with all the axes he has to grind. Anyway, here’s his review of The Incredible Hulk. Guess what? He didn’t like it.

END: Lots of cool news out of Mattel’s recent Q&As; in addition to mine, there’s also one here, here, here, and here. Phew! I think everyone had a question regarding the difficulty of finding DCUC wave two. I just want wave three to arrive…glad to hear we’ll be getting a new DCUC Joker, though.

ODD: In case you missed it, here’s my review of the Helm of Xaanm over on OAFE. In looking over my site stats recently, I was surprised to find how popular my review page is–I don’t really think of PGPoA as a review site.

END: The recent spat of controversies over at DC have me seriously questioning my pull list at my LCS, particularly Final Crisis. I may trim it down to just Batman and Detective Comics. It’s become increasingly clear to me that DC’s Editor-in-Chief, Dan Didio, changes his mind about major plot points and character developments on a daily basis, and that lack of consistency makes reading an exercise in frustration. As I’ve written here before, Alan Moore called it ages ago. It’s this carelessness and improvidence that’s hurting DC’s sales–ironic for a company so obsessively obsessed with continuity. They may maintain a certain continuity of universe(s)–unbelievably convoluted as it is–but their continuity of character consistency and character development is becoming a joke.

Odds ‘n Ends > Acula Edition

June 10, 2008 | Poe

(For the record, sometimes I just choose random words for the “edition.”)

ODD: Looks like people really dig the Heinz Burger Blaster. Who knew? I’ve got to dig up some other random old toys like that. Can’t think of any off the top of my head right now, though.

END: Had the day off yesterday. I had lots of big plans, but ended up mostly just playing the new Incredible Hulk game for the 360. I just read IGN gave it a rating of 6/10, which I’d say is a bit on the low side for how much fun I’m having playing it, but it’s true it isn’t as fun as Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction from a few years back (despite cribbing from that game). I suspect the new Hulk also suffers from comparisons to the free-roaming city of GTA IV. Anyway, I’m enjoying it. I also got the Simpsons game from my cousin Ed  (a.k.a. Mistah Plow), so I’ll have that when I get sick of Hulk. Speaking of new fan-favorite Mistah Plow (judging from my readers’ comments), check out his review of Mario Kart Wii. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Krull Edition

June 3, 2008 | Poe

ODD: I saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull over the weekend. I’m trying to decide whether a longer review is something that fits in the scope of this blog, but the short version is, I had a great time. I enjoyed it much like I did Die Hard 4–it was like hanging out with some old friends (and featured some completely over-the-top stunts). Because Spielberg directed it instead of Lucas, it wasn’t a disappointing train wreck like the prequels, but rather a simple, fun adventure. I feel comfortable rating it above Temple of Doom but below Crusade (my favorite) and Raiders. For another perspective, check out this piece by my cousin Ed; he was quite troubled by Old Indy. Personally, I found it rather heartening; just because you’ve hit retirement age doesn’t mean life is over and you can’t bust a few more bad-guy chops. And while Ford has been showing his age in his more recent movies, he comes alive in Crystal Skull in a way he hasn’t since, well, Last Crusade. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Slow as Ass Edition

May 27, 2008 | Poe

ODD: Before you ask, yes, my webhost is having problems again. Fingers crossed that everything is resolved in the next few days. Apparently there’s some troublesome file server, and I think I speak for everyone in my cluster when I suggest that once all the data has been offloaded from that server, it should be dragged out into a field behind the office and smashed with a baseball bat.

But I digress.

END: An inquisitive DC Universe Classics fan uncovered two new photos this week: promo photos of Kalibak and the Sinestro Corps variant of Sinestro. (UPDATE: I’ve removed the Kalibak photo, as apparently Mattel doesn’t want it out there right now.) The Kalibak is a new reveal, and given the fact that the photo was found on Mattel’s retailer site, it’s probably safe to assume he’s the Collect & Connect figure for Wave 6.

ODD: I scored the second Iron Monger and Titanium Man from Hasbro’s Iron Man line in a trade this weekend. Watch for reviews of both figures over on OAFE sometime in the near future. My teeny-tiny review: they’re both pretty cool.

I’ll be posting most of my reviews posted on OAFE from now on (despite the fact that yo go re has yet to post a single comment over here…I don’t think he even reads the blog). (more…)

Odds ‘N Ends > Authentic Edition

May 20, 2008 | Poe

ODD: Where did all the comments go? I leave for a few days and the comments dry up like Aquaman in the desert. Come back! I promise I’ll be interesting!

END: Good news for fans of NECA’s Ninja Turtles line. First, it appears the line is selling quite well. That’s great news; perhaps NECA will be inspired to create more heavily-articulated figures. Second, it appears to be confirmed that the SDCC exclusive is a Mouser 3-pack. Add another exclusive to the pile I’ll be begging for come July…

ODD: From the looks of the toy aisles when I hit Target or TRU, Iron Man seems to be a rousing success with the kids as well as adults. All the 6″ figures have disappeared, though I notice plenty of those Superhero Squad and dress-up sets. Hint hint, Hasbro!

END: Please join me in congratulating Paul of Toy Bender, who entered into wedded bliss this past weekend. I’ll be joining him in just a few scant months. See you on the other side, Paul!

ODD: The next issue of The Toybox will be delayed until the first week of June, due to a hectic schedule for both Red Kryptonite and me. But I’m hoping to put something together to tide you over in the meantime, as well as expand the Toybox world.

END: The latest issue of ToyFare (which I’ll recap tomorrow) has a big ad for wave three of DC Universe Classics, possibly the greatest wave of superhero action figures since ML6. I imagine packaged pics will show up on the Net soon, though I still don’t expect to see my set until late June. If you think you know better, be sure to enter the contest!

Odds ‘n Ends – Imposter Edition

May 13, 2008 | Pete

ODD: Where is Poe? Is he truly on vacation, or has he been moved to an undisclosed location for…safekeeping? Will he ever return, or has my evil plan finally been realized!? I now present…PETE’S POINTS OF ARTICULATION!

…crap, that doesn’t flow nearly as well. I guess Poe has to stay.

END: And quite a literal one, I might add, for my Movie Master Batman figure, which was just horrendously savaged by my puppy/engine of destruction, Esry. A moment of silence if you will. (more…)