September 25, 2011 | Poe
- First off, the big reveals from the Mattel panel yesterday.
- You can find pics here and here.
- The Wind Raider has been pushed back and the price raised to $45 (from
$30 $40);
- Stinkor is the April subscription figure, and he will feature the same smell from the vintage figure (as Mattel still has the original “recipe”)
- The May figure will be the New Adventures character Slush Head, who will have a removable helmet for those who want to fill it with water;
- The first large-scale beast of 2011 is Beast-Man’s Griffin from the Millennium series, which is an extensive retooling of the Battle Cat sculpt;
- There will be Snake Mountain figure stands;
- There will be an exclusive white Sorceress variant from the mini-comic “The Temple of Darkness” that will be available at all regional comic conventions in 2012 except SDCC. and remaining stock will be available online in December 2012;
- The latest 30th Anniversary figure to be revealed is the ToyGuru-creator “Mighty Spector.” This reveal has had quite a backlash among MOTUC fans. Here’s the pic. Your thoughts?
- As a few have guessed, the custom I commissioned from MasterEnglish was indeed a MOTUC Batman. Pics to come!
- Spy Monkey Creations has a PowerCon exclusive, the Blüdsaw of Carnage. SMC is hoping to mass-produce the Blüdsaw (in other colors) later on.
September 22, 2011 | Poe
- Toynewsi has links to new pics of the Square Enix Play Arts Kai Batman Arkham Asylum figures. I’m really looking forward to these. A lot. A lot a lot. All I need is a preorder link.
- You may or may not have heard of the campaign to save the 3 ¾ Venture Bros. toy line. If they don’t hit a certain pre-order goal, Bif Bang Pow can’t make the line. So they’ve teamed up with Entertainment Earth to try and get those pre-orders through, and I heartily comment their effort. You can do me, EE, Jackson Publick, Bif Bang Pow, and yourself a solid by pre-ordering (via my affiliate link) right here.
- Another day, another Arkham City Batman skin–this one for Sinestro Corps Batman. What interests me here is that here’s wearing the same suit as the DCUC figure, which, to my knowledge, has never appeared in the comics.
- As I’ve mentioned here and on Twitter a few times, I commissioned another custom from MasterEnglish, maker of 339/1. MasterEnglish is going to reveal said custom, which looks awesome, at PowerCon this weekend…but I couldn’t resist this little, tiny preview hint.
- It appears that the Wind Raider has been delayed and will not be in the October 17 Mattycollector sale. No word on when it will be sold.
- I’ve been messing around with some DCUC figures lately, and I have to say that losing the rocker ankles really hurts their poseability. I never knew how much I loved that joint until it was gone.
September 20, 2011 | Poe
- Mattel has cancelled the Ghostbusters subscription for 2012. The announced figures will still be sold on Mattycollector, but they won’t be shipped to subscribers. Bummer, but is anyone really surprised? In an ideal world, each Ghostbuster would have had a unique body type and a head sculpt by the Horsemen (and every figure in the line should have been fully sculpted by the Horsemen); each Ghostbuster would have come with a proton stream; there would have been more cool ghosts and fewer repaints; and Mattel would have added 6″-scale Real Ghostbusters figures by the second year. I suppose that all would have been too expensive, but I don’t know that they really tried, either–Mattel always seemed to treat Ghostbusters like an afterthought (with the exception of Stay-Puft). I suppose it’s just as well they’re not doing Back to the Future figures. (Thanks to Action Figure Blues for the tip.)
- DC Direct finally announced their Arkham City figures, due to arrive on the shockingly early (for DCD) date of December 2011 (April 2012 if you factor in the standard DCD delay). They look pretty good but a.) Batman had better come with an alternate cowled head, b.) Bruce Wayne looks like Archer, c.) Harley had better have a ball jointed neck this time, and d.) there’s too much gloss on Robin’s hood.
- Don’t forget that Power-Con/ThunderCon is this weekend. Should be interesting–I really do wish I could have made it. Are there any Poesters going who would like to report back on what they find?
September 15, 2011 | Poe
- Mattel has announced they’ll be re-opening the subscriptions for two weeks, from tomorrow, Friday, September 16th at 9 a.m. PT through Monday, October 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you don’t get the Club Infinite Earths subscription, the regular figures will cost $18 instead of $15 on sale day, and the oversize will cost $45(!) instead of $30. The 50% markup on the oversized figures is probably where they’re making up most of the 40% shortfall on the subscriptions. (I realize some of you may prefer to interpret it as Mattel being an evil money-grubbing monstrosity. To each their own.)
- What struck me was the fact that apparently the prices on non-sub, sale day MOTUC figures will also be going up in 2012. That’s the first price increase we’ve seen on MOTUC since 2008. While a lot of people have been expecting this for some time, I suspect the excrement will still strike the propeller, at least marginally.
- There will also be a new subscription for the MOTUC 30th Anniversary figures. It’s a standalone sub you can purchase whether or not you purchase the standard MOTUC sub. The good news is it looks like they’ve managed to squeeze Fearless Photog into it, which at one point was questionable.
- I doubt I need to recommend that my readers visit ItsAllTrue.net, as I suspect they already do, but I did want to highlight Noisy’s review of the SDCC Classics Lion-O. It’s a good read for those of you who are curious how these figures stack up against MOTUC.
September 6, 2011 | Poe
- Without going too much into it, my reviews on PGPoA are going to be a little different from now on. I’ve come to recognize, like the man who invented Mr. Phipps Pretzel Chips (I think it was Mr. Phipps) that my favorite part of the pretzel, er, the review, is the part where I discuss the character or history of the toy or toyline rather than the paint & sculpt stuff. The photos tell most of that story, and I’ll point out the articulation. For those who want a true breakdown, you can find more traditionally-formatted reviews on other sites–there is no shortage of toy reviews these days. While some of you may be a bit disappointed, trust me when I say it was either this or no more PGPoA at all. (Seriously–it was this close |–|.) I have over seventy unopened toys at the moment, going back to before Christmas, and the thought of having to do a standard review of each one makes me want to quit the blog and never look back.
- So, in essence, moving forward I’m writing what I want to write about, not what I feel obligated to write about. This blog has felt way too much like work lately. It’s odd how that can creep up on you.
- You’ve probably all seen Mattel announced that Club Infinite Earths (CIE) is indeed moving forward. I’m happy I get my Poison Ivy, but as a Bat-fan I do hope I get at least one more Bat-character, preferably an oversized Killer Croc. Also, Metron unsurprisingly won the fan vote contest. They’re also considering briefly re-opening the subscription window, which of course led to a round of MOTU fans wondering the MOTUC sub should also be re-opened. I suspect this has to do with the opt-in option that will be offered for the anniversary figures–since that’s already in the works, maybe they’ll just re-open CIE at the same time.
- Diamond Select will be expanding the Minimates world even more with a new line, Maximum Zombie. The first figures will be a NYCC exclusive set featuring a Biker Zombie & Surgeon Zombie. I’ll be at NYCC this year, so you’re damned right I’m getting these.
August 26, 2011 | Poe
- I’m going to use most of this Odds ‘n Ends to round up some of the news, articles and press releases people have sent me over the last few weeks.
- First up, Joe Amaro sent along the news that Jazwares is now making toys based on the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time. I know nothing at all about this show, but I’ve heard some fans are quite excited by this development.
- Poester SP wrote in to let me know about his new action figure design project “The Nightmare of Oz.” You can find pics of the designs at their Kickstarter page.
- I also received an email about another Kickstart project by Poester JS–this one a photo book called “Souls of Toys,” described as “collecting over 80 images from 17 different toy lines ranging from the 1970s to 1990s, collected in a 9″x6” format. From the classic action figures to the barely remembered, this book evokes memories of Saturday mornings spent in front of the television. The front cover is designed by Charles Forsman, the Ignatz-award winning creator of the comic series Snake Oil.”
- I also got an email from TheBigToyAuction.com, a charity site featuring auctions for custom toys and artwork to benefit children who have suffered through natural disasters, be it the earthquake in Japan, the tornados in Joplin, MO or the drought in East Africa. “A group of comic and toy artists have banded together to donate their talents to the “Heroes Give Hope” charity auction. Through the auction of these works of art, the Pop Culture community is raising funds for ConvoyofHope.org‘s continuing disaster relief efforts. These dedicated donors from around the world have each offered up many one-of-a-kind pieces to be sold in this unique online Live-Auction event, with 100% of the hammer price of each going directly to Convoy of Hope. The auction features many works of original comic and pop culture related art including a piece by UK illustrator Dave Williams featuring dozens of minimalist Heroes spelling out the word “HOPE.” It also features Transformers and Ghostbusters work by IDW artists Dan Khanna and Dan Schoening, and Dreamwave artist Matt Kuphaldt. There are inspiring pieces by artists Lindsay Smith and Francesco Sturlese. It includes a one-of-a-kind, hand finished Batman print by South African neo-pop artist The Meme Machine, Mego-inspired Spider-Man piece by Illustrator Dan Bru, and an original He-Man and Battle Cat Watercolor by Jonathan Reincke.” There are also plenty of regular toys going for reasonable prices.
- And finally, I received a note pointing me to this interesting piece on the origin of gag vomit.
- On a non-submitted-news-item note, check out this not-at-all-veiled threat of litigation against Mattel if they “even think of increasing the DC Sub figures from $15 to $20.” Did anyone think there was any danger of that happening at all? Mattel has been very clear about the subs providing exactly what’s in the sub description, and that this constitutes a contract (theoretically on both sides, despite the loophole by which subscribers can cancel by cancelling their credit card). As ToyGuru mentions in his reply, Mattel is toying with increasing the price of the non-sub figures on the website on the day of the sale. But zombie Jimmy Hoffa will smash his way out of his concrete coffin before Mattel changes anything related to the subscriptions. I’m not saying Mattel is some moral paragon. It’s that they’re mortally afraid of litigation–particularly, for some reason, false advertising and/or false promises. That’s why so many of the Q&A answers are so frustratingly vague. It’s not that he doesn’t have a point, I just think it’s overkill for something that wasn’t really an issue. Apologies for the rant–the tone of that post just annoyed me (that and the cutesy “LegalGuru” handle).
- Moving on, it seems X-Entertainment, the longtime kid culture website (and one of my favorite sites of all time), now has a YouTube channel and has already started a Halloween Countdown. It’s weird to see Matt in motion–as Poester Ragetreb comments, “all these years I had assumed you were a sentient jpeg.” I do have to wonder, though–why the Christian-Bale-as-Batman sandpaper voice? Matt has always seemed like he wanted to keep his identity something of a secret, but that sounds like it hurts.
August 24, 2011 | Poe
- Here’s the first comment I’ve seen from Mattel on the DCUC subscription results: “The final tally was around 60-62% (I’ll need to ask the DC team for an exact number). We are literally reviewing the numbers to see if their is anyway to go forward now that we are under 100%. It may take another week or so before we will know an answer. Fans have been so passionate, but in the end it comes down to whether their are enough of them to move forward with this program!” I had been beginning to suspect late last week that a non-100% subscription rate might not mean an immediate cancellation of the sub. One idea a poster on the Fwoosh had was to raise the price of the non-sub sale day figures from $15 to $20 (while subscribers still pay $15). I think that’s a good idea. Had I not subscribed, I’d have happily paid $20 for Poison Ivy and not thought twice about it.
- Mattel also posted a lengthy explanation for Battleground Evil-Lyn on their Facebook page. I’m still not sure how I feel about BGEL. Initially this was exactly what I had expected a Millennium Evil-lyn to be (proof here and here). I had been expecting more only after this post by ToyGuru last year. So without that post by ToyGuru, I might not have been disappointed at all. I can certainly see why a lot of fans are unhappy. And I’m a bit confused by the tooling explanation: “[…] we felt that it would be better to go with this simpler version rather than sink a lot of tooling into a version that didn’t have waist articulation, better hip function, etc. If we used up the tooling now, it may have killed the chance to do a version that 100% satisfies all of the fan requests. Now that the 2.0 body has been created and worked into the line, the door is open to do this version in the future.” Which I think raises a significant question: why do a Millennium Evil-lyn now at all, instead of waiting to use the 2.0 body with new tooling? What’s the rush? I’d happily have taken, say, a minicomic Trap Jaw instead.
- Here’s a fantastic NECA-style Dutch from Predator custom using NECA Duke Nukem and Terminator parts.
- I need to get more into Minimates–check out the Previews-exclusive Knight Rider KITT with Super-Pursuit Mode parts.
August 22, 2011 | Poe
- I’m (finally!) on vacation this week, and my hope is to finally get to some of those reviews I’ve been promising you guys forever. The pile of unopened toys has only gotten bigger, though, including the NECA Robocop, which I found at TRU over the weekend.
- One thing I learned during this move is that I have a LOT of toys. More than I realized, and that was after selling off a bunch of stuff to a local comic shop. If you stop by Comicazi! in Somerville, MA any time over the next few months and buy a loose figure, there’s a good chance it may once have been mine.
- Club Infinite Earths put up a good fight, but as of right now it’s still 40% short of its goal. I’ve said since the beginning that whatever the goal was for this sub, it was just too high. That suggests either Mattel didn’t do the due diligence on testing what the market really was, or they always knew it was going to be a long shot. At this point, even without all the QC issues, historically terrible distribution, and Gleekocalypse, I’m not sure the Club could have hit the needed subscriptions. The only hope now is that it did well enough that the brand managers can convince the higher-ups to do it.
- Notable reviews from around the net: Pixel Dan reviews Vigo the Carpathian & MOTUC Leech; Wesitron reviews the 6″ Modern ThunderCats Lion-O
August 12, 2011 | Poe
- I got an email last night that said Mattel had extended all the subscriptions another week to August 22. It’s hard to know whether this is primarily to give the DC subscription a better chance or because all the subs aren’t getting the numbers they want. I still think the DC sub is screwed–the minimum number just seems to be too high–but this week I was considering subscribing until I found out that, because I already subscribed to Club Eternia and didn’t subscribe to both at the same time, I’d have to pay double shipping by adding a second subscription (“Remember, you can buy as many subscriptions as you like in any combination and they’ll all ship together when purchased in the same transaction!”). I’m sorry, but I am not paying double shipping. If Mattel wants to encourage fans to buy Club Infinite Earths, they should kick Digital River’s sorry ass and make them combine the shipping for the damned subs even if they’re ordered separately. Anything less is dumbfoundingly stupid. Period.
- Mattel also posted more information on the future of the 6″ DC figures aside from Club Infinite Earths. The money quote, in my opinion: Yes DC 6″ will continue at retail in 2012 but their will be a lot of changes. Collect and Connect and the Wave strategy will be gone. The focus will be on much more mainstream and kid/mom friendly mixes/characters. This is WHY we created the club, to give a home to those team builders, C and D list characters and fan demanded variants who may no longer be showing up at retail in 2012. It seems fan speculation is correct–the 6″ DC line will look like the Millennium MOTU line of the early 2000s, with tons of Superman and Batman guises. Before you start collecting kindling for Mattel’s auto-da-fé, keep in mind this is very likely being pushed by Warner Bros./DC, who are overtly trying to court a younger audience with their “Brand New DC” relaunch next month. Get the kids hooked early and all that. When will the two big comic companies stop pining for the days when Captain Marvel sold a million copies a month? That was in the 1940s, people. There were few televisions and no videogames or heck, even action figures then. Those days aren’t coming back.
- Blogger, Poester and sometime PGPoA contributor Novelty wants to know: “What if MOTUC cherry pickers switched to the subscriptions instead?”
- Figureoftheday.com is having an Alien/Predator event all day today. Might be worth checking out.
- Angels preserve us, could the second G.I. Joe movie actually not suck?
- You may remember MasterEnglish, whom I commissioned to make my 339/1 custom. I’ve just commissioned a second custom, which will be (if all goes according to plan) revealed not here, but at Power-Con first.
August 8, 2011 | Poe
- I’m putting together what I’m calling “Bat-Week”–a week of reviews of Batman-related toys. I was hoping to do it this week, the week after Shark Week, but it didn’t come together. So it will be either next week or the week after.
- I missed this out of SDCC, but it appears Mattel is actually looking into an opt-in option for subscribers for the six “Anniversary” figures in 2012 (Fearless Photog, Draego-Man, and the other four new characters). If that happens, I’ll be both surprised and pleased. The vehicles and Granamyr are still excluded because the pricing on them isn’t known yet (though they’ve been saying $80 for Granamyr).
- DCUC is on sale for $9.99 at TRU this week, evidently. If you’re short on Mary Marvels or Steppenwolfs, now’s your chance to stock up.
- Speaking of TRU, apparently the “Mad Love” Joker/Harley two-packs are hitting stores. It would be just my luck if every other Mattel DCUC 2-pack has pegwarmed but I never even see this set.
- On a related note, I’ve started looking for the K-Mart exclusive Golden Age Batman w/ Bat-Mite. All I’ve found are empty pegs for Batman Legacy figures that haven’t been put out.
