I have never been been much of a SpongeBob SquarePants fan. At most Ican only admit to having seen just a few episodes. The show itself is the only surviving Nickelodeon cartoon from the ’90s, having made its debut in May 1999 and is still in production today. I am however a huge fan of Mr. Potato Head, a passion that was reignited in my early adulthood and since then I have on and off collected all things spud. (more…)
“Leech Day”? Yuck.
Anyway, Leech and his pal Hec-Tor “Hurricane Hordak” Kur (35-7-2; 24 kayos) are on sale at 12pm ET today, along with Chief Carnivus, a Retro-Action Kyle Rayner (sad to see that line limping to its doom…wish we could have gotten a Joker) and two JLU three-packs, JLU three-packs. Here’s the link to the all-in-one page.
Leech was easily one of my favorite He-Man figures of all time, and like King Hsss, my fondness for his figure outlasted my fondness for the line as a whole. I’m curious to see how his MOTUC figure turned out.
Poe’s note: This figure appears to be identical to the Disneyland Exclusive Indiana Jones from a few years back.
This year I was lucky enough to go to Disneyland Paris for our family holidays. It’s been the second time we have been with our kids, everyone enjoys themselves a great deal, but I like to make a bee-line for Adventure Land and the Temple of Peril ride in particular, not so much for the ride you understand, but for the toys. (more…)
Yeah, I know that’s Robocop vs. Terminator pic. It was the coolest pic I took and I wanted to start strong. (more…)
One of the most beloved rarities among action figure collectors are action figures of supporting cast characters. I don’t mean sidekicks or team members, but “everyday” characters such as Lois Lane, Jarvis, Uncle Owen, and many others. Such characters rarely get figures, for a few reasons. Though popular among diehard fans, casual fans are rarely interested in them. There’s little chance of a casual toy collector picking them up because there’s nothing particularly interesting about them in and of themselves–often they’re just a person in a suit (seen any Movie Master Harvey Dents at your local TRU?). The figures aren’t eye-catching, so parents ignore them. (more…)
One of my favorite episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (B:TAS) is “Beware the Gray Ghost.” It features Adam West as an aging actor who once played Bruce Wayne’s favorite television hero, the costumed avenger known as “the Gray Ghost.” There’s a wonderful paradoxical quality to the idea of the animated 1990s Batman being inspired by an ersatz 1960s Batman. The show also slyly replaced the aging cliché of Zorro having served as part of Bruce’s inspiration; kids in the early 1990s barely had any idea who Zorro was, and even the Antonio Banderas remake was years away.
Of course, while casting Adam West in the role of aging Gray Ghost actor Simon Trent was a coup, the Gray Ghost wasn’t just a tribute to the 1960s TV show. His distinctive appearance represents a tribute to other early pulp heroes such as the Shadow, the Spirit, the Spider and Sandman. (As you may have noticed, the redesign of PGPoA owes more than a little to the Gray Ghost as well as B:TAS.)
Mattel released an exclusive, single-carded version of the Gray Ghost as their 2010 holiday card. Unlike Holiday Hal Jordan, however, he was always intended for a retail release, which came in a three-pack with B:TAS-inspired repaints of Batman and the Joker. (more…)
One dark night a few months ago, I took an oath–an oath to try to buy every toy associated with the Batman: Arkham Asylum/Arkham City franchise.
So that means when I found out there was a Hot Wheels version of the Arkham Asylum Batmobile, I knew I had to track it down. No doubt such a desirable item would be hard to find, vanishing from the shelves of toy stores just as they arrived. My exhaustive search ended with my very first eBay result, where I found one for $2.50 shipped.
Apparently they’re not that rare.
Packaging: While many of the recent Batman-themed Hot Wheels vehicles came in purple Batman-branded packaging, the AA Batmobile arrives in standard Hot Wheels blister card. It’s disappointing, really.
Design & Sculpt: Rocksteady Studios, makers of Arkham Asylum, seemed to have pulled from the most iconic bits of Batman lore to create the so-called Arkhamverse, so it’s no surprise that their version of the Batmobile closely resembles the Tim Burton movie version (yes, the Tumbler is cool and all, but it’s not a very iconic design–really just a big lump with wheels).
The Hot Wheels version is a 3″ long replica of the car. The sculpt is a bit soft; this isn’t a movie-quality replica, but a child’s toy.
Metal, Plastic & Paint: Like all Hot Wheels, the car is made mostly from die cast metal. The windows (and possibly the black body) are made from plastic. I think the bright metal is what makes it look so toyish.
Overall: While it might sound like I’m being quite critical of this thing, I recognize it’s just an inexpensive Hot Wheels car. If I’d been collecting all the other Hot Wheels Batmobiles, it would be a necessary addition to my collection. But if you’re not a Batman Hot Wheels collector, it’s worth grabbing only if you’re a big Arkham Asylum fan like me.
[raven 2.5]
Much like his arch-nemesis Batman, the Joker’s longstanding popularity is partly due to how easily he lends himself to reinvention. He can be everything from a harmless jester to a murderous psychotic, and everything in between. On screen he’s been played by such disparate thespians as Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger, and each made a memorable version that was wholly their own.
Given Heath Ledger’s bravura performance the previous year, Rocksteady Studios had to be make sure the Joker they created for Batman: Arkham Asylum was equally engaging. As with many aspects of the game, they chose to walk a line between reality and comic book fantasy, creating a Joker whose appearance and murderous behavior is in line with The Dark Knight and the darker corners of the Batman comics mythos, while casting Hamill as the voice actor. Hamill played the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which memorably balanced the murderous Joker of the 1940s and 1970s with the laughing prankster of the 1950s and 1960s. While the Joker of Arkham Asylum never balks at a senseless murder, he’s also much quicker with a joke than Ledger’s Clown Prince of Crime.
As I mentioned in my Batman review, DC Direct seems to have pulled out all the stops for their Arkham Asylum figures. This is somewhat interesting, since two other companies (Mattel and Square Enix) are also making figures based on the games, yet DCD isn’t just trying to make a quick buck as they have with some other their other videogame lines (i.e., anything except World of Warcraft). (more…)
Ten-year-old Poe was the perfect mark for the marketing blitz for 1989’s Batman. I had hardly read any comics (aside from ALF and Madballs), never collected Super Friends or Secret Wars toys, never even watched a Batman cartoon to my knowledge. My most recent fad at the time was Kenner’s Robocop line and its attendant Marvel cartoon show.
But man, did I buy into the Batman hype. I remember reading the novelization of the movie at least twice, and I owned the comic adaptation, collectible cards, and who knows what else. I also began buying Batman some comics at the time. Of course, like many adolescents, I was a bit put off by the mature, grim and gritty themes being played out in Batman comics in the wake of The Dark Knight Returns at the time–I think one of my first Batman comics was the issue where the Joker beats Robin with a tire iron then blows his ass up.
But I digress: after my father took me to see Batman on opening weekend, we went to Child World at the Hanover Mall to see if any Batman toys were available. The ToyBiz figures had hit stores by then, but Batman himself was sold out; I had to settle for the Joker and Bob the Goon. Even back then, I both liked Bob the Goon (played in the movie by Jack Nicholson’s friend Tracey Walter) because he was an odd, endearing character to have as a figure, and disliked him because he was dead. Back then (and even, to a degree, now) it bothered me to own a toy of a character whom I knew could not participate in continuing adventures with. (The same holds true for the Joker, I suppose, but even ten-year-old Poe knew supervillains never stayed dead.) (more…)
In the early 2000s there was an explosion of minifigures in the collectors’ market: Minimates, Pocket Heroes, Kubricks, Stikfas, and Shockinis, just to name a few. Some were clearly inspired by the classic LEGO minifigures, while others focused more on customizability and interchangeable parts.
My personal favorite minifigures were the original Mez-Itz by Mezco. Unlike other minifigures, Mez-Itz had uniquely-sculpted heads and other accessories. And they had a slew of great licenses, including Aliens, Predator, Robocop, Hellboy, Edward Scissorhands, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and even Army of Darkness. Later they expanded to their own unique lines, such as pirates and ninjas (much as Minimates is doing now). Sadly, the line died out when the Pirates and ninjas failed to set the world on fire.
In the intervening years, the vinyl figure movement expanded from its niche into the mass market, primarily in the form of Mighty Muggs and its derivates. Mezco hopped on that bandwagon by mimicking the style and size of Mighty Muggs with their newly re-branded Mez-Itz. Now, they come full circle as they shrink the 6″ Mez-Itz down to two inches. (more…)