OK, the phrase “happy Clawful day” sounds kind of funny–like “have a happy awful day!” Heheheh…sigh. Some days you’re just not on.
Anyway, today is the day you can get your own Animal Clawful action figure. Also on sale:
And don’t forget the massive All-Star sale! (more…)
I’ve noticed quite a bit of chatter in the toy Twitter circles about Thwipster and Figure of the Day, two websites that offer daily deals on geek-related items such as comics and collectibles.
Thwipster has already found success with its great deals on comics (I would already have made taken advantage of them multiple times if I didn’t have Amazon Prime). But now they’re expanding into the collectibles market, with deals on statues, toys, and other geek-oriented merchandise.
Figure of the Day doesn’t have quite the profile of Thwipster yet, but they have had some excellent deals. They’ve also had a few “theme days,” when they sell a number of figures from the same franchise–e.g., Predators or G.I. Joe–over the course of a day. Thwipster charges $3 for shipping while FOTD’s shipping is free.
In general, Thwipster appears to have slightly higher-end/higher quality merchandise on the whole, while FOTD tends to be a bit more of a crapshoot from day to day–sometimes the figure is awesome, sometimes it’s obviously a retailer trying to unload remainder stock.
However, they’re both worth checking up on every day, because you never know what you’re goind to find.
On a side note, the Groupon comparison isn’t quite accurate, as Groupon deals represent an assurance contract whereby if enough people sign up, then the sale goes through; but if too few people sign up, it doesn’t happen. That doesn’t seem to be how Thwipster and FOTD work–they seem to offer straight daily deals on a particular collectible.
I’d intended to post this on July 3, which would have been the tenth anniversary of the day I received the email below–but then I completely, utterly forgot. Better late than never!
I’ve saved every email I’ve sent and received since 1998. Until recently, most of them were just burned to a disc, but a few weeks back I dumped them all into a secondary Gmail account I created. While searching through them, I discovered this little treat.
Way back when the Millennium Masters of the Universe was first revealed, a lot of fans on He-Man.org were disappointed with the designs. The discussions could be intense–as online discussions often are–and I was one of the strongest defenders. Then, one day, I received this private message via the He-Man.org forums on July 3, 2001:
Hi, Poe.
We’ve been monitoring several message boards for quite a while now,
and we wanted to thank you for all of the support that you’ve given to
both us and the new Masters of the Universe line.We’re really grateful to have people like you behind us, and we hope
to see you at the San Diego Comic Con.Thanks again, and we’ll see you soon.
FOUR HORSEMEN
I didn’t make SDCC that year, but I did meet the Horsemen when I visited their studio that summer. To use yet another cliché, the rest, as they say, is history.
Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.
Submitted by: Phillip Reed of Battlegrip.com
The Problem: Phillip writes: “Spotted this at a ToysRUs in Austin yesterday. It looks like someone replaced every single figure in this new X-Men 6-pack.” [I think Nightcrawler and Colossus are supposed to be there. –PG]
What It’s Supposed to Look Like: This
Poe’s Note: I’m going to stop writing the karmic paybacks, folks. Not because I don’t think these bastards deserve it, but because it’s kind of exhausting trying to come up with a clever new one each time. However, feel free to come up with your own suitable punishment for them, and describe it at length in the comments.
Until Batman Arkham Asylum, most Batman videogames were at best mediocre and at worst, completely unplayable. But given the character’s popularity and the way he seems to appeal to really great creators in all media, it was just a matter of time until we got a great Batman videogame*–just as we’ve gotten a great Batman movies and a great Batman TV show alongside countless great Batman comics.
The “Arkhamverse” has quickly become one of my favorite incarnations of the Batman franchise. Given the presence of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as the Joker and (in the first game at least) Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, the game was sort of a much more brutal, darker version of Batman: The Animated Series. Given the immense popularity and critical acclaim for the first game and the massive anticipation for its upcoming sequel, it’s not surprising we’re now getting plenty of merchandise from both games.
DC Direct released their first wave of Arkham Asylum figures earlier this year, and the second wave–consisting of Bane, Poison Ivy, Mr. Zsasz and Armored Batman–hits comic ships this week (they should arrive in stores today, actually). But DCD isn’t the only manufacturer making Arkham Asylum/Arkham City figures; at this year’s Toy Fair, Mattel revealed their new Batman Legacy line, which included a two-pack of Batman and Two-Face from Arkham City. (more…)
Hey y’all, welcome to the new site layout! It’s Novelty and I’m stoked that I get to do another guest review here. To be honest though, I also come into this review with a lot of trepidation – Poesters are a scary lot and may eat me up alive if I don’t live up to their expectations and such, so please be gentle, ‘k?
Kilowog is the trainer of the Green Lantern Corps new recruits. He’s from Bolovax Vik, located in Space Sector 674. He roughly resembles an anthromophic upright-standing hippotamus, towering over everyone else and is always depicted to have vast strength thanks to his physique. Of course, as a member of the Green Lantern Corps (GLC), he also has his ring which could manifest any construct he could imagine.
His name is interesting. Kilo, of course, is greek and means a thousand. It’s present in the English language as part of the metric system (e.g. kilogram, kilometer, etc.). Wog, is also an English word, although it’s a colloquial British word which has derogatory connotations. It means a poor non-white foreigner, and survives into the modern era in such words as polliwog and golliwog. It’s not really politically correct and is rarely used these days. So Kilowog then, means that he’s a thousand-fold alien, an apt name. And there ends my English lesson! (more…)
