Doc Thomas Probes > Essential Accessories, Part I

May 29, 2010 | Doc Thomas

Sometimes, between the unnecessary surgery that takes up most of my day, I take a nice long breather out in the fresh air far away from the screams in the basement and reflect upon things. At other times, I’m all about relaxing in my toy room, taking a seat at the table in the middle of the room where I can remove various toys from their home on the shelf and have them duke it out, or have a beer together, or hunt down and kill Napoleon Dynamite.

No matter what kind of collector you are (unless you’re a MOC or 12″ collector and are thus lame) you know the thrill of having a bunch of characters from different properties chilling out together and doing something that you’re the boss of. With this in mind, there are numerous essential accessories that a collector must own so that their toys really get the most out of their lives: these are Essential Accessories. (more…)

Review > Optikk (Masters of the Universe Classics)

May 28, 2010 | Poe

We live in an age where our favorite pop culture franchises get “rebooted” every other month. Sometimes the franchise and its characters get a brand-new origin, other times it’s just taken in a radically different direction. In this age of 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe, the countless Transformers incarnations and the Clone Wars, it’s easy to forget that one of the first major “reboots” in popular toy history was The New Adventures of He-Man.

After MOTU died its ignominious death on the shelves (and in theaters) in 1987 (forcing great toys like Tytus to be released only overseas), Mattel set to work trying to figure out how to revitalize the brand. Since MOTU had always borrowed a lot from Star Wars, it must have seemed a natural to ditch the sword-and-sorcery angle of the franchise and revamp it as a space opera. They slimmed down He-Man, gave him a helmet and armor, redesigned the Power Sword to look more high-tech, and sent He-Man, Skeletor and a new crop of heroes and villains into the future.

The new toy line–called simply He-Man–debuted in 1989. But by that time, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles–whose toys owed much to the original MOTU line, stylistically and in terms of its execution–had become the true masters of the universe. He-Man limped along for three years, with a short-lived cartoon in 1990; but fans of the original toys and cartoon were hostile to the new take on the premise, while others (including an adolescent Poe) were too busy with Leonardo and Donatello. (more…)

Sponsored Review > 7″ Fantasy Shields by Spy Monkey Creations

May 27, 2010 | Poe

Spy Monkey Creations continues to create excellent accessories for use with 7″ action figures. While they could be used with any figure, it’s obvious they’re inspired by Masters of the Universe Classics.

I previously reviewed the Master Blade of the Empyrean and the Witching Axe of Ruination, as well as the Blade of the Demon King and its variants. The subject of this review is the Shield of Deliverance and its variants. Since I received samples of the product and SMC is now a sponsor, this won’t be a normal review with a raven rating–I’m just going highlight the product and allow you to decide for yourselves. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Spyeye Edition

May 26, 2010 | Poe

  • Apologies for the lack of a real update today–I’ve got two or three major updates in the queue, but finding the time to get them done is proving difficult. It does not, however, have anything to do with my increasingly unhealthy addiction to Dragon Age.
  • In case you missed his column this weekend, check out the newest contributor, the enigmatic Doc Thomas. In his first column, the good doctor examines action figure scale so deeply you’ll need to drink some MiraLax first.
  • Optikk review is coming, but the short version is, he’s pretty cool. What I really like about him, though, is the way Mattel and the Horsemen incorporated the New Adventures design into the MOTUC style.
  • I’m working on my review, but Spy Monkey Creations’ new shields are now available.
  • For the record, I was apparently wrong about the relative scarcity of the 3¾” Twitch, since no less than four people found him within two days of writing that post. I haven’t seen him myself, though.
  • One thing I’ve been remiss in reporting on are the two new Transformers/G.I. Joe cartoons that are being developed. Do people care about those? Do you want coverage? Speaking of, would people like me to get in on the various Hasbro Q&As? I’ve been skipping them solely because they lie outside my own interests, but if people want to submit questions for me to in turn submit, I’d be fine with that.

Interview > The Four Horsemen (Outer Space Men edition)

May 25, 2010 | Poe

At the beginning of this month, the famous toy design team the Four Horsemen announced their newest venture: a resurrection of the 1960s alien toy property “The Outer Space Men.” (For a detailed history of the Outer Space Men, check out the list of links at the bottom of the article.)

I got in touch with the Horsemen–Eric Treadaway, Jim Preziosi, Chris Dahlberg and Eric “Cornboy” Mayse–to get the official scoop on their first-ever licensed property. (more…)