yo go re of OAFE has dragged the shambling corpse of POFToo!–which I think predated Twisted ToyFare Theater and Robot Chicken–back from the grave. Check it out.
I remember laughing my ass off at POFToo back in the day, though I think you really had to have been collecting SW at the time to get all the jokes. Still, it’s amazing how silly Hasbro’s first attempt at resurrecting the brand was, with all those hulking Lukes and Landos.
Another experiment by Mattycollector…how will this one go? Find out here.
When I was a kid I had a lot of toys, but one toy I never had was a TIE Fighter. It was a little awkward having an X-Wing, Millennium Falcon, and a Y-Wing all gunning down nothing (or a G.I. Joe or Captain Power ship), so when Kenner began re-releasing Star Wars figures I was happier than a pig in slop when I got my hands on the TIE. Of course, being older I didn’t really appreciate the tiny arse wings that it came with, so I had to wait several more years before they made large wings. I missed out on the debut of the improved wings in the form of a Toys R Us exclusive (too expensive), so when the Target version came out with an improved cockpit I knew I had to have it. At about 45 bucks it was out of my range, so thank the Maker for clearance.
The February 1 answers have arrived early! Enjoy. –Poe
1.) Mario asks: Will a new retail or MattyCollector toy line be revealed at NYTF?
We will have new SKUs in existing lines, but we will not be introducing any all-new lines or brands at NYTF.
2.) Novelty asks: Does Mattel still have the original recipe to the slime from Slime Pit? (more…)
It’s time for the fourth and final round of Eternian A-Z, or in this case, A-T. Funny that Zodac only made the first poster, while Prince Adam–an action figure of the hero’s mild-mannered alter ego–appears on all four of them. His popularity is definitely a credit to cartoon creators. That, or little boys really wanted a figure of a guy in purple tights and a maroon vest.
This was another promotional poster by William George, released in the final days of Masters of the Universe, probably sometime in 1987. It’s sad that some of the line’s best toys were released months after its doom had been sealed at retail. The big focus here was on the “Powers of Grayskull” concept, which added dinosaurs and avuncular intrigue and all sorts of neat stuff to the He-Man legend.
If you missed the previous posters, here they are:
Once again, this hi-res scan of the poster is courtesy of He-Man.org poster He-Lurker. Now let’s get started, shall we? (more…)
Remember when I whipped you all up into a frenzy about the big AT-AT (especially you Mr. Topless Robot? hehe)? Well, there’s more rumors spreading across the net on what this thing might look like and if true, we could be looking at one of the coolest toys ever:
From Rebelscum:
According to this eyewitness account, it looks like a Turbo Tank on legs, with an interior similar to the inside of the Turbo Tank, but with 2 levels, opening doors, a gun rack, and an underside hatch for Luke to slice into. There are 2 strings that come out of a side panel like on a rescue helicopter. The neck seal is rubber, and the head holds 6 figures inside, including General Veers. Plus, the rear opens for a Blizzard Force speeder bike.
Almost as long as there have been action figures, there have been variations of action figure characters. But it was Star Wars–with its Tatooine Luke, Dagobah Luke, Luke in X-Wing Outfit, Bespin Luke, Jedi Luke etc.–that proved kids and collectors were willing to buy the same character over and over again. Unfortunately, while the various Lukes made perfect sense, toy companies decided to create completely ridiculous variations of main characters in hopes that kids would still bite. This tendency would reach its nadir in the mid-1990s with the rise of Arctic Batman and so forth, but it still happens today.
But sometimes there’s an exception that proves the rule. Even I can’t deny Battle Armor He-Man had one of the coolest gimmicks ever seen.
It was functional, the designs looked great, and the result was a He-Man figure many kids preferred over the standard version. Mattel even imported the feature into their other famous boys’ brand, Hot Wheels.
When the time came to introduce Battle Armor He-Man (BAHM) into their adult collector-oriented Masters of the Universe Classics line, Mattel had to find a way to replicate the action feature without having to go through an expensive retool process. Their solution was to make three removable breastplates. Some fans were pleased, others not so much.
So the question, then, is this: Is Battle Armor He-Man still cool without his iconic action feature? (more…)
Ask away. This is for the mid-February round.
Just a reminder, the second sale of Skeletor reissues begins at 12pm ET tomorrow. Click here for the order page.
I’ve got a question for you, Poesters. I’ve been reviewing a lot of Masters of the Universe Classics lately, and of course you get to see MOTUC weeks before my own review thanks to the samples sent out to Fwoosh, AFI, Pixel Dan etc.
Do you find that these previews dampen your interest or enthusiasm in my own reviews? I’ve noticed the number of comments in those reviews has been going down, and I’m trying whether that’s due to lack of interest in the figures, this preview sample issue, or a general waning of PGPoA’s popularity itself in my post-DCUC-collecting era.
