Review > Ghostbusters Minimates, Part I

August 5, 2009 | Poe

I am way late getting on board the Minimates bandwagon, and from what I can tell it seems I’m not alone–the Ghostbusters Minimates seem to be selling very well, which suggests to me that it’s attracting casual collectors as well as Minimate diehards (no doubt to their chagrin–I was lucky enough to score a the Ray/Marshmallow Man 2-pack shown in yesterday’s It Figures, while longtime Minimate fan Rustin Parr has yet to find one).

In general, I’ve never been very interested in “non-realistic” action figure lines–block figures, vinyl figures, and so forth. It was only my resurgent interest in Ghostbusters, along with a  strong recommendation from the aforementioned Mr. Parr, that got me to consider picking up a set. (more…)

Possible explanation for the MOTU art book limitation

August 5, 2009 | Poe

Now that we know that sales of the art book went to benefit Make-A-Wish, Howard of Fixitinpost.org has offered what I think is the most sensible explanation yet for why the print run was limited to 1,000 books:

As I speculated on our post-SDCC podcast (plug, plug), I’m assuming that the limited numbers are due to a royalty structure or something similar. When companies commission artwork, there’s generally a clause that allows them to use the artwork for certain non-commercial purposes (promotions, charity, etc.). The definition of “non-commercial” is usually determined by the number of units produced, be it of a toy package or even the art itself. Again, this is all speculation, but I totally get the “legal limitations” reason/excuse.

The idea is that Mattel could only print 1,000 books for charitable purposes. Any more and they’d have to start paying royalties (or perhaps just larger royalties) to the artists. (Of course, I think it’s a shame the artists–rarely the wealthiest members of society–can’t be paid more royalties by a big corporation like Mattel via an actual for-profit production run, but that’s a separate issue.) (more…)

Teela and Zodak in-package pics

August 5, 2009 | Poe

This already went ’round the ‘Net circles so you’re probably already aware, but Mattel also posted packaged pics of Teela and the bonus 2002-style Zodak yesterday.

It confirms Teela is coming with Zoar (without the blue on him–apparently that will be a later repaint). I have to admit, I wasn’t planning on getting Zodak, but now that I see him in package, he’s a bit more tempting than I thought he would be.

NoisyDvL5 of ItsAllTrue.net also sussed out the bios from the back-of-package photos on Facebook. I’ll let you go there to read them, since he did do all the work.

teela

zodak

He-Man and Skeletor return in December

August 4, 2009 | Poe

Mattel has updated their Facebook page with photos of the new packaging for He-Man and Skeletor, who’ll be offered for sale on Mattycollector.com in December (with slightly altered packaging–I think it’s just “The Original!” on the front there).

So for those of you who’ve gotten on board the MOTUC Trak a little late, here’s your chance to own the big boys.

he-man

skeletor

Final thoughts

August 4, 2009 | Poe

Did Mattel really manage–in a single convention–to create what could become lingering, Holiday Hal-like sore spots for both the DCUC and MOTU collector communities? Or will they be forgiven and forgotten by this time next year?

Keep on Yuckin’ with a Weirdo Toys t-shirt

August 4, 2009 | Poe

poe_wt_shirt

During our camping trip over the weekend I had my first opportunity to model this badass shirt from PGPoA ally Weirdo Toys, based on the bizarre Apple Devil.

Click here to get your own–while supplies last!

(And no, I’m not getting any kickbacks for this, but Justin had better get me that interview and Show and Tell in a timely manner.)

NECA nabs Heroclix, Diamond gets Battle Beasts

August 4, 2009 | Poe

I thought I’d draw your attention to two fairly significant corporate acquisitions that may have been buried amongst the SDCC news.

heroclix-logo

After months of rumors, it’s been pretty much confirmed (there hasn’t been an official announcement yet) that NECA has bought Wizkids from Topps. Wizkids’ biggest property, as I’m sure you know, is the tabletop miniatures game Heroclix, which features characters from DC, Marvel and Dark Horse, among others. There’s also the spinoff game Horrorclix, which features Jason, Freddy, and even Cthulhu himself.

I don’t have any sense of how well the Clix property has fared over the last couple of years. I imagine that once they’d gotten down to the third- and fourth-stringers in the DC and Marvel universes, there might have been a problem keeping up interest in the game. I also thought it was a mistake not to make Heroclix and Horrorclix fully compatible. In any event, it seems NECA will be taking the reigns, and we’ll have to see what they do with it.

In other news, Diamond Select now has Battle Beasts, the 1980s toy line featuring little manimals with weapons and stickers you rubbed to find out if their strength was wood, water, or fire. (more…)