Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

February 23, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Koh Yong Qiang reviews the Medicom Toy Real Action Heroes Street Fighter Chun-Li 1/6-scale figure. Excerpt: “Medicom had sculpted all-new leg parts for her to recreate the Thunder Thighs’ that the First Lady of Fighting Games is so famous for.” (See also.)

Poe Ghostal reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Faker New York Comic Con and Mattycollector.com exclusive figure. Excerpt: “… he’s just a repaint …”

Michael Crawford reviews the Mezco Toyz Cinema of Fear Leatherface (stylised version) figure from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Excerpt: “There’s something goofy yet gruesome about the design, creating an almost cute look but without losing the basic gory concept.”

Rustin Parr reviews the JUN Planning Nightmare Before Christmas Pumpkin King figure. Excerpt: “… NECA’s really outshone JUN’s … Still, I cannot not love this figure!” (more…)

Vintage Month > The Pegasus Incident

February 20, 2009 | Poe

pegasus

I’ve often praised my parents for the excellent job they did raising me, and for the lengths to which they were willing to go to humor my geeky interests. My father, for instance, would take rated-R movies like Predator and Aliens and, using two VCRs, make me PG-rated versions of the movies by cutting the really violent scenes.

However, every parent makes the occasional mistake. Fortunately, I could be bought. (more…)

Stratos and Adam Strange/Starfire almost sold out

February 20, 2009 | Poe

According to Mattel’s Facebook page, Stratos and the Adam Strange/Starfire two-pack are almost sold out, so if you’ve been holding off on ordering, now’s the time.

And now, may I say–Stratos is almost sold out? In four days? Really? Stratos? Wow. I mean, I’m sure he wasn’t produced in the same sort of numbers as Skeletor, but jeez…I guess the ol’ flying monkey man has more fans that any of us realized.

That, or MOTUC is really picking up in popularity, and collectors have learned their lesson about not waiting too long to order.

My Little Urban Vinyl

February 20, 2009 | Poe

Now here’s a clever idea: take the creativity of the urban vinyl movement and merge it with classic properties like My Little Pony.

_autoimages_hlp68485lg

I realize that’s not quite what’s going on here, but if Hasbro’s smart, they’ll start hiring artists to design collector-oriented MLPs. The generic form of the ponies is perfect for it.

There’s already an active community of artists doing this sort of thing–check this out.

Review > Faker (Masters of the Universe Classics)

February 20, 2009 | Poe

faker-4

Last month, I wrote a list for Topless Robot of the best repaint figures of all time. Number two on the list was Faker, He-Man’s laughably un-twin-like evil twin.

fakercardbackRather than regarding Faker as an actual twin designed to fool people, I always thought of Faker as a kind of Bizarro He-Man–he’s an “evil twin,” yes, but not an identical twin. Reverse Flash, Evil Ash, Evil Jim–these are Faker’s brethren. He’s not an evil twin of the Lore or Evil Bill and Evil Ted persuasion.

However, his name is “Faker,” and in the cartoon episode he appeared in, he actually looked exactly like He-Man (except for a pair of glowing eyes and a voice heavy on the reverb, which fools the Sorceress, natch). His original packaging refers to him as “Evil Robotic He-Man Imposter,” but on the cardback art, it says, “Faker is no He-Man–he’s the evil blue robot of Skeletor!”

(more…)

Toy news roundup, 2/20/09

February 20, 2009 | Poe

Good morning folks! My apologies–there is no actual news roundup today. I did my usual perusal of the toy websites and found virtually nothing I deemed newsworthy. Feel free to post anything you found interesting in the comments below.

The only thing that caught my attention was that reportedly, the Mattycollector.com news page briefly had an item up yesterday that said the site would be offering cases of DCUC Wave 6 for $120, and possibly singles in the future. However, the news item isn’t there now, so who knows.

Obviously, if MC were to offer regular retail figures on the site, it would have serious consequences for other online retailers. On the other hand, if they were to offer cases of Wave 5, there would be much rejoicing.

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode), 2/18/09

February 19, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Michael Crawford reviews the Diamond Select Toys Ultimate Quarter Scale Han in Hoth Gear figure from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Excerpt: “… I had my hopes up that he’d be the ONE, the Neo of the line.”

Michael Crawford reviews the Mezco Toyz Cinema of Fear Jason Voorhees (hockey mask version) 7-inch figure from Friday the 13th (2009 remake). Excerpt: “Mezco has done a nice job packing in some useful weapons for Jason, as he hacks his way through your display shelf.”

Rustin Parr reviews the JUN Planning Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington figure. Excerpt: “While paint and sculpt put NECA’s to shame, the lack of thigh and especially bicep articulation really, really limit this figure.” (more…)

Pic of the Day

February 19, 2009 | Poe

Manglors Manglord Action Figure Toy by Neato Coolville

Poe’s note: Man, I loved these toys as a kid. Well, toy, I should say, since I never had any of them except for the Manglord here. As you can see, they had some great, creepy box art, too.

There was a certain tragic aspect to these toys. The gimmick was that you could pull off their arms or legs and then, because the figure was so sticky, you could stick the limbs right back on. But as you might expect, the limbs never really gripped as tightly as they did before you ripped them off, and so once you’d torn off Manglord’s head, arms, and legs, you soon lost interest and the figure ended up in the trash.

Still, it was a neat gimmick, and made for a memorable, if unsuccessful, toy line. If you’re interested in learning more about Manglors, this seems to be the definitive site, although this guy also spends more text on Manglors that I would have thought possible.

Hasbro Toy Fair roundup

February 19, 2009 | PrfktTear

hasbro_logoToy Fair was last weekend, and all the toy companies were showing off all the new stuff we’ll covet and want to buy. It’s a little overwhelming, so Poe has asked me to highlight some of the good stuff coming out this year from Hasbro.

Hasbro has a LOT on their plate. Not only do they have Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen coming out in June, they also have Transformers: Animated, as well as the Universe/Classics/25th Anniversary line to show off as well. (more…)