This is your one-stop shop for all my reviews of vintage (that is, pre-1995 or so) toys. I’ll continue to add to it as I write new reviews over the course of the month. (more…)
Toy news roundup, 2/6/09
- NYCC starts today, although all the Mattel panels are tomorrow. I’ll have lots more news to update with/comment on/possibly complain about over the weekend, but here are some tidbits to tide you over.
- On their Facebook page, Mattel has posted photos from their NYCC booth, including their larger-than-life Faker (formerly He-Man, I’m guessing) statue. There’s also a Ghostbusters poster, but no new toy pics yet.
- Seven Deadly Sins figures. Interesting designs, but weird concept. Looks like they’re picking up the Tortured Souls ball. I want to see what Lust looks like. (Figures.com)
- Blurry sneak peek at Hasbro’s NYCC Marvel items (Action-Figure)
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Toy review roundup (via Fanmode), 2/4/09
Poe Ghostal reviews the NECA Bionic Commando Nathan “Rad” Spencer figure. Excerpt: “… a great action figure.”
Shocka reviews the SOTA Street Fighter Revolution Zangief figure. Excerpt: “This will be the only Street Fighter Revolutions figure I’m reviewing for OAFE because the others all had the misfortune of breaking before I got them out of their boxes …” (more…)
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Mattel’s mystery line: GHOSTBUSTERS!!
Wow. From TNI:
Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Mattel, Inc. announced today the development of a new collectible line of toys based on the world’s favorite poltergeist fighting team, the Ghostbusters, including an extensive cast of ghosts and ghostbusters – celebrating the 25th anniversary of the frightfully funny classic film “Ghostbusters.”
Mattel’s “Ghostbusters” collectible line debuts with 12-inch figures in June 2009, and will be available exclusively at MattyCollector.com. Each figure will feature window box packaging and include authentic Ghostbuster equipment unique to each character. For the first time, Mattel’s line will include talent likeness of Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore. Select prototype figures will be on display February 6-8 at New York Comic Con and February 15 at Mattel’s New York Toy Fair Collector Preview Night (by invitation only).
“We have assembled a quality group of licensing partners to support and celebrate the anniversary for one of Columbia Pictures’ most cherished properties. Mattel’s line-up of collector toys is the perfect complement to what will be a great selection of 25th anniversary product,” said Juli Boylan, Senior Vice President, Sony Pictures Consumer Products Worldwide.
“Ghostbusters” collectors can also look forward to 6-inch figures, with one debuting at San Diego Comic Con in July 2009. Sculpted by Four Horsemen Studios, the team currently working on Mattel’s popular DC Universeâ„¢ Classics and Masters of the Universe Classics collectible lines, the 6-inch line will come complete with authentic “Ghostbusters” equipment and ghost.
“There haven’t been many comedic blockbusters over the past quarter century as memorable and loved as Ghostbusters,'” said Tim Kilpin, GM for Boys, Girls & Games, Mattel, Inc. “We are honored to participate in the celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary by creating the most extensive line of Ghostbusters’ collectibles ever.”
Mattel will also create characters and ghosts from the classic animated series, “The Real Ghostbusters,” to go along with the classic “Ghostbusters” film.
Vintage Month > Dinosaucers
(All the toy photos you see below, and many more, can be found at Alex Bickmore’s Super Toy Archive.)
I’ve often explained the reason I love Grimlock so much is that he’s both a dinosaur and a robot. What could be better? Nothing. But a close second is the combination of dinosaurs and aliens, and for that, there was Dinosaucers.
I remember catching the show as an early-morning treat before I went off to elementary school (it came on around 7 a.m., while at 7:30 I would watch Dennis the Menace). Dinosaucers followed a very similar formula to Transformers: two warring groups of aliens come to Earth and have at it, causing lots of collateral damage to our planet (of course, the good guys befriend some human children). Rather than giant transforming robots, however, Dinosaucers featured giant talking alien dinosaurs. (more…)
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Review > Hawkman (DC Universe Classics)
Ask Mattel, 2/3/2009
Better late than never!
1.) Please pardon this extremely pedantic question: starting with DCUC Wave 6, online retailers can order solid cases of figures to be sold as sets. Are these specialty cases packed at the beginning or end of the production run, or is it done randomly?
They are produced as orders come in during production and are not necessarily always at the start or beginning of the production run.
2.) Matty’s Facebook page appears to be quite a success. How does it fit in with Mattel’s overall online marketing and PR strategy?
Matty’s Facebook page is just an additional way he can communicate with fans. We will still continue to do Q & As and Toy Guru will post on websites. We found we were getting many of the same questions every month submitted by different websites, so Facebook will hopefully act as a central place (along with MattyCollector.com’s news section) to get information straight from Mattel.
3.) One thing collectors have often requested for Mattycollector is weapons packs. Are these financially feasible at this time, and if so, would they be more likely for DCUC or MOTUC?
The trouble with doing a weapons pack is it costs the same amount to tool a new weapon as it does a new head. So doing a weapon pack of all new weapons would be expensive as each accessory would need to be tooled and that winds up being a lot more expensive then a single figure costs. So if we did offer this, it would likely include previous accessories bundled together.
4.) There are some characters, such as Galatea, the Justice Lords or the Gray Ghost, who were created just for the DC animated universe and have never appeared in DC comics. Does your license agreement allow you to create DCUC-style figures of these characters, if you wanted to?
Well, we did do Batman Beyond in 6 inch, so anything might be possible, but all of the figures in every line is handled and approved on a figure by figure basis and in the end we work with our license partners at DC and WB to find the best line up possible. If there are enough fan requests to do Gray Ghost or Galatea in 6″ we could look at that, but it is likely we would choose to do Power Girl over Galatea first in 6″.
5.) What’s the status of the proposed DCUC two-packs, such as Lex Luthor/Supergirl and Superman/Brainiac?
We are waiting for retail customer’s to place orders for these before we can go into production on these.