ToyFare editor Justin Aclin, whom I interviewed just last month, has stepped down from his position as senior editor (which is below Zach Oat’s “Editor” position, apparently) and moved on. (more…)
Review > DC Universe Classics Wave 1
NOTE: I tend to write very long, intricate reviews, so I’m going to break this one up by posting the reviews in regular text and the “flavor text” in italics. If you just want to get right to my assessment of the toys, skip the italics. If you want to be fascinated by engaging, brilliant prose, read Tender is the Night. But if you want to read some mildly interesting commentary on the action figure industry, then by all means read the italicized text.
Back in the 1980s, Kenner produced a fondly-remembered action figure line called Super Powers, which featured DC heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as more obscure characters such as New Gods Orion and Darkseid. At the same time, Mattel–home of Barbie and the then-hugely popular Masters of the Universe line–put out a line of Marvel superhero action figures called Secret Wars.
Fast-forward twenty years. Last year, Hasbro (who absorbed Kenner in the 1990s) took over the Marvel license from ToyBiz and resumed production of its long-lived line of six-inch figures, Marvel Legends. Mattel, on the other hand, had already gotten the Batman and Superman toy rights, and last year they secured the rights to the entire DC comics pantheon. After some growing pains–their Batman line morphed into the combination Batman/Superman DC Superheroes line, and then into DC Universe Classics–Mattel hit their stride with their own six-inch superhero line. So now the roles have been reversed–Kenner/Hasbro now plasticizes Marvel superheroes for the mass market, while Mattel gives us six-inch totems of Superman, Batman, and…Etrigan? (more…)
Transfer to new host complete
REMINDER
1.) Update your RSS and Atom feeds to http://www.poeghostal.com/feed and http://www.poeghostal.com/feed/atom respectively. If you’re using Google or Yahoo readers, you’ll have to delete the old PGPoA feeds and add the new ones.
2.) Make sure your bookmark is for http://www.poeghostal.com/
5 Questions with: Jim Bell of Foamheads
A few weeks back, I posted my review of Foamheads’ excellent Fox Sports Robot (which, to give credit where credit is due, I first heard about in a post by “Industrial” on the Fwoosh forums). Soon after, more glowing reviews of the figure appeared on OAFE, Figures.com and Michael Crawford’s site.
I recently spoke to Jim Bell, creator and co-founder of Foamheads, about how Cleatus went from marketing gimmick to action figure phenomenon. (more…)
Poe’s Point > Toys and the Chinese New Year
As with many hobbies, the rise of the Internet has allowed the average action figure collector to understand the intricacies of production, sales, and distribution more than ever before. Fans track and discuss case mixes, variant ratios and shipping schedules. They have favorite sculptors and designers. And with projects like the Four Horsemen’s FANtastic Exclusive, they even get to participate in the development process.
Of course, this heightened awareness also provides collectors with an insight into the sort of issues one would never consider. For instance, we’ve long known that most American toys are manufactured in Chinese factories (for better or, in some recent cases, worse). But what perhaps you weren’t aware of is the fact that, for a week or two in February, all those factories close for the Chinese New Year–meaning the toy companies have to push as much product through as possible before then to avoid serious delays. (more…)
New images!
I’d just like to take a moment to recognize the fine new additions to the sidebar menu, Ray Fillet and Maxx Steele. These are of course the work of Red Kryptonite. Thanks RK!
Currently working on a pretty cool piece. I hope to get it up in the next day or two, if it comes together. No, this isn’t the oft-mentioned DCUC wave one review–though I may have to go ahead and post that without the cool bonus I’ve been hinting about.
Heath Ledger
I don’t know what to say. I keep hoping this is an Andy Kaufman-style prank. This is very sad.
Cloverfield
I loved it.
I won’t go into too much plot detail except to say this–it’s exactly what you think it is: a movie about a giant monster attacking New York filmed through a home video camera.
Cloverfield is one of those visceral movies where your preconceptions and your own life experiences will have a huge effect on your experience of watching it. Some critics have focused their reviews on the film’s use (many call it exploitation) of 9/11 imagery, with opinions running from considering it “tacky” to Salon‘s Stephanie Zacharek’s claim that it “takes the trauma of 9/11 and turns it into just another random spectacle at which to point and shoot.” (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends > Albino Frog Edition
ODD: PGPoA will be moving to a new Web host soon, so there may be some hiccups over the course of the next few weeks. Do not attempt to adjust your monitor if something goes wrong–chances are, I goofed something up. I’ll have more updates on this later in the week, but there’s a chance the site be offline for most of next weekend.
The new Web host will allow me to split PGPoA, Biggerboat and my other new website (for my wedding, if you must know) into separate domains. What does this mean for you, dear reader? Nothing. Nothing at all. Just makes my life a wee bit easier.
END: Saw Cloverfield over the weekend. Working on the review. Short version: enjoyed it, want an action figure of the monster, but not sure I’ll buy the DVD.
ODD: I finally found my KITT toy. I took some new photos and added them to my earlier review.
END: Mrs. Ghostal-to-Be and I have been playing a lot of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure. It’s fun stuff, though it’s more of a puzzle game and less of an 
adventure game than I’d been led to believe.
ODD: Much like my recent Batman redeco mock-ups, collector RM did some Photoshop-fu on NECA’s upcoming Ninja Turtles figures. Check it out.
END: The next round of voting for the 2008 FANtastic Exclusive is underway. Cast your vote!
FAN-freakin’-tastic
The Four Horsemen have hit yet another roadblock on their quest to get quality figures of the 2007 FANtastic Exclusive, Ramathorr, into the hands of collectors.
The new factory was finally able to take possession of the molds recently and inspect them in preparation for production. During their inspection they’ve noticed that some of the molds have a small amount of surface rust because the previous factory had left them sitting, un-oiled and uncovered for an extended period of time. This surface rust is not enough that it will weaken the quality of the detail in the figures, but it is enough that all of the molds will need to be thoroughly cleaned and greased before they can begin running the new batch of figures. […] It now looks as if we may be able to have the product in our warehouse and be able to begin shipping everything out in mid to late March. That is if nothing else rears its ugly head. Please keep your fingers crossed, bear with us, and we’ll update you as often as possible with any further developments.
I own a Ramathorr from the first production run that a friend of mine got me at last year’s San Diego Comic Con. I can vouch for the multiple QC problems these figures have–very loose joints, poorly glued tusks, weapons that won’t fit in their holsters. I suspect the Horsemen will offer some sort of replacement deal for those who already got a Ramathorr or one of his variants, but I decided to just order another one off their website. They’ve already taken enough of a bath on this thing as it is.