Spent a little time with Photoshop today mocking up these potential redecos of the DCUC Batman figure. The third one would be a must-buy for me. (Though I’m sure it would be one of those cases where Mrs. Ghostal-to-Be would be completely perplexed as to why I needed yet another Batman.)
I think I did a decent job with my amateur Photoshop skills. The original photo is at the bottom for comparison.
When I was designing this site in my head, one thing I knew I wanted were graphics inspired by some of the more random toys I loved as a child. Hence the first “On the Menu” figure, Weed Killer. From time to time I’ll be posting a review/memoir about each character found on the site’s graphics (incidentally, watch for two brand-new graphics coming at the end of the month).
Today’s OTM is a fellow that many of you have mentioned in your comments: Soaron Sky Sentry, the pterodactyl-like robot-man and official PGPoA enforcer who orders you to post a comment. (more…)
ODD: Well, Raving Toy Maniac has managed to get their RTM Spotlight of the DCUC wave one up, while I continue to dither on my own mega-review. I have a good reason for dithering, as I hope you’ll eventually get to see, but I’m still gonna be real late to the party.
In the meantime, Mattel has released some PR images of mock-ups of the second and third wave figures. You can see them all at the DCUC Info Archive. For fun, I edited together this image of the DCSH series eight Batman and the upcoming Robin, shown here next to their 1984 Kenner Super Powers counterparts (the latter taken from Jason Geyer’s Super Powers Archive).
Talk about coming a long way, baby. (On a side note…Batman went through three or four costume alterations from the 1940s through the 1980s, but DC Comics left Robin with that exact goofy uniform for fifty years. Why?)
END: In other news, Paul from Toy Bender has for some reason decided I would make for a gripping interview…but you can decide for yourself.
ODD: It seems I started a trend with my review of Cleatus the Fox Sports Robot; both Michael Crawford and OAFE have hopped on board the bandwagon.
END: I think I can declare PGPoA’s first contest a success–seventeen entries and counting! There are still plenty of days left in February and March, so if you haven’t entered yet, go for it.
ODD: You may have noticed this blog has its first ads. More are on the way. Have I sold out? Short answer yes, long answer…more or less, yeah. But I just can’t do this sort of thing for free anymore. If I can make back some of my expenses with a few relatively unobtrusive ads by retailers I approve of, then my conscience is clear.
END: I finally received my proper, horn-less Gentle Giant Hellboy. There are photos on my Flickr page, and I’ll try to get a quick review up soon.
Gentle Giant has created a horror sub-site at www.gentlegiantltd.com/horror. The site features their newest license, 30 Days of Night.
The site says simply, “Based on the graphic novel by Steven Niles and Ben Templesmith.” Not having read the GN or seen the movie adaptation, I’m not clear whether that’s referring to the film or the action figures. Anyone?
Mattel’s “ToyGuru” has posted an update regarding the DCUC and JLU lines. Here are the passages I found interesting:
First off, there has been some concern about the variants for Wave 1. In our efforts to get WAVE 2 out as quickly as possible we had to break a few eggs. One of those wound up being the WAVE 1 variants.
Take note, those of you participating in my contest–they’re trying to get wave two out as soon as possible. So far, only one person has chosen a February date.
The first half of the WAVE 2 production will be Ronnie, the second half will be Jason. Superman Red/Blue will continue to ship 50/50 throughout the run, and the Aquaman variant will continue to be a chase figure.
WAVE 3 is not changing and will still contain chase versions of Sinestro in his corps uniform and Deathstroke revealed to be Slade Wilson. (about time we stick to our original plan!)
This seems to be pretty good news all around, though I do hope the chase figures aren’t too hard to find (particularly now that I’m starting to like the Sinestro variant).
On a related note, I want to point out this post by Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer. Here’s the key paragraph:
Talking to the fans doesn’t increase sales (the fan will buy the product regardless), and many times doesn’t even give accurate feedback because the fan’s passion skews the impression too far in one direction. Cost wise, the interaction and time spent is much more valuable by reaching out to those that aren’t already seeking the information. Which means ads & exclusives in Toyfare. And ads in comic books. And flyers in comic shops. And promotions in toy stores. But not interaction online. The execs probably get this, and is one reason this type of thing is frowned upon. And a huge reason the ToyGurus and Jesse Falcons of the world should be even more appreciated than they are.
This is obviously just a dose of good old-fashioned common sense, but it’s one most fan communities should probably take two of every morning. It’s important to keep the fans happy and build positive buzz, but pandering to fans quickly creates a sense of entitlement that will invariably backfire. More than once, I’ve seen a toy representative go from being a hero to the collector community for their communication to being loathed for this or that decision by the company. As Geyer writes, “feeding this hunger is a thankless job.”
Yo go re of OAFE has posted his entire toy expense report for 2007. The total, by my count, is around $4,880. It makes mine look laughable.
I didn’t keep track, but I’d estimate my own spending around $1,000.
NOTE: Originally published on OAFE.net.
First off, let’s get one thing straight–in theory, that pasty, blobby white shape in the picture is intended to resemble the face of actor David Hasselhoff, circa 1983. In theory. In practice, the only clue that this is Mr. Baywatch is the distinctive wind-blown coiffure. With its lipless, tepid smile, beady eyes fixed in a zombie-like stare, and milky, translucent-looking skin, this figure resembles an albino frog more than every German’s favorite actor.
Codename: OB1
Base of Operations: OB1og
History: Grumpy and intimidating software/web developer by day, whiney and sassy Xbox gamer by night, OB1 is a semi-closeted toy geek. If it weren’t for the huge amounts of cake he already blows on comic books every month, he’d probably be blowing it on toys. In fact, it is due to the G.I. Joe toys and cartoons that he finds himself buried in stacks of yet-to-be-read comic books and presumably thousands upon thousands of dollars poorer. Paper route earnings were put into G.I. Joe comics and that led to the rest of the Marvel Universe. It circled back to toys with the release of McFarlane’s original Spawn figure (which he still believes is one of the best he’s ever seen). Neglecting his blog and comics at the expense of increasing his Gamerscore at night with Poe and Mistah Plow, he dreams that his toys never come to life and exact revenge for being boxed up in the basement.
What was the first action figure you remember owning?
I got a Spider-man figure for my seventh birthday (second grade). He was probably eight to ten inches, had a cloth costume and a knob on his back, which when turned, would spin his arms around (I’m guessing for some kind of punchy motion). Some time around my last few years of high school I found out from my friend that gifted him to me that he was forced into it. Spidey was supposed to be one of his Christmas presents, but his mother wrapped it up as a gift for my party when he needed one. He never got a Spidey of his own and apparently still held some resentment. That’s too bad too because since my birhtday is just a few weeks before Christmas, Spidey ended up at the bottom of my toybox after Christmas (see Question 5).
Oh, and for first action figure memories (because I didn’t own them), it is some original G.I. Joe dolls. You know, the twelve-inch suckers where you could put different clothes on and outfit with weapons, etc. My grandmother’s house had a few of them and I laid claim to them when I would visit.
What was your favorite toy fad growing up, and why? (Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers etc.)
This is a tough one. Ultimately, I’d have to say LEGO, but that wasn’t really a fad and since this is an action figure-centric site, I’ll go with Star Wars, just because it lasted past childhood. Of course, I was into G.I. Joe and the Transformers a lot–thanks to the cartoons–and I amassed a decent collection of those toys, more Joes than Transformers, but those also came later in my *childhood* years and I started feeling funny about wanting to play with toys as a kid in high school. Of course, now, it ain’t no thing, right?
I have fond memories of my Joe’s. I had the hovercraft and I used to take it with me when my Mom would work nights at our athletic club. I’d take that sucker into the locker room and play with it in the jacuzzi. That all seems very wrong these days. Transformers don’t lend such fond memories as they caused my juvenile run-in with the law. I was the unfortunate bag man accomplice for my friend boosting the Autobot that turned into a microscope. We got busted at the Hanover Mall Zayre’s by security as we exited the store. A call to the parents instead of the fuzz was our reward.
Anyway, back to Star Wars, I think I have to go with that because I was big into them for the first two films–I don’t think I owned any toys from Jedi–and it caused a resurgence in my toy buying when those films were re-released 10+ years ago. I found myself buying a lot of figures and vehicles I used to have when I was a kid. I still can’t explain why, except maybe it was because I was already having a toy buying resurgence due to McFarlane’s Spawn figures.
Too bad there weren’t Star Wars LEGO sets when I was a kid, that would have been right in my wheelhouse. Instead, I settled for the first Space sets, which at the time, were pretty cool too.
What’s the last toy you bought?
A Star Wars Galactic Heroes two-pack with the middle-aged Obi-Wan Kenobi and a Clone Trooper. We had a little bowling tournament at work this past Spring and our trophies were a Galactic Hero (or their Marvel equivalent) glued onto a Jenga block (we played it during team building/status meetings). Anyway, I had Yoda for being on the first place team and a Clone Trooper for having the lowest individual score (yeah, my team was really good). Well, me being me, I wasn’t satisfied with the Yoda, so I had to replace him with an Obi-Wan if I was going to display them at work. (No one would know the difference.)
Last toy I received was McFarlane Toys’ Manny Ramirez. I believe Poe (or future Mrs. Ghostal) stole him from me during a Yankee Swap and the person that bought it gave me a replacement for my birthday a week later. Now I might need a Big Papi and worry this may snowball…
If they made an action figure of you, what would it look like, what would its features be, and what accessories would it come with?
Well, to look at me, you have to go with a figure looking something like Jack “The Pumpkin King” Skellington because I’m tall and almost as pale. I’m not quite as lanky as I used to be, but it is still a good fit. As for accessories, I think you’d have to have a DSLR and a laptop for sure, then let’s throw in a ray gun of some sort for fun.
What’s your fondest toy-related holiday memory?
Christmas of ’78. I’m a fresh seven years old and am somehow rewarded with a huge bounty of Star Wars toys under the tree. Coming from a single parent home, we didn’t have a whole lot of money at all and I probably had a haul that was on par with a rich kid. It’s a vivid memory because that year I remember asking Santa simply for an X-Wing, Tie Fighter and a few figures, probably Luke, Vader, Han and Chewie. After Santa laughed at me and I got booted down the slide, my Mom asked what I asked Santa for and I refused to tell her. She calmly explained that I had to tell her and of course I didn’t know why. (I think we’ve all had that moment.) Well, I relented and told her.
Come Christmas morning, I stumbled out into the living room and saw those same toys I asked Santa for staring back at me from under the tree. All of them. That’s before I started opening anything wrapped. (In my family, Santa leaves things unwrapped under the tree.) Once I started unwrapping, I added the Landspeeder, a Dewback, Stormtrooper, Leia, Obi-Wan, R2-D2, C-3PO and an action figure case. I’m pretty sure I have never been as happy in the 29 years since that morning. I was just blown away by that take and to this day, I still don’t know how my Mom pulled it off. I mean, that was just after the toys came out–remember that the toys dropped a year after the film did–and everyone had to wait in lines before stores opened to get their mitts on these things.
Anyway, I hope to do the same thing to my own future spawn and it would be super cool if it were by way of the action figure.
Some good photos of the “Movie Masters” 6″ Dark Knight line (sculpted by the Four Horsemen) have leaked (intentionally or not?) to the Web. For now, I’m just going to link to another site that has them, until I’ve got confirmation from the Horsemen or Mattel that it’s okay to post them here.
Also, Entertainment Earth has a bunch of Dark Knight, including the Movie Master figures, up for preorder. There are some new photos, but I’m skeptical about how much information EE really has–for instance, the photo for the Movie Masters figures is the old prototype photo that came out last week, and the product description says “Each case includes 4 individually packaged Action Figures which may include: Batman, The Joker. (Subject to change.)” Hmmmm…
I do believe the May release date, though. That’s the usual release date for a July blockbuster toy line.
The DC Universe Classics Info Archive has got their hands on some cool new photos of DCUC wave three, including rear views. I’m happy to see Nightwing has back-sheathes for his Eskrima sticks, and the close-up of Solomon Grundy highlights the Horsemen’s excellent head sculpt.
