Guest Review > 6″ Lion-O (Thundercats, Bandai)

March 16, 2012 | John Harmon

Today we bring you a guest review of Bandai’s Thundercats Classic 6″ Lion-O figure by John Harmon from Mint Condition Customs.

Bandai brought back Thundercats with a thunderous roar last year, with a ton of product based on the new animated series as well as an eight-inch collector line of figures based on the classic looks of the Thundercats. After the first two figures, Lion-O and Tygra, were released, Bandai changed everything and announced that from then on, the Thundercats Classics figures would be in the much more collector-preferred six-inch scale. The first two figures to be released would be a new Lion-O figure and Mumm-Ra.

At first, even several of the six-inch collectors groaned at the news because they had already been sold on the eight-inch figures and didn’t want to have to start all over. Fortunately, that turned out to be a good move, because these figures fit much better on a toy shelf – and Lion-O is a really cool figure. (more…)

It’s Kobra Khan Day

March 15, 2012 | Poe

I always get confused as to whether it’s spelled “Khan” or “Kahn.” But for Kobra, Genghis and the arch-nemesis of Captain Kirk, it’s H before A. Kuh-hawn, as it were.

Anyway, yeah, Mattycollector sale today and all that. Tons of stuff for sale, including lots of DCUC, the awesome Blazing Sword Voltron, and Peter Venkman for only $16, so go check it out at 12 noon ET – if you dare.

Rise of the Beasts Cancelled (UPDATED)

March 14, 2012 | Poe

UPDATE: It seems the line was cancelled due to factory issues.

I found out this morning that the factory came back late last night and said they can only do the figures at the 80mm scale which is 1/3 larger than the 60mm they promised. According to them, 60mm is just too small for them to handle. There was simply not enough time to notify everyone and give them the option of cancelling their pledge. Had this news come a week ago, an update would have gone out letting people know and the Kickstarter would have lived or died based on the 80mm size change. So really, the only option was to cancel.

[…]

The upside of this whole situation is that there are a couple other avenues that will allow the figures to be made at 60mm and sooner. Just not at this manufacturer.

I just found out about this deal breaker early this morning, P! found out late last night. So rather than take your money and hope for the best, we cancelled. There really was no other option. I hope this provides some clarification for those of you who are rightfully upset and confused. For those of you who are still pissed after reading this, all I can say is I am sorry that we hit this bump, but cancelling the Kickstarter was absolutely the right thing to do, based on the last minute info from the factory.

I will gladly take egg on my face over this hiccup, when the alternative was letting the project fund and taking a gamble with your money.

This seems fair, and I retract any criticism of Karis (aside from suggesting he should have posted this in the first place). But it certainly illustrates the difficulties of producing your own line of toys.

Original article:

The Battle Beasts-inspired Kickstarter project Rise of the Beasts has been cancelled just as it was set to be funded (at $5K above the requested amount). (more…)

Most Wanted > M1 Last Dinosaur

March 14, 2012 | Poe

M1GO The Last Dinosaur Brown Tyrannosaurus Rex & Polar Borer

One of my favorite childhood films was The Last Dinosaur, a 1977 co-production between Rankin-Bass and Tsuburaya Productions* about a megalomaniac big game hunter and his attempt to hunt down a T-rex with footsteps like the sound of thunder, living in a lost world.

I plan to do a nostalgia-filled review of the movie for PGU at some point, but in the meantime a recent Web search revealed to me a brand-new holy grail: the M1 Last Dinosaur set.

Released in 2009 to commemorate the release of the Japanese DVD, this was a Japanese exclusive item. Given the otherwise complete lack of Last Dinosaur merchandise, I must own this. Even better, it comes with the Polar Borer vehicle from the movie! Krang totally ripped it off.

If you have any leads on how I could obtain one of these, please let me know.

Got a hard-to-find toy you need help tracking down? Send a photo and description of your Most Wanted item to poe@poeghostal.com.

* Founded by Eiji Tsuburaya, the Japanese special effects wizard behind Godzilla and the rest of the Toho Monsters, as well as the creator of Ultraman.

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More Digital River Weirdness

March 14, 2012 | Poe

First off, let me say that so far there does not appear to have been a single other case or even suggestion of a security breach at Digital River. As of right now, all we have is the single report from the other day.

The original poster has now taken down the initial post, but put up a new one describing a call he received from a Digital River representative who was seeking to identify him as one who made the initial report. (more…)

Quick Review > Blinky the Red Ghost PVC (Pac-Man, Coleco, 1982)

March 13, 2012 | Poe

There seems to have been an abundance of Pac-Man-related toys when I was a wee tyke, circa 1982, and for whatever reason I owned a few of them. The oldest toy I still own from my childhood – the one that’s still the original, that I’ve never had to buy a replacement of on eBay – is a wind-up Pac-Man by Coleco.

I also had this guy, a PVC ghost from Pac-Man, part of a whole line of PVC figures also by Coleco. I believe they predated the cartoon series; they’re certainly not based on it. Nor is he based on the actual game ghost – he’s just some sort of cartoonish interpretation of it. My fondness for this piece isn’t based on nostalgia for Pac-Man, though; it’s just a nice, solid, fun little PVC I owned as a kid, and a nice desk tchotchke.

Although it doesn’t say it on the front of the package, he’s apparently known as “Blinky the Red Ghost” – maybe it says that on the cross-sell on the back. Believe it or not, there doesn’t appear to be a website out there that has cataloged this toy line in detail. The closest thing I could find was this.

So apparently Pac-Man was huge in the early ’80s. It’s easy to forget that, since Mario more or less wiped Pac-Man off the map a few years later.

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