Review > Shadow Weaver (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

March 9, 2012 | Poe

Almost every great toy line has a few major gaps. The 1980s Star Wars line lacked Grand Moff Tarkin (who finally got a figure in 1997, and will get a new one later this year). The vintage Masters of the Universe needed a Queen Marlena (last year’s SDCC exclusive). Perhaps most famously, Playmates never produced a Maude Flanders for their late-1990s Simpsons line.

The 1980s Princess of Power had Shadow Weaver.* Shadow Weaver was the antithesis of Eternia’s Sorceress: a powerful wizard who worked with the bad guys instead of the good guys. With her vast powers, mysterious appearance, and hefty role in the cartoon (she appeared in 52 of 93 episodes), Shadow Weaver was a very notable absence from the 1980s toy line. And since she was created by Filmation and never had a vintage figure, Mattel didn’t have the rights to produce a toy based on her until the deal with Classic Media came through last year. (more…)

Toy Aisle Trolls > Transdeformers

March 8, 2012 | Poe

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe@poeghostal.com.

Submitted by: @more_jetpacks

Found these sad sacks at a ROSS in Olympia, WA. Wreck-Gar has been swapped with an busted AT-AT and Turbo Tracks has been swapped for some random TF. Even $6.99 is too much for the trolls.

Karmic Curse: May you grow so rich that your widow’s second husband never has to worry about making a living.

MOTUC Bio Discussion #51 > Leech

March 8, 2012 | Poe

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Leech

Real Name: K’ull’leusshhhh

A Slebetor Slug-man from deep in the Lake of Gnarl, Leech was called from the depths by a magic spell of Hordak to bolster his forces against King Grayskull and the Snake Men during the Great Wars. Mindwiped by Hordak’s lead witch, Leech became a loyal member of his Horde Army, using his magically enhanced energy-draining powers to suck enemies of their strength. He later played a key role in the Horde’s fight against the Great Rebellion after Hordak claimed Etheria as a new homeworld during their banishment in Despondos. When called upon in battle, Leech sucks the power from his enemies!

For the most part, this is a fairly standard bio. Yes, the real name is ridiculous as usual, and I was unable to find an earlier source for “Slebetor,” so that may be new. The rest of the story (Despondos, the Rebellion, etc.) has already been pretty well established as MOTUC history.

The only serious point of contention here is why in Nyarlathotep’s name they felt the need to “mindwipe” Leech (or for that matter, summon him from the depths via a magic spell instead of just recruiting him). This is the second time we’ve seen this, the first being Grizzlor (and Adora may have been at least partly brainwashed, although I’m not sure if it’s been explicitly stated in MOTUC canon). Is Hordak so uncharismatic a leader that his every follower has to be either brainwashed or is actively plotting against him?

More importantly, why was it even necessary to use this hoary plot device again at all? Now we have to wonder if Leech is a relatively peaceful fellow who’s been pressed into service against his will. Like Grizzlor and Adora (and perhaps Keldor), Leech is now arguably a victim as much as he’s a villain. Skeletor doesn’t seem to have this problem – his followers may be ambitious (Evil-lyn), argumentative (Tri-Klops), or dumb as rocks (pretty much everyone else), but they’re genuine bad guys.

I want to think the odd fact of both Grizzlor and Leech being brainwashed will play into the plot later on – e.g., the brainwashing is somehow reversed and the two turn on Hordak – but I’m afraid I doubt we’ll get a payoff like that.

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Quick Review > Mutant Gorilla (Papo)

March 7, 2012 | Poe

I first came across this figure from this post on Toywalker’s Blog. Being a love of all things gorilla, I knew I had to own it – fortunately Amazon had it.

I don’t know anything about this toy line or why it includes a post-apocalyptic warrior ape, but it’s awesome. (Side note: there’s a whole bunch of weird animal-men from this line, some of which were reviewed by Rustin Parr over at OAFE.) The sculpt is excellent (although I absolutely hate that sneaker, for some reason), and the paint, as you can see, is very well done too. The sword is interchangeable with the axe, although only the sword can be sheathed on his back.

Sadly, the figure has no articulation at all, so it’s mostly just a neat shelf tchotchke.

Odds ‘n Ends > The Manta Raider; Thundercats Returns

March 6, 2012 | Poe

  • Joe Amaro has posted an incredibly cool custom MOTUC toy, the “Manta Raider,” based on an art piece by the incredible Rudy Obrero, who did much of the vintage MOTU art as well as the recent Wind Raider box. Let’s all “thank” Joe for continually making and showing off awesome MOTUC stuff we’ll never own.
  • Although if Mattel had any brains, they’d include this Manta Raider with one of the 30th Anniversary figures.
  • Does anyone else wish this year’s sub pack-in had been a poster of the Wind Raider box art instead of the Preternia map?
  • It looks like Thundercats will be back sooner than anyone expected – namely, March 24, when the second season begins. Hooray!
  • BigBadToyStore now has the 2012 Ninja Turtles and Hobbit stuff for preorder.
  • I’ve been upping the number of guest reviews lately. As of right now I can’t really remunerate anyone for them (aside from plugs and publicity), but if you’re interested in writing a guest review of anything (but particularly of the new Marvel Legends 6″ stuff) shoot me an email.

Hasbro’s Statement on the Fun Publications Credit Card Incident

March 6, 2012 | Poe

Not being a G.I. Joe collector, I’ve only been following this issue from a distance, but it seems worthy of mentioning. Fun Publications, who appear to be Hasbro’s equivalent to Digital River, is the company who handles the G.I. Joe and Transformers collectors’ clubs. Club members have been hit by credit card fraud related to security flaws in FP’s system (which were noticed by collectors years ago).

Hasbro released their official statement on the matter yesterday. (more…)