Pic of the Day > Thundercats Classics – Lion-O by (Talyn)
Odds ‘n Ends > Toy Fair Items of Interest & More
- A few other things that caught my eye at Toy Fair:
- Mezco’s stylized Universal Monsters figures. OAFE reviewer and occasional PGPoA contributor Rustin Parr could not possible be more excited for these–he’s planning to get two of each. I’m in for the Gillman, of course, as he’s my favorite UM. They’re due out around September (according to at least one site). Pics at Battlegrip.
- Jay Cochran of TNI seems concerned about the future of Bandai’s ThunderCats toys; there was nothing new at Toy Fair this year, and the staff wouldn’t comment on its future. The cartoon show has been a moderate success and reportedly renewed for a second season, and from my own observation the toys seem to sell decently, so I’m a bit surprised by this.
- There will be Play Arts Kai Mass Effect figures, starting with Shepard, Ashley and Garrus. Garrus is great, but Shepard is less exciting since everyone creates their own character, and Ashley? Why no Miranda? Miranda was way more interesting. And–ahem–hotter, for a CGI character anyway. BBTS has these up for preorder.
- Of course there’s also PAK’s upcoming Arkham Asylum figures. I note that Phil Reed of Battlegrip made sure to get an upskirt of Harley Quinn (prediction: that will be my most-clicked link today. You’re welcome, Phil!).
- I have to admit to being kind of excited by Mezco’s Mars Attacks figure. I just hope it has decent articulation. It appears to have hinged elbows and knees, but the real question is whether the hips/thighs are ball joints. I’m guessing not the thighs at least, since the feet don’t appear to be articulated.
- TNI has more pics of the classic Turtles, including the packaging, which is wonderfully nostalgic. They’re due in stores in August at about $15 apiece, so it’ll cost you $60 to put together your Fab Four.
- In non-Toy Fair news, Poester Chris Pearce sent me a note regarding his blog Teachable Moments, which has been running a series of posts called Thrift Store Finds. He’s reviewed a number of vintage MOTU items recently such as children’s books, coloring books and magazines, all of which you can check out using this link.
- PGPoA art director Mecha-Shiva pointed me to this neat YouTube video of a self-proclaimed “Greatest Toy in the Universe.” It’s created by a UK company called Wow Stuff, and it looks rather like the vintage MOTU toy Spydor. I dislike radio-controlled toys, but I’ll admit that thing is pretty neat.
- Finally, I just want to thank JediCreeper again for helping out with the Toy Fair coverage this year. Maybe we can get him a real press pass next year…
More Little Godzilla Pics
Bluefin Tamashii Nations USA updated their Facebook page with more pics of Little Godzilla from the Space Godzilla effects pack.
The crystals are pretty lame, but the figure is fairly large and articulated. It’s also ridiculously cute, but I’ll console myself and rationalize my purchase by thinking that my future child will like it. The crystals are rather lame, though.
Moguera & Baby Godzilla join the S.H.MonsterArts lineup
I’ve been trying to figure out what Tamashii Nations is–evidently they’re “an umbrella label encompassing Japan’s top collectible brands” and, as far as I can tell, they’re run by Bandai.
Anyway, the Tamashii Nations Facebook page has posted new pics of the S.H.MonsterArts Moguera and Baby Godzilla figures. For those who don’t know, S.H.MonsterArts (SHM) is a line of 6″ scale, fully-articulated Godzilla figures. (I’ll be reviewing Godzilla and Mechagodzilla in the near future–once I get through the mass of MOTUC reviews I have on deck.) (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends > Draego-Man and Kobra Khan Pics & Bio, S.H.MonsterArts Updates, DC Direct Dark Knight Rises figures
- Mattel has posted pics and bios of Kobra Khan and Draego-Man on their Facebook page. Who’s the Great Black Wizard…? Scott also added this commentary: Draego-Man really filled out the package. The wings are detached as is the tail to fit inside the blister, but they all easily snap in. He comes with the flame on sword. We are working on finding a home for the unreleased sword and whip accessories, perhapes with a future figure. The massive wing span and all the deco hits he needed forced us to reduce a few accessories to keep him as a $20.00 figure. We would rather remove the shield than have to remove the wings or tail! The all new bio [is] based on the Horsemen’s backstory! The shield art was also supplied by the Horsemen from their concept sketch sent to our design team! Draego ships in April as part of the 30th sub (not the main Club Eternia Cub) with some limited day-of stock for non sub holders.
- Bandai Japan’s S.H.MonsterArts line is my new obsession, so I was happy to hear the latest news that Moguera will be released in late May, and the SpaceGodzilla special effects pack featuring crystals and an articulated Baby Godzilla will ship in June. The Moguera will cost $87, which is more expensive than any SHM figure to date (lots of theories as to why, but it’s probably just due to all the accessories). Given this line’s obsession with accuracy and devotion to depicting these kaiju as fully as possible, I strongly suspect it will be able to split, especially since, to the best of my knowledge, no previous Moguera toy has been able to do that. The crystal/Baby Godzilla set will cost $44, which is actually cheaper than any accessory kit thus far. The better news is that there may be a U.S. distribution for one or both items, which should bring the prices down.
- DC Direct is doing 6″ Dark Knight Rises figures, meaning that they will once again be competing directly with Mattel; first the Arkham games, now DKR. DCD pretty decisively won the Arkham battle, but if the Four Horsemen are behind the DKR Movie Masters and Mattel actually puts a little money into the production side of things (a big if there), they could win this battle…especially since the DCD figures appear to be pre-posed a la DC’s World of Warcraft and God of War figures. (Via Toynewsi)
- In the same article, DC also announced series 3 of Arkham City, due in September 2012 and consisting of a regular Batman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Clown Thug, Azrael, and the Penguin.
Pic of the Day > Shinken-Oh by ArmoredFoe
Pic of the Day > MUMM-RA THE EVER LIVING!!!! by (Talyn)
Poe’s Bad QC Luck Continues
I finally went to open my MonsterArts MechaGodzilla this weekend–only to discover he had no eyes.
Now it’s a race between this and the Wind Raider as to which replacement item gets here first. Any bets?
Odds ‘n Ends > MIB3, Swift Wind QC errors, 6″ ThunderCats
- Darth Skeletor, Overlord of the Sith.
- I meant to post on this a while back, but some pics surfaced of JAKKS’s Men in Black 3 toys. Looks like JAKKS is giving them the 4″ POTC-style treatment–not sure if there will be 6″ figs. I guess there are spoilers here if you’re trying to avoid them. MIB2 was pretty bad, so I don’t really have high hopes for this one. The original film is one of my all-time faves, though, so I’ll be happy if it doesn’t suck…
- I managed to submit my entry for the Create-A-Character contest just under the wire (i.e., yesterday, because it had to be postmarked by December 31). I’ll reveal it once it’s allowed, which I guess is after the announce the winners.
- It appears there’s a very common error on the Masters of the Universe Classics Swift Wind. WARNING: This is an error you might never notice. I’ve colored the text in white so that you can remain in blissful ignorance if you desire. If not, highlight the following text. Please don’t mention it specifically in the comments. The front forelegs (bottom part of the legs, above the hooves) are often two left or two right legs. You can tell by checking to see if the veins are in the same place. I checked and my Swift Wind has this error. If you read through that thread, you’ll find some advice on what to do if you want a replacement, though I think this is probably the best shot. I thought it over and decided this was one of those errors that I might never have noticed, and between that, my general lack of interest in the character, and the effort required to get a replacement, it just isn’t something I want to bother with. I get the fans who say everyone should pursue this to teach Mattel a lesson, but I’m just too lazy in this case. I will admit I’ve occasionally wished I could cancel my 2012 sub, though.
- The 6″ classic ThunderCats have started hitting stores–I saw them at Target a couple days ago. Overall I’d say the 8″ line is better in terms of design and sculpting, but the 6″ scale is a bit more appealing.