Toy Aisle Trolls > Awry Man

June 23, 2011 | 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 AT poeghostal.com.

Submitted by: T16SkyHopp

The Problem: The Manhunter Skallox/Medphyll figures have been swapped for Orion figures.

Karmic Payback: May the legs of the figures he stole snap off at the hips, removing the meagre rewards of being a such complete waste of sentience.

Odds ‘n Ends > June 20, 2011

June 20, 2011 | Poe

  • Mattycollector is having a “Mad Matty Monday” next week on the 27th. The idea is for $40, you get three items that exceed the $40 value. There’s a DC set, a MOTU set, and a Ghostbusters set. One thing to keep in mind is that the third item in the MOTU set could be display stands, and the DC set could contain JLU items as well as DCUC items. I’ll be curious to see how these do. I suspect the MOTU sets will sell out fairly quickly.
  • Figure previews around the Web: Pixel Dan reviews Clawful, Megator and Young Justice Robin; Fwoosh has  SDCC Movie Masters Kilowog and DCUC Series 17.
  • Saw X-Men: First Class this weekend, and quite enjoyed it. I think Marvel and its licensors may have made a mistake by not giving more credit to this flick, though admittedly there aren’t many toy-friendly designs in it–maybe diamond Emma Frost, Mystique, and Beast. Much has been made of January Jones’ mediocre acting, and here’s my contribution: she reminded me of Gwyneth Paltrow’s role in the fake Austin Powers movie (as “Dixie Normous”) in Goldmember.
  • The site redesign proceeds apace. We’re getting closer to the big relaunch, but we’re not quite there yet. It’s looking good, though.

Ask Mattel > Answers for June 15, 2011

June 15, 2011 | Poe

1.) Josh asks: The WWE figures utilize the basic, elite, and defining moments methods of selling figures and different price points. Would this model ever be considered for DCUC to get more “deluxe” versions of figures? For instance, a Superman with a cloth cape or even a Clark Kent outfit; A batman with cloth cape and accessories.

Always a possibility but nothing is planned right now.

2.) Chris asks: Regarding WWE,the knee and elbow pads restrict movement. Would it be possible to switch to a more sponge like material that would allow free movement but retain it’s natural shape? (more…)

Toy Aisle Trolls > The Strife Aquatic

June 10, 2011 | 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 AT poeghostal.com.

Submitted by: 3B

The Problem: The Aquaman has been replaced by the Alex Ross’s “Justice”-style Aquaman from the Walmart “Undersea Assault” 2-pack.

What It’s Supposed to Look Like: This.

XXX writes:

I snapped this one at my local TRU yesterday. I’m not too bothered by this one, though. Why? I’ve never seen this version of Aquaman (from the Walmart-exclusive “Undersea Assault” 2-pack) at retail, so you can say it’s pretty rare in my area. This troll obviously just wanted the classic version of Aquaman and swapped in the gold one. Also, the package showed very little evidence of being opened.

Probably worth mentioning that this particular store hasn’t stocked any of the Aquaman/Mer-Man or Hawkman/Stratos packs. In fact, they have a boatload of the Lex/Skeletor packs left. I suspect this troll picked up the set at another store about 7miles to the North, which recently stocked the new sets.

As for payback… I think the fact the “Aquaman” TV series was never made is punishment enough for this troll.

Karmic Payback: Yeah, this is one of those cases where I have mixed feelings about dishing out the karmic payback. On the one hand, yes, many DCUC fans do want the Aquaman. And the guy did engage in criminal behavior by opening the pack, swapping a figure and returning it. It was dishonest.

On the other hand, that Walmart Aquaman was hard to find…anyone who bought this set would either be thrilled to get the Aquaman, or could probably sell the Aquaman on eBay and recoup enough money to buy another one of these sets and get the right Aquaman. And if they didn’t realize they got the wrong Aquaman, then obviously they don’t care enough about the figure for it to matter.

So I’m going to defer to you, faithful readers, to determine the punishment (or reward) of your choice.

Odds n’ Ends > June 7, 2011

June 7, 2011 | Poe

  • The big website redesign I’ve been mentioning for months now is tentatively scheduled to go live this Monday. That could easily be pushed back, but for now that’s the plan. OB1 and Mecha-Shiva have been working their butts off for this project.
  • To get you all psyched up for the redesign, I’ve pledged to write a review a day this week (since evidently it’s my most popular feature).
  • DC revealed a bunch of Bat-titles for its upcoming “Brand New DC” (my term) in December. Pros: Dick Grayson back as Nightwing, only one Batman. Cons: Damian Wayne still Robin. Not sure how to feel about: Barbara Gordon getting her legs back and returning as Batgirl. I recommend you read this op-ed by Jill Pantozzi. And finally, Rather worried about: While Catwoman, Batgirl, Batwoman, Nightwing, Batwing and even frickin’ Jason Todd get their own books, there was no sign of Tim Drake yesterday. I have a bad feeling Tim may be getting killed off/”disappeared” by Didio & friends.
  • There seem to be a lot of mixed feelings on this, but I’m psyched about all the Halo news out of E3 so far. First off, I’ve never loved any Halo game as much as I loved Combat Evolved, so the news about the updated version was welcome–it’s something I’ve talked about for years. As for Halo 4, while I generally do think certain companies do the best job with certain properties, I also think Bungie had some idiosyncrasies in its game development and storytelling that I wouldn’t necessarily miss (Gravemind anyone?). So long story short, I’m willing to give both games the benefit of the doubt. The one thing out of E3 I’m not liking? All the discussion of the Kinect and Move, especially them being used in games like Mass Effect 3. No thank you, game developers.

Ask Mattel > Answers for June 1, 2011

June 1, 2011 | Poe

1.) Zach asks: I’ve noticed a disheartening increase in the amount of Collect-N-Connect figure pieces stolen from the packages of DC Universe Classics figures. While their placement in the package (at the bottom, behind the name card) looks great, it makes it easier for thieves to steal them unnoticed. Would you consider laying out the packaging differently, with the C’n’C piece more prominently displayed, to hopefully help prevent theft?

In-store theft is something Mattel has very little control over. We actually did a lot of testing and fans greatly preferred the pieces packed below as to not have a “floating limb” near their figure for those who wanted to keep figures in package. While this is good feedback, we don’t have plans to reposition the C&C pieces at this time.

2.) Nicholai asks: Why the decision to go with a Batman Legacy sub-line when the Green Lantern sub-line did not pass two waves? Was GLC not meant to go on longer? (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends

June 1, 2011 | Poe

  • The upcoming redesign/relaunch of PGPoA continues apace. Rome wasn’t built in a day, when it’s done, Valve time and all that. Hopefully it will seem worth the hubbub once it’s revealed. I will say we have a pretty cool contest planned to coincide with it.
  • In the meantime, as I’m sure is obvious, I’ve been on something of an unofficial hiatus for a few months now. It was a nice break, and necessary, I think, but things should start picking up soon. April and May were very busy months for me, but things appear to be calming down now.
  • So, DC is rebooting their entire universe. I have a lot of reservations and many questions, but the first one I want answered is: does this mean Damian Wayne can finally go away? More significantly, though, it occurred to me that the comics themselves are really the least relevant form of media for superheroes these days. My Batman is the Batman of B:TAS, the Burton & Nolan films, and Arkham Asylum/City. And action figures, of course. As long as DC still produces Elseworlds-style side comics like Batman Beyond and one-offs like Brian Azzarello’s The Joker, while making animated adaptations of Batman: Year One and Dark Knight Returns, I’ll be fine. What are your thoughts?
  • BotCon is this weekend…anyone going? Anyone interested? Anyone else find it painful Michael Bay is being feted?

DCUC > Tux Joker & White-Face Harley revealed

May 27, 2011 | Poe

I’ve never been as bothered as some collectors about the blue on the original DCUC Harley’s face, but those who are will be happy to see the first pics of this two-pack, which also features a tux-wearing Joker. I’m more excited about the Golden Age Joker coming as part of the Batman Legacy line, but I’ll be getting this pack too.

These pics evidently surfaced at an Asian auction site, so presumably we’ll be seeing these on shelves in a few months.

Like most DCUC Toys R Us exclusives, this is based on Alex Ross art, specifically the famous Tango of Evil.

(via Toynewsi)