Review > Stratos (Masters of the Universe Classics)

February 27, 2009 | Poe

stratos_cardI love Stratos. Something about the design–the gray fur, the red feathered “wings,” the jet pack, the flight goggles–really appeals to me. He was one of my favorite He-Man figures as a kid.

While I liked most of the MOTU2K figures, I didn’t like the revamped Stratos much. His articulation was limited by his action feature, which probably had a lot to do with it. But ironically, I think it was the consistency and realism the Horsemen added to his design–the feathered loincloth, the jetpack handles–that made him less cool. Stratos is supposed to be a mash-up of various animal parts–it’s part of his charm.

Fortunately, the Masters of the Universe Classics version of Stratos restores him to his flying-monkey-like glory. (more…)

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

February 26, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Michael Crawford reviews the Hasbro Marvel Legends Icons Dark Phoenix, Colossus, Daredevil and Nightcrawler figures. Excerpt: “At twenty bucks a piece, I’m not going to complain too much.”

Monkey Boy reviews the Hasbro Spider-Man Venom (Mac Gargan version) figure. Excerpt: “Venom is just a solid, well-sculpted, well-articulated figure with a lot of play value.”

yo go re reviews the Hasbro Star Wars Comic Packs Grand Admiral Thrawn and Talon Karrde two-pack from Star Wars: Heir to the Empire. Excerpt: “Both these guys deserved new figures (or a first figure, in Karrde’s case), and you can get them for a good price with this two-pack.” (See also.)

Engineernerd reviews the Hasbo Star Wars The Legacy Collection Jawa and WED Treadwell Droid set. Excerpt: “… overall a well done pair.” (more…)

Vintage Month > Poe’s Five Favorite Classic He-Man Vehicles

February 25, 2009 | Poe

80f3_1With the exception of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe and Star Wars, vehicles have become a thing of the past for most action figure lines. That’s especially true for any figure line larger than a 3 ¾” scale. But back in the golden age of action figures, even the lowliest toy line had at least a couple vehicles, be they saddled beasts or gigantic rolling bases (looking back, I’m amazed I had the Technodrome. Thanks Mom and Dad!)

Of the many things it did right, some of the best things about Masters of the Universe were the vehicles. Like the toys, many of them had all sorts of action features and interesting designs. Here’s a list of my five favorite classic MOTU vehicles. (more…)

New Mattel update – Stratos sells out

February 23, 2009 | Poe

Mattel posted another update on their Facebook page. Since not everyone is on “The ‘Book,” here’s the update in its entirety:

Yup, MOTU fans are absolutely into this line as Stratos sold out in what, 4 days! Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. And in all honesty while we did produce slightly more He-Man and Skeletor, it wasn’t THAT much more. So this really is a good indication of how the line is doing. And yes, we will go into increased numbers. Faker has already been produced so we will see if it is possible to up the order of Mer-Man, if not we will apply to Zodac and Hordak for sure.

And in other MOTUC news, yes we will be bringing back He-Man and Skeletor with only slight packaging changes indicate this is the second run. We also switched He-Man’s shoulders correctly and per fan requests lightened the red around his eyes. We know some fans are asking for a lighter material on the loin cloth, but this wasn’t possible without delaying his re-release.

These guys won’t be back until a bit down the road, but they will return to ensure all fans can get key characters.

Next up is Faker which we will have less of online since we took a bunch to NYCC. So if you want Faker, based on sales of Stratos, be online quickly on March 16 after 12:00 noon. We imagine since it is too late to produce more for this sale, his remaining stock will go fast.

After him is Mer Man on April 15th and Zodac on May 15. We are looking into a few bonus figures (as mentioned at NYCC) for some months later in this year. Bonus figures will include repaints and rereleases (such as He-Man and Skeletor mentioned above). Should be some great surprises!

We’ll see you on MattyCollector.com!

So it seems despite the initial controversy surrounding Masters of the Universe Classics, the figures are selling like bank CEOs’ souls.

As for the discussion of re-releasing He-Man and Skeletor, here’s my prediction: they’ll be available at SDCC, in good numbers, and then on the website after that. You heard it here first (or maybe eleventh, I don’t follow all the forums). The way “Matty” writes about them above makes me think they’re already producing or are close to producing the re-releases.

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

February 23, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Koh Yong Qiang reviews the Medicom Toy Real Action Heroes Street Fighter Chun-Li 1/6-scale figure. Excerpt: “Medicom had sculpted all-new leg parts for her to recreate the Thunder Thighs’ that the First Lady of Fighting Games is so famous for.” (See also.)

Poe Ghostal reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Faker New York Comic Con and Mattycollector.com exclusive figure. Excerpt: “… he’s just a repaint …”

Michael Crawford reviews the Mezco Toyz Cinema of Fear Leatherface (stylised version) figure from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Excerpt: “There’s something goofy yet gruesome about the design, creating an almost cute look but without losing the basic gory concept.”

Rustin Parr reviews the JUN Planning Nightmare Before Christmas Pumpkin King figure. Excerpt: “… NECA’s really outshone JUN’s … Still, I cannot not love this figure!” (more…)

Stratos and Adam Strange/Starfire almost sold out

February 20, 2009 | Poe

According to Mattel’s Facebook page, Stratos and the Adam Strange/Starfire two-pack are almost sold out, so if you’ve been holding off on ordering, now’s the time.

And now, may I say–Stratos is almost sold out? In four days? Really? Stratos? Wow. I mean, I’m sure he wasn’t produced in the same sort of numbers as Skeletor, but jeez…I guess the ol’ flying monkey man has more fans that any of us realized.

That, or MOTUC is really picking up in popularity, and collectors have learned their lesson about not waiting too long to order.

Review > Faker (Masters of the Universe Classics)

February 20, 2009 | Poe

faker-4

Last month, I wrote a list for Topless Robot of the best repaint figures of all time. Number two on the list was Faker, He-Man’s laughably un-twin-like evil twin.

fakercardbackRather than regarding Faker as an actual twin designed to fool people, I always thought of Faker as a kind of Bizarro He-Man–he’s an “evil twin,” yes, but not an identical twin. Reverse Flash, Evil Ash, Evil Jim–these are Faker’s brethren. He’s not an evil twin of the Lore or Evil Bill and Evil Ted persuasion.

However, his name is “Faker,” and in the cartoon episode he appeared in, he actually looked exactly like He-Man (except for a pair of glowing eyes and a voice heavy on the reverb, which fools the Sorceress, natch). His original packaging refers to him as “Evil Robotic He-Man Imposter,” but on the cardback art, it says, “Faker is no He-Man–he’s the evil blue robot of Skeletor!”

(more…)