News roundup, 1/9/09

January 9, 2009 | Poe

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  • On the Matty Mattel Facebook page, they’ve just announced they’re almost sold out of MOTUC He-Man and Beast Man. If you’ve been holding off on ordering and don’t want to miss out, now’s the time.
  • SOTA Toys rises from the (presumed) dead to produce Robot Chicken humping robot–with real humping action. (TNI)
  • Ghostbusters videogame gets release date–June 19, same day as the Blu-Ray disc. (IGN)
  • Transformers 2 teaser poster revealed (Yahoo) – What am I looking at here?
  • Target taking pre-orders for upcoming G.I. Joe & Cobra collector packs (Hisstank)
  • Interview w/ Hobby Figures (Figures.com) – They make anime statues.
  • He-Man.org’s advanced review photos of Stratos and Faker – I really like this pic of Stratos. It reminds me of the old days, in a good way.

MOTUC Faker and Stratos advance reviews (via Fwoosh)

January 8, 2009 | Poe

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Good morning, faithful readers! With any luck, I’ll finish up the 2008 “awards” post today that I’ve been working on for the past week, but to tide you over, head to the Fwoosh and check out their advance review of MOTUC Stratos and Faker. I’ll be here, stewing in my envy.

The best tidbit I learned (from the discussion forum, actually, not the review) was that Faker’s chest-robot decal is actually a tampo print this time, not a sticker–meaning it’s grafted on like the chest symbols on DCUC figures.

For you JLU fans, Fwoosh also has a preview of the Criminals of Gotham set.

(Is it me or does that pic, with Stratos up top there, look like an 1980s rap album cover?)

Beast Man (Masters of the Universe Classics)

January 7, 2009 | Poe

motu-ba-beast_man_illEvery supervillain in the 1980s had a member of his entourage who served a special purpose: whipping boy. For Megatron, it was Starscream. For Darkseid on Super Powers, it was Kalibak. For Shredder, it was Bebop and Rocksteady (though Shredder was arguably the whipping boy for Krang). For Darth Vader, it was the Imperial Admiralty.

But arguably the most-whipped whipping boy was Beast Man, the orange-furred, half-ape henchman of Skeletor. Like Mer-Man, in the early days of Masters of the Universe (MOTU) Beast Man was one of an entire race of similar creatures, whom he led. But when the Filmation cartoon came around, Beast Man was dumbed-down and demoted to being both Larry and Curly to Skeletor’s Moe.

Despite his lowly status, Beast Man (I refuse to refer to him as “BM”) is the second figure (not counting the exclusive King Grayskull) in the new Masters of the Universe Classics. The first is He-Man, whom I reviewed here.

I suspect Beast Man was produced this early in the line to show fans and collectors there will be some unique, significantly detailed sculpting in the MOTUC. The next figure, Skeletor, will be available on Mattycollector.com starting on January 15. (more…)

He-Man (Masters of the Universe Classics)

January 5, 2009 | Poe

heman_beastmanI’ve delved into collector debates surrounding Mattel’s new Masters of the Universe Classics (see here and here). I intend to write up my own thoughts on MOTUC on whether the style was a good business decision, and so forth. But I like the style and concept, so if you don’t, be aware of that when you read the following review.

Due to some manufacturing delays, the inaugural sale of Masters of the Universe Classics (MOTUC) began with not one but two figures. The first is He-Man, the Most Powerful Man in the Universe and an icon of the 1980s on par with Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander and Mr. T. The other is Beast Man, Skeletor’s “savage henchman” and probably one of the best-known bad guys from the line. Available only via Mattycollector.com, the figures cost $20 each, with approximately another $10 for shipping. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends

December 30, 2008 | Poe

Odds N Ends

  • To answer the burning question first: yes, I’ve got MOTUC He-Man and Beast Man and I’ll be reviewing them this week. I’m waiting/hoping for a particular birthday present (my family exchange is tonight) before I take the photos. Let’s just say, though, that I can’t wait for Skeletor.
  • I had lunch with fellow toy collector Rustin Parr (who really needs some sort of Facebook page or something I can link to; otherwise people are going to think I’m making a bizarre, obscure reference to The Blair Witch Project) on Saturday. ‘Twas fun. We had pizza and discussed how we would run DCUC were we the brand managers.
  • Word to the wise: if you’re going to order any figures off Mattycollector.com, including Skeletor and the Starfire/Adam Strange two-pack (both on sale Jan. 15), make sure to pick UPS ground shipping, not economy postal. Trust me. UPS will be a bit more expensive but far more reliable.
  • I found a giant pile of DCUC wave 2 at my local Target yesterday. My local Target has been a frickin’ DCUC wasteland for over six months, so I was a bit shocked to see all those figures, particularly the five long-haired, modern Aquamen. I decided to pick him up, only to remember once I got home that DC had already reverted Aquaman back to his classic costume. Bastards.
  • Just a reminder–Toy Bender’s “Joes for Tots” contest is still going on. Enter. Now.
  • This will be the last you’ll see of this particular Odds ‘n Ends pile this year–I’m going to shoot a new one for 2009. Anyone care to try and identify all the stuff in it? I’ll give the first person to post a comment correctly identifying at least five (5) of the 12 items a prize…hmm, let’s see…how about a Satellite Iron Man?

Christmas Haul

December 26, 2008 | Poe

And now, it’s time for the annual post-Christmas tradition of all collectors–the showing-off of the haul. (more…)

In-package photos of MOTUC Skeletor and Stratos

December 17, 2008 | Poe

105009The German site Planet Eternia has photos of Masters of the Universe Classics Skeletor (due in January) and Stratos (February).

A lot of fans on He-Man.org are bothered by Stratos’s yellow/golden belt…the original figure had a red belt. It’s no big deal to me, but it’s odd Mattel doesn’t get these little details straight.

Stratos was one of my favorites of the original He-Man figures as a kid, but I never warmed up to the 2002 version. His lack of knee and proper shoulder articulation, and the swivel neck which didn’t let him look up to fly, really bugged me. Fortunately, the MOTUC version should correct all those issues.

It’s too bad there won’t be variants, though, because I would have liked to see a red harness/blue wings version, like the original toy had.

News round-up, 12/17/08

December 17, 2008 | Poe

newspoeRed Kryptonite promises me she’ll make a graphic for these news round-ups…but so far, nothin’. But I kid my bestest friend! [UPDATE: Here it is!]

I’d like to ask–how are you all enjoying these news round-ups? I know they’re pretty biased toward my own interests (for instance, there’s hardly any coverage of Japanese toys or, say, Power Rangers) and it seems to me that if you want, say, G.I. Joe news, you go to Hisstank, whereas if you want Transformers news you go to Seibertron and so forth.

Also, I’ve been considering doing round-ups of figure reviews from around the Web. How does that grab you?