This is for the December 1 round. Questions are due by 12pm ET on Monday, November 14.
Odds ‘n Ends > November 2, 2011
- Yesterday Warner Bros announced they had extended their master toy license deal with Mattel. Hardly a surprise with Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel on the way, but good news for those of us who love Four Horsemen sculpting on DC toys. Speaking of, I sincerely hope the Horsemen will be working on the DKRises Movie Masters toys. Not sure if that’s been confirmed yet.
- BigBadToyStore has the next (and final?) wave of Batman Legacy figures up for preorder. Enchanted Toy Chest should have them soon as well.
- Pics of the upcoming G.I. Joe Zombie-Viper surfaced yesterday. (And some guy named Edwin “Lifeline” Steen.) The zombie looks incredibly awesome. This is how it’s done, Todd.
- I hadn’t even heard about this until yesterday, but NECA is offering an incredible in-scale Da Vinci Flying Machine from Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. It doesn’t come with an Ezio figure, but if you have one it will fit in the machine. It’s only available via preorder from Gamestop.
- Due to NYCC, I forgot to submit a Q&A to Mattel for November 1, but you can see a roundup of the rest of them here. I didn’t find any answers particularly earth-shattering, but it’s interesting to see they’re committed to continuing Ghostbusters past 2012. The prop replicas are selling out and are apparently pretty cool, but the figures seem to be tanking.
- The fully-painted “Infinity Edition” of Outer Space Men phases three and four will go up for preorder on 11/11.
Pic of the Day > Slimer! by (Talyn)
MOTUC Bio Discussion #44 > Catra
Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!
Catra
Real Name: C’yra of D’riluth III
A disputed monarch from the Tri Solar System, C’yra joined the Horde Empire and was given a magical mask which granted her secret powers such as the ability to transform into a panther. She traveled with Horde Commander Kur to Eternia on his mission to ensure He-Ro was destroyed. There, along with the rest of the Horde army, she was caught up in the Great Wars and eventually banished to Despondos by King Grayskull. She remained with her leader throughout their banishment and was eventually promoted to Force Captain after Hordak’s step-daughter betrayed the Horde to the Etherian Rebellion. Catra’s jealousy of She-Ra has become her greatest weakness.
Portrait art source: Original toy packaging
I’m the first to admit I’m very unfamiliar with most of the Princess of Power characters. Even when I became obsessed with MOTU during the 200X era, I never dug too deep into the POP fiction. So I actually had to visit Catra’s Wiki Grayskull page to find out what in this bio has any relation to her cartoon depiction.
Turns out it’s pretty close. In fact, her bio arguably fits with both her Filmation portrayal and the 200X depiction of the Horde (i.e., getting sucked into Despondos), which is a nice touch.
There’s nothing new here and not much to comment on, except the usual bizarre real name. This one reads like it’s from a 1930s Buck Rogers story, with apostrophes to make it exotic.
Toy Aisle Trolls > Stung Justice
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 figure’s missing
What It’s Supposed to Look Like: This
3B writes: “Photo taken at my local Toys R Us here in Miami. At least they left the ponytail behind…”
Review > Icarius (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)
I can’t recall ever seeing a single episode of The New Adventures of He-Man. I’m sure, as an adolescent, I caught one randomly somewhere and though, “That’s not He-Man! Lame” (along with “”Man, am I way too old for He-Man”–it would be another ten years before I was again the right age for He-Man). As I’ve mentioned before, I did own the Optikk toy, because it was a scifi alien dude with an eyeball for a head. But the rest of the NA universe didn’t exist for me.
I certainly never owned Flipshot, known as Icarius overseas.* If I’d seen him at a store as a kid, I probably would have dismissed him as a generic-looking science fiction soldier guy with a jetpack who looked an awful lot like other toys, especially Ace McCloud from the Centurions.
And on the surface, that’s what his Masters of the Universe Classics figure is, too. However, Icarius has been lovingly crafted by the Four Horsemen into an amazing action figure–possibly the best since Trap Jaw. (more…)
Happy Icarius Day!
Link to the all-in-one sale page.
My NYCC write-up is coming soon (probably tomorrow), but in the meantime, we can celebrate/discuss the arrival of Icarius. As discussed at the Mattel NYCC panel on Saturday, the name “Icarius” was used for the vintage figure in Europe because the name “Flipshot” didn’t translate well. When it came time to name the Classics figure, the team chose Icarius because it was, well, cooler-sounding than “Flipshot.”
I have to say I think he’s a great-looking action figure, and I can’t wait to get mine.
Also available in today’s sale is the massive Legion of Super Heroes 12-pack for $180. I’m not a Legion fan and I can’t afford that thing anyway, but it looks awesome.
This is a big sale; there’s also the prop replica Ghost Trap and Battle Cat is back, along with Mer-Man, one of the finest MOTUC figures. Finally there’s Ray Stantz w/ Slime Blower and a number of DCUC figures available. I’ve got Icarius coming by subscription, so the only thing I might pick up is Ray.
Pic of the Day > Snake Man-At-Arms Head by Poe Ghostal
Pic of the Day > Halloween Week 2010 Set – 04 – Mosquitor by (Talyn)
Odds ‘n Ends > Good News and Bat News
- Warner Bros finally announced their new Batman cartoon for 2013, Beware the Batman. Apparently instead of Robin, Batman’s sidekick will be Katana, and the bad guys will include Professor Pyg, Mister Toad, and what looks like maybe Harley Quinn?
- I agree with most of the comments from Bat-fans: Bruce Timm’s art style does not work in CGI, Batman’s head looks like a bug, and while I don’t mind the idea of making Alfred a more active badass, arming him with guns is just wrong. Yes, Alfred sometimes picks up a rifle to protect Wayne Manor, but Batman allowing or encouraging the butler to carry guns as part of his crimefighting crusade is painfully out of character.
- Also, I have to say that I find Grant Morrison’s work on the Batman comics very hit and miss, and in my opinion Professor Pyg and Mister Toad are big whiffas. Pyg’s gimmick (he performs unnecessary cosmetic surgery on his victims to make them “beautiful”) isn’t exactly something kids will find compelling, while Mister Toad is just…Mister Toad, apparently. Except evil. Oh, and he’s dead in the comics. I suspect these characters will be very different in the show. Professor Pyg will be some sort of generic crime boss and Mister Toad will be his Slythe-like lackey.
- All that said, I applaud the obvious effort to do something new here. Let’s face it–Batman: The Animated Series is the definitive animated take on the classic Batman. I really don’t know how you can top it without waiting for a few generations to pass. So I guess we’ll see how the kids react to this one. If they love it, then I’ll concede that maybe the people behind the show know what they’re doing. Except for Alfred’s guns. That is just so wrong.
- In more Bat-news, two new characters have been revealed for Arkham City: Nightwing and the Mad Hatter. Both are looking great, especially Nightwing. I hope we get an figure of him from DCD or Mattel. I’m sure we will.
- On another Bat-related note, there is now a dedicated Batman Ask Matty forum on Mattycollector.
- Apparently people still don’t know what the deal is with the 1970s Batman Arkham City repaint figure, which is supposed to be free if you preorder Arkham City at Toys R Us. Details are allegedly coming soon.
- Also, we may getting a DCUC-style First Appearance Batman, which would be awesome. I’ve always loved that early look.
- I mentioned this elsewhere, but that mystery prototype Joker is in fact an NYCC exclusive. Which I’ll be getting, since I’ll be at NYCC (along with Poester MisterBigBo). The figure still kind of grosses me out, though.
- Mattel is going to have another Mad Matty Monday on October 10. Three mystery packs–DCU, MOTUC, and Ghostbusters–for $40.
- The Four Horsemen have announced where and how you can buy their NYCC-exclusive Outer Space Men Beta Phase Waves 3 & 4 figures, if you’re at NYCC. They’ll also be selling some on their website after NYCC, but if history repeats itself, those will sell out right quick.