Odds ‘n Ends for September 15, 2011

September 15, 2011 | Poe

  • Mattel has announced they’ll be re-opening the subscriptions for two weeks, from tomorrow, Friday, September 16th at 9 a.m. PT through Monday, October 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you don’t get the Club Infinite Earths subscription, the regular figures will cost $18 instead of $15 on sale day, and the oversize will cost $45(!) instead of $30. The 50% markup on the oversized figures is probably where they’re making up most of the 40% shortfall on the subscriptions. (I realize some of you may prefer to interpret it as Mattel being an evil money-grubbing monstrosity. To each their own.)
  • What struck me was the fact that apparently the prices on non-sub, sale day MOTUC figures will also be going up in 2012. That’s the first price increase we’ve seen on MOTUC since 2008. While a lot of people have been expecting this for some time, I suspect the excrement will still strike the propeller, at least marginally.
  • There will also be a new subscription for the MOTUC 30th Anniversary figures. It’s a standalone sub you can purchase whether or not you purchase the standard MOTUC sub. The good news is it looks like they’ve managed to squeeze Fearless Photog into it, which at one point was questionable.
  • I doubt I need to recommend that my readers visit ItsAllTrue.net, as I suspect they already do, but I did want to highlight Noisy’s review of the SDCC Classics Lion-O. It’s a good read for those of you who are curious how these figures stack up against MOTUC.

Happy Leech Day!

September 15, 2011 | Poe

“Leech Day”? Yuck.

Anyway, Leech and his pal Hec-Tor “Hurricane Hordak” Kur (35-7-2; 24 kayos) are on sale at 12pm ET today, along with Chief Carnivus, a Retro-Action Kyle Rayner (sad to see that line limping to its doom…wish we could have gotten a Joker) and two JLU three-packs, JLU three-packs. Here’s the link to the all-in-one page.

Leech was easily one of my favorite He-Man figures of all time, and like King Hsss, my fondness for his figure outlasted my fondness for the line as a whole. I’m curious to see how his MOTUC figure turned out.

Toy Aisle Trolls > Ow, Man

September 9, 2011 | Poe

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items.

Submitted by: Bill White

Bill writes:

At the lovely Wal-Mart in Hanover, MA, some scum has substituted the Qwlman in the DCUC 5-pack with a DC Direct cheapo. Not shown in the picture, but they really hacked through the bottom of the box, and did a really poor job of patching it back together with scotch tape. How some customer service person accepted this as a return is a mystery. I have long suspected this Wal-Mart location as a center of toy collectin’ scum activity, and now I have my proof! For the record, I brought this to the manager’s attention, and he couldn’t have cared less.

Toy Aisle Trolls > One Cyborg is as Good as Another

September 7, 2011 | Poe

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items.

Submitted by: Lovable-Bill

What It’s Supposed to Look Like: This

Lovable-Bill writes: “I went to one of my local K-Marts in Peoria, Illinois, trying to hunt down the exclusive Batman Legacy: Batman and Batmite. To my shock I found this sitting on one of the shelves under the other DCUC figures. Looks like someone returned a ML Deathlok in place of a Cyborg Superman, the card back was also very loose and sticky.”

Odds ‘n Ends > September 6, 2011

September 6, 2011 | Poe

  • Without going too much into it, my reviews on PGPoA are going to be a little different from now on. I’ve come to recognize, like the man who invented Mr. Phipps Pretzel Chips (I think it was Mr. Phipps) that my favorite part of the pretzel, er, the review, is the part where I discuss the character or history of the toy or toyline rather than the paint & sculpt stuff. The photos tell most of that story, and I’ll point out the articulation. For those who want a true breakdown, you can find more traditionally-formatted reviews on other sites–there is no shortage of toy reviews these days. While some of you may be a bit disappointed, trust me when I say it was either this or no more PGPoA at all. (Seriously–it was this close |–|.) I have over seventy unopened toys at the moment, going back to before Christmas, and the thought of having to do a standard review of each one makes me want to quit the blog and never look back.
  • So, in essence, moving forward I’m writing what I want to write about, not what I feel obligated to write about. This blog has felt way too much like work lately. It’s odd how that can creep up on you.
  • You’ve probably all seen Mattel announced that Club Infinite Earths (CIE) is indeed moving forward. I’m happy I get my Poison Ivy, but as a Bat-fan I do hope I get at least one more Bat-character, preferably an oversized Killer Croc. Also, Metron unsurprisingly won the fan vote contest. They’re also considering briefly re-opening the subscription window, which of course led to a round of MOTU fans wondering the MOTUC sub should also be re-opened. I suspect this has to do with the opt-in option that will be offered for the anniversary figures–since that’s already in the works, maybe they’ll just re-open CIE at the same time.
  • Diamond Select will be expanding the Minimates world even more with a new line, Maximum Zombie. The first figures will be a NYCC exclusive set featuring a Biker Zombie & Surgeon Zombie. I’ll be at NYCC this year, so you’re damned right I’m getting these.

Ask Mattel > Answers for September 1

August 31, 2011 | Poe

We take a brief break from Bat-Week for some Mattel answers.

1.) Many fans still love the original Batman sculpt the Four Horsemen did for the 2003 Batman line (i.e., “Zipline” Batman). The Four Horsemen still have their prototype, which shows the intended high level of articulation. Is there any chance of getting that figure with retooled, DCUC-level articulation (including double-elbows and double-knees)?

Always possible. Nothing is planned at this time but with a new Batman film on the horizon we will clearly be looking at ways to get out more collector Batman figs and this would be a cool figure to explore.

2.) misterbigbo asks: Have you considered producing the FHM’s mini-masters and distributing them as blind-box items? They could be sold on Mattycollector individually or by the case, or to comic/specialty shops. Lego’s recent success with minifigs is interesting, but the price point is key. (more…)

Bat-Week | Review > Prototype Suit Batman & Lt. Jim Gordon (Batman Legacy, Mattel)

August 31, 2011 | Poe

One of the most beloved rarities among action figure collectors are action figures of supporting cast characters. I don’t mean sidekicks or team members, but “everyday” characters such as Lois Lane, Jarvis, Uncle Owen, and many others. Such characters rarely get figures, for a few reasons. Though popular among diehard fans, casual fans are rarely interested in them. There’s little chance of a casual toy collector picking them up because there’s nothing particularly interesting about them in and of themselves–often they’re just a person in a suit (seen any Movie Master Harvey Dents at your local TRU?). The figures aren’t eye-catching, so parents ignore them. (more…)

Bat-Week | Review > Joker, Batman, Gray Ghost (JLU, Mattel)

August 31, 2011 | Poe


One of my favorite episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (B:TAS) is “Beware the Gray Ghost.” It features Adam West as an aging actor who once played Bruce Wayne’s favorite television hero, the costumed avenger known as “the Gray Ghost.” There’s a wonderful paradoxical quality to the idea of the animated 1990s Batman being inspired by an ersatz 1960s Batman. The show also slyly replaced the aging cliché of Zorro having served as part of Bruce’s inspiration; kids in the early 1990s barely had any idea who Zorro was, and even the Antonio Banderas remake was years away.

Of course, while casting Adam West in the role of aging Gray Ghost actor Simon Trent was a coup, the Gray Ghost wasn’t just a tribute to the 1960s TV show. His distinctive appearance represents a tribute to other early pulp heroes such as the Shadow, the Spirit, the Spider and Sandman. (As you may have noticed, the redesign of PGPoA owes more than a little to the Gray Ghost as well as B:TAS.)

Mattel released an exclusive, single-carded version of the Gray Ghost as their 2010 holiday card. Unlike Holiday Hal Jordan, however, he was always intended for a retail release, which came in a three-pack with B:TAS-inspired repaints of Batman and the Joker. (more…)