Toy Aisle Trolls > Mockgirl

January 11, 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.

This latest travesty was found by Poester (and my longtime online acquaintance) Dark Angel.

Says DA:

Found in a Wal-Mart. I am well-versed enough in comic lore to know that the purple bird lady is an X-Men foe, though I cannot recall her name. Two things: One, this is pretty zen in its own way–I would imagine that the bird lady was a hot figure back in her day (thirteen or so years ago), and I (sadly) know this is the work of one of our fellow collectors as she is in absolutely pristine condition; and two, it amazes me that the person who returned it included at least part of Hawkgirl’s weapons (the mace may actually be broken) and the Gentleman Ghost figure itself! They must have really, really wanted that Hawkgirl–oddly enough, I had picked up a single-carded Hawkgirl and left one more on the shelf at a Target literally across this street from this Wal-Mart about two months ago!

That bird looks really familiar, but I’m way out of practice on my Marvel lore, so I’ll let someone else identify her below.

As for the jackass who did this, get a &%#^! life. That is all.

Keldor Swords are coming

January 10, 2011 | Poe

Never let it be said that constant campaigning doesn’t bear fruit:

But hey, to leave on a good note, we did just have our meeting with management to go over the 2012 line. We also discussed the 200X head design and weapon design direction. While we are still not going to explore 200X redesigned character heads in the online line, I did get some sway on the weapons and we are going to now find a way to do the “Keldor Swords” in Classic style. (despite what people say I am in there fighting the good fight!).

This isn’t indicitive of “rules changing”, I just made the case that enough fans want these and it doesn’t indicate a changed character design. So hey, chalk one up for a fan demand victory!

I was going to save this announcement for NYTF, but hey, you guy wanted a He-Man.org news break, there you go!

Odds ‘n Ends > Procrastination

January 9, 2011 | Poe

  • Man, I still have so much stuff to get through…reviews of Buzz-Off, King Grayskull, the Outer Space Men, the new NECA Alien vs. Predator 2-pack, the second Weapons Pak, a few Retro Action figures, and a few other surprises…
  • PGPoA was included in a list of the “Top 40 Doll Collecting Blogs” on the website OnlineCollege.org. Fellow blogger Newton Gimmick of Infinite Hollywood also made the list. I won’t bother with the whole “action figures aren’t dolls” thing, mostly because I’m not that self-deluded, and will just be happy with the publicity.
  • I haven’t updated about or even mentioned the big news that THQ picked up the general Mattel license. Of course, the only salient question for most of us is whether we’ll see a MOTU videogame. I say it’s unlikely except in a movie year, unless we’re talking some sort of XBLA game (perhaps a 2D fighter or a TMNT Arcade-style brawler?). But at least THQ didn’t say no outright, and I know for a fact there are some THQ employees who are MOTU fans and will push for a game.
  • You’re all following the daily updates about Scarabus from the Four Horsemen, right? Man, if they can get the QC on these things on par with Xetheus (as opposed to the various Ramathorr variants), they’ll be incredible action figures.
  • Speaking of the Horsemen, this looks interesting.
  • I watched Predators last night, and really enjoyed it. It’s incredibly faithful to the original film…perhaps a bit too much so, to be honest…but it’s fun and pretty well acted, and features the craziest and possibly best Laurence Fishburne performance in a career full of crazy performances. He’s come a long way since Cowboy Curtis…like 80 pounds long, I think. But still the movie wa–WHY THE HELL DID I COME ACROSS THIS WHEN DOING A SEARCH FOR COWBOY CURTIS IMAGES? What is WRONG with people?! The horror, the horror…(quick, connect that quote back to Laurence Fishburne!)

He-Man: Buy the Power of Grayskull

January 7, 2011 | Poe

Man this is hilarious. Well done, sirs!

Thanks to Mecha-Shiva for sending me this link weeks ago, though I only watched it last night for the first time. Yes, I’m that lazy busy.

Review > 12″ Christopher Reeve Superman (Mattel)

January 3, 2011 | Poe

I don’t collect 12″ figures. The main reason for that is my dislike of all soft goods on action figures–no fabric for me–but it’s also a cost and space issue. So when I review the 12″ Christopher Reeve Superman, which Mattel very kindly sent me a sample of, you should know you’re getting the review of a 12″ neophyte. If you want a review by a 12″ connoisseur, you’ll have to wait for Michael Crawford’s review. (There may be other good 12″ reviewers out there, but MWC is the only one I read.)

For most people, Christopher Reeve is the definitive screen Superman. He has yet to be supplanted by a Christian Bale-like performance (though it’s possible the upcoming Chris Nolan-produced, Zack Snyder-directed film might finally do so). And unlike most superhero actors, the spandex works for him. Of the original films, Superman II is my favorite, but both of the first films are pretty good, while the latter two leave quite a bit to be desired (though I must admit some fondness for the ridiculous Nuclear Man).

There hasn’t been a whole lot of Christopher Reeve Superman merchandise until recently, aside from some Mego toys in the late 1970s. But in the past two years, DC Direct has produced a statue, Mattel has this figure and soon, Hot Toys will release their own 12″ version.

The Mattel Superman is currently available for $60 on their Mattycollector website. You can also get a 12″ General Zod, and a Gene Hackman Lex Luthor is coming sometime in 2011. (more…)

Pic of the Day

December 30, 2010 | Poe

Neytiri and Jake Sully (Mattel)

Neytiri and Jake Sully (Mattel) by Clarkent78

New DCUC Rumors

December 29, 2010 | Poe

On the one hand, I don’t like to promote rumor-mongering. But on the other hand, a surprising number of the DCUC rumors released on the Web have proven to be true, or at least partially true. Also, whether they turn out to be true or not, discussing rumored line-ups is a great way to show Mattel what people are and aren’t excited about. (more…)