A brief comparison of the original MOTUC He-Man vs. the reissue

November 27, 2009 | Poe

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While the first MOTUC He-Man took weeks to sell out, the second release–which had a much higher production run–sold out in less than a day. Evidently Masters of the Universe Classics has drawn in a significant collector following beyond the diehard MOTU fans whose enthusiasm drove the line’s creation. For all the complaints about the price, it’s clearly not that hard to swallow for many people.

The first He-Man re-release had a few problems: reversed shoulders (though I could hardly tell), a fairly glossy texture, and a reddish shading around the eyes that made it look like He-Man just watched the scene in Wrath of Khan where Spock dies. (more…)

Some Scareglow figures missing accessories?

November 23, 2009 | Poe

Mattycollector came so close to escaping this month’s sale without a major hitch.

Members of the He-Man.org boards are reporting receiving Scareglows missing either the little black key that goes inside the Grayskull reliquary, or the reliquary itself. It’s too early to tell whether this is an issue affecting a statistically significant number of Scareglows. I’ll let you know how mine turns out when I get it tomorrow.

In the meantime, that bastard Crawford beat me to the review punch. Great photos though.

Ask Mattel Answers for Mid-November

November 16, 2009 | Poe

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1.) Zach asks: In 2010, could we please see an end to the in-package posing of figures in DCUC? I just bought four wave 10 figures yesterday and ALL of their legs have been severely warped to the point of looking like they were bent. The aesthetic, to me, is lost and the figures look way less cool than a 4HM sculpted figure ought to. Perhaps, in an effort to showcase their articulation and pose-ability, you could showcase pics of dynamic poses on the package instead?

I do hear you on this one, but there are sometimes just as many fans who like the dynamic pack out. At the moment the plan is to continue these packs out to add to the excitement on shelf.

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Happy Scareglow Day

November 16, 2009 | Poe

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It’s Scareglow day! What will happen this time? I haven’t the energy even to guess. Let’s just saying, anything could happen–from Digital River exploding like a supernova to everyone getting exactly what they want in a timely, orderly fashion. The fun begins at 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific.

Don’t forget, along with Scareglow here, you can order:

5 Questions With > Spy Monkey Creations

November 3, 2009 | Poe

Sm-face-bug-ver-02Code name: SpyMagician
Real Name: Jeremy Sung
Specialty: Plasticsmith
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, CA
History: Once merely a humble toy customizer, Jeremy Sung has since made the leap into the small business world as President of Spy Monkey Creations Inc. The Goal: to create quality hand made original accessories for various collectible action figure lines!

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Review > Zodak (Masters of the Universe Classics)

October 29, 2009 | Poe

zodak_artThe 2002 revamp of Masters of the Universe was ambitious in scope, encompassing the toys, a new cartoon, a McDonalds tie-in and even a videogame. Mattel was fervently hoping to recapture the bottled lightning they’d found in the early 1980s.

Unfortunately, the toys weren’t as successful as Mattel’s immense hopes, and after two years it was shut down (though it lived on for quite a while via NECA’s “stactions”).

The theories for the 2002 line’s demise have been hashed out ad infinitum, so I won’t go over them again here. Suffice to say Zodak represents the second 2002 character to appear in MOTUC. As a variant of the already slow-selling (comparatively speaking) Zodac, it’s not surprising that he took two weeks to sell out; I’m very curious to see how the Goddess does in December. (more…)

Review > Teela (Masters of the Universe Classics)

October 26, 2009 | Poe

teela2Whew! After all that chaos and uncertainty, Teela is finally here.

I’ll forgo the tempting-but-predictable “sausage fest” jokes about the current state of Masters of the Universe Classics and simply say that Teela, the line’s first female figure, is a welcome addition.

The story of Teela’s creation for the original 1980s MOTU line, and how that conception was later woven into the various continuities, is pretty damned complicated. The original sketch of the character we know as Teela was called simply a “female warrior.” Since it was known even in those earliest stages that MOTU would re-use a lot of parts between figures, there was also a sketch of a character called the Sorceress, who would use the same basic body as the female warrior but have a snake-themed helmet and staff.

From here the story gets murky, but somehow the design labeled “Sorceress” got labeled “Teela” on the toys themselves, but the early mini-comics mixed up Teela and the Sorceress all the time (sometimes referred to as the Goddess, or even the Warrior-Goddess). In one mini-comic she was actually colored green.

The cartoon series put an end to it all, with the figure’s design (sans snake armor and staff) being called Teela, captain of the king’s guard, and the Sorceress having a completely different design. But the “Green Goddess” idea continues on, and we’re even getting a translucent repaint of the character (with a new-tooled staff) in December. (more…)

Big Mattel update on the Teela situation

October 23, 2009 | Poe

Yesterday Mattel posted a fairly comprehensive update of the situation on–get this–the Mattycollector website (as opposed to Facebook). Text after the jump.

For the record, it seems that pretty much all subscribers–including me–received their shipping confirmations overnight. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends

October 22, 2009 | Poe

Odds N Ends

Ah, Odds ‘n Ends. Whenever I can’t think of a single interesting thing to write about, you’re there to fill the void with your inane babbling. (more…)