MOTUC – Page 71 – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Odds ‘n Ends

January 13, 2009 | Poe

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While you can’t order MOTUC Beast Man or He-Man off Mattycollector.com anymore, on Mattel’s Facebook page they wrote, “with only a few hundred units left, we wanted to close down sales so we can have just handful for NYCC and SDCC to help spread the word on this amazing toy line at the summer conventions.” I’m glad Mattel appears to have met their sales goals with this line–it bodes well for its future.
The wait for my shipment of DCUC6 is just starting to get to me. After my ordeal with DCUC5, I knew I’d be OK for a while after wave six start popping up at retail. But now with the news that all we’re waiting on is for Mattel to get one last figure in, I’m getting a wee bit impatient, especially when I see all the great photos.
Just as the coolness of the Deathstroke figure got me buying some Teen Titans trades and back issues of his eponymous 1990s series, I grabbed Showcase Presents Hawkman and The Greatest Shazam! Stories Ever Told. I have to say, though, Hawkman has the most convoluted continuity issues of any character in the DCU (and that’s saying something).
There’s been a ton of speculation as to what the mysterious new Mattel 6″ property will be, but we now know a few things for certain: it’s not any of the Horsemen’s original properties, and it’s not Thundercats or WWE. Nonetheless, the Horsemen “can guarantee that there will be a LOT of excited fanboys.” They also say they bet we won’t guess it. According to Mattel, the first figure will be available at SDCC. I thought perhaps it might be Movie Masters Watchmen, but that wouldn’t really be a new line, since Movie Masters is pre-existing. After looking over Mattel’s previous licenses, I think it’s…I don’t know. But just to throw out some guesses: The Simpsons, Harry Potter, Captain Power, Universal Monsters.
Wow–quite a dogfight going on in this month’s poll. Everyone’s had the lead except poor Tytus (Megator led very briefly when I picked him after creating the poll). I do think the only way the Sorceress would work as an exclusive is if she came with Zoar, though–otherwise it would feel too much like a “regular” figure, which isn’t Mattel’s MO for SDCC.
Just forty-eight until Skeletor and the Starfire/Adam Strange two-pack go on sale!

Toy news roundup, 1/12/09

January 12, 2009 | Poe

Mattel hints at new 6″ line, to be unveiled at New York Comic Con: “It is not Thundercats and it is not WWE (come on, how could WWE be a mystery announcement since it is public knowledge that we are doing WWE in 2010!) It is a new 6″ line and it is sculpted by the Horsemen. If that doesn’t whet your appetite we will reveal these figures at NYCC and the first figure in this line will be available at SDCC!” (My guess is it’s a Four Horsemen-created property, i.e., Seventh Kingdom or Magma CORPS.)
Mattel explains MOTUC continuity, reveals that She-Ra, Princess of Power figures will join line in 2010.
SOTA announces new statue of Nyarlathotep, one of H.P. Lovecraft’s monstrosities. There’s no pic, but the press release says, “”featuring all the horrific detail of the Messenger of the Great Old Ones,” which is interesting, since unlike Cthulhu, I don’t believe Nyarlathotep has a definitive description in HPL’s work–beyond being a “tall, swarthy man,” at one point, because he’s a shapeshifter by nature. However, most of the HPL-related media (games and so forth) depict him with a tentacle for a head, and that’s what SOTA has gone for here. (Action-Figure)
Wizardworld has postponed WW Los Angeles and cancelled WW Dallas. No word on when the LA show will resume, but the Chicago and Philadelphia shows will go on as planned. I’m afraid this is just an early casualty of the economy in consumer-based hobbies like comics and toys. (Action-Figure)
I was at a Toys ‘R Us over the weekend and was surprised to see the Art Asylum classic Kirk and Spock on the pegs, in new packaging. Am I just out of the loop on this? In any event, it’s great they’re re-releasing those.
TRU will give 15% discount to anyone using a KB Toys gift cards until the end of the month (TFormers)
Star Wars Legacy prototype pics leaked? (Potf2)

New poll – MOTUC SDCC exclusive

January 9, 2009 | Poe

I’ve got a new poll up on the sidebar, soliciting your opinion on what you think would make for a good Masters of the Universe Classics SDCC exclusive. It occurred to me that MOTU had some storied figures–such as He-Ro, Tytus & Megator, and Fearless Photog–who would make for amazing exclusives.

In case you’re unfamiliar with some of them, here are some links to more info:

I’ve got to give my #1 pick to Megator, because I love giant monster toys. After that, though, I’ll go with He-Ro, then Photog, then Tytus and finally the Sorceress (who I’m guessing would probably be a regular figure in the line, given a long enough life).

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

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_ill Every 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

I’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…)