Happy Randor Day!

December 15, 2009 | Poe

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The daddy of Prince Adam and popular fast food mascot goes on sale at 12pm ET today, alongside the Goddess, a reissued Skeletor and a ton of other stuff, including:

  • DCUC Animal Man/B’wanna Beast 2-pack
  • DCUC Wave 11 Boxed Set
  • 6″ Flight Stands
  • 6″ Prototype Suit Bruce Wayne
  • 6″ Ghostbusters Winston Zeddemore
  • 12″ Ghostbusters Egon Spengler
  • 12″ General Zod
  • Super Friends Robin & Hawkman
  • and more (note: the sale date for the Retro-Action DC Super Heroes Green Arrow was pushed back to December 23)

Here’s a link to the all-in-one order page.

Why the flood of items in December? I dunno…maybe it’s for tax reasons or something. Incidentally, if you look to the sidebar you’ll notice I added a small at-a-glance Mattycollector calendar.

I’m definitely getting Randor, the Goddess, and Winston. I thought about the Skeletor reissue, but changed my mind when I found out that the “tighter grip” left hand is actually just the same hand with slightly more curled fingers–rather than the Zodac/Webstor hand, which is what I thought it would be. UPDATE: the word from Matty himself is that figure WILL have the Zodac/Webstor left hand. Which means I’ll be getting him.

Anyway, use this post as a discussion thread for all things Matty. The next Q&A should be up sometime later today.

Also: sign me up for a MOTUC Santa Claus.

Joes for Tots: Want to win a 6″ unmasked Dark Knight Batman?

December 14, 2009 | Poe

ATTEN-TION, Poesters! Paul tells me the number of entries for Joes for Tots ain’t quite up to snuff. Some of you have been derelict of your duty–your duty as a toy collector, as someone who wishes to pass on a love of toys to another generation, as someone who stands a chance to win a lot of awesome prizes, and last but not least as a human being.

The good news is, it’s very easy to rectify the situation–just make a donation to Toys for Tots today. The deadline for actual toy donations has passed in most places, but you can still make a cash donation via the Toys for Tots website. Don’t worry about how big or little your donation is–every bit helps.

And once you’ve made that donation, forward your confirmation email to winbigprizeswinbigmoney@gmail.com and you could win a prize pack worthy of a Magi. (more…)

Happy Teela Day!

October 15, 2009 | Poe

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Easy order page: http://www.mattycollector.com/store/matty/DisplayShopperDefinedBundlePage/OfferID.3198617709

I’m curious–due to the bonus figures, Ghostbusters, DCUC and so forth, how many of you have actually been able to avoid logging on to Mattycollector thanks to the subscription? As of right now, the only month in the foreseeable future that I’ll get away with it was…last month. Next month I have to get the He-Man reissue, then in December there’s the Green Goddess and Winston, January has Battle Armor He-Man, Battle-Cat in February and Walter Peck in March…sigh.

Oh, and Bank Robber Joker is on sale today, too. Also, don’t forget, the MasterPOEce voting ends tonight at midnight!

Odds ‘n Ends

September 8, 2009 | Poe

Odds N Ends

  • Apologies for being somewhat MIA over the last week or so…been busy. And by “busy,” I mean I bought Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and got sucked in. And Batman Arkham Asylum arrived today, so things might get worse before they get better. Just a heads-up.
  • Just a heads-up: the plugin I use for the “reply” function in the comments was updated. Now it should appear in the bottom-right corner only when you move your mouse over a comment. I can go back to the previous version if it bugs people, so let me know.
  • Fwoosh posted a two-part interview with Mattel’s Scott Neitlich, a.k.a “Toy Guru.” The interview was done back in July during SDCC, but there’s still some interesting stuff in there. For example, Mattel didn’t ask for the ring that came with Tri-Klops, the Horsemen just made it. Also, Walter Peck will have his own new suit, not the Movie Masters one.  Part 1, Part 2
  • Rambo vs. genetically-engineered werewolves? Yes please. (Via Topless Robot)
  • I know I haven’t posted the information for the He-Ro contest yet–I’m just waiting for confirmation on something. Once I have that, it’ll go right up.
  • I just wanted to mention how pleased and grateful I am to have Paul, formerly of Toy Bender, posting here. Be sure to visit his other blog, The Robot’s Pajamas.

Poe’s Point > SDCC Wrap

July 28, 2009 | Poe

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I’m not going to discuss what happened with the various exclusives and so forth–Rustin has promised a rant later in the week, and I’m sure that will cover it all and more.

Instead, I’m just going to list the things that interested me the most. (more…)

Mattel-DC Panel News

July 24, 2009 | Poe

Here are Rustin Parr’s notes from the DC-Mattel panel:

  • Movie Masters – Now a Mattycollector.com exclusive, one figure a month will be sold starting September 15. Sept: Bank Robber Joker; October: Prototype Batman; November: Harvey Dent; December: Jailhouse Joker; January: Arkham Asylum Scarecrow; February: Sonar Eyes Battle Damage Batman; March: Two-Face. They might do more if the figures sell well.
  • There will be more JLU singles, 3-packs and 4-packs. Wave 6 features: a more comic-book-accurate Hawkman, a modern Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom in metallic silver, a straight re-release Hawkgirl, and an all-new Firestorm; next three 4-packs: Shazam Family, Doom Patrol, and Justice Guild
  • DCIH: 6-packs available online and at Walmart, including a 3-pack of Hal Jordan Parallax, John Stewart and SC Sinestro
  • There will be a 12″ Movie Masters, with one figure sold per quarter on Mattycollector, starting 1Q 2010. The first two figures are General Zod and Christopher Reeve Superman
  • Mattel is teaming up with Emcee to produce a new line of retro, accurate Mego figures. Called World’s Greatest Superheroes, the first figure, Green Arrow, will be available on Mattycollector this fall; after that, the figures will be sold at TRU and online retailers. The first series is Superman, Lex Luthor in Silver Age purple shirt, Hal Jordan GL, and blue-outfit Sinestro. There will be at least three waves of four figures each.
  • Brave and Bold: nothing that wasn’t seen in booth photos
  • DCUC: Four waves plus one Walmart wave in 2010 (that’s entirely in 2010, and doesn’t include Waves 10 and 11). Mattel swears that Walmart has placed considerably larger orders and the figures will be easier to get.
  • DCUC Wave 10: Beast Boy, Batman (all black w/ yellow symbol and yellow belt) w/ bat-laptop; Forager; Joker; brown Man-Bat; Power Girl; Robotman–opening head so you can see his brain; CnC: Imperiex
  • DCUC Wave 11: SC Cyborg Supes–couple pieces of new tooling, hands w/ rings; Deadman; variant Deadman w/ fading to translucent legs; John Stewart w/ GL constructs; Katma Tui; the Question; and Shark (Silver Age); Steppenwolf (50/50 green armor vs. Super Powers-style); CnC 9″ Kilowog
  • DCUC 2-Packs: SC Romat-Ru and Karu-Sil, comes w/ at least one construct; Animal Man and B’Wanna Beast
  • DCUC 5-pack exclusive to Walmart: Black-and-gray Batman w/ no mud, Superman (normal eyes), Two-Face repainted in Silver Age colors, purple Catwoman repaint, new Silver Age Lex Luthor
  • Target-exclusive series for Superman/Batman Public Enemies: 6″ and 3 3/4″ inch. The 6″ line-up is “pseudo-DCUC,” a blending of DCUC and animated style, and includes: Superman (normal and metallic variant), Batman (black and gray and blue and gray), Icicle, Silver Banshee, Black Lightning Silver Age, Major Force, CnC: Brimstone (somewhat translucent) Due in the fall (?).

Odds ‘n’ Ends > Pre-SDCC Edition

July 22, 2009 | Poe

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  • The Fwoosh has a first look review of Egon. The glasses don’t look as bad as they did in the packaging shots. Looks like he is indeed in the same scale as Movie Masters, so you can have Egon duke it out with the Joker. I will say that while the new Slimer is nice, I’m glad I have the NECA one.
  • Early images of the Hasbro SDCC booth, including some Marvel Universe figures. (Apparently you have to register to see the bigger pics.)
  • Too soon? But I kid the toy industry. Frankly, it’s MJ’s own fault for making such a famous zombie video. And I think he’d be amused by the whole thing, honestly.
  • Dr. Mrs. Ghostal and I watched the pilot and first two eps of Warehouse 13 last night. It’s not as quirky as Eureka and the two main characters aren’t (yet) as appealing as Scully and Mulder, but I like Saul Rubinek’s nutty professor, and the “haunted objects” are an interesting hook–sort of like a reverse Reaper. They need to drop the whole Secret Service angle, though–it’s just too hard to explain what the hell they’re doing at crime scenes. In any event, I’m willing to give it a try–so many of my favorite shows (like X-Files and Star Trek: The Next Generation) started with fairly weak first seasons, particularly when viewed in retrospect.

Ask Mattel > July 1 Edition

July 1, 2009 | Poe

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1.) Valo487 asks: The Legion of Doom has been fairly well represented in both JLU and DCUC with a few left to finish the team in both lines, however Toyman is currently missing from both. Is he in the works for either line? Also, any chance for a non-armored Lex Luthor?

Both are a possibility, but nothing to announce quite yet.

2.) He-Dan asks: Given the recent announcement in Toyfare that key figures (like Joker and Power Girl) will be part of the Wal-Mart exclusive line, what assurances can Mattel offer that the line will be available more widely and in greater quantities at Walmarts than Wave 5?

It is up to Wal-Mart (and any other retailer) to decide which toy lines to carry, not Mattel. If you are not seeing your favorite DC or other Mattel line at your local retailer, ask for it by name!

3.) Ed asks: Some collectors have reported their DCUC figures (wave 3 specifically) developing a strange coating of white film that doesn’t seem like normal dust. I myself have seen it on my DCUC figures and even some of my old Batman figures from the original Horsemen line. A collector on Fwoosh had speculated that it’s probably just mold release working itself out of the plastic. I was wondering if Mattel had a take on this to help clarify the mystery?

An interesting question. If you have photos of this to post we’d be happy to review with our safety department and get a more complete answer. At this time we are unaware of this particular issue.

4.) How much of the Question figure, revealed recently in ToyFare, is new sculpting/tooling?

The Question is based on the DC Superheroes suit body used for Clark Kent, The Riddler and Two Face with a new head, coat and arms.

5.) Given the success of the Movie Masters Batpod, is there any possibility of similar smaller-size vehicles (such as a Batcycle) for DCUC, perhaps as a Mattycollector exclusive or a Collect-and-Connect?

Nothing is planned at this time, but if there is enough fan interest it is something we can get to in time!

Odds ‘n Ends

June 23, 2009 | Poe

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  • Updates to the site might be a little bit sparser than you’re used to over the next few weeks–I’m feeling a bit burnt-out, due to a combination of things (this awful, endless Northeast weather being a big part of it). But OB1 and I are working on a way to add some user-generated content (like Show and Tell) more easily, so maybe some of you guys can pick up my lazy-ass slack.
  • In other news, Big Bad Toy Store apparently sent out an email informing those who had pre-ordered the Movie Masters series with Jailhouse Joker and Harvey Dent that the pre-orders were canceled, as Mattel had informed them MM would now be a Mattycollector exclusive. This is exactly what I’d expected would happen–Mattel has too much invested in the tooling for those figures not to try to get a bit more profit out of them.