SDCC > Rustin Parr’s Report, Day 2

July 23, 2010 | Rustin Parr

Thursday – 7/22

The first full day of the con rolled out comfortably and stayed great all day long!

The one panel I was looking forward to most this year was the Tron: Legacy panel. However, it was the first panel of the day, of the Con, in Hall H which meant two things – one would have to get in line pretty early to ensure a seat and two it would steal the entire morning from Con/Exclusive purchasing. After long debating the last several days I erred on the side of Exclusives – the film will be out in a couple months anyway, but these toys will not. So rather than lust over film, I hauled ass to a booth I saw last night and bought me some MOTUC figures for just over retail, helping to fill in some major gaps. (more…)

SDCC 2010 Odds ‘n Ends

July 23, 2010 | Poe

This was definitely the year for me to go to SDCC. Shoulda tried harder.I’m terribly jealous of everyone’s who’s there. Crowds, stink and all.

Anyway, the big Mattel fan panel, which will reveal all the new MOTU & Ghostbusters figures, will be at 4pm ET. I’ll have my thoughts up, hopefully w/ pics, soon after.

In the meantime, here’s a list of the things I’ve found interesting that has come out of SDCC so far:

  • Guillermo Del Toro’s first post-Hobbit project is…a Haunted Mansion reboot? Rustin Parr: “Why can’t this man stay away from everything I love?” (Rustin is one of the few people I know who dislikes everything GDT’s done, including Pan’s Labyrinth). Personally I like GDT’s work and am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Mignola will do some design work for it (frankly that’s almost a certainty, if he has the time.) Still, though, has there ever been a reboot of a movie franchise this soon after the previous movie?
  • The Tron Legacy trailer is awesome. I wasn’t quite as amorously invested in it as Rob at TR, but it looks great. I’m starting to think this could be something of a Wizard of Oz for the 3D revival. Anyone not rooting for this movie to be good is a registered Commienazi.
  • Though I haven’t played the game in six months, I can’t wait for NECA’s Claptrap from Borderlands.
  • OK, Mattel…I’ve been iffy on your Ghostbusters stuff lately, but I may have to get that PKE Meter. Then I’m going to walk through the streets of Boston with it prominently held out before me, occasionally stopping near high-traffic public buildings, waving it around, and then rushing off with a worried expression.
  • Lots of Magma Corps on display at the Four Horsemen’s booth, along with the expected Symbiotech and OSM. Scarabus is still looking great…hope we get to own that guy soon.
  • It’s cool that The Walking Dead is getting a TV series, but holy crap, if it’s at all true to the book, that show is going to give Battlestar Galactica a run for its money for Most Depressing Show Depicting Humanity At Its Nadir Lifetime Achievement Award.

SDCC News > Rustin Parr’s SDCC Report, Day 1

July 22, 2010 | Rustin Parr

Wednesday – 7/21

Preview night is always the worst and best day of the con. The first hour is being reminded of why you hate this place and how much better it used to be. Every company has a massive line for figures, the crowds are bigger than the Saturday horde a decade ago and all you can do is fight to survive. But once you find that first purchase (Batman and Joker Nlammoids for $3 each, in my case) the whole thing starts turning around. You get into the fun of the hunt once perusing seller booths and by gum you’ll see some really cool reveals at big companies. (more…)

ToyFare #157 & 2011 Club Eternia/Club Ecto-1 news

July 15, 2010 | Poe

The latest issue of ToyFare, #157, hit newsstands this week, and it’s chock (what’s a chock? anyway) full of news. News you didn’t already know. Or maybe you did, but I didn’t. Among the highlights:

  • The Four Horsemen’s new line is Symbiotech, which should be familiar to Fantastic Exclusive voters. Still early on in the production development, but they’re coming!
  • Fantastic Exclusives Scarabus and Raven are still coming–look for more when the Horsemen relaunch the FE website just before SDCC.
  • Mattel will be producing a 6″ Ghostbusters II 4-pack with removable Santa hats which will be available at TRU in October. That’s Toys ‘R Us, Matty haters. Relatively minor bummer: no slime throwers.
  • DCUC Wave 16 includes Jonah Hex and the Creeper, with CnC Bane. (Pics of all, plus Green Lantern Classics ’90s Kyle Rayner, included in magazine).
  • The DCUC Fan Poll candidates, the winner to be turned into a CnC figure, are: Blockbuster, Girder, King Shark, Nekron, Shaggy Man, and Wildebeest. Vote at Wizardworld.com. Nekron will win.
  • JLU is getting the Gray Ghost (might be old news?)
  • Gentle Giant is creating massive 12″ versions of the vintage Boba Fett, Stormtrooper and Walrus Man 3 ¾” figures.
  • DCD Arkham Asylum Bane is just as crazy as the videogame version.
  • There’s a full-page ad of Carnivus (no Whiplash ad, apparently), that says he carries the “Sword of Saz,” which is apparently a reference to the Filmation series–“Saz” was some sort of feline mythological hero.

Mattel also released official news on the 2011 Club Eternia subscription. It’s all-in, so those of you hoping for tiered subscriptions are out of luck, I’m afraid. The sign-up will go from 7/21 at 4 p.m. PT through 8/4 at 4 p.m. PT. The January figure, Club incentive figure, and map poster will be revealed at the Friday SDCC panel.

But wait–there’s more! Ghostbusters fans get their own subscription, Club Ecto-1. It’s $20 for six figures plus a club exclusive figure.

But to quote Geordi La Forge, don’t take my word for it–buy your copy of ToyFare #157 today! Then you get all the pretty pictures.

Odds ‘n Ends > Manwich Edition

July 14, 2010 | Poe

  • The Dread Axes are almost gone (as in, there’s currently 1 left!), and we will be doing a second run. Thanks to all who helped make this exclusive a success! Sadly, Faker remains unpurchased.
  • In even better news, Spy Monkey and I are now discussing the possibility of a new item as the next exclusive. Nothing’s set in stone yet, but it’s an item I’ve wanted for a while now, and I think a lot of fans will like it too.
  • I’m impressed to see Mer-Man has, as of right now, overtaken Hordak in the “Least Popular Real Name” contest. I guess that’s what comes of having your name refer to a completely different-looking species–like if my real name were “Fox King.” Wait–that’d be awesome. Never mind.
  • Entertainment Earth has teamed up with Toys R’ Us’s website to create a “Collector Store,” and they’ll even be offering their SDCC exclusives (starting July 21). I’m not sure how this partnership came about, but clearly the fans win.
  • On a related note, Jazwares is offering their first Robot Chicken figure as an SDCC exclusive: the Convention Nerd. I decided I need to have him to hang out with Mo-Larr. He’ll also be available on Toys R’ Us.com on 7/21.
  • Does anyone else find it vaguely surreal we’re getting new Futurama episodes every week?

Ask Mattel > June 15 Edition

June 15, 2010 | Poe

1.) Dead Man Walking asks: Mattel continues to insist that it will not do a fan’s choice figure for MOTUC because of the varying levels of unique tooling that figures require. However, Mattel is in the driver seat here-why not present the fans with three choices for figures with comparable amounts of new tooling, such as Battle Armor Skeletor, Terror Claws Skeletor, and Thunder-Punch He-Man, and allow fans to determine which will be the next bonus figure? (more…)

Poe’s Point Special > Toy Fair 2010

February 15, 2010 | Poe

It would be impossible and way too much work for me to cover all the awesome stuff coming out of this year’s Toy Fair. The awesomeness seems to be hearkening back to the good old days of the early 2000s…anyway, instead of trying to list everything, I’m just going to hit the highlights of the stuff I’m excited about. But feel free to use this as the catch-all Toy Fair discussion thread.

Masters of the Universe Classics

Of course we start here. We’ve had hints and suggestions of all the stuff that was revealed, but frankly, I was never really 100% sure we were going to see Tytus or, even more insane, Gy-Gor–who looks much better than I’d imagined he would as a Gorilla Grodd repaint. Anyway, the reveals were:

Wow. Where to start with all this? (more…)

The Annual Interview with the Four Horsemen

December 2, 2009 | Poe

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In what has happily become an annual tradition here at PGPoA, the Four Horsemen graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions about DC Universe Classics, Masters of the Universe Classics and their own FANtastic Exclusive figures. Read on to get the latest from Santa’s not-so-little helpers, Chris Dahlberg, Eric Treadaway, Jim Preziosi, and H. Eric “Cornboy” Mayse. (more…)