Odds ‘n Ends

April 14, 2009 | Poe

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It’s the triumphant return of Odds ‘n Ends! At least for this week.

  • I downloaded Pearl Jam’s Ten: Legacy Edition off Itunes. It features the original album as well as a new mix by frequent PJ collaborator Brendan O’Brien. I have to say, the O’Brien mixes, while subtle, really give the songs a fresh sound. There’s a certain grittiness and immediacy to the album that wasn’t in the over-produced original mix. You can hear a lot more of Vedder’s vocal inflection (including a little bit of dialogue during the solo of Even Flow I’d never heard before), while the reverb has been brought way down across the board. Of course, my biggest draw was finally getting the studio version of the legendary Brother, a classic Ten-era unreleased Pearl Jam song.
  • After pushing back their release for two months, Mattel has finally put Ultraman and Alex Luthor on Mattyc0llector.com. And don’t forget, Mer-Man goes on sale tomorrow at noon EDT.
  • Last night’s Big Bang Theory was incredibly geeky. I can’t believe how specific and timely the comic debates were. I also can’t believe the comic book guy thought Jason Todd should be the new Batman. I hate Jason Todd. And Damian Wayne.
  • For Easter, Dr. Mrs. Ghostal gave me the re-releases of Bebop and Rocksteady. Now I’m on a whole kick to dig out my original TMNT figures and track down a few I lost over the years. I’ll probably nab the re-release Shredder when it comes out, too. Coincidentally, I gave DMG the re-release of April O’Neil for her female action figure collection.

NECA TMNT series 2: just wind in sails?

March 24, 2009 | Poe

The TMNT & Other Strangeness Blog has an interview with Ninja Turtles writer Steve Murphy (who as of late has become depressingly doom-and-gloom about the world due to his belief that the environment is already screwed).

Anyway, here’s the relevant passage for those hoping for the second series of NECA TMNT figures.

Speaking of comic figures, do you have any clue what happened with NECA?

I can only hazard to guess that NECA lost interest in the TMNT, regardless of the happy talk they make to fan journalists and fan news sites.

You say NECA seems to have lost interest, does that mean that the recent news of series 2 finally coming out will not be coming true after all or is it all just a wait and see sort of deal again?

My opinion is that it’s just like that line from Devo’s “Jocko Homo” song: “I say it’s all / Just wind in sails.” In other words, nonsense, public relations, nothing substantial.

NECA wants us to open a certain distribution channel for them but we’re prevented from doing so.

Without that new avenue of sales, I doubt very much that NECA will release anything further.

My guess? NECA wants to sell these in Toys ‘R Us, but they can’t due to Playmates’ deal with Mirage.

Toy news roundup, 2/16/09

February 16, 2009 | Poe

newspoeLots of news coming out of Toy Fair, especially from Hasbro. I’ve got someone working on a Hasbro update, but here’s some non-Mattel, non-Hasbro news I found interesting.

  • According to NECA, series 2 of their Ninja Turtles line will be coming out later this year. Hallelujah! (Figures.com)
  • NECA has also managed to hook me for their 7″ Terminator 2 figures. I have to get that shotgun-toting Arnie. (Figures.com)
  • If you’ve never visited the site before, ASM Magazine always has some good Toy Fair coverage.
  • OK, NECA…I know Chun-Li is traditionally depicted with big thighs, but this is ridiculous. (Cool Toy Review)
  • A very Dick Sprang-style Joker is apparently going to show up on Batman: Brave and the Bold…maybe the season finale…? (Cool Toy Review)

Toy news roundup, 2/9/09

February 9, 2009 | Poe

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  • NECA wasn’t in attendance at NYCC, so there are no updates on the status of their Ninja Turtles line.  It’s not looking good though, folks.
  • However, Playmates is going forward with their Mirage-based line. Here are some photos of the Turtles, Shredder, Splinter, and a Foot Soldier. The Turtles and Splinter look all right, but Shredder and the Foot Soldier look terrible. But then, Playmates seems to be having trouble with human figures lately.
  • Captain Collector has photos of DCUC series 6 and 7 up. Lovin’ that Flash. Kid Flash is way too small, though.
  • In case you missed it, Mattel announced how you can redeem those Anti-Monitor points you’ve been getting from your Infinite Heroes figures. 50 points gets you a 3 3/4″ Anti-Monitor figure at SDCC (alternatively, you can buy him for $10); while each 25 points gets you a raffle ticket for a titanic 30″ Anti-Monitor figure with light-up eyes (one will be raffled off each day at the convention). Before you ask, Mattel apparently told reporters “the figure is so large that mass production tooling was too expensive to do. Mattel instead hand-made each and every 30″ Anti-Monitor to be given away.” At least you do get two raffle tickets when you purchase a 3 3/4″ Anti-Monitor for 50 points. I can’t help but feel like this is another (unintentional) kick in the teeth from Mattel, though. They don’t seem to understand how annoyed, stressed and sometimes downright angry it makes collectors to know there are things out there they’ll never own, even if they were willing to spend the money on it.  I know if this was a DCUC thing, I’d be really annoyed. Part of me thinks it would be better for Mattel not to make the 30″ Anti-Monitor at all…what do you think?
  • Hmm…there wasn’t as much toy news as I thought there would be out of NYCC. I suppose Mattel is ahead of the curve in making NYCC their primary collector’s con. We’ll have to wait until SDCC for all the cool toy-related panels and so forth.

Toy news roundup, 1/28/09

January 28, 2009 | Poe

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  • Skeletor is sold out. Damn, that was fast. Bodes well for MOTUC, though. (Mattycollector)
  • Go Hero is making a Commando Cody 1:6 figure, which I find interesting mostly because CC was featured in a number of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. Incidentally, where the hell are my MST3K figures, world?! (Figures.com)
  • More pics of Terminator: Salvation toys by Playmates…that thing with the treads will look great next to my 1988 Kenner Ed-260. Y’know, I feel kind of bad for picking on Playmates, since they produced the excellent and beloved TMNT line and the popular Simpsons figures, but these are inexcusable in this day and age. (Figures.com)
  • Diamond Select Toys’ latest Q&A. (Art Asylum)
  • Dude, this Star Wars horror novel’s cover totally ripped off my Odds ‘n Ends pic. Ha ha! Okay not really. (Topless Robot)

News roundup, 1/7/2009

January 7, 2009 | Poe

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Odds ‘n Ends REVEALED!

December 31, 2008 | Poe

Odds N Ends

Now that Newt’s won, here’s the full list:

Mirage TMNT figures from…Playmates?

December 17, 2008 | Poe

OK, this is…interesting. It looks like Playmates will be releasing a set of well-articulated Ninja Turtles figures based on their Mirage appearances.

25th_turtles__scaled_600

First off, are those new sculpts or just repainted versions of the TMNT movie toys with new heads?

I don’t know for sure what effect, if any, this has had on NECA’s TMNT line. But to my knowledge, NECA hasn’t solicited the NECA April, Shredder,and Foot ninjas we’ve seen prototypes for in Previews or anywhere else. Given NECA’s generally speedy progress on such things, it’s quite possible Playmates’ moving in on the Mirage-era TMNT turf has affected NECA’s plans.

Treat this with a huge grain of salt, but this thread over at the Technodrome forums claims NECA has cut off all communication with Mirage, and there’s a strong implication that the other NECA figures have been cancelled.

All this is just speculation and rumor-mongering, however. If any insiders out there want to pass along a little truth, I’d be happy to post it here.

Pic of the day

November 21, 2008 | Poe

Drawing of the Sword by TCM Hitchhiker

Poe’s note: For some reason, this picture made me think of the Magic: The Gathering card Ernham Djinn. Go figure. Anyway, amazing work here by TCM Hitchhiker. I love the intensity of color.