Standor

So they made some official Stan Lee toys for the Comikaze convention. But I didn't go to Comikaze. But I did go to the local Wizard World convention where Stan Lee Collectibles was selling their overstock. And since I love it when they make action figures of writers I decided to get one.

I debated getting Standor or the Pop Vinyl figure. Ultimately though, there's just so much more amusing about the Standor figure.

1) He's a He-man figure of Stan Lee.
2) He's blue, so he's probably the FAKER version of Stan Lee.
3) His profile claims Standor is one of the ancient gods of Endor who created so damn much.
4) He looks a lot more like Stan Lee than the simpler Pop Vinyl design.
5) Mustache.

Ignore the glare from the flash. Or pretend it's Standor's divine light of inspiration.

Things I want that were shown as a thing at Toy Fair 2014

4" Twilight Zone figures

 (picture via Toyark.com)

1 Big Bang Theory figure with it's apartment diorama

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Skeletor's staff as a plush toy

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Jay and Silent Bob minimates

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Kill Bill  minimates

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Sin City Minimates

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Booker Dewitt figure from Bioshock Infinite

  (picture via Toyark.com)

six inch scale Jabba the Hutt

  (picture via Toyark.com)

talking Strax plush toy

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Also... LEGO SIMPSSONS MINIFIGURES ARE BLINDPACKED GODDAMNIT!

  (picture via Toyark.com)

Sy-Klone

Big Lots cheap MOTUC figure scratches my Nostalgia itch since SyKlone is the MOTU figure I had as a kid. I wish this one had the original's action feature, but I guess his lenticular chest and cut waist joint will have to do.

Orko

I've been a fan of Orko ever since they revamped his origin for the 2000 era MOTU series/toyline. Somehow Orko as a powerful wizard who lost most of his powers when he travelled to Eternia due to the planet's magical properties is somehow more interesting than incompetent clown. The back of this set adds to that, revealing that Orko is his people's secret agent sent to protect the sword of power and its wielder should the wielder be worthy.

Of course what really makes this toy awesome is that his accessory is an entire figure: Prince Adam, He-Man's much less convincing secret identity. Hidden by the packaging. Adam gets an alternate head and 1.5 swords. Yup, a full sword and one cleaved down the middle with pegs so it can be attached to another sword half.

I wouldn't have gotten this figure except that it was only $10 at Big Lots! and I'm a sucker for toys I'm vaguely interested in that are now 66% lower than they used to be.

Ponderings

Do I want to buy an Orko at the Matty Collector sale or do I just want him because he's usually hard to find?

Edit 3:40 pm- I wanted because he's hard to find. After holding the Slimer figure in my hand and realizing it would be the same size, I knew it wouldn't be worth the $36 the figure would have cost me.

Fearless Fotog, as played by Mark

As I considered purchasing the Fearless Fotog today, I realized that his character profile which indicates that his MO of humiliating his enemies by showing their defeat repeatedly on his chest means he is essentially the car from the Kids In the Hall sketch about the smart car alarm.

Costumes that make you go, huh?

So hey, here's some Halloween costumes for you to consider.

He-Man Costume

Sexy Simpsons Duff Man for women costume....

What?

Captain Glenn

I'm not a big fan of the MOTUC line, mostly out of disinterest. But when they showed off the Queen Marlena figure as the SDCC exclusive, I was impressed by the retro spaceman feel of the alternate Captain Glenn accessories. So when the figure was made available in alternative packaging as Captain Glenn on MattyCollector I braved the site and purchased one.

And yes, the shipping was excessively high.

The figure itself is pretty cool, and does indeed embody a 1950's sci-fi serial. The over-sized bubble helmet harness is particularly neat, with the bulky simplicty you associate with the '50s. My only complaint about the helmet is that since the Captain Glenn packaging has her wearing the helmet as default, when you take the helmet off, it would seem that a lot of the silver paint has rubbed off onto the neck. It mars the figure a little, but isn't a deal killer for me. Although I can see how it might be for some people, especially for a $25 figure that had a mandatory $14 shipping/tax charge. As it is, I find it highly annoying but forget about it once I start to play around with the figure.

Since this is the Captain Glenn figure, it comes with all the pieces you need to create the Queen Marlena alternate look. The alternate head was a nice touch. The dress seems flimsy, but the interlocking mechanism on the back of the dress works surprisingly well to combat the unsightly seam you would think would be noticeable on what is essentially a large sleeve. The back of the box has a different profile than the Queen Marlena figure. It plays up her Space Captain past and her military abilities that were completely absent in the cartoon. Seriously, it says the queen is a marksman but she doesn't carry a gun with her, ever, even though she's in a land where there's a magical evil army that attacks her castle constantly. And we know Captain Glenn carried a gun, her figure comes with a gun holster and two guns.

I dunno, part of me feels that by playing up "He-man's parent before she married his father"  angle that we're sort of introducing a time travel Back to the Future-esque plot device, where if Captain Glenn doesn't have weird incest feelings for a time travelling He-Man, then at the very least we see some wacky hijinks where He-Ma has to ensure that his parents meet and fall in love. Maybe even featuring a scene where Marlena sees Prince Adam transfrom into H-man. And that could explain why Queen Marlena knows her children's secret identities. But I may be over thinking things.

The figure also comes with a Cringer figure that features almost no ariculation! So in many ways that means its like the original 80's Battle Cat.

Optikk, new, for under $20.

I don't normally do this, but what the hell.

If you want a MOTUC Optikk figure, and at a decent price, they're available at Amazon for about $17 right now. And the figure is eligible for free shipping. Don't know how long that price will last, but go for it if you've wanted the figure but didn't want to pay ebay prices for it.

Let's see how this goes.

I just ordered Captain Glenn from Matty Collector. This will be my first Matty Collector purchase. Let's see how this goes. Although I will say 1)I didn't have the insane issues I've heard about exclusive figures in the past. 2) I hate paying for shipping when it's around 50% of a figure. One more reason to not get the DCUC Subscription.

Optikk

I never really expected to ever buy any of the Masters of the Universe Classics. I always considered them over priced and my nostalgia for Masters of the Universe was never enough to get me to buy toys. I didn't buy any of the 200x line, and I consider those much better looking than the MOTUC designs.

And then they showed off Optikk, a guy with a giant eyeball for a head and suddenly things changed. I love giant eyeballs. It helps that he's not based on the original He-Man figures but on the weird space version they did after the weird sci-fi/fantasy Eternia stuff died a slow death. Since I have no memories of this guy and as a result I can view it as a wholly original toy, with no nostalgia. It's just a neat looking figure.

Of course the whole thing about Matty Collector being crap cast a pall over my excitement over the figure, so I resigned myself to the idea that I would never get this figure and then it would cost an insane amount on the secondary market. BUT then I found someone selling it for about what it would have cost originally, so I snatched one up. And damn is it neat.

Why did I buy that toy? Because it's a space guy with a giant eyeball for a head. Is another reason really necessary?

2 year anniversary!

Two years ago I started this blog. It's an anniversary! Long time readers, or people who read through the old entries, will notice I didn't celebrate the 1 year anniversary. That's because I'm lazy. Seriously, you know why this blog will be going on for a while? Because here's a picture of the backlog of toys I need to open.


But this year I hope to start what will be an ongoing (I'm not going to declare annual, I might get lazy again sometime in the future) Anniversary tradition: A list of my Top 5 favorite toys.

Not of the last year, not that have been featured on this site, AND certainly not my favorite toys of all time... No, this list will be of the top 5 toys that I currently own. As the years go on, I hope that the changes to the list will reflect my ongoing changes both in my collection, but also of my tastes. So, having said that, let's begin.

5. Dinosorb the Meteorb
I've already gone into why I love this guy, so I'll just reiterate that this is the perfect combination of transforming toy, dinosaur, and childhood nostalgia to make it one of my favorites that I picked up in the last year. Plus it gets a He-Man toy on this list, always good for the nostalgic toy fan audience.


4. Nixon's Head from Futurama
I know this figure was an accessory to the Zapp Brannigan figure, but I don't care. This is an amazing toy in its own right. Why? Because it's the disembodied head of President Nixon. It's a toy depicting one of history's most fascinating Presidents... but only his head which has been kept alive and got himself elected President of Earth.... Man, Futurama is a great show. But even without all that context... IT'S A TOY OF RICHARD NIXON'S DISEMBODIED HEAD!


3. Archangel Minimate
You knew a representitive of the minimates line was going to show up here eventually. I didn't think it would be so when I bought this guy, but he's become one of my favorite minimates of all time. He is just depicted so well within the limitations of the minimate form. It's a striking use of the complex and simple... and damned if that wingspan isn't impressive.


2. Galactus Mighty Mugg
I love me some Galactus, especially when he's portrayed so ironically adorable! Who's the cutest world eater? You are. But seriously, it's hilarious that they took the character who is supposed to be cosmic and overwhelminingly majestic and created this.


1. Cyberman from Earthshock
They made a very accurate looking toy of my favorite design of my favorite monster from my favorite television show... Hell yes this is my favorite toy right now. I've wanted something like this for almost two decades. And now it is mine in all its glorious glory.


Okay, so that's my 5 favorite toys that I own. And that is that.

What do you think mini-block-figure of Reginald VelJohnson?

Dinosorb

From the Grayskull Wiki:

"Meteorbs were originally a Japanese toyline of transforming eggs from Bandai called Tamagoras (タマゴラス) and were released in the USA by Mattel as part of the Masters of the Universe toyline."

I've been looking for one of these all year, trying to indulge some childhood nostalgia. As a kid I had Dinosorb, who turned into a dinosaur and Tuskor, the wooly mamoth. Then today a friend of mine gave me his old Transformers from the garage he was cleaning out and in the middle of it I found this guy!

Hooray! Nostalgia accomplished! Of course the original was purple, not gray, but I'm good with this. I don't know if this is one of the Japanese toyline or not, but I don't care.