Starman (Kingdom Come version)

Continuing my confusing decision to collect all the DCUC figures depicting the Starman legacy, something which I am only now realizing I've never actually written on this blog... So yeah, I've been picking up some of the Starman figures. I did write about the Buyer's remorse I had when I picked up a Jack Knight Starman, but since then I've picked up a Ted Knight Starman at Tuesday morning at 1/2 MSRP and a Stargirl because I was just kinda excited to find one. I'm not opening any of them, just putting them up on my wall in their packaging. I think I'm doing this because I loved the James Robinson series from the 90's, but it's also possible that I'm confusing my mild enjoyment of the Jeff Bridges movie for my mild enjoyment of these characters.

And then I bought the Starman from the Mattel Subscription line off of AJ because he said he didn't want it. Actually the cost wasn't too bad, and the fact that THIS Starman is also a character from the Legion of Superheroes means I'm not feeling too much Buyer's remorse on this purchase. Even if the packaging makes him look out of place.

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things is not the same.

Actually the lack of accessories disturbs me a bit, although it's not like the character actually has an iconic accessory. Maybe a sloppy joe. See, when Starman traveled to the past from the 30th century, the medicines of the 21st century were unable to treat his mental illness. So he spent his off hours in a mental institution where he loved to eat sloppy joes. That's why they included an alternate head, he takes off his mask to eat sloppy joes.

AMP episode 45: Play With Yourself

Episode 45 of the Articulated Monster Podcast is now available.

 

In this week's episode we talk about the Hot Toys figures unveiled at Ami-Con and then get into a really weird discussion about what we would do if we commissioned customized action figures of ourselves. Really weird.

Professor Zoom

At some point you have to wonder why the hell they call Professor Zoom the Reverse Flash. Okay, sure his colors are the opposite of the Flash's costume and he's evil, but that's about it. If he's the Reverse Flash he should be able to make things slow or something that is the opposite of being super fast at stuff.

The other thing you have to ask yourself is why the hell has it taken Mattel this long to do a figure of what is essentially a repaint. He looks exactly like the Flash, but he's yellow. This should have been the easiest figure they've ever made. It's even easier than Mullet Superman.

Oh wait, right. It's Mattel. Common sense should not enter into this discussion.

AMP Episode 44: Dinner for Four

Oh snap, it's time for another episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast.



This extra episode is part of my blatant attempt to get to episode 50 sooner. This will be the last time I do this before we hit episode 50, so don't get too worried.

In this episode Mario, AJ, my friend Bruce, and myself all go to a Red Lobster and talk about Bruce's experiences at SDCC (he was my hookup for SDCC merch), some Mario Bros. minifigures we found right before we went to dinner, various pop culture things, and the food we are all eating. That's right, it's an hour of us talking while we're eating food. I've cut out a couple minutes of us ordering our food, but that's about it.

Bruce picked up the Death statue when he was at SDCC. He let me pull it out of the box and take a look at it. Personally I can't get into the eyes. They're a little too doe-ish for me.

Enjoy!

(The title of this episode comes from an old IFC show called Dinner for Five, where John Favreau would eat dinner with 4 other people from the movie business and they would all share anecdotes about the industry. It was a fascinating show if they had good guess on.)

Toad & Diddy Kong

So this weekend I found a box of the K'Nex blind packed Mario Kart minifigures at Toys R' Us. I picked up a few and almost got all the ones I wanted. Mario and AJ picked up a few too. Of course after we opened everything, THAT was when we figured out that there was an identification code. On the back of every package is a series of 7 numbers. On each package a different number is underlined and that tells you what figure is inside. The only problem, the ink that is used to print these numbers rubs off pretty easily, so you might not be able to use them to find what you want. And unfortunately for me, what I thought was a Donkey Kong turned out to be a Bowser. 


Toad is pretty easy to figure out because of the giant head. I wanted to round out the Mario Bros. cast a bit, and since I'm a child of the 80's I actually think Toad is more iconic than Yoshi as a Mario Bros. character. The figure is okay. The head is great, but his arms are ridiculously long. He's literally a knuckle dragger. And  he has no leggs. His feet are stuck to the bottom of his torso, and they don't move at all. It helps the imagery of a short stout little man, but those arms are too much.

As for Diddy Kong, I could take or leave him, but since I was able to find him by feeling for his tail, I picked him up, that and because Toys R' Us was doing a buy one get one half off deal. So for half off, sure I'll get him. Actually, the tail is the only interesting bit about the figure. His design doesn't really fit in with the other Mario characters and compared to the other minifigures in this line, Diddy Kong feels a little light. Even when compared with Toad, since Toad has the giant head, Diddy just feels like he's made out of less plastic. The thin brim of his hat doesn't help. I feel like I could snap it like a cheap plastic cup.

Meanwhile I still want a Donkey Kong, but I've also seen solicitations for a K'Nex building set with DK, so I might just wait for that.

Saw it at a dollar store

Does this look like David Schwimmer (Ross from friends) to anyone else?

AMP Episode 43: Ronco Food Dehydrator

Look at that, time for the next episode of the internet's most existing action figure podcast (tied with all the others): The Articulated Monster Podcast



This week AJ and Alan join us to talk about the Hasbro Marvel Panel, Hot Toys Bane, and food dehydration. Oh, and we teach Alan to hate Mattel.