Those Wonderful Toys

Dreamworks Monsters vs. Aliens - B.O.B.

2010-02-24T01:54:00.001-05:00

B.O.B. has an insatiable appetite for destruction! The indestructible gelatinous mass is capable of absorbing everythin in his way! Aided by the help of dellow monsters Dr. Cockroach, The Missing Link, Insectosaurus, and Ginormica, the team of misfits must save the world from alien take over!

Packaging: Monsters Vs. Aliens come packed on a blister card, nothing too special, since this is afterall advertising for a film, they sure do make sure they get the name up there enough! In the background is a skyline of a nondescript city being attacked by lazers. The back of the card gives a nice little bio (just in case you're someone like me who has never seen the movie) and hilights the toy's features: "oozes slime, absorbs everything, indestructible!" It also gives a warning, which if taken in the wrong context could be pretty perverted: "Keep away from small children, wash hand (yes, hand) after play, slime is toy, DO NOT put into mouth or swallow." To give credit where credit is due, I wanted B.O.B. the isntant I saw him, so whoever designed this package did their job well.

Sculpt and Paint: B.O.B. (Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate) is a one-eyed amorphous creature whose only goal in life is to consume everything he touches. Made of a high-quality polymer, B.O.B is just darn cool. He reminds me of one of those toys you'd get from a quarter vending machine when leaving the supermarket or Toys 'R' Us. There's not too much to say about the sculpt, he's a big gelatinous mass... is sculpted appropraitely so. The only piece of hard plastic is his one eye, everything else is made from the polymer. B.O.B. is hollow, so you can fit things inside him, like other action figures, or even your hand and use him like a puppet.

Articulation: B.O.B. has zero points of articulation, though you can bend him, stretch him, put him inside out, stuff your hand inside him, and stuff him full of other toys.

Accessories: B.O.B. comes with one accessory, which was a huge selling point for me: SLIME. B.O.B includes a little tub of slime, about 1.41 OZ, just enough to fill his mouth and let ooze out. You'll have to forgive me, its been years since I've actually felt or held slime, so the details are a little fuzzy to try and compare apples to apples. There's really no distinguishable smell or texture to this slime. Its semi viscous and very watery, though when you remove your finger, there is a little moisture but no residue or anything leftover. I was hesitant to use on any figures at first, but after a few test runs, I was confident enough to use my Brave and the Bold Aquaman as test subject.

Overall: Considering I've never seen Monsters vs. Aliens, and the likelyhood that I actually do ever watch it is very slim, nor do I plan on collecting the rest of the line, B.O.B. gets filed into the novelty toy category. B.O.B. caught my eye when I first saw the MvA figures at TRU, and every time I made a toy run I'd scope him out. Even when they ran sales on the figures I had to pass. Finding him on clearance at $5.99 was no huge savings, but at least in my mind I can justify the purchase. I doubt he'll have long shelf life on my desk or display, but for the time being he's a lot of fun to squeeze and play with, which makes him worth his purchase price. I plan to get some good usage out of the slime as well, hopefully when I dust off my MOTU Slime Pit and pick an MOTUC character to get slimed... I think my prime candidate is my Man-At-Arms with a messed up shoulder! Stay tunes for pichas!

DC Universe Classics Wave 12 - IRON

2010-02-11T00:01:00.005-05:00

Professor Will Magnus invented the Responsometer- A microcomputer capable of imbuing pure elements with a semblance of life, intelligence and emotion. Implanting samples of gold, iron, lead, tin and mercury with their own responsometers, Magnus watched the metals take on humanoid shape and personalities. Iron quickly emerged as the backbone of the team. In all the challenges the Metal Men take on, Iron’s super strength and ability to withstand tremendous punishment put him on the front line of action.

Packaging: Mattel has re-vamped their DC Universe Classics packaging for 2010. Gone is the old DCUC blister card with the pie chart of characters. This new packaging features a lineup of DC heroes and villains on the front. In addition to the DC Universe Classics logo, they have also added DC COMICS 75 Years of Super Power. Also, every figure includes a DC 75th Anniversary collector button featuring vintage DC art.

Sculpt and Paint: Mattel has made the backbone of this line reusing parts, and reusing them again and again. With a character as unique as Iron this could have come out very bad. However while Mattel is reluctant to sculpt new parts, they seem fine with adding stuff over them. Hence we get Iron's tuinc which covers him from his neck to his upper thigh. The tunic also helps beef him up making him look thicker around the neck and chest. I doubt anyone will make fun of him for wearing a skirt. What really makes this figure a winner is the facial sculpt, which really accentuates his features and makes him look like a guy with whom not to mess with. Finally, the paint, which he is a blueish silver all over could have looked really toyish, but the subtle wash really accentuates the little blemishes and imperfections sculpted and not sculpted to make him look a little worn and weathered.

Articulation: No major surprises here, standard DCUC articulation: ball-and-hinge joints at the shoulders, H-hinges at the hips, standard hinges at the elbows, knees, torso, and ankles, and swivels at the head, biceps, wrists, waist, and lower thighs. His torso joint movement is impeded by the tunic, and like DCUC Ares his hips are severely limited by the tunic.

Accessories: There seems to be a trend with most waves of DCUC, one or two figures feature the lion's share of the accessories, and the rest have nada. Fortunately for Iron, he benefits from the generosity of the toy gods. Irons right hand fits the wrecking ball and features the as-advertised diecast parts; the chain. A crescent wrench fits nice and snug into Iron's left fist, and get this: it works! Just turn the knurled wheel and the wrench actually moves. Finally, Wave 12's Collect & Connect figure is Darkseid; Iron comes with Darkseid's left leg.

Overall: I jokingly refer to DCUC as DC University College because many of these characters I've never even heard of. Priror to collecting DCUC (when I began late January of 2008) the extent of my knowledge of the DC Universe came mostly from Batman: The Animated Series and the live action films. In fact, the reason I first got into DCUC was Classic Detective Batman and The Penguin from Wave 1. I only tell you this so you can understand what when I say I had never heard of Iron prior to the announcement of this wave, I truly mean it. I've certainly enjoyed being schooled in DCUC, and twelve wave into this line, Iron stands out as one of the best looking and most unique figures.

I paid $19.99 for this figure at Newbury Comics, and though I didn't pick him up the first day I saw him, I returned the very next day and picked him up. Of course I would have much rather paid $15 for him at Wal-Mart, but I guess collecting MOTUC has gotten me used to a $20 price tag. That said, out of all the figures in Wave 12, Iron certainly is the only one I think could pay $20 and not regret it later.

DC Universe Classics Wave 11 - John Stewart

2010-02-07T00:01:00.004-05:00

When Green Lantern Hal Jordan was incapacitated en route to a JLA adventure, Hal's power ring sought out and selected architect John Stewart to be Hal's "alternative" peacekeeper of space sector 2814. Honest and utterly without fear, John was eventually awarded his own power ring and full-time status as a Green Lantern in his own right. He continues battling evil as a Green Lantern, his dedication earning him full membership in the JLA.

Packaging: John Stewart comes in the standard DCUC blister card that we've seen since wave one.

Sculpt & Paint: John Stewart comes with the Batman body with a few small added details. He has added wrist bands which are painted in a nice metallic green. Also, his Lantern ring is of a different design than that of Hal Jordan's, and is also painted in metallic green. While Stewart's uniform is mostly green and black, the most detail is at his head. The Four Horsemen have done a fantastic job with the sculpt of his face, and while I'm mostly only familiar with John Stewart from the Justice League animated series, they do a great job blending his apparance from animation as well as comics.

Articulation: John Stewart's articulation is pretty standard for the line: ball-and-hinge joints at the shoulders, H-hinges at the hips, standard hinges at the elbows, knees, torso, and ankles, and swivels at the head, biceps, wrists, waist, and lower thighs. The only thing missing is the ball jointed head, which hurts the most when trying to convey any character or emotion with these characters.

Accessories: Wave 11's Collect & Connect figure is Green Lantern Kilowog, John Stewart comes Wog's left arm. Not counting the Collect & Connect parts, besides Katma Tui Stewart is the only other character in this wave to include accessories, which does add a lot of value. Stewart has two ring constructs, a green fist, and a gun of sorts. Both fit nicely over his ring fist, and both fit on Hal Jordan's fist as well, though the fist fits a bit more nicely than the gun.

Overall: John Stewart is a fantastic figure, whether you're looking to add to the ranks of your Green Lantern Corps, or looking to complete your JLA, he will not let you down. I'm very happy overall with John Stewart. Along with The Question, he was one of the must-haves from Wave 11. I happened to find him at Newbury Comics for $19.99 and I jumped on the opportunity. Although the cost seems a bit high, even at the time of purchasing him, I'm still glad I have him here and now.

But you don't have to take my word for it...
Michael Crawford - DC Universe Classics Wave 11 Part 2
ItsAllTrue - DCUC11 Green Lanterns: Kilowog, John Stewart, & Katma Tui
Articulated Discussion - DC Universe Classics Wave 11 - John Stewart

DC Universe Classics Wave 11 - The Question

2010-02-04T00:01:00.002-05:00

Vic Sage was the smartest investigative reporter in Hub city, but he could only get so far playing by the rules. So Vic invented an alter ego to prowl Hub's back alleys - a facelss enigma known to criminals as "The Question." His war on crime brought him into conflict with Lady Shiva, the world's deadliest martial artist. Killed in that battle, he was revived and trained by Kung Fu master Richard Dragon. Since his brush with death, the Question returned to action driven by a new philosophy and a burning need to expose corruption and injustice to the cold light of day.

Packaging: Nothing new here really, same 'ol blister card featuring other figures on the wave on back. One tiny addition is the "Fan's Choice" sticker on front, calling attention to the fact that fans voted The Question #1 in the Toyfare DC Universe Classics Fan Poll.

Sculpt & Paint: The Question, like Deadshot, is a character with a relatively featureless face. However, with subtle sculpting, the Four Horsemen have once again successfully achieved the look of a face being covered by a mask. The Question borrows some parts from Gotham City Thug from the Movie Masters line (torso, pelvis, and legs). Otherwise Question seems to offer totally original sculpt, most importantly his trench coat. Considering its about fifty percent of what we see when looking at this character, its a damn good thing they got it right. They went so far as detailing the seamlines, and his collar and lapells flow freely, and his belt is tied behind him in a knot. The Question's paint apps seem fairly simple, but the small details like the buttons and wash on the trench coat give it a nice touch of shade. The only real negative is the yellow on the shirt, it sort of hinders the overall look of the toy, but yellow is just one of those colors that really does not translate into toy form too well without looking cheap and plasticy

Articulation: The Question has all of the articulation we have come to know and love from a DC Universe Classics figure. Oh, yeah, except with that one small exception of the ball joint head. Out of all the figures in this wave, I think the lack of this articulation hurts The Question the most. However, that said, he does seem to be sort of looking down already, so you can still achieve that lurking in the shadows feel. The other articulation that The Question has lost is his torso joint due to his overcoat. That said, I really don't miss it too much.

Accessories: Wave 11's Collect & Connect figure is Green Lantern Kilowog, The Question comes Wog's left leg.

Overall: I am extremely happy with The Question. One might say he looks a little dull, but in a sea of the same bucks, he is a refreshing departure from the norm. Along with John Stewart, The Question was one of the must-haves for me from Wave 11. I paid $19.99 for him at Newbury Comics, and although the price may seem high, I certainly don't regret it.

Skeletor, Part Deux, Part Deux

2010-01-25T02:00:00.005-05:00

Skeletor reissues will go on sale once again at 12:00 noon Eastern (9:00am Pacific) on Wednesday, January 27th. This figure is identical to the one that sold out on 12/15, so you're definitely going to want to be logged in and ready to click for your chance at Skeletor!

Happy Adora Day!

2010-01-15T02:19:00.002-05:00

Make sure you login to Matty Collector and be at your computer for noon eastern standard for today's sale!

Adora is the the first Club Eternia of monthly subscription figure of 2010. In addition, Battle Armor He-Man will be on sale as the first bonus figure of the year. Also don't forget about re-issue Beastman and of course, from The Dark Knight, Movie Masters Harvey Dent!

Score all of Matty’s newest products from one page!

DC Universe Classics Wave 12 - The Spectre

2010-01-13T03:27:00.000-05:00

When honest cop James Corrigan was killed by gangsters, the ghostly spirit of vengeance appeared before him and offered him a second chance at "Life." Corrigan agreed, becoming The Spectre, a ghostly avenger of evil deeds. But Corrigan was only one in a series of human hosts to The Spectre entity. The Spectre's methods are often harsh, violent, and instill intense fear in his victims. If you gaze into his pure white eyes and feel feer, your days as a sinner are finished.

Mattel Reflects On 2009 & It's MOTUC Line

2009-12-24T19:06:00.000-05:00

Mattel has posted the following statement in regards to their Masters of the Universe Classics line on their Facebook page. (Via ToyNewsi)

What a breakout year it was for the return of He-Man and all his friends and allies in the first MOTU line aimed at the adult collector! To really look at the last year, lets take a quick walk on how this line came about.

Originally as we conceived MattyCollector.com and the best toy lines to put out for our audience, we knew we wanted to do a MOTU collector line. Our of the blue, during our planning stage the Horsemen brought in a prototype He-Man figure. The stars were lining up perfectly. We put him out at SDCC to see if their was buzz, and boy was there!

The original plan was to offer MOTU Classic figures in two packs similar to the DCU figures. Three two packs were planned out, He-Man vs. Beastman, Skeletor vs. Stratos and Zodac vs. Mer-Man. The idea was to release one every other month at a $40.00 price point. At the last minute we changed plans betting on this line being a success and the packs were broken up and sold as singles. (gulp - please be a success!) We even added one last character - Hordak - in hope it would take off and we could sell a baseline number of figures each month. Faker became an easy repaint for NYCC assuming again that the line took off. If not, we would have gotten at least to Hordak and that would have been it.

Well obviously the line was a huge success, enough that we planned out a full year of one figure a month ending with Adora in December, making sure we got in one POP figure in year 1.

But then Mer-Man ran really late and not only did Faker need to get bumped into a monthly figure slot, but it threw off the rest of the year so that Scareglow was no longer the Halloween figure and Adora had to get bumped to year 2. Not the end of the world, but it showed that we needed a system in place to guarantee at least one figure a month shipped.

Hence the "bonus figures" were born. Despite speculation that these figures were done to increase the number of MOTU figures we sold each month, Zodak and Goddess were chosen as extra figures as our insurance policy. They were relatively inexpensive to do and in case another figure ran late we could simply slot one of them in to guarantee one new figure was available per month.

Luckily we did not run into any more problems in 2009 and the remaining monthly figures all shipped on time. So Zodak and Goddess were released as "bonus" figures at the end of the year. This is why "bonus" figures will not be part of any subscription program. We need to hold onto them to insure there is at least one new figure per month if any slip ups happen in production.

We are going to continue to create a few back up variations of A level characters starting in Jan. with Battle Armor He-Man. If a "monthly" figure slips schedule, we will just slot in one of our back ups in its place. If everyone ships on time, the back ups will be offered as bonus figures about once a quarter. We'll do 3-4 in total in 2010, all variants of A level characters. And again, this will not be part of the subscription.

We're also very excited to be getting to larger scale beasts in 2010. You've seen Battle Cat and we have some great ideas to continue this line if he takes off. We'll have more to reveal at NYTF during collector night on Feb. 14th. (yes, we know this is before his on sale date - we're taking a bet again - gulp...)

There will also be a few more re-releases in 2010. Not every figure will get re-released and they will not be re-released in the same order offered the first time (despite He-Man, Skeletor and Beastman setting this up). We also hold a few of every figure for customer service each month. If these are not needed we'll bring any extra to SDCC. Many are gone in full, so we may only have one or two customer service figures at SDCC.

Our end goal is to get to every classic MOTU, POP, NA and new or majorly redesigned 200X series figure in the line; all in "Classics style". Right now we have a long term roll out in place taking us through 2016 with bios for every figure. Because MOTU has a limited number of A list characters, it was important to create this road map to insure the line had a long life to it (we didn't want to front load all the fan requests into year 1 and 2 and kill teh lein erlay). Of course a movie release or if Mattel is able to gain access to any additional MOTU characters things could change. It is a very flexible plan, but at least we have a roadmap to get us where we want to go and to insure the bios tell a nice full story revealed bit by bit.

All of us at Mattel couldn't be more excited about the future of the MOTU Classics line. And of course it would not be a success without all the fans. Your continued support and input is most important. This line is for the fans. We're working on ironing out all the shipping and ordering issues so hopefully this will be a thing of the past by January.

Look for some major surprises in Feb with at least 4 new figures revealed and some additional skus no one is expecting! - Oh, and we'll have images of Evil Lyn with all of her accessories including 3 additional ones not seen yet in early January.

Lastly, we will get to a re-release of King Grayskull with slight deco changes, but don't count on this until very late in 2010.

Well, this "State of MOTUC" is certainly a lot to digest. I think it gave us a pretty good insight as to what plans Mattel had for the line, and hopefully what plans they have for it as well.

Had the line not taken off we wouldn't have even gotten to Hordak.

Adora was originally slated for December, but Mer-Man delayed each figure by one month.

Bonus figures are "insurance policy" incase another figure runs late.

Matty will offer bonus figures about once a quarter, 3-4 total in 2010.

Large beasts in 2010, starting with Battle Cat, if he's a success more to come.

End goal is to get every MOTU, POP, NA and majorly redsigned 200X figure out in "Classics style".

Long term plan taking us through 2016.

Working on shipping & ordering issues.

Big announcements in February (4 new figures and Evil-Lyn with all accessories including 3 not yet seen.)

King Grayskull re-release late 2010!

Its nice to know Mattel actually has along term plan for this line, so hopefully contingent on its continued success they'll continue to roll out new figures every month! I'm also glad to know that the bonus figures won't be a monthly thing either. I'm very happy with Zodak and The Goddess, however buying a subscription figure in addition to bonus figures every month could become very costly. I'm certainly interested in what other large scale beasts they have in mind. I'm already setting aside cash for Battle Cat, and if Panthor is offered you can count me in. As far as any other large scale beasts, I will have to see them before I really make up my mind. Finally, I'm really looking forward to February! I'm excited to find out who the new figures will be, and also what surprises Mattel has in store for us with Evil Lyn, I'd love a second head with no helmet!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T03:56:00.000-05:00

Many warm wishes for a safe and Merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year!

Where does he get

2009-12-24T02:09:00.001-05:00

Those wonderful toys?

Review - McFarlane's Twisted X-Mas: Rudloph

2009-12-23T00:01:00.001-05:00

Rudy Reindeer is my second foray into McFarlane's Twisted X-Mas series, my first being 2007 when I picked up Santa Claus. Last year, instead of picking up another Twisted X-Mas figure, I opted for Frosty the Snowman from Round 2's Forever Fun Holiday Classics line. This year, I decided to go back to my roots and pick up Santa Claus' reindeer with a bioluminescent red nose, however you will notice that Rudy's nose is indeed not red nor is it glowing.

About Twisted X-Mas - "Inside the decidedly distorted mind of Todd McFarlane, the holidays take an entirely different twist. Forget the warmth of Christmas past - McFarlane's Twisted Christmas transforms the characters you thought you knew, and the results are undeniably wicked."

In this series, along with Santa Claus is Mrs. Claus, a Snowman, Jack Frost, and Santa's Little Helper. This whole wave had a lot stacked against it, first off, they're Christmas toys, which only really can be displayed for about one month a year. Secondly, they're ultra warped interpretations of these Christmas classics, who wants Santa Claus to be a zombie? I can't imagine the line has done terribly well, when they were first introduced they warmed pegs at my local Newbury Comics for MONTHS, and finally I think they were put away, only to be brought out the next year, and the year after. The price tag on my Rudy is dated 10/24/2007, so you know they haven't been a really in-demand item.

Packaging: Rudy comes in a clamshell packaging, nothing too fancy, but you instantly know its a "Christmas" toy when you see it.

Sculpt & Paint: Rudy is posed standing upright on his hind legs, his mouth wide open exposing all of his sharp teeth, and he's posed to hold his axe accessory. Rudy has a string of Christmas lights wrapped all around his arms and legs, almost reminiscent of barbed wire, he's also got a red leather harness with slay bells. On his arms and legs he's got a bicep plate on his right arm, gauntlets on both forearms and greaves on both shins. Finally, his hair on the back is braided, very reminiscent of a Predator.

Overall I'd say the sculpt is superb, the attention to detail is great, the hairs, teeth, and ornate designs on his armor really exemplifies this, even a little socket plug for the Christmas lights. The paint does a really great job blending the white with the dark and light browns, and the Christmas lights really stick out too.

Articulation: As one would expect from a McFarlane figure (is it really even a figure) there is minimal articulation. Rudy has swivel hips (kind of), shoulders, and wrists. Though, you really can't do much with this articulation. He won't stand without the aid of his base.

Accessories: Rudy includes a large axe, which is nicely sculpted, and a snow base with a little skull to aid to the creepiness.

Overall: Rudy is already a very hard sell, considering he's a twisted Christmas figure, and with the lack of articulation there isn't a lot you can do with him, however he's still a lot of fun to look at and its nice to have some company for 'ol Saint Nick. If I had not already owned McFarlane's Twisted Santa Claus I doubt I would have picked up Rudy. The attention to detail and great paint on the sculpt really help push it up above an average figure. Though Christmas only comes once a year, Rudy can terrorize your collection year round if you are so inclined!