Toy Bender

I’m back to pretty much not giving a damn about Star Wars toys again, because I have mostly everything I’d want and not much has been shown to get me riled up during SDCC this year. There are a couple of interesting news items that I feel I should report, however. The first is the possibility of a “playset” that would reenact the burning of Darth Vader’s corpse:

Now this set isn’t going to come out, they’re just trying to gauge interest. Still, Hasbro has gotten a little morbid the last few years. First there was torture rack hand, the Lar’s Homestead just before they were shot and possibly burned alive, and now this. Granted, it is kind of neat, but I don’t think I’ll ever have a need for it.

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More He-Man, more Ghostbusters! Okay, Mattel managed to not disappoint too much at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.

He-Man

Out of the Masters of the Universe figures announced, there have been more aside from Battlecat that has got my boxers in a bunch. To name but a few, there’s a glow in the dark Scare Glow (I have an original SUCKERS!) as well as a Moss Man that’s actually mossy. Sweet!

Now here’s my dilemma. I really want to get into this line, but I don’t want to have to log into some website at a specific time in order to get the figures, so now I’m really considering getting a subscription in order to get one of each. The only problem is that I might end up with a bunch of figures that I don’t want.

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Let’s continue Toy Bender’s half assed armchair coverage of the San Diego Comic Con ‘09. You know, to be honest that so far I haven’t been overly impressed with much of the news coming out so far. I just wish I was there for the social aspect now more than anything… anyway, here’s some Marvel and DC toy offerings.

Marvel

Marvel had a few figures in their Marvel Universe line that got my attention. In particular, I really dug this Thor:

I also liked Vindicator. I know jack and crap about the character, I just dig the costume:

I’ve also got to get my hands on this here Vision. Combine him with a can of white spray paint and you have the perfect 90s version of the figure. Yeah, I like that “costume” you have a problem with that?

The biggest drawback with the Marvel Universe line so far is that it’s hard to buy them when they cost so damned much at most places, combined with the fact that they are often tough to find for me. Where the heck is Moon Knight and why do I have to pay over eight bucks for him?

Note: Pictures came from MarvelousNews.com

DC

I kind of knew about most of the DC offerings going in, especially for the DC Universe Classics line, but it’s still nice seeing pictures of POWER GIRL. I really want her bad, but is she seriously going to be Wal-Mart exclusive? I’ll never see her!

The Joker is a nice surprise for me, because he’s the classic version of the character that appeared in the most excellent Super Powers line.

The 12 inch General Zod figure from Superman II was a nice surprise, but I’d rather take him in 6 inch format.

Note: Pictures from Toy News International.

Man, the problem with SDCC and this here blog is that I can’t keep up with all the stuff going down. So I guess my best strategy is really focus on what really gives me a boner (toy collecting wise) and ignore the less bonerific stuff. I also figure that you get your news other places and you come here for mostly my take on certain things, so it’s easier for all of us just to focus on a few items.

He-Man

In the world of He-Man, I have three words for you: Battle Fucking Cat

Now I haven’t gotten any of the new Mattel Masters of the Universe figures (He-Mans) so far, mostly because of price. I will however now need a He-Man when he’s re-released, because I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have this new kick ass Battlecat and no He-Man to fight with him. I don’t say this often, but that shit is tight. I’m also digging that Teela in there, mostly because that means now that there’s a female body I’m hoping that She-Ra (Princess of Sexy) will be soon to follow.

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Convention Exclusives are a strange beast. On the one hand if you get one you kind of feel a little special. On the other, it’s a huge rip off for anyone who can’t make it to the convention. The San Diego Comic Con exclusive toys seem to be the cream of the crop as far as exclusive toys go and after been through a few waves of them, I thought I’d try to predict which ones will be the hottest of this year.

5. April O’Neal with Mousers

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic inspired figures from NECA was a hit with collectors, so I can’t imagine anyone who got them wouldn’t want an April O’Neal for their very own. Plus, you get Mousers!

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The following article originally appeared on the Wizard Universe website. Since they purged their archives, I’m mirroring it here.

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In the interest of getting money in my pocket, I’ve gone ahead and decided to let some pieces of The Collection go up for auction. So far I’ve only got a couple of items up for your consideration:

SDCC King Greyskull:

Click here to bid on King Greyskull (pretty please)

SDCC Lobo:

Click here to bid on Lobo (Oh God, I’m begging you!)

Basically, both of these items were procured by me on a sort of a whim and I decided that I liked them enough to keep them. Unfortunately, bill collectors don’t accept toys as payment.

Why am I telling you all this? Well aside from the fact that you might want a genuine collectible that was once owned by an important historical figure (ah hem… me), I’m also throwing in some goodies to loyal or unloyal Toy Bender readers who win. All you have to do is to send me an email after you win (at paul.toybender@gmail.com) and I’ll find some cool extras like kick ass comics or even some freebie toys to chuck in your box before it heads your way. Hell, I may even throw in a free puppy!* Awesome hey? Yeah, I thought so. Now go bid!

*There’s no way in Hell I’m giving away a puppy.

Here we are again with the rest of the Wondercon 2009 coverage!

Wondercon Pictures:

Since I’m both lazy and I have a crappy computer, I don’t have many interesting pictures to share. However, Savage of Old Man Musings was a picture taking maniac. You can check out his photos on Flickr here. Great White Snark is also showing off his pics and you can see some of them here with more to come in the future.

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This weekend was Northern California’s premiere comic book convention, Wondercon. Since I’m awesome and stuff I got in free, so it was a whole weekend of unrestrained nerdiery. Not all of what came out of it is nerd related, but I figured it would be an interest to most readers. In fact, there’s some really great stuff here. Read on!

The Fonz: I’ve had perhaps one of the most surreal and coolest comic convention experiences so far. Minutes into our first day at Wondercon my wife excitedly tugs on my sleeve saying, “Oh my God, the Fonz!” I turn and see Henry Winkler walking down the aisle looking at stuff. After he stopped for a photo, my wife makes eye contact with him. Not knowing what to do, she puts out her and and they shake. She says, “Nice meeting you” to which he replies, “You’re very beautiful” and he continues on his way.

Holy shit kids, the Fonz called my wife beautiful.

Henry Winkler, you totally get this:

How deliciously ironic.

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Hey, hey kids! It’s time for some more random links and thoughts. Today will be a bit shorter than usual because I’ve got to catch a train and I really can’t think of anything today. Yep, I’ve got blogger’s block.

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The 2009 Toy Fair had lots and lots of Star Wars news and since I’m only mildly interested in Star Wars toys these days, I decided to drop my thoughts (mostly) in one post. I’ve gone through Jedi Insider’s Star Wars coverage from the 2009 Toy Fair and commented on what interested me the most.

Mail-Away Figure For 2009

Wow, how stupid. Qui-Gon Jinn and the Eopie farting animal from the 10th anniversary celebration of that embarrassment known as The Phantom Menace. This is for all the Star Wars collectors that drive me nuts with their, “make this obscure character no one but four of us care about” and “why don’t we have a *insert retarded looking beast here* toy yet?” type of pleas.

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Mattel’s new He-Mans, I mean Masters of the Universe, are going pretty strong. At the New York Comic Con they showed of several new figures that certainly got me excited.

Man-at-Arms

I’m really digging this Man-at-Arms, because they did the fans a service by including both his “cartoon” head and the head that came on the toy. Man-at-Arms is one of those toys that holds a special place for me, because he’s one of the first action figures I remember getting and he as certainly my first Masters of the Universe figure. In other words, I hope this guy will someday be mine.

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So after seeing the beauty and majesty that are the Marvel Universe figures, the New York Comic Con had some more DC Infinite Heroes figures on display. Sadly, they again don’t look as good as Hasbro’s Marvel line. Somehow I still manage to find them serviceable enough for me to want to purchase them. What is wrong with me?!

It’s nice to see the Joker finally joining the line-up. I’m digging the cane accessory. I also like the effort they are putting into the packaging to show that they can be a little bit more dynamically posed.

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This couldn’t be a worse year to be broke. First there’s the Ghostbusters toys and now there’s the upcoming Marvel Universe 3 3/4ths inch scale figures that I want so desperately. Aside from the figures that have been shown off before, I was most impressed by this trio of figures in the right side of this image:

By Crom, it’s the Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends! The only figure missing is their stupid dog! It’s like someone at Hasbro has somehow tapped my brain for all the cool things that I like and decided to make a toy based upon those things.

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After getting super excited about Mattel’s announcement the other day that there would be Ghostbuster toys, I’m more than pleased to see how fantastically awesome they actually look. The three main Ghostbusting crew were shown off at the New York Comic Con and hot diggidy damn they are amazing:

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