Toy Bender

If you plan on attending the Philadelphia Wizard World convention and you dig toys (and why would you even be on this site if you didn’t like toys?), the first ever ToyFare Hall of Fame Awards will be held there. For the first year’s inductees include Randy Falk of NECA, Clayburn Moore, and the Four Horsemen. For details on who each of these folks are, I’ve included the press release below.

I think this is a cool idea, although I’d think for the Hall of Fame that there might be a few inductees who contributed to the toy industry less recently. Where’s the guy who invented G.I. Joe? Or the one guy that… okay I really don’t know much about the people that created the toys that we collect (or play with) today, but there’s got to be some figures from the past that could get a nice nod. I asked Adam Tracy, Creative Director Wizard World Conventions, if this is possible and he said that the Hall of Fame includes all of toy history, so chances are that past legends can be recognized. The recognition could even be given posthumously, so toy creators who are either zombies or have turned into vampires or werewolves are eligible. Not directly his quote, mind you.

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McFarlane Toys has revealed their exclusives for the 2008 San Diego Comic Con and I’ve got them here. Hurray! or something.

SPARTAN SOLDIER EVA “HELLSPARTAN”

This is the figure that both Halo fans and Spawn geeks are going to need as this version of a Spartan soldier is painted to look like McFarlane’s money making machine. Gotta love the skull on the belt.

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If you’re not interested in my used crap, then stop reading this post now. If you are somewhat interested in the things I’m trying to sell in order to crawl my way out of debt, then this is the perfect post for you to check out. You see, my Rock Band obsession doesn’t pay for itself. I’m in desperate need for a quick fix of downloadable content, so I’ve decided to show off my current round of eBay auctions for y’all in the hopes I might be able to sell something and get me some hot Wonderwall action.

Pimp Daddy Destro

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This post has been a long time in the making, especially considering how lazy I am. It took me forever and a half to upload these images from my camera into the computer and thenceforth to put them on this mighty web blogithing. But finally, here it is as I had hinted at months ago (but everyone probably didn’t see it or forgot about it): A look at my roomate/friend Shawn’s massive Halo Actionclix Scarab which cost a whopping two hundred and fifty bucks. I encourage you to read his update talking about it, but be sure to read mine here… because I am out of news for the moment.

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I was lucky enough to be able to attend two biggest geek conventions this year, Star Wars Celebration IV and the 2007 Comic-con, but as fate would have it I wasn’t able to complete my nerd trifecta and go to Atlanta where all the die-hard G.I. Joe fans could bathe in the glory of America’s greatest toy fighting force. So what was I left to do? Look at coverage of the con found on other websites. Yep, I’m now the bottom feeder of the toy news world. Such is life.

Luckily, Toy News International has a good amount of coverage. The most interesting to me is the Hasbo Panel post that you can find here.

Some biggest news from the panel:

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Master Collector’s G.I. Joe branch has finally posted images of the exclusive Atlanta convention Rowdy Roddy Piper figure. While I can’t post the entire image, here’s a preview:

Head on over to Master Collector to see the rest.

Mr. Piper, or as his friends call him Rowdy, looks pretty damn good. It’s too bad he’s going to cost a fortune if you want one and you’re not going to the show. If you are going to the show, I both envy and despise you. That’s right, I enspise you.

toy, toy collecting, action figure, Hasbro, G.I. Joe, 25th Anniversary

Attention, Toy Bender readers. I know it’s been awhile since I last requested your assistance, but an urgent need has arisen. Due to many circumstances, I will not be in Atlanta for the 2007 G.I. Joe Convention this September. If you are going, or know someone who is, then I need your assistance. I’m looking for someone to either write, or at the very least, send me photos of the event.

If you fancy yourself as some sort of writer, then I’d love to see any kind of coverage that you could cook up. If you can’t write, that’s okay, I need your help too. If you’ve got a digital camera and can take a halfway decent picture, then I need pictures. I can’t really offer much in financial compensation (except a very nominal fee), but I can give you a byline, a ton of adoration and respect, and perhaps a small notch in your belt if you have dreams of becoming a professional journalist or one of my favorite people in the universe.

Email me at Paul.Toybender@gmail.com if you are interested in this important mission.

toy, toy collecting, action figure, Hasbro, G.I. Joe, 25th Anniversary, convention, Atlanta, writing, writing job

Holy crap balls were there a lot of toys at San Diego Comic-con. It was my first year going and due to the limited time I had there, I barely got to see all the toy sweetness I wanted. Ironically, I hardly got to look at anything comic book related at all. Ahh, such is life. Here are some are some miscellaneous pics of toys that didn’t get their own posts. There’s some great stuff in here (including some girl’s toys for the ladies), but I couldn’t justify stretching my SDDC coverage any longer.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass had a really cool booth with props of the film and a huge fake armored Polar Bear beside it. I don’t know much about the movie, but I did see airships in the trailer and there is a talking polar bear with armor, so I pretty much have to see it. While I didn’t get pictures of all the figures, they all seemed to come with a animal buddy which is almost reason enough to buy them. Here’s a couple of the more notable figures:

Polar Bears rule.

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I can’t believe it, but I completely forgot about my Star Wars Comic-Con coverage. In my defense though, most of my Star Wars load was blown at Star Wars Celebration IV where my extensive coverage of the event basically covered almost everything shown at Comic-con in terms of toys. However, there were a few things worth noting so I’m catching up with them here. (Click on the pics to make them larger)

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Whew, just when I thought I was done sharing the pics and news from Comic-Con it just keeps coming. In case you’re unfamiliar with Toynami, they produce toys from some of my most hated of all toy lines included things from Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, and *shiver* Naruto. However, they also make Voltron, Robotech, and Futurama so I have a sort of love/hate relationship with them.

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While Hasbro bathes in the glory of G.I. Joes 25th Anniversary, the run away success of the Transformers film, and the 30th Anniversary line of Star Wars figures, Mattel’s most successful boys toys line is still waiting on the D.L. Sure Four Horsemen is busy making super awesome
He-Man statues like crazy, but there is no He-Man toy line.

This did not deter Mattel from engaging in a little nostalgia with their He-Man displays. I captured pics of most of them for your viewing pleasure. (Click on the pics to make them larger)

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It is my pleasure to give something back to all the great readers of Toy Bender so I’m happy to announce the winner of the 2007 Comic-Con goodies. Oh yes, this stuff is hard to part with, but knowing that it will go to a valued reader soothes the hurt like a Keebler Scooby-Doo graham cracker stick. Have you tried those things? OMG they are awesome! Okay, I’m getting a bit off track here.

And the winner is…

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Remember, the comment contest is still going on. I realize I’ve been having server problems, but I don’t see that many comments in the last few days. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! Oh yeah, the 300 dollar comment contest is still going on too.

toy, toy collecting, action figure, convention, San Diego Comic-Con, contest, prize

After blowing my McFarlane Halo load earlier in the week, I thought it was high time to share the rest of the images I gathered from the McFarlane Toys booth of goodness.

Spawn

There were enough Spawn figures to satisfy a Spawn fan and more than enough to satisfy a super casual, “Spawn’s kind of neat” follower like myself. The second wave for coolest Spawn figure series, The Adventures of Spawn was all up on display and the figures rocked.

Sultry McBigGun was on hand and she had… a big ass gun:

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Lego’s store, I mean booth, made an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con and while I’d seen mostly everything there at Star Wars Celebration IV (the booth was almost exactly the same except a little larger), they did have a few things worth noting.

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