Toy Bender

Apparently the toy collecting world has had some sort of kerfuffle that I was not aware of. Julius Marx of the rather huge toy website Action Figure Insider managed to win the gigantic (and super rare) Anti-Monitor figure that was available at the ‘09 San Diego Comic Con. He posted his victory picture with the title “Lucky Bastard” on Action Figure Insider:

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This post is actually a post in two parts. This post deals with the story behind a particular figure and the second part can be found at Poe Ghostal’s blog and you must click over there in order to “collect them all.”

Okay, today I bring you this Batman figure:

I’m putting him for a very good reason. In the year 1989 the Tim Burton Batman movie came out that I became absolutely Bat shit insane for Batman. Everything had to be Batman, from my cereal to my clothing. One of the things that I got before the film even came out was a promotional magazine that was all about the film. I seriously spent hours pouring over every picture. One of the advertisements really intrigued me, because it was an ad for Batman action figures that would be coming out and in the picture it featured one kick ass Batman that I wanted with a want to end all wants:

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I know I almost never cover DC Universe Classics figures, but it’s mainly because I can’t keep up with it and I know bloggers who do it much better than I could. Still, I couldn’t help having some thoughts about Wave 9 that I’d like to share.

As much as I don’t want to like him because he’s such a J-hole, I dig Black Adam. I just want to root for him the times he’s not being a total jerk, which seems to change on the whims of the writers.

You know, black Adam is one of the few times a hero or villain in comics has had “black” in his or her name and they aren’t, you know, black race wise. I’m just saying.

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And… just when I was beginning to thing I had nothing toy related to write about today, in comes this fantastic custom set of Lego mini-figures made to look exactly like the crew from Watchmen. The weakest link here is Rorschach who could have used a custom painted head, but I believe the point of this set was to try do make the figures as close to the characters without doing a lot of custom work.

I can’t think of that many Lego sets you could make using Watchmen figures aside from Nite Owl’s ship and his lair. I suppose you could do the Ozymandias winter getaway.

Anyway, some of you might be wondering why I haven’t posted my Watchmen thoughts yet. I haven’t done so for a couple of reasons. The first is that everyone else did already and so I didn’t see a point. Another is that nobody asked, but in case you are wondering I did like it. I liked it a lot. There? You happy now?!

Side Note: You want to get your blood boiling? You really need to read this review, which pretty much misses the entire point of the film (and consequently the book if the reviewer had read it). Here’s my favorite quote:

And Ronald Reagan is thinking of running for President in 1988. Wow, isn’t that cool that they got it wrong on purpose? I’m so amazed at this “high-brow art” of deliberately getting dates and timelines wrong, you know, just to be “artistic,” and get the drooling of the critics. That is sooooo genius. Like way totally cool.

Oh wait, this one is better:

If you see it yourself, you’re also probably a moron and a vapid, indecent human being.

Even if you didn’t like the movie, the idiocy here should really piss you off.

Side, Side Note: Sometimes when I hear Rorschach’s name I think of Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter. Man, that book and movie would have been a hell of a lot different if you swapped those two out.

Thanks to: Brothers Brick

This post is a little old, but since it was mostly written and laying unused and unloved I thought I’d give it a new lease on life. Anyway, here goes:

The other day when I got good news in regards to being employed I decided to go on my first Toy Hunt in a long time. It was a good old fashioned hunt, one where I went to five stores in the hopes of finding some sweet toy action.

The only place I found anything good was at Toys R Us. Apparently, they had just gotten in a shipment of DC Universe Classics figures. It’s the only explanation for there being so many of them on the shelves, unless all the legion of scalpers in the area were having a board meeting or something. I was ultra excited that I could pick up a Flash figure for a friend who had wanted him awful bad.

The only thing I found for myself was the G.I. Joe comic two pack featuring “Shockblast”, or rather Shockwave, and Pilot Destro. Shockwave is great, but he seriously needs more weapons. The original came with a cool backpack that had a removable knife, while this one gets a couple of pistols. It would have been nice if he came with a shotgun and (in my dreams) a riot shield. “Shockblast” does get is a great assortment of hats, though. You get his cool looking baseball hat, a tactical helmet, and a wicked as hell gas mask.

The lack of weapons could easily be solved by purchasing extra guns from a place like Marauder “Gun-Runners.” In fact, Shockblast is the character most likely out of all my toys to get some of the more realistic weapons,since he’s the closest thing to an actual military or police figure that I own.

The Pilot Destro is certainly interesting. He’s got some cool chest armor, but what’s with his backpack with the tubes that run to his arm or the friggen steel boot claws? This is certainly the type of figure that makes it into my sell or giveaway pile. Anyone want him?

Millionaire Playboy recently posted an article about a few of Mattel’s offerings in the Infinite Crisis series of it’s 3 3/4ths scale figures. There’s not a whole lot of new info, except that the three pack that used to consist of Wondergirl, Supergirl, and Superman will now switch out Superman for Bizarro.

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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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It’s been awhile since I did a Toy Hunt and for good reason. Heading quickly into Unemploymentville, which is certainly not as fun as Margaritaville, and not ever being able to find anything worth a damn at retail are huge factors in the loss of this feature. However, I did have an exciting find if I were able to buy toys.

When the wife and I stopped at Wal-Mart to get milk, I made my usual toy run just to see what was there. The first thing that met my hunter’s gaze was a beautiful row of pegs that held DC Universe figures. Right next to it were pegs full of DC Infinite Heroes that I hadn’t seen before. This was a big first for me, because I have never seen a single DC figure on the shelves of my local Wal-Marts. They never even had pegs for them. That’s three Wal-Marts in a highly populated area of the country with no DC Universe pegs; talk about pathetic.

Anyway, I did pick up a Captain Marvel figure and walk around with him in my hands. It felt good. I felt like a real person with money that could by things, but better common sense prevailed and I put him back on the peg. That was the first true temptation and I’m proud to say that I have passed.

Now if they would of had new G.I. Joes there, this might have been a different story.

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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If you’ve resigned yourself to buying DC Infinite Heroes because they’re okay enough, but wished they were better then you no doubt have collected a few “anti-monitor” points. What could you get for these points? Possibly some cool mail-away offer? Nope, Mattel revealed you can only redeem them at the San Diego Comic Con.

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I realize that this news is fairly old, but I’d wanted to talk about it before and didn’t get the chance. Mattel released info a few weeks ago on their upcoming figures in the Infinite Heroes 3 3/4ths inch scale figure line. While some of the picks on the list found at Action-Figure.com have already been announced or released previously, there’s some tantalizing figure choices in the selection that I’d want including Black Canary, Dr. Fate, The Spectre, Black Adam, Mary Marvel, and The Brain (not of Pinky and the Brain). This is of course with the attached “Why oh why did they make the male figures so sucky? This line would have been so much more spectacular if they would have given the figures normal hands” clause.

Fun Fact: Mallah the giant ape there and The Brain (the robot) are lovers, which caused some people to be upset thinking they were a gay couple. Think about that for a moment.

via Topless Robot

Fans of the Justice League Unlimited series of figures sold exclusively at Target might be pleased to learn that they will have the chance to own an Amanda Waller figure in the future. While she might not fit the typical look of a comic book character, she certainly had a lot of impact in the Bruce Timm animated world of the DC Universe:

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If you think you’ve seen cool T-shirts and you haven’t been to 80sTees.com, you’re a damned fool. Let’s take a look at some of the awesome found on 80sTees.com, a generous sponsor to the Joes for Tots contest.

Superman: Kiss Me I Have Superpowers:

If I won the contest, I’d buy this shirt and put a Post-it note with an arrow pointing down on the bottom, which is the universal sign for, “In my pants.” I’m all class.

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I finally broke down and bought my first DC Infinite Heroes figures this weekend. I picked up the 3 3/4ths scale DC figures, because it was a three pack that was on sale and… okay I got it because the set contains Supergirl and I’m a Supergirl fanatic. Apparently Target is running a short sale on the three packs and I was lucky enough find the only Superman/Supergirl/Wondergirl power trio that I’ve seen so far.

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