April 2013 Recap
Below is a recap of all the post we've covered in April 2013. If you missed any, or simply want to see them again, click on each "title" to be taken directly to that post. As always, thanks for reading.
Napoleon Dynamite
Kiss
The Wizard Of Oz
Star Wars Angry Birds - Series 1
Monster Fighters
Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series 3
Six Gun Legends
Freddie Mercury
Visionaries: Knights Of The Magical Light
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Visionaries: Knights Of The Magical Light (Hasbro)
Visionaries: Knights Of The Magical Light
Hasbro
1987
The Spectral Knights
Arzon*Cryotek*Leoric*Witterquick
The Spectral Knights
Capture Chariot with Feryl Fig*Lancer Cycle with Ectar
The Darkling Lords
Cindarr*Cravex*Darkstrom*Lexor
The Darkling Lords
Sky Claw with Mortdred*Dagger Assault Vehicle with Reekon
Join us May 1st for an exciting announcement!
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Freddie Mercury (Neca)
Freddie Mercury
Neca
2006
7" Action Figure
Freddie Mercury
1979 Live Killers Outfit
7" Action Figure
Freddie Mercury
1986 Live at Wembley Outfit
18" Doll
Freddie Mercury
1986 Live at Wembley Outfit
Join us next time when we take a look at Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light!
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Six Gun Legends (Sideshow Collectibles)
Six Gun Legends
Sideshow Collectibles
2002
SERIES 1
Billy the Kid
SERIES 1
Wyatt Earp
SERIES 2
Crazy Horse
SERIES 2
General Custer
SERIES 3
"Doc" Holliday
Cancelled figures - Jesse James, Johnny Ringo, and Wild Bill Hickok.
Join us next time when we take a look at Freddie Mercury!
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Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series 3 (Playmates Toys)
We interrupt your day to bring you exciting news! Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series 3 figures have hit store pegs!
Baxter Stockman comes in his full armor with stolen T-Tech on his chest plate. The figure has ball jointed arms and legs as well as slight articulation in the elbows and knees. He also turns at the waist.
We really like the detail in the characters head and face. It's spot on to its animated counterpart. Though we do wish the glasses were sculpted away from the face as opposed to right against it. It's a minor nitpick, but we've seen glasses on someone's head before, and they're not smack against their skin.
The most disappointing aspect to the figure is that it has all these little red claws, but none of them are articulated. They're all just molded bits of plastic inserted into slots on the arm. They're slightly flexible so that you could use them to grab the other figures, but at the same time it's a missed opportunity for the figure.
Some assembly is required for the figure as his feet are not attached when removing him from the package.
Articulation wise, he is lacking considerably. His arms and legs move on ball joint, and his head swivels in a circular motion. His tail, which needs to be attached when removing the figure from the package, can also swivile in a circle. It's very disappointing that the mouth can't open and close as even the original 1980's/1990's version had this ability.
Design and sculpt wise though, he's a pretty solid looking figure. The green and brown really works well on the textures of the sculpt to make the details pop.
The various bits of "slithery" spindles and vine whips makes this figure pretty awesome to look at. We're especially fond of the heart in the center of his chest, and the detail on the inner legs is a nice added touch.
What's interesting to note about this lot of figures is that the number sequencing for the item numbers skips a number. This leads us to believe that Playmates may have initially had a fourth figure scheduled to be released, and pulled it.
The numbers are as follows;
90513 - Baxter Stockman
90514 - Leatherhead
90516 - Snakeweed
So what was number 90515?
Another thing worth noting is that the back of the packages for the Snakeweed and Baxter Stockman figures contain seventeen figures on them which includes the upcoming The Rat King and Cockroach Terminator. These two figures are slatted for a July release, so it's interesting to see them being incorporated into the packaging now. The question becomes, "Will they be released sooner?" On the other hand, the Leatherhead figure package doesn't include these two figures, and only shows fifteen figures. The question also becomes, will new packaging be produced for any of the figures? Were the ones produced with Baxter and Snakeweed production errors? Or will the Leatherhead package get updated to show all seventeen figures? We'll keep you posted as to what we find out.
Variant hunters should make note that April O'Neil and Kraang have been re-released with this wave. Though their packages (as well as the other old figures re-released) have not been updated with the new figures on the back, the bottoms now contain the additional safety mark.
Though several vehicles and a few playsets have been announced for 2013 we didn't see any on store shelves this time around. If we see any in the upcoming weeks we'll incorporate them into this post. Otherwise we'll hold off until we have the series four figures in our hands.
While this batch of figures is really lacking in the "action" sense of the phrase "action figure", the overall design and sculpt is amazing, and spot on to their cartoon counterparts. While this may be a major turn off for most toy collectors, keep in mind that at $8.99 per figure (sometimes a little more), Playmates TMNT figures are still some of the more budget friendly figures on the market, and with that comes the sacrifice of articulation.
As for us, overall we've been rather impressed with what we've seen to date from the line.
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Monster Fighters (Lego)
Monster Fighters
Lego
2012
Vampyre Castle
The Ghost Train
The Crazy Scientist and His Monster
The Vampyre Hearse
The Werewolf
The Mummy
The Swamp Creature
TARGET EXCLUSIVE
The Zombies
LEGO SHOP EXCLUSIVE
Haunted House
PROMOTIONAL GIVE AWAY PACK
Zombie Car (AKA Coffin Car)
PROMOTIONAL GIVE AWAY PACK
Ghost and Grandfather Clock
PROMOTIONAL GIVE AWAY PACK
Zombie Car (AKA Spider Car)
TOYS R' US EXCLUSIVE "BRICKTOBER EVENT" GIVE AWAY
Monster Fighters Accessory Pack
Join us next time when we take a look at Six Gun Legends!
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Star Wars Angry Birds - Series 1 (Hasbro)
Star Wars Angry Birds - Series 1
Hasbro
2012
Early Angry Birds Package
Chewbacca*Princess Leia*Luke Skywalker*R2-D2
Mystery Two Packs
Various Figures
Exclusive Wedge Antillies*Exclusive Han Solo in Carbonite
Darth Vader's Lightsaber Battle Game
Obi-Wan Kenobi*Darth Vader*Stormtrooper
Fight on Tatooine Battle Game
Greedo*Han Solo*Walrus Man
Jabba's Palace Battle Game
Jabba the Hutt*Boushh*Gamoerean Guard
Tatooine Battle Game
Luke Skywalker*Gamorrean Guard*Jabba the Hutt
Hoth Battle Game
Rebel Commander*Hoth Stormtrooper (X2)
Death Star Game
Stormtrooper (X4)*Darth Vader*Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot)*Han Solo*Chewbacca
AT-AT Attack Battle Game
Rebel Trooper*AT-AT Commander*Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot)*Han Solo*R2-D2*Darth Vader*Rebel Commander*AT-AT Driver*Stormtrooper (X2)*Hoth Stormtrooper (X2)
Join us next time when we take a look at Lego Monster Fighters!
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The Wizard of Oz (Mego)
The Wizard of Oz
Mego
1974
Cowardly Lion*Cowardly Lion (Yellow Brick Road Package)
Dorothy and Toto*Dorothy and Toto (Yellow Brick Road Package)
Glinda the Good Witch*Glinda the Good Witch (Yellow Brick Road Package)
Scarecrow*Scarcrow (Yellow Brick Road Package)
Tin Woodsman*Tin Woodsman (Yellow Brick Road Package)
The Wicked Witch*The Wicked Witch (Yellow Brick Road Package)
The Wizard*The Wizard (Polybag)
Dancing Girl*Flower Girl*Mayor*General
Emerald City Playset
Munchkinland Playset
Sear's Exclusive Witche's Castle
(Only Released in Brown Mailer Box)
(Only Released in Brown Mailer Box)
Join us next time when we take a look at Star Wars Angry Birds - Series 1!
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Kiss (Mego)
Kiss
Mego
1978
Has Mego produced everything pop culture related? It seems like you can pretty much find any kind of 60's and 70's persona in some form of Mego doll or figure. Go ahead and add Kiss to that lineup!
Kiss was at the height of popularity by 1978 having just released their sixth studio album, Love Gun, the year prior. The classic lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley seemed unstoppable with many claiming the band was the greatest of all time.
With their insane stage shows, crazy make-up, and bizarre theatrics (typically by Simmons), the band was drawing in crowds at sell out shows, and raking in cash left and right.
Mego saw the potential to have a slice of that pie, and licensed to produce a doll based on each member. The end result was a collection which to this day remains highly popular and sought after by both Mego and Kiss fans.
Gene Simmons
Ace Frehley
Interesting in the sense of nostalgia, but disappointing from a collector's standpoint is how none of the figures actually included any accessories - You know, like a guitar. These were figures based on a band after all. Instead, if you wanted to incorporate instruments with your doll you instead had to cut them out of the back of the package, and then (in the case of the drum) assemble it. Can you hear the collective jaws of toy fanatics dropping everywhere? Cut the box? Are you crazy?
Though not many kids kept the boxes for their toys back in those days, the end result of cutting them up to get the instruments only adds to the scarce nature of finding one "complete" or in the package.
Peter Criss
Paul Stanley
Join us next time when we take a look at The Wizard of Oz!
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Napoleon Dynamite (McFarlane Toys)
Napoleon Dynamite
McFarlane Toys
2006
We may never understand what makes Napoleon Dynamite such a popular (or cult classic) film. We saw it. We chuckled a few times. However, we weren't falling out of our seat dying of laughter, nor did we walk away from the film feeling like we'd just seen the next Godfather or Apocalypse Now. It was mildly entertaining for a one and done viewing.
Regardless of our personal opinion, Napoleon Dynamite has become a cult classic in its own right. Fans love to quote it, and act as the character. Some even go so far as to dress up as him. To each their own.
In 2006 McFarlane Toys produced a small line of figures based on the film. Unfortunately as the film was released in 2004, the line somewhat missed its opportunity to capitalize on the height of the film's popularity. The end result was a line of figures which really appealed to a minimal fan base. However, because McFarlane Toys is notorious for under producing toys in an effort to produce scarcity, the line still managed to suffice for the fans who were looking for them. In other words, they weren't difficult to find.
There's no denying that there is quality here. One thing McFarlane Toys doesn't do is skimp on the detail. Each figure is spot on to their film counterpart - Even if three of the five figures are just variations of Napoleon himself.
Kip*Pedro*Napoleon Dynamite (Prom Suit)
Napoleon Dynamite (Tetherball Champ)*Napoleon Dynamite (Vote for Pedro)
Join us next time when we take a look at Kiss!
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Toys That Never Made It!
Today we're taking a very special look at some of the toys that never made it. Some were great concepts on paper, but if executed would have been a disaster. From obscure to the most popular of toy lines, and from classic board games to new concepts, these could have been some of the best toy isle nightmares.
Join us next time when we take a look at Napoleon Dynamite!
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