The Toy Box: February 2015

Star Trek - Collector's Edition (AKA Where No Man Has Gone Before) (Playmates Toys)

Star Trek - Collector's Edition (AKA Where No Man Has Gone Before)
Playmates Toys
1996

As many of you have probably already heard, Leonard Nimoy has passed away today. Though he evolved into a persona unto his own, Mr. Nimoy spent almost fifty years of his life known as the iconic Spock to many a Star Trek fan across the world. It is with great sadness that we have to say farewell to such a fantastic screen actor, and spectacular human being. He will be missed by many, but never forgotten.

During his career, Nimoy was immortalized many times over in the world of toys. One such line was Playmates Toys Collector's Edition - Also known as the Where No Man Has Gone Before series. The line only encompassed four nine inch dolls/figures, and were only available via Target stores.

The reason fans have come to know the series as Where No Man Has Gone Before is due to the depiction of the characters (in general), as well as the small text bubble under each figure's name which states that the character inside is, "As seen in the pilot episode Where No Man Has Gone Before." It was a wonderful nod to the origin of the series, and to date one of the only ways to get the characters in their true original garb.

Hikaru Sulu

Honestly though, this post isn't about toys. It's about the legacy that is, Leonard Nimoy. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts in 1931, Nimoy seemed destine to carve his way as an actor. As early as age eight he was acting in a local children's theater.

Though his passion was acting, Nimoy enlisted in the United States Army, serving his country from 1953 to 1955. He left the military holding the rank of Sergeant.

Jame T. Kirk

Upon returning to acting, Nimoy found himself cast in numerous science fiction roles in films such as Them!, The Brain Eaters, and The Balcony throughout the 50's. By the 60's, he switched from feature films to television, and found mild success in shows such as Bonanza, The Rebel, Two Faces West, Rawhide, The Untouchables, and so many more.

It was in 1966 that he would dawn the iconic Vulcan ears for the original Star Trek series as the character Spock - The role that would skyrocket him to fame - Though only when the series returned in the form of feature films. The original series, as iconic as it has become, only ran from 1966 to 1969. It was then cancelled, much to fan outrage. Unfortunately the studio and heads behind the series really didn't understand just how popular the show was among core fans.

Montgomery Scott

It wouldn't be until 1979 that Leonard Nimoy would return to the Enterprise along side the cast of original series characters. With the enormous success of science fiction films of the era...Star Wars...Just saying...Star Trek was retooled, and green lit for a full length film. It would be the first of six installments which would last throughout the 80's and 90's. It would also be what transformed Star Trek from cult status television series to world wide blockbusters.

Mr. Spock

Several of the original series cast hung their collective hats up with the 1991 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but some continued to make appearances in cross over adventures via new television series and films which evolved from the popularity of the original series - Nimoy as Spock more so prominent than some others. Despite the decades that clicked by, Nimoy's fans were always excited to hear of his involvement in any Star Trek project. To them, he was just as much a founding father of their way of life than Gene Roddenberry himself.

He is a legacy to many, and an icon of television all in one. Rest in piece, Leonard Nimoy. You will be missed, but never forgotten.

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He-Man (AKA The New Adventures of He-Man) (Mattel)

He-Man (AKA The New Adventures of He-Man)
Mattel
1989 - 1992

This post comes from a request from our Facebook The Toy Box reader Gregory Jackson. We hope you enjoy this, Gregory.

He-Man, AKA The New Adventures of He-Man was an animated series released by Jetlag Productions and Mattel in 1990. The series was developed as an expansion to the original Filmation series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, yet at the same time took the show in a whole different direction.

The premise involved He-Man being summoned from Eternia to the planet Primus to aid the Galactic Guardians in their quest to defend the citizens from the Evil Mutants of the neighboring planet Denebria. Rather than hang behind and pounce on the opportunity to take over Eternia in He-Man's absence, Skeletor instead chooses to follow He-Man, and leads the Evil Mutants in his new quest to conquer the entire galaxy.

While the quality of the show was highly regarded as superior to that of the original series, the characters were deemed so bland that most episodes failed to entertain viewers. These issues even carried over to fan favorites He-Man and Skeletor who acted so differently in terms of their tone and demeanor that the show had a sense of discontinuity.

Naturally the show was spearheaded by a massive toy production marketing plan. Depending on which region you lived in would dictate which figures you saw. Some were exclusively released in North America, while others were exclusive to Europe. Even those released in both regions sometimes saw a name change. To put it bluntly, tracking down an entire set of this line can be a rather big pain.

Though the animated series lasted only one season (65 episodes) in 1990, the toys were produced and released from 1989 to 1992. Unlike the show itself, the toys seemed rather popular among He-Man fans resulting in this much longer life.

Artila*Battle Blade Skeletor*Battle Punch He-Man

Brakk*Butthead*Disks of Doom Skeletor

Hook Em' Brakk, known as Hook Em' Flogg in the USA, but never released as such in the States is going to be your most difficult and most expensive figure to track down. Loose figures will set you back between $100.00 and $200.00, while mint on card versions sell for $1,000.00 or more.

Earthquake*Flipshot*Flogg

He-Man*Hook Em' Brakk*Hoove

Fans of the toys refer to the Kalamarr figure below as Slush Head. Though the card does indeed refer to the character as Kalamarr, the name was changed to Slush Head for the Classic Masters of the Universe release of this figure.

Hydron*Icarus*Insyzor

Kalamarr*Karati*Kayo

Quakke (below) and Earthquake (two photos above) are perfect examples of name changes between North America and Europe releases. Though they are both the same figure, they're known as two completely different names in each continent. European cards can always be denoted by the bilingual "explosion" bubble at the top right of the card.

Lizorr*Missile Armor Icarus*Nocturna

Optikk*Quakke*Skeletor

Thunder Punch He-Man was one of the very few "recycled" names/characters from the original series of toys for this line.

Spin Fist Hydron*Spinwit*Staghorn

Tatarus*Thunder Punch He-Man*Too-Tall Hoove

Tornado*Tuskador*Vizar

A difficult item to track down from this series is He-Man packed in with a cassette tape. It was only released in Italy. Each side featured a unique story. Side "A" being "He-Man e l'esplosione cosmica" (He-Man and the Cosmic Explosion), and side "B" being "He-Man e il pianeta maledetto" (He-Man and the Cursed Planet).

He-Man with Cassette Tape

Mattel produced two backpack accessories which would fit on most of the figures.

Rocketdisc Powerpack*Turbo Tormentor

In addition to selling single packed figures, Mattel also produced a handful of multipacks. Each one boasted that it was a buy one get one free deal, however no matter which pack you purchased you were getting He-Man as he was packed in all of them. The villains were also only referred to as Evil Mutant, and not by their name.

He-Man/Evil Mutant (Flogg)*He-Man/Evil Mutant (Skeletor)

He-Man/Evil Mutant (Kalamarr - AKA Slush Head)

Vehicles and playsets were a big part of the series, and much like the figures could range in names depending on which region you lived.

Sagitar (below) is technically the one and only beast released in the series - Not a vehicle or playset.

Sagitar*Terrotread

Perfect examples of the vehicle name changes are the Terroclaw, which was released in North America, and the Terrapod, which was released in Europe.

Astrosub*Battlebird

Terroclaw*Terrapod

Bolajet

Shuttle Pod

Another example of vehicles with name changes - Doomcopter (Norther America) and Skullcopter (Europe).

Doomcopter*Skullcopter

The massive Shuttle Eternia is large enough to not only blow kids minds away with the sheer size of the box/toy, but also all the fantastic play features built into it. The vehicle is boasted on the box as being able to, "Transform it 12 Different Ways!"

Shuttle Eternia

The last playset produced for the series was sadly a Europe exclusive. As such, many fans in the USA will have a difficult time getting their hands on one even today as prices range between $400.00 and $500.00 for ones sealed in the box. Loose ones can be found here an there for between $75.00 and $100.00)

Nordor

We have to be honest and admit that tracking down this series turned out to be more of a pain than fun, and as such we suspect many collectors out there feel our pain, and are quite possibly going through the same thing. Between the exclusives to various countries, and the name changes, this was a rather challenging post to compile.

Join us next time when we take a look at Batman - The Dark Knight Collection, and don't forget to add your entry for the first Bloggers United contest below for a chance to win a great mystery box of collectibles!

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The Walking Dead - Clemintine (McFarlane Toys)

The Walking Dead - Clementine
McFarlane Toys
2014/2015

Telltale Games did an amazing thing in 2012 when they released a game based in the Walking Dead "universe" - They shifted attention back towards the genre of classic point and click adventure games. It was a revitalizing breath of air desperately needed in the dormant genus of play style, and something fans had been waiting for since the end of such classics as Sierra's Space Quest, Kings Quest and Leisure Suit Larry.

The franchise sored into popularity as players assumed the responsibility as guardian of little Clementine. The game not only put players in the role of parental figure to the young child, but also saw them taking on the role as leader for a small group of survivors where every decision counted, and every executed thought resulted in consequences or reward.

Fans ate up the five part downloadable mini series, and eagerly awaited its sequel which finally came in late 2013 as another downloadable mini series. Since then, both have been released on retail game discs, and a third mini series announced.

With such popularity, it was only natural that McFarlane Toys would eventually extend the line of action figures based on the comic book and television versions of Walking Dead characters to the video game - Though for now fans will have to suffice with just one - Clementine...Okay, two if you count the bloody variant version.

Clementine

In terms of sculpt, we can honestly say we've seen much better come from the likes of McFarlane Toys. The facial features on the figure look hollow, as if she's staring off into space. Worst of all, they don't really capture the features of the character. Overall the face just looks generic - Though we're sure this won't stop fans from nabbing them up.

To do so, one would of course have to either hit secondary markets, or go directly to the source as this figure was a Skybound Online Shop Exclusive. At $25.00 per figure, you're looking at a rather steep buy in price. At the time of this writing (December 2014), the figures were still readily available via pre orders at the site.

Clementine

Will more figures follow based on the Telltale Games characters? We certainly hope so.

Join us next time when we take a look at He-Man (AKA The New Adventures of He-Man)!

Don't forget to join in our first official Toy Bloggers United contest HERE!

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Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Diamond Select)

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Diamond Select
2014/2015

The characters of Jay and Silent Bob have come a long way since they were first conceived by Kevin Smith and appeared in his first film, Clerks. Since then they've had numerous adventures, both logical and illogical, and of course the actors have made a considerable amount of money on the way.

Though toys based on the duo aren't unheard of, they are few and far between, so fans were excited when Diamond Select announced these all new Jay and Silent Bob figures. Unlike the prior figures, which now seem primitive by today's standards, these all new figures featured an amazing likeness to both characters, and fantastic articulation - Not to mention interchangeable appendages and accessories.

Jay

Silent Bob

Another fun feature of this particular set is that each figure comes packed with half of a diorama scene. This is the backdrop of the famous video store from Clerks where Randal Graves worked, and of course right next door to the Quick Stop convenient store where his best friend Dante Hicks worked. With little to no effort, your plastic pair can resume what they do best - Loitering.

As of the writing of this post, these figures are relatively new to the market, so it shouldn't be too difficult to track down a set. Though the $24.99 retail price probably won't be all that appealing to some.

Join us next time when we take a look at The Walking Dead - Clemintine!

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Masters Of The Universe Classics (Mattel)

Update - Now featuring all figures through December 2015

Masters of the Universe Classics was a line conceived by Mattel in an effort to relaunch the He-Man franchise for today's collectors. However, unlike most toy lines which hit local retail stores, Mattel determined that the success of the series would lie solely in the hands of its fans willingness to commit to the line via a subscription based premise.

The series launched in 2008 with the all new King Grayskull (shown left) at San Diego Comic Con. It was there that Mattel announced that future figures would be made available only via their website, and only to those willing to sign up for a one year commitment. As the line grew in popularity, Mattel also incorporated non-subscription based figures as well as chase and additional exclusives. This not only broadened the line, fleshing out more and more characters that fans wanted, but it also helped to draw in new fans to the series who had missed out on the subscription base, but still wanted to start collecting.

All the way through 2015, Mattel worked in conjunction with the famous Four Horsemen to retool every single vintage figure once released as well as all new ones. No stone was left unturned as the covered the basic Masters of the Universe line as well as She-Ra: Princess of Power, Snakemen and 200x lines. Though all the vintage figures will wrap up this year, Mattel has already announced that the line will continue as an all new 200x series. How long that will continue is anyone's guess.

King Grayskull Bronze Chase Edition

Unfortunately for the collector that has to have everything, one figure you'll most likely never obtain is this exact version of King Grayskull Spirit Edition. This particular figure was released in incredibly small quantities, and were all auctioned off for charities. Your chances of finding this figure are slim to none, and we could never begin to speculate what it would cost you.

Mattel will however be releasing a glow in the dark version of this figure in 2015 to commemorate the series. This will most likely be your only chance to get a version of this particular figure.

King Grayskull Spirit Edition

The line officially kicked off in December of 2008 with he-Man and Beast Man. With the exception of the above mentioned King Grayskull, these two would be the only figures released in this year.

He-Man*Beast Man

The line went into high gear as of January 2009, releasing a new figure each month with a handful of special released figures sprinkled in.

Skeletor*Stratos*Faker

Faker was not only released via Mattel's website in March, but also via an exclusive at New York Comic Con. There are no known differences between the two versions.

Faker (New York Comic Con)

Mer-Man*Zodac*Hordak

Man-At-Arms

He-Ro was released in August of 2009 as an exclusive at San Diego Comic Con. There are four versions known to exist. The first one below is the most popular among collectors because it contains a San Diego Comic Con logo painted on the figure's chest below its removable armor.

He-Ro (San Diego Comic Con Logo)

The other three versions contained NO SDCC stamp, but came in a variation of three different staffs. The first had a green orb, the second a red orb, and the last, a purple orb.

He-Ro (with Various Orb Colors)

Tri-Klops*Webstor*Teela

Not to be confused with Zodac as released in May of 2009, Zodak below was released in October of 2009.

Zodak*Scareglow

King Randor*The Goddess

The series ramped up production even further in 2010 offering multiple figures each month as well as the long awaited Battlecat - The first of what would be many "bests" released in the series.

Adora8battle Armor He-Man*Trap-Jaw

Battlecat

Moss Man was released in two different versions. The first had plastic ears, while the second had ears that were covered in the flocked material that covered the majority of the figure's body.

February also saw the first of accessories released for the line - Castle Grayskull Stands.

Castle Grayskull Stands*Moss Man*Moss Man (Flocked Ears)

Evil-Lyn*Wun-Dar

Fans of the vintage line of He-Man know all to well the value of a good weapon's pack. During the line, Mattel released numerous sets.

Weapons Pak

May of 2010 was note worthy for having the first Space Mutants figure as well as the first giant sized figure.

Optikk*Tytus*She-Ra

Keldor*Count Marzo

Orko

Though the card only advertised Orko on the front of it, the beauty to this San Diego Comic Con exclusive was that it also contained a Prince Adam figure tucked in at the bottom.

Two versions of Orko were released. The first was a color changing version, the second a standard painted version.

Orko

Mattel sometimes skewed off the path, and released figures that weren't necessarily a part of the Masters of the Universe realm. The two pack below is actually based on a Robot Chicken sketch by Seth Green.

Mo-Larr Vs. Skeletor

Whiplash*Chief Carnivus*Gygor

Roboto*Grizzlor*King Grayskull

Weapons Pak #2

Buzz-Off

2011 brought with it an interesting set of two packs that would continue for some time throughout the series. DC Universe Vs. Masters of the Universe Classics. Each two-pack was released via a Toys R' Us exclusive and pitted one MotU figure against an iconic DC hero or villain.

Superman Vs. He-Man*Lex Luthor Vs. Skeletor

Aquaman Vs. Mer-Man*Hawkman Vs. Stratos

Vikor*Eternian Palace Guards

Bow*Shadow-Beast*Preternian Disguise He-Man

King Hssss*Battle Armor Skeletor*Sy-Klone

Panthor

Weapons Rack

Catra*The Faceless One*Battleground Teela

A great pack in with Captain Glenn was a kitten version of Cringer - Though he's far from kitten size.

Clawful*Captain Glenn

Bizarro Vs. Faker

Man-E-Faces*Megator*Leech

Hurricane Hordak

Green Lantern Vs. Zodac*Supergirl Vs. She-Ra

Icarus*Snout Spout

Swiftwind

Bubble Power She-Ra*Demo-Man*Battleground Evil-Lyn

December of 2011 saw the first of one of the very few vehicles released to date. When asked why Mattel was devoting so little attention to vehicles, they responded telling fans that more vehicles equals less figures being produced each year. Though fans weren't necessarily happy with the decision, their desire for figures seemed to squash the debate.

Wind Raider

2012 wasted no time in ramping up production. A three pack was immediately made available in January.

Star Sisters - Jewelstar, Starla and Tallstar

Sorceress*Fisto*Fearless Photog

Shadow Weaver*Kobra Kahn*Thunder Punch He-Man

Draego-Man*Stinkor*Slushhead

May of 2012 brought fans a whole new set of action figure stands. This time the focus of the backdrop was on Skeletor and his minions with the all new Snake Mountain Stands.

Mighty Spector*Snake Mountain Stands*Horde Prime

Snake Man-At-Arms*Griffin

Though it's not listed as such in the photo below, Vykron is actually a San Diego Comic Con exclusive for 2012.

Spikor*Vykron

Sir Laser Lot*Mekaneck*Dragon Blaster Skeletor

Snake Men Two-Pack*Frosta

Rattlor*Cy-Chop

In 2012, Mattel began giving its weapons packs (such as the one below) unique names. Though they still didn't figure out how to spell "pack".

Great Unrest Weapons Pak

Dekker*King Randor*Castle Grayskull Man

Temple of Darkness Sorceress*Mosquitor

2012 ended with two large figures, one of which was highly anticipated by fans - Granamyr.

Procrustus*Granamyr

More, more, more was what fans asked for, and more was what Mattel delivered in 2013 with all new clubs such as Quarterly, Filmation, Monthly, and of course more exclusives and chase figures.

Netossa*Jutsu*Ram Man (Oversized)

Fang Man*King He-Man*Strobo

A unique offering from Mattel in March of 2013 was the form fitted protective clamshell. While fantastic for collectors, the price seemed fairly high in contrast to how many figures were already available - Not to mention how many more were on the horizon.

Form Fitted Clamshell*Snake Face*Karatti

Fighting Foe Men

Octavia*Clamp Champ*He-Man (New Adventures)

Stonedar and Rokkon (below) were the 2013 exclusive made available at San Diego Comic Con. Additional supply was also made available at MattyCollector for fans who were unable to attend. However, this supply was very limited.

Icer*Stonedar and Rokkon Two-Pack

Castaspella*Shokoti*Batros

Attendees of Power Con were given the chance to nab a double edged/handled sword.

Power Con Double Edged/Handled Sword

Sky High with Jet Sled*Mantenna

Lord Datys*Nepthu

End of Wars Weapons Pak

Horde Troopers Two-Pack*Geldor

Sea Hawk*Grayskull Tiered Stands

Fans repeatedly asked Mattel to produce an all new Castle Grayskull, and were finally awarded for their patience in December of 2013. Mattel put a lot of effort into delivering fans the ultimate version, and though they had to cut back on some of the initially planned features, the end result was rather amazing.

Castle Grayskull

Mattel found one of the most obnoxious ways to release a figure when they came up with the idiotic scheme to hide the Spirit of Hordak figure randomly around their website. Fans would literally spend hours/days/weeks on the website clicking link after link after link in typically vain attempts to get the figure's purchase link to "pop up". It's no wonder that secondary markets went crazy with collector's who simply got frustrated with the campaign and decided their time was more valuable than their money. Many fans have still not forgiven Mattel for this one.

Plundor*Strong-Or*Spirit of Hordak

Fans seem split down the middle with the final figure released in December of 2013. Standor - AKA Stan Lee gets either love or hate from the community. Those who love it are not only fans of Masters of the Universe, but Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. Those who hate it can't fathom what Mattel was thinking incorporating him into the line. We've even heard fans ask, "What does Stan Lee have to do with He-Man besides nothing?" Well, it's a stretch, but we suppose Masters of the Universe was published by Star Comics in the 80's, and Star Comics was a sub company of Marvel Comics - A company that Stan Lee was, and to an extent still is the face of. Again - It's a stretch.

Standor

The ground got a little shaky for MotUC collectors towards the end of 2013. Mattel announced that the line was going to be determined on how many subscribers they got, not a new concept, but that fans were not signing up as fast as anticipated. It literally came down to the wire that Mattel was able to reach that magical unknown number of subscribers that the line was given the green light to continue.

Two-Bad*Glimmer

Modulok*Hydron

The Unnamed One*Blade*Scorpia

Battle Lion*Extendar

Flogg*Double Mischief

SDCC saw the all new Filmation version of Horak as an exclusive, and even a miniature Imp in Treasure Chest disguise. For those more so interested in a standard Imp figure, he was packed in with the Hordak exclusive.

Hordak*Imp as Treasure Chest

Though fans were happy to receive Loo-Kee and Kowl (below), they felt ripped off by the premium price for two mini figures. Many felt that the figures should have been packed in with an individual full sized character.

Loo-Kee and Kowl Two-Pack*Flutterina*Skeletor (New Adventures)

Madame Razz

Goatman was first released at San Diego Comic Con in August of 2014, but then went on to be released at a circuit of various conventions.

Goatman

Rio Blast*Entrpta*Eldor

Sweet Bee*Light Hope

Battle Ram with (200x) Man-At-Arms

Tung Lashor*Arrow

Galactic Protector She-Ra*Gwildor*Mermista

Spinnerella

As we mentioned at the beginning, Mattel announced that 2015 would be the end of the Classics line due to them finally completing every single figure that was originally produced in the vintage series. However, they have already announced that the series will continue, focusing on the 200x era of He-Man. As of now, it's anyone's guess as to how popular this all new wave will be.

Fans have pleaded with Mattel to end the line on a high note with an all new Snake Mountain, but at this point it doesn't seem likely at all that this will happen.