Some of the bigger news popping up from the 2009 Dallas Toy Fair, you know, the one not meant for us to see, is the announcement that Playmates is going to continue and expand the Star Trek license. For those who hadn’t seen the news yet, here is the press release:
So Webstor is here, and Noisy will have his review up soon, but I wanted to comment on a disturbing trend I’ve noticed in the last few MOTUCs. One of the benefits of having friends that like similar things is that you can split the cost of shipping. It also works out for the site. If one of us gets a figure that didn’t fare too well on the factory floor, maybe it was badly painted, or maybe it somehow broke in the box, or in shipping, then we have a couple other versions of that figure to choose from for the review. It’s a pretty good arrangement, at least until everyone gets a figure with problems.
Over the last few years, the LEGO company has released something very cool for Christmas: a Lego Advent Calendar. Usually, the tradition is to do a “City” theme, but last year they decided to throw caution to the wind and give us the first ever “Castle” themed calendar. The awesome didn’t stop there either. By that point in production, LEGO was taking their Castle theme further than ever before. They were making it more fantasy based, somewhat reminiscent of Lord of the Rings. With the new Castle theme chock full of knights, dwarves, skeleton warriors, and trolls, this new Advent Calendar would be one of the coolest Lego had ever released.
And then, the awesome hit a snag.
As I stare at my shelf of about 100 DCUC figures and think about the ones that are confirmed for the next few waves, I try and figure out what rhyme or reason Mattel is using to decide on who they are going to make and when. Although Martian Manhunter is the glaring omission in all of our collections, he’s not one of the ones I'm talking about today. What I don’t understand is how few JSA members, both golden age and modern, Mattel has produced so far. Maybe things are more difficult than I understand, but what is the problem with putting one JSAer into every wave? They’ve been doing it with the New Gods, and those are just the New Gods. Some of the New Gods are nice to have, but Mattel is churning out some others that aren't really in high demand. So my shelf almost has a complete Fourth World, and still lacks enough members to make any decent semblance of a JSA.
Since its Joe week here, I’ve got three Joe mini-rants to share...
1. I get that kids enjoy firing missile launchers, but can we make them a little more sensical? There are a couple of good ones like the Ice Viper’s (best one ever) or Sgt. Stone’s which looks like a remote control missile launcher. But then there are strange ones that make no sense at all. A missile launcher you hold with one hand like a revolver? I’m sure that wouldn’t rip your arm off. Or how about Helix’s absurd satellite dish missile. Is that for when you need great reception, only way over there? Then there’s the Para-Viper’s strange helicopter-thing that he can’t hold onto correctly without being cut to ribbons. Hope Cobra has a good health plan. Don’t even get me started on the suction cup that Duke can hang from. What kid hasn’t wished for one of those?
I didn’t much feel like ranting this week, that’s how you can tell I’ve been sick. But then something happened on Tuesday that spurred me to the site for at least one brief spiel. Hold onto your hats, this will go quick.
Jurassic Park toys. Apparently, this line has been hanging onto the fringe of the toy world through KB Toys exclusives ever since the last movie. I didn’t realize this until recently when the line was “revived” by Hasbro as a Toys R Us exclusive. Seems like Hasbro, at least with this line, has really mastered the art of taking decade old molds of dinosaurs, repainting them god awful neon colors, and re-releasing them every few years. Kudos to them, I guess…
We’re going to do something a little different today. Usually, I write my articles about something that frustrates, annoys, or upsets me. Since a lot of things in this world fit into those three categories, I’m never without something to talk about. But, every great once in a while, something happens in life and I don’t quite know how to react. This is one of those times...
Last Friday, the ItsAllTrue Crew headed up to Kansas City for the 2009 G.I. Joe Convention. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Even I had a pretty good time, except for one thing: the parachute drop.
