ManekochanReview:
Night Fury & Hiccup

I'm back!! My movie review yesterday was just a prelude, boys and girls, for I have not covered the travesty that is the Wal-Mart Exclusive How To Train Your Dragon line. If you want Toothless underoos, you can buy 'em. A hooded towel? No problem. T-shirts? Backpacks? Viking Helmets? Easter themed Dragon gummies and eggs? All available. But if you want action figures of the girl characters or even just a Toothless figure that is more cute dragon than vicious man-eater, well, that's going to be a problem.

ItsAllTrueReview: Public Enemies Wave 2 (Brimstone)

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Remember that movie? It came out in September 2009. Six months ago. And roughly six months ago, we reviewed Wave One of the figures from the movie. Mattel wasn't exactly clear about the figures being split into two waves until around the time they hit and that left many fans unsure of when they would be able to complete Brimstone. For me, that was a few weeks ago. Our Target, after five months of sitting on an Icicle and a Banshee, received a case of wave two. I was lucky enough to snag the one Black Lightning and the one Major Force.

Vault Review: Professor Layton


“A hidden treasure. A murder. And a village full of secrets. Pit your wits against the puzzles of St. Mystere. Can you crack the case?” These are the words that the trailer for Professor Layton and the Curious Village tempted me with. A puzzle solving murder mystery, with a unique animation style and a playful yet elusive soundtrack. I was sold instantly. If you're not familiar with Professor Layton, I encourage you to check his DS Game's homepage.

Three years later, Japan is about to enjoy their fifth installment of the Layton franchise, with an animated movie soon to follow. So far the United States just got the second game, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, last year. I am jealous to say the least. Lucky for me though, I can satiate some of my Layton cravings with the brand new Professor Layton figure from Japan’s highly popular Revoltech line.

ItsAllTrueReview: DC
Classics vs. MOTU Classics 2pks

Joe vs. Cobra. Optimus Prime vs. Megatron. Ninja Turtles vs. The Foot. Marvel vs. Capcom. All great battles that fans have long taken sides on. Thanks to Mattel, we can add a new one to the mix: DC Universe Classics vs. Masters of the Universe Classics. Hey, it's less clunky than Crisis of the Infinite Masters of the Universe…

Mattel's first foray into bringing MOTUC to retail came with an unexpected twist, DC figures. ToyFare #152 first revealed the existence of these two-packs, Superman vs. He-Man & Lex Luthor vs. Skeletor, back in early February. Now, just weeks later, they've hit and fans are gobbling them up.

ItsAllTrueReview: DC Classics – Spectre(s) & Eclipso

Between filled online pre-orders and store sightings, DCUC12 has been out for nearly two months, but many fans got their first opportunity to order it just a week ago via MattyCollector.com. If you're still without, the set is still available. With the early waves, Mattel strived to make a "play pattern" out of the first two figures in each wave. With the A-listers being relegated to All-Star repacks, that may not be as important to Mattel anymore, but it's still true for these two. See, the Spectre put Eclipso out of a job.

Vault Review: MOTU Classics Battle Stands

Trap Jaw and Battle Cat weren’t the only things to sell out on Mattel’s last D-Day. Even though it took a couple more hours than the other two, the MOTU “Castle Grayskull Diorama & Stands” also sold out. I imagine most people were thinking the same thing I was, “Battle Cat is a little expensive, so I might wait until next time to get those stands.” Well, at the last minute I caved and added a set to my cart, and I guess I’m glad I did so. Because if you decided to wait, you are probably a little annoyed at the recent comment by Toy Guru.

MOTUClassics.Com
Battle Cat Review

Since MOTU Classics started in late 2008, each figure has been released to a varying degree of anticipation and excitement. In 2009, I'm not sure who was the most anticipated. Skeletor came early in the line, when figures could last into a second week, so it can't be him. I guess maybe Hordak. He's among the most popular of the class of 2009 and his sellout time was among the quickest for last year. But this year, there's no debate. Without knowing what the last four Club Eternia figures are for this year, without knowing what the last quarterly or large-scale figure will be, I'm calling it now. None will have been as anticipated as Battle Cat.