Movie Masters Cancelled?

The Internet is abuzz with news that recently, several large online retailers have dropped their pre-orders for cases of Movie Masters Waves 5 and 6, about which I have been so excited over the last, oh I don't know, eight months. I'm pretty pissed. I was excited about Arkham Scarecrow (despite his admitted lameness), and that proto-suit Batman was so cool of an idea.

Of course, while the dropping of pre-orders is real, the rumors ablaze across the Net are not necessarily true. Some people are predicting that these will be Mattycollector exclusives (at $20 each... God I hope not), or they are just adjusting the case assortments and these will be released on time. Whatever the case, I'm annoyed and pretty disappointed. I wanted those figures.

In other news, I was a bit excited to see this. Like I said before, collecting Lego people.... meh, not my thing. But this is the Ghostbusters, and Slimer glows in the dark, AND the uniform is my favorite from GB2.

Even the Venkman figure from the SDCC Diamond exclusives is exciting to me. I don't know, maybe it's because I remember going to the theater to see Ghostbusters 2 that it reigns supreme in my mind (don't get me wrong; the original Ghostbusters is a better movie, I just have sentimental value attached to the sequel). But the charcoal/black uniforms are so awesome to me, and I hope that this means the new Mattel figures might sport some variants in the GB2 uniforms. Maybe with slime blowers.

Ok, now I'm getting too excited. Time to end this entry.

An update!

Wow, has it really been since April 2nd? I guess I have a suitable excuse: I returned home to Cleveland shortly after the 2nd and have been doing some medical school things that require a lot of time, so that's how I'll play it. Plus the battery pack for my camera has died, so I need to get a new one before I can do more documentation of my collection.

Therefore! I shall update regarding the happenings in the toy world of note to me. Namely, and this is a surprise, Ghostbusters minimates.

I have no interest in collecting Lego people, essentially, but these 5 little toys caught my attention. For some reason, the ghost from Washington Square (from Ghostbusters II) really took me back to a place where I'm a kid, it's 1989, and I want some cool clear ghost toys. That was a great addition to the minimates idea (and might also provide clues as to who the pack-in ghosts will be for the Mattel figures coming out this summer) and its design is highly reminiscient of the old 80's toys. I was pretty excited by it, and might consider getting these if I see them in person. Supposedly they'll be a TRU exclusive, so I'll have to look this July. I can't figure out why there are only two actual Ghostbusters being released (plus Louis and Dana), but maybe that means there will be more in the future.

Other than that, it seems to be a slow few months of waiting for Mattel's Egon and Slimer, then the new Hot Toys Joker. This works out, I guess, since I have no money right now. So it's good, except 1) it's not fun to have no new toys, and 2) it's never good to have no money.

For now, to bed I go.

Police Joker and SDCC Egon

The last 2 days have been full of news in the toy-collecting world of me!

First: Hot Toys revealed that Police Joker (pictured to the right, from the Hot Toys website) will come with an alternate sculpt head (with the make-up), as well as a complete classic Joker costume for the figure, which basically means that if one has Police Joker, one can change out the head and the clothes and essentially have a brand new original Joker. Plus grenades in his coat.

(And, apparently, even the eyes are positionable. Unbelievable.)

So I pre-ordered one, obviously, from Toy Rocket, at a fairly decent price. Then today I noticed they've increased the price by $20+. I emailed them to see if they're going to charge me the new, jacked-up price, which they probably will, and I will probably be angry.

Second: Mattel revealed today that the San Diego Comic Convention exclusives will include Dr. Egon Spengler with Slimer as a pack-in. (The image is from the Toy News International Website.) I'm also assuming this is the 6" figure that was shown as a prototype at NYCC.

If you look closely, you'll notice two interesting things: 1) Egon is "slimed", and 2) Slimer is translucent.

Why, Mattel, would you make the first Egon a "slimed" version? Perhaps all the boys in gray will be slimed, but it seems an odd choice. I'm not complaining, I just don't understand. Perhaps when these figures are sold online (as Mattel said they will be right after the con), they will be the slimed versions, or maybe there will be other "clean" variants. I'm curious.

And finally, Slimer being translucent is really exciting. I was wondering how they would do the pack-in ghosts, and it looks like they will be the dense, clear plastic/rubber that the original RGB pack in ghosts used. That excites me. (I also looked at ToyFare for this month, and they had an interview about the GB figures... saying they're going to use movie ghosts like the librarian and the taxi driver as pack-ins. How awesome is that?? Especially if they keep using the translucent effect.)

All I know is, I will cry if I don't get this guy when he is released online (supposedly the Monday after SDCC, at the end of July). Don't doubt me; I'll do it.

Watchmen

The Watchmen figures are great. Dr. Manhattan was the last one I got, and he was worth the wait. His articulation is basically non-existent, and his perpetual open-palm pose is somewhat annoying, but the sculpting is incredibly detailed-- all the way down to the veins in his legs. Nite Owl is also great, and with decent basic articulation (plus, the blade on his belt is removable). The Comedian is heavy and comes with 2 pistols, which actually have holsters on his legs. He's a great, sturdy figure. Rorschach is a bit disappointing, as he barely has any articulation at all, but he nonetheless looks good. Silk Spectre II is my first female figure (ever! Unless you count Janine from the RGB... which I don't), and despite the oddity of having a fairly well-proportioned plastic girl in my hands, I like the figure. Her likeness is off, as is the Comedian's, but that's forgivable.

When I return to my normal place of residence this weekend, I'll get some photos up of the variants and the classic figures, which I've decided to keep MIB.

I'm not becoming an MIB collector, but there is something about holding the unopened toy that gives me a great feeling. The old adage "It's not the having, it's the getting" I think applies pretty well to me, so keeping some figures MIB seems to prolong that "getting" feeling, while opening them (sometimes, not always) transitions it to the "having".

Ergo, I'll talk about the variants and classic figures at a later date.

Whoa whoa wait a minute.

As I usually do, I went on over to Toy News International for my morning dose of toy-related goodness. There was a headline announcing that Hot Toys had released a new teaser image, which I presumed would be about their Police Joker that is coming out. However, as I clicked on the image link, I noticed something in the thumbnail.

This Joker's not wearing any police uniform.

In fact, it looks like he's wearing the purple suit. With grenades in the coat.

Could it be? Do mine eyes deceive me?

Is there a new Hot Toys Joker (with original garb) coming out???

Ghostbusters, new Movie Masters,
Watchmen... and now this??

Movie Masters 2009

I stumbled upon Entertainment Earth's Movie Masters pre-order page, and they have images of the figures that will be coming out this summer.

Several questions arise. First, there is no sign of the Arkham Scarecrow or the Sonar Batman anywhere on the site. Like I mentioned once before, it annoys me that these figures have still not shown up at retail, despite a January release date. So what gives?

Second, and probably the most interesting, it appears that the good folks at Mattel have finally decided to let (at least) one Movie Masters figure have an accessory. That accessory, as obvious in the photo, is the ever-indispensable ENORMOUS SKI MASK that fits goofily over the face of Proto-Suit Batman. Why not 1) sculpt it on as a head, 2) give swappable heads with the figures, or at the very least 3) include USEFUL or COOL accessories with the MM figures?

Third, rather than complain, I'll point out that the Two-Face and the Jail Cell Joker look great, just like they did at NYCC. If only Mattel would ship these out like they are supposed to, everything would be peaches and roses.

Enough anger. I'm going to go enjoy my Watchmen figures now.

I did it

Today I found the unmasked Rorschach at TRU, a Nite Owl (Modern) at Spencer's, and all of the rest at my local comic shop (which was somehow magically cheaper than even TRU). Including the classic Comedian variant, which apparently is becoming very difficult to find.

The only 2 figures I don't have? You guessed it.

Dr. Manhattan, and the translucent variant. Yes, that's right, the only figure I was originally considering getting.

However, I'm incredibly happy with all of them. I wish Rorschach had more articulation, but I can ignore it. The rest of them are surprisingly well articulated, considering they are DC Direct figures. Not to mention they look great.

Rumor also has it that the classic Nite Owl and classic Silk Spectre are being left out of new figure shipments, so I'm really happy I got them.

I shall post pictures at some point, most certainly. These are great figures, and with each passing day I find myself becoming more drawn into Watchmen. I could never cheat on Batman, but the themes from Watchmen take the existential crisis of Bruce Wayne and turn it national.

It's apolitical in the highest sense, and to Alan Moore: even if you're pissed about everything, I still appreciate it. Thanks, bud.