Category Archives: Collectibles

Mattel SDCC 2011 Speedster News

Hey Speed Readers,

A few days ago, Actionfigureinsider.com gave us our first look at the Mattel San Diego Comic-Con 2011 exclusives. Not much for the Flash and other speedsters on the DC Universe Classics front but there will be something a little different for speedster fans.

Mattel has a line of dolls called Monster High based on a concept that tries to appeal to the more macabre little tweeny girls out there by melding Hot Topic with horror. The premise behind them being that the characters are the plastic (literally and figuratively) offspring of famous film and literary monsters. The initial characters were based on the classic Universal Monsters but they have since branched out to include all different types.

Now what does this have to do with speedsters? One of the main characters, a zombie named Ghoulia Yelps is being offered at the ‘Con dressed as her favorite comic book character, Dead Fast, the Zombie Speedster:

(Picture obviously courtesy of Actionfigureinsider.com)

The Monster High product that will be sold at Comicon is a special Ghoulia Yelps collector doll dressed as Dead Fast. The doll comes with special collector packaging, is dressed in her costume, and also comes with a Dead Fast figure, comic book, and doll stand. See below for the talking points:

• Ghoulia Yelps is the zombie girl at Monster High and being that she is the smartest ghoul in school naturally she is a comic book fan. She’s on her way to Nekro Con dressed as her favorite zombie super hero, Dead Fast.

• Once he [Dead Fast] was just a face in the shambling crowd until he was pecked by a radioactive hummingbird giving him the power of super speed! Now he’s the zombie super hero Dead Fast!

• You can’t outrun zombie justice!

• She comes with a miniature Dead Fast action figure and a Dead Fast fan fic book that she wrote and illustrated herself.

I don’t know why but this sounds kind of cool. Little annoying that the “smartest ghoul in the school” is “naturally a comic book fan” but it is still a fun concept. I’m absolutely digging the costume and Silver Age-tinged origin (shades of Stan Lee’s re-imagining of The Flash) and I’m actually thinking about keeping an eye out for this in the secondary market.

Here is another picture I found courtesy of Hellyeahmonsterhigh.tumblr.com:

Anyone else plan on taking a detour off the beaten path and picking up Ghoulia Yelps a.k.a. Dead Fast?

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

Save The JLU Campaign (Join The Fight)

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Earlier this month Mattel announced through their Facebook page that they would only be releasing two of the eight JLU 3-packs initially announced, and that based on the performance of those two sets they may release the others down the line.

To that end, some users from the Action Figure Insider Forums banded together in an attempt to try and get these last six 3-packs released.

First they started a Save The JLU Facebook Page and then a Twitter page, which Mattel themselves actually now follow. You can show your support by also liking the JLU page and following them on Twitter.

Several fans have even began making promotional materials for the cause. The first two were made by a user named Christhorne and the last one by a user named uberfriend:

Great work by both of these guys! I wish them lots of luck in their campaign (especially since I need that Vandal Savage in my collection). I’m going to be buying two sets of the Golden Age set from Matty and I encourage all that want to see the rest of these releases to do the same. I just hope I don’t have any issues with their site or they sell out before I get a chance to jump on them. I think the fact that these are actually desirable characters (not Parademons) will do a lot for the sales. Even though Jay had never been on the show, I was still holding my breath for him after the release of Barry. I have no real use for Alan or Carter and I definitely don’t need two of them. Maybe we’ll be giving one of the packs away as a contest prize in the near future. You never know…

Speaking of which, congrats to the Winner of this week’s “Where Was Wally?” Contest and thanks to everyone who sent in answers! The next contest begins tomorrow, so dust off those back issues and get to work finding out “Where Was Wally?”.

Thanks for reading,

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

DC Universe Mini Mez-Itz 2 Packs: The Flash and Captain Cold

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The DC Universe Mini Mez-Itz we saw at Toy Fair 2011 have finally received a release date as of this morning. October 2011 is when we can expect these guys to start hitting the shelves:

Mezco Toyz will be introducing even more characters from the DC Universe including world-famous super heroes such as Batman™, Superman™ and the Green Lantern. Look for many more characters to hit the store shelves this year!

The first series of 2 packs includes the following pairings:

Batman Beyond & Cyborg

The Flash & Captain Cold

Dr. Fate & Etrigan the Demon

Mini Mez-Itz are 2″ collectibles that are cool by design. All Mini Mez-Itz feature five points of articulation and are packaged together on a blister card!

Set includes all 6 figures!
Ships October 2011.

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

JLU Jay Garrick Gets A Release Date!

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With all the April Fool’s Hoopla on Speed Force and Fastest Fan Alive, I managed to miss this very important and awesome announcement from Matty on Facebook:

JLU Fans,

After much struggle, I was able to convince management to put two of the remaining eight JLU 3-packs up on MattyCollector.com in the fall. This will be a big test to see if it’s a viable option for selling figures this way. If we’re successful, it opens the door to the remaining six packs. If not, we may be out of options.

Here’s the deal… there will be no changes to the packs from the original 3-pack configuration because that would require additional development. We know some of these packs are more “retail friendly” instead of just for collectors (like the inclusion of Superman and Aquaman with fan-demanded Toy Man) but honestly, it is what it is and we can’t change things at this point.

The two packs sold on MattyCollector.com in September will be the Golden Age pack with Hawkman / Green Lantern / Flash and the Space Pack With Starman / Animal Man / Adam Strange. These packs were chosen because they were the farthest along in development, plain and simple.

I’m super stoked to reveal the 3-packs over the weekend at WonderCon so check Facebook to see when I’ve posted pictures of them. And if you’re in the San Francisco area, be sure to stop by WonderCon to meet me and the team!

-Matty

P.S. This is definitely NOT an April’s Fool’s Day joke. I’d never kid about something like this.

Definitely good news. Very pleased that I won’t have to be dropping 70 bucks or so on a JLU Jay Garrick “prototype” on eBay. Even happier that this is going to be sold on Mattycollector.com, so everyone has a chance at it. I just hope the website is working properly cause I have a feeling this Golden Age set is going to sell out fast. It features figures that appeal to a wide variety of fans; Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, JLU, JSA and even Golden Age fans are going to want a crack at it.

Action Figure Insider had some of the first legit pics up and the set looks absolutely stunning:

Picture Courtesy of AFi

Sculpts and details are all spot on. Only thing now is the waiting, September is sooo far away. I’m almost tempted to bid on one of those Jay prototypes on eBay. Almost. One thing I’m learning is that patience goes a long way for certain collectibles as far as getting the best price. Only thing is you could miss out on an item entirely by waiting for the cheaper deal when dealing with limited items like the Con-exclusive White Lantern Flash. Only 1000 were made, making it extremely rare, and once they are gone, they are gone. The only chance is the after market and then expect to pay even more the longer you wait.

Anyone throwing their hat in for the JLU Golden Age Set?

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

Cobalt Blue T-Shirt Available Exclusively At VA Comicon

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All right! With wild speculation concerning the identity of the individual(s) behind Flashpoint swirling about, we have a surprise exclusive being released first through VA Comicon coming up April 9, 2011 in Richmond, VA. The remaining t-shirts will be distributed through various outlets until they are gone.

Check it out:

The T-Shirt retails for $19.99 and will only be available in limited quantities.

I think the timing of the shirt is indicative of what I’ve known all along; Malcolm Thawne is behind Flashpoint and Barry Allen has no hope of stopping him.

Who plans on picking this baby up?

-Devin “Zoom” Johnson

C2E2 Comic Con Exclusives White Lantern Flash and JLU Heatwave (Image Intensive)

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So last weekend Chicago’s biggest comic book convention, C2E2 was held. Which just so happens to be the the first leg on the Mattycollector.com Collector Appreciation Tour 2011. This is the first place they would be selling the Heatwave, Flash and Mirror Master set, amongst other JLU goodies. Now normally I would be sitting back looking at the trickle of toy news online and thinking about how much the figures are going to cost me on evilBay the next day. This time however I had an ace in the hole; a reader of Speed Force who frequently posts comments under the name Fastest, Mark Maslauskas. Mark was going to the convention and was kind enough to offer to pick up a set for me. Can you believe it? Absolutely awesome.

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