Tag Archives: Mattel

Toy Fair 2011 (Plus JLU Heatwave and Jay Garrick Prototype Pics)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, well for toy fans anyway. Toy Fair weekend 2011 is upon us but don’t be alarmed because we haven’t seen any Mattel offerings yet:

Toy Fans,

Like San Diego Comic-Con, New York Toy Fair is one of the most hotly anticipated toy events of the year. Why? Because even though it isn’t open to the public, we unveil some of the biggest toys of the year!

This year, the Mattel Collector Night is on Sunday, February 13th, from 3 PM to 6 PM ET. Of course, I can’t show you images yet, but I promise we’ll have TONS of reveals from all your favorite lines, including a DCU Classics wave, figures from JLU, DCU vs MOTU, DCU Action League®, Ghostbusters™, Masters of the Universe®, and Green Lantern.

There will also be reveals and product on display from Batman, Young Justice™, CARS, WWE®, and even some Barbie® Collector items I know you’re gonna want. A lot of your favorite fan sites will be in attendance, so be on the lookout for updates from those sites −− but for the official scoop, be back here on Monday, February 14th, for our special post-Mattel Collector Night coverage!

— Matty

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Recent Acquisitions Volume 6: In Gold We Trust Image Intensive

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Alright folks as promised (albeit a bit late), another edition of Recent Acquisitions. Two days ago I received a package from Sci-Fi Genre; the DC Universe Origins Flash Two Pack from DC Direct. Celebrating 75 years of DC Comics, the packs feature one figure representing the classic version of the character and the other being the most current version of the character. This is from the second wave, the first featuring exclusively Batman characters. I believe that all of the figures in the wave are repaints. I know for a fact that Jay Garrick is a repaint of the First Appearances Flash action figure and that Barry is a repaint of Wally West from the Justice League of America Series 3 action figure set. Normally I would scoff at a repaint, I still haven’t picked up JLA Classified Classics Flash or Identity Crisis Classics Flash and don’t plan to anytime soon, but the new paint applications on these figures are a vast improvement over the originals.

Pictures of this set and much more after the break.

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Recent Acquisitions Volume 4: Ages 3 to 8? PAH!

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Hey Speed Readers, it is that time again. However, before I begin I would like to make one thing very clear; I don’t post these entries to brag or show off I simply post them to share. I know that there are other collectors like myself who may not have acquired a certain piece yet or are curious about how it looks out of the box and since I’ve never really been a mint on card collector, I’m happy to oblige them.

With that said I’m going to begin a new set of articles tentatively titled “Off The Shelf”. Basically it will be me finding an older piece or a group of related pieces from my collection and showcasing them since it is hard to do that under the banner of “Recent Acquisitions”. I know the title isn’t very original or memorable but I’m open to suggestions. I just keep the majority of my collectibles on a bookshelf so I thought the title made sense.

Speaking of “Recent Acquisitions” I recently acquired over 20 new collectibles and that means a lot of ground to cover. I’m going to split up the entries to spread out the content a bit and not have a million photos in one post, but this is just the beginning. I’m going to try and get something new up at least twice a week.

Now on to the fun stuff:

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Blue Lantern Barry Announced for DC Universe Classics

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Right after DC Direct releases Blue Lantern Barry Allen for Wave 6 of their Blackest Night line of action figures, Mattel announces the release of Blue Lantern Barry in the upcoming Blackest Night-themed Wave 17 of the acclaimed DC Universe Classics Series:

Okay, I’m always excited for just about anything Flash, especially when it comes to action figures, and I hate to be ungrateful but do we really need another Barry in the DC Universe Classics Line so soon? Yes, I can understand the inclusion of the figure because 1) It’s cheaper to reuse a mold than to commission a new one, 2) Blackest Night is DC’s most successful comic event to date and I would be foolish to expect them not to try and cash in on it and 3) Barry is the main Flash again and DC is determined to avoid highlighting any other speedsters until Barry has been firmly established in every medium. Still is it too much to ask for even a Zoom? I’m already kind of burnt out on Blue Lantern Barry (after the Heroclix and the aforementioned DC Direct version) and I can never get enough of Zoom. Although what I would really want is Wally or Jay.

I will say that the Blue Lantern uniforms are still very striking visually and despite my annoyance at essentially already owning three of the same figure (Wave 7, TRU Gold Repaint and Giants of Justice) and having to add yet another repaint to my DCUC collection, I still may pick this up. Funny how I complain yet still plan on purchasing it anyway.

As far as this one versus DC Direct’s version? I’m digging the glossy paint job on the DC Direct version a lot more, that and the overall sculpt is just more pleasing to me. Especially since I prefer to have less articulation in my figures. I will say that Mattel has done a great job at making the many points of articulation on their figures less noticeable but I still find them to be less appealing. I’m going to have fun comparing and contrasting them once I have the DCUC version as well.

DC Universe Classics Wave 17 will also feature Hal Jordan as a White and Black Lantern, Violet Lantern Wonder Woman, Orange Lantern Lex Luthor, Indigo Lantern Atom, and Yellow Lantern Scarecrow. The Collect and Connect figure is going to be the modern version of the Anti-Monitor. A Red Lantern Mera was planned to be included but she was scrapped due to the cost of tooling another figure. There are plans to include her sometime down the road. The wave is planned for release in late Spring next year, just in time for my birthday.

–Devin “The Flash” Johnson

Sold Out Flash-Related Item To Be Offered Again On “Cyber Monday” and first picture of JLU Jay Garrick

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For those of you that haven’t heard, Mattel is planning on re-releasing a number of sold out items that had been offered previously through their online collector store, Mattycollector.com, in an online sale, dubbed “Cyber Monday”.

More after the break

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San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Flash-related Exclusives Update!

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Back in April Speed Force posted news about the SDCC 2010 Exclusive Starro the Conqueror action figure with the original Justice League of America. In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of DC Comics the packaging is based on the milestone Silver Age cover, Brave and the Bold #28, featuring the first appearance of the Justice League. Along with an 8″ bendy Starro we get 3 ¾ classic versions of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (with a brand new construct add-on), Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and of course The Flash, all with slightly improved articulation (well at least when compared with the older Infinite Heroes figures) .

A few days ago Mattel released a video showcasing all the features and packaging of the Exclusive Starro Set including flashing lights and Kevin Conroy of various animated Batman projects lending his voice to give us individual bios of each member of the Justice League and a synopsis of Brave and the Bold #28. All of which sounds pretty nifty. I mentioned before that this may be one of the few things that I keep mint on card and this video has pretty much sealed the deal.

Mattycollector Shows off the SDCC 2010 Exclusive Starro Set

It’s obvious from the final product that Mattel’s designers put a lot of thought into this. We even get a commemorative shipping box, which I will also be hanging onto. I know a lot of people aren’t really fans of the Infinite Hero toy line, so I’m wondering if this will impact them purchasing it. Even if I weren’t already a fan of the little guys, the packaging and the fact that the Flash is included almost automatically guarantees my purchase. Mattel thrives off of people like me. Well sort of. Apparently the SDCC Exclusive Spores are for use for the full size DCUC figures instead of the included Infinite Heroes. Probably really cool for some people, not so much for me. Although if they used Papa Zero‘s idea and made a Starro sleep mask I would be all over it.

Here are a few “captures” for those who don’t have time to check out the vid…

And a picture of the Starro Spores if you haven’t seen them yet. These are only compatible with the DC Universe Classics 6″ figures.

Starro and his Justice League combatants will be available to purchase at San Diego Comic-Con 2010 this weekend (July 22-25) with the exclusive Starro Spores included. They will be available to those not attending SDCC 2010 (and those not willing to pay scalper prices on eBay) on Mattycollector.com August 2nd minus the Starro Spores.

Also for those actually attending SDCC, Mattycollector for the first time is taking presale vouchers for their exclusives. Basically you can order the item ahead of time and go to a special room during SDCC with the proper credentials and simply pick up your item free of headaches and worries. Mattel says there will be plenty of items available and I really hope they mean it. I don’t think anyone wants a repeat of the Gleek Incident from last year. I personally don’t really care for the idea of event only exclusives but it seems to be popular.

What do you think about event only exclusives? And will you pick up Starro and the JLA? Let us know, we would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading,

–Devin “The Flash” Johnson