I’m
handling Needless Things’ Toy Fair coverage a little differently
this year. Rather than doing the podcast and an exhaustive post
recapping what I was able to glean from other websites’ coverage, I
am combining the two.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Needless Things Podcast Episode 20: 2014 New York International Toy Fair

Thursday, February 27, 2014
Vintage Troublemaker Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Scareglow from Mattel
Today’s
post comes from a desire to write without actually wanting to write.
What
I really
want to do is write my Toy Fair recap, but I don’t have internet
access and I certainly didn’t attend Toy Fair so I can’t. I’ve
made a few notes about some of the things that I know were shown, but
I can’t do my usual full write-up. Also, I’m trying to decide how
to handle pictures. I don’t want to steal other sites’ pics, but
posting them here with their stamp isn’t really stealing, is it? I
don’t know. I just know that I tried linking to Action Figure
Insider’s pics last year and it didn’t work.
Anyway,
a few months ago I spent several hours copying all of the posts out
of my old MySpace blog. That was where I started writing and most of
those posts are not here on Needless Things. The flash drive with the
original files on it got obliterated a couple of years ago, so I had
to go to the page and copy the posts. This proved to be a
labor-intensive method because of the way the MySpace blog loads.
Labels:
action figures,
Masters of the Universe,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com,
Scareglow

Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Thoughts On Heroes Reborn By R.T. Ewell
By
the time you read this, the news that the TV show Heroes is coming
back is old. Entitled Heroes Reborn and airing in 2015 with a big
digital tie in and limited run. There will be 13 episodes that
contain a different story then before with different characters.
Although there is hope that some of the original cast will make cameo
appearances. Really, all of them should do anything NBC asks of them
because most of the actors/actresses got really popular due to the
success of the show. Well except for Ali Larter. She was already
famous for the whipped cream bikini. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, go watch the movie Varsity Blues, you're welcome.
Labels:
commentary,
Heroes,
Heroes: Reborn,
NBC,
R.T. Ewell,
television

Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Thing Panel - Days Of the Dead
John Carpenter's The Thing is one of
the best horror/sci-fi movies of all time. It combines the best of
both worlds for me. It has some really gruesome special effects (and
this was long before the days of CGI) as well as a compelling and
tense story. For those who don't know my short version follows:
isolated group of guys doing some kind of something in an Antarctica
research station (they never say what they're researching, and almost
none of them seem like scientists) find a dog. Dog turns out to be
shape-shifting alien. Alien steals bodies so no one can tell who it
is. Suspicion, panic, and gory deaths ensue. Kurt Russell fight
monsters, Keith David fights the urge to kill Kurt Russell, and
Wilford Brimley fights diabetes. Just watch it yourself because it's
awesome.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Toy Review – Lava Planet Predator from NECA
I
haven’t bought all of the Predator figures that NECA has released,
but I do have a nice little collection. As with almost every line I
collect, I tend to pick and choose what I buy. I am able to pass on
figures that look too heavily farmed or just don’t interest me, but
when they’re vastly different or just zany-looking I can’t
resist.
This one
is definitely the latter.
Labels:
action figures,
Kenner,
NECA,
predator

Friday, February 21, 2014
Days of the Dead Atlanta by Beth V
Hey, did you know I love
horror movies? By now you should, and if you don't then it probably
just means that it's been too long since I've written anything. Good,
bad, or just awful I love them all. Although I'm getting weary of
this new SyFy channel trend of making ridiculously bad horror movies
on purpose. They're much more fun for me when the filmmakers are
operating under the delusion that they're doing something really
good. It's like a Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie I was watching
with the husband one night, and IMDB said that the guys who made the
movie thought it would be funny if it ended up there. That bugged me,
and it's the same with horror. Sharknado was fun and all, but it got
old pretty quick. Much like Tara Reid at a party (more on her later
though). So anyway, it seemed like a natural thing for me to go to
Days of the Dead, and I'm glad my horror buddy Sharron suggested it.
So along with our other horror pal Rich we headed off to the Sheraton
for a day of terror, mimosas, and money wasting.
Labels:
Beth V,
conventions,
Days of the Dead

Thursday, February 20, 2014
Toy Review – Game of Thrones Legacy Collection: Daenerys Targaryen from Funko
I never imagined that I would be writing a review of a highly articulated 6” scale action figure from Funko. Or that it would be from a line that I had dreamed about (and thought highly unlikely) since the franchise’s first television episode. Or that it would have been designed by one of the most acclaimed houses in the toy world – Gentle Giant – and therefore compatible with the correspondingly scaled Star Wars Black line.
Let’s
go ahead and get this out of the way – Funko started dropping
10-megaton geek bombs on the world late last year and hasn’t
stopped.
Starting
with the announcement of their partnership with Super 7 to produce
the Alien ReAction figures right up through the super-secret and
unbelievably fast release of their Game of Thrones 6” line, this
toy company that I have previously had zero interest in has been
making moves that have impressed the heck out of me and have the toy
collecting world talking up a storm. If I’m being honest, it’s
about the damndest thing I’ve seen since I started collecting toys.
Labels:
action figures,
dragons,
Funko,
Funko Legacy Collection,
Game of Thrones

Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Toy Review – Ron Burgundy 13” Talking Figure from Beeline Creative, Inc.
I love
Anchorman.
The first one is one of my favorite comedies of all time, if not my
favorite. I have watched it over and over again, and there aren’t a
lot of post-millennium movies that I can say that about.
In the
time between the release of the original movie and the new one, I
often considered the possibilities of an Anchorman toy line. It would
have to be retro to fit with the movie’s aesthetics. The first
option was a line of Mego-style figures, which would be great for
likenesses and the 70s clothes. If they were successful and people
were crazy enough whatever company produced them could even do
accessory packs with different suits and bottles of Sex Panther and
stuff.
Labels:
action figures,
Anchorman,
Beeline Creative,
Ron Burgundy,
Wil Ferrell

Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Toy Review – Marvel Legends Jean Grey from Hasbro
You guys
probably think I’m pretty stupid for all of the figures I admit to
being reluctant purchases. You’re probably right.
This
Jean Grey is not a look I’m all that crazy about. Not now, anyway.
Back in the 90s I thought it was one of the hottest things I’d ever
seen. There were a lot
of female characters running around with thong-looking designs on
their costumes, but Jean was a redhead so that added a whole new
dimension. And then there were the anatomically improbable poses
these ladies were (are) so often drawn in. EXCITING. Fifteen year old
me was delighted.
And a pervert.
Labels:
action figures,
hasbro,
marvel,
Marvel Legends,
redheads,
x-men

Monday, February 17, 2014
Toy Review – Sound FX Special Weapons Dalek (Remembrance of the Daleks) from Underground Toys
I was so
stoked when they announced that the Special Weapons Dalek would be
part of the second wave of Sound FX Dalek figures from Character
Options/Underground Toys. This tank of a Dalek would essentially
complete my “Remembrance of the Daleks” set. Not that I wouldn’t
buy more
Daleks from the story, but I have the main ones.
Labels:
action figures,
Daleks,
doctor who,
underground toys

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Toy Review - Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull from Mattel
I’ve
got to be honest here – I was not looking forward to doing this
review.
There
are so many
problems inherent in reviewing something like this. It’s a
one-of-a-kind item that cannot reasonably be compared to anything
else on the market. It was massively expensive, so there was pretty
much no way it was going to – from a purely objective stance – be
worth the money. While Mattel did a very
good job of managing our expectations on this one, they still set the
bar a bit too high with their initial announcement. And finally –
the people that did pay $250 for this thing are possibly going to be
very resistant to – and resentful of – anything negative that is
said about this toy.
Never
mind the folks that failed to preorder and paid $300.
Labels:
Masters of the Universe,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com,
Playsets,
toys

Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Reacting to ReAction
Firefly
Back
to the Future
Game
of Thrones
Terminator
Predator
Alien
Escape
From New York
Hellraiser
A
Nightmare on Elm Street
Friday
the 13th
The
Nightmare Before Christmas
The
Rocketeer
Halloween
Pulp
Fiction
BTVS
The
Goonies
The
Crow
Universal
Monsters
Scream
Trick
R’ Treat
That’s
the list of license that are currently available for preorder on
Entertainment Earth as part of Funko’s new ReAction line.
Labels:
action figures,
Funko,
ReAction,
toys

Monday, February 10, 2014
Needless Things Podcast Episode 18 – Stephen Platinum: From Dungeon Master to Wrestling Booker
Dude.
Seriously.
If
I keep getting what I want on this podcast I am going to get way
too ambitious.
I
am absolutely delighted to be bringing you an interview with the most
brilliant professional wrestling mind I have ever had the pleasure of
meeting, Stephen Platinum. But he’s more than just a booker, he’s
also a pop culture aficionado, which plays into his booking style in
more ways than you could imagine.
Labels:
interviews,
Needless Things Podcast,
PCW,
platinum championship wrestling,
Stephen Platinum,
wrestling

Friday, February 7, 2014
Needless Things Retrospective – DC Signature Collection by The Belligerent Monkey
I
am/was a big DC fan since I was a kid. Growing up I sided with DC
more than Marvel (just by a bit). I was a Marvel fan too and a big
fan/collector of the Marvel Legends line. It was almost perfect
timing when Marvel Legends started to wind down and DC Universe
Classics (DCUC) started up. I had already started picking up this
line when it was the Superman and Batman themed DC Superheroes line.
So when I restarted as the DCUC line, I jumped in from the beginning
and have almost every figure with the exception of a few 2-packs and
any Nu52 figures that I skipped. The line ran for 20 waves plus a
ton of exclusives, 2-packs, 5-packs, the Legion of Superheroes
collection, etc. It was a great toy line with an insane amount of
great figures. When the official line was done and the subscription
was announced I signed up right away. I was looking forward to
completing some teams and filling in some holes in the collection.
Labels:
action figures,
Belligerent Monkey,
dc comics,
DC Signature Collection,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com

Thursday, February 6, 2014
Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Two-Bad from Mattel
There
was a time when I was pretty sure we would be getting Tuvar and Badra
as individual figures in the Masters of the Universe Classics line.
With the line almost undoubtedly in its final two years I don’t see
that happening. Maybe
as Con Exclusives, but probably not.
Labels:
action figures,
Masters of the Universe,
masters of the universe classics,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com

Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Needless Things Retrospective - DC Signature Collection by Evil
In
the interest of time and so you don’t have to read it over and
over, just go ahead and mentally add “but for $30 dollars he/she
should have come with some more accessories/extra hands/extra head.”

Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Mint On Card By R.T. Ewell
I
guess you could say that my toy collecting habits go back to when I
was a child. The very first memory of seeing something and saying “I
have to have that,” is probably the original He-Man line. It was
absolutely my favorite cartoon. I loved the characters that inhabited
Eternia. So many wonderful villains with Evil Lynn & Skeletor
being at the top. Oh, and how good was Frank Langella as Skeletor in
that horrendous movie? Anyway, let's get back on track before I go on
a rant. When I was a kid, Orko was probably my favorite of the good
guys because I was his target audience. His figure was the coolest
with that rip cord that sent him buzzing across the floor. Some
really good figures in that line that did some innovative things that
my little brain had never seen in action figures.
Labels:
action figures,
Guest Posts,
R.T. Ewell,
toys

Monday, February 3, 2014
Needless Things Retrospective – DC Signature Collection
I’ve
got a cool treat for you guys this week.
No
– it’s not coupons for a free Blizzard from Dairy Queen.
I
got the idea to do a retrospective on the DC Signature Collection
after the final figure – Batzarro – came in the mail. I thought
it would be interesting to look back on an entire line of figures
that I had judged fairly harshly (to the point where I pretty much
stopped reviewing them) and felt stupid for subscribing to both years
that it was offered. I wanted to see if I felt differently now that
the whole ordeal was in the past and those dollars were freed up for
other things.
Labels:
DC Signature Collection,
mattel,
MattyCollector.com

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