Needless Things Podcast Episode 20: 2014 New York International Toy Fair

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 13^th

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.