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.
I
was just going to post this as-is, but I felt like it needed some
cleaning up and a few notes. It’s interesting how much my grammar
and style have improved since this was originally posted several
years ago. I’m not saying I’m perfect now, but this thing was
definitely a little rough.
I
am not collecting the current iteration of Masters of the Universe
figures from Mattel. They look nice and all, but He-Man was always a
distant third to GI Joe and Star Wars. Plus they are way too fucking
expensive. Yeah, the Ghostbusters cost twenty bucks a pop too, but
there are a whole lot less of them (and I may not even get any more,
as stated in my Halloween Ghostbusters spectacular). Also, why does
Mattycollector.com charge more to ship a six-inch figure than
Sideshow charges to ship a twelve-inch one?
Having
said that (any Curb Your Enthusiasm fans should know what’s
coming), I will still buy the odd Masters figure that catches my
fancy. Count me in for Trap-Jaw no matter how many times they make
him. I love that guy. I also kind of wish I’d gotten a Hordak when
they offered him. I guess any old skull-looking guy will make my
list. Obviously, Scareglow is just such a dude. He’s the first of
this new series I’ve ordered.
There
were just too many things in the above paragraphs that required
commenting on. There would have been parentheses every other
sentence. First, it’s hard to believe that regular 6” scale
figures have hit twenty bucks apiece now. And that I am still buying
them. Second, the question of why the shipping costs so much and
takes so long has never
been answered to anybody’s satisfaction. Third, I am somewhat
ashamed of myself for giving into Matty’s tactics and subscribing.
Over the years all of the shortages and fast sell outs have become
quite suspect given the reappearance of almost all of the early
figures at some point or another.
First
Glance
He
looks less… chubby than the production photo. That was one thing
that kind of turned me off of these latest versions. I did my best to
collect all of the last series from 2001 or so, but it was because I
really dug the sleeker, updated look. These newest figures struck me
as being more like the originals – kind of stumpy. Now I see that
that isn’t necessarily so. As a matter of fact, Scareglow almost
looks a little uncomfortable in his package. Like he’s a bit too
tall for it. I’ve got to say - from the moment I pulled the figure
out of its plain white shipping box I was impressed. Kind of makes me
wish I’d gotten the Skeletor, too.
Which
I eventually did. Several, as a matter of fact.
Sculpt
I’m
pretty sure this is a farmed figure, but since I don’t have any of
the rest I couldn’t say for sure. Also, much like Mattel’s DC
figures, Scareglow looks so awesome it doesn’t really matter. He
sports Mattel’s signature “best 6-inch articulation ever”
articulation.
I
wasn’t aware at the time that the intention of the line was to
mimic the vintage series’ use of shared parts. The 2002 line had
been unique sculpts, so why wouldn’t this one? And I don’t know
what that comment was about best articulation ever and it being
Mattel’s signature. Granted, it is similar to the DCUC
articulation, but doesn’t have those hideous hip joints. And it’s
very good articulation, but hardly the best. I think I was just
pleased with how consistent the profiles were versus Toy Biz’s
sometimes ungainly Marvel Legends. I was fresh into Mattel’s DCUC
stuff at the time, so I had yet to recognize the extent of their
parts farming practices.
It’s
pretty much a standard MOTU-style body with furry underpants and a
cloak. I’m not too crazy about the wrists, though. There are some
kind of gauntlets or wrist cuffs or something that are part of the
sculpt. Granted, they are completely painted over by the app that
covers the entire figure; but that always bothered me when they did
it on the original figures. I didn’t expect it on the new ones.
Other
than the weird wrists everything looks good.
Again
– I didn’t realize this was an intentional re-use of the Skeletor
body because that’s what the original Scareglow was. Now that I
know this isn’t an issue for me. It’s just part of the style of
the line.
Design
Awesome.
I’m very impressed by the deco on this guy. It looks like the whole
figure was cast in a translucent, glow-in-the-dark plastic, then
detailed with black to create the skeleton design. And it was done so
well that I had to stare at it for a while before I was sure of that.
I am unduly impressed by the fact that the deco extends around to
Scareglow’s back. It would be stupid if it didn’t, but being the
owner of a JAKKS Pacific Matt Hardy figure that has the tacky design
on only the front half of the pants I can’t help but be happy.
Seriously - those cheap-asses stopped the paint app at the seam on
either side of the legs. It looks like shit. And Hardy is far from
the only victim of JAKKS’ half-assedness. I’ve got a Rey Mysterio
that is the same way. The Aztec symbol on the back of his mask isn’t
even fucking painted! It’s like a Dollar Store toy, but with the
magic of full price!
I
find it weird that I was still collecting wrestling figures at that
point. Those days seem so far in the past.
But
we’re not here to talk about wrestlers – unless you want to
pretend Scareglow is La Parka, which would be perfectly reasonable.
We’re here to talk about Scareglow. Who glows in the dark like a
motherfucker, by the way.
I
tried to take a picture of the glowing.
I would turn off the lights,
point the camera at Scareglow, depress the “take picture now”
button halfway to set the shot and – the fucking thing disappeared!
He showed up fine in the viewfinder. I don’t know what the problem
is. When I told Mrs. Troublemaker about this, she looked at me like I
was crazy and asked why I would expect it to show up in a picture. I
was flabbergasted. Why would you not? I still don’t understand this
phenomena. The bottom line: Scareglow’s glowing effect works great,
but you can’t see it here.
I
still don’t know how to take pictures of glowing stuff.
Accessories
Mr.
“Scared to Glow on Film” comes with a cloak (I still don’t feel
right saying “cape” unless we’re talking about a superhero), a
tiny Castle Grayskull on a chain, and what the packaging refers to as
a scythe but what I would call more of a halberd. Because I’m a
nerd and Mattel is wrong.
The
cloak looks great. It, too is molded out of a translucent plastic.
The paint app creates the illusion that the garment becomes less
substantial as it approaches the bottom. This effect looks really
nice. The “scythe” is a fairly generic-looking Masters weapon.
The mini-Grayskull is really cool. It is attached to a chain which is
attached to a manacle that clips onto Scareglow’s wrist. If you’re
wondering what the fuck that’s all about, trust me - you’re not
alone.
I
don’t know what my problem was with Scareglow’s weapon. I totally
dig it now. And I had no idea about the key inside of his little
Grayskull thing.
Thankfully,
it was all explained on the:
Packaging
Fairly
reminiscent of the backing on the original figures. The point of
interest is Scareglow’s origin.
If
you had walked up to me just a few months ago and said “Scareglow!”,
I probably would have assumed you were promoting SyFy’s (I still
hate that new spelling. It’s not “extreme” or “edgy” or
whatever the fuck they thought it was. Unless they thought
“gaytarded”, in which case they nailed it.) newest shitty
Original Movie. I don’t remember a Scareglow from the original
He-Man line at all. Thanks to Mattel’s handy-dandy packaging,
however, I now know that Scareglow was a thief that tried to break
into Castle Grayskull to steal the Sorceress’ magic bird hat, but
got caught by Fisto (I will never, eeeeeever, not think that name is
hilarious); who had Orko turn him into a ghost skeleton. Enraged, the
man who would be known henceforth as Scareglow hired Skeletor – who
liked this new guy’s fashion sense – to shrink Castle Grayskull
down to 1/1-billionth of its original size so he could wear it as a
charm bracelet.
Okay,
that’s not really the story, but I’m afraid Mattel might sue me
for infringement or something if I reprinted it. Honestly, my version
isn’t too far off and is kind of better.
Overall
I
love this guy. Scareglow has made me happier than anything else I’ve
ordered from Mattycollector.com, and that’s saying something;
because despite all my griping in October, seeing those Ghostbusters
in my collection always makes me smile. The only problems I’ve got
with Scareglow are the wrists and his not-scythe. I would have
preferred an actual scythe. So he gets:
4
out of 5
I’m
going to go ahead and up that to a 5 out of 5. Scareglow is an
excellent figure and one of the true must-haves of the line in my
opinion. Heck – he was my gateway. He was so good that I bought
more figures and then outright subscribed.
Damn
him for that.
I'm traveling back in time to tell Past Phantom Troublemaker that the secret to glowy pics is a verrrrrry slow shutter speed. :)
ReplyDeleteI am going to go home and try this with EVERYTHING.
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