As you may recall, I gave Hasbro a little bit of grief a few weeks ago about their (IMO) mishandling of the Marvel Legends line of action figures. Today I picked up a new figure that I like so much I have to give them some props: The Ultimate War Machine figure from the Ares Build-A-Figure line. I have a few minor complaints, like the sloppiness of the paint applications on the turquoise nipples (or whatever those things are), and for the life of me I can’t get the helmet off because it’s wedged on to the head too damn tight. But it’s got a great sculpt; a much better color scheme than the Ultimate Iron Man figure it originated from; and, best of all, the joints all work the way they’re supposed to work. Kudos, Hasbro, for making a great little toy. Now, can we talk about that $15 price tag you’re slapping on all your new figures?
I love Mattel’s DC Classics line. I love this line so much I want to take it back behind the middle school and get it pregnant. The sculpts by the Four Horsemen are awesome; the Collect-and-Connect figures, while not as impressive as some of the better Marvel BAFs like Sentinel and Fin Fang Foom, are still well worth hunting down the individual figures in order to put them together; and the selection of characters has been mind-boggling. Did you ever think we’d see the day when you could drive to Toys R Us to buy Gentleman Ghost and Killer Moth? Unfortunately, I have a major complaint about the line, in that they are ridiculously hard to find. The first series just sat around collecting dust for months. I still see Penguin and Orion sitting on shelves every once in a while. The third series was much more difficult to find. Most of the time, I could only find a few lone Hal Jordans plaintively hoping for someone to come along and take them home like abandoned puppies at a pet shelter. And for some odd reason, series two just now seems to be arriving at stores at the exact same time as series four. WTF? Even the earlier Marvel Legends figures were easier to find. I’m not sure why stores are having such a hard time keeping them in stock. Maybe there’s a distribution problem, or the stores aren’t ordering enough cases, or they’re just so popular the stores are selling through them as fast as they get them stocked. Either way, there has to be a way of solving this problem, right?
December 30th, 2008 at 3:22 am
“I love Mattel’s DC Classics line. I love this line so much I want to take it back behind the middle school and get it pregnant.”
Wow… That’s disturbing on so many levels. I couldn’t even finish reading this. Major props for you.
December 30th, 2008 at 5:00 am
At my store we get one box of DC figures and they go flying out the door and it takes a long time to get them re-ordered for some reason. I just now got the Superman Red/Blue figures which is like two waves ago! I need to find the Batman Beyond figure which IMO is very hard to find.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:35 am
“I love Mattel’s DC Classics line. I love this line so much I want to take it back behind the middle school and get it pregnant.”
Way to fulfill so many of the sterotypes of the stunted development, socially inept fanboy. You really have no idea what an offensive statement that is, do you? Will your next post address something that “raped your childhood”?
Good God, Man, can we grow up a little bit here? I’m glad the blog posts list the authors so that I can know which ones to avoid from now on.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Corey, that War Machine’s helmet doesn’t come off! He’s a repaint of the Ultimate Iron Man figure from a while back, and the head underneath is an unpainted Tony Stark! Leave it be!
December 30th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I did not even know there was a ML Ares BAF line. Hasbro could do this crazy thing called promotion.
December 30th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Sluggo & Joe – Corey’s opening line about DCUC is a quote from the hit television series “30 Rock”. Also, this post was about action figures, so let’s everyone just calm down.
Howard – The Ares line is a Wal-Mart exclusive wave, so that might be why you hadn’t heard as much (or anything) about it. At least now you’ll know where to look if you decide to hunt them down.
December 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Corey, that War Machine’s helmet doesn’t come off! He’s a repaint of the Ultimate Iron Man figure from a while back, and the head underneath is an unpainted Tony Stark! Leave it be!
Hunh. Then I’m really impressed with the level of detail they put into, because I can totally see his nostrils underneath the helmet. And the chin actually is painted on mine.
And I knew someone was going to get bent out of shape about that 30 Rock joke. Do either of you guys get offended by the jokes on Family Guy or South Park? Because this was a way less offensive joke.
December 30th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Gee, sorry for not being “hip” enough to get your 30 Rock “joke”. I’ve tried watching the show and found it insipid, rather than funny. Kind of like this blog post.
And, yes, I have laughed at most jokes on Family Guy, but sometimes they go too far, just like you did. And South Park hasn’t been funny for years. It’s tiresome how often they try to be shocking.
Corey, perhaps you should try, I don’t know, making up your own jokes?
December 31st, 2008 at 8:47 am
Chrishaley – Thanks. I don’t have any interest in them and avoid Wal-Mart like the plague, I just like to keep up with what’s happening.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:49 am
I thought your review was funny. I concur the Hasbro Marvel figures leave much to be desired, the paint application I see on most is ghastly. All in all Marvel figures are easy to find, but the all the DC figures from 3.75″ to 6″ are super hard to find. The Target, Toys R’ Us, Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart stores in the area rarely have anything in stock. If they do have figures, they are old, old waves as mentioned above. So frustrating. What’s Mattel got to say about it?
December 31st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
“The Target, Toys R’ Us, Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart stores in the area” = Portland, Oregon.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Mr. Sluggo: “Lighten up, Francis.” (That’s a “Stripes” reference). First, you chastise Corey for contributing to mulitple forms of stereotyping and indicate that you know to avoid him, THEN you return (after knowing to avoid him) and complain about him possibly slighting your “hipness”, 30 Rock, Family Guy, South Park, and whether or not his jokes are original. You might want to check your blood pressure, m’man.
Here, I’ll help: Do you, in fact, enjoy the DCU Classics line? What do you like that they’ve done so far? Who would you prefer to see in the future? What’s the best C+C they’d had? Let’s hear that.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Troy, I returned because I was curious. Sue me. And I only posted again in response to Corey, as I am posting now in response to you.
For the record, my point about avoiding him was in response to future articles written by him. Of course I’m returning to this one to see what kind of explanation might be given, that’s just natural.
By the way, check Joe’s first post. Obviously I’m not the only one to feel this way about the crappy joke.
Now, Stripes? That’s one funny damn movie.
Regarding DCU Classics, I’m awaiting the Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson Manhunter figure, but in general they all seem inferior to DC Direct to me.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:10 pm
By the way, this is the original joke from 30 Rock:
“Tracy: LIKE it? I love this cornbread so much I wanna take it back behind the middle school and get it pregnant.”
See? It was a joke about having sex with cornbread, not children.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Corey, I didn’t say your joke was about having sex with children. I just said it was in bad taste and unfunny. And knowing that it came from the mouth (but not necessarily the pen) of Tracy Morgan, everything makes a lot more sense.
Also, since I now know that you got the joke from 30 Rock, I can attribute its lack of taste and unfunniness to its association with a bad TV show and a bad comedian/actor. All you are now guilty of is questionable judgment in quoting from said TV show.
And possibly wanting to have sex with action figures.