It's Nightmare Night...

and this year I'm staying home... cause I have candy to eat. Also, I have some stuff to do related to the House of Rants... Not sure if I'll watch a movie, play a game or review a toy... or a WTF Item like this...

 Yes, Ladies and Gentlmen, that is an Official Duck Dynasty Role Play Beard. I have nothing against the DD Folks, but this is just ridiculous. I mean, I can understand having Duck dynasty Action Figures... Yes, they exist. Now Role Playing Items, well, I feel a bit uncomfortable about that. Seriously, it's just a fake beard!! WTF!? (Then again, I  KNOW a guy who bought a Hannah Montana wig so he could pull off a decent Hannah impression for Karaoke... The Impression was awful, the Karaoke was mediocre and his moves would have made Miley Blush... with embarrassment...) I must not make any reference to possible "adult" uses this thing may have... I'm talking about robbing convenience stores... Get your mind out of the gutter!! In all fairness, the beard is at least related to the show than something as crazy like say: Duck Dynasty Earbuds... Not saying that they have been made yet, but I'm using this example to transition to the next WTF Item I saw recently at Wal*Mart... Well, being at Wal*Mart explains WHY I saw weird things... Cause Wal*Mart. I was told that they had Twilicorn cheaper than other places... *cough*TRU*Cough* so...

I ventured to the barren Wasteland known as Wal*Mart.
Empty shelves as far as the eye could see... employees, those are a thing of myth and legend, or they're ninjas...
The Toy section was empty... the only Pony Merch they had were these MLP Earbuds... Sadly all the boxes had been tampered with. thus those Pinkie Pie Earbuds stayed at the store... Now, Pinkie Pie Earbuds may seem my kind of thing, but WHY Pinkie Pie earbuds? I could understand Mane 6 Earbuds... that would be awesome! Nope! It seems that they only have Pinkie Ear Buds... Having Pinkie Pie so close to my ears does not seem like a smart idea...

Then again, WHY Earbuds? Of all the things that they could have as MLP Merchandise, Earbuds? What's next Pinkie Pie Underoos? (they should totally make those for male adults...)  Let me back away from the Underoos topic.


In any case, Wal*Mart was mostly devoid of toys that appealed to me... Tons of Bieber and One Direction Dolls. Monster High were semi-stocked. Seems like Scalp-Or had gone through it. Only the messed up boxes were left behind. The Max Steel stuff seems to be gathering dust, but man! those pegs are nice and toasty!!

On a more Positive news, I got a ton of candy... which I'll have to eat... Most of the trick-or-treaters have moved from the area and have been replaced by people who don't celebrate Halloween, cause of the devil or something. That translates into more candy for me... and me getting less Candy next year...

In any case, remember to inspect the candy, don't eat unsealed stuff or candy that has been tampered with. check out whoever gives out religious pamphlets or floss and don't bother them next year. Also, candy is awesome in moderation.

For shame Mile, for shame...

OK, THIS is a new low for Miley Cyrus... Partying with Lindsay Lohan... No, it's not ajoke at Lohan's expense. I mean Ms. Lohan has had a few stints on rehab. If she has troubles with substance abuse, the last place she needs to be is PRECISELY where these substances are easily acquired. Seriously, who stays till after 5 AM at a club without getting hammered? Also, wasn't Lindsay hellbent about staying clean and being responsible? On the other hand, we have Miley chain-smoking, drinking, etc.

Now this is why no one takes Miley Seriously. She wants to be seen as an adult yet, she's acting irresponsibly. Underage drinking, dancing on tables, etc. Also, if Lindsay Lohan joins your party, then you cool it with the alcohol and stuff with her. But what do I know I do not have the experience of rubbing my ass on Beetlejuice's less talented brother...

The Jonas Brothers officially called it quits... Wait, they're still relevant? I thought they faded into obscurity after their Disney show was canned. Also, didn't one of them start a solo career a while back? Then again the only reason I'm mentioning them is because they appeared on one episode of Hannah Montana.

I wish my Matty order would just arrive... Can't wait to review Mantenna...

Retro Gaming: Is it purely Nostalgia?

I'll be honest. I don't play current gen games that often. I'm more drawn back to older Gens... Mostly from NES to PS2... Now, I'm not sure if it's Nostalgia or if it's something else.
I guess the FPS craze that is going around with current gen games like Halo, Battlefield, Call of Duty, etc. has turned me off from current gen gaming. I know the Arkham games are good, but I haven't had the Bat-Disposition to sit and play them... The Last of Us, Uncharted, hell even the New Tomb Raider that everyone raves about hasn't attracted me enough to get the game and play it. I'm being drawn back to older gens... I think the two current Gen games I revisit every now and then are:


and



I know these games are old, but I just keep coming back to them. In RDR's case, I like the world better than GTA IV's Liberty City... I still need to play GTA V... But there's a couple of games I need to tackle before it. Now, part of the appeal to me of RDR's world I think it stems back from my love of JRPG games from the 16 and 32 bit era. Traveling the world map through various expanses of empty land while doing the occasional random battle... I feel more "at home" than on IV's Liberty City... (I can get just fine in III's Liberty City) Then again, I love to pop in the GTA games to drive around aimlessly... just to cure boredom.
MGS 4 is mostly not cause of the story that I revisit it, but just to mess with the enemy soldiers... (a nice pastime in older MGS games as well)

Then again, I still pop in the SNES to play Super Mario World... This freaked me out and it's actually true!!

Why go back to SMW? I mean there's Mario 64, Sunshine, NSMB, etc... but I go back to this one (and All-stars to play SMB 3)
Of course that with JRPGs I love to visit IV,V,VI,VII,Tactics,VIII,X,X,XII and games without Final or Fantasy in the title... Wish I had Suikoden II to revisit...


is still my most played Fighting game... We can be on ULTRA IV, but I still return to SUPER II...

WHY IS THIS?

I guess we can chalk it up to Nostalgia being the main reason. I can say that many of these did not need a 2 hour unskippable in-game tutorial, but that is for everything on the 8 and 16-bit era.

Oh! I think I got the reason: CHEAT DEVICES!! current Gen games do not have Cheat Devices... Now don't get me wrong. It's not that I NEED Cheat devices, but sometimes they can spice up the gameplay. Or help you reduce time on future replays... All power-ups being spreadshot in CONTRA, or having the Level 7 card from the start in MGS... Nononononono, Level 99 and infinite money for everyone in Final Fantasy VI cause screw you grinding!! Or simply make Battletoads a beatable 2 player game... Instead modern games give you achievements for the stupidest of things.

Yay Modern Gaming!!

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not some elitist game snob/hipster with the belief that Retro Gaming is so much better than modern gaming. I just tend to gravitate towards the older stuff...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

And no I'm not talking about the song...

I'm just referencing the fact that since mid-September most stores have dispatched the Halloween stuff and the Christmas stuff has begun to creep. Now that we're 3 days from Halloween, Christmas Decorations are beating the crap out of Halloween stuff. Seriously,  I saw a Jack-O-Lantern AND a Christmas tree no less than 2 feet apart. (The employees were moving the Halloween stuff to the Clearance section but the items WERE NOT on Clearance...) They're setting up Christmas stuff way too early. I mean, I don't mind it when Christmas stuff shows near Thanksgiving... but this year, Christmas has been creeping up since September... That's messed up... Unless you're Filipino... Cause then this is normal for you... I thought that Puerto Rico had a really LONG Christmas Season (Black Friday till January 20-something), but The Philippines kicked our asses in Christmas Holiday length  The window for me to check Halloween stuff for Materials and pieces for Dioramas was REALLY TINY this year... Then again, I'll have a Micro-Christmas with the October Matty stuff... when it arrives!!

Scarlett Johansson is not amused... Cause she was in one
of the crappy ones...

At Least TV has kept the October scary stuff... CRAP ON A STICK!! They're showing a bunch of Christmas stuff too! I'm not talking of simply reruns of tv series with their Christmas episode being accidentally slotted in. Christmas movies, the reruns, etc. The only movies I've not seen are the Home Alone movies, well, the good ones... you know the ones, with Macaulay Culkin... You know, the ones that DO NOT SUCK!!
But seriously, abcFamily LOVES to show Home Alone around Christmas time... surprised they haven't yet...



I love Christmas, it's been my favorite Holiday since forever. There's something in the air that makes it Magical, but right now, it's the HALLOWEEN SEASON!! I need my scary stuff and an excuse to volunteer to help trick-or-treating groups cause...

Sadly, this year has made Halloween so insignificant that it hasn't happened yet, but people are acting as if it already passed. Now with Christmas being shoved so Early I'm afraid that we may encounter THIS before Christmas...

I know I'm in a hurry to get Glimmer, but this is borderline ridiculous!! I'll leave you with an oldie but a goodie!

Odds and ends Oct 27, 2013

EXTERMINATE!! your bare feet at night... A LIFE SIZED Dalek made out of LEGO Bricks!!
Man, THAT's a LOT of devotion... It looks cool, but I can almost hear the bricks yelling EXTERMINATE if one happens to fall out of place... You know you WILL find it with your bare feet.

This is real sad. A while back I talked about the Death of Arcades... and today I saw this:
The City of Glendale, California (or Californyuh! like Jimmy from the Wizard used to say) has a cache of arcade cabinets gathering dust and can't do anything about it due to bureocracy...

I miss the days when this was doable (minus the cosplay) and it almost brings a tear to my eyes knowing that all these games could be "fed" with our quarters are gathering dust in a government warehouse... cause RED TAPE!!



Why am I posting a video of Charmed's Opening? Guess what former WB show is very likely to get a Reboot on CBS... I'll give you a hint: It sounds like armed, but with some Cha Cha Cha...
And people are not happy. By people I mean Tony Danza's TV daughter on Who's the Boss and that chick from Ready to Rumble... I think she was on Scream...

Yup! she was on Scream.

I'll be honest, her complaints make sense... I mean the show ended less than 10 years ago... Remaking Who's the Boss? makes more sense since that show ended over 20 years ago.

Smaller Playsets that could work in MOTUC

Grayskull is coming and I'm skipping it... (Logistics) but all signs seem to point that it'll be THE ONLY Playset we'll get. No Snake Mtn. No Frightzone, no Starship Eternia, no Nordor, etc.

But there's a few "Playsets" that Mattel COULD get away with or at least as Diorama Pieces.

Slime Pit:
The Evil Horde's secret weapon for Universal Domination... If you look at it it's slightly Taller than a normal mailer... I'd say about as tall as the length of a 2 pack mailer (when assembled, theoretically speaking) Maybe half a normal Mailer Deep and in theory it SHOULD be cheaper than Castle Grayskull to make. It's pretty much 2 Sheets of plastic turned into the back and floor (not sure if they are Thermo-molded or injection molded...)
and 3 extra pieces for the claw and Dino head. Any extras like sculpted slime drippings in Glow in the Dark plastic are welcome but not Mandatory. In theory this should be inexpensive to make. Not only it's an evil playset that Many want, but Mattel could make it quite easily in comparison to Snake Mountain, who'd require a lot more resources and the Horsemen's time... Personally I wouldn't be surprised if the Horsemen already have figured out how to make one... Or have sculpted one just for kicks and to kill some time.




Whispering Woods:

This will be the only Princess of Power Representative here. Mostly because none of the Crystal Castles could be made justice in a smaller scale (Though a Light Hope chamber diorama could work)
but The Whispering Woods seems small enough to work.
Do you remember the Kenner Endor Playset, or it's reuse as Sherwood forest? Well, something along those lines.  Maybe it should come with pieces to make2-4 Trees,(either 4 Medium Trees about 1.5 figures tall or 2 Trees taller than Tytus... the big blue Trees with the candy cane pattern on their bark/) a pair of shrubs. (Maybe with a "secret compartment" for Loo-Kee), a clear stand that plugs on the trees for Kowl.  Then you could "Army build" and make a bigger forest. If Mattel plays it smart enough, they could make "Whispering Woods Stands" to further expand the concept. Toss in some Twiggets (who'd very likely end up as nearly statue figurines) to the mix and watch the POP fans eat it up!

Eternos Palace Courtyard: 
Yes, I did mention how you could make one in the Baking Goods Stores can give you Diorama Pieces  Rant but a custom made item will never be an official one. We have an Eternos Palace King Randor, so getting the Eternos Palace in MOTU seems like a priority... (After Snake Mountain, Fright Zone, and all the other Playsets that had a toy previously, which include the NA and POP Playsets) Since the King and Queen cannot set their butts on the thrones, the Throne Room is out of the question. Not to mention that half of everything that happens on Eternos tends to happen at the courtyard.

I know this list is small, but there isn't THAT many small playsets that they could do. Out of these, the only one I see that MAY have a Glimmer of Hope is the Slime Pit... Mattel wastes resources on stupid-ass stands that don't work that could be better used for actual dioramas... err... playsets...

ML is dying and here's the list of figures I wish they had made: (but ain't gonna happen)

Marvel Legends is dying and most likely going through a rebranding.
We got a Jim Lee Jean, but no Jubilee from that era... D'oh! And BTW this list starts with Jim Lee Jubilee.
OK, so Jubilee:
She's a walking fireworks display (voiced by Claire Redfield's VA) who was Kitty Pryde's replacement. the 90s look is pretty much her iconic look: Pink Shirt short jeans, Yellow raincoat, blue boots...
Then again, we can blame this for the Wanting a Jubilee figure:


Firestar:

Hey! I have her in Marvel Universe!! And yes I want the Yellow Firestar as seen in Spider-Man and His Amazing Spider-Friends... Not the 90s Maximum Carnage Look...

Cause the Maximum Carnage stuff goes on another section of the list.

Maximum Carnage 2-pack:

OK, so we've had a few Carnages, one upcoming in the Spidey 2 wave, but zilch on shriek or Doppelganger... Which are the two Maximum Carnage badguys that we need...

Clone Saga Kaine: 
What? We have Spider-Ben... It's fair that the Brother of Dark (that is not Spider-Cide)gets made... Heck, Kaine made a comeback recently... So celebrating his earlier appearance isn't that crazy... this list is so 90s...

Power Pack:

Cause why the heck not? I mean, it's not like I've been mentioning the Power Pack since the infancy of this blog... Looking back, part of me wanted that to happen... and I wanted a set of PP kids so Franklin wouldn't be all alone... Seriously, the only PP representative in ML is Franklin Richards.

Spider-Girl:

Back to the 90s loose ends, but Spider-girl was the best thing out of the Clone Saga...

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility 2 pack:

This would be the most controversial set I'll mention: Uncle Ben and The Burglar... The two people that Molded Peter Parker's life into what he became before that Douchenozzle Quesada ruined it.

Shuma-Gorath:

Yeah, this is to complete the MARVEL SUPERHEROES! roster and to give Doctor Strange a villain... No Dormammu or Baron Mordo in ML, well Shuma Gorath would be perfect, not to mention that it screams BAF!!

That's pretty much it... Then again there's the "civilian versions" of multiple characters, but variants bad... mmkay! Or a corrected Morbius without the soft rubber face, Cloak & Dagger, Big Wheel, Aunt May, a Fixed Scarlet Witch,  Dazzler (disco suit), a 90s Rogue that didn't fall down and hit all the branches of the UGLY TREE, a First appearance X-Men set (with Snowy Iceman), Alistair Smythe, Lady Ock, Hammerhead... The list can go on and on...
Yes most of my wants tend to gravitate towards Spidey, I've noticed.

Canon vs Playability

Yup! I'm on another Toy Rant... You can blame this commercial for it.


So, I'm not THAT well versed in Spongebob lore, but Plankton wants to steal the Krabby Patties to rip-off the formula, right? THEN WHY IN THE HELL would Spongebob use Krabby Patties as missiles to stop Plankton!? I know Spongebob is an idiot, but it makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!! What are the Toy people thinking!?
The same thing could be applied to these guys:

It's even funnier since Season 2 has them trying to recover a bunch of Ooze Canisters that were accidentally dropped by the Turtles throughout NYC in an aerial battle against the Kraang. Meanwhile the Toy TMNT are flinging the Mutagen Ooze at everything and everyone... How does THAT maek any sense. At least in the vintage line the Flush-O-Matic made sense since it was a Villain weapon similar to the Evil Horde's Slime Pit.

Then again, Batman: the Brave and the Bold poked fun at this ridiculous notion.


Now, don't get me wrong, I UNDERSTAND that some zany variants are used to sell toys, but things like a NEON Pink and Green Batman make no sense since he's the "Dark Knight" Neon Green and Pink does not equal dark... It's things like the Ooze flinging Turtles that grind my gears... Or Spider-man with a car... No, scratch that FISHERMAN Spidey grinds my gears.
Why?
Peter Parker/Spider-Man is FREAKING POOR!! He has to sell selfies to get money. If he has to do that just to pay the bills, how can he afford a sports car or going to fishing trips... Mr. "I have a guilt trip for being selfish now I must slave myself to aid a city that hates my guts" can simply say: screw that I'm going on a fishing trip! It makes no freaking sense!!

It's not that I HATE variants, it's just the pointless variants or the ones that ignore completely the canon cause "Screw the Rules, we're a toy company" kind of variants.  Now that I think of it the Original TMNT Blimp doesn't make that much sense... Then again, Playmates went crazy with Turtle Variants like Racially insensitive Bandito Michelangelo, Star Trek Turtles, Astronaut Raphael, Cavewoman April, etc.

If Peter Parker is barely scraping by each month to pay the bills, then how the heck can he afford a sports car, or worse a Helicopter. If Pinkie Pie lives on the attic of the Bakery she works at, then how can she have TWO sports cars or a TRAIN!? Although it doesn't make that much sense, Applejack with a Truck seems plausible. She works on a farm and all that. The fuel issue is what bugs me, but suspension of disbelief and all that... (Probably runs on moonshine and cooking oil) Just make awesome toys that actually FIT the Character's universe. I get the Friendship express... Not why it's property of Pinkie Pie. I can get the Krusty Krab with a Spatula catapult... that kind of absurdity could happen in the show. The Spatula flinging Krabby Patties at Plankton? I must disagree. Oh no sir! I must say you're wrong... Why am I quoting Goodbye Horses?
I wouldn't mind if the Foot Clan or the Kraang were the ones with the Ooze flinging Technology, because they want to make a mutant army to destroy those who call themselves the Turtles who will be the ones to be called destroyed. Now the Turltes flinging Ooze is just wrong... It's almost as bad as giving Batman a Machine gun... Or putting He-Man in Pants...

Titanic II: with movie and everything...

Insanely eccentric Australian guy that is trying to tempt fate with Titanic II (Which I've rambled about here,here, and here) is also working on getting a Titanic II Movie filmed on the actual Titanic II and he hopes to kick the crap out of James Cameron's Titanic...

Seriously, this scares me... The guy is betting too much on this disaster waiting to happen.
The appeal of the Titanic Movie... the one with DiCaprio is due to the Disaster... In order for Titanic II work, we NEED the Iceberg. So, Disaster resulting in many casualties = Successful movie, but huge loss of life.
Otherwise we get this:


or this:


Oh wait! They already made a Titanic II


This is effed up! The whole appeal of the Titanic is the DOOMED MAIDEN VOYAGE... even the crappy Titanic II movie that makes Piranhaconda or Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators like good movies knows this...




So, dear crazy rich Australian, PLEASE STOP!! While tempting fate is one thing, now trying to cash in on the most ridiculous way possible is one whole different league. Let the abomination known as Titanic II have it's maiden voyage in peace; THEN from that we can get ideas for a movie. Forcing the making of a movie BEFORE it even got the maiden voyage is beyond ridiculous!

The Little Guys... of MOTU

So, in the next few weeks (if Matty/digital River didn't mess up my shipping info) I'll be getting the 4th Weapons pack (5th if we count the Rack as a Weapons pack) with more Cartoon Kowl... We already got Orko and Cringer... Madame Razz, Gwildor and Depowered Marzo do not count here since they would have to be larger and more articulated. By Little guys I mean Orko or Kowl sized folks... That are NOT The Energy Zoids... (Rotar and Twistoid)

Well here's a list of my TOP Wants in the Little guys Department: (in no particular Order)

Odiphus:

Basically Stinkor pre-Stinkor... The precedent of Keldor, Kronis, Captain Glenn, Young Dekker, Young Duncan, etc. is the main reason for asking for Odiphus... From a Sculpting point of view, he COULD be Classicized using the Kowl buck. (Had the Horsemen been allowed to make a more articulated Kowl body, then we could have swapped pieces to get an even MORE Accurate Odiphus. As you can see a picture from the MOTUC Kowl and the Odiphus staction, their bodies are similar... We can chalk up some differences to the Classicizer Machine explanation. Then again, Stinkor WAS a Repainted Merman, so a Kowl repaint with a new head for Odiphus isn't THAT far-fetched...

Dree-Elle, Montork and the Oracle:

Yes, I mentioned three characters in one spot, due to the reuse of the ORKO buck... We've been waiting for these guys since Orko was released... OK, it was when the Filmation rights were announced that the possibility of getting them felt more real. I'm going to tackle each one individually in order to describe what I'd do to make them POP and be slightly more different than Orko...

The Oracle: Same buck as Orko, including the arms and hands. The Paint can take care of the golden trim that Oracle has on his sleeves. The new pieces are: The Long parts of his tunic and hooded head. Maybe as an extra accessory a Pimping Medallion...

That way by Mixing and Matching with the vintage styled Orko, I can have a 200X Orko.
It's a Win-Win for MOTUC fans because we get a new character AND we can tweak an older figure if we desire.
Dree-Elle is a toughie... Well that is if you want a Dree-Elle with breasts... Yes, she HAS breasts...

They are mostly unnoticeable, but in some instances the outline can be seen on the cartoon.
Honestly, I don't mind if they reuse the normal Orko buck with a new head. Perhaps different hands for her would make her POP...
But if the Horsemen feel like doing a female Trollan buck, I would not complain about it.

Montork is a piece of cake. New Head with the Glasses and a New Neckpiece with the beard. He's so easy that I would have made a custom out of him if I had a second Orko.

Next on our List is none other than Loo-Kee: the Judgmental Squirrel

 

Well, we saw the Mattel Prototype, so we should believe that He is coming and will judge us, since he's a Judgmental Squirrel. Seriously, he hides around and when you find him, he's going to be preaching down values and morals on you... Cause that's what he does best!

No wonder kids rarely bothered to find him...

All jokes aside, Loo-Kee IS an important character. Not only he was on every Episode of She-Ra: Princess of Power, he was the one delivering the morals of the Episode... and as much as I may be poking fun at the whole Morals thing here, I respect and I'm thankful for the show having them. It's just that the Morals with  Loo-Kee didn't work as well as having the actual characters discussing what they learned.

This one is all new tooling. The Horsemen already sculpted him... Wonder if it was just for fun in their free time like they did the Battle Ram...

So Speaking of Princess of Power Small People, I know I'm forgetting one... The Big one... and no it's not Filmation Kowl, which I'd totally want, but the OTHER Princess or Power Small guy... No, it's not Red-Eye either... Who I'd also want cause it's an EVIL KOWL... Let me make it clear, the character I'm speaking of DOES NOT USE the KOWL BUCK!!

This beautiful piece of art was made by Chris Faccone

I'm talking about the Evil Horde's very own IMP!!

Yes, we have the little Red Horde Gargoyle/Hordak Hybrid thing, but that's simply NOT IMP!!

Then again, the Cardback of the Vintage Hordak toy calls that little Red Horde Gargoyle/Hordak Hybrid thing a "Bat Shield". So we do not have Imp! He would be very awesome to have in classics. I mean, him and Entrapta complete the Filmation Horde... (Not counting the one-shot people like Darkney, Admiral Scurvy, the Horde Inspector, Colonel Blast, or MODOK... I mean Dylamug.)

I'd Mention the Robots form New Adventures U.R. and Gleep, but I'm afraid NA isn't as popular.
The Twiggets are not on this list cause Dammit! I demand fully Articulated Twiggets!!

Odds and ends 10/21/2013

Apparently, the Real one was $5Million Cheaper... and is lacking the BIOLOGICAL part of BIOnic...

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!! Stupid Yahoo! Taking My Hopes up then shooting them down...
Uh, wait a second... This is a Robot...

Am I the only one who sees how this can be perverted into a weapon that could end us all? Not to be an alarmist or anything, but this + Teh Iron Suit will not give us


Sure Right now the robot is harmless... Few updates here and there a few versions with sleeker design there. Equipping it with the armor in order to protect soldiers lives... BOOM! Welcome Robotic Overlords! Asimov's 3 Laws do not work on a Military Robot...

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

It's not Can We Do It? but Should We Do It?

The Day of the Doctor is coming... 11/23/2013 Here's the trailer for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary

(on an unrelated note, the Day of the Doctor is also the day of the Ponies...)

Topaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnngaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! How could you!? Now Shawn too!?  In any case Congratulations!! Now I need some Girl Meets World info, cause... wait... Will Friedle is NOT going to be in Girl Meets World? I'd make a joke but Will Friedle has become Plays with Squirrels...

Action Figure Woes: Rarity... Good or Evil?

Hello everyBODY and welcome to another Action Figure Woes. Where I rant about things that can be considered negative in the world of Action figures. Today's topic is Rarity...

I had to get it out of my system...

There are certain figures that can be harder to find: chase variants, "Limited Edition first runs", Subscription exclusives, etc. It's part of the collecting world. The question is: Is this GOOD or is this BAD?

A Rare Hunter.

PERSONALLY I think that it's a necessary evil. What I detest more than rare figures is: The "Rare Hunters"... Those who only collect an item because of Rarity... The kind of folks that complain if a figure is reissued, then their figure loses value... Newsflash! MODERN Action Figures are not priceless commodities... Neither are Comic Books... the only ones worth something are usually from 50 years ago... I do not know which "Rare Hunter" is worse: The "Investor" or The "Gloater"... He has a bit more love for the toys, but LOVES to rub his rarest items on everyone's faces. You know this one... The one who LOVES to display their DCUC Gleeks (emphasis on the s as in More than 1 Gleek) and any other con-only item unavailable anywhere else except resellers who'd logically mark up these items.

Remember when King Grayskull (back in 10) got a repaint and was released in the normal MOTUC Line? Well the "Rare Hunters" bitched and moaned about the decreased value and rarity of their King Grayskull 1.0, which I find Ridiculous since there ARE Differences between King Grayskull 1.0 and "Santa King Grayskull"

KG 1.0:
-Non-removable head and armor/Cape.
-Bracers are a Dull Gray
-Cape is brown with a cream colored fur trim.
-Comes in Special Grayskull Box

Santa KG:
-Red Cape with White Trim that is flocked.
-Removable head and armor/Cape
-Silver Bracers
-Comes with fading Power Sword and 2 Halves of the Power Sword
-Blue Marble of Power
-Standard MOTUC card

Yeah... People can confuse these two versions that are VERY DIFFERENT...

These are the same people that would complain if MATTEL were to do a "Horde Corsair" Sea Hawk, a Shadow Weaver Variant, or a (Ridiculous) variant Wun-Dar. 

Yes, I DID manage to get a Shadow Weaver, but I still believe that making THE MOST wanted Filmation Figure as an exclusive, is a dick move.

A Shadow Weaver Variant DOES NOT Diminish the Original in any way. Sadly, the "Rare Hunters" want none of that... Because it "ruins" the Rarity of their Weavers. Now, they can BARELY accept
a Light Spinner as a Shadow Weaver variant... The moment you mention a "Two-in-One" Light Spinner that can be made into a sort of Shadow Weaver, they begin to complain... Then they begin to puff and huff about their subscriptions being the lifeblood of the line and all that... and they drop the "Decreasing Rarity" as part of their rants. Again, a Light Spinner that turns into Shadow Weaver DOES NOT DECREASE THE RARITY OF THE FIRST WEAVER!! 

To my right is a picture of the MOTUC Shadow Weaver. Her color is mainly Prince Adam's Vest Maroon. with very pale green hands.

If the theoretical Light Spinner Variant is made in pinks and reds, how would it affect the already made Weaver? It doesn't. It just gives more people a chance to get A Shadow Weaver... that turns into Light Spinner.

Another good reason for Mattel to do this is Mold reuse.
The Spinner-2-Weaver would reuse many of the Shadow Weaver buck.
the new pieces would be:
-Light Spinner Head
- plain Crotch Piece
-Belts (One for Light Spinner, one for Shadow Weaver... I'd have both done in a golden color to differentiate the previous Weaver with Red Horde Insignia to the Spinner-2-Weaver's gold Horde Insignia)
-New Shoulder pieces for the arms to be interchangeable.
-New Weaver Cape
-New "Batros inspired" Biceps for Weaver-mode. (They'd reuse the old Weaver forearms to complete the cape)
-New Light Spinner Forearms

That is if we're going for a super accurate Spinner-2-Weaver figure. If we were to make some compromises in the Spinner form then we'd reuse the entire Weaver body.
-New Crotch Piece

-New Belts
-New Light Spinner Head
-Interchangeable versions of the Shadow Weaver hands... Green Apple for Weaver (as seen on the pic with the sword of protection) and Causcasian Flesh for Light Spinner...
This one is more Mattel-esque, but it would cause more people to scream bloody murder.

for accessory in both suggestions would be a Castaspella spell blast in black, because of her Shadow magic Powers. The wand and book should be exclusives to the original Weaver.

We have a precedent of Figures before they were X... Like Skeletor who has both Keldor and Demo-Man as figures, Dekker comes with a young Dekker head, Duncan comes with a "Younger" Duncan head... Most importantly, Trap Jaw comes with enough pieces to make BOTH Trap Jaw and Kronis.
Hell, Marlena is a 2-in-1 deal! Cringer is what made her more expensive... Besides the Spinner-2-Weaver IS pretty much what her gimmick should have been if she was a POP toy in the 80s.
Tie her hair on a ponytail and hide her behind her evil hood and cape. This allows more people to have A Shadow Weaver on their displays WITHOUT having THE Shadow Weaver. The same way I have A Queen Marlena on display, but I do not have THE QUEEN MARLENA Figure... I have a CAPTAIN MARLENA GLENN Figure... But in this case Both figures have the SAME EXACT THINGS. The only real difference is in the packaging... The Normal Weaver vs the 2-in-1 Spinner-2-Weaver would be that the "weaver" mode is just a poor substitute to the Normal Weaver... So there is your Rarity, Rare Hunters!!

In the case of MOTUC, it's cool that subscribers get some perks, but the Artificial Rarity that Mattel is using to entice people into subscribing CAN bring the wrong sort of collectors: The Rare Hunters...
While I DID sub-up for 2014... (Because of Dat Glimmer), I DO feel bad about Mattel's "Two-Bad is a second Sub-Exclusive" thing. I still see this as a Punishment for those who can't subscribe. I'm not saying Reissue everyone... I'm just saying, don't make the more important characters a Rarity because it will  bite us in the ass... Think about it this way: There are LESS SEA HAWK Figures than NEPTHU Figures... Let that sink in... Mattel in their infinite wisdom had LESS SEA HAWK FIGURES MADE THAN NEPTHU FIGURES... Sea Hawk the Second Most wanted filmation "Member" of the Great Rebellion is rarer than a D-List Filmation MOTU Villain... So, instead of making the obscure character more desirable... Like Mattel did with Strobo (The Zodak head and the Traveling Con Status helped a lot) they did a Shadow Weaver and made Sea Hawk more rare.

While a Variant of Sea Hawk COULD be made since he has 2 looks on Filmation, I see it highly unlikely...

Notice the Snout Spout-esque boots that Mr. Hawk is wearing. This is before his "Anchor's Aloft" Look, which is the Sea Hawk that Subscribers are getting... (dodging Nepthu outweighs the lack of Sea Hawk for me.)
This Sea Hawk would be pretty much a Boot and Left hand Swap... with a different sword. Not much to write home about.
While cool, It's harder to make as worthwhile as a Shadow Weaver Variant.
The Last Remaining Exclusive that COULD have a variant is Wun-Dar. Before beople start wagging their fingers at me and complaining: Hear me out!
Remember the Faker Rant? The one where I thought to use some 200X Variants to make Faker Cooler? Well, With Wun-Dar, I'm suggesting the EXACT SAME THING!! Not to mention a second chance at a head that doesn't look like a Repainted He-Man head...
Seriously, a Wolf Armor Wun-Dar, Martial Arts Wun-Dar or a Jungle Attack Wun-Dar would be pretty cool. Also, the Non-Brunette He-Man head would be most appreciated.

These suggested variants allow people to have the Character, while preserving the "Rarity" of the Original release. And, you know what? A Wun-dar variant is almost pushing it... He's an obscure myth that may or may not be a hoax from the 80s. He is the perfect candidate to the "Rarity Club" Vikor, Vykron, Demo-Man also fit this bill... Two-Bad? Nope, not really...

Then again, if toylines didn't cater so much to the "rare hunters". Yes there are resellers who benefit from the rarity of some figures... (I've bought from them a few times, so I should know.)
The Artificial Rarity of characters like Two-Bad only benefits resellers and "Rare Hunters".

The Toyline's original mission of "reaching out to be in collector's shelves" seems almost like a dream with this Artificial Rarity that Mattel is using.

Artificial Rarity is worse than Normal Rarity

But what happens when that Artificial Rarity HITS Subscribers... No, I'm not talking about the Fisto-Weavergate of 2012, where Subscribers were left without Fistos AND Shadow Weavers.
I'm talking about the Horde Troopers selling out under 10 minutes. Sure, Subscribers got their guaranteed set by the sub... any Extras, well if they took more than 10 minutes to access Mattycollector (which was glitching out BTW) then they are Poop out of Luck! Mattel underproduced these guys, period. They have some reasons to do so (Palace Guards still available, the BIG Lots! extra figures dump, etc.), but they grossly underestimated the demand for the Troopers. While there were a couple available, this is THE ARMY BUILDER Set... The one where everyone was going to go for broke... A Decent Horde Army should always Outnumber Palace Guards + Snakemen combined. say, if you have 2 Packs of Guards and 1 pack of Snakemen, then your Horde army should have 4-6 packs of Horde Troopers as the minimum of troopers for it to look good. Unlike the palace guards, whose display options are limited to the amount of variations in the human heads (4) the Horde Troopers are completely faceless. The Storm Troopers of MOTU, if you will. People's plans of massive army building were pretty much everywhere! Sadly, Mattel won't go into a second run with these guys... Seriously, If these guys were evergreen, more consumers would buy them.

Again in what UNIVERSE it makes more sense to have more HYDRONs than TWO-BADs... Don't get me wrong, I like NA and I think Hydron is a cool figure, but think about it... The Artificial Rarity is driving a wedge between collectors: The Haves vs the Have Nots. The only ones benefiting are not collectors. The real reason why Companies LOVE to Cater towards the "Rare Hunters" and Resellers is:

Click here to find out...

← That guy knows the answer...

Rather Obvious, but let's face it: We expect this of them. We also expect the "Rare Hunters" to throw insane amounts of money at any Insane idea from companies as long as it's rare. Once the Rarity is gone, they'll try to flip the item.

That bugs me... There was no interest in the item at all, just the Rarity... You can't collect Rarity... OK you can if you're collecting MLP, but you know what I mean.

Everyone can collect however they want, but the collectors I truly respect are those who collect out of LOVE of the franchise. Resellers are a necessary evil. One that I have used to obtain Items that I could not get the normal ways.

Rarity collectors, I do not like them... The investors tend to be scalpers or hoarders waiting to scalp. The Gloaters, well I despise those the most!!

Creating a false hype by manipulating the Market and making figures an Artificial Rarity can, will and has driven customers away... 

I hope that Mattel reconsiders the Horde Trooper reissue or a non-sub new SKU on an Alternate set of troopers, cause the fandom/customer base wants MORE Horde Troopers... Unlike Sub Exclusives and past figures that did not get reissues of (the Teelas, fistos, robotos, etc) the Horde Troopers are PERFECT Candidates for the Evergreen Status...

Lou Scheimer has passed away...

October 17, 2013: Lou Scheimer passed away. October 19, 2013 was Lou's Birthday...

so, who was Lou Scheimer?

Pretty much this: Filmation = Lou Scheimer...
Which means, a HUGE CHUNK of My Childhood memories exist thanks to him: Including things before my time that I was able to see thanks to the magic of Syndication...




and Obviously, the BIG TWO:



While Filmation is often criticized for abusing shortcuts/cutting corners, reusing the heck out of stock animation and shots; they DID keep everything in the US... Also, MOST of the morals weren't as preachy as the PSAs in other cartoons.


The thing is that I never knew Lou Scheimer personally, but his death struck me like a close friend had died. It actually hurts inside. This is coming from a fan of his work particularly He-Man and She-Ra...
His work was not simply entertainment, but he tried to educate the audience as well, with morals like the fables of the past. The values that the Filmation team instilled in me complemented the values instilled by my family and made me a better human being. The world needs more people like Lou Scheimer.
If it hurts me THIS MUCH, (coming from a lowly fan of his work since childhood) I don't want to know how much it must hurt to those who were actually close to him.
What else can I say? Thanks for the memories and that my prayers and best wishes to his relatives.

BTW Light Hope was Lou Scheimer, as well as Mantenna, Swift Wind, Orko, Randor, Kowl and many others... This is what I mean when a huge chunk of my childhood memories exist thanks to him...



as they said in the Masters of the Universe movie... Good Journey, Lou!!

The Great SATAN of movies was attacked... News are Contradictory

Michael Bay was attacked during Bayformers 4 Filming.

the American version of the news  says:

two brothers surnamed Mak, aged 27 and 28, approached Bay on the set of the new "Transformers" film and — for reasons unknown at the time of the reporting — demanded a payment of HK$100,000 ($12,900). The elder Mak then allegedly attacked Bay and then three police officers who tried to intervene. Both brothers were taken into custody, along with a third man surnamed Chan, and the three cops were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.
Bay himself apparently suffered some minor injuries to the right side of his face but declined to seek treatment. Filming of the giant alien robots continued shortly after the incident.

Then Paramount says:

Contrary to several erroneous news reports made today, Bay did not get hurt in a fight on set. The production company did have a bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air conditioning unit as a weapon. The man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, rushed onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the air conditioning unit directly at Bay's head. The director ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident. The company's security team quickly stepped in and subdued the assault. The police, who also scuffled with the assailant and two of his companions, ultimately arrested the three men. No one on the cast or crew was injured and the production immediately resumed filming without further incident.

Meanwhile, our TARDIS  Blue British Comrades across the pond sing a different story:

It said that the men could have missed out on disturbance fees which the film crew paid to shop and business owners whose businesses were likely to be affected during filming.
The two men approached Mr Bay on the set during filming, a police spokeswoman told Reuters.
One of them demanded payment of HK$100,000 ($12,900; £8,030).
As the discussion continued, the man assaulted Mr Bay and also attacked three police officers who tried to intervene, police say.

What the Hell, man!? Paramount's version sounds so freaking racist, it's not funny. I think If I was a gambling man, I'd say that the BBC version sounds more plausible. The whole added thing in parenthesis makes the racism more noticeable... Also, Wielding an Air Conditioner as a Weapon?
Is this something straight out of some weird Martial Arts Movie?

It may seem heartless, but the troll in me is sad that Bay didn't get his ass kicked. The moral side of me would say that is wrong. Newsflash: It IS FREAKING WRONG!! Even if it is Michael Bay...
Now with that pseudo-disclaimer out of the way, I kinda want to see a movie of the Paramount version...



Cause this is way better Transformers movie than the overly expensive crappy movies that Michael Bay has made... Whose only good thing is that they have the REAL OPTIMUS PRIME voicing Optimus Prime...

Mattel is going to create new media?

Oh Mattel... What are you doing?  So they're working on their own team to make alternative media based on their toys...

Mattel has embraced a “push to play” approach for its storytelling, meaning what happens in a movie, web series or direct-to-homevideo title should encourage kids to want to play with the toys associated with the property and boost sales.

You mean, 22 Minute Toy Commercials?
I think Mattel has been doing that for as long as I've been alive...

Sure, doing stuff with Barbie, Max Steel, Hot Wheels, Monster High is all fine and dandy, but the people of the House of Rants (mostly me...) are asking one thing:

Where does this leave He-Man and She-Ra? Right now there is a mess with the rights on these two halves of the same property... Dreamworks now owns what once was Filmation's. Sony's got the Movie Rights... which if successful, they'll never let go... Just ask Marvel... They pretty much lost their Flagship character to Sony... No movies, no TV shows (though there are a FEW Cartoon Loopholes)

Also, this pretty much scares me:

Based out of the company’s headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., the new division — which essentially serves as an in-house studio — manages creative storytelling across all Mattel brands, including Barbie, Monster High,Max Steel, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its Hot Wheels franchises, overseeing everything from script development to storyboards to greenlighting theatrical productions.

The company will be Mattel’s way of taking creative control over how its top toy brands make the transition to other forms of entertainment, including films, TV shows, web series, direct-to-video titles, books, music, live events and videogames.

The bold parts scare me... Why? It's quite simple Actually:

 See that Grizzlor? That's the NU52 Grizzlor... Apparently, the designs come From Mattel... It's a well known fact how "Mattel Meddling" has done MORE DAMAGE to the Other Media (NU52, the 2002 MVCreations comics, the 1987 movie, etc.) than anything else... I do not need to go that far... just "Keep Reading the Bios" and you can see the issues with Mattel handling MOTU... Then again, Don Glut did say that most of the time he was phoning it in...

Mattel HAS NO CLUE on What to do with MOTU!! I fear that we end up with a "Kids saving the world from certain doom by using a MOTU themed Children's card game" or some BS like that instead of MOTU... Though a MOTU themed Card game would be interesting... Back on Mattel's cluelessness and MOTU. Well, they really don't KNOW what to do with it. The toyline that was supposed to streamline the mess of continuities in order to strengthen the brand has a horrible mess for a storyline. The Future cartoon will have plenty of "Mattel Meddling". Either by forcing the Current Official MOTU Canon (the incredibly flawed Neitlichverse) or by Mandatory Product Placement... (We saw plenty of this in 2002) This is why Mattel will fail. Their main focus is:

encourage kids to want to play with the toys associated with the property and boost sales.

Too much "Mattel Meddling" and the writing suffers. The writing suffers, the show is bad. Show is bad, network cancels it (either by low ratings, or Mattel pulls the plug because toys aren't flying off the shelves) Mattel can establish some parameters, but allowing the cartoon team enough freedom to create the universe. THAT is something that the Brothers from Rhode Island have done better than Mattel. (they've had their share of Boneheaded moves like axing Renegades while the Retaliation was delayed for a year.) I would have NOT invested the time and resources I have into My Little Pony, had the shown been as unappealing as G3... The clever writing, the Universe created was appealing enough for me to enjoy a show that I am MOST DEFINITELY NOT the Target Audience.

This is ACTUALLY AN EXCELLENT MOVE for Mattel, assuming they don't screw it up.

Odds and Ends Oct. 16 2013

Well, Matty messed up... Horde Troopers sold out in 10 minutes approximately. Mantenna went out a few minutes later. Nepthu... well he hasn't sold out and I hope he lasts longer than Hurricane Hordak... Just to prove a point. Also, there will be no second run of Horde Troopers... Seriously, Horde Troopers = Printing Money, but nooo... That's too much work!

Remember Rebecca Black and her infamous Friday Song? Do you Remember Nicole Westbrook and the horrible It's Thanksgiving song? No...

Well, Creepy Turkey-Man, Patrice Wilson strikes back... but with more bad lyrics and racism...

I felt REALLY Disturbed after watching this... Seriously, the pedo-level on this video is OVER 9000!!!
(sorry, I've been trying since Yesterday a way to use OVER 9000!!, but my point still stands)
With each passing video, Patrice Wilson is becoming far creepier in the way he interacts with these girls... Not to mention all the Asian "wrongs" that are on the video, which makes it racist due to cultural ignorance... and stereotype abuse BTW... OK, the video is awful. It would be SLIGHTLY LESS horrible if Mr. Wilson wasn't surrounding himself with all these little girls.

Nothing Strange here. Just an Adult dressed up as a Panda, playing Monopoly with a bunch of 12-year-old girls in a bedroom. Cause there's a grown man not related to any of the kids there at THEIR Sleep-Over... Not to mention how he's eyeing the girls behind him speaking about eating Chinese food...

I normally don't promote Kickstarters... but this one is really cool! Because it's not a Kickstarter... it's a KIRKstarter... for Star Trek Continues... A... Webseries... continuing to go... where no Shatner... has gone before! Seriously, If you love Star Trek and want this project to happen, donate some money...
I mean it's a lot better than giving it to a Tumblr media critic that makes video readings of Wikipedia articles on sexism...

nickelodeon was better then than now...

I've mentioned my love for Muppet Babies and how much I loved watching it on Nickelodeon. So... I've been watching some of nickelodeon's older programing after reading a depressing but historical article on Nickelodeon studios. It reminded me of the pre-dumbass cartoon and iCarly nickelodeon... when nickelodeon was cool... Except Doug... I hate Doug... So, nicktoons... they were cool, except Doug, so yes, I liked Rugrats and many may be shocked when I say this but I HATEHATEHATE!!!! Dil Pickles Especially knowing who is Dil's VA... The addition of Dil was to me the Shark-jumping moment of Rugrats... Incredibly enough, I prefer the All Grown Up Dil... But then again All Grown Up is the Jumping the Nuke-Fridged Shark moment of Rugrats.


Rocko's Modern Life... No idea how many adult jokes were hidden in that show. I vaguely remember it, but some of the weirder jokes stay with you...

but it's not the cartoons what I want to talk about... it's not:


or how I looked for the remote and turned on the NES when this came along:


I'm talking about the BEST thing from Old School Nickelodeon... THE GAME SHOWS!!!


Of course back then, single child, divorced parents, not living in continental US did put a huge barrier between me and Double Dare. Screaming at the TV when I knew the answer and dreading each physical challenge was awesome... I lived the dream vicariously through each contestant... Because I didn't know about the NES game... or how it DOES give you prizes at the end


but Videogames is a category where I'm somewhat competent... If there was some sort of show with videogames... I could fare better than shows that require athletic coordination and skills...

Wait... is that Joey Fatone?(It's pronounced Fa-Tone... I learned that the hard way with an NSYNC fan kicking my ass for saying his name wrong...)
I could have kicked all sorts of ass on this one... except when inside the video zone...

Speaking of shows that would totally kick my ass?

The answer is no, I do not have it... I do not have it in the VIDEOGAME VERSION either...

That game kicks my ass... Also a Backstreet Boy was on GUTS once...

But the best Nick Game show is... Drum roll please?


I'm going to say this: This show pumped me up enough to go out and kick an ancient temple's ass... Sadly, no ancient temples to raid for prizes, but it did a great job of making me go outside and play, right after the show. I remember back in middle school, some friends and myself turned the entire playground into a makeshift gameshow training center. Mostly Inspired by Double Dare! I sucked at it, but man, that was fun!

Shame that nickelodeon studios went down and we lost all of these shows... It's a shame that Game shows are a thing of the past and that I'm an Adult with Zero Chances of Entering the most awesome Adult Game Show Ever... that is not old fart gameshows like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy or the Price is Right... (now that there is no Bob Barker, there is no point of going to The Price Is Right)

OK there are a few Adult Game Shows... that are NOT in Japan... but you have to be a freaking ninja to compete in those...

MOAR Reveals... OK it's just one and Glimmer's bio!

I don't have a pic to post right now, BUT there is an extra reveal. The same way Snake Face's Shield, Extendar's shield, Spirit of Hordak's Crossbow, Clamp Champ's Clamp, Standor's Helmet, this reveal was an accessory hinting a character. This one was a Battleground Teela sword with a Pink Hilt...

Most Likely Candidate: Queen Angella.

Now Here's the Big One: Glimmer's Bio

Glimmer:
Real Name: Glimmer of the Royal House of Bright Moon

With the power to light the way, Glimmer uses her abilities against the darkness with her staff and headdress which glow in the dark. This brash, impulsive ever-cheery young lady is one of the deposed princesses of Etheria, a fact she never lets anyone forget. Her recklessness often causes problems, but she is a fun, young woman who can laugh through the direst of circumstances and pass on her good cheer to her comrades. She followed She-Ra along with several other members of the Great Rebellion to Eternia to join up wit the renegade Masters of the Universe and continue the noble fight against the Evil Horde. After She-Ra left Eternia to the stars, Glimmer returned to Etheria taking her rightful place helping to ???? the Kingdom of Bright Moon.

 Reading this Bio... has revealed 3-4 thing to me.

-Glimmer did not receive a stupid real name like Megan, or Candi...
-She did not die in the Second Ultimate Battleground.
-Angella Might have croaked.
-Her Headdress and Staff glow in the dark, canonically. Toywise? not sure.
-Glimmer is impulsive, reckless, fun, laughs through dire circumstances, spreads happiness...

Congratulations Glimmer: You are Pinkie Pie now...

Seriously, MOTUC Glimmer is Pinkie Pie...

Seriously, that description matches Pinkie Pie Perfectly!! Had they added the Toy-Based Curly head for Glimmer, then the Pinkie Pie Comparison would be far more obvious...

Copying Tony Stark? We might be going in the wrong direction here...

The US Military is working on its own Iron Man suit... Which is a REALLY BAD IDEA... Think about it...



Sure it LOOKS Cool, but it erodes the humanity of each soldier to the enemy. The less human the enemy becomes, the more savage, the acts of war become. then what's next? Machines?


Not to mention the huge amount of Money that would be spent on those suits. Just multiply what costs to make 1 suit times a few thousand...  That is a Logistical Nightmare!

Now Picture THAT with Iron Suits... against normal Law Enforcement. Since the suits will have on-board computers, that theoretically could be hacked, then we'd be screwed. An X amount of dollars custom made coffin for our soldiers if they are hackable. Cutting off the air supply, stopping the "bulletproofness" of it. Lowering or increasing the suit's temperature to unbearable levels.

It's a bit cool, but scary what we can do with Technology...

MOTUC NYCC Reveals:

I'm a bit late, alright!? So here's the list of reveals with my thoughts: Also, I'm going to do no rants on Columbus Day... so think of this one as my Columbus Day Rant... Except with less Spaniards.

Extendar: We knew he was coming. He was shown earlier... Wait if Mattel is going to have very few reviews, why is Extendar being shown earlier?
He can be stretched... You know that I rambled about Mattel's BS Excuses about Bodysuit bottoms becoming "skirts" but ending up looking like codpieces? Well, I'm pretty sure that MODULOK fans are going to cry BS about him not splitting at the Torso when Extendar can...
I'm surprised at the amount of new pieces he has... Seriously, the only things that look reused are his hands. Not going to rant on how Extendar can fully extend when Tallstar got screwed over... But he's slightly taller than a mailer when stretched... Measure your shelves and see if he fits...

He has a SPEAR... err... Lance!

This one is NOT a MOTUC Reveal, but it is MOTU... More Mini Figures: BA He-Man, BA Skeletor, Merman and Mossman... Cool, but not my cup of tea, sadly... Seriously? ANOTHER He-Man and Skeletor? Wanna know something? If you bought the first He-Man and Skeletor you're screwed... These guys are smaller... Looks like someone is pulling a Bandai here...

Brakk: Or Flogg depending on which side of the Atlantic you are... Is coming in July. Finally, the Mutants get their Evil Leader. All we need is New Adventures Skeletor as the Variant and we can get the core core core core core core core core core New Adventures characters. He seems to be made with Horde Trooper arms... clever move 4Horsemen... I expected Hsss Arms. New Thighs... Cool...
TRAP JAW BOOTS!?

But in a delicious twist, this NEW ADVENTURES CHARACTER comes with the FILMATION POWER SWORD...



This one is really short since We still have Standor-con... I mean Stan Lee's comikaze... and NY toyfair...

Also some asshat stole Horde Troopers from Mattel's display.


As an Added Bonus, here's my thoughts on some Extra stuff: Not MOTUC.
DCUC guys are getting the four announced figures and Kilowog sized Prisoner Doomsday.
That's cool! They get Ice to match up with Fire, DW Robin, Superboy and Hook-Hand Aquaman...

GB guys get something we should have gotten SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE FREAKING LINE!!
4 GBs Removable Proton Packs and PROTON STREAMS!! too little too late...

Thanks Toynewsi!!

I honestly did not know that this was going to be shown when I wrote the rant on Faker... It was purely coincidental!!

UPDATE:
New Adventures of He-Man is no longer a Sausagefest...

Now I'm happy that my choice won, but all 3 choices should be made in the line...

Matty's newest joke...

Skirtgate... How can I describe Mattel's answer to it? 

MOTUC Fans,
If you were at Power-Con, saw the video from our Mattypalooza panel, or read theNews story here, then you know we revealed some ridiculously awesome new figures, including Scorpia, Blade, and Glimmer.
When we got to Glimmer, some of you asked about her skirt and we promised to look into it. We did and here’s the deal…


First, the issue is that some of our newer female figures (Shakoti, Octavia, Glimmer) have wider and/or longer skirts compared with 2012’s Marlena or the paint master from the Four Horsemen for our 2014 Scorpia figure.

THEY ARE NOT SKIRTS... THEY ARE WEIRD FLAPS!!

Castaspella is the only one with a SKIRT on this pic.

Marlena
We spoke with design manager Ruben Martinez and toy designer Mario Aguirre and they explained Marlena was able to feature a bodysuit-style tunic because she doesn’t articulate at the waist. As Mario tells us, “Marlena has a full bodysuit and because this suit covers her entire torso, it has more rigidity, which helps the suit curve more closely to her body. To do this, it meant articulation of her abdomen and waist were sacrificed in the process.”

"To do this, it meant articulation of her abdomen and waist were sacrificed in the process."
Why can I twist her waist again?

Scorpia

Now in the case of Scorpia, what you’ve seen to date is the paint master provided to our design team by the Four Horsemen. A paint master is a hand-painted, hand-sculpted prototype figure that has zero articulation. From the paint master, the design team creates a figure that’s ready for production. Once the paint master is converted to an articulated plastic figure, features like how the tunic or skirt hangs naturally get modified, especially when articulation is added. We think you’d agree our design team does an amazing job staying true to the design of the paint masters, but it’s nearly impossible to machine-produce articulated figures with the same level of detail as an unarticulated prototype and stay at our current price point. So please keep in mind when you see a paint master that it’s a pre-production sculpt that will almost never look like a production piece.

 Again this is BULL... I'd say the BS levels are Lower than a Politician, but a bit higher than a Tumblr pop culture critic. Then again, they say a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

Yup! It's impossible to do... Not even the male figures can do it...

Glimmer
So what about Glimmer? Fan feedback told us that articulation was one of the most important features you wanted in our figures, so the choice was made to give her an articulated waist and forgo the tighter fitting bodysuit-style tunic. At this point, she’s ready to go into production so what we showed at Power-Con is how she’ll be manufactured.

I can understand that she has gone to production and nothing can be done, but the BS spouted here is incredible!! As shown in the picture above

Going Forward
Ruben and Mario have completed a thorough investigation and every alternative meant we’d have to sacrifice articulation to stay at our current pricing, which is just not an option. So, for the foreseeable future, female figures will continue to have more of a skirt than a fitted bodysuit.
The good news is that 2014 is going to be our best year to date for releases. Be right here the afternoon of Thursday October 11 and the morning of Friday October 11 for more reveals straight from New York Comic-Con!
–Matty

These guys had NO IDEA about this... and they completed a "Thorough" investigation... (I'm betting it was REALLY Thorough all the 15 minutes to write down that "news article". ) The fact that they simply claim it's impossible when, they HAVE ACTUALLY DONE IT ALREADY!!

OK, so I'll humor them and believe their story. If so, then why not say to the four horsemen:

Hey guys! this Glimmer is beautiful, but since it's impossible to us to make the actual body suit, can you make this front flap look a bit more skirt-like or tunic-like. How about making the flap look more like the flap on the Street Fighter Chick, Chun-Li!!

That would totally help the design team translate the design into better toys.

                                                     -The imaginary TG in this theoretical scenario


Sadly, neither the real Toyguru nor the People in Design have done this. I'm sure the fourhorsemen would have helped into making these toys as awesome as they can possibly be. Then again, Mattel simply does not care enough about their products... Unless they are Barbie or Hot Wheels/





I'm going to bring back something from 2010:

What can I say. These things happen. I could mention the hundreds of things we do catch and correct before going to production, or all the time we spent making small tweaks based on fan comments such as Skeletor's purple feet or trying to see if both Roboto's arms could be detached (which we didn't have time for but we really tried on!), but none of that changes that in the end a mistake was made.

If things like these is what they don't catch... I mean Skirtgate has been around ever since ADORA was released. It's not like it happened the other day... Seriously, Mattel makes me go

Especially since they are giving Codpieces to Women...

Any Similarity to MOTUC Females is purely coincidental.

The worst part is that there is a part of the customers that is asking us to NOT Complain out of fear that Mattel will not make Female Figures because of it. To me that is wrong. Simply because it would reward incompetence and give Mattel a free pass and perpetuate the erroneous notion that they are "doing us a huge favor by making these toys".