Hasbro's Black Widow...Harder Than A Golden Snitch To Find.

Why Hasbro...why would you do this.

Your designers worked hard to make a awesome figure and a cool bonus figure and your marketing department worked really hard to sell them. Yet you let your distribution department totally undo all this hard work, and quite frankly, create just a little bit of animosity from your customer base.

Marvel Legends Infinite Series: Captain America the Winter Soldier Line, Wave 1-2. A Cool group of figures, even a Hydra and a AIM foot soldier to "army build" if you want. The "build a figure", or BAF as they are known in the collector community, is a very cool S.H.I.E.L.D. Mandroid figure. For those that don't know, Mandroids are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in battle suits using Stark Tech. Think bulkier less powerful versions of Warmachine.

The Figure Itself is cool. They re-used some parts of a previous BAF (War-Monger from an Iron-Man wave). My beef with this wave is the Black Widow figure.

Nothing to do with the figure itself, it looks fantastic from what I can tell. And there in lies the problem. In the two or three months this figure has been out (give or take), despite extensive and exhaustive searches I have yet to find one of these figures retail. And I am not the only one. Many in the collecting community have been bemoaning the scarcity of this figure. Some say that "well female figures are always had to find." to which I would reply, (pardon my language) bullshit. 

That may have been the case twenty or thirty years ago with "boy toy" lines, and the outdated argument that "boy don't want to play with girl figures." I have two sons, and when they were still playing with toys they didn't really care; a superhero is a superhero. But seeing as these company's don't cater to just kids as much as adult collectors these days that argument holds even less weight. In the last few decades since, I think collectors have shown we like the female figures as much as the male. And if by chance you still have some company executive with this line of thinking working for you, well...time to pass him his "golden parachute" and move into the 21st century. At this point they are only doing more harm that good. 

From what I can figure out is the figure in question is "short packed" to one per case. Now as a rule, I am not a perfectionist (out of thy package I say!!) or completest when I collect

Arms...arms everywhere.

figures. I buy what I like and that is it. If I like the BAF in a wave, I will buy figures I don't necessarily want to complete the BAF. And I understand that this process of short packing can create what figure collectors call a "chase" figure. something rare that you have to hunt around for. Which can be fun as long as "hard to find" doesn't become "impossible to find".

But the whole point of the "Build-A-Figure" in a action figure line is to get consumers to buy the whole line. DO NOT include the main piece of your BAF in a figure you plan to short pack. The fact that I liked the Black Widow figure and the Mandroid just pissed me off with this wave. And at the same time you had variant figures packed with the arms (Red Skull/Hydra Trooper & Baron Zemo/AIM Trooper), so now you have collectors everywhere with an over abundance of extra arms.

If I were a hard core perfectionist collector, or at the very least not so stubborn and pig headed, I could find this figure online somewhere if necessary. but a couple of things, a). is it really necessary? No with a little better planing Hasbro could have avoided this whole mess. b). It has now become a point of pride to try and track one down in the shops, and c). I just refuse to pay some of the insane mark up prices for this figure on the secondary market. Not that I haven't in the past, I have no problem picking stuff up online. Even stuff a little over priced, but its a mater of honour and principal now.

On a secondary note, my understanding is that she doesn't come with any guns (any you see in posed pictures are added) even though they include an extra set of hands sculpted to hold them. Yet another bad and somewhat odd decision from Hasbro. Why bother with the extra hands at all if no guns.

So all they have really accomplished with this figure is to piss off a lot of fans and hard core collectors. I know I will be very leery about picking up any BAF sets from Marvel Legends in the future unless I know for a fact I will be able to find them all... preferably retail. 

In the mean time...some beauty shots!

*Firearms not included

 

We have two agents MIA. Someone get Director Fury on the horn.

To Whom It May Concern at Lego...

Lego...I think you really, really, really need to make this happen. And I mean really.
I saw this online and my head just about exploded. This is the coolest idea I have seen in awhile for Lego. the whole Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon "retro science fiction" idea is great, with more cool opportunities for awesome play sets than you can shake a ray gun at.

You know what, on second thought, don't worry about it. I have no desire whatsoever for a second mortgage on my house thank you.

Coolest Idea You Will See This Week!

Saw this, and just had to share. Keeps track of your keys and your charger cord. This is the coolest and most clever idea I have ever seen.

Who You Gonna Call...

This just looks so cool.

"Ghostbusters" Ecto1 and the boys. Word is these are early production pictures of a soon to be released Lego kit. In response to fan requests. This will be the second time Lego has done this.

They released this "Back to the Future" Delorian last year, which I picked up of course. Can't wait to get this one as well!

Yes, Yes It Was...

Every single thing on here I have great memory's of. From Captain Kangaroo to The A-Team. Good times....good times. Although I never did get a Stretch Armstrong.

One More Thing On My Wall

I had seen this a few days ago at a local comic book shop. I knew right away I would need to have one, but restrained myself. Not sure why I did, because I was kicking myself as soon as I left the store and for the last few days. I ended up making a special trip down there today to pick it up. I couldn't be happier
.
This replica of the comm panels on the U.S.S. Enterprise (TOS) is one of the coolest things I have picked up in quite some time. It is a motion sensitive "door chime" that you can mount beside any door you want. It is available at ThinkGeek, and here is what they have to say about it...

Product Specifications

• Motion-sensitive door chime for fans of Star Trek

• Modeled after the communicator panels on The Original Series

• Mount it next to your door (on whatever side you choose)

• When someone crosses the threshold, the chime will sound

• Two settings: Door opening sound or Red Alert sound

• Officially licensed Star Trek collectible

• Required Batteries: 3 AA Batteries

• Dimensions: 6 1/2" x 5 1/4" x 1"

It really is just fun, and looks really neat hanging by the door to my hobby room. That and when it comes down to it I am always a sucker for any old school Trek stuff.

Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo

Last weekend my wife and daughter along with my son and his girlfriend (although they went down on their own a day early and were doing their own thing most of the weekend) attended the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. What a great time.

We saw lots of cool stuff, like the Bat-mobile from the 60's TV show, and the DeLorean from Back To The Future. Had our pictures taken with some members of the 501st Legion who where there fundraising. We saw all kinds of cool comics and collectibles at the many vendors. Bought a few cool t-shirts and ate some overpriced food. My Daughter was happy as she got to see a few of her favorite actors including Mr. Adam Baldwin (she is a huge "Firefly" fan), and I got some time to myself to cruise the artists area.

Saturday was a little bit out of control because attendance was way more than they had anticipated. It go so bad that the Fire Marshal stopped letting people in which really sucked for some, because staff where telling some people to go outside and around the building to bypass the congestion. It really, really sucked for the husband of a woman in line behind us whose husband was trapped outside because he was trying to get to the photo op for the entire cast of Star Trek: TNG (Cost of photo op ticket: $495 ). Even after explaining this to the people outside, they would not let him back in.

According to the organizers of the event, it wasn't that they oversold tickets just bad timing as much of the congestion was around the ST:TNG events.  And I have to agree. I mean, I am a huge Star Trek fan, but even I took one look at the craziness around all the ST:TNG cast and thought to myself, "There is no way, as much as I would love to get an autograph from Sir Patrick Stewart or Johnathan Frakes, that I am wading into that mess." And the lines they had for some of their guests were woefully too short like Wil Wheaton (his line was quite short. I don't think they took into account his new found  popularity thanks to "The Big Bang Theory"), as was the autograph line for James & Oliver Phelps, aka: Fred & George Weasley (never underestimate the insanity of Harry Potter fans).

Luckily the promoters did their best to honour tickets from Saturday on Sunday as much as they could and you can still get refunds on their website till the end of May. At the end of it all, I think they handled the overflow as well as can  be expected. Even with all the congestion and the standing forever and long days our family had fun. and we even found the time to visit our daughter who lives in Calgary. Best of all, I had a chance to meet and get a picture with Mr. Stan Lee. All in all a fantastic weekend and we can't wait till next year. Excelsior!

Retro Cool

When I was a kid, some of the coolest toys you could have (and almost everyone who was a kid in the seventy's did have at least one), were Mego's Action Heroes. They were just the best and for the most part they were pretty durable and had a super high degree of "playability". That and because of the nature of product licencing back in the 70's they had the licence for just about every and any thing cool. From super-heroes to sci-fi, Mego made it. All in that same awesome 8" scale. A couple of years ago Diamond Select began releasing Retro Star Trek figures based on the original molds from Mego, and they were a huge hit.





So big in fact, that after they had released all the original figures that Mego had produced, they started releasing figures that Mego had never got around to in the same style as the original ones. Of course, being the huge geek that I am, I picked up as many of these as possible, and they were fantastic. A great trip down memory lane, without having to pay an arm and a leg on ebay!


The latest to jump on this bandwagon is Mattel, with their Mego-inspired "Retro Action DC Super Heroes". I have picked up a couple of these, and have for the most part, been pleasantly surprised. Even the packaging is reminiscent of the old Mego style of packaging. They are quite faithful to the original Mego figures, while fixing some of their short-comings. The Boots are much better than the thin molded plastic ones the originals had, the hero's "symbol" is of a higher quality (the old Mego figures were just a sticker, that would come off if you were not careful) and there has been some re-designing in the body. Mattel also seems to be releasing them in "pairs". One hero, and a matching villain, which is kind of cool. The only complaint that I have, and it is a minor one at that, is that it seamed to me that Mattel underestimated the popularity of these figures, as the first wave of them (including Superman) was almost impossible to find in the stores. Hopefully they will re-release these ones at a later date. Still there are lots of online shops that you can find the first line where the prices haven't been marked up yet.



So all I have to say about this trend is...cheers! It is so cool to see these toys, or copy's of them at least, back on the toy shelves. Cool enough for collectors to want and still a awesome toy for a kid that is into super-heroes to play with and make some of their own memories. And isn't that what toys are for.

Mattel vs Johnny Lightning - "Star Trek"

Well, I finally found one of the new Star Trek "die-cast" ships. *heavy sigh*. What the hell was the marketing dept. at Paramount thinking. Really....really, really.First off, calling them die-cast...well that is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. The one I found is the Enterprise from the first three movies, so that is what I am basing my comparison on. The only part that is metal is the secondary hull...primary hull and nacelles are plastic. kind of like saying I'm a cyborg because I have a couple of metal earrings. That and the detail leaves a lot to be desired. Add to that there seemed to be a bit of a cost increase (but I can't be sure about that because the only place I have found one is a specialty collector store...). You know, I was just saying that a few days ago..."Gee, I wish I could find some more starship models like the Star Trek line Johnny Lightning made...but not as well detailed...or cool...and harder to find...oh, and I want to pay more." Ya...that's what I want.

Here is a comparison of the two ships by Hotwheels and Johnny Lightning.

My other beef with this line is that I assumed that by going with a larger company like Mattel, you would think that the toys would be a little more available. You know, as in "be able to find in a regular store like Wal-mart or Toys'R'Us". But such is not the case...when will I learn not to make assumptions. Even when they make so much common sense. So I say again...what the hell! I guess it's back to collecting the line by Furuta. Is there anything that the Japanese make that isn't cool.

Where Have All The Good Toys Gone?

Remember when you could play with toys. I mean actually, really play with them. Think way, way, way back to when you were a kid. Ya!...that's what I am talking about.

Don't get me wrong, some of the toys that are being produced are really cool and beautifully sculpted. They look fantastic on display. But that isn't what they were created for. Take for example the Star Wars line. Are the new figures better than the ones produced back in the 70's and 80's? Well, they are far better looking than the original ones, but as for play-ability...not so much. They can hardly stand up on their own and almost fall apart if moved around to much (had the head of a Mara Jade figure pop off...easy to pop back on, but very uncool!). The original line was far more robust. Kids could actually play with them....stuff them in their pockets and take off.

With the lure of big bucks from collectors, allot of the toy companies seem to have forgotten the real reason for toys. As a father of two boys (although the oldest has passed the age of playing with toys and my other son is fast approaching it...lol) there are only a handful of toy lines that have came out over the last few years that looked cool, well designed and had very high play-ability. Two that come to mind are the Sigma 6 line (very cool looking and could take a pounding by kids), and the Xevoz line (yet again, very cool, awesome play-ability, and the fact that you could swap out parts from any figure and create your own...fantastic!!). unfortunately, both lines ended long before their time. I do have high hopes for the new lines of 3 3/4 figures from Marvel and DC, as they both seem to look good and have a high degree of "survivability".

I'm not saying that there is no place for some of the statue like toys being produced, there most certainly is. but the company's need to remember who they really should be making these toys for. Close your eyes for a minute and think back to what made you into a toy collector in the first place. Go on...I'll wait. Done....good. Was it the fond memory's of the cool toys you had as a kid. Hours spent having Superman and Spiderman save Han Solo and Luke from Skeletor? Now think about the toys that your kids (if you have them!) have to play with. Will they be as nostalgic as we are about our old toys? I doubt it....and if they have no fond memories of cool toys to build on, there will be no "next generation" of collectors out there.