Open Your Toys Cast

On a brighter note, there’s TOYS! Well except for, G.I. Joe. Yet again the only update is about the new Snake Eyes movie and even it’s pretty unsubstantial. However, we will finally have some toy news for Joe on the next show. So I was actually pretty excited about the exclusive Hoth Han and Leia 2-pack. I slept on it and know it looks to be sold out everywhere. It’s been a while since that happened. Yet another whole lotta nothing in the latest installment of Super7’s MOTU Q and A, but unfortunately there’s not much else for Masters. For Transformers, the US release of the War for Cybertron Seige figures probably tops the news. Haven’t seen them around here yet and haven’t watched any reviews, but I’m pretty excited.

Instead of cleverly trying to incorporate my favorite things from the show into some sort of defeated pun or wordplay (see the blog post), I’m just going talk about them. While I thought DOTM Devastator was an abomination when he was first revealed, he has really grown on me. For that reason, I’m actually pretty excited for a Studio Series version of him. If you’re a Filmation fan, then start rejoicing. There’s a hell of a pre-order right now, including “Ultimate” versions of He-Man and Skeletor on vintage cards. Speaking of vintage packaging, the Sail Barge packaging is both absolutely ridiculous and a thing of beauty. And of course, with the just one piece of news, the only thing to link to for Joe is a terse description of the Snake Eyes movie.

Can you believe it? No, really, can you believe it? I can’t. Mrs. McFavorite and I started this after being married just under two years. We have since celebrated our 10th anniversary, had a beautiful daughter, seen her take her first steps, speak her first words, and now she’s in 1st grade. I had just started my last position as employee 13 and saw the company grow to 130. I went from the only designer to leading a team of 6 designers. Mrs. McFavorite has worked for two of the largest financial institutions in the world. My collection has grown from a few shelves to almost 5,000 pieces, much to Mrs. McFavorite’s chagrin. You know what hasn’t changed in 10 years? This show baby!

To their credit Super7 is definitely living in the now. There’s not months and months of teases and in turn, complaining. We got Wave 2 and I’m loving them so far. Something that is a throwback, but just is absolutely blowing my mind is the new Grimlock statue. It does have some ties to the present because the ’86 movie was just played in over 500 theaters around the US and Canada, many that were sold out and that also just blows my mind. Similarly, something that is now, but the oldest school of all old school is the pretty amazing McQuarrie-inspired “The Star Wars” trailer. Lastly poor G.I. Joe had no news this week again. Can something be overshadowed if it has no presence at all?

The amazing next wave of Super7 Classics is almost here. I’m am super ( pun intended :) ) excited for these, more so than the Filmation wave. Something that was imminent when I did the show notes and arrived the day before we recorded, was the latest installment of FSS 7.0. While Crystal Ball does have a little bit of giraffeness, he’s still a cult classic and in my opinion, this only adds to it. I have been counting the days until the special one-day screening of the ’86 Transformers movie. If you hadn’t notice, time has been somewhat of a running theme. If you wanna keep track of yours, there is no better way than a vintage Star Wars calendar.

Something that was mildly divisive in the group, but I personally still love was the Cocks of the Universe. These customs/blind bags were shown/available at Power-Con and are definitely not for everyone. Something just as controversial, at least for our group, was the reveal of the new UCS/Master Builder Lego Star Wars Cloud City. New designs for a possible G.I. Joe mobile game also garnered some difference of opinion. Luckily we can all find some sort of common ground. Especially when it comes to these amazingly engineered custom Constructicon cassettes.

When it comes to my most favorite things at SDCC this year, Joe is easy considering there were only really three things. The 1/4 scale Pop Culture Shock Storm Shadow is what a statue should be. Star Wars is easy too. The return of Clone Wars is easily the standout, but especially for a collector like me, the confirmation of animated-style figures is the true dream. Transformers was a bit of a mixed bag. The confirmation of the G1 reissues is great, but not the line-up I would have picked. The Cyberverse stuff is just crap. While I dig the WFC line, the price and size are killing me. The one shining exception is the gorgeous RID homaging Magnus. MOTU had some great reveals as well. However, it’s not the confirmation of Snake Mountain that was my favorite. I’ve always been a Mantenna fan, I especially always liked his Filmation character, as goofy as it was. So his Club Grayskull version is definitely the star of the show for me. Until next year.

I think a lot of people have misconceptions about how great a toy G1 Transformers were. With Walmarts reissues coming, I think they’ll be getting a wake-up call about how amazing modern Transformers are. There are huge expectations when it comes to Hasbro’s Sail Barge. Their newest update doesn’t disappoint. Super7 seems to be doing a lot of things right lately. This includes offering their most popular and now sold out SDCC exclusive for pre-order to non-attendees. Unfortunately, those pre-orders are now closed. Joe even has a bit news in this week of weeks for news. There are new posters available for pre-order. They’re cool propaganda ones to boot unfortunately, they’re “sky” based.

Convention exclusives used to motivate me, however this year the closest it gets is Laughing Adam from Super7. As amazing as it is, that’s a little sad. Masterpiece figures used to motivate me. Unfortunately, we’re over 40 deep and all the new ones are either repaints, Movieverse or Beastwars. New Star Wars movies used to motivate me. Now, that we get one every year, I’m just not that excited anymore. Jedi Temple Archive readers seem to feel the same way. It seems like no one is really motivated by G.I. Joe anymore except for me. Between the JoeCon exclusives and all the new announcements, I’m more motivated to collect Joe than any of the other lines right now.

Companies are finally learning from their experience. Hasbro Toy Shop has finally listed their SDCC exclusives months in advance of the on-sale date that they also specified. Only took them 15 years to figure that out. Hasbro/Takara also seem to be learning from their past. The new MP Optimus Prime looks amazing. How many versions of it to you foresee buying? Super7 is a quick a learner as well. They have been fine-tuning their MOTU messaging through their He-Man.org Q and A. Unfortunately, to a point where they’re pretty much useless. A company that has never learned their lesson is FunPub. There’s not even a link on their site, but they have delayed their first FSS 7 shipment supposedly due to US Customs. Yet, they are delaying it for almost two months. JoeCon ran just as unsmoothly as usual as well. Considering this is their last year, I guess they’ll never learn.

So many things to ensure that you’re not oblivious to. First, The Toys That Made Us is killing it. Their TF episode wasn’t perfect, but it was great. Something that has never been perfect, but I haven’t hated is the Joe movieverse. Looks like it will continue. MOTU had some great reveals of its own in the form of a couple new Mega Construx sets. EE has those and quite a bit of other MOTU items I was oblivious to. Finally, Lando is someone that was never a focus of mine, but his Skiff Guard disguise is something I couldn’t ignore. Okay, that was a stretch.

Something I have never stopped looking for is the perfect version of Leia as Boushh. Is it weird I thought she was sexier as a bad-ass bounty rather than a submissive swimsuit model? This Legends-scale thing in Transformers seems to be neverending. However, I’ll never ask anyone to stop making Magnus figures. Something that is stopping is this FSS thing. I love Joe, I mean really love Joe, but how many of these characters do we need modern/$35 versions of? The Master’s movie seems unstoppable, even if some of us wish it would.

Something I didn’t waste any time or money on was the Solo toy drop that happened with barely a whisper from the community. If you’re hunting, Yakface.com did waste some time making a checklist just for you. For some, stop-motion animation may feel like a complete waste of time, especially considering it takes on average an hour to film one second. I really love it and I’m excited that a Joe stop-motion film festival is debuting in my hometown. Hopefully, something that is not a waste of time and money is Super7 being back in China doing QC reviews of the Power-Con Filmation exclusives. Our first taste wasn’t great. With these coming in just under $200 (with tax, shipping and handling) for three figures, they had better be on point. Looks like Takara wasted an opportunity with their Encore God Fire. This $270 abomination is being recalled due to some serious QC issues. Sorry for the longer than usual diatribe this time around, let’s not waste any more of your time.

I guess there is always another day, unless your Toys”R”Us. Their last day is coming. We talk about what that means and what the first day of the liquidation looked like. IDW’s Transformers run is also coming to an end. It’s a conclusion to an era and I’m excited for the next incarnation. Another thing that is approaching its last day is G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club. You can now purchase their last incentive figure. Something that looks like it has many days to come is HasLab. Their flagship product has been back by over 5,000 people. The Star Wars 3.75 community came together and crowdfunded a 2.5 million dollar project. Another thing that continues to have its day is Power-Con. This small but passionate convention consistently brings it and this year is no different. 3 Filmation exclusives are coming our way. They definitely have the power.

I actually appreciate obsession. I feel it can be healthy if taken with a grain of salt. Kind of like this Hasbro Abominus. It looks amazing, but that’s probably not the truth. It’s most likely going to be very mediocre. If your Star Wars EU obsession hasn’t been satisfied, now you can buy Darth Revan by the case. With Super7 not really pushing the envelope, or even maintaining the quality of MOTUC, Masters fans may find their new obsession in these upcoming Mondo figs. Finally, it’s an interesting paradigm when one boxset has figures you are completely obsessed with and figures you could completely care less about. Great job G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club.

Negativity really seems to rear its ugly head when there are new reveals. Our community seems to thrive on love and hate. Either loving to love or loving to hate. Something I really love is the new Black Series Gamorrean Guard. What I am kinda hating right now is the proliferation of stylized collectibles. Funko, Loyal Subjects, and now What Not Toys with their new Joe line capitalize on this need to express fandom. However, I do love that we’re getting more of these little stylized Masters guys. Something I’m saving my hate for is Hasbro’s new Cyberverse cartoon and corresponding figures. I’m sure I’ll find something positive about them.

Are we talking about Toy Fair this show? No, not yet, we’re still a couple weeks behind, but that’s okay. However, we still have some amazing news this time around. I’m absolutely loving this year’s JoeCon set. While Marauders aren’t my thing, the club is absolutely killing it. Hasbro is also killing Star Wars, literally. They are killing the line with all of their superfluous crap. Is the Masters movie dead again? Not necessarily, but David Goyer is definitely out. Something I can’t wait to come out is MMC’s Bruticus. If this Vortex is any kind of precedent, MMC’s Bruticus will kill it.

The G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club has had an international platform for 25 years. Not that they’re using it to end hunger or anything, but I for one will miss them. They released their last JoeCon brochure and I was ecstatic about Python Patrol, but a little sad too. The creators of the new She-Ra cartoon are using their social media platforms to spread some news about the upcoming Netflix show. The Star Wars team at Hasbro has another chance with The Vintage Collection and this is the best Wave 1 they could come up with? I was really hoping we would have a Transformers story about Hasbro hitting it out of the park to counter my previous link, but alas it’s all 3rd party. At least this TLK Hound upgrade kit is an example of using someone else’s platform.

What’s next for you? If you’re a Joe fan, the Nok Stinger from the club will be the first official vehicle hitting since last year’s Joecon and it a beaut. The next TRU Masterpiece figure is in their system and we’re not talking Ironhide, well we might be, but not the Ironhide you think. I don’t know if this is our next oversized MOTUC toy, but one of my all-time favorites was number 1 on He-Man.org’s crazy multi-round poll thing. You can’t very well have Hordak without his Mantisaur, right? Our friends over at Jedi Temple Archives always seem to know what’s coming next for the big SW. Check out this casual hint to look back on some older posts.

I do know I love little guys, I know I love Duocons. So these little guys are a no-brainer. Seems like most people know Hasbro is really killing it with their Legends line. From some of the cheapest toys out there to one of the most expensive. We know, for now at least, everytime the UCS Falcon goes up, it’s going to continue to sell out. That’s just crazy knowing it’s $799 price tag. No new toy news for MOTU or Joe, but at least there’s something for each. Nothing to really know yet, but She-Ra is going to have a little anime flava to her and Joe is going to be rebooted in 2020.