Early Access for 4/15 MattyCollector Sale Now Open

Update @ Noon PST: MOTUC Webstor is sold out, and WWE Christian is a no-show in Early Access.

MattyCollector Early Access 4-15

It’s 8AM, so Early Access to Mattel’s 4/15 sale is now open. Up for grabs, for however long the customer service stock lasts, are the Masters of the Universe Classics Mosquitor, Webstor, and the Snake Men 2-pack. I wonder if we’ll see a fast sell-out on the Snake Men from army builders who’ve realized just how great those figures are – but the higher $54 price tag might discourage it a bit. Also available to Early Access participants is the WWE Elite Christian Flashback figure. I wonder how much longer we’ll continue to see WWE figures on MattyCollector, because we still have some of the fan-voted figures still available from last year. Only Andre and Miss Elizabeth were quick sell-outs.

Come 4/15, Mattel will add the Masters of the Universe Classics Snake Face and the DC Universe Classics Larfleeze to the mix for the open sales date. I’ve been looking forward to Larfleeze for a while – he arrives on somewhat of a bittersweet note, as he had originally been announced as bring bound for retail shelves. That was before retailers support for DCUC waivered, resulting in the new All-Stars / Unlimited direction. But hey – Monsieur Mallah and the Brain ship to Club Infinite Earths subscribers this month! Hurray!

For your convenience, here’s the bundle page for the 4/15 MattyCollector sale. It opens up at 9AM PST on Monday. Happy shopping!

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Did Toys Ruin the Batman & Robin (1997) Movie?

Batman and Robin (1997)

Batman & Robin (1997), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Chris O’Donnell, nearly put the DC Comics Batman franchise into the ground for good. Joel Schumacher had just rolled off of the extremely successful Batman Forever (1995), but somehow managed to put together what’s arguably the worst Batman movie ever made. On IMDb, Batman & Robin is rated by users at 3.6 out of 10, by far the lowest of all the live action films by Tim Burton, Schumacher, Christopher Nolan, and even the Batman (1966) movie based on the campy TV series.

So what went wrong?

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Holy Mez-Itz, Batman! Mezco Announces 1960’s Batman Classic TV Show Line

Mezco Mez-Itz Batman Classic TV Series 1

Warner Bros. licensing is on a tear with the 1960’s Adam West / Burt Ward Batman TV show. At Toy Fair we saw an awesome 18-inch Adam West Batman from NECA and a series of 6-inch Batman figures from Mattel, and now Mezco is in the game with a Mez-Itz line based on the show. Mezco plans to take the line deep, including Batman’s Rogues Gallery from the show with the Penguin, the Joker, Catwoman, the Riddler, and even one of the Riddler’s thugs alongside the Dynamic Duo.

Shown here are the mini 2-inch versions, which allow for Batman and Robin to fit inside the Batmobile. I’m not sure if we’ll be seeing them in the larger 6-inch Mez-Itz scale.

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Border Patrol: Big Beasts Edition – Marvel Legends Griffin, DC Universe Classics Doomsday, and Transformers Predaking

This week in Border Patrol, it’s all about the big beasts!

Marvel Legends Griffin by glennwebman69 – this massive Avengers villain gets his due with this 8.5-inch tall custom – ends Apr 14, 2013 16:35:25 PDT

In AFP’s Border Patrol, we scour active eBay auctions for customized action figures that you won’t want to let slip by!

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Eight DC Direct Steals for Characters You Won’t See in DC Universe Classics

I have a bias for super-articulated figures, so for the DC Comics brand, I tend to favor Mattel’s DC Universe Classics line over similar offerings from DC Direct / DC Collectibles. But one thing I do concede – DCD dives a lot deeper into the comics world for their character selection. Here’s eight crazy deals on DCD figures that you will probably never see offered in the DC Universe Classics line. The first four are Prime, which means free 2-day shipping if you’re a member, or if you spend over $25 if you are not:

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