Soapbox Sunday: DC’s Deserving – a Guest Post by Cliff Francis

It’s been some time since we’ve heard from Cliff Francis, Publisher Emeritus of Costume Contumely. It took the cancellation of Mattel’s Club Infinite Earths DC subscription to bring him back for this special guest edition of Soapbox Sunday. Read on, as Cliff employs the latest in computer technology to reveal how Mattel could have saved Club Infinite Earths. You can read more from Cliff at Costume Contumely as well as a couple of pieces Cliff has contributed here at AFP. Excelsior!

Crisis-for-Club-Infinite-Earths

MattyCollector’s Club Infinite Earths subscription has died, and with it, the entire existence of 6″ DC Universe Classics action figures has been wiped out as if swept away by a crackling, white Crisis wall.

I confess that I feel tremendous schadenfreude over this. Mattel ran this property into the ground from the very beginning and only managed to produce a measly 200-something figures over the span of six years. I have a personal theory that Mattel wanted this line to fail from the start, and was willing to lose money along the way in order to save money in the end by having the line die. But that’s not what this article is about.

This article is about the central problem with Mattel’s 6″ DC line. The fault that engineered the line’s downfall. The “reason for the treason,” if you will. So what is it?

Character selection. Pure and simple.

Continue reading “Soapbox Sunday: DC’s Deserving – a Guest Post by Cliff Francis”

Get Framed Superhero Movie Posters from Woot

Woot Superhero Movie Posters

If superhero movie posters are your thing, then Woot has a deal that may be right up your alley. Their limited time offer for framed movie posters has both classic and modern superhero movies. These are reproduction posters that will come housed in a well-crafted wooden frame with non-glare plexiglass. The posters measure 27 by 40 inches.

My favorites are the classics for Flash Gordon and Superman (the Christopher Reeves version), but they also have Avengers, Thor, and Captain America available, among others. This deal ends on Wednesday morning, so get yours today.

via Framed Superhero Movie Posters.

STGCC 2013: Play Imaginative Booth Pics

Because we can’t get enough of the Iron Babes, here’s another pic of them from Play Imaginative’s own booth pics. We’ve also swiped a few pics of toys, too. 🙂

Play Imaginative blasts into STGCC 2013!

STGCC fans were treated to a full preview of Play Imaginative’s upcoming Super Alloy Iron Man Collectible Figures!

STGCC 2013 Play Imaginative Iron babes

Over 100 display prototypes (in 1/4 and 1/12 scale) from Marvel’s Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 and The Avengers movies, unveiled at the Super Alloy by Play Imaginative booth H3.

Fans also got autographs from acclaimed comic artist Adi Granov, who has worked on illustrations in the Iron Man comics and movies. Flying in all the way from UK, this visit is a treat!

A highlight was the life-sized Iron Man Mark 42 figure sitting on a couch, and fans queued non-stop to chill with him!

Prototypes of 5 upcoming Super Alloy 1/6 Scale Collectible Figures from DC Comics’ The New 52 Justice League were also revealed. Fans got an up-close look at prototypes of The New 52 Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, The Flash and Cyborg, each standing at 12 inches (approx. 30 cm) tall.

Over at the Play Imaginative booth, a crazy wide range of newly arrived vinyl collectible figures released, from licenses such as Disney, DC Comics, SpongeBob SquarePants, Paul Frank, Happy Tree Friends, and TO-FU Oyako.
And The Devilrobots flew in from Japan to meet with fans!

via Play Imaginative blasts into STGCC 2013!

Continue reading “STGCC 2013: Play Imaginative Booth Pics”

STGCC 2013: Play Imaginative Super Alloy DC New 52 Justice League

STGCC 2013 Play Imaginative DC New 52 Justice League 1 STGCC 2013 Play Imaginative DC New 52 Justice League 2 STGCC 2013 Play Imaginative DC New 52 Justice League 3 STGCC 2013 Play Imaginative DC New 52 Justice League 4 STGCC 2013 Play Imaginative DC New 52 Justice League 5

While Jedd was at the Play Imaginative booth at STGCC, he also sent us pics of their Super Alloy DC New 52 Justice League 1/6 scale figures. I am pretty excited for this line, because there really hasn’t been much in the 1/6 scale for comic book figures on the DC side of things. Back when DC Direct (now DC Collectibles) had their 13-inch line going, I wasn’t that interested in the scale – but even in hindsight those were probably on the large side and not as exciting as these super-poseable figures.

The new addition for this show is the New 52 Batman – you could argue that the Jim Lee version is also New 52, but I guess Play Imaginative is taking a page out of the Hot Toys playbook in terms of re-releasing characters with updates. The new body is probably an improvement over the original in terms of articulation scheme, but I’m thinking the head is a little on the dull side. Batman joins Superman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, and Flash (not pictured) in the current Justice League line-up.

STGCC 2013: Preview Pics of Play Imaginative, Hot Toys, and Transformers by Jedd

STGCC 2013 Preview 1

Our good friend Jedd was at the Singapore Toy, Game, and Comic Convention for their preview day, and sent in these pictures. He writes in:

Today was preview day for STGCC and I managed to get some pictures. I have a couple of pictures of Play Imaginative’s Iron Man stuff, including the 6 inch scale Hammer drones. The Hot Toys Exclusives at the convention are: Joe Colton from GI JOE Retaliation, The Iron Man “Midas” Armour, Evil Superman from Superman III, and “Star-Spangled Man” Captain America. There’s also a Metroplex Transformer that is being brought in by The Falcon’s Hangar store.

Thanks a bunch, Jedd!

Continue reading “STGCC 2013: Preview Pics of Play Imaginative, Hot Toys, and Transformers by Jedd”

Scroll Up