Back from SDCC!

Hi, boys and girls, I'm back from the happiest (weirdest, awesomest, geekiest, busiest) place on Earth. San Diego Comic Con (or as they call it now Comic Con International, or something like that).

I've met some great friends (like Reis from Hey! Look at my Toys!, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifFishMilkSakehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif from the AFB Forum and George from Toybreak), saw some incredible cosplays, bought some pretty cool comics, found outstanding artists and got angry at Mattel (like I always do) because they messed up (like they always do).

And I'll try to cover all of that in my blog, but we all know what you want to see. Actually, I don't know what you want to see, but I certainly do know what I want to show you: The toys I got!

Part I



From left to right: SCUD the disposable Assassin (Shocker Toys), Superboy in the cloning pod (Young Justice - Mattel), Glo-Mancer (Bootleg by the Super Sucklord), Ty-po custom dunny (by Ryan the wheelbarrow), Bat-Baby Sharky (ToyQube exclusive), Bearbrick Green Lantern's Lantern (for a friend), Outer Space Men Waves 1 & 2 (by the Four Horsemen), Super deformed Bender (Toynami), Blazing Sword Voltron (Mattel), Glyos (from Onell design, met Matt Doughty too, awesome guy!), Angle Man, Killer Frost, Amazo, Vixen (the one I have doesn't stand at all and doesn't have a peg hole in her foot) and Goldface (JLU - Mattel), Skull-Pumpking-Octopus (or "Zeke" sculpted by George Gaspar) and an Isz (came with SCUD - Shocker Toys).

Part II



Boba Fett with a Boombox (maybe, I made the name up, by Motorbot), Heatwave (JLU - Mattel), two Z.O.M.B.I.E.S. (October Toys), Allepin Sane (by Jermaine Rogers - I also got the signed print that came in one out of ten boxes, score!), Robot Smorking Labbit (signed by Frank Kozik), Killer Star (JLU - Mattel), Those tiny ones in the front are B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S. by Triclops Studios, another Labbit, Swamp thing (Mattel), Lion-O Spiki (Rotobox, the chase was Tygra, I didn't get it but I want it so baaaad), Ninja Agent P (blind box series from Phineas & Ferb), one of the Popaganda mini figures by Ron English, The Unmen (came with Swamp Thing - Mattel), Plastic Man (lead figurine by Eaglemoss), Daredevil (Super Hero Squad - Hasbro), Lucha Libre Agent P (same as before) and Professor Zoom (DC Direct exclusive - for a friend).

Part III



Mattel free wrestler guy (it was free, they gave one to my wife, I don't really know anything about it... Help?), Skin Deep Dunny by MAD (Kidrobot from the 2010 series), Black and white Mickey (Funko), Green Lantern Kilowog (deluxe lead figurine by Eaglemoss), Tuxedo Agent P and Boxers Agent P (Same as the same as before), Record Store Day Blind boxed guy from Frank Kozik (it was my least favorite design from the four guys, but Frank signed it and it's still kinda funny).

Well, mates that is all, my first SDCC, I saw a million things and I have missed two million more. My feet are killing me (and after the very long flight back home, my ass too), I spent a lot of money and I think I gained a couple of pounds because of all the junk food...

And all I can say about it is:

I can't wait to go back!

This is goodbye, for a few days

Well guys I'm off to San Diego. I'll try to post some pics of the things I see and the people I meet. I'm still not sure what Internet access will I have so, I don't know how much will I be able to post.

I'll also try to upload stuff on twitter, you can check it out @studiofreak

Take care and, as Colin would say it, play with toys and have fun.

Stay tuned!

I'm telegraphing today's post...

Why - QUESTION MARK -

Because it's about nostalgia - STOP - Because it brings me back memories from a distant past - STOP - Because it's about a figure I should have posted a long time ago - STOP - And basically because I have little time today - STOP

Today's figure - STOP STOP STOP (those are suspension points, I have no idea how to make those in Morse code, sorry) - She-Ra from the Masters of the Universe Classics line - STOP

And she's many figures in one - STOP

Let's look at several possible She-Ras -STOP / STOP (that's a colon, again, sorry)



With this head - STOP - Is the best toy representation of the character - STOP - Ever - STOP - The first She-Ra was quite ugly and the 200X was completely different from the rest of the line - STOP - I mean, she had hair - STOP - HAIR - EXCLAMATION MARK - The rest of the characters didn't - STOP -

I don't like doll hair on my toys - STOP - Makes them feel all girlie an stuff - STOP - Oh, I'll comb it, sure - STOP - But I won't be happy about it - STOP



With this head - STOP - The figure just looks stupid - STOP - With the shinny tiara - SLASH - mask she looks odd with the rest of the line - STOP - Other than that, is the same figure - STOP - Without the tiara comes the horror - DUN DUN DUN (that's for the dramatic effect, and no, it doesn't work in a non telegraphic post either...)



That's a fucking hole in her head - EXCLAMATION MARK - At least I could finally reenact South Park with MOTUC figures - STOP



As you may have guessed, the hole head goes right to the accessories box - STOP - Until the day I want to customize a zombie She-Ra - STOP - Hey, that may not be such a bad idea - STOP - Right - QUESTION MARK

By the way, in case you didn't noticed, I cheated, I used commas - STOP

And

... - .- -.-- / - ..- -. . -..

(That should say "Stay tuned" in Morse code, man, I hope that online translator was telling the truth)

When you are a collector, you can never dodge THAT bullet

The first time I saw the Pop Heroes line from Funko was on a pic on a screen and I thought that they were cute, but not cute enough to be an instant addition to the Compulsive Collector Shop List, you probably have one too.

Mine is color coded and I have it online, you can arrange it by price, size, company, line, availability, fun factor and type of material used to make the figure. I mean, just like yours, right?

Ahem...

The fact is, Funko's line didn't grab my attention in online pictures. And I thought to myself "Wow! I dodged that bullet".

But seeing them in person is different, a couple of days ago I was visiting my local scalper...

(That's right, we don't have Toys R' Us in Argentina, we have friends who buy toys to sell and bring them to the country in very large boxes, usually to pay for their own toys and not to make a profit, maybe I should write a book called "My Scalper and me", what do you think?)

Anyway, I went to his place to get some stuff he had for me and then I saw a couple of Pop Heroes on his shelf... And by a couple, I mean the whole damn line! My Scalper has problems too.

And no, I tried, but as a collector, you can never dodge that bullet.



I got Batman and Joker, I still don't know if I'm going to get them all, but there are some characters I just need to have. The Flash and Riddler, for example. We'll see about the rest, for now, let's talk about these.



These figures are simple, silly and rely on the belief that a cute sculpt can overcome the fact that they are squatting and in an awkward position. They have almost no articulation, except for the head, and they'd kick Blammoids' sorry square asses in a heartbeat.

The paint apps were OK, and the weight and feel of the figure is pretty decent.



Of all the figures, Joker is my favorite so far (they only released two waves: Batman Family characters and Main DC Universe Heroes) I just love the sculpt of the head and the decision to make him with those crazy spirally eyes.

Fun Fact: Spirally eyes are a symbol of craziness or mental instability in kindergartens almost everywhere in the world. It is also used to depict a drunken person, at least that's the way I used to draw my uncle... Oh... Repressed memory flashback. That wasn't apple juice...

Anyway, my mind is not blown away by these little guys, but they certainly cheer me up when I see them. Nicely done Funko, nicely done.



More to come. Stay tuned!

Too good to be true

If you think that the title of this post is talking about the fact that I'm making two posts in a row, well Ha Ha! Mr. Funny guy, but it's not. Also, screw you! How dare you make fun of me that way...

OK, OK, forgive me, some pre-trip tensions... Good news in the toy world today, thanks to the very opportune advice from my friend Ben aka Fishmilkshake, I was able to buy some Mattel exclusives online today, and I'm pleased to say that everything worked out great, no screens of death, no refresh nightmares, and the voucher arrived and everything. Incredible.

If you think that the title of this post is about the fact that Mattel didn't screw up in an online sale. Well, it certainly might be, but it's not.

Today I'm talking about the awesome art of one Jared Cain also and perhaps better known as Nikejerk. I saw Jared's work online and he was one of those artists that stand out so much I just had to send him a message congratulating him on a custom set of ninja turtles using Dunnys as the base.

I was so amazed by those that I asked him if he could do a set for me. But he said he was sorry, that he never repeated commission customs. That way he ensured the uniqueness of the piece for the collector.

I can't really argue with that logic, so I thought about something else I wanted and I ended asking him for two of my favorite comic book characters made in Dunny form.

And he even made custom boxes for these!



After all this introduction, maybe you are a bit anxious to see them...

So here they are:



Blue Beetle and Booster Gold in all their Dunny goodness.

I just love Nikejerk's style, the bold black lines, the sculpted bits and the colors just seem to fit, even when using a platform that forced him to work around a couple of big, annoying bunny ears.



Booster Gold is great, the goggles and the hair are sculpted and the face (Jared told he worked on several facial expressions until deciding to go with this one) is just great. I love this character, ever since I started reading superhero comic books, he will always be one of the greatest for me, and I love all the attention he's getting recently.



Blue Beetle is also a great representation of the character, and this version of him does work better with the base, since Dunnys are chubby creatures and BB had a few extra pounds in those days.

And if you were wondering what he's holding.



Jared went all the way and made a removable BB Gun. In a word? Awesome!

If you like to see more of Nikejerk's work, you can see it here.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
And if you want to ask him for a commission, tell him Tom sent you, but you can't have another Booster and Beetle Dunnys, 'cause those are all mine!

Just kiddin'.

But seriously... Mine!

Another post tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

The inevitable return of the Great White Dope!

Hey guys and girls, It's been a while, this last month I spent away from this blog was really crazy with work, and incredible with some pretty cool news, for example, on July 30 I'll do a reading to present my book that was printed some time ago. But before that I'll be going for the very first time to San Diego Comic Con, a tradition that perhaps will remain in the future if my wife doesn't kill me first.

But why should she? Going to SDCC was actually her idea, oh yes, all hers. To honor that incredible fact I'm going to talk about relationships instead of toys in this post (and of course it will be very toy related at some point, 'cause our partners must endure our collecting habits in order to be a fully happy functional couple, right? Right?).

As an example of this, here's a little story: I had several girlfriends in the past, serious relationships that may have ended in serious commitments, but none of them were THE one. How did I know this? Easy, because of the Conan test. Let me clarify, with each of my girlfriends, eventually, the question "Is Conan a classic film in the history of movies?" was asked. And all of them but one (the last one) replied "no".

My actual (and future) Freaky wife just gave me a blank stare and said "well, duh! Of course it is". And then we watched Conan the Barbarian AND Conan the Destroyer on DVD.

Things like that, the idea of going to SDCC and a super awesome incredible birthday present I got from her on june tells me everyday I was ever so right to apply the Conan test.

When will this post start to be toy related you may ask, well, here, 'cause she gave me these kick-ass new stands for my toy shelves:









Isn't that amazing?

Since I've been such a lazy ass in the past month I'll try to make a post everyday before going to San Diego (next saturday).

Stay Tuned!