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Kastor’s Retro Reviews

come check out the new column on Kastor’s Korner

Hi all just wanted to give all an update.  Kastor’s Korner has a new home @ http://www.kastorskorner.com/   This week will see the long over due HML3 final review as well as DCUC wave one.  We should also have some Mattel answers soon

Hi all things are looking up for Kastor’s Konrner and all will be known soon.  Hang in there I should have a major announcement by the end of the week

Hey all just giving an update, I’m working on something big so updates will be short this week. 

Here are a few Christmas memories… more throughout the day

I had several good Christmases as a kid. The year my sister and I got our NES with the “Back to the Future” game was pretty big, but the one that really stands out in my mind came when I was 6 or 7. My childhood Christmases always centered around whatever toy line I was really into that given year – be it GI Joe, Centurions, Dino-Riders, C.O.P.S. n’ Crooks, etc. But there was one particularly awesome Christmas that came as quite a surprise and delivered me what was to become my favorite childhood toy line of all time.

Quick bit of backstory – My dad has worked for the US Post Office his whole life. He started out as an electronics technician and progressively worked his way up the ladder. Throughout the 80s he spent a lot of time away from home, being sent to Oklahoma for weeks-long training courses (we lived in Florida). He would always return with a toy/present for me and my sister. On this particular Christmas, he was away at school in Oklahoma. It was the only Christmas he ever missed because of work and my mom was pretty upset that he couldn’t reschedule his course for after the holidays. Anyways, we decided to ‘postpone’ Christmas that year as a family until my dad got back home, so we didn’t open presents until mid-January.

I don’t remember exactly what I was into that year, probably LEGO or Silverhawks, but what I ended up with was a collection of toys I’d never heard of that my dad saw in Oklahoma and thought were really neat… The big reveal: STARCOM!

He got me the big white ship, the little white ship, and the big triangular black ship… and he got me the station that had the little elevator that went up and down when you magnetized a guy to it. Those toys blew me away, and it was so cool that it was something that my dad had just found and new I’d love. Later I discovered the morning cartoon, and throughout that year I pieced together most all of the line with my allowances, birthday’s, etc.

Long Road from Super Articulated

Hi, I have 2 very distinct memories.   My Mom gave Paige and I a pair of flannel pjs.  But Paige got the top and I got the bottoms, it was very funny; and we havent let her forget it.  The second one is not necessarily a gift but the thought put into it.  My Dad use to go and get us a gift just from him, I only really remember 2, but its something I havent forgotten.  Now that he is gone, it makes the memory even sweeter, and something I hope we will do for Caleb and Ellie.

Shannon(my sister in-law)

That’s easy – my Marx Sam Cobra. I wanted him badly, and I remember
opening him on Christmas morning, thrilled to have him. I loved all the
Marx figures, but that one I remember particularly well.

Michael Crawford the Great Reviewer

My favorite Christmas present was a BMX bike. I remember how much I wanted this one particular bike but the man at the store told me he could not put training wheels on it. When I woke up that morning for Christmas my bike was there with the training wheels. I woke up at 4 am and rode that bike in my house till 7 am. I was so exhausted from riding that bikes that I went back to bed when everyone else was getting up.

From my long time friend Ed

Finding these mole monsters on clearance at TRU is great!!!

This is the newest offering from the JLU line, bringing this long living line in closer to completion.  Grodd was one of the main bad guys on the JLU show and now we have him to add to the growing roster of villains for the Justice League to square off against.   

The main feature in this box set is the Gorilla Grodd.  Grodd was an ape who came in contact with a meteor during the 19^th century.  This gave him and his fellow apes both super intellegence and, in some cases like Grodd and his adversary Solovar, telekinesis and telepathy.  Grodd and Solovar clashed time and time again for the great Gorilla City.  When Solovar was captured by humans and brought to Central City, Grodd saw an opportunity to not only take over Gorilla City but also the world.  This plan put him in the scope of the Flash and brought Grodd into The Flash’s Rogue Gallery.  Over and over the Flashes of many generations would come to blows with this foe.  Over time Grodd’s abilities have grown, developing both his mental abilities as well as his telekinesis.   Most figures in the JLU line have issues standing, but like the other larger figures Grodd has no problems at all.  The figure has an amazing sculpt, really bringing to life the cartoon character.  The figure is well painted and the detail on his face brings that sly look of the criminal mastermind to life. 

The other new edition to this box set is the Red Hood.  This figure is a simple repaint of the Joker.  The new part of the figure is the addition of a large red dome and cape.  The largest problem is that you can not see the Joker’s face before you buy the box set.  After opening the set and taking off the hood this Joker looks like Crazy Eyes from Mr. Deeds.  Given a profile view the Joker looks great but if you look at this figure straight on his eyes are looking in completely different directions.   

Overall a solid set for both collectors and parents.  Hopefully this will not be the last, and Mattel will continue box sets to get us larger characters. 

Thanks for another round of questions from Toy Guru:

Kastor’s Korner: We know there are some characters off limits in the JLU line, and some limits due to copyrights.  With all the fan polls on Fwoosh, AFI, and my own Demanded Characters column (have you checked it out?) are there any characters right now that are off the table for the classics line that does not have to do with copyrights? 

Toy Guru: Several characters have been off limits in the past such as Lobo (due to violence factor) and some of the Charlton and Fawcett characters due to legal restrictions. We are working through all of these in an attempt to bring every fan request to life.

Kastor’s Korner: Any news on JLU?  In another interview you said that Mattel is aware of some of the scarcity of the figures in the JLU line in the past year.  While we have seen Vigilante in a 3 pack and at some Big Lots, the real hard find this year seem to be the Star Girl, Parasite, and Volcana.  Are there any chances those will be incorporated in the 2008 line, or in an exclusive 3 pack?

Toy Guru: We will be announcing new JLU figures in the Feb issue of Toy Fare magazine.

Kastor’s Korner: With the increase in oil prices going on, how do you see that impacting the new line coming out?  Will in decrease the amount of pack-in items?  Will we see a decrease in the size of the Collect to Connect figures? Will there be possible a price increase but no change in what is offered?

Toy Guru: It is likely that there will be a slight price increase for many of our action figure toy lines sometime down the road. Whenever raw materials increase in price eventually the cost does trickle down to the consumer.

Kastor’s Korner: Through Costco we got all of the DC super Friends in multi-packs at a reasonable price, can we look forward to this trend continuing to get the average collector and parents those shorter packed figures?  Can this idea get some females into a primarily boy line?

Toy Guru: Nothing to announce quite yet but we are working on getting some female figures into the line for collectors.  The Costco packs will likely continue next year. They have been a huge success for the Super Friends line.

Kastor’s Korner: The phrase collect to connect is not a build a figure so does that mean it is possible to connect things that are not action figures?

Toy Guru: The line could mean connecting other things, but for the moment we are only offering Build a Figure options. Anything is possible in the future.

If you have any questions please go to one of the message boards and post for me or email me you questions. 

             This might be the last week to see new shows for Journeyman.  This is a great show that really has potential, but maybe cut short.  For some reason the 10 pm time slot on Monday is a bad time for new shows.  This will mark the second year a show will start and not get the chance to grow.  Please if you have time support this show tonight at 10 on NBC and Wednesday at 10 pm for the possible series finale. 

Set your Tivo’s or sit and watch a great show, which is hard to find in this age of reality and cop shows.

Welcome back to another Kastor’s Review.  This time we take a look at the newest exclusive offering from Hasbro Marvel Legends, Jean Grey, the Black Queen.   This figure is not hard to review because it has very little in the way of new parts.  This figure is simply a remodel of Emma Frost, White Queen.  The newer parts are the head and a new paint scheme.  While Emma didn’t have a great head sculpt, this figure shows that details and a decent paint job are possible from Hasbro.  Where this figure fails is where every other HML fails, articulation.  I know most of you ask what kind of articulation the Black Queen needs, but we need to stop using this as an excuse for Hasbro.  This type of figure is unacceptable based on what we have been offered in the past.  The only reason that Hasbro seems to have us over a barrel is that most of us want to finish various teams and sets and we are forced to settle.  But I think as time goes on and the figures overall quality decreases, so will the collectors who need to get all the figures despite the wish lists. 

While I was not thrilled with the new Hasbro offerings, they do have some cool features.