Kastor’s Retro Reviews

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Kastor’s Retro Reviews

come check out the new column on Kastor’s Korner

Finally the new home is OPEN

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

Another Demanded Monday and Drama

This week come over to Fwoosh to see which of the many verisons of Hawkman you would like as an action figure. 

This past week on Fwoosh one thing I noticed was the drama that my choices of both characters and costumes in my weekly article caused.  While I was not alone in causing the drama my polls were the focus of all of the action.  The heated debate is centered around the fans on Fwoosh mostly wanting to see modern versions of the characters, with those new and usually silent posters voicing their dislike of the modern and wanting a more classic look to every character.  When I posted the original poll and article I included about 20 costumes that Hawkman has worn in his history. My choices and labels caused more drama so the Fwoosh editor changed both my poll and list of pictures.  By giving all those choices I thought everyone would be happy, guess not.  Anyway here are all the different choices that were edited out. 

      
      
     

As you can see there were way too many choices for this character, and I left out a ton more.  I do want to thank a few sites without whom my research would be much more difficult. 

ComicVine
Hawkman FAQ
The Unofficial Hawkman Biography

Mattel Keeps Answering

Thanks again to Toy Guru for finding time to answer some questions. 

Kastor: What’s Mattel’s view on changing certain characters articulation if the character calls for it? Say for example Green Arrow, who needs more articulation to look like he’s shooting his bow than normal DCSH figures. I know the Horsemen are totally onboard with this, but what about other people at Mattel? 

TG: Each character is handled on a character by character basis. While many figures will share some common body parts, we don’t have a set rule for this. As articulation is needed to ensure accuracy we will do our best to include it.

Kastor: With Orion, will his harness and helmet be removable or is it sculpted into the figure? And with the addition of those accessories with Orion, will we see other figures with added necessary accessories.  For example Green Arrow and some trick arrows, or Deathstroke and his sword.

TG: Orion’s harness is removable but his helmet is not. Deathstroke will come with many accessories including blades, guns and more!

Kastor:  When will we see more plans for the DC Super Friends line, and when is Hawkman and Cyborg planned to hit retail?

TG:We will announce new DCSF figures sometime next spring. Hawkman and Cyborg will be available by the beginning of 2008.

Some great news on Deathstroke I can’t wait for some pictures!

If you have any questions for Mattel about the DC Classics, JLU, or Super Friends email them to kastorskorner@cox.netby November 11th.

The Many Faces ofNightwing

      

I’m a Nightwing nut and over the years we have seen some great and some bad figures come out for the figures.  During the animated times we saw many colors of Nightwing figures. Here is the start of my look at this wonderful character and what DC and Mattel hvae given us.  Coming soon the Hasbro years. 

           

Thundercats HOOOO….. or Thundercats Nooooooo

With Toy Fair right around the corner and the latest rumors circling, will we see new Thundercats?  About 3 years ago we had a siege in 80’s toys retuning, from He-man to My Little Pony to Transformers, all reinvented themselves for the next generation.  While MLP did not have a new cartoon the other two properties did and both came and went.  He-man done by Mattel and Transformers by Hasbro both did well but did not find its market to keep it going.  He-man was plagued by time slot problems on Cartoon Network, as well as merchandise problems.  The toys were not packed well, in that out of a case of 12 figures 2 were original characters and the rest were He-man and Skeletor.  The cartoon was nothing more then 30 minutes commercial for the toys.  The problem was though you could not find any of the characters in the stores.  While in the 80’s they ruled good old aisle 7-C they barely made a dent in current toy settings.  They had the possibility of being more then a passing phase yet never really caught on.  While the toy line is being kept alive by the Four Horsemen the main stream has lost sight of this valuable property.

           
1980’s                               2004

Well now that the 80’s revival has slowed down Thundercats may throw its sword into the ring.  Will they do well?  Can they live up to the hype?  The real question is will the keep the cartoon intact or try to make in nice and PC? 

Why Post?

Why do we post on message boards? What is the purpose of our posts? 

I think these are two questions I have reflected the most on in the past two weeks.  A while back I wrote how we feel like we are part of a community but in that same community there are also elements,which makes us feel alienated.  So the first question I asked myself was why did I start?         

        I started posting to find out about toys coming up, and those that I own.  I can compare collections and talk to someone who is going to Wal-Mart as much as I am. The baords just made me feel like I was not alone, that someone also knew all the Wal-Marts in their state.  As time went on I felt like I was more like the community, but at the same time I got more and more into the community.  I join both Fwoosh and AFI and post occasionally on RTM.  I tried more but felt like I was only posting the same thing over and over again so I decided to just focus on the 2 main boards.  On Fwoosh talk was broad but mostly focused on Marvel Legends.  While over on AFI I found the main talk was about anything DC.  Well then I decided to join the Froosh (1st rule of Froosh is not to talk about Froosh), and that all I have to say about that.  Both boards have insiders and fans and they were fun.  But I think the access to all the information the internet provides have raised our expectations of our sites.  There was a huge up roar on Fwoosh when Jesse was told not to talk about Legends after the Hasbro transfer,  over on AFI we have our regular insider in Mattel who changes but we do get some info.  But when both sources became silent most posters got annoyed. We wanted answers and felt like we deserved them, while Ido not think that it is the responsibility of the sites to do this if they have the info that is not “top secret” it should be shared.  While I never was mad about the lack of new information about future waves, the lack of information on current products is a sore spot for me.  I was told that what does it matter what wave we are on or what figures were in waves.  Well to me it is important, and that is the information I want to know.  Just because all the people don’t care about case assortments and wave make ups it is a central part of collecting for me.  I choose not to shop on line I enjoy finding figures in person to check the quality of sculpt and paint before I buy a figure.  I want to know should I be out looking for a figure or am I driving around for no reason because the figure is not in the wave.  With 4 possible Waves from Mattel recently I don’t understand why I can’t know the information.  While the response I keep getting is waiting or what you want is not important, I don’t agree with that.  I say to those who gave me those responses just because you don’t think its important does not give you the right to shrug me off or belittle my need for that information. 

The Next Question what is the purpose of our posts ?

               Well as I said above I felt that by going to too many message boards my post were becoming redundant and pointless.  I think while the lack of information bothered me a lot, and the no point posting was also a sore area for me.  While I know I have done the short post before it’s not what I like to do all the time.  I think voicing opinions and feelings are the points of the boards and very short posts don’t accomplish that. Now I know some will not agree but I think if that is all you do is post one word responses then they are pointless.  If you can’t think of more then one word to say don’t bother.  And if you are rude with those few words keep it to yourself. I think the only place the one word post has value is in collection or custom threads.  But of course with the one word responses also come the term of post whore.  I mean really how much effort does it take to post one word in each thread? If that makes you happy well keep going.   Well I know this will get me some heat, but I have been nice and I have kept most of my frustrations with the boards to myself and my wife.  It’s time to let things out and be as real as I can be on here.  Thanks for reading

Still no Responce

SO its been over 3 monthes and no offical word on DCSH waves, case packs or anything other then what we see on Ebay or in Walmart.  So we still have to wonder what is coming and what to waste time on.

 Though Twoface looks great

I’m Back

So, I have been gone for about 2 weeks and I’m getting a lot of support, thank you all.  We have had a few deaths in the family in the past few weeks and it has turned our lives upside down.  As things start to calm down I’m coming back to this blog.  Now the family issues are not the only reason I took time off.  The message boards have been a source of stress for me over the last few weeks, to the point that if I had to choose hunting for toys or going home, I went home.  I just wanted a break.  I have been working a lot on taking pictures and writing my ideas down some fun and some serious.  I have though long and hard and decided that if I want this blog to become my soap box, I have to voice my opinions even if others don’t’ agree with them.  After losing on Fwoosh and feeling alone on AFI I am coming back to talk about all that and toys of course.  So stay tuned it will be an interesting ride. 

Time off

Thank you all for reading this Blog and taking a look at the Hunt with me.  I think i will be back maybe soon maybe later im not sure yet so rory has helped me move it back in the closet, and the book cases are empty again.