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

Grodd

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. 

         

 

Mattel Answers!!!! Save Journeyman?

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.

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

Don’t forget

Hey all if anyone has questions for Mattel I need them by Tuesday night.

 And don’t forget about DC Monday

 Finally some of my new toys together

Justice Lords

Finally something new from the 10 inch line. looks like these guys are hitting Kmarts so keep out an eye, I just need to find Hourman. 

    

While these are cool GL needs a new head you can see where they had the hair from the first figure.

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.

Last shot

Hey all last shot for any questions for Mattel.  Please email any questions to me by Monday night.  Don’t forget to check out the newest Demanded Characters column over on the Fwoosh E-zine.  (Click the pic)

Mattel enters Kastor’s Korner

Welcome to the first installment of Mattel’s answers at Kastor’s Korner. 

I thought a little back ground on our friend at Mattel getting our information to us, Toy Guru.  Here is a little back ground on him and what he does at Mattel. 

Kastor-Can you tell us a little about your self and your position at Mattel?

Toy Guru-Sure. I am a Sr Brand Manager at Mattel. I handle PR for our collector lines, help run the summer conventions and my day to day responsibilities are managing the DCUniverse, Fighting Figures, JLU and other DC brands that have yet to be announced….

Kastor-Did you have an interest the DCU before you got the job?

TG-I have collected action figures since I was 13 and have about 5,000 personally. I am a huge comic fan of DC, Marvel and other characters so getting this job really is a dream job for me.

Kastor-Who is your favorite DC character?

TG-The Question. He’s just so spooky.

Kastor-In the past the line managers who have been on our boards have really fought and said they wanted certain figures to be part of the JLU line or the new DC Classics line is there one character, or team you would really like to see made? 

TG-Aside from the obvious figures in the Charleston catalogue which we are still fighting for, I really would like a Blackhawk figure. Savage Time is one of my favorite episodes. For DCU, I’m dying for a 6-inch Spectre and Shazam. 

And on to the figure questions:

•  
  1. One concern we have as collectors and some who have kids is how can we get info about your lines?  In the last year we have seen multiple waves which seemed to be repeated figures but no clear waves. The 800 number on the back of the boxes does has not in the past had accurate information and online stores recently have voice their frustration about keeping on schedule how do you respond to those concerns. 

TG-As revealed at Comic-Con this year, we will have five distinct waves of DCU classic figures shipping about 2.5 months apart. We will make specific announcements through fan websites and toy magazines this year as to when and where figures will be available. The Build-a-Figure strategy has really helped us achieve this change. The first wave will contain Classic Detective Batman, Etrigan, Orion, Red Tornado, and the Penguin. The Build-a-Figure will be Rex Mason the Element Man and will be on shelf Jan 1, 2008.

2.      Knowing the line is focused at kids how do you think the big stores will respond to Demon in your first wave of DCC and Blue Devil in JLU?  Do you think that this figure will open up ways to get use other more risky figures in the DCC line?

TG-Actually, the DCUC line is aimed at the adult collector and the Demon figure was selected specifically to appeal to this demographic.

3.      Do you think that with the success of the Doomsday box set, and hopefully a successful Grodd box set we will see other JLU exclusives with larger characters at stores other then Target?

TG-We can’t comment on any JUL product until after the fall Toy Fair when we know what product will be picked up by retail.

Thanks for all your work Toy Guru on the DCU

If any of my readers have questions for Mattel, just email me them and I will try my best to get answers for you.