Tobes of Hades lit by flickering torchlight

An ardent Masters of the Universe fan, I had until recently not taken the plunge into the MOTU Classics line. Primarily, I was turned off by the difficulty in obtaining them from Mattel's exclusive online shop Mattycollector.com. Toys, and all residual actions regarding toys, should be fun. I've been caught up in the "gotta have it" fervor of the past, and just had no inclination to get into it again.

But through a recent toy trade I finally came into possession of two MOTUC figures - Skeletor and Mer-Man (more on him later.)

Skeletor was one of the first releases in this line, so I am sure you've read and seen plenty about him, so I'll just show off some groovy pics I took.

I will say that he is impressive in person. A little bulkier than DCUC figures, but still in the same general scale - kind of like how Arnold Schwarzenegar is in the same scale as you and me. Which is how the Masters Universe should be - these guys are built!
Skeletor comes with his goat head staff, a "full" sword and a "half" sword ala the original MOTU release.
The MOTU Classics Skeletor is everything he should be, amped up just a bit. The perfect marriage between modern action figures and an eighties character we all grew up with. This action figure is what we THOUGHT we were playing with back in 1983!

I really want Scareglow, the next offering going on sale in mid November. Skeletor will be re-released soon as well, with the only change being the packaging. So if you missed out on him the first time around, and you are an opener, avoid the scalpers and pick him up when he becomes re-available.

There has been a lot of talk about the price of these guys as well, but now that I have one in hand I can say that it's worth it. I would never be a completist of this line at the going price, but getting a few must-haves is certainly worth the pursuit.

Aaaahhhh - Rulk Out!

He looks a little like Shwarzeneggar, doesn't he? "Budgets make Governor ANGRY!"

Red Hulk aka "Rulk" is a new release from the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe figure line made by Hasbro. I really don't collect this line; don't get me wrong, it's nice, but a) I'm more of a DC guy b) it's a little pricey and c) when it comes to articulation my preferences fall somewhere between McFarlane and Marvel. You can have too little, and you can have too much; Marvel figures tend to have too much.


Even Rulk here has more than you would ever need in a muscle-head like him. Arms for smashing, head, torso maybe, but the leg movement is pretty much useless. I'd be fine with him if his legs were immobile like the old Kenner Doomsday, another guy who won't be needing to do the splits anytime soon.

But he's still an excellently sculpted figure and one I could not pass up twice (yes, I passed on him once, then regretted it, so I am glad and lucky he turned up again in my toy aisle meanderings.)

Red Hulk is a very bulky figure, which makes up some for the price of the Marvel Universe. This much plastic almost seems worth it. Another bonus is that even though I collect mainly DC, Red Hulk's scale is ambiguous enough for me to combine him with DCIH or other smaller figures. Unfortunately most Marvel Universe figures are a slightly larger scale than DCIH, so they don't usually combine well. If they did, I'd probably buy more.

I was reading the Red Hulk comic for a while - I love Ed McGuinness' work and if there's anyone in the comic universe he should be drawing it's the Hulk (whatever the color.) But it became too much of a slugfest and not enough of a story so I dropped it. Who is Red Hulk's alter ego? Damned if I know.

The Marvel Universe Green (and variant Grey) Hulks are kind of cool, and share the same body sculpt as Reddy, but their head sculpt doesn't look nearly as good as Red Hulk's. I hear a two-pack is coming out with a new headed green Hulk that looks similar to this one. I might pick it up, because now that I have a Red Hulk smashing my DCIH they don't stand a chance without Green Hulk's assistance.

All in all I am very glad I got Red Hulk. A solid, well built figure and a great looking sculpt. Of the three MU I do have (Green Goblin and Classic Iron Man) he is far and away the best, and better than any of the others I've seen as well.

Like a Bat Out of Hell

Thanks to Darius Whiteplume of Adventures in Nerdliness, I finally got my hands on a DC Infinite Heroes Batwoman!

I have been wanting this DCIH Batwoman since the day I first heard news of her release, and in all my travels and all my toy aisle wanderings I never saw her once at retail. I hate buying "new" or "hard to find" stuff off eBay, but I came close with this one, especially as the line seems to be either dying out or metamorphosing into something even more wonderful (and probably more expensive too.) Then Darius posts on his blog stating that he saw her at a discount store near him for $1.99! A buck ninety nine?! This is the one DCIH I'd have paid the obnoxious full Walmart price for, and somewhere deep in the heart of the US they're selling for a song! So to make a long story even longer, Darius sent her to me. Yay Darius, thanks again for helping a brother out.

Now back to Batwoman. This is obviously the new Batwoman, Kate Kane. Kate is cavorting around as Batwoman in the pages of Detective Comics right now and is BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by J.H. Williams III.

See:

Seriously, if you aren't throwing your eyes at Detective Comics lately, you are missing out on some sweet visuals. Greg Rucka is writing and the story is good too, so go check it out.

I really like this costume design, black and red look great together, especially on anything Batman related. The costume is also nice and sleek, simple and sharp without too many add-ons that'd detract from the stealthy nature of the bat.

I don't know a lot about Kate besides what has been shown in the last few Detective Comics issues. I didn't jump on any comics back during "52" or "One Year Later After the Knight Falls on the Crisis on Infinite Worlds Turn." I know there was all that lesbian talk before which seems to have run it's gimmicky course so we can enjoy the character as a character no matter what her sexual proclivity is. That said, I like what I see and read and wouldn't mind Kate Kane staying on as a part of the Bat Family for years to come.

Infinite Heroes: 14

Infinite Villains: 9

Then Usagi her face, now I'm a believer!

Following up on my last post, this is the original Playmates Usagi Yojimbo action figure from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line, first released in 1989.

I recently acquired this guy for my collection, having previous to now only owned the more modern (and more Sakai accurate) TMNT Usagi Yojimbo.

This version of Usagi is pretty far off from Stan Sakai's art; I think he actually appeared in the old TMNT cartoon looking like this.

Still, an angry rabbit with Samurai swords is an impressive sight.

I do like the Samurai armor this Usagi Yojimbo is sporting, which looks a lot like the cover of Usagi Yojimbo Book 1. A neat custom which I'm sure someone has already done somewhere in the world would be this body with the more recent action figure's head. But it won't be done by me, I only have one of each!

On his butt it says "1989 Stan Sakai Playmates Toys" which is awesome because it gives creator credit right there on the toy! No mistaking who created this wabbit - WTG Stan!

Wake me up, before Yojimbo

I'm decades behind the curve on this one, but thanks to the local library I am FINALLY reading Stan Sakai's original Usagi Yojimbo works, starting with Book 1:



I'm about halfway through and it's great. I love Sakai's cartoony animal character designs, his art is deceivingly simple yet complex, and the storytelling is top notch. It's a wonder and a shame that there has never been a full blown Usagi Yojimbo animated film.

Usagi Yojimbo has always been a favorite character form a design standpoint, and now I am glad to actually be adding some real story to my understanding of the rabbit bodyguard.