ComicBookMarks » Toys

Green Lantern Gets (Pre)Schooled

Andrew — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:39:00 +0000

I’ll admit it. Half the fun of having kids is being able to buy all sorts of comic-related toys, clothes and merchandise. Heck, if I didn’t have kids I probably never would’ve bought a single Superhero Squad figure. And yeah, these days my two boys (5 and 8 ) are currently obsessed over Pokemon, Pokemon and Pokemon.

They don’t really have much love for superheroes at all. Though I do see them doing mock Pokemon battles with Pikachu, Charmander and any toys they can grab their hands on, including my old Toy Biz Marvel figures. Yeah, it kills me to see Captain America fall prey to a razor leaf attack from Bulbasaur, but, well… I guess I’ll just have to take what I can get at this point.

Which brings me to my recent visit to Target at the local mall. I happened to turn a corner and see the latest Fisher Price ImagiNext playsets. My kids have a ton of these sets. Great toys with awesome interactive vehicles and playsets, including a huge Batcave with Batman, Robin, Joker, Riddler and Penguin. I even bought the Green Lantern figure a few months ago with his, er, GL Jet. But what I saw last Saturday night made me both laugh out loud and roll my eyes at the same time. I’m talking about the Planet Oa playset.

Seriously? Oa? The Green Lantern homeworld? As a Fisher Price set for kids 3-8 years old? That was the initial eyeroll moment. Then I looked further, saw the huge GL logo painted on a dome and thought, wow, that’s pretty cool. Then I realized, I actually owned this set. It just looked a little different. Apparently customizers aren’t the only toy fiends to hash a paint job on action figures and create something new. Fisher-Price took its ImagiNext Space Station, stocked up on green paint, created new GL figures and added a lantern. Voila! Instant Oa!

We’ve already got the Hal Jordan figure hanging out in our house. But I’m sooo tempted to pick this up for the Kilowog and, uh… B’Dg (I originally thought that was Ch’p!) figures alone! Stuff like this really makes me wish Fisher-Price would get the Marvel license. Just imagine it. Arcade’s Murder World! The X-Men’s Danger Room! Or even an Avengers Mansion playset complete with mini-figs of Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye and, yes, even Jarvis. Yeah, maybe it’s a good thing if Fisher-Price doesn’t get the Marvel license. Otherwise, I may just have to have another kid…

Comic Movie Posters – Lego Style

Andrew — Sat, 14 May 2011 02:06:18 +0000

There was a time when seeing movie posters was insanely exciting. Next to seeing an actual movie trailer, the movie poster was the first real evidence that a movie was really coming out, as well as a first real look at the feel of a film. This was before the days of the internet, where photos and video clips fly fast and furious.

So these days, yes it’s still cool to see a movie poster when you walk into a theater, but the entire mystique and awe is pretty much gone.

And that’s why these custom-made movie posters from NextMovie.com are so incredibly awesome. Based on the 10 biggest movies hitting this summer, these movie posters take thing up an entire notch or two because they’re done with style. Lego style, that is. Take a gander at what movie posters would look like if we lived in a Lego Universe.

Check out the rest of the list at NextMovie.com

Lego Arnim Zola and His Legion of Custom MiniFigs

Andrew — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:00:15 +0000

Like most kids growing up in the ’80s, I dug Legos. I remember this big bin I had just filled with my giant collection of Legos and the dozens of instruction booklets needed to build the various space stations and construction worker sets. And being the big geeky comic book fan that I was, I’d try making my own Lego superheroes. I didn’t actually paint or carve my Legos. I’d just mix and match pieces to give some characters a cape, or make them extra tall, and just use my imagination to fill in the blanks.

Nowadays there are Batman and Spider-Man Legos and while I’d still love to see Lego officially make an Avengers set, if I were a kid now I’d be so crazed over the current crop. And then, well, then I stumbled upon xueren‘s photos at Brickshelf Gallery. I don’t know much about xueren, except he’s made hundreds of insanely detailed, awesome, killer, comic book-based Legos! (Uh, I’m assuming he’s a he. I’m not even sure of that much!)

Here’s a large shot of his Lego Superhero Army

There’s a few more full shots here, but you can get a cheat sheet version (with image names explaining who each character is) for Marvel, DC and Other characters.

Here’s just a few of my favorites:

Arnim Zola! Must... own... this!

Ant Man. Ain't he just the cutest widdlest hero ever?

Yeah. The dude made a Lego Beta Ray Bill. Wow.

Seriously. If Lego were to make an official Super-Friends line, Aquaman would like 100% like this.

No Lego is safe from the fury of... Annihilus!

It’s surprising how many awesome and obscure characters that xueren made. I’m hoping he continues because I’m still waiting for a Lego Red Skull, Ambush Bug and Galactus! Be sure to check out his Lego-licious (yes, I said it) minifigs gallery for more.

Greatest Toy Packaging Ever… Activate

Andrew — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:25:30 +0000

If you’re lucky enough to be in San Diego right now for the annual cram-way-too-many-smelly-people-wearing-Wolverine-T-shirts-into-one-giant-hall-and-make-them-forget-how-to-walk-in-an-orderly-fashion event (also known as Comic-Con), then make sure you stop by the Mattel booth. I have no clue where it is at the show. I’m not there. But chances are, it’s kind of in the middle, near all the other toy companies. Heck, you can’t miss it, since their booth usually looks like a gigantic Castle Grayskull from the old He-Man cartoons.

Anyways, once you get to the Mattel booth… go buy yourself the Comic-Con Exclusive Wonder Twins two-pack. Not only do you get Zan and Jayna, but you get space monkey Gleek! I know, I know. Zan is probably the lamest superhero ever, next to the Legion of Superheroes’ Bouncing Boy. He can turn into… water. How exciting. And just enough water to fill a… bucket, which is why you need Gleek to carry him around. Jayna, on the other hand, not only looked like a sexy version of Janet from “Three’s Company,” but she could turn into any animal. For some reason, I only remember her turning into an eagle, though. Go figure.

But besides some unbelievably amazing sculpting on the Twins and their monkey, Mattel has possibly created the greatest packaging ever. Yes, packaging. I’d even go so far as to say I’d buy this damn thing for the box alone, that’s how cool it is. Don’t believe my geeky self? Then watch this video to see the product in action. I’ll just sit here and wait for your apology…

Oh, and if you can’t make it to Comic-Con (which is probably 100% of you people reading this… or else, you wouldn’t be online, you’d be at the show), you can order the Wonder Twins two-pack (sans Gleek) from MattyCollector.com starting on August 3.

Sam & Max are coming to my desk!

Andrew — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:32:44 +0000

Sweet Jesus in a Birch Bark Canoe! Finally someone’s snatched up the license to the best cop buddy team this side of Chief Wiggums and that pink frosted donut. Symbiote Studios will be developing urban vinyl figures and statues for the Sam & Max license. No other news available yet in terms of cost, release, etc. But this sketch accompanied the announcement, so I’m assuming this is the original idea for the statue. I’m more interested in the urban vinyl figures, though, and would LOVE somebody to pick up an action figure line and do posable figures of them with insane weapons (including a make-your-own soap gun).