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Soapbox Sunday: DC’s Deserving – a Guest Post by Cliff Francis

It’s been some time since we’ve heard from Cliff Francis, Publisher Emeritus of Costume Contumely. It took the cancellation of Mattel’s Club Infinite Earths DC subscription to bring him back for this special guest edition of Soapbox Sunday. Read on, as Cliff employs the latest in computer technology to reveal how Mattel could have saved Club Infinite Earths. You can read more from Cliff at Costume Contumely as well as a couple of pieces Cliff has contributed here at AFP. Excelsior!

Crisis-for-Club-Infinite-Earths

MattyCollector’s Club Infinite Earths subscription has died, and with it, the entire existence of 6″ DC Universe Classics action figures has been wiped out as if swept away by a crackling, white Crisis wall.

I confess that I feel tremendous schadenfreude over this. Mattel ran this property into the ground from the very beginning and only managed to produce a measly 200-something figures over the span of six years. I have a personal theory that Mattel wanted this line to fail from the start, and was willing to lose money along the way in order to save money in the end by having the line die. But that’s not what this article is about.

This article is about the central problem with Mattel’s 6″ DC line. The fault that engineered the line’s downfall. The “reason for the treason,” if you will. So what is it?

Character selection. Pure and simple.

Continue reading “Soapbox Sunday: DC’s Deserving – a Guest Post by Cliff Francis”

Weekend Toy Run: Square Enix Play Arts Kai Street Fighter on Sale at Amazon

I noticed this weekend that the price on my Amazon pre-order for the Square Enix Play Arts Kai Ken from Super Street Fighter IV dropped down to $59.99. That’s down from the regular $69.99 at which Sakura is still priced. Because of the Amazon price guarantee, I automatically get the lower price. Ken is targeted to come out fighting later this month.

Also noticed that the prices on the earlier waves of the Street Fighters has also dropped, thanks to competition between third party sellers. Not a bad time to pick them up – they’re terrific hand candy and I have really had fun with them.

WebSwipe: Diamond Select Toys Age of Ultron Marvel Minimates – Marvel.com

As usual, Diamond Select Toys is right on the heels of the major Marvel Comics events with its Marvel Minimates line. The Age of Ultron Minimates, with Ultron, Nick Fury, Iron Man, and Angela, will hit specialty retailers early next year. Toys R Us will also get an exclusive 2-pack of Wolverine and an Ultron drone around the same time.

I am still working through Age of Ultron, so I haven’t encountered Angela yet. Is this the same Angela we saw in Spawn?

Continue reading “WebSwipe: Diamond Select Toys Age of Ultron Marvel Minimates – Marvel.com”

You Must Check Out the First Issue of Philip Reed’s BattleGrip Magazine

BattleGrip Issue 1 - pg 22 - 23

If you’re not familiar with Philip Reed and his site, BattleGrip, you should check it out. When I started AFP, somehow Philip found the site, and he’s been a really great supporter from our early days – and he’s just that way in the collecting community – a terrific guy.

Earlier this year, Philip published a Kickstarter-funded book about 3rd-party Transformers called Transforming Collections. (There are a couple of copies of Transforming Collections available on Amazon.) I guess that massive effort kept him hooked on publishing, because his latest endeavor is a free downloadable magazine. I’m re-hosting BattleGrip – issue 1 here (click to download – 70MB) to help get the issue out there. If you’re an old-timer like me and miss the days when you could go to a magazine store to pick up one related to toys (or if you just want to know what that was like, in this increasingly online world), then you’ll love this.

A couple of tips – you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader or an alternative PDF reader, and the best way to read this magazine is to set it up in 2-page view (View -> Page Display -> Two Page View) and select the option to show the cover page on its own (View -> Page Display -> Show Cover Page in Two Page View). This will let you see some of the beautiful 2-page spreads, like the Predator Trophy Case above, in all their glory.

Great start to the magazine, Philip, and thanks for the link to my moot-fake-rant about the Club Infinite Earths Doomsday. Can’t wait for issue 2!

San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive Marvel Legends Thunderbolts Back in Stock at HasbroToyShop.com

Hasbro 2013 SDCC Marvel Legends Thunderbolts_figure set

Heads up – the Marvel Legends Thunderbolts 5-pack exclusive is back in stock at HTS. No idea how much inventory they’ve got, so if you are still looking to pick up this set at non-inflated prices, now’s the time.

Regular price is $89.99, but the Thunderbolts set on eBay is going for upwards of $130, with individual figures starting at $25 and up.

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