3" action figures

3" action figures, a set on Flickr.

Happy Beaver Officially SOLD OUT!

That's right, folks - after three years of wheedling, my "Happy Beaver" vinyl toy is officially sold out! I'll remove the PayPal buttons in the next day or two.

Fear not, though, dear shoppers - I'm working on new versions of the Beaver, plus a brand new design! I'm aiming to get these done for next summer. Thanks for for your patronage, everybody!

New "Burke & Hare" Trailer!

Here's the latest trailer for Burke & Hare, the new film from director John Landis. Enjoy!

Toys OTD: Mattel's 6" Ghostbusters Action Figures: Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddmore, Walter Peck (2009, 2010)

I've been waiting since 1984 for Ghostbusters toys! While it's true that both GB movies have had their share of merchandise, likeness rights issues have prevented any spin-off product from looking like the actors. At least that was the case until last year, when Mattel finally acquired likeness rights along with the Ghostbusters license. Mattel responded with not one, but two terrific-looking lines of figures - one in the six-inch scale, and a series of twelve-inch versions, complete with cloth costumes and illuminated accessories! All of the figures have been sold as exclusives to Mattel's collector website, mattycollector.com. Since not all of the larger figures have been released yet, I'll focus on the six-inchers for now.

On the whole, this is a great figure line! The sculpts and production values are worthy of classic movie toys - they're richly detailed without feeling overworked, and the likenesses are well worth the wait.

The first toy, Egon Spengler, appeared with a double-whammy: not only was it the first figure in the license, it was also a San Diego Comic-Con 2009 exclusive, making it one of the hot toys to get that summer. I think there were leftover figures after the convention, so Mattel sold the rest of them on the website. Egon has a fine likeness, aside from the awkwardness of his thick glasses.

It's a bit of a no-win scenario: either you sculpt the glasses right to the head and lose a bit of accuracy, or you make them a separate piece and have them be slightly out of scale. The latter is a good compromise, and Mattel gets an 'A' for effort, especially since the glasses have tiny 'lenses' (and not just empty frames).

Next up is Ray Stanz, who looks great too. It's nice to see the elbow pads incorporated into the figure sculpt without hindering the joints. The proton pack and stick are really well done, and the suit tubing is also a nice detail. While display stands for the figures themselves would have been nice, balance issues aren't too bad when you consider how back-heavy they are!

Winston Zeddemore's likeness is a little wonky - to me, he looks a little more like Eddie Murphy than Ernie Hudson. His physique is also affected by the homogenous figure forms - he seems a bit skinnier than his true body type. Still, there's nice details here too, like the gloves tucked into the waist belt.

Peter Venkman looks wonderful - I was worried about the 'slimed' variant, but the color and texture are great! It adds a little 'wear and tear' to the character without looking distracting, or too much like paint. It's also fun to have his jumpsuit pulled over his boots, unlike his counterparts. I'm sure it's true to the film, and it adds a lot of contrast without much extra cost.

The most recent original character to date is Walter Peck, the EPA rep. He's my least favorite figure, not because he's a peripheral character, but because his likeness is almost cartoonish, exaggerated much more than the others. Another drawback is his bulky 'suit jacket', which might have been sculpted right to the torso for better effect. Still, I'm happy he was included in the line, and that gives me hope for Dana Barrett and Louis Tully!

The articulation on all the figures is nicely done. There's enough joints to keep the diorama-makers happy, and they're well-disguised enough to avoid looking mechanical. The arm joints are especially helpful, as most of the characters will need to hold proton-pack 'sticks' - not an easy pose for your average figure.

All of the figures come with nifty accessories. Egon is packed with a Slimer figure, which even has its own 'flying' stand! Ray comes with a glow-in-the-dark Ghostbusters logo, and while it's not quite as fun as some of the others, I'm sure customizers will have a field day with it as they build their to-scale fire stations. Winston arrives equipped with his own ghost trap, which can be decorated with plastic 'energy effects'! Unfortunately, Peter comes with another Slimer, though it makes sense as the figure is a 'slimed' version. Since Walter Peck is probably considered a low-priority item (even for fans), he gets the best accessory - the containment unit in the firehouse basement. The door pops open with a flick of the lever, and the tiny traps fit in perfectly!

The packaging is (to some degree) standard operating procedure for Matty Collector - double-boxing for protection: a simple white cardboard outer box covering a more elaborate inner one. The outer white box is pretty straightforward - glossy white stock with the Ghostbusters logo on it.

The inner package is very nice - a custom-designed blister card set-up that's quite on-theme with the film. Each figure is depicted 'on the flattop' of Dana's apartment building, flanked by terror dogs as if confronting Gozer the Gozerian in the final battle. The reverse of the card is a scene at a desk in the firehouse, as if you're rifling through the Ghostbusters' files. There's some funny info in the 'paperwork' displayed for each character.

Originally, these figures sold for $20 + shipping each, and you got a lot of toy for your money, all things considered. Unfortunately, all of these figures are sold out at Mattel's site - you'll have to brave the secondary market to buy them now. Egon goes for at least $50 at this point, Ray costs a minimum of $28, Winston is selling for $56 or more, Peter is up to $30 and up, and Walter Peck costs $40.

I have heard that there'll be an exclusive Ghostbusters 2 four-pack at Toys 'R' Us next year, so that might ultimately be cheaper. Keep in mind, though, that they'll have different paint jobs and accessories.

Also in the future: An additional Ray Stanz 6" figure - this one looking like he does in the Ghostbusters television commercial, and packed with a cool Subway Ghost. That'll drop on August 16th.

On top of that, mattycollector.com is now offering a $20 subscription (dubbed "Club Ecto-1")to all of their six of their 6" Ghostbusters figure releases over the next year. It's not too compelling to me, as the first two figures appear to be a costume variants (Winston w/Slime Blower & Courtroom Peter). Since I'm mainly interested in original characters, I'll probably continue to take my chances with individual orders online. In any case, good luck and have fun!

Creator-Con: The Discussion Begins

A group of comic artists (including myself) are considering the creation of a new comic book convention. As you may know, San Diego Comic-Con has be come increasingly expensive and unwieldly for individual artists, especially in the last ten years. Due to the success of such recent films as Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman Begins and Iron Man, Hollywood's presence in San Diego has dramatically increased. This has led to a huge spike in attendance - this year, the five-day Comic-Con has all but sold out months before its opening.

The worst aspect of all this is that San Diego Comic-Con is all but inacessible to the casual passer-by. it's hard not to feel that attendees are either die-hard comic fans (i.e, the converted), rubber-neckers who don't care about comics but want to see movie stars, and the studios who serve up the celebrities. Hopefully there's some converts being made, but it doesn't feel like much of a priority any longer.

As Creator-Con's Facebook page puts it:

"This page was created as a forum for the artists, writers, designers, self-publishers, retailers and fans that have become disillusioned and frustrated with what the flagship of comic conventions has become (y'all know the one...in San Diego).

The Creator-Con idea was hatched a few years ago by a few exhibitor friends as a reaction to the popular media takeover of a convention that used to celebrate artists and creators. We were tired of being pushed further and further aside each year to make room for the bigger, louder and flashier attractions that had nothing to do with the convention's humble beginnings.

This page hopefully will give us all a platform to get the ball rolling on something new or at the very least, voice our opinions. So let it ring! We want to hear what you have to say."

If you're interested, please become a fan and join the conversation! We'd love to hear what you have to say.

Toy OTD: Disney Store Plastic Cars Toys: Mater, Red, Sarge, 'Chewall' Tractor, Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen (2006 - 2008)

The movie Cars has proven to be a merchandising bonanza, spawning myriad lines of toys and other products. Like any other franchise, there's a range of quality within them - some items are excellent, some are fine, and others are functional but not much more. The primary line of Cars vehicles sold at the Disney Store are decent toys. They're mostly of a mid-range quality: in general the Mattel diecasts are far better, but this plastic, talking series is better than the smaller PVC cars, pullback items or plushes.

For one thing, they're fairly big - much bigger than any of the diecasts. If your kids need something larger to play with, this line is literally a better fit. The details aren't quite as lavish as those of the diecasts, but they're still good. Because of this, I'm assuming that these toys weren't cast from digital data but interpreted through traditional sculpting or other means (it's hard to know for certain). The construction is reasonably solid, but they do feel a little flimsy in places.

The biggest design detraction is the choice to make the pupils movable - they 'look' back and forth when pushed along a surface. In order to do this, the eyes are mounted on clear plastic stalks in front of an open 'windshield'. They're not all that intrusive on some of the cars, but on others it looks rather awkward and unattractive.

The other play feature included in the line is a motion-activated voice chip. This is a bit of a mixed blessing since they've got hair triggers, and chat away at the slightest movement. Other than that, the lines feel like dialogue from the film and have a decent feel for the characters' personalities (although it sounds to me like many of them were recorded by soundalikes).

The paint work here is minimal - the main body color is provided by the plastic itself. Most of the detailing is the cast plastic color as well, which in general I like as a cost-effective toy strategy. Colors tend to be a little more durable, and manufacturers don't have to be as precise about the few paint passes they do have.

The heaviest paint use is on the 'rusty' characters, and while the "Chewall" tractor looks significantly better than its diecast counterpart, Mater is only moderately successful - still looking more like paint than a rust texture.

Unfortunately, the other paint substitutes used here are decals - and they're another notable minus. They're particularly weak on heavily decorated characters like Wingo or Chick Hicks. I decided not to buy the Wingo from this series at all because I couldn't find one without stickers that weren't already bubbling up or tearing in the package. Chick's decals are better, but it doesn't look like it would take much play to badly damage them.

These toy cars by their very nature have no real posing capability or balance issues, so articulation and display stands are moot points here. Scale could be a display issue in the sense that collecting this line can eat up a sizable chunk of shelf estate. Fortunately, there's not nearly as many characters in this format as have been made in, say, the diecast line.

The packaging, on the other hand, is rather nice. The designers came up with a large clamshell, and turned it into an environment straight from the film! The branding is covered with the 'metal flake' base, and the toy itself rests on a short stretch of 'highway' backed with a rich panorama of Radiator Springs. The signs are built to create a 3D effect, and perform double duty describing play features. It's nice that there's so few stickers on the blister itself! On the other hand, it's a shame that they use so much plastic and take up so much space - but the shelf presence is pretty impressive considering the price point (originally $10-$15).

I imagine these toys are still available at the Disney Store, but since there's very few actual stores left, you'll probably need to get them online. You can get Doc Hudson and Sally on eBay for $23.74 + shipping, Lightning McQueen for $14.50 + shipping, Red for $27.63 + shipping, Luigi & Guido are packed together for $18.63 + shipping, Sarge is $12.93 + shipping, Fillmore is $17.63 + shipping, and Wingo goes for $14.50. There may be more toys in this line, but that's all I've been able to find. Compare prices, watch that shipping, and have fun!

Toy OTD: Nathan Jurevicius, Kid Robot's Scarygirl City Folk Figures: Crossing Guard, School Girl (2007)

Nathan Jurevicius is not only a cool illustrator, but a prolific toy designer as well! TheScarygirl City Folk collection probably isn't his latest line, but it's certainly one of his more recent ones. It's a blind boxed mini-fig series with a wide variety of characters. I only bought a couple of them, so I'll review just those two here.

Kid Robot's toys are of a consistently high quality, and this line is equally good. The sculpts capture the playful, graphically strong designs and interpret them into three dimensions very well! They're planned to be cast in multiple parts, and the assembly seams are strategically chose to blend into the design without disrupting it. The construction itself is fine, making the characters look solid. The use of materials is clever, such as the transparent plastic for the Crossing Guard's staff, and the mounting of the book stack on the School Girl's head.

The paint work is also nice and clean - there's not a ton of detail on these designs, but the color borders are sharp, small paint areas are tidy, and the broader paint areas are smooth. Details like the School Girl's eyelashes are crisp. The color palette is limited by design, not budget.

Mini-figures rarely (if ever) have articulation, so it's a non-issue here.

Balance for both designs is fine: School Girl has a back wheel to steady her; and the Crossing Guard has a broad, flat base. Mr. Jurevicius is very conscious of this aspect of manufacturing and addresses it well, regardless of the figure scale. Either small stands are included, or the designs are well balanced on their own.

Packaging for this line is terrific, both in terms of the individual boxes and the larger case. Both are heavily decorated with Mr. Jurevicius' graphics, but they're not overwhelming. The color use here is tasteful, but punchy enough to attract attention. All of the boxes are unified with a similar palette of black, pink, green and white - it's easy to keep track of this series!

There's fifteen different characters in the set, and at least two paint variants (a black-faced School Girl, and a black Jelly Cat). You can get blind boxes for $9.73 + shipping each at overkillshop.com, and a few of the characters are on eBay right now: The School Girl chase and both Jelly Cats for $19.99 + shipping each, and the Doctor for $29.99 + shipping. These prices seem a bit high, so you may want to be patient and poke around at the next Vinyl Toy Network or something. Good luck!