Showing posts with label Classics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classics. Show all posts

Friday, August 29, 2014

Action Figure Friday- MOTU Classics Intergalactic Skeletor!

I have been waiting for this guy for a while! The "New Adventures of He-Man" versions of Skeletor have been some of my favorite design for the menacing bonehead. This Classics version of Intergalactic Skeletor is based off of his first design in the 1989 He-Man toy line. So, like with most of the Masters of the Universe Classics toys, there are good and bad qualities. I am pretty impressed with this one, but do have a few complaints. Lets start with the good. The sculpt on this toy is downright amazing! I cannot say enough about the sculpting on this guy. All of the cybernetic hoses, pumps, and robot pieces sculpted fit so well with the look of a Skeletor that had to use a cybernetic virus to keep himself alive. There are a lot of newly sculpted pieces that really can't be used with any other action figure from the MOTU Classics line which makes him rather unique. Skelly here comes with his newly updated havoc staff that resembles the 1989 "He-Man" Skeletor version very well. Much like the sculpt on the action figure, the sculpt on this piece is fantastic. Lastly, he also comes with a removable helmet that is a beautiful update of the original and is a nice shining piece for this toy. The paint application on all of the sculpt is beautiful. There was a lot of thought that went into the design which kills me when looking at some of the thoughtless problems with this toy. 







Ok, so the main complaint I have for this guy is his neck. Instead of using a new torso for the buck, Mattel used an over armor piece to act as his skin. This is bad in two ways. One, the over piece makes Skeletor look way to big and bulky, and two is that his neck is so thick, it hinders the up and down movement of his head. Since he is no longer able to look up and down, he is constantly looking down. This only works if he is up higher than everybody else and is purposefully looking menacing down at everyone else. 



The next few complaints are minor to the first one. For my minor complaints, the first is that the over body piece is glued at the tabs. In the past, we've been able to take off the body armor or over piece, except on this one. Unless you want to destroy your armor trying to take it off of your Skeletor, it is basically glued into place. I'm not sure exactly why this was a must have decision. The only thing that I can think of is that the tabs don't hold well and had to be glued. The buck could have been changed and that would have fixed this and the first complaint. But, what do I know? Now the second thing is that his shoulders are swapped. They are essentially backwards. It just looks funny and this shouldn't be a problem by now. You wouldn't notice till you really look, but once you see it, its a bit distracting. The third complaint is that his hands are a bit soft, so he has a bit of a hard time holding his staff. This could be a safety fix, and if it is I can live with this complaint. Lastly, his staff does not have the same metallic sheen that his helmet has. Its not a big deal, but it stands out a bit and would have would have been a quick fix. I know its a bit late, but I kind of wish that these things could be straightened up before these go out to ship. For this line being out for many years now and the money that we as collectors pay for these pieces, some of these problems should not be occurring. And that's all for the complaints. 

Now Intergalactic Skeletor also came with a bonus piece. It is the battle damaged head of Faker. Now if I had the battle armor Faker, I'd have a blast with this head! Alas, though, I do not. So I have my extra head in lock up in the Classics Castle Grayskull. I do focus on the complaints sometimes when I look at my new Skeletor. Again, that is due to the cost I am paying for the toys and seeing the silly mistakes that should have been fixed before hand. I will have to say that the overall look and sculpt of this guy is some of the best for what we have seen so far in the Classics line. He is a perfect update to the 1989 "He-Man" Skeletor and really stands out among the Space Mutants of the MOTUC toy line. Now, I doubt that we will get so lucky to really have any more New Adventures characters in the Classics line. It seems that this might be the last year for these Classics run toys. Now, that might mean that they will be released under another name, but I am seriously doubting that we will see too many more of the New Adventures characters. With that being said, I'm a bit bummed because my favorite version of New Adventures Skeletor will probably not be made in the Classics toys. My favorite: Battle Blade Skeletor. Well, I am happy to have this one. Intergalactic Skeletor went on sale with mattycollector.com on August 15th. He is still available on mattycollector.com after almost two weeks. That's usually not a good sign. You can also find his on amazon.com.  


Recently, I was being filmed for a convention documentary called, Unconventional. You can see it here. While you are at it, you should check out Johnathan Paul's other video work here. 


Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

I have posted some new shirt designs in my Cafepress store. Head over to my Cafepress store and get a shirt or a couple! 

I have opened a storenvy.com shop to sell my toys. Here's the link: http://taylorlymbery.storenvy.com/

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other show is The pilot episode, where Jeff and Cory break down the Pilot Episode in TV series. The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:

If you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, August 2, 2013

Action Figure of the Day- Masters of the Universe Classics- Karatti!


 Back in May, I ordered this action figure, Karatti. He is pretty much standard in what we see with the other Masters of the Universe Classics toys in the line. I am a big fan of the New Adventures of He-Man run of toys, so I really like this guy. Looking at the vintage toy and seeing how the re-use of parts were used to make this version of Karatti, I am happy with what we got. But I will have to say that I feel that there were a couple of parts that we could have changed. I know a lot of MOTUC fans were upset by the re-use of the same techno legs that, well, everyone with some techno looking suit in this toy line has. Honestly, I think we could have used some different feet. The feet on Icarius or the standard armored boot foot would have worked and could have broken up some of the look of this leg. The other thing is this, his left hand does not grip his sword very well. One of the reasons is the fact that the left hand is sculpted open a bit. I think that hand could have been replaced with an unarmored evil villain hand. That would have been better to grip his sword. Seeing that his hands are uncovered in the vintage toy, I think this would have been ok. But, at this point, there is not a lot that we can do to change this except to customize the toy myself and I definitely do not want to destroy my toy. Despite some of the changes I felt could have been made to Karatti, the sculpt that the Four Horsemen did for the newly tooled parts is absolutely fantastic. They did a great job of capturing the look of the space armor. I really like all of the sculpted pipes and scratches on the armor. The head is beautifully detailed and is the selling piece of this toy. The face mask sculpt into the face is great!. The Horsemen captured the evil scowl well. I am very excited to have another space mutant from the New Adventures of He-Man run in the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line. Now, if we could only get a Brakk and Lizor.


You can find this toy available of amazon: Masters of the Universe Classics: Karatti


I've been invited to be one of the many talented artist to have work featured in a one night vinyl toy show called, "Vinyl Thoughts 4: Free for All" in Dallas on September 12th 2013. If you plan to be in the area, stop by and check out all of the cool custom vinyl toys. 

I had a blast being on the DELol show on Sunday July 21st. I totally lost to Jeff in the "Throw down in the toy isle" toy quiz competition. Folks, Jeff knows his toys! This last competition should be an absolute testament to that. So, a whole hearted thank you goes out to Del Pullen and Taffeta Darling for having Jeff and I on the show. 

I did buy a table for the Dallas Comic Con: Fan Days on October 4th-6th. If you are wanting a pre-Fan Days commission, let me know and I'll get it ready for pick up at that show. 

I have posted some new shirt designs in my Cafepress store. Head over to my Cafepress store and get a shirt or a couple! 

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:

If you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Action Figure of the Day- Masters of the Universe Classics- He-Man (Galactic Enforcer)


When I first saw the 4 Horsemen's sculpt of the New Adventures He-Man, I knew that this version of He-Man had to be in my collection! I know that the He-Man toy line from 89' (also known as the New Adventures of He-Man) is not a big love with many Masters of the Universe toy collectors. That line is unlike anything else in the MOTU canon. Due to the economy, I missed getting anything in this line when I was a kid. I found a He-Man vs Skeletor 2 pack, but we lacked the money to get it at that time. After that, I never could find them. I now have a small collection of characters now from that line, but not enough to really boast about it. So, every time Mattel promises a New Adventures character in the Masters of the Universe Classics line, I jump to the chance to get it. So far, I have all of the Classics New Adventures characters that have been broken into two factions, the Galactic Protectors and the Space Mutants. This He-Man would be the second toy added to the Galactic Protectors. This Classics version of He-Man is way cool! He comes with a nice selection of accessories that allow you to change his uniform up a bit as with the vintage toy. I like the look of both the standard and the armored outfits so much, I'm having a hard time deciding what uniform setup I want to display him with on my Classics shelf. He also comes with his energy shield and power sword that is casted in the frosted green plastic just like the vintage toy. There is a decent amount of re-used  parts which is perfect for him, but he also features some new tooling and a brand new articulation feature that we have not yet seen in this toyline; the ball swivel wrists. These wrist do make it easier for He-Man to hold his sword aloft. I would hope to see this articulation become a regular in this line. I think there are many characters that would benefit from having that style wrist. If you missed out of this version of He-Man, you can keep checking back for a re-release on mattycollector.com. Otherwise, you would have to get him on amazon or ebay. Mattel just announced another New Adventures character that will be added to this next years roster. That character is Hydron. As long as I can help it, I will be getting one to add to my roster of Galactic Protectors. Then I'll have to set up He-Man, Icarius, and Hydron posed in a way that mimics the New Adventures of He-Man DVD cover. I am such a nerd.



I've been invited to be one of the many talented artist to have work featured in a one night vinyl toy show called, "Vinyl Thoughts 4: Free for All" in Dallas on September 12th 2013. If you plan to be in the area, stop by and check out all of the cool custom vinyl toys. 

I had a blast being on the DELol show on Sunday July 21st. I totally lost to Jeff in the "Throw down in the toy isle" toy quiz competition. Folks, Jeff knows his toys! This last competition should be an absolute testament to that. So, a whole hearted thank you goes out to Del Pullen and Taffeta Darling for having Jeff and I on the show. 

I did buy a table for the Dallas Comic Con: Fan Days on October 4th-6th. If you are wanting a pre-Fan Days commission, let me know and I'll get it ready for pick up at that show. 

I have posted some new shirt designs in my Cafepress store. Head over to my Cafepress store and get a shirt or a couple! 

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:

If you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Sketch Card of the Day- Captain Cold!


For a while, I'll be posting some older art from my archives. I really should get that work on the site and it will help for postings as I finish up a big comic project for Gradient Comics

Today's Sketch card is Captain Cold. Captain Cold made his first appearance in May of 1957. He is a DC villain and namely one of the Flash's. I had never heard of Captain Cold until Mattel made an action figure of him in the DC Classics collection. He was part of a big build-a-figure toy wave and when I saw him, I couldn't resist getting him in my collection. This sketch card is based on that action figure. 

You can also see this sketch card in my deviantart gallery here

I'm scheduled to be on the DELol show on Sunday July 21st to have a good old fashioned "Throw down in the toy isle" toy quiz compatition between Jeff and I. You need to tune in to the DELol show that Sunday. It will be fun!

I did buy a table for the Dallas Comic Con: Fan Days on October 4th-6th. If you are wanting a pre-Fan Days commission, let me know and I'll get it ready for pick up at that show. 

I have posted some new shirt designs in my Cafepress store. Head over to my Cafepress store and get a shirt or a couple! 

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:

If you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Action Figure Friday- Masters of the Universe Classics- Snake Face!


Ever since I saw this guy in the toy news, I have been waiting for him to show up on my doorstep. He is a very cool action figure, but does not come without a few complaints. Snake Face was Mattycollector's April collector's club action figure. He is a nice addition to King Hsss's army of snake men. Much like his vintage action figure, this version of Snake Face comes with both his staff and shield. The staff is the basic re-use staff that we have seen with King Hsss and Rattlor in the Classics toy line. Snake Face's staff is a nice shade of green that matches his helmet and has great green metal detailing on the bottom scales of the snake. His shield on the other hand is lacking a little. The shield is a bright green plastic that is sculpted very nicely. Paint-wise, it has one application of gold in the center. This is not really a problem at all, but I would have just liked to see some paint that would bring out the sculpt a little more. As for the body, he has all of the basic MOTU male buck movement. We get some really nice newly tooled parts; the arms, armor, hands, loin cloth and head. One of the things that I absolutely love about the new parts is the sculpted snakes on the forearms. That sculpting is fantastic and the "elbow snakes" really accentuate the creepiness of this guy. Another of the other new pieces that I love is the snake popping face. Creepy... It's just plain creepy. This is definitely one of those toys that I will bring around my mom. She is terrified of snakes and this does a great job of giving a great scary snake vibe. (Love you, Mom.)


The original Snake Face action figure had a pop out snake action figure. What Mattel has done to give that snake feature was to add a head with the snakes coming out of the face and detachable panels that pull out of the armor in order to stick two belly snakes on his armor. In some ways, I'm not a big fan of the belly snakes. When you take off the armor panels, it leaves a small slit open at the top of the armor that shows his skin tone underneath.   I really feel that the small slits detract from the over all design. I would have liked to see the panels stay and maybe just have the snakes fit via taking a small peg away at the bottom instead of a whole panel. What can you do? I do not display him with the belly snakes. There... done. 

With all of the display options that you can get, it leaves Snake Face with a lot of parts. In the beginning, Mattel wasn't sure that they would pack in all of Snake Face's weapons due to the fact that there were so many parts. I'm glad that you did, Mattel. Let's hope that you can do the same with the upcoming Castle Grayskull, but I digress, that's another toy. Snake Face is a nice update of the original toy and does not borrow at all from the 200X design at all. I am a BIG fan of the 200X NECA Staction design, and I was hoping for some of those elements to translate over to this toy, but we can't always get what we want. So, was Snake face worth the price... Yep. He's that cool. 



Here is a listing of this toy on amazon.com: 

Masters of the Universe Classics Snake Face Figure He-Man


I purchased a table for the Dallas Comic Con in May. I look forward to seeing all of the familiar faces and hopefully some new people stopping by to chat with us. 

I have posted some new shirt designs in my Cafepress store. Head over to my Cafepress store and get a shirt or a couple! 

I have all Xenex the Bug Man comic books available for print on demand. You can see that listing here on my store's tab for comic books. 

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:
If you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug. He's feeling a bit grumpy.

Taylor and Jeff: Action Figure Buddies for Life!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Action Figure Friday- MOTU Classics Ram Man!

I was lucky, apparently. Ram Man was quick to go on the Mattycollector website the day of this beast's sale. So, I am very happy to have him and I hope that my luck holds out when I want to get my other cherry picked items off of the site for this year. Yes, I'm a cherry picker due to the fact that I was not sure that I could afford a whole line of He-Man classics toys for a year. To Mattel, I'm probably a bad guy, but I digress. 

Ram Man is awesome! I will go ahead and get the "awesome" commits out of the way! It is really cool to have him not in his mermaid legging form anymore. By Mermaid, I am referring to a type of dress that keeps your legs together; not that this tough guy would ever wear a dress... In Rammy's previous forms, his legs have always been a platform for an awesome spring loaded jump feature. It was as if his legs were a pogo stick. This version of Ram Man moves away from that to give a great action figure chocked full of articulation. This guy has all of the movement of the base MOTUC bodies, but the bulk of the toy is huge; much bigger the the base body. How big is he? He stands about seven and a half inches. That is a inch and a half higher than the base body. My one worry about my toy is that his joints are tight. Did you get that? His joints are TIGHT!!! I am very careful to move his arms and legs cause I'm afraid of breaking his limbs. This version of Ram Man comes with an alternative head that resembles his un-helmet-ed head from the Mike Young Productions cartoon. I'm ok with this head. I don't really feel that it sits well with the rest of the body. That might just be me. I'm pretty picky you know. I am excited to see that his axe holder on the back of his armor has made made it to this version of Rammy. That was a fun feature on the 200X toy that I love! Even though he can hold his axe without a problem, I do wish that he had this feature on his vintage toy. 





Now I'm not sure if this toy will ever go back to market. It should be selling on the secondary market and I have a feeling that many sellers are jacking up the prices to ridiculous (that is a true price range, ranging from redonkulous and absurd). So, if you got a Ram Man Classics, congrats. If you didn't, I pray that Mattel will find it in their hearts to bring him back to the online store. 



I purchased a table for the Dallas Comic Con in May. I look forward to seeing all of the familiar faces and hopefully some new people stopping by to chat with us. 

I have posted some new shirt designs in my Cafepress store. Head over to my Cafepress store and get a shirt or a couple! 

I have all Xenex the Bug Man comic books available for print on demand. You can see that listing here on my store's tab for comic books. 

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:
Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug. 

Taylor and Jeff: Action Figure Buddies for Life!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Action Figure Friday- MOTU Classics- Snout Spout!


One of my presents this year was the ever awesome Snout Spout from the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line! I have to admit, I really like him! I have my complaints about him, but I love his design. Now Snout Spout has a basic male buck from the line. This time, he has all new forearms and boots sculpts. His hands are new as well match his gloves. His loin cloth/tights are made of that very rubbery plastic. I do wish that there was a bit more rigidity to this plastic. I feel that it is too rubbery. The other thing that I have noticed is that his feet do not move too well at the ankle joint to his boots. Some of the sculpt gets in the way. Snout Spout comes with two accessories, an axe and a "jaws of life" claw. I like how the claw has an elephant face sculpted into the design. That is a very nice touch. I do have a bit of a problem with the axe. In the original vintage release of the axe, it had a handle about mid way down for the action figure to hold on to. In some ways, I wish mattel would have added that handle back. My axe continually slides down in ole' Spout's hands. As far as this action figures uniform, he does come with removable armor and backpack and a removable head. Ok, so his head. The trunk is bendable. Over the plastic/rubber that was used to make the truck is a matte grey paint. When you bend the trunk, the paint seems to squish. So far I've not seen any areas where the paint has broken, but this should be a word of warning to make sure that you take heed when you are posing this guy. Even with all of the little quirks that are enough to make me complain about it, overall, I really like this guy. I had a vintage version of him from back in the day, and I kind of wish I still had him. This version is not as overly technological as the 200X version was, but it is a nice update to the vintage. If you like this guy, and I mean, really like him, this version is a nice addition to any Masters of the Universe line. 

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how. 

The long awaited issue 4 of Xenex the Bug Man is now up for order. It's a great looking comic book! Head on over to the Bug Man site and see what I'm talking about!

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com  and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:
Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!