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. 

Issue 5 of Xenex the Bug Man is available on indyplanet.com! 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. 

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:

Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode 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!

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. 

Issue 5 of Xenex the Bug Man is available on indyplanet.com! 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. 

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:

Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode 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!

Sketch Card of the Day- Skeletor!

Skeletor or Ole' bone head! There are not too many people in the world who do not know the name, "Skeletor". When the 200X series of action figures hit the market, I was extremely excited about the new design that Skeletor rocked. He looked so cruel and evil. I liked him a lot when I was a kid, but due to his new design, he won my heart in 2002. If you know the 200X design well, you should understand what I am saying. So this piece is an older sketch card that I did way back a year or so based on the 2002 toy of Skeletor. You can also see this piece in my deviantart gallery here. 

Big news! 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'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. 

Issue 5 of Xenex the Bug Man is available on indyplanet.com! 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. 

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:

Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode 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!

Pin-up of the Day- King Randor!

Oh King Randor, are you the true ruler of the burger? Are you the Burger King? There is no relation between the two, but come on, someone was inspired a little from the other! King Randor is the father of Adam in the Masters of the Universe story. As a kid, I always wanted a King Randor action figure. Now that I am older, I still want one and the Classics version of him too. He has a really cool color scheme and great design elements. He looks a lot like the Burger King which is always a plus in my mind. He can rule my hunger and feed me delicious whoppers any day! You can also see this here on my deviantart gallery.

I had a blast on the DELol show. I was there talking about Xenex the Bug Man, my custom toys, and Jeff and I's podcast, Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff. Here's a link to the show I'm on (episode 42). If you haven't listened to the DELol show, you are truly missing out.

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. 

Issue 5 of Xenex the Bug Man is available on indyplanet.com! 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. 

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:

Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode 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!

Action Figure Friday- Maxx Steele's Robo Force- Blazer!

In the latest Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff podcast, Jeff and I talk about the Maxx Steele Robo Force toy line. I have been holding off on posting any of these toys until we posted the show. I am so happy to finally show some of these toys off. Robo Force was created by the Ideal Toy Company (CBS Toys) in 1984. Each robot had crushing arm action feature and a suction cup on their bottom. As theoldrobots.com put it, "they resembled customized daleks." I came into possession of almost the entire run of the very short toyline due to a friend who wanted them to go to a good home. Well, fret not, they did go to a good home indeed. I need to say,"Thanks, buddy! I enjoy having them."

The robot I am talking about today is Blazer. Blazer is the Saxophone playing firefighter/ firestarter robot of the Robo Force. He was voted most likely to resemble a firefighting engine in his robot graduating class. Ok. I was kidding about him being in school. Robots don't go to school, they are programmed. Back when I was a kid, I always wanted a Blazer, but I could only find Maxx, which I owned. When I got the box of Robo Force toys that was given to me, I was a giddy that I finally got a Blazer. One of the things that I never realized about this robot was that his head cannon is a basic water blaster which works  like a water bulb that you use to clean out your ears. It's an extremely simple feature, but very effective. Along with his head cannon, he has the basic crushing arms feature and suction cup that seems to barely work that all of the Robo Force robots sport. Now, I'm not exactly sure what all accessaries Blazer came with, but from his package picture, I think that the two red blasters was all he had. I am pretty sure that this comic also came with him since it features him more than the other in package comic I have for Robo Force. These toys are very simple. Their vehicles are simple, and even the playset, The Fortress of Steele, looks a bit simple, but I will have to say that they do have a great punch of action features and play value. If you are able to get some of these toys without having to spend a fortune, I say go for it. They are fun to have, fun to talk about and fun pieces to show. 

Back not too long ago, I posted an Action Figure Friday where I talked about the Savage He-Man. I wanted to post an update on him since I have refurbished his paint. It took a while to get the color of his hair matched. I didn't have too much of a problem getting his boots and belt color correct, as well as his teeth and eyebrows. I know that he did not come with the Zodac black armor and blaster, but honor of what Mattel did with the Wun-Dar MOTU Classics action figure, I figured I would go ahead and get a black blaster for him. I'm very happy with this addition to my Masters of the Universe toy collection. 

I'm scheduled to be on the DELol show on Sunday June 23rd talking about Xenex the Bug Man, my custom toys, and Jeff and I's podcast, Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff. I'll be on air with Taffeta, the DELol crew and the Clever Girl Cabaret performers. If you haven't listened to the DELol show, you are truly missing out.

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. 

Issue 5 of Xenex the Bug Man is available on indyplanet.com! 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. 

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:

Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebook
The Loosely Based Podcast on facebook
The Pilot Episode 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!

Action Figure of the Day- The Savage "Wonder Bread" He-man!

So just want to start this posting off by saying that nobody really knows where this guy actually came from. No one really knows if he is a knock off, or if he was some sort of promotional toy. There are a few defining factors that let you know if you actually have a true Savage He-Man, or if you just got a fake. Fortunately for me, I got a real one. He has seen better days, but I got one. So, what makes a true Savage He-man? There are several production factors that will tell you if you have the real thing. Eric Stettmeier at Toyriffic has a really good run down of the factors as well as Bruno Bliss's photo library. The first big factor is that there is a gap between the bottom of the belt and the top of the fur in the loin piece. The fur sculpt does not go all the way up to the belt. There is a gap between the bottom of the neck and the body.  There is a date on the under side of the neck where it sits on the body. That date should be 1981, and match the 1981 that is printed on his back. The paint on his boots should come up a little onto his calves. The brown of his hair should not be the same shade of brown as his loin cloth. And one really big thing is this, Savage He-Man should not have a pin in his neck. No one really knows what Savage He-Man came with as far as accessories. Honestly, as I had before, no one really knows where this action figure came from. Some people believe that he was a Wonder Bread mail order toy, but Wonder Bread can't confirm it. Mattel apparently has no idea where this toy came from either. I believe that he might have been a first run of He-Man toys in the Conan colors. The molding is way to detailed to be a knock off. I believe that that first run was handed out as a promotional toy to demonstrate the waist action feature to toy retailers and vendors, who then gave the samples to their kids to play with. I doubt I am right about that. Recently, The Toy Hunter sold a Savage He-Man to Scott Neitlich, who is the Senior Brand Analyst at Mattel toys. I haven't sat down to watch my recording of it yet, but The Savage He-Man sold for about $450.00. I acquired my Savage He-Man from Darth Mall toys through art trade. I am currently working on touching up the paint on my toy. I am having a hard time mixing the paint for the hair, but I am sure I can get it done. I have already matched the paint on the face, belt and boots. Even though it is believed that Savage He-Man did not actually come with weapons and armor, I do plan on picking up a black Zodac gun to match the accessories that came with the Masters of the Universe Classics action figure, Wun-Dar (the wonder bread eternian) who was made to pay homage to this Savage He-Man action figure. I'm not sure if refurbishment causes the value of the toy to go down, but this toy is really for me and not trade, so I am going to pretty him up as best as I can. 

 

Number 1 for Topless Robot's post: 10 Exclusive action figures you will probably never own was The Savage He-man. They have a few interesting things to say bout this toy. The weapons that came with my Savage He-Man is in fact the extra weapons that came with the rare to find packaged Man-E-Faces, dubbed, "Man-E.Weapons". I am debating if I will display these weapons with this toy if I get am acrylic case for him. I probably shouldn't plan too far in advance, I still have to match the paint of his hair...

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! 

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

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

Action Figure Friday- Road RIpper!

This is one of those Masters of the Universe vehicles that I ended up getting way after the line was over and I got a wild hair to collect all of these He-Man toys as an adult. I got this Road Ripper in the aftermarket on ebay for pretty cheap. I think I spent maybe five dollars with shipping included. Originally, this toy had only a few of its stickers, which were in bad shape, and it was missing it's rip-cord. I ended up downloading the scanned decals on He-Man.org, scanning in my salvaged stickers from my toy, combining the two and using photoshop to clean up the decals. I tried to get the stickers as close as I could to the original decals that were supplied with the toy. I printed them off on a sticker sheet and laminated the decals with a sealing tape. Later on, I got a rip-cord from DFW Vintage toys to complete this bad boy! This is a very simple Masters of the Universe vehicle, but the design and play value are fantastic. When I got the rip-cord, I sat and played with this thing over, and over, and over. It really is fun! The only complaint that I have is that I didn't have a friend over to wheel the toy back to me. Instead, I had to walk across the room to get it...

If you have a Road Ripper that you are trying to refurbish, you can download the original file here to print your own sticker sheets. Just a warning, I do retain a small bit of copyright on this sticker sheet due to the photoshop work that I did to "clean" the decals. The rest (and almost all) of the copyright goes to Mattel who is the sole copyright holder of the original Road Ripper decal design. Please do not print off my decals to sell on ebay. If I see this happening I will report you to ebay. This is for anyone and everyone who has a Road Ripper that they would like to clean up. These decals are not absolutely perfect and therefore not official. The color may be a little off and the trim lines may not be exact, but I tried to get it as close as I could to the original. Enjoy.

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

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!