Sketch Card of the day- Extendar!

Our sketch card of the day is Extendar! This guy was once described as being reminiscent to an old time bar of soap. I'm not sure how I feel about having a Masters of the Universe character made fun of in such a way. But, at first glance, he could be thought of in that way. If you need to see what I'm talking about, here's a link to the toy. Look at him in squatted form to get the soap look. From the information I found on this character, Extendar was abducted by Hordak for evil experiments.  He escaped the Evil Horde before the effects of the experiments had fully taken effect, but was forever transformed into a mechanized warrior, capable of extending his body length by over 50 percent. Depending on the canon, Extendar was either an Eternian knight or an Etherian athlete and former friend of Dragstor. You remember Dragstor don't you?! This is one of those characters that I overlooked as a child. His armor is a pearl color with gold detailing, and he was just a little to weird for me. I think I'm having second thoughts about that. Granted, he's a bit... what's the word for looking like a bar of soap, bulky and pearl white, the extending feature is rather cool. That's a selling point! Also added to the neat-o feature of him extending, he also sported a red shield that unfolded to add to the idea of this guy extending out. Another selling point! One fun fact that is featured on this guy's toy listing on he-man.org is that he has a peace sign sculpted on the back of his mechanical neck. It's a peace sign from Etheria! That could be a selling point! I'm not sure if I can make enough selling points to make this guy seem really cool. Maybe he would have fared better with me as a child if he wasn't pearly white. Maybe a silver instead? I personally don't have an action figure of this character and as far as I know, there is only one; the vintage one. I have seen this guy go for $50.00 on line and in a couple of resale shops. I'm not sure I am ready to drop that kind of money on this guy, so I'll want till I find a deal on him. As many selling points as I made today, I'm still in no hurry... You can also see this art piece here.

There's been an update to the store tabs on both Xenex the Bug Man, and this site. All of the print on demand issues, cafepress stores and commissions info will be under the new store tab on both this site and the Xenex the Bug Man site. Hopefully this page makes shopping a bit easier. Go and check it out! 

Just a quick update: I did go ahead and purchase a table for the Fan Days Convention in October. So I will be there (given that I don't have another mishap).

Now, you mighty be asking what this Marvin Dog media is. I've got answers. I had been working with a good friend of mine, Jeff McGee, before I got sick on designing logos and banners for a podcast that I am on and logos and banners of podcasts that other friends are on. I have listened to all of the shows so far and they are great! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) That show is called Talking toys with Taylor and Jeff. 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! Again, 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!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 Toy Review!

It's been a while since I have done a toy review on here. Honestly, I had not planned on doing another, but the toys I am reviewing today are so great, I couldn't bring myself to not review them! "What are the toys?," you ask. The toys I'm so excited about are Playmate's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)! 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

Ever since I saw pics of these guys from this year's Toy Fair coverage, I've been pretty excited about getting a set of the turtles. I had been waiting to see when they were going to be sold at stores. They just launched to shelves this last week and I have to say, They were worth the wait through the summer! Lucky for me, I got some of the turtles as gift from a friend! So, this little review has just become affordable! Yeah!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) in Package

First off, let's talk about the package. The package is very bright showing the traditional turtle green and now purple. The logo work is reminiscent of the old logo work of Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman comic books. That is a HUGE plus for me being a big TMNT fan of the comics. Each turtle is posed uniquely in their package and overall, they all look phenomenal! I had a hard time debating with myself on if I wanted to take them out of their package. In the end, the wise words of a ten year old made sense, "Those are too cool to not take out of the package". This is a very wise ten year old.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) 

One of the first things I noticed with each turtle is that they don't share a lot of reused parts. Each turtle has a unique body; from the head to the shell. Normally you wouldn't get this kind of detailing with an action figure line. I really like this. The turtles are all different heights. Mike is the smallest, Don is the tallest, and Leo and Raph are in between. I'm not sure how I feel about Mike being the smallest one, but it's not something that really bothers me. The color palette on these guys are also really good. The tones of greens, browns, and beiges are earth toned enough to give the nice turtle coloring, but the colors are bright enough to give a very bright comic book/cartoon feel. The detail sculpting on these guys is really good. Ok, it's better than good, it's great! The articulation is nice. They have 11 points of articulation, and that's pretty good for a 4 1/2" action figure. They have ball hinged shoulders, elbows, thighs and knees. They also sport a ball jointed neck and swivel wrists. My one true complaint on the articulation is that I would have loved to see the ankle on a ball joint. I think that would help with poseability. Ninjas don't tipping toe.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) 

Each Turtle also sports a belt with working holsters.  I like all of the holster/belt work, but I would have liked to see more holster pieces that would hold all of their extra weapons. All of their main weapons fit well in the turtles belts, except for Michelangelo's. If you try and fit his Knunchucks in his belt, it leaves stress lines on the plastic where the chains are on the knunchucks. I did it oncet and was afraid I would break them. Going back to the extra weapons, one of my good friends, Jeff, has a rule about action figures; No action figure should have more weapons/ accessories that what they can hold. These toys break that rule, BADLY. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

With the original release of TMNT, each toy came with a load of extra weapons, but on the weapon sprue, the weapons came with a rack for you to put the turtles' extra weapons on. I like that the weapon sprue has come back, but I feel that there should have been a weapon's rack added. It would help with the display option. As of now, there is too many weapons lying  around. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) 

So, all in all, these guys are pretty amazing! The sculpt and detail work brings the cool factor up for the overall awesomeness of these action figures. My one big complaint is the lack of ankle articulation and I also wish that there was a weapon rack for the extra pieces. But, Playmates has out done themselves with this version of the Ninja Turtles, which surprises me considering the last couple of bombed toy lines they had: (2009) Star Trek and Terminator Salvation. Both of those lines were pretty bad. These new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys are about $8.00 to $9.00 per character and are in stores now. I think that these guys are well worth the price and I would give the toys a 4 1/2 of of 5 turtle head rating. Wicked Tight! 

4 1/2 out of 5

Here's the listing of the Turtles on Amazon.com:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leonardo

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Michelangelo

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Raphael

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Donatello

There's been an update to the store tabs on both Xenex the Bug Man, and this site. All of the print on demand issues, cafepress stores and commissions info will be under the new store tab on both this site and the Xenex the Bug Man site. Hopefully this page makes shopping a bit easier. Go and check it out! 

Just a quick update: I did go ahead and purchase a table for the Fan Days Convention in October. So I will be there (given that I don't have another mishap).

Now, you mighty be asking what this Marvin Dog media is. I've got answers. I had been working with a good friend of mine, Jeff McGee, before I got sick on designing logos and banners for a podcast that I am on and logos and banners of podcasts that other friends are on. I have listened to all of the shows so far and they are great! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) That show is called Talking toys with Taylor and Jeff. 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! Again, 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!

Xenex Issue 5 Cover Revealed on Xenex the Bug Man.com

Issue 5 Cover by Taylor Lymbery

Big news for all Xenex the Bug Man fans! Issue 4 is off to the printers and I am waiting to put it on the storefront. While we all wait to get issue 4 in our hands, here's the cover to issue 5! Head on over to www.xenexthebugman.com for more info on this cover! 

There's been an update to the store tabs on both Xenex the Bug Man, and this site. All of the print on demand issues, cafepress stores and commissions info will be under the new store tab on both this site and the Xenex the Bug Man site. Hopefully this page makes shopping a bit easier. Go and check it out! 

Just a quick update: I did go ahead and purchase a table for the Fan Days Convention in October. So I will be there (given that I don't have another mishap).

Now, you mighty be asking what this Marvin Dog media is. I've got answers. I had been working with a good friend of mine, Jeff McGee, before I got sick on designing logos and banners for a podcast that I am on and logos and banners of podcasts that other friends are on. I have listened to all of the shows so far and they are great! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) That show is called Talking toys with Taylor and Jeff. 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! Again, 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!

Sketch Card of the Day- Dragstor!

Dragstor Sketch Card by Taylor Lymbery

Our sketch card of the day is Dragstor! If you hated the Masters of the Universe license and felt that you would never like it, this guy should in theory change your mind. This is one of those obscure characters that has a bit of a cult fan following, and I think it's due to his action figure and back story. Let's start with the cool figurine. This guy has only been made in the vintage line-up. He did not receive a 200X molding and he has yet to show up in the Classics toy line. The vintage action figure had a giant wheel in the center of his body. You would put a rip cord in his side, pull the rip cord and lay him down. He would take off on that wheel and knock things over at super sonic evil horde speed! This was a truly awesome action feature, and to top him off, he had an amazing evil horde look! Now his backstory, from what I found, is pretty cool too. I found two possible stories on he-man.org. First one is that, Ole' Draggy here was once a good friend to Extendar and he was once an Etherian athlete, that is until Hordak turned him into Dragstor with his evil experiments. The other was that Dragstor was a peasant of Etheria, that is until Hordak turned him into Dragstor with his evil experiments. Either way, this guy was doomed to be a Wheeled Warrior! (Ha, I made a toy within toy reference pun. If you are curious, look up Jaycee and the Wheeled Warriors) All in all, from backstory to action feature, I really feel that this character is a great addition to the MOTU universe. I am after the vintage action figure and if Mattel manages to include this guy in the Classics, I'm pretty sure I'll get one if the figure is at a good price. You can also see this art piece here.

There's been an update to the store tabs on both Xenex the Bug Man, and this site. All of the print on demand issues, cafepress stores and commissions info will be under the new store tab on both this site and the Xenex the Bug Man site. Hopefully this page makes shopping a bit easier. Go and check it out! 

Just a quick update: I did go ahead and purchase a table for the Fan Days Convention in October. So I will be there (given that I don't have another mishap).

Now, you mighty be asking what this Marvin Dog media is. I've got answers. I had been working with a good friend of mine, Jeff McGee, before I got sick on designing logos and banners for a podcast that I am on and logos and banners of podcasts that other friends are on. I have listened to all of the shows so far and they are great! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) That show is called Talking toys with Taylor and Jeff. 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! Again, 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!

Sketch Card of the Day- Blast Attak!

Blast Attak sketch card by Taylor Lymbery

And just when you thought the He-Man sketch cards were done, I bring them back! Trust me, I have a whole binder full of these guys. Even if I stopped making anymore of these sketch cards, I still have a load of them to post. SO... With that being said, our sketch card of the day is Blast Attak! Now this is one of those characters that came around at the end of the vintage Masters of the Universe line. He's very weird, though I would love to own one. I did some research on this guy and was left empty handed as far as background story. I've seen fan art of him where he is in the 200X style design with a snake man emblem on him. I'm not sure, but I think he might be a snake man exploding robot. If you are reading this, and you know, let me know in the comments, cause I am stumped. Now, I mentioned that this guy exploded. He did. His action figure came in two halves. You put Blast Attak together and then then inserted a cord in his back. If you hit the plunger on the cord, he'd explode! I remember wanting this guy for that very reason! Think about it.  Let's say that the good guys are trying to close up Grayskull. Blast Attak is able to get half his body in the draw bridge door, and then, "Boom!". He would basically blow the door off of his hinges! At the least, that's how I envisioned him as a kid. Beside the exploding feature, he is basically a very cool robot looking dude, and let's be honest, having another robot in the MOTU universe is just plain awesome! You can also see this art piece here.

There's been an update to the store tabs on both Xenex the Bug Man, and this site. All of the print on demand issues, cafepress stores and commissions info will be under the new store tab on both this site and the Xenex the Bug Man site. Hopefully this page makes shopping a bit easier. Go and check it out! 

Just a quick update: I did go ahead and purchase a table for the Fan Days Convention in October. So I will be there (given that I don't have another mishap).

Now, you mighty be asking what this Marvin Dog media is. I've got answers. I had been working with a good friend of mine, Jeff McGee, before I got sick on designing logos and banners for a podcast that I am on and logos and banners of podcasts that other friends are on. I have listened to all of the shows so far and they are great! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) That show is called Talking toys with Taylor and Jeff. 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! Again, 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!