Explore Kastor’s Korner coverage from 2010 — toy reviews, convention coverage, interviews, videos, editorials, and collector history from the archive.
The smell of pine filled my room as I opened the March MOTU figure. Moss Man is my main reason for getting the 2010 MOTU subscription, but does he live up to my expectations? Find out inside. I wrote a whole blog about the character a few months ago when there was a chance he would not be flocked,
When I first saw the custom weapons for the MOTU line, I was excited but I was skeptical. The MOTU line is one of the only lines that does not feel too light on accessories. Some figures like Zodac and Stratos came with next to nothing, but Teela and Man at Arms are over packed. Each figure only
When I was a kid I thought that Battle Cat was one of the coolest figures ever. It was great to have this giant cat for my He-man to ride on. I remember trying to do the Battle Cat voice and it hurt my throat, it was too low and harsh. As I got older I sold off most of my toys, including Battle
Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull Diorama Stands Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics program has obviously been a smashing success, and on top of the monthly and bonus figures (or underneath them, in this case) are the recently-released Castle Grayskull Diorama Stands. The
One of the bigger events of the last few years was Marvel sending the Hulk to a distant planet. The Planet Hulk story line changed the way people looked at the Hulk and helped him go from the brainless smashing thing to one of the most relevant characters in the Marvel Universe. Lionsgate put out a
Secret Wars Comic Packs Series 4 Review: It seems like Series 3 of Hasbro’s Secret Wars Comic 2-Packs just hit shelves and now Series 4 is sneaking out, hot on its heels. The fourth (and final) wave of Secret Wars Comic 2-Packs includes the final three issues of the original 12-issue series and
Kicking off 2010, the Marvel Universe has new sets of two packs hitting stores now. The third wave of Secret Wars is starting to show up at all the major retailers, and they are worth the time to track them down. This wave of figures fills in some major holes in the Marvel Universe line, from
The movie line of Iron Man 2 gives fans something they missed in the first movie, figures in a smaller scale. This line will not only give collectors and kids figures from the new movie, but also goes back and gives us all the great armors from the first movie.Mark-One - Mark One is small and bulky
The Iron Man 2 concept series takes comic influences and mixes them with the look of the movie designs to give us some fun armors. While many of us are always complaining about the numerous character variants in other lines, the variants in this line offer great display possibilities. The Deep Dive
I debated alot over Battle Armor He-man. Having only seen him at SDCC, I was not sure if I needed another version of him in my collection. The collecting bug got the better of me when I saw him in person at a comic store. The urge to get a better head for my first He-man and a chance to check out
Fans have been asking and waiting for years for an accurate Arcee figure, and until this year those pleas have gone unanswered. Right now Toys R Us stores are getting an exclusive animated Arcee figure, which is making alot of fans happy, and some longing for more. Check her out inside.When I was
Spider-Man wave 2: Power Charge Rhino review: It was only a few weeks ago that the first wave of 3 ¾” Spider-Man figures hit retail, to strongly mixed reviews. Hasbro followed the old Toy Biz trend of sneaking some beloved villains into an assortment of brightly colored and often quite odd Spidey
Masters of the Universe Classics: Trapjaw Review Ever since I was a kid, my favorite Masters of the Universe character was always Trapjaw. All the rest of the kids on the block could keep their He- Man and Skeletor… maybe it was his metal jaw, or the awesome robotic arm with swappable attachments,
Mezco- Kick Ass- The line will feature a 12" and 7" line of figures as well as Mez-itzs Series One- Kick Ass & Hit Girl Series Two- Should include Red Mist & Big Daddy. Mez-itz- Kick Ass & Hit Girl. The Movie title should not impact mass retail distribution (ex. Hellboy 2 being called HB2 to get
The Princess of Power, or should I say the secret identity of the Princess, kicks off the 2010 MOTU subscriptions, but is she is powerful as her brother? Find out insideFirst off, it is very hard to write these reviews because almost every time the figure has sold out by the time the review is
Right now there are two waves of Super Hero Squad hitting stores. In the last week the second set has hit and there are all new Squadies for collectors and kids to pick up.While I could spend time on every figure, I'm not going to. There are, within these two sets, a Spiderman, Wolverine, and Iron
GI Joe: Rise of Cobra Toys R Us Exclusives wave 3 The first official GI Joe product coming out of Hasbro is another set of figures that helps the transition from 2009’s “Rise of Cobra” movie line to 2010’s “Pursuit of Cobra” theme, and comes in the form of two single figures, both only sold at Toys
It only took five months, but collectors around the country are finally able to put together Brimstone. Check out the review inside.The Public Enemies line, based on the animated movie, is one that many collectors were unsure about, full of painted bucks and a stylized look. The Infinite Heroes
I have been waiting for the Spiderman line to be a companion to the Marvel U line, and while we first took a look at the line’s big names a few weeks ago it took a while to get the other figure I wanted from the line. Venom was almost worth the wait. I know that all the first wave figures are not
With the JLU still limping along at Target, the only game in town for JLU collectors, three new sets hopefully will breathe some life back into the line. On Sunday Bill called and woke me up early, and I was going to not answer and go back to sleep, but something made me pick up the phone. I was
Quick reviews 1Colossus is a figure that was a surprise to most of us this past year. The big metal Russian is part of wave three of the Wolverine Origins line, but like Iceman he was not in the movie. The rundown- We get a good comic version of a major X-man, without taking up room in the Marvel U
Wave 2 was much better quality, and gave us some much needed figures to round out some areas of the Marvel Universe. Hulk/Cyclops-The Hulk is a mix of the wave two version and an all new head sculpt. I wish this had been the mix for the wave two version from the start. The only problem with the
The last DCUC two pack of the year, and last Matty Collector two pack for the time being is a nice bookmark to the first two pack offered at the beginning of 2009. This two pack was one of the more surprising announcements to come out of SDCC. B'wana Beast and Animal Man are a natural combination
In the past few months we have seen two new DCUC two packs. The first is the Color of Fear, which has been almost a year in the making. This set surprised fans of the DCUC line at SDCC, and made for some fun custom projects. The Color of Fear set added some much needed support for DCUC wave three
December brought us two new MOTU figures, one green and one red. They are all decked out for the holiday season, so let’s take a look at the first one to arrive at my house, the Goddess. I will admit that my knowledge of the MOTU world is limited to the memories I have of the cartoon, and some of
The second figure in our MOTU Christmas theme is King Randor, the father of Prince Adam and ruler of Eternia. The first reaction when he was announce at SDCC was that Mattel and Burger King had made a deal to produce toys. His resemblance to the Burger King is uncanny, but he is a MOTU figure from
Captain Marvel and his family are finally part of the JLU line. So how did they fare compared to the rest of the JLU line on Matty Collector? Find out inside. One of the original sculpts in this line is the Wizard. This figure is made from original parts that have limited reuse, but this figure is
The line that I thought I had to wait until the spring for has popped up at Walmarts this weekend. Check out the first two figures. I was unsure how I would like the new line of Spiderman figures, though after seeing them at SDCC I was hopeful. The main point of this line appears to be to get us
Custom Showcase: 12” Temple of Doom Indiana Jones As some of you reading probably know I’ve been customizing action figures for years now, and some people even say I’m pretty good at it. As it turns out, I guess customizing action figures runs in my family, because my Dad just finished up a custom
Kick-Ass Movie Review It’s very rare thing when a movie can be called a perfect adaptation. It’s possible, even in genre films like comic book movies. Iron-Man, The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 are all great examples of a comic book property being translated perfectly for the screen. Kick-Ass is
Kastor: With the announcement that there will be no tiered subscriptions, a major question comes up. Those of us who signed up for the 2010 subscription knew what we were getting into, and are able to plan accordingly for the charges, but at the time of sign up for the 2011 subscription will we we
Kastor: The Retro Action DC Superheroes figures are essentially filling in the missing characters from the 1970s Mego line... what are the chances that the "Retro" brand might be extended to fill in the gaps for other classic DC toy lines, such as 5" Super Powers style figures? Matty's Magic
If/When the popular Ram Man gets made for the MOTU line would he be considered a large scale figure or do you plan to try to fit him on a standard card? He will be a standard sized figure if and when we get to Ram Man. Remember, all of the MOTUC figures are in the same scale to each other as the
The past few weeks the first books I have picked up to read on Wednesdays have had the big M on the cover. This new trend in my pastime goes further than comics, and extends to toys and movies. I have always been a DC guy. Robin and later Nightwing was the one hero I have always identified with,
Alice in Wonderland Review: It seems like ages ago that Tim Burton first announced he would be making a live action film based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and now the movie is finally hitting theaters everywhere on Friday. The potential of a combination of this much-loved (and very
The Wolfman 12” Deluxe Figure review: Mezco Toyz revealed their Wolfman toys way back at Toy Fair 2009, and they have finally reached shelves nationwide along with the new movie in theaters now. There are two 7” figures and two deluxe 12” figures all based on the titular movie monster, and today
With all the Golden Age figures, and all the legacy type characters in the DCUC line, one character has left some fans wondering, does DC/ Mattel have the right to do a Dan Garrett/Garret figure for the DCUC line? He would be a nice way to finish up the Blue Beetle family Yes, Dan is in our master
Kotobukiya Toy Fair 2010 Report: Star Wars: On display were the new models of the Star Wars Lightsaber chopsticks. Coming in 2010 will be Mace Windu, Yoda and Darth Maul’s blades (Darth Maul’s chopsticks connect together to form a double-sided chopstick). They are looking into adding a light-up
McFarlane Toys Toy Fair 2010 Report: Halo: On display were Halo Series 7 and 8. Both will be available Spring 2010, and include the first female Halo figure, as well as the first soldier with a removable helmet. There will be a second series of Mongose ATV vehicles, with new drivers, as well as a
Diamond- Diamond had a good showing at Toy Fair 2010. There is no doubt that they put out some great product, but it also comes at a higher price. Minimates continue in 2010, adding more Marvel characters, Iron Man 2, vehicles, and generic characters like firemen and police to the Minimates world.
Clash of the Titans: 7” Perseus will be first figure released, but more will follow, including Zeus, Hades and some of the monsters. Perseus was the only figure who ended up being produced in enough time to hit retail before the movie, so they are releasing him solo for now. Perseus should be in
The Wolfman Review This weekend marks the big screen return of a Universal Monsters classic, The Wolfman. The new version of this classic tale, directed by Joe Johnson (Hidalgo, Jurassic Park 3) and starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving, was plagued with production problems
Kastor: With some fans unhappy with the final Flocking of Moss Man, if he does see a rerelease would it be possible to have him unflocked? Or would that fall under retooling, and not be possible? Matty: We did poll fans and there seemed to be very little interest in a completely unflocked Moss Man.
Toy fair is coming up and there is a lot of debate on what is coming from the DCUC line Toy fair is coming up and there is a lot of debate on what is coming from the DCUC line. We know that we might see wave 13 samples, Wave 14 two ups, and maybe a surprise or two. But what news could be coming
Kastor: Can you explain to fans why a process of flocking and why different type of flocking was used on Mossman. The SDCC version was a deeper green and looked more like moss, whereas the final version is more a yellow green and fuzzy. Matty: Flocking is done by first spraying a figure with glue
One of the lines that got lost in the moving shuffle was Marvel Universe Secret Wars. Check out the first two waves reviews and take a look at what is to come in the third and fourth waves. When this part of the Marvel Universe line was announced at Toy Fair last year, the character selection was
Was the Siege worth it?The first issue of the Siege feels like an episode of Lost, rather than an issue of a comic book. There is so much going on in the book, that without a roadmap the average reader will be lost. If you want to avoid spoilers, turn back now. All the major players are introduced
Kastor: Based on the last round of Q&A's, the Pursuit of Cobra theme won't begin until the second half of 2010. Will items such as the Desert Ambush Zartan wave, Toys R Us wave 3 (like Arctic Doc) or wave 3 Target deluxe figures, be released prior to this, or will we not see new GI Joe product in
Kastor: The DCUC Batman and Robin 2 pack coming out next year with a classic Tim Drake Robin has the incorrect symbol and incorrect gloves. Is there any way these can be changed before release? Matty: At this point this pack is already being shipped to Wal-Mart. We’ll look into making any changes