Good job Mattycollector

This is the right way of causing a figure to be attractive. By admitting that it's a chase figure, by actively making sure it's limited - all the while making sure it's not really a character anyone needs in their collection. And all for the reason of creating hype around the line, and the store that sells these toys, mattycollector.com.

What was the deal you ask? Well, last Wednesday, a random icon picturing the Horde symbol popped up on mattycollector.com. The link led you to a normal shop page, like the one we have become used to, and from there we could order "Spirit of Hordak", a translucent red version of the standard Hordak figure. This was completely unannounced, and fans completely lost their shit. Like seriously. Within an hour, the buzz was all over the internet, and "the org" (he-man.org) had a 20-page thread on candy red Hordak. As usual, the MOTUC community acted like idiots and started complaining. Keep in mind, I have done my fair share of complaining over this line, so I guess I'm one of them as well. But the difference this time was that people were complaining about not being prepared for the release of a figure (one guy even complained he didn't have money), and that makes no sense to me. That was the entire purpose of the figure, to be a surprise.

As expected, roughly an hour into release, Hordak "went back into hiding", and people who weren't logged in to mattycollector.com at that moment subsequently missed out on the figure. Even prolific toy reviewer Pixel Dan was unaware that this would go down, and missed out as well, all though I'm sure someone hooked him up.

KYZEH shares photos of his Spirit of Hordak.

Keep in mind that this is a character we had heard nothing about. Yes, we had heard nothing about action figure, but the character was new to us as well. So there was no desire to own this one before he was released, unlike several other toys we've seen become rare and expensive (SDCC exclusives come to mind).
So no one could claim that they actually needed this in their collection, claiming it was unfair to release Spirit of Hordak as a chase figure. Yet, as usual with translucent toys, it was a cool enough toy for everyone to want. It also helps that Hordak is a cool character, and every variant will become somewhat attractive.

Completists may have a legitimate reason to complain, but then Toyguru went out and said that Hordak actually didn't sell out, but would continue to randomly pop up in their store.
How brilliant is that? They're making sure to always have collectors check their store, instead of checking in monthly like we're used to. From a marketing standpoint, I can't praise this enough. Of course, this doesn't make up for the fiasco that was the Hoverboard or Castle of Grayskull. But it's a start. Continue to positively surprise us, Mattycollector.

Org-user KYZEH was one of the first to receive Hordak, and was cool enough to share pictures. He looks magnificent.

Figure Friday: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A rare return for the Figure Friday article, it just worked that way this week. The brother of my girlfriend was eager to show me some of his old toys, and pulled out a nice little collection of 2003s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I grew up with the first wave of Turtles figures, the ones from the early 90s, and I vividly remember playing with an insane line-up of wacky toys.

These ones, which I guess can be considered the second wave, look to be similarly wacky. I like this. It's fun, cool, just like action figures should be.
What's even more cool is the impressive play set, the Sewer. The contemporary TMNT toy line also has a great looking playset, released last year, and it goes to show, we shouldn't have to pay $500 for a lackluster play set, when awesome ones are >$100.

Either way, hop on in for many pictures.

Outdoor Wieners

Title may be silly, but the winter has been long, and why not celebrate it? The first barbecue of the season may have been extremely simple as you probably can see, but it was non the less relieving.
So yes, to celebrate that the snow was gone, me and the girlfriend went out in the woods and cooked wieners.

Vintage Lego Space Minifigure

In relation to the upcoming May 4th, as well as Star Trek hitting theaters soon-ish, here's some Space Lego minifigures!

Lego was never one to shy away from trends, and what was more relevant in the late 70s and early 80s than family-friendly sci.-fi? 

And they have kept at it ever since. The guys below can be dated from early 80s to the early 90s. Notice how the logo evolves from the earliest (yellow, far right), to the blue one. The yellow one didn't actually come with the motorcycle styled helmet. He came with the one that more closely resembles a bucket. But at some point in history, Lego lost the mold to that helmet. And when ever they re-issue the vintage space guys, you'll see this new styled helmet.

The old helmet can be seen on this awesome little guy: 

Ten Days of Chicken

"If you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

This question always amused me. Am I allowed to say pizza? Because if so, then a pizza can be customized to pretty much anything. Basically, pizza is just a flat bread with leftovers, and the variations are endless. Am I allowed to say eggs in any form? If so, then I could boil them, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, I could add milk, flour to make pancakes, I could add ham and onion to make a great omelet, and so on.
What I'm asking is this: Am I allowed to do variations, add other ingredients? If so, then my answer is chicken.

Would I grow tired of chicken? Probably. But chicken doesn't taste a whole lot, and it's mainly the other ingredients that leave the taste. To find out, I gave my self a challenge. I would eat chicken for ten straight days, but it would have to be different every day.

Click in to read and see the result!

Minifigure checklists series 1-10

These are mostly for my own use, as I just wanted to store them online in one place. I have an updated version of the Top 10 list incoming, as we're closing in on 150 figures. With the upcoming Series 10, it will be extra exciting, as the series is rumored to include an extremely limited chase figure, the Mr. Gold (5000 examples worldwide).

Either way, I'll try to get a better scan of some of these, when I get my scanner up and running again.

Lego Modular Buildings... still unopened

What am I waiting for? Well, a good opportunity, maybe? A designated space to put them? The complete line in hand?  

I didn't pick up the 10232 Palace Cinema in New York, because the price from my regional Lego.com isn't that much different to the $169 they wanted for it in the Rockefeller Plaza Lego store. I plan on making the jump in the near future, because Palace Cinema looks incredible! Maybe will I even go for the massive 10224 Town Hall. But it's a bit lame to pick up yet another modular, let alone two, without really having any plan for the ones I already own. 

Speaking of prices. I gave $150 for the 10185 Green Grocer a couple of years ago. Last weekend, I checked a local comic store that also sells some rare sets. They wanted $1000 for an unopened 10185. I'm not kidding. Obviously, it's not a realistic price, but there are few of them on ebay, and it will definitely just increase in price. Makes me wish I stocked up some more 10185.    
  
I doubt 10211 Grand Emporium, 10197 Fire Brigade or 10218 Pet Shop will reach the same notoriety, because they're still sitting around on Lego's online store. Of course neither of the sets I own will ever be as valuable as the first two Lego made: 10182 Cafe Corner and 10190 Market street. 
Neither will I make an effort to get them. Too expensive, and honestly, not good enough. The lack of interior in the first two make them just less appealing. 

Finally, the 10228 Haunted House isn't actually part of the modular line, but it's still very similar. The modular buildings will attach to each other, but this is not the fact with the Haunted House. I have heard people complaining that it's a bit too different, and that it doesn't fit next to the others. But isn't that the whole idea with a house like this? It's supposed to lie in the outskirts of town, and be just that: very different to the rest. I can't wait to build this one, at least. 

Suggestions are welcome. Do I just start building them with the first opportunity possible, or do I wait until they're worth too much to open at all?