Masters of the Universe Classics and Ghostbusters - 2009 in Review

Mattel has posted a nice set of thoughts on their massively successful Masters of the Universe Classics line over at their Facebook page. It's an interesting read, and gives a little confirmed insight into the 'bonus' figures being used to pad their possible production troubles. They also are claiming that more re-issue Skeletor figures are on the slow boat from China now, for anyone who re-missed him on December 15th.

Also worth a look is "part 3" of their year in review, which dicusses their fledgling Ghostbusters line - the upcoming Walter Peck will come with an in-scale containment unit that works with the already-released trap accessory - the light is green! Be sure to check it out!


Posted by charlie on December 29th 2009, 09:26 PM
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G.I. Joe Q&A Due Next Monday

Ok folks, it's spilling over into January a tad, but the last round of G.I. Joe Q&A questions are due to be submitted to the team at Hasbro by January 4th, 2010 at noon. So if you have any excellent queries for the team about one of our favorite brands, send them my way at feedback@parrygamepreserve.com!
Posted by charlie on December 28th 2009, 03:14 PM
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eBay Misnomers

A long standing tradition around eBay has been the discovery of mis-represented lots that you can sometimes score for prices well under the going 'market rate'. Certainly back in the day, friend of the Preserve Conor picked up a fantastic Intelivision lot, including a number of games, the Intelivoice unit and boxes for all, for less than the price of a cup of coffee a day as the man says.

Getting good at looking for misspellings and general confusion on the part of sellers has always been a useful skill, though now it seems that there are less opportunities available to get a really good post-error-in-your-favor. I think this is due to both the higher level of experience on the part of the sellers, and also that the low hanging fruit has mostly already come out of the back of the closets - sort of like you rarely find great boxes of He-Man or Nintendo at yard sales for $10 anylonger, or see a pinball machine for free on the side of the road.

Well, all this thought today was prompted not by a killer deal, but by the simple mis-classification of a M.A.S.K. Bulldog vehicle as a Go Bot that 'converts to some type of Robot'. It reminded me that there are still plenty of opportunities for mis-identification of these '80s gems and that even as we move into 2010 - confusion, along with illusion, may still be the ultimate weapon.

Also, here is a crazy Bulldog repaint, for some reason - oh those wacky Germans!
Posted by charlie on December 27th 2009, 08:58 AM
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Merry Christmas

I hope all readers of the Preserve are in the midst of a magical holiday filled with joy and joyness. Christmas has managed to come and go already, but with it are the memories of holidays past where the Preserve took form through reapeatedly ginormous Christmas morns engineered by my toy-buying dad. I hope everyone was able to get what they wanted for themselves this season, be it the late-release Transformers Animated figures of Electrostatic Soundwave and Freeway Jazz (which I'll post eventually!), or perhaps peace on earth.

In the meantime, here's Cartman singing O Holy Night from an older ep of South Park. Sadly, it looks like youtube has cracked down on people actually posting stolen video of some shows, so I found a clip of the audio with still frames - but the audio is the whole point anyway. Merry Christmas everyone.


Posted by charlie on December 26th 2009, 08:26 AM
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Transformers Q&A Round #6 2009 - Results

The Transformers team over at Hasbro has just sent us their answers to our sixth and final Q&A for 2009. See below for the details!


Preserve: Universe / 25th Anniversary toys keep trickling out, which is great. Will we see a strengthening of this sub-line with additional 2010 releases, since it is very popular, or do you feel it is better to move on to products for the 3rd movie and the new upcoming tv presence (whatever it may be)?

Hasbro: First, we are happy that there is still a lot of excitement for the Universe line out there! We have had a lot of fun re-imagining some of the great "heritage" characters. Second, since the 25th Anniversary was this year (2009), that exact line will be going away, since in 2010, it is no longer the 25th anniversary.

With that said, if we do decide revisit the "Universe" line (wink, wink) in the back half of 2010 we would continue to look at characters that need to be "updated" or re-imagined. Needless to say, I would stay tuned!

Preserve: Do you plan to continue the Robot Heroes line beyond the current movie figures?

Hasbro: We do not have any plans to continue with this expression of Transformers past the ROTF line.

Preserve: Having now released a number of figures for the recent feature film, does the team have an overall favorite?

Hasbro: There is a lot of internal debate on the team on what figure is the "best". However, after much discussion, some arm wrestling and taunting by various team members, the upcoming Leader Starscream and the entire Human Alliance line seem to have won the internal favorite awards.


Thanks to the Transformers team for all of the great answers to our questions! I admit that I'm very disappointed to hear about the Robot Heroes line, which has been popular around the Preserve. Well, all the more reason to fill in the missing packs from the collection, as it is now announced to be quite finite.
Posted by charlie on December 23rd 2009, 08:55 AM
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G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra - Target Exclusive Snake Eyes with Arashikage Cycle

Both Target and Walmart have done a bang-up job of having excellent store exclusives for the ongoing G.I. Joe - Rise of Cobra line. We keep the archive growing with today's addition of Snake Eyes on his Arashikage Cycle. Wave 2 of these exclusive figure/vehicle packs also sees Storm Shadow on his white bike, so be sure to keep an eye out for that more elusive figure.


Posted by charlie on December 22nd 2009, 10:50 PM
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Sponsor News - bigbadtoystore.com

Big Bad Toy Store has just sent out their latest newsletter, complete with the extended Cyber Monday sales. Click the link to read about the figures you've got to have, filtered to include Preserve-centric product lines.  Read More
Posted by charlie on December 21st 2009, 10:18 PM
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Mortimer Ichabod Marker

Readers of the Preserve have doubtless heard me espouse my love of the old Bill Cosby educational program of Picture Pages. The pen that he would use to connect the dots and highlight the concepts of the day had, along with the excellent sound effects, the name of Mortimer Ichabod Marker. Well, somehow a (likely small) number of these pens were manufactured and sold to kids of the day, complete with the fantastic sound effects! I have craved one for ages, though eBay only has one come up about once per year. Well, sadly I just missed this years Mortimer, but it is interesting to note that it sold for just over $150! This certainly establishes it as a legitimately well-valued collectible, though I encourage any owners of this pen to post a new auction, which will have my attention I assure you!
Posted by charlie on December 20th 2009, 10:53 PM
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eBay Watch - The Real Ghostbusters Score

Ever since learning that the original score to Ghostbusters was something you could actually buy, I've been watching them come and go on eBay. Interestingly, a copy of the score will generally fetch $60-$80 due to the extremely low number that were produced. Well, my standing search for the movie score turned up this interesting little gem that I've certainly never seen before - a score for the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series! Upon closer inspection, it is certainly 'fan made' but worthy of great respect as far as I'm concerned - good job jbeebus07!
Posted by charlie on December 17th 2009, 08:19 PM
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Kirk Thatcher - Punk on Bus

Ok, about once a year I feel it is my duty to talk about one of the greatest little-known heroes of 1980s cinema, Kirk Thatcher. The man behind Salacious Crumb from Jedi, as well as the Director of the Muppets go to Oz, he is perhaps best and only known as the Punk on Bus from Star Trek IV. Well, to perpetuate his unfortunately best known role, here is a youtube clip of him giving the finger to Shatner, and succumbing to the Vulcan neck grip. (Fun Fact: Vulcan is recognized by my spell check as a-ok). Also, you can check out the full recording of the song 'I hate you' - which he wrote and recorded, here.


Posted by charlie on December 16th 2009, 08:58 PM
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Batman - The Brave and the Bold: Taser Batman

Back to the Batman - The Brave and the Bold line with yet another Bats entry in the form of Taser Batman. This color scheme is pretty bold, and continues the strong design in the latest wave of figures that makes it at least slightly less distasteful to purchase a 6th, 7th and 8th Batman figure. Click on the image below for more angles of this solid figure.


Posted by charlie on December 15th 2009, 08:43 PM
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Mattycollector.com - Massive Release Day Tomorrow

Ok Preserve readers, I hope that you've been saving your nickels, dimes and $50 bills, because Mattel is really nailing us with a major release day tomorrow, the 15th of December! This day will bring the release of three Masters of the Universe Classics figures (King Randor, The Goddess, re-release Skeletor) as well as two figures from the newly released Ghostbusters collection (6-Inch Winston and 12-Inch Egon) and a 12" General Zod!. What would have made tomorrow even more pricey was to be the release of the first figure in their new Retro-Action DC Super Heroes (Green Arrow) and the ability to buy a full case of wave 11 of DC Universe Classics! Egad! Well, if you get one of each of the 12/15 figures you're still looking at about $210 - good luck!


Posted by charlie on December 14th 2009, 07:15 PM
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Playmobil Ghost Pirates - Whale Skeleton

The Playmobil Ghost Pirate line is proving to be a hot and in demand series in this popular brand. Stores are selling out of most of the items in the set, and that Ghost Pirate ship is fetching quite a premium on line! Here is the Ghost Pirate set with the Whale Skeleton - impressive, and glow in the dark!


Posted by charlie on December 13th 2009, 05:58 PM
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Chelada Model Airplane

A beverage that I enjoy, which is nearly universally loathed and misunderstood by the rest of North America, is the Budweiser produced Chelada. A heady combination of Bud, Clamato, salt and spices, it's really the perfect thing after a hot afternoon of mowing the lawn in the summer...not so good in the winter though. Fashioned after a popular drink in Mexico, I imagine this product won't stick around for much longer at least in the East Coast, it is harder and harder to find anything related to it on line. That's why I was even more delighted to find this crazy homemade airplane constructed entirely out of empty Chelada cans. Oh Internet, you do work in mysterious ways.
Posted by charlie on December 12th 2009, 10:43 PM
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Mezco Toyz - Living Dead Dolls Presents: Beetlejuice!

Press Release: Mezco Toyz has just released news about the addition of a Beetlejuice figure to their super popular Living Dead Dolls line. Click the link for more information!  Read More
Posted by charlie on December 11th 2009, 10:59 AM
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Batman - The Brave and the Bold: Batman & Rex Mason Action League

Ok, let's keep this Batman - The Brave and the Bold train running with another Action League 2-pack, that of Batman & Rex Mason the Element Man! I love the angles on these two figures - looking like they jumped right out of a 1980s automotive design seminar. I've enjoyed figures of Rex Mason since he showed up as the Build-a-Figure in the very first wave of the ongoing DC Universe Classics line. Click the image for more shots of this polygonal set, and the short writeup about their team-up!

And a Happy Birthday to my dad, the founder of the Preserve, who turns another year older today.
Posted by charlie on December 10th 2009, 01:42 PM
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DC Universe Classics - Ares (God of War)

One lonely figure from the fourth wave of DC Universe Classics figures joins the Preserve today, in the form of Ares! The God of War always has a scheme running to destroy the Gods or Mankind, and if it's really his lucky day, both! Click the image below for more angles and the full bio of this cantankerous deity.


Posted by charlie on December 9th 2009, 05:18 PM
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Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen: Gears

I'm starting to see a number of markdowns on the Revenge of the Fallen products in stores, though that is making it even more noticeable that so many deluxe figures hit the shelves wave after wave, but now are piled up with no new product. Well, there are still some great later-wave figures, and Gears is one of them! A classic character name, though not really his classic look, I'm glad to see that Gears is still guilty of complaining about everything! Click the image for his stats and his full, crotchety bio!


Posted by charlie on December 8th 2009, 04:28 PM
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Batman - The Brave and the Bold - The Joker

The latest wave of Batman - The Brave and the Bold figures features some excellent designs, but none so cool as The Joker! Of course we are all familiar with this character - but I definitely dig this stylized treatment of him! Click the image below for more shots of this packaged figure.


Posted by charlie on December 7th 2009, 09:13 PM
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G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra - Para-Viper

Another excellent Cobra trooper from the ongoing G.I. Joe - Rise of Cobra line is the Cobra Para-Viper. Packed with accessories as all of these later model figures seem to be, the Para-Viper is another semi-hard to find figure that is worth the hunt. Click the image for more shots and the complete bio!


Posted by charlie on December 6th 2009, 11:09 PM
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G.I. Joe Combat Heroes - Barbeque vs. Storm Shadow

I never did manage to get around to posting all of the Combat Hero sets from the recent G.I. Joe Modern Era line, which is a shame given how often I say that I love that scale. Well, today let's take a look at Barbeque vs. Storm Shadow, that I managed to discover in a KMart not that long ago, surprisingly. Since the third wave of these figures was canceled (or, 'delayed') by Hasbro, wave 2 became the 'final wave' and therefore was in short supply. This piece was the last I needed for the set, so I should be able to find the missing pieces laying around the Preserve someplace and get them posted as well. Click the image for a few more angles of this great pair of figures!


Posted by charlie on December 5th 2009, 07:32 PM
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Batman - The Brave and the Bold: Capture Net Batman

Ok, since I'm on a Batman - The Brave and the Bold kick, I figure let's take a look at one of the recently released Basic figures, Batman with his Capture Net! Yes, there are way too many Batman figures in this line, but that's really what you should expect. These later ones at least have some great paint applications and accessories, and the Capture Net version certainly represents that well. Click the image below for a few more angles of this great figure!

Also - The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.


Posted by charlie on December 4th 2009, 09:37 PM
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Batman - The Brave and the Bold: Sportsmaster vs. Green Arrow

Ok, we haven't posted any figure pics in a while, so let's revisit the Batman: The Brave and the Bold line with one of the great Action League two-packs. Here we have Sportsmaster vs. Green Arrow from the Action League collection - I'm such a huge fan of this scale! I especially enjoy that these figures come with a custom backdrop, and here we have an excellent bowling alley for combat to go down. Click the image below for more pics of this great set!


Posted by charlie on December 3rd 2009, 09:58 PM
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Sponsor News - bigbadtoystore.com

Big Bad Toy Store has just sent out their latest newsletter, complete with the extended Cyber Monday sales. Click the link to read about the figures you've got to have, filtered to include Preserve-centric product lines.  Read More
Posted by charlie on December 2nd 2009, 11:51 PM
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Douglas Adams' Bathtub

I suspect that most readers of the Preserve are fans of, or at least familiar with, the Hitchhiker's Guide books. Well, thanks to a tip from toplessrobot.com, it appears that you have an opportunity to purchase Douglas Adams' bathtub from eBay UK! He had been interviewed as enjoying a long bath when he ran out of ideas for a story - could this be the bath that spawned the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster? I, for one, believe it!
Posted by charlie on December 1st 2009, 11:48 AM
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