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Just call me Aerath. I have been a huge fan of the Marvel Legends Mighty Muggs since they came out a couple years ago. While I was never big into vinyl toys (my favorite was the Kid Robot Gorillaz figures, esp. Dare Edition Noodle) the Mighty Muggs added some cool humor to the genre.
Ok, so they're a clear rip off of the Dunny - Munny creations from KidRobot (yeh, the Mighty Muggs will hold your pen or pencil for you, just like a Dunny) but at least they were of characters you could care about. Spider-man, Captain America, Venom, Logan - Wolverine and Jean Grey? I'd take these over a Tara MacPherson Dunny design any day.
Now, not all Mighty Muggs are created the same. I looked at the Star Wars line and the Indiana Jones line and they did nothing for me. I did like the Boba Fett Mighty Mugg and Darth Vader was well done, but overall the line left me cold. Just a matter of preference, I guess.
Now if i had to pick the "mightiest" Mighty Mugg of all it would be tough. My finalists include The Vision, Doc Ock, Black Suit Spider-man and The Silver Surfer. But here's where I pull a fast one: The best Mighty Mugg in my opinion is the Star Wars Scout Trooper. Yeh, i just said the Star Wars line left me cold but who wouldn't want such a cool figure on their desk? I mean, he's even got the blaster (not that he could shoot it straight - none of the Empire's minions could). Overall, I hope they keep these lines up. Next time i want to talk about the DC version of Mighty Muggs called Uni-Formz.
Have you seen the new Crunkwear from PC-Tees.com? Check out the American Marijuana Medical Association logo design. You'll laugh yourself to the munchies. Ciao!
I'm back!
Just call me Aerath. Went out looking at some new toys today. Just trying to get some ideas of what is hot out there. Three figures stood out for me: the Bratz Couture Collector's Series Porcelain Dolls (Anyssa & Daphne); The Dark Knight 12" Bruce Wayne figure (a TRU Exclusive) and the new Dark Knight Joker 12" Figure (also a TRU exclusive).
First i want to talk about the Bratz. Love 'em or hate 'em you have to admit they were a bold statement in the play doll market when they first hit back in '02. Their run to the top, quickly surpassing the leader at the time Mattel's Barbie was the stuff of fairy tales (if you're a toy maker). If it weren't for a small issue of intellectual property rights, as Mattel claims, the Bratz would continue to "drink Mattel's milkshake" for the foreseeable future. Clearly, with the help of the courts, Mattel has eliminated a competitor for no real reason other than to, well, eliminate the competition.
But back to the Couture Dolls, i am really impressed with not only the design of the outfits each doll wears, but also with the paint application. The paint around the eyes and cheeks is impressively done. The dolls seem to be quite expressive, as if they are enjoying a private joke. I think you can toss aside the notion that the dolls include "Swarovski crystal elements". Who know what that really means anyway. That does not take away from the impressiveness of the dolls themselves.
Even if the Bratz future is very limited (I suspect they will be gone forever by the end of this year - already MGA is marketing their new Moxie Girls doll line Bratz replacement) my guess is they will continue to be collectible. Especially some of the earlier figures like the original 4 Bratz girls.
Next up: The Dark Knight Bruce Wayne 12" Figure. What an excellent job Mattel has done with this figure. Although not up there with my top two 12" action figure (Hasbro's Ultimate Jango Fett Action Figure and the Target Exclusive Star Wars Speeder Bike with 12" scale Scout Trooper) it is still very impressive. The head sculpt of Christian Bale and the accessories including a removable belt make this one worth having. Too bad it came out overpriced and is just now going on clearance at TRU (if you can find it).
Equally impressive is the TRU Exclusive Dark Knight Joker 12" Figure by Mattel. Although the body style takes on the exaggerated style of almost caricature the head sculpt is definitely all Heath Ledger. Maybe not as impressive as the Hot Toys sculpts (then again, considering the price of those figures, you can see why) it is still an excellent figure. The glowering stare and passive-aggressive stance they give this figure makes it all the more creepy. If only they had opted for a cloth suit coat rather than stiff plastic, it would have been a winner. Also, the $40 price tag is just plain ridiculous but i suspect we'll see it at clearance prices by the end of the year.
I want to bow out with another kudos to the creators of PC-tees: Crunkwear for the ages. They've added some new designs as they continue to do from time to time. Particularly impressive is the "Big Wheel Hook and Slide" vintage design shirt. Brings back memories from back in the day... You can check them out at www.pc-tees.com. Right now the are having a sale that includes free shipping. Tell them Aerath sent you! Talk again soon. Ciao!
Welcome to the maiden voyage of my Toy Collector's Essentials blog. Call me Aerath. I'm pretty excited to be entering the "blogosphere" for the first time. This is all very new to me but, as is my p-type, I want to get right down to business.
I work with a toy reseller called The UrbanStash.com (www.urbanstash.com). I work as a curator of toys for this company. We have been in the business of selling collectible toys since July 1998.
We are based out of Columbus, OH and have an affiliation with a local Sports card and collectibles store (Starchild CCG & Sports Cards).
Between the two stores (The UrbanStash.com is primarily a virtual store whereas Starchild is a "brick & mortar" storefront) we have thousands of items that date back 50 years or so (at least as far as some of the sports cards collectibles). Mostly, however, the toys and figures we have are from the '80's, '90's and 21st century.
Without a doubt our most popular line is Star Wars. We have a few toys and figures that date back to the original release of that seminal film, but most of the stuff is from the more recent releases. It's all very cool but I tell you, we have way too many pieces to put on the web site storefront (www.urbanstash.com). We can talk more about these items later. Other brands we are into include the original Battlestar Galactica toys, Batman, Lady Death, Hellboy toys (by Mezco & Dark Horse), Lord of the Rings (by Toybiz), Tonner Dolls Harry Potter, McFarlane Sports figures (at least when they were cool in the early 2000's) etc. More recently we have gotten into the Marvel Legends Mighty Muggs (and DC universe version figures dubbed Uni-Formz)and the Star Wars Mighty Muggs. Also, Transformers, GI Joe and Indiana Jones have products in the Mighty Muggs line, but their not as interesting as the Marvel lineup.
While we love our toys, we have more recently discovered a small company here in Central Ohio that is producing some very edgy work in the casual clothing area. The line of T-shirts in which they are specializing we have dubbed "crunkwear" because of the Hip Hop appeal and just the sheer irreverence these guys show for playing "by the rules".
We call the line "PC-Tees" and currently a few of their works are available at www.urbanstash.com. What makes these works exciting (to me,at least) is how the PC-Tees have been able to capture the fear, anger and most of all sense of humor shared by many Americans during these difficult social and economic times. There is definite emotional tension that underlines the designs, but if you check them out you'll see there is also joy and hope.
We hope to be bringing you more about these in a future post as well as more discussion of the present and upcoming collectible toy lines. Well thank you for visiting. I hope to hear from you if you would like to share your thoughts or questions.
