While technically not part of a Toy Fair proper, Four Horsemen’s Toypocalypse 3: has quickly become one of the most anticipated parts of the weekend. I’m honestly sadder I missed it again this year than Toy Fair itself. I made it up for it by finding plenty of links to coverage!
Like most of you I had to enjoy Toypocalypse from home. I was watching Twitter last night and eagerly looking forward to the galleries this morning. Thinking about it, I have to really give the Four Horsemen credit. While I love new things as much as anyone, I’m a nostalgia collector. Masterpiece Soundwave is awesome because he’s a well-made Soundwave who earned a spot in my fandom long ago. I would probably have ginormous DC & MOTU Classics collections anyway, but the Four Horsemen elevated them into looking like the awesome collections they are (often pulling Mattel along). Toy Fair weekend is usually filled with my being excited by Four Horsemen products that drawn on that nostalgia.
But Toypocalypse isn’t about that, at least not for me. I’m not old enough to remember the Outer Space Men. My exposure to Power Lords was limited to the most pervasive back cover comic book ad that I’ve ever seen. And the figures in Fantastic Exclusive fight for their place in our collections through sheer awesomeness alone. For me, Toypocalypse is a celebration of toys for toys. I know there are fans out there who remember playing with a bendy Colossus Rex or were huge fans of that strange twelve-fingered man, Adam Power. You can get your nostalgia on at Toypocalypse sure, but I doubt if that’s the case for most of us.
And all that makes Toypocalypse is a place I’d like to go, more so than Toy Fair itself. Someday I’ll get there, but it wasn’t this year. Luckily for us some of the best & brightest toy bloggers did make it and they’ve beamed back plenty of photos and the latest news on the Four Horsemen’s properties and licenses. A list of those links will follow this quick rundown of what toys were on display.
The big theme for this year was the Four Horsemen’s newest license: Power Lords. Judging from the pics, they were easily the spotlight of the show. It might have just been the biggest day in Power Lords history with vintage comics, costumes, artwork, posters, and, of course, the vintage toys themselves on display (via AFI). Heck, the Cake Boss even delivered on a huge Power Lords Cake (via AFI)!
Five figures debuted in the form of 2-ups (via Pixel Dan). Three classic figures including Adam Power, the Power Lord, & Ggripptogg. As well as two new characters (at least I think so) Ggrapptikk (a green version of Ggripptogg) and a Power Soldier. I think it was the Power Soldier that caught my attention out of the group. He largely reuses Adam Power’s body, but the covered face looked pretty cool. The line will be in 3 3/4″ scale and the plan is still to incorporate Glyos joints in the figures though the pics show plenty of traditional articulation. I still don’t know a lot about Power Lords, but I’m looking forward to trying these new figures out.
The Outer Space Men also got some love with a mix of yet to be released and all-new figures on display. We got another look at the Infinity Editions of the remaining MIA OSM including the new additions of Terra Firma & Jack Asteroid. I was happy to see the second wave of Mel Birkrant Cosmic Creators in the pics (I love that blue Commander Comet!) and I think I spied a couple new accessories for Rex & Gamma-X, but we may have seen those before. Either way, I’m hopeful that we’ll get the original thirteen OSM without too much more of a wait. The good news is that we should be seeing the Infinity Editions of Cyclops, Gemini, & Orbitron pretty soon.
Also on display were new Outer Space Women: Astrodite, Horroscope, & Ohpromatem (via MWC)! The new OSW definitely look sharp, but I was a little disappointed that they all shared the Terra Firma body. I know the realities of shared tooling can be harsh, but I think part of the OSM’s appeal was the various shapes and sizes. It’s a shame that the OSW appear to only be available in the one body style so far.
If you’re more of a fan of the Horsemen’s bigger figures, there was something for you too. The Vampire Lady and her variants were on display along with a new alternate hissing face for the main character (via Figures). Those green & purple Timekeepers also found a spot to setup with some other, older 7K/Gothitropolis items.
Oh, but you want something… new? We’d seen a few of the Raven variants before, but the Horsemen pulled out all the stops and showed ten variants for the Raven (via AFP)! Some we’d seen like the White Raven & the Cardinal, but debuts this weekend included a Vulture, an Owl, a Falcon (?), a chicken, an eagle/gryphon, two fantasy-types that appear to be based on the phoenix and quezacotl, and Minotaur the Duck.
Yes, you heard right. Minotaur the Duck. This image at AFI explains it as well as I can. It’s a colossal in-joke, but leave it to the Four Horsemen to turn it into an awesome figure. I heard some rumors that he may not be included, but he has to be. He looks like a figure a lot of folks would love to have – even beyond those of who remember when he was “created”!
If you’re interested in the Ravens, it looks like the 4H plan to take the birds to Kickstarter. I haven’t heard all the details on that, but check back with us as IAT will be covering all the updates for the Gothitropolis line!
Alrighty, I think that about covers what we saw here are some general links to the various Toypocalypse galleries around the net:
I am absolutely LOVING what I’m seeing what the 4H have done here with Power Lords! They have done a fantastic job! It’s always great to see their work hilighted like this!
That cake looked delicious! Was it red velvet? Thats my favorite!
If those Power Lords were in a 6″ scale, I’d probably get at least the Power Soldier. I’m not big into the 3.75″ scale, and the Glyos system does nothing for me.
But I nearly spit when I saw the Minotaur the Duck figure. I’m having to watch my toy budget very closely these days, but that figure is a must-have. If he’s not actually part of the Raven release, I will be a very sad camper indeed.
I had initially thought that they were going to be 6″ figures, and was contemplating picking up the Power Soldier. Now that I know they’re going to be G.I. Joe-scale, I may have to get all of them. :p
Assuming that they’re actually articulated like proper toys and free of this Glyos nonsense, that is. 😉
Minotaur the duck is the highlight of the entire Toyfair weekend!! 4H knocked it out of the park with the Raven variants. I’m in for a complete set.
Please, please horsemen. Please make a Minotaur available for purchase!
just remember friends, when that kickstarter campaign fires up, it’s up to US the FANS to get our respective social media fired up to spread word. the horsemen will need all of us working in concert to get word out enough to make that funding goal, and between the red rooster, the owl, and minotaur the duck, they NEED to get this set fully funded. 🙂
Power Lords are on the MOVE! Wish I’d had some of that cake! Sounds like an awesome night was had by all. The 4H can do no wrong with the stuff that was shown there.
So…the ravens are a kickstarter. Does anyone know what this means in terms of release probability/date?
I’ve been checking fourhorsemen.biz daily for updates, but so far nothing. Unfortunately, the guys are not always the best self-promoters, which doesn’t bode well for a kickstarter campaign.