Sometimes, despite collectors’ best efforts, it becomes a simple fact that toys weren’t designed to last decades after their original manufacture. Glue degrades on stickers, leaving them to peel. Plastic degrades, causing figures to develop a sticky, oily sheen. Foam in Kenner Star Wars playsets gradually turns to dust, slowly rendering the task of assembling […]
High-end Pokémon card auctions tend to place PSA slabs front and center. The company remains the dominant force in the graded-card market, and the majority of headline-grabbing sales seem to involve that familiar red-and-white PSA 10 label. This particular auction told a different story. Seven rare cards from the Pokémon TCG recently combined to sell […]
The battle between retailers and Pokemon card scalpers has taken a strange new turn, and this time the fix does not involve slapping purchase limits on items, in-person queuing or ID checks. Target employees have started giving scalpers less reason to purchase multiple Pokemon Trading Card Game products with the intention of reselling them by […]
The 1962 release of King Kong vs. Godzilla was a record-breaking hit for Toho Studios, and helped turn their Godzilla franchise into a cinematic universe on par with today’s MCU. When King Kong vs. Godzilla proved almost as popular in the United States, American toy companies became the first to cash in on the King […]
The Pokémon TCG has produced no shortage of rare and valuable cards over the years, but Secret Rares have long occupied a particularly coveted place among collectors. Unlike cards found within a set’s standard checklist, a Secret Rare has a card number higher than the officially stated number of cards in that expansion. A card […]
Some of the coolest toy lines ever made can trace their origins – or at least a prevailing influence – back to the popular culture of their era. Masters of the Universe owes an almost self-evident debt to Conan the Barbarian. Mattel’s Pulsar was their attempt to capitalize on the popularity of The Six Million […]
For many of us, He-Man was the first superhero that caught our attention. Whether it was thanks to the original cartoon or the massive line of action figures and playsets, he holds a special place in our hearts that was recently rekindled by this year’s Masters of the Universe movie. Apart from toys and TV, […]
Watching the Star Wars saga in this day and age is as easy as pressing a button. Streaming platforms like Disney+ have brought these movies and more to the comfort of our homes, without the need for us to step out or buy them. Of course, the pros and cons of streaming services are an […]
G.I. Joe was first conceived in 1963 as the boys’ counterpart to Mattel’s incredibly popular Barbie dolls, and literally defined the word action figure with its original line. But in 1978, after an embattled decade of poor sales and a lukewarm reception to its “Adventure Team” rebrand, Hasbro pulled the plug. It would take a […]
Long before Jurassic Park‘s “Rexy” appeared on-screen as one of the most convincing dinosaurs ever, it was a stop-motion creation of movie master Phil Tippett. Now the articulated T. rex armature that was responsible for visualising the iconic Tyrannosaur attack scene in Steven Spielberg’s classic adventure thriller has found a new home after being sold […]
