TOY TALK with $1 HULK featuring Denny "The Toy Bro" DiGregorio

10 Toy Photography Accounts to follow on Instagram

Well, well, well. Look who we have here? If it isn't Hoard World The Blog. Come crawling back to the blogosphere did we? Yes indeedy, Steve Macreadie.

Just like Harrison Ford, Ridley Scott and Dave Chapelle, sometimes they come back to their old shit.

Sometimes they shouldn't have. Sometimes it's alright. You can decide what this is for yourself. I'm not your real dad.

Once you've figured all that out, you can come with me on a journey to the magical world of instagram.....

Masters of the Universe Classics Light Hope Figure Review (Mattel)

This review was originally published way back in November 2014 on Doomkick.com. It was written specifically for the Doomkick site so may contain specific references to the site etc. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat. This is the very last of my guest reviews on other sites to date. With the exception of the little piece I contributed to Dinosaur Dracula a billion years ago, all my off-site work has now been republished right here on Hoard World! Yay! You can check out the originally published version of this Light Hope review at the Doomkick site here. Thanks for reading!

Light Hope. Yes. That guy. One of the three extra special BFFs along with Madame Razz and Kowl who knew She-Ra's secret identity. Also pretty much one of the hardest characters to ever make an action figure out of.

Because he's just a beam of rainbow-esque light (see above). You know?

Unless you do something almost cool but mostly awful like NECA's "Lightning Gremlin" action figure, you're really up Snake Mountain without a power sword when it comes to making an action figure of Light Hope.

Yet they did. And here he is.

Masters of the Universe Classics Eternos Palace King Randor Review (Mattel)

The review included in this blog entry was originally published way back in June 2013 on Poeghostal.com. It was written specifically for Poe Ghostal's site so may contain specific references to the site etc. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat. For posterity (in case Poe's site ever goes offline forever) I have included screenshots at the end of the article of a selection of the 20+ comments I received for this guest review; to date, still a comments record for anything I've written. Booooooo. You can check out the originally published version on Poe Ghostal's site here.

MOTU DAY 2015: FIVE THINGS YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE FROM THEIR VINTAGE GOLDEN BOOKS ADVENTURES

FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE.......

MOTU Day is April 28th or so it was decreed back in 1987 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

He might not have meant for anybody to celebrate it in 1988 or ever again, but it's still an absolute fact. 

This actually happened. 

It doesn't matter that it was created for the sole purpose of promoting the POWER TOUR that was running through LA at the time - if it was good enough for Mayor Tom Bradley and the fine people of Los Angeles, it's good enough for you. 

MOTU has an actual day. (See: Los Angeles Times Article April 23rd, 1987 to read it transcribed in print)

So it was declared, so it shall be done. Forever and ever.  He-men.

MOTU DAY 2015 logo by The Toy Box

Masters of the Universe Classics Hordak Review (Mattel)

This review was originally published way back in April 2013 on Doomkick.com. It was written specifically for the Doomkick site's 1st Anniversary celebrations so may contain specific references to the site etc. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat. Although this piece was actually published before my "Mosquitor" guest review on Poe Ghostal's site, it is still chronologically (in terms of the order I wrote them) the second guest review I ever did. You can check out the originally published version (that comes with an introduction from Hoard World's "management") on the Doomkick site here.

Hi. I'm Hoardax.

Yes, the Hoardax. Maybe you've heard of me or maybe you've heard of me!

This isn't about me today, though. That was just a formality to set my new audience at ease. I am completely out of my comfort zone. Normally, I'd be talking to the legion of Hoard Worlders over on my Facey B page or on The Blog - to rapturous applause, often a standing ovation.

But today, I talk to YOU - The Doomkickers. Be gentle with me, won't you? Like many artists, or siblings of Evil Dictators who have become estranged due to a conflict of interests (He wanted to murder everybody all the time; I enjoy collecting nice things and sharing my love of said things with the world via the internets), I am very sensitive.

Masters of the Universe Classics Mosquitor Figure Review (Mattel)

This review was originally published way back in May 2013 on Poe Ghostal.com. It was written specifically for Poe's site so contains many references (and links) to his other reviews. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat.  This is the complete, unabridged version. You can check out the slightly edited version on Poe Ghostal's site here.

The latest addition to The Mighty Horde's army is Mosquitor The Evil Energy Draining Insectoid, who was released last December. He sold out reasonably quickly after he went on sale but has since turned up on Mattycollector for sale as excess Customer Service Stock. Which has also sold out. If you missed out, there's a pretty good chance he's still floating around on eBay for prices somewhere higher than Chief Carnivus or Dekker but much less than Whiplash or Beastman.

To my knowledge, Mosquitor never made an appearance in the Filmation cartoon or the 200x version. He did, however, get his own front cover fighting He-man in one of those Marvel Star Comics of the late 80s. Issue 8, I believe it was.

As such, we've never really known that much about him. All we know is that he's one of The Horde, he has a Mosquito head and he sucks blood. Oh, and that he's actually FEMALE thanks to The Fwoosh and their magnificent, fact-based logic.

It's well documented that Mosquitor is Pixel Dan's favourite MOTU character EVER. This was irrefutably proven once and for all by this video where Dan's celebration of finally receiving a MOTUC version results in a Kafka-esque Metamorphosis....and Gangnam Style Dancing. These days it's hard to even think about Mosquitor without thinking about Pixel Dan. (Or do I have some kind of problem?) In fact, Poe talked to him just the other day about the concept of a Toy Fan's favourite obscure character being called "My Mosquitor."

The "My Mosquitor" definition revolves around a "guilty pleasure" character that isn't popular with everybody. Now, there's a chance Pixel Dan might read this but this isn't why I'm saying what I'm about to say.....

WHO DOESN'T LOVE MOSQUITOR? Seriously. I want a show of hands.

He/She is a MOSQUITO-headed vampire that SUCKS BLOOD! The vintage figure had a blood-pumping chest action! Are you kidding me? That's objectively the best thing that ever happened.

But is the MOTUC re-imagining of Mosquitor a piece of black plastic recycling? Let's find out.

HAPPY HONDA DAYS VS YOUR CHILDHOOD featuring Skeletor, He-man, Jem, Gumby, Pokey, G.I. Joe, Strawberry Shortcake, Stretch Armstrong & Fischer-Price Little People.

What If........Robot Chicken did a car commercial?

Honda's latest batch of U.S. based holiday season car commercials have dug deep into the Nostalgia factor this time around, featuring a variety of predominantly 80s toys hawking Honda's automotive wares to appeal to......well, everybody that was a kid in those eras, I guess.

While the idea is undeniably clever, what does it say about today's "adults" that Honda feels the need to tap into that demographic by reminding people of the joy they might've felt as a kid with a new toy, and likening it to buying their latest model?

It makes me feel funny in my tummy.

What it doesn't do is make me want to buy their car because they've found a way to "speak" to me.

It makes me want to burn everything I own because I'm a chump that is still dealing with the after-effects of exposure to 80s toy advertising as a young timer. And worse than that, continuing to celebrate it as an adult.

This ad says, "Hey Chump! Remember when we made you like this? We're going to use the same crap we made you like as a kid and use it to make you like our new car! You chump. Buy it chump. Welcome to capitalism."

Oh, hey Gumby...what's that? You can't find your soul?

SPOTLIGHT ON: INTERGALACTIC SKELETOR aka SPACE SKELETOR! aka NEW ADVENTURES SKELETOR by MATTEL

Intergalactic Skelly just flew into Hoard World and boy are his intergalactic arms tired!

You know, in all the years I've been doing Hoard World, I don't think we've ever done an actual spotlight on a Masters of the Universe Classics figure. Sure, there's been lots of pictures of them but never a focus on a single figure release. Well, maybe it's time to do more of that.

"Welcome to the Galaxy, bonehead."

The idea of Space He-man or Space Skeletor is a strange one (even though it makes perfect sense to yours truly) and something that never quite gelled with the children of 1989 or even the adults of the 2010s.

BRING YOUR MAN-E-FACES TO WORK DAY ON HOARD WORLD!

So there I was. At home. It was September 2nd. Just trying to do a nice, honest day's work. Taking pics. Listing on eBay. Being excellent on social media. That sort of thing.

That's when it happened. This guy (I think his name was "Manny") turns up. No hello. No nothin'. And he just won't leave me alone. He doesn't say a word. He just stands there. Watching me. Hugging me. Posin' for pics like the one you just saw.

AN OPEN LETTER TO JEFF WADLOW - DIRECTOR OF THE UPCOMING MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE FILM.

Jeff Wadlow (Writer/Director of Kick-Ass 2, the upcoming X-Force film and allegedly the new He-man film).
Pic Source: Celluloid & Cigarette Burns.

I don't expect that Mr. Wadlow will ever see this (however, I plan on immediately tweeting this to him after I publish it....so, who knows?) but I do think that if there was ever a director on Earth who was directing a Masters of the Universe film who might actually read this, it's the one who turned up to SDCC 2014 and chatted to MOTU fans about the Masters of the Universe movie.

Previously here on Hoard World, I have dream cast the new Masters of the Universe film if you haven't read that yet (Jeff, you can take a look too, if you like pal) but this will indeed be the first time I have directly addressed a current director of the new Masters of the Universe film using the magic of the internets.

Ahem.

Here goes...

10 THINGS I WILL PROBABLY NEVER OWN (AND I'M FINE WITH THAT)

Picture by DoomKick (strangely enough not actually taken by me)

The idea for this latest feature was taken from the wildly popular Facey B folder of the same name that's an ongoing update of all the nice things that I wouldn't MIND owning, but for a variety of reasons including availability, finances and where they are on my list of consumer priority, will probably never own. That was a long sentence. My condolences.

And I'm fine with that. I've already made my peace. I tell myself.

So let's take a sneaky look at 10 of these aforementioned things that I will probably never own.

There's nothing the people of Earth like more than self-indulgent flights of fancy all wrapped up into a juicy Listicle!

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE DAY 2014: THE CLIP SHOW

We hadn't really planned on doing anything for MOTU Day this year. Never say never.

FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE.......

MOTU Day is April 28th or so it was decreed back in 1987 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

He might not have meant for anybody to celebrate it in 1988 or ever again, but it's still an absolute fact.

This actually happened.

It doesn't matter that it was created for the sole purpose of promoting the POWER TOUR that was running through LA at the time - if it was good enough for Mayor Tom Bradley and the fine people of Los Angeles, it's good enough for you.

MOTU has an actual day. (See: Los Angeles Times Article April 23rd, 1987 to read it transcribed in print)

So it was declared, so it shall be done. Forever and ever.  He-men.

The oversized He-man and Skeletor heads in this pic are actually vintage pencil toppers, in case you didn't already know. I just shoved them on top of their Classics counterparts. 'Cause I'm an artist.

SPOTLIGHT ON: M.U.S.C.L.E.'s of the UNIVERSE by ERIC NILLA & WOLF VOIGT.

It's with great pleasure and extreme excitement that I am back, yet again, to spotlight more fantastic Toy Artists who have found their way into my plastic, slime-filled heart. This is the third part of what is to be a quartet of super special Spotlight Features here on Hoard World.

If you missed out and want to read the first spotlight in this series that started way back in September, and focused on the awesome Goodleg Toys, you can do so right HERE. If you want to see December's focus on Ryan Hall's 3-D Paper Toy Art pieces, it's waiting right HERE for you.

What do you get when you cross Masters Of The Universe with M.U.S.C.L.E. Men?

SPOTLIGHT ON: RYAN HALL'S PAPER ART TOYS featuring his 3-D Paper versions of HORDAK, HE-MAN and WONDER WOMAN

These aren't your Grandpa Grayskull's Paper Art Toys.......

It is with great pleasure, and extreme excitement that I am back again to spotlight yet another fantastic Toy Artist who has found their way into my plastic, slime-filled heart. This is the second part of what was originally a trilogy, but has since become a quartet of super special Spotlight Features here on Hoard World. 

If you missed out and want to read the first spotlight in this series that started way back in September, and focused on the awesome Goodleg Toys, you can do so right HERE.

This installment, we focus on reknowned UK Paper Toy Artist Ryan Hall. He creates handmade 3-D Paper Toy Art. It's quite exceptional stuff. You can find out about some of his other work at his word press site and follow him on his Facey B to see what he's currently working on! You won't be disappointed.

Since I've known Ryan, he has had a variety of exhibitions of his work, both in the UK and internationally. Within the last six months, he even had a Linda Carter approved Wonder Woman piece displayed at the Art Boy Gallery in Melbourne.

Personally, I was incredibly grateful and honoured when these Hordak and He-man pieces arrived on Hoard World many, many moons ago. If I had any self-respect, I would have written this tribute quite a while back. Alas, time waits for no Hoardax.

Here's some words from the artist himself about his He-man and Hordak pieces as well as a bit about his own origin story and influences.

HOARDAX DREAM CASTS THE NEW MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE LIVE ACTION MOVIE

Hoardax is such an egomaniac, he second-screens his own site when watching ANYTHING.

In 1987, one of Cannon Film's finest filmic moments was Masters Of The Universe starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella. I saw it at the cinema as a child-like Hoardax. It blew my eight year old mind right in half. Cleaved in two like the power swords of the original MOTU storyline.

However, I realised pretty early into the flick that it was different from the Filmation cartoon and I was fine with that. I remember realising years earlier that the Filmation cartoon was also very different from the mini-comics and toyline I had already grown used to.

It was all a great lesson while I was young and impressionable that if you're a big enough fan of something you will adapt to various interpretations and find something to like in all of them. Sure, you don't have to, but it's entirely possible.

The original Masters Of The Universe motion picture is not why we're here today.

We're here to talk about the inevitable new film.

The highly anticipated and possibly-never-actually-happening modern interpretation of the 30ish year old Mattel kids toy line. Hasbro have had massive amounts of success with their licenses regardless of quality. Sci-fi / Fantasy / Superhero movies are the toast of the town right now. 80s nostalgia is peaking. Verily, we are living in a golden age that can only truly peak with a Masters Of The Universe live action film.

Personally, I think it could work better as an ongoing, dark, tongue-in-cheek Fantasy/Sci-Fi show with a macabre sense of humour that doesn't shy away from the existence of characters like SNOUT SPOUT. Maybe even on a US cable network. But that'll probably never happen.

So instead, let's CAST the future blockbuster attempt to create a new film franchise based on literally one of the weirdest and oft-maligned concepts in toy (and probably sci-fi/fantasy history).

This is my casting for the Masters Of The Universe film. The first film. If the powers that be ever read this and heed my words, there will be sequels. Verily.

TOP 5 VALENTINE'S DAY TIPS OF ALL TIME!

Hoardax's Online Dating Profile 

NAME: Harold H. Hoardax

OCCUPATION: Overlord/Part-time eBay seller

AGE: You don't wanna know.

SEX: See Above.

LOCATION: Hoard World.

LOOKING FOR: Love in all the wrong places. 

LIKES

Hoarding

Plastic Things

Hoarding Plastic Things

DISLIKES

My brother Hordak

Going outside

Dust.

Valentine's Day. 

Love it or hate it - you can't escape it. 

Sadly, even Hoard World isn't safe.

And as it turns out there's a whole 'nother side to Hoard World that you ain't seen before.

I may not be able to write a dating profile to save my plastic behind but I know what love is.

I present to you now:

HOARDAX'S BEST EVER VALENTINE'S DAY ADVICE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HE-MAN - HOARD WORLD CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE 1982-2012

I can still remember the impact that Masters Of The Universe had upon me as a child. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to articulate because I was so young when it struck me that it feels just like a series of stream-of-consciousness flashbacks. I can remember Alfredo Alcala's amazing art from the minicomics. I can remember how cool it was that Skeletor came from another dimension of people just like him. I remember how mysterious the swords and sorcery mixed with science fiction theme was.

THE FIRST 24 HOURS OF HOARD WORLD HAS BEEN GIVEN THE THUMBS UP BY KOBRA KHAN HIMSELF!

Kobra Kahn Celebrates 50 Facebook Likes!

Now that Hoardax and Hoard World have been officially launched out into the stratosphere and the welcoming arms of The Internets Public, it's time to say a quick thank you to everybody that has accepted us  with open tentacles and already shown their support so very early in the piece.

THANKS EVERYBODY!

It's all been very exciting so far. Last night watching the likes increase exponentially on the facebook page so rapidly after being announced was a real thrill. Special thanks should go in particular to the guys at Melbourne's own All Star Comics for recommending us on their page and liking us themselves - they played a massive part in spreading the good word last night. It was so awesome to start seeing people I didn't already know starting to like us. (To the people I do already know that liked us, we love and appreciate your support too!)

It is very early days (well, it's still very early DAY) but in the upcoming week expect to see a bunch of new blog entries about things we all like to hoard, a metric hoardload of new ebay listings covering all sorts of territory, and, for you local folk, watch out for some sneaky loose action figures turning up in the vintage toy cabinet at All Star Comics Melbourne.

To celebrate our 50th Facebook Like on Hoard World we gave away a mystery vintage MOTU toy. It turned out to be Kobra Kahn (pictured).

Congratulations once again to BJ for being that special FIFTIETH Hoard Worlder.

What's in store for the next lucky person to hit a Facebook Like Milestone? 

We'll all see when we get closer to the 100 mark.