Ollie & Co Glorietta | Barbie Birthday Bonanza

Barbie is 62 years old by March 9th and for most of the doll’s iconic life it put Mattel in the map as the brand that made it happened. Sixty two years also has given Barbie so many stories to tell from the early days to the modern take on the brand. With that, the celebration for Barbie all over the world shows that she has come a long way. In the Philippines, local distributor Richprime Global Inc is making sure Barbie’s Birthday is not just a date, but a celebration for her fans with retail store Ollie & Co Glorietta having a special three-day Barbie promo for longtime collectors and fans of the famous doll by Mattel that will surely be not just her special day for sure.

MOTU Origins | Prince Adam & Sky Sled

When a toyline based on a classic series from decades ago and represented in the modern setting with its original concept intact it becomes popular again. But not all can be translated exactly as the way you remember it. For Masters of the Universe Origins it was uncertain that slowly grow to its own because older fans has nostalgia. Sometimes nostalgia brings not just the best of what made it iconic, but also the campiness why it was memorable just like Prince Adam and the Sky Sled, two things that are both good and fashionably outdated for the modern times.

MOTU Origins | Battle Armor Skeletor

Every Hero or Villain needs a character development, but most of the times an upgrade doesn’t make it to fiction it becomes a brand new action figure to sell more toys based on that character. With Battle Armor Skeletor, it adds iteration or a version of the character that has gimmicks like the upgrade before the name itself. There’s no general straightforward fiction related on how the character gained a ‘power up’ even a minicomic to support that transformation. But the back of the product’s card art just gives you the idea how the ‘Battle Amor’ manifested itself to be based on evil magic protection that gives every kid from the 1980s an idea.

MOTU 200X | Cobra Khan

When you talk about the Masters of the Universe it is not just about He-Man battling Skeletor who want to take over Castle Grayskull. It’s also about the characters that populate Eternia and their individual stories and journey how they join the two faction of Heroic Warriors and Evil Warriors. Mattel produced some interesting characters and some odd ones, but there’s this lesser known creature that has appeared in the Filmation cartoon as well as featured in the mini comics packed in with the original toyline. Cobra Khan is not your usual bumbling henchman, but often carries a darker agenda portrayed in the cartoon.

MOTU Origins | Battle Cat

If you’re a fan of the 80s cartoon growing up chances are you’ve been watching He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The animated series produced by Filmation did not just put together the story from scratch, but some of those were inspired from the pack-in minicomics that came with the figure and DC Comics published series. He-Man of course is largely the centerpiece of the narrative, and with every hero back then they had a companion or a partner. Brave Starr had Thirty Thirty, which takes that original template from the MOTU series that other franchise had adopted. With that there won’t be He-Man without Battle Cat, his trusted companion and friend.

MOTU Origins | Skeletor

For every Hero there’s always that arch nemesis that causes all the trouble and chaos that runs the narrative. With Masters of the Universe, it is obvious that He-Man needs someone to punch into action if you have grown up having those vintage action figures, but with no one to beat up after seeing the Filmation animation. Skeletor is actually the comedic foil in that classic cartoon and forever to be that villainy that everyone thought to be as scary as the way he appeared to be. But over the years with various iteration of the character’s portrayal has changed, and with the new MOTU Origins you’ll certainly have nostalgia feels with the new action figure!

HW Experimotors | Tanknator

Hot Wheels has been around long enough to just focus on making real world diecast cars. Over the years they expand and create different types of diecast cars and in their mainline every year a theme is added or introduced. In the last eight years they have come up with diecast cars made out of everyday objects turned into cars. This also included cars that can be ridden by minifigures, and since their parent company Mattel acquired Canadian toy company Mega Bloks and re-branded it into Mega Construx they also produced cars for this range of toys namely the oddball vehicle The Tanknator, that definitely made true to its name.

Micro Collection | Jurassic World: Triceratops

The realm of Dinosaurs has become intriguing as what Jurassic World made into a franchise filled with big and small creatures not only based in the real world, but adding fiction that invites you to explore their stories. For children it gives them an interest about creatures that has been extinct for more than a million years. Of course, with that merchandise has been around related to the dinosaurs that most of them may take up a lot of space. But for those minimalist just appreciate a select few creatures Mattel, the company that owned the rights to the franchise have produced them into their Micro Collection with four dinosaurs including this Triceratops!

MOTU Origins | He-Man

Masters of the Universe has a rich and diverse mythology, which is an original concept built behind the action figure toyline by Mattel. It’s one of the franchise that defined its identity with how it was packaged with a minicomics at the same time established its own identity without the support of other forms of media. In the early stories based on the minicomics by Don F Glut and Alfredo Alcala, which introduced He-Man, was a barbarian from the tribe of Eternia that was given weapons to become the hero that he was. Of course, Mattel would refine the character and the mythology with that became history. Thirty years later the revival for He-Man is here!

MOTU: Eternia Minis | Orko

Masters of the Universe has a very diverse cast of characters from heroic warriors to evil villains that make up the franchise that also includes graphic novels, animated series, and film. This also includes the characters from Princess of Power, which is produced Mattel. There’s a deep dive of interesting characters, but the basic supporting characters will always have a recall among longtime fans of the franchise that grew up owning some of the vintage toys. Orko comes to mind as one of those memorable character that regularly appears in the classic and 2002 animation, which sometimes considered underrated for most of his appearances.

MOTU 200X | Forgotten He-Man

Masters of the Universe is recently getting a new resurgence from the recently released classic figures with modern articulation longtime fans growing up having them in their childhood collection. They say nothing like the original that defined Mattel’s boys’ toys aside from their popular Hot Wheels diecast cars. The original MOTU toyline lasted from 1983 to 1988 lasting beyond the Filmation series that’s long enough to build a brand. It had a follow up series in the early 1990s, but not as popular as how it defined itself. The next series was a reboot in the early 2000s with a shot at revival, but unlike the follow up series it was easily forgotten.

Snap Squad | Velociraptor Blue

02.19.2020 – There are collectibles out in the wild that are sometimes underrated or unnoticed and then there are those with niche interest. Mattel’s Snap Squad is one of those rare occurrences that merge with interest with dinosaurs and super deformed adorable aesthetics that take collecting to the simpler times because they’re fun. Snap Squad is a range of collectible dinosaurs based from their appearances in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films that were super deformed or in Japanese slang “Chibi” having an enormous head with a tiny body and one of them is the Velociraptor named Blue as its featured figure!

MBX Off-Road | NASA S.E.V. Chariot

07.02.2019 – Every Space Exploration needs a rover since the Apollo missions improvements on manned vehicle has been one of the key elements that became part of each lunar mission to the Moon and unmanned rovers to the surface of Mars. It has been an essential transport and research vehicle. NASA continues to develop these surface exploration vehicles as part of research and development. Many of these vehicles have been produced as merchandise to bring up the interest in Space Exploration and Matchbox has produced one towards the tail end of 2018 and that is the NASA S.E.V. Chariot!

Justice League Action | The Joker

10.30.2017 – When you think of Justice League the Trinity of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman comes to mind. But with Cartoon Network’s hit in Justice League Action there’s more than the three lead characters that make up the team. Then you have the villains like Lex Luthor and The Joker as interesting as the heroes in this animated series that debuted late in December 2016. There’s not much merchandise aside from the Happy Meal toys and overly large figures for kids. But Mattel still have some left for the fans with 4.5 inch figure like The Joker!

Fast & Furious | Ripsaw

09.01.2017 – The Ripsaw is one of the vehicles that stood out as the one the highlights in “Fate of the Furious” that Ludacris Bridges has driven in the final act of the latest instalment of the franchise. “Fate of the Furious” was an instant hit that produced several merchandise based on the past films and its current one. Mattel produced several lines of “The Fast and The Furious” diecast cars based from the franchise and the Ripsaw is one of them.

HW Screen Time | Yellow Submarine

07.17.2017 – The “Yellow Submarine” is a song by the Beatles which was adapted into an animated theatrical feature film in 1968, which did not feature the voices of the fab four portrayed as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. After almost fifty years the song that spin-off into the cultural animated classic Yellow Submarine still receive merchandise and in the 21st century it has produced a LEGO® Ideas set featuring all four members of the band and now in a Hot Wheels!

"Max Steel" Goes Turbo to the Big Screen!

10.01.2016 – “Max Steel” is a classic toy line that was manufactured by Mattel, the same toy makers of Barbie and Hot Wheels. Similar to the 12 inch G.I. Joe figures, but less of being related to military more of a science fiction adventure genre. Max McGrath is a teenager with special abilities that was first introduced in 2000 and then rebooted his origins with a new series now being adapted for live action film of the same name. “Max Steel” is reborn and this time to the big screen...

Super7 Premieres New MOTU Cartoon at SDCC 2016!

07.15.2016 – “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” was a popular cartoon series that debuted in 1985. It was originally produce to sell Mattel, but when you look back at the Filmation produced cartoons it was more than just that. The originally series lasted for two seasons but it survived through the mini-comics pack with the action figures. Super7 known of producing art toys is bringing the classic back to SDCC 2016!

Toy Sightings: Mattel's' Dawn of Justice!

02.21.2016 – Are you ready for the gladiator battle of all time? “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” is a month away and as previously sighted merchandise started to appear in retail stores. But that’s not enough to give you some BvS goodness. Mattel’s “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” merchandise has been sighted at one of the leading toy stores and they are in their ‘ hot items’ list on display that would literally turn some heads who are into the DC Extended Universe!

Hot Wheels Price Hike Heart Breaker!

02.14.2016 – Hot Wheels has become everyone’s collectible die cast cars and a household name for most kids growing up and getting familiar with. They have been a lucrative hobby to for most adults and have been well known by anyone. For most of the current generation of children getting to know their favorite cars is like a caveman trying to rediscover the wheel. It’s a mass market toy that almost everyone can afford but significant changes in pricing has change all that.