Gone but not forgotten! The Mattel Masterverse Masters of the Universe He-Man Action Figure is a big and relatively inexpensive action figure. It looks sort of like the 1982 figure, but it's built sort of like the Classics figures, and it was blown out for cheap last year. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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If you look at game prices against inflation, video games remain as one of the cheapest forms of entertainment out there - and that's not even taking into account dramatic leaps in technology. Super Mario Bros. 3 was $49.99 in 1990 - that's $122.32 in today dollars. Further, the original GameCube Luigi's Mansion was also $49.99 in 2002 - $88.86 in today dollars. Part of that was thanks to adopting optical storage rather than cartridges, and given consoles moving toward downloads I was hoping we'd see more cheap games. Indies remain inexpensive but first-party and AAA titles seem to offer little price relief despite no freight costs, no manufacturing costs, and no retailers needing to make a profit on their cut of the sale price.

Also, things are looking pretty grim for toy shipments unless you like the idea of some pretty significant price increases. You can and probably should write your House representative. Things are not looking better.

--AP

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Be sure to send in your questions for the next thrilling update! We now have one for next week.

--AP

Posted 10 years ago! The Hasbro Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Quickslinger was a real pain to obtain as an online exclusive 10 years ago, and now it's remade and you can probably get a new mold one this year for $25. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for a new one!

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Will this impact you? Good question, I have no idea. Diamond Select Toys still makes some amazing stuff and Diamond still distributes tons of great stuff, but the landscape for comic book shops in 2025 is a lot different than 2015 or 2005. Heck, it was Free Comic Book Day this weekend, and I didn't hear much buzz. With any luck these crazy kids will come together and change things in fun and exciting ways.

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Become a Patron!

If you've got a dollar a month to share, please Visit the Galactic Hunter Patreon and help cover our server costs. I'll still put in hours of work, writing, photography, and research - I just need some help making sure that the site costs me only time, and hopefully not money. Thanks for your support!

--AP

Newish! Hasbro Transformers Age of the Primes Voyager Prima Prime is the Primest of the Primes, and is mostly gray primer color with some blue highlights. The head looks a lot like a bot from the old cartoon, the body and coloring looks like one of the designs for Prima you've seen in books or, more likely, TFWiki. It's neat. It's a new character. It's going to be very interesting to see if fans grab on to the relatively obscure 21st century backstory characters, but I hope they will and that we'll see more with them. Read on!

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This week:
Power Grab: Bomb (Metroid) - in which you are the bomb.

Fairy Finder (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link) - in which you jump to the left.

The Big Race (Super Mario Bros. 3) - in which you run through 4-1.

Staircase Race (Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels) - in which you finish 1-1 as Luigi.

Cash Grab (Super Mario Bros) - in which you pick up 30 coins.

You've got a week to earn your trophies. The Silver was easy, the Gold took me a few tries. As usual.

--AP

A classic, tweaked! The Mattel Hot Wheels Classic TV Series Batmobile Tooned is a super-deformed take on a classic TV car. Choro-Q fans, rejoice, this isn't that but it's a step in a fun direction. There are a few versions of this car, and I gotta say I kinda love it. Go get one of these. Read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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Newish! The Super7 SilverHawks Mon*Star ReAction Figure is the first - and hopefully not last - baddie in this line. We haven't seen a second wave yet, but this figure have some pointy bits. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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NPR reports "The 10% U.S. tariff on imports of most British goods will remain," so lower your expectations for deals made with other countries.

NBC reported Trump gives break to Rolls-Royce cars but threatens more tariffs on Mattel toys.

Adafruit, the people behind the Raspberry Pi boards, write High tariffs become 'real' with our first $36K bill. Numerous companies in the toy world have been silently paying tariffs on their goods for several weeks, it is possible more companies will share their experiences going forward.

--AP

--AP

Be sure to send in your questions for the next thrilling update! We now have one for next week.

--AP

Posted 10 years ago! The Hasbro Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Twinstrike not given US distribution - Hasbro was playing around with the idea of taking the smaller, simpler designs and selling them internationally at Deluxe sizes and price points. They weren't super articulated, but they were sturdy and looked cool. No regrets. We'd get another version of this guy for Power of the Primes that could actually combine, but it was unlikely back in 2014-2015 so I happily bought this little monster guy. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for a new one!

--AP

Become a Patron!

If you've got a dollar a month to share, please Visit the Galactic Hunter Patreon and help cover our server costs. I'll still put in hours of work, writing, photography, and research - I just need some help making sure that the site costs me only time, and hopefully not money. Thanks for your support!

--AP

Newish! Hasbro Transformers Studio Series 86 Deluxe Constructicon Bonecrusher Action Figure is not as awesome as Scrapper, but is still pretty decent for a combiner limb. Read on!

--AP

This week:
Bottom Rung (Donkey Kong) - in which you climb the lowest ladder.

Pitcher Perfect (Kid Icarus) - in which you go shopping.

Shoo, Lakitu! (Super Mario Bros) - in which you run through 4-1.

Power Grab: Missile (Metroid) - in which you get screwed.

Poppin' Wheelies (Excitebike) - in which you complete a course.

You've got a week to earn your trophies. The Silver was easy, the Gold took me a couple tries because of Excitebike somehow still not being something I can do well.

--AP

AOld, but maybe still around! The Mattel Matchbox '35 Ford Pickup is new color of an older car, but it also looks a lot like one of the toilet Hot Wheels so I picked it up. Who wouldn't? Read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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A lot of really great people from Super7 and other toy companies are currently seeking employment in this increasingly rocky climate. AFI's Insta post is to facilitate networking and if you are in a position to hire some really talented people, I also advise you reach out to them and make a connection.

American tariff guidance on Chinese goods changed on Monday, but companies have been absorbing fees on inbound shipments leaving China since February 4. Three months of unplanned-for fees is a whole quarter of business being disrupted and this is going to impact careers and collecting in the months and years ahead. Things have already been disrupted, and at this point nobody knows who things are going to shake out in a couple of weeks.

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Clearance! The Culture Fly Batman Tiny Mights Purple Poison Ivy, Red Clayface, and Yellow Batgirl Minifigures with Case were marked down so I bought a few sets. How could I not? I love toy figures designed to be cheap collectibles, and pretty great for the money. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

--AP

I don't know the ins and outs of game show trademarks, but this item makes no mention of The Price Is Right and is also $99.99. There's also a much smaller version on Etsy.

--AP

--AP

Be sure to send in your questions for the next thrilling update! We now have one for next week.

--AP

Posted 10 years ago! The October Toys Skeleton Warriors Bone Titan Skeleton Action Figure was a Glyos-compatible Kickstarter figure that is kind of great and at $10, was dirt cheap. Just getting a figure of reasonable quality for $10 today seems unrealistic much of the time. The figure was recolored a few times, but sadly the entire brand just stalled out with only Baron Dark and this guy making it out in varying colors. It's unfortunate the line didn't keep going, but a lot of those indie lines stalled rather quickly. I'm hoping we see some new Glyos-compatible little guys from new designers real soon, because it was fun finding out about this sort of new - and sometimes licensed - stuff. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for a new one!

--AP

--AP

Become a Patron!

If you've got a dollar a month to share, please Visit the Galactic Hunter Patreon and help cover our server costs. I'll still put in hours of work, writing, photography, and research - I just need some help making sure that the site costs me only time, and hopefully not money. Thanks for your support!

--AP

Old! Hasbro Transformers Generations Legacy Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection Road Hauler is long gone, cleared out, but... it's a scream. I've seen them on clearance but happily paid full price for it, and have no regrets. You can probably get it cheaper than I paid. Read on!

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This week:
Octorok Onslaught (The Legend of Zelda) - in which you kill four dudes quickly... didn't we just do this one?

Taking Flight (Kirby's Adventure) - in which you jump a wall and enter a door.

Goodbye, Guma (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link) - in which you kill a minor minion.

Leap to the Peak (Super Mario Bros. 2) - in which you jump up the mountain you always skipped in 1-1.

World 1 Wizard (Super Mario Bros. 3) - in which you finish that entire first world.

It was fun! Go play it.

--AP

Not recent! The Mattel Hot Wheels HW-4-TRAC was one I picked up because I expected it to work better on tracks... I didn't find that it did. But it's not an uninteresting design. Read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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Old! The Kenner Batman: The Animated Series Scarecrow is one of the very first figures I bought from that line, and it was a good one. Light-up eyes, bird buddy, spinning arm, and all for about six bucks. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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They follow the old Kenner Star Wars template which was also used by Funko and Super7 for ReAction Figures. What's particularly interesting is that they don't seem to have likeness rights - the faces are all a little murky, and the cardbacks lack a photo of the actor from the movie. Super7 did this on some of their figures too, and the likenesses tended to be a little more Kennery when the actor's face got replaced by a collage or a poster (or a helmet.) Give these a look, but please make sure you leave at least one Lois Lane on the shelf for me. (I briefly got to meet Margot Kidder a zillion years ago at SDCC!)

With any luck these will be easily found, whenever they come out, where ever they're exclusive.

--AP

For those of you who are local, it looks near to the Thomas Walmart (with the radio towers) and the nearby Target, which sounds like a great future toy run in the making. It's near where Toy Liquidators used to be. I'd love to have a local source for parts for things again.

--AP

--AP

Be sure to send in your questions for the next thrilling update! We now have one for next week.

--AP

Posted 10 years ago! The Remco Mel Appel Extraterrestrials Trebor came from a line of alien figures from 1982, which more or less capitalized on E.T.'s lack of on-shelf toys. It's pretty great - a one-piece vinyl figure, with a plug, and glassy eyes. It's a cheap toy, and in today dollars it would probably be just under ten bucks to make something like this. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for a new one!

--AP

Become a Patron!

If you've got a dollar a month to share, please Visit the Galactic Hunter Patreon and help cover our server costs. I'll still put in hours of work, writing, photography, and research - I just need some help making sure that the site costs me only time, and hopefully not money. Thanks for your support!

--AP

Newish! Blokees Transformers Galaxy Defender Version 01 Shattered Alliance Bumblebee Brilliant Action Figure is tiny and cheap - which is where more toys need to go. At about $3, if you find these blind boxes for sale? Just buy it. It's worth it. Read on!

--AP

This week:
Loose Change (Super Mario Bros) - in which you get some coins.

Leveling Up (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link) - in which you get a bag.

Mushzoom 3 (Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels) - in which you get high and then do mushrooms.

Barrel Roll (Donkey Kong) - in which you finish the first screen.

Avoid the Metroids (Metroid) - in which you do that.

You've got a week to earn your trophies. I'm still working on the gold one.

--AP

Pretty good! The Playing Mantis Johnny Lightning The Challengers Wasp (Maroon) may be at an antique mall near you. It may also not be worth more than it was in the 1990s. It's a reissue of a toy sold in the 1970s, with a hefty build and a fanciful design that would be retro by today's standards. I like it. Read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

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Still available! The Mattel He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection Evil-Lyn Action Figure has no cape, but otherwise is a pretty good rendition of a classic cartoon character. She's not too yellow. Just a bit. I think she turned out well enough. Do read on, and come back tomorrow for more fun!

--AP

All in-stock items are on sale for 15% off for a limited time! Go get some new stuff.

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