TOYBOX: THE GOLDEN COMPASS!

Welcome back for the finale to 2007. This was the first year for the Toybox and I want to thank all of the readers who flocked here to see toys that aren't neccessarily always in your line of sight. I think this column really was a great addition to AFTimes and I am looking forward to bringing more toys to you!

This time out we get to look at 2 companies that are making product for a movie that is currently still in the theaters, The Golden Compass. Each company has it's own niche in the aisles.

The first is high end, Tonner Doll. Some people seem to have a thing against Tonner for the way they present the characters. I will say the faces are very "pretty" and sometimes too much so. However, that being said, you have to give them a lot of props for how they make thier dolls. All of them come in sturdy boxes with hairnets and ribbons to tie them down. The clothing is real cloth with real buttons, real metal snaps, socks, shoes and sometimes boots with real zippers! They all come with stands so you can place them in a collection if you so desire.

This time out we get to look at Lyra of Oxford, Mrs. Coulter of the Magesterium and Lord Asriel of Oxford (who passed on Sideshow but allowed TD to do a doll for him!...wierd). All are very well done. By the way, the movie and the book are 2 totally different universes! I reccomend both as the movie was nicely made but the book is much darker!





























To see and learn more about Tonner Doll you can go here: http://www.tonnerdoll.com/

The enxt company that is doing product for The Golden Compass is Popco (owned by Master Replicas). They are putting out a line of 3 3/4" figures with very little in the way of articulation. I am unsure of whether these are good for young children only because of the small accessories they come with (daemons & weapons). The air ship (late in the column) is by far the gem of the line! The figures themselves have some pretty goof facial likeness but again little in the way of movement. I wish that they had dome a bit more with these figures. It's a bit funny that Daniel Craig, who plays Lord Asriel, gave his consent to Popco for a figure (small thoug it may be) but passed on Sideshow for a 12"! Go figure. The last detail I wish they had added (although this being a line geared more towards kids I can understand why they didn't do this) was to make King Raggar's jaw come off! You'll have to see the movie to understand this.



































































As you can see I am missing a few of the characters but I am sure you can get the gist of what the line is like from the pictures here. The bears are cool having the button on the back to have some action. The armor is removeable. All in all a very nice line for kiddies (just be careful of the small accessories).

Now onto the gem of the line, Lee Scoresby's Air ship! This is definitely a cool vehicle. It comes with several peicces to put the ship together. Lots of detail. The balloons actually have 2 compartments you have to blow up to inflate! It also comes with a slightly varianted Lee Scoresby and his daemon.

























The ship isn't hard to put together. If you want Lee or anybody else in there you should put them in BEFORE you put the top on! LOL..., It will be interesting to see where this line goes as this movie is supposed to be a trilogy. These are available at Toys-R-Us that I know of so far.

Well this is it for 2007. I really want to thank all of you who stopped on by. I'll have a link next year but if you want to drop me a note you can always reach me at toygodd@yahoo.com Have a safe & Happy New Year's and I will see you again in 2008!

Toygodd