~ Welcome to RTMemo
~ Featured This Issue
        - Lady Death Variant
        - GTO Manga and Anime
        - Holiday Central Feature
        - Marvel Select Punisher
        - Silver Age Beast Statue
~ News Highlights
~ From the Buzz
~ From the ShopCenter/MarketBuzz
~ From NewLineShop.com
~ Toy Link of the Week
~ Non-Toy Link of the Week

------ Welcome to RTMemo ------

McFarlane Toys recently announced that they would not be participating in future Toy Fairs, but would instead meet with buyers and the media at their headquarters. The Toy Industry Association is revamping the toy show schedules, hoping to better align the shows with how business is done.

As a collector, how would you like to see things done? Do you like getting a LOT of news all at once from shows like Toy Fair (even if many of the products are never made)? Or would you prefer to see new products announced more evenly throughout the year, making it easier to keep up with, and eliminating the lulls in news?

------ Featured This Issue ------

Spotlight: Lady Death Variant
The RTM Spotlight takes a second look at Lady Death, via the Lady Death resculpted variant figure from Diamond Select's Dark Alliance II series:
http://www.toymania.com/columns/spotlight/daladydvariant.shtml

RTMisc: GTO Manga and Anime
RTMisc goes back to school with a look at a few volumes of GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) manga and anime from Tokyopop:
http://www.toymania.com/columns/rtmisc/gto.shtml

Holiday Central
Do you need gift suggestions for a toy collector of any age? How about a few New Year's Resolutions? Check out RTM's Holiday Central for ideas:
http://www.toymania.com/features/holiday/index.shtml

Spotlight: Marvel Select Punisher
The RTM Spotlight interrupts your pinball game with the Punisher action figure, the second in the Marvel Select series from Diamond Select Toys:
http://www.toymania.com/columns/spotlight/mselectpunisher.shtml

RTMisc: Silver Age Beast Statue
Things get hairy when RTMisc opens the Beast statue, the second release in the series of Silver Age X-Men statues from Diamond Select:
http://www.toymania.com/columns/rtmisc/dssabeast.shtml

------ News Highlights ------

Marvel Legends 3 Preview
The second set of Marvel Legends action figures is starting to show up in stores across North America, and the third series will be available in a few months. Here's an advance look at series 3: Wolverine, Magneto, Thor, and Ghost Rider:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2708.shtml

Daredevil Movie Head Knockers
NECA will be releasing bobbing head figures of Elektra and Daredevil from the Daredevil film:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2753.shtml

New Two Towers Action Figures
Toy Biz has released images of the next three assortments of action figures from the Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers. (Gollum will be unveiled on the 19th.)
Assortment 3 - Aragorn, Galadriel, Twilight Ringwraith, Prolog Elf Warrior, Frodo:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2744.shtml
Assortment 4 - Helm's Deep Legolas, Sam in Mordor, Armored King Theoden, Gollum, Boromir, Gimli, Twilight Frodo:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2745.shtml
Assortment 5 - Berserker Urk-Hai, Ugluk, Grishnakh, Ringwraith, Moria Orc:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2746.shtml

More Construction Jack in 2003
2003 will see a Construction Jill action figure, more trades represented, and new ethnicities for Jack:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2669.shtml

Ty Launches 3 New Plush Lines
If Beanie Babies don't interest you anymore, Ty has three new kinds of plush toys on the way:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2673.shtml

Mary Jane!
Dynamic Forces has teamed with Moore Creations to create busts and dioramas based on Marvel characters. The first one will be a bust of Mary Jane, capturing the first moment we (and Peter Parker) saw her in the comics:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2675.shtml

Nightmare Before Christmas Coffin Set
If you are very much into Nightmare Before Christmas, NECA has the collectible for you - a limited edition (just 100!) 30-pound coffin containing re-issued Nightmare action figures on retro cards:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2684.shtml

bbi Green Beret 2-pack
To mark the 50th anniversary of the forming of the US Special Forces, bbi is issuing a two-pack of 12-inch Green Beret action figures:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2707.shtml

The Dirty Dozen for 2002
The annual list from the Lion and Lamb Project:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2716.shtml

Silver Age Marvel Girl Statue
Marvel Girl continues the Silver Age X-Men statue series from Diamond Select:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2720.shtml

Palisades on the Today Show
Mike Horn of Palisades Toys will be appearing on the Today Show on Monday, December 9th:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2727.shtml

JAKKS Acquires Trendmasters Assets
JAKKS Pacific continues to diversify their product offerings with the purchase of assets and brands from Trendmasters:
http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/2734.shtml

As always, these are just a few of the news highlights from the past week. To see all the news, check the main news index and the latest archives:
http://www.toymania.com/news/index.shtml

------ From the Buzz ------

???man has found Hulk Movie figures at Wal-Mart:
http://www.toymania.com/toybuzz/messages/34038.shtml

President Luthor is looking for a good Rescue Heroes site:
http://www.toymania.com/toybuzz/messages/34014.shtml

Iceman asks what you would like to see at Toy Fair 2003:
http://www.toymania.com/toybuzz/messages/33935.shtml

Bull wonders how Micropets work:
http://www.toymania.com/toybuzz/messages/33909.shtml

(The posts on the Buzz last only a few days, so if you are reading this more than two or three days after this issue of RTMemo was sent out, the posts will likely be gone.)

------ From the ShopCenter/MarketBuzz ------

Baybee Doll seeks a 12-inch Mr Blonde figure:
http://www.toymania.com/marketbuzz/messages/8664.shtml

Timbo would like to trade his Gold Iron Man and Doombot Marvel Legends for a reissue Optimus Prime:
http://www.toymania.com/marketbuzz/messages/8654.shtml

------ From NewLineShop.com ------

NewLineShop.com has ornaments from Lord of the Rings, although they are now sold out of the Legolas ornament:
http://www.toymania.com/links/cj_lotrornaments.shtml

------ Toy Link of the Week ------

Mask of Destiny
A site devoted to BIONICLE, run on the same format as RebelScum.com. In addition to covering the toys, Mask of Destiny also has news and information about the BIONICLE video games and collectible card game.
http://www.maskofdestiny.com/default.asp

(MoD is a repeat link from last year, but RTMemo has grown a great deal since I originally used this link, so it is time to run it again.)

------ Non-Toy Link of the Week ------

Holiday Organizer
From the same folks who run OrganizedHome.com comes HolidayOrganizer.com, a site to help you get ready for the holidays. The site has printable planner pages, easy-to-make gift ideas, holiday recipes, and more. It also has a forum for discussing the ideas on the site:
http://holidayorganizer.com/

And the "every couple of issues" repeat link:
Opt-out of the X-10 Pop-up Ads
Are the pop-up ads for the X-10 cameras bugging you? Go to this page on their site to get a cookie for your browser - the cookie will prevent the pop-up ad for a month.
http://www.x10.com/x10ads1.htm

------ In Closing ------

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- the RTM Staff
http://www.toymania.com