Rustin Parr

Rustin Parr

Twas' a blizzardy night whence the Asension of Parr lay waste to countless hordes of Ogres, Monsters, Barbarians, Warriors, Cursed Pirates, Stormtroopers, Death Eaters, Sith, Zombies and Hot Wheels Collectors during Rustin's De Nomolosian conquest. Through his furious cynicism and childish glee, Rustin Parr has established himself as the most important cog in the clockwork doomsday machine what is OAFEnet, at least in his own malnuorished thought organ. Parr is a writer, filmmaker and radio host (among other things) - encourage him in these pursuits lest he depletes what little funds there aren't in the OAFE pension.

1. What got you into reviewing? What figure was so cool that you just had to tell everyone about it?

I've always been a collector/enthusiast and always searched for a reason to discuss my passion. At SDCC 2003 there was this ...RUSTIN PARR WAS SELECTED AT RANDOM TO FILL THE POSITION VACATED BY THE NOW-DEAD (undead?) POE GHOSTAL - The OAFE Management. (That’s the "official" story, but in actuality Poe, Yo and I all met for the first time at the McFarlane Message Board dinner at SDCC '03. A mutual friend (the infamous "Lord of the Nazgul") introduced us all and what can I say? I had the best time of my life yaking up toys with these fine folks and they asked me to join 'em here, so I did.)

2. What's your favorite review?

The one I’m most proud of is the '03 con exclusive Yellow-Shirt Kirk, but the one I enjoy the most is the Twisted Oz Tin Woodman. However, as yo no doubt can attest, I loathe reading my own work, so I’m just going off memory and could be totally wrong with these answers.

3. Best late night talk show host?

I don't really watch much TV anymore, and particularly not late night. I really don't like talk shows... at all. That being said, the answer to your query is a resounding "Jon Stewart."

4. Who's your favorite hero/villain?

Good God!!! Why don't you ask me which limb I want amputated the most!!! I need more specifics... are we talking comics, movies, tv, etc... Far too broad a subject for me! But, to appease the masses I'll throw out some of the top contenders from across the various media. For Villains: Kahn (ST II), The Emperor (SW RotJ), General Chang (ST IV), Saruman (LotR), Stansfield (The Professional), Aaron the Moor (Titus Andronicus), Josef Mengele (The Boys from Brazil), Rasputin (Hellboy) and the classics like Dr. Doom and the Joker, but only when they're written well. Heroes: Leon (The Professional), Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Marvel Comics), Jake & Elwood Blues (The Blues Brothers), and the "ST:TOS" crew when doing the movies.

5. Best thing about toys right now?

Ken Lilly. Hands down, I am in manlove with this guy. If anybody wants to know where the future of the industry lays, don't look at laser-scanning or super-articulation, check this guy out. He is a toy geek who is making toys for geeks. A welcome change from certain other companies who are in the business for profit and nothing else. But most important is his all-inclusive approach towards production. His constant one-on-one interaction with fans/consumers on the Palisades boards as well as his blatant openness in regards to every facet of production is a breathe of fresh air. I think people are getting tired of the old ways, of only being able to get news from sporadically updated official websites, fan sites or the occasional interview. In today's market, companies really do need to have a very close relationship with their consumers, and Palisades is providing the prototype for that kind of interaction.

6. Worst thing about toys right now?

Now that is a tricky thing. There are a lot of problems with the industry as it stands today and it really depends on my mood and interests at the time on what the worst to me is. Poor quality, bad case packs, inept product managers, high prices, and so on. Yet, having just spent the weekend opening around 60 figures, I can safely say that the worst thing about toys right now are those accursed twisty-ties! Why, dear lord, why must there be so many these days!? If the trays were formed properly or just one or two wire-ties were used, I would be fine, but to have as many ties as points of articulation is just plain ridiculous! Typing this is quite painful, as I have worn my fingertips raw unwinding the little metal bastards. Surely they are unnecessary, for toys have been packaged without them before, and should be packaged without them again.

7. What's your guilty pleasure?

I got a big thing for Bill and Ted. As for Toys, I actually really dig those early-to-mid-nineties Kenner movie figures… stuff like The Shadow, Waterworld, Aliens, Stargate, and Hook (though Mattel did that one).

8. Sculpt, paint or articulation?

Sculpt, it's all about sculpt. Don't get me wrong, paint and articulation as very big pieces of the pie too, but, ultimately, it needs to look good for those to matter. Paint can really swing a figure either way (see Indiana Jones, for example) and articulation can ruin the aesthetics/proportions of a sculpt (a problem I'm increasingly having with all ToyBiz product). But, yeah, the sculpting is definitely the most important of the three, it's the basis for the other two aspects.

9. Mexican, Italian or Chinese?

Mexican like a motherf**ker! I love Chinese, and work at an "Italian" joint, but man, I eat Mexican about 5 times a week if not more! Chips and salsa are my favorite food of all time!!!

10. What's the first toy you remember getting?

I'm bad with chronology way back when... I remember losing Darkseid's cape (from Super Powers) in the mall just after having bought it, and I remember begging my dad to get me the original Han Solo in Carbonite at the local KB, but he was convinced there was no actual figure in the package, just the solid block of carbonite/plastic (later I found it at a comic shop selling, loose, for $210; thanks, Dad). I have a bunch of memories of stuff like that, most of them involving Super Powers figures. I do specifically recall reenacting Napier's fall into the acid with my ToyBiz Joker figure circa '89 by dropping him off my balcony... he still has the removable head play feature...

11. Favorite toy of all time?

I think I can honestly say I don't have one. I could never pick just one, I'd probably have to list 10 to 20 figures, but that's just the way my mind works, that probably wouldn't even be enough. The best figure ever made, though, is Spawn from the movie line. Great sculpting, good paint, four accessories, 11 points of articulation, and all for a mere $5.99. That was a good deal even by 1997 standards!

12. Favorite band?

Don't really have one, but my canned response is VAST. Love the first album like none other and the new stuff (from Crimson and Turquoise) sounds really good too. Every time I listen to my White Stripes albums, like I am now, I'm always impressed by how great they are too.

13. We all buy a lot of toys; what do you actually collect?

Again, a little open-ended there... are talking about what Toys I specifically seek out and get as much of as I can? If yes, then Armies of Middle Earth, Muppets, DC Direct, Movie Maniacs, Marvel Legends/Spider-Man Classics (begrudgingly), Star Trek (Playmates [I'll take character variety over Art Asylum any day!]), Lord of the Rings (ToyBiz - again begrudgingly), and of course Star Wars. I personally believe that SW is THE line that began and created toy collecting and thusly, every collector should, by definition, have at least, say, 10 SW figures in their collections to be a "real" collector. At any rate, this question is making me very uncomfortable because I feel like it's presenting a very limited view of my collection, but the majority of it is stuff that I just or already have all of, so I don't really "collect" it. I guess I could sum up my whole collection with two words: Licensed Products. I also have a blossoming collection of "Haunted Mansion" stuff (from Disneyland/World).

14. Your most wanted toy line?

Okay, so it's my dream to have a toy company in the future, and as such though I have my royal triumvirate, my "big three" licenses that I want to get, however, I'm too paranoid to say what they are cause I don't want some one coming in and doing some half-assed stuff like Art Asylum with Trek. Therefore, I'll go with the least popular of my Big Three - Bill and Ted. Specifically, Bogus Journey. I love Bogus Journey like there is no tomorrow and getting some really good quality figure from it would be my dream come true. The design work in the film is phenomenal and all the characters would translate beautifully into figures!

15. Who makes the best toys?

There is no company out there that I can make a blanket statement like that for. Palisades is definitely my favorite company chiefly because of how Mike Horn and Ken Lilly run it. I think every company has pros and cons (example - McFarlane. Great Sculpting, terrible management), so it's really difficult to pick one that is all around the "best." I guess my answer is that there isn't one. No one out there really has the exposure, the management, the quality, and the product diversity that I would expect from the company that makes the "best" toys. ReSaurus was getting pretty close though.

16. What's your favorite candy?

It changes depending on my mood. Sometimes it's Nerds, other times Butterfingers, and still others Ice Cream. Man... ice cream sounds good right now, though... real good...

17. What toy that you never got as a kid have you sought out now that you're an adult?

Star Trek. I recently did a huge eBay binge and filled in a lot of holes, but I still have a lot of figures to get. I was actually really surprised by how much product Playmates was actually able to get out. (Original) TMNT is a really big line for me too for a variety of reasons, so I'd like to get around to adding to my collection of those as well...

18. What obscure, unmarketable property would you love to have as figures?

I'm notorious for very bizarre interests in figures. I'm the guy who actually really wants a "Council Elrond" figure (he could have deliberating action) and "Old Man Theoden" (Under-Saruman's-Spell action!)! If it were good and/or priced reasonably I'd get a figure from anything. But I'll go with Freaked!, Alex Winter's film from the mid-90's. I'm the only person on the planet that really likes this movie and the character designs for the Freeks in it are really cool and very toyetic.

19. What are you into besides toys?

Comics, movies, the regular, I'm big into Disney theme parkery too. Oh and the fairer sex, we certainly mustn't forget the fairer sex!

20. What's your secret stash for finding toys?

There is no such place. There used to be a Thrifty Market by my house that I could always score the new SW figures at (though for a marked up price) cause no one ever went in there. That was really cool... Mmmm... happy memories. Back in the days, when I would run by there every week after school in hopes of something new. But nowadays, the best way to get stuff before other people is probably the internet. Other than that, any stash I mention would no longer be a secret now would it, my precious little dandy fops!