This is a spoiler for ToyFare #163:

Per Topless Robot and a bunch of other places, ToyFare Magazine ended with the most recent issue. I'm pretty sure Mego Spidey isn't given a big send-off either, but that may be just as well. My copy of #163 is still at the comic shop, and I almost hesitate to get it now; like if I don't, it'll still be going. I don't think I read the first quarterly issues, but I know I've been reading since around #3 or so.

Although it may not have been as good recently, as it was at it's best--the last Twisted ToyFare Theatre I've read was a two-part Masters of the Universe/Inception spoof, that had a few jokes but wasn't great--ToyFare not only gave me a lot of laughs over the years, but you can probably guess that it was pretty influential on the strips I do around here. And as recently as a couple months ago, my oldest nephew found a couple of my issues and loved them; damn near stole them right out from under me.

I'll miss the big checklists of lines like Marvel Legends or DC Direct, and the occasional spotlights of figures that never show up, like the comic book style Watchmen figures. I'll miss the more insane days of the FanFare letters column. And I'll miss word balloons on random figures. Generally, I'll just miss ToyFare, and hope for the best for all its employees.

Oddly, I've had an issue lying next to my computer for a while, since I was going to do a post on the unpainted Shocker Toys pieces previewed some months back, and I wonder if they're ever going to show up either.

And of course, the above isn't the Mego Spidey of so many TTT strips; sadly, he isn't even my childhood one, but a replacement I picked up a few years back. I loved the Megos before Star Wars figures broke it big, and remember taking my Mego Spidey to basketball games as a kid. Pretty obvious where I was headed, then...