Friday, January 31, 2014

TOY NEWS FOR 1/31/2014 - BANDAI - S.H. MONSTERARTS - ALIEN "BIG CHAP"

Now that everyone and their mother has the Alien(s) license, prepare for the continued bombardment from all continents-- including (of course) Japan. Particularly from Bandai and their SH Monsterarts line.

This figure looks to be-- unexpectedly-- top notch. Excellent sculpting and articulation, and the "dome" looks awesome. I like when it looks more like a skull beneath...

As this figure and others were shown at SDCC last year, expect to see other versions of the Xenomorph (Alien) in the line as it continues.






He'll be out in Japan in May for a Yen price of Y5,940. US info to be announced.

TOY NEWS FOR 1/31/2014 - MEZCO - BREAKING BAD - TOY FAIR 2014 EXCLUSIVE WALTER WHITE

Oh, why Mezco, why?

I love Breaking Bad, and I usually love Mezco, so why is the Mezco Walter White "figure" so completely terrible on every level??

Even the beautiful sculpt by the brilliant Trevor Grove is buried beneath bad mold casting and caked on paint. The worst part of the figure, however, is its complete lack of any articulation. This is not an action figure, it's a crap statue. It's a kitch item that's meant to take up a few inches of space on your desk until it's caked in dust, falls behind the desk somewhere and is forgotten and replaced by the next pop culture item.

Mezco will actually be offering this as an exclusive at Toy Fair-- where no collectors are allowed to go. Yeah! That makes sense!

But, if you are a collector, you can still get this exclusive version on Mezco's website for-- wait-- $80?!?

Kiss. My. Ass.


Buy it here-- http://www.mezcotoyz.com/mezco-2014-toy-fair-catalog-figure

TOY NEWS FOR 1/31/2014 - HASBRO - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - WAVE 2 - THE FALCON

I have to say that I really like the direction they went with the design of the Falcon for the new Captain America movie-- and I'm glad that they've added him to the Marvel film roster.

True, he doesn't have his classic look, but that look has always been kinda dated and awful. Here, he obviously looks much more like his "Ultimate" comic version, which is where 90% of the Marvel movies seem to draw from anyway.

While I couldn't give a damn about this figure, I am looking forward to the Hot Toys version and adding him to my HT Marvel roster.


TOY NEWS FOR 1/17/2014 - THREEZERO - 1/6 SCALE 2014 ROBOCOP - v1 & v2

UPDATE 1/31/2014 - FINAL PAINTED PROTOTYPE IMAGES







UPDATE 1/22/2014 - OFFICIAL PROTOTYPE IMAGES




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ThreeZero does amazing work, especially on mechanical characters (just see their Real Steel figures for proof of that), but I'm not too sure than anything could really interest me in buying any figure related to the new Robocop film.

I'm trying not to be one of those geek "haters" who talks trash about a movie before I've even seen it, but I just don't like much of anything that I've seen from the new film. I'm going to see it, and I really hope that I end up eating my words. I love a good move, and I love a good sci-fi movie even more, so I do want the film to be good, and I'm going to give it a chance.

ThreeZero is also working on an ED-209 from the new 2014 film as well.

TOY NEWS FOR 1/31/2014 - NECA - PLANET OF THE APES (MODERN) - DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - WAVE 1

With NECA acquiring the Planet of the Apes license, expect to see a full assault on all fronts with both modern and classic figures.

On the modern front, the first figure shown from the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the leader of the apes: Caesar.

He looks angry, badass and ready to change the course of mankind's history on the planet Earth.

Wave 1 will also consist of two more apes (yet to be shown): Koba and Maurice


Wave 1 should be out in May for around $18.99 each

TOY NEWS FOR 1/31/2014 - NECA - PLANET OF THE APES (CLASSIC) - WAVE 1

I'll be honest, I know that Planet of the Apes is iconic, but it never quite hooked me in as a child like so many other sci-fi movies did.

But that doesn't lessen my appreciation for it as a classic sci-fi property or NECA's brilliant work on these three figures of Dr Zaius, Cornelius and Gorilla Soldier.

Just look at those sculpts... Is there any doubt that NECA is the best toy company in the US? There sure isn't in my mind.



Look for them in July for around $18.99 each.

TOY NEWS FOR 1/28/2014 - NECA - PREDATOR - 8-BIT VIDEO GAME VERSION

UPDATE 1/31/2014 - FINAL FIGURE IMAGE!!


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NECA really seems to have stumbled upon something that really connects with collectors (and allows NECA to reuse even more old figure molds) with their 8-Bit video game figures.

Luckily for them there have been so many old NES games based on figure licenses that they've already worked on.

After A Nightmare on Elm St (Freddy), Friday the 13th (Jason) and Robocop, now comes Predator.

I think that NECA does an awesome job of recreating the 8-Bit look of the figures, but what really stands out is the packaging which always looks just like the original video game boxes, but with all the appropriate logo  and informational changes.




Look for him to be released in May for $24.99

TOY NEWS FOR 1/31/2013 - BANDAI - S.H. FIGUARTS - SUPER MARIO BROTHERS - MARIO AND DIORAMA PLAYSETS

UPDATE 2/4/2014 - NEW PICS!!!







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The long-time face of Nintendo is finally getting a real proper and awesome action figure courtesy of Bandai Japan and their SH Figuarts line.

I remember decades ago how excited I was when Super Mario Brothers 2 was released on the original NES. I must have played that game a million times-- literally!

I really love what SH Figuarts has done, not only with Mario himself, but with the creation of the (so far) two different diorama playsets.





Look for them to start shipping in June with Mario coming in at $24.99 and the diorama sets for $19.99 each.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

TOY NEWS FOR 1/22/2014 - FOUR HORSEMEN STUDIOS - OUTER SPACE MEN

The final three waves of The Four Horsemen Studios Outer Space Men should be released in March.

With that anticipation, 4H will be releasing images of the final, packaged product, a figure at a time. I'll be bringing all of those images to you here.

I'm a huge fan of this line (although I really wish they finally kick off the official Power Lords line already!), and am sad to see it come to a close, but it's pretty cool that we got all the figures in this line that never made it to the original one back in 1968.

The final six figures will be-- Colossus Rex and Gamma-X (Dlx Wave 2) along with OSM creator Mel Birnkrant's new creations, the human astronauts Jack Asteroid and Terra Firm, and two new [female] alien creations Horroscope and Ohpromatem.

Shown first is Ohpromatem, which you might notice is Metemorpho (who is also from Alpha Centauri) spelled backwards. Like Metemorpho, she also features a knob in which, when turned, reveals one of three heads.



Today we get a look at another of the new female aliens, Horroscope. Like Xodiac, she is also from Saturn and has sea-creature type appearance.



Today's newly shown figure is the first human character to be added to the line-- Jack Asteroid.

Originally, when the original line was produced in 1968 by Colorforms, the OSM figures were meant to be "unofficial" companion pieces to Mattel's popular Major Matt Mason line, which utilized the same "bendie" joint system. Looking at Jack here, it's so brilliantly reminiscent of Matt Mason that it really makes me wish that we had an official figure (or even an unofficial one) to join the ranks of the OSM. But, I'm still overjoyed to have Jack, regardless.

I expect that tomorrow we'll be seeing Jack's fellow human (female) astronaut, Terra Firma.



Two new Outer Space Men (well, technically, one outer spaceman and one Earth woman!) for you today!

The Four Horsemen have given us a look at the final, packaged versions of the retro beauty known as Terra Firma (such a great name!) and the creepy weird-o, Gamma-X: The Man From the 4th Dimension.

Gamma-X will be part of a Deluxe Set of figures along with (the yet to be shown) Colossus Rex.





The final image of the final figure of Outer Space Men from The Four Horsemen is finally here.

This line has been fantastic. The 4H have done an amazing job of reintroducing these figures to the world, and, while at first I didn't like the idea of a 3.75" scale (the originals were about 5" tall), I've come to really appreciate it, and I think it heavily contributed to the longevity and affordability of the line.

And let's not forget the Glyos joint system that allows you to take every figure apart at every joint and mix and match them into any creation of your own design that you'd like.

Lastly in the line, we have The Man From Jupiter, Collosus Rex. The original figure only included the mace, but the 4H decided to give him a little boost in order to truly make him a "deluxe" figure. (Both he and Gamma-X are in the Dlx. Wave.)



From what I was told at SDCC this past year, we can expect to see these final figures go up for order at Storehorsemen.com in March.