TOY NEWS FOR 8/31/2013 - SUPER7/FUNKO - ReACTION - UPCOMING LINES

I could already tell at Comic-Con this year that Super7 seriously underestimated the popularity of their announced Alien ReAction "retro" action figure line.

Thursday morning when I made my way to their booth to pick up a "Sample Set" of the Alien/Space Suit set, as well as order my Early Bird carded set, I was immediately informed that they were sold out-- for the entire show!-- of their exclusive Alien/Space Suit figure set. They had sold out in about an hour on Preview Night. By their reaction, it was easy to tell that Super7-- a smaller "art toy" specialty company-- was seriously caught off guard by the rabid action figure community that had taken a very strong interest in their ReAction Alien line.

Super7 has just recently partnered with Funko-- a much larger and wide-reaching toy company-- to help them distribute their ReAction Alien line. But, as we're just learning now, thanks to the fan's interest, as well as Funko's distribution infrastructure, the Alien series is just the tip of the iceberg of what Super7 now has planned for the ReAction line.

Here's what Super7 says is in the works so far...

Wow-- some seriously amazing licenses there!! And all will be done in that same retro-- or ReAction-- style. Meaning they will look like Kenner figures from the late 70's, early 80's.

TOY NEWS FOR 8/30/2013 - SUPER 7 - ALIEN ReACTION SERIES 1 - OFFICIAL PICTURES AND PRICING INFO UPDATE

So, if you pre-ordered a set of Super 7's Alien ReAction Series 1 figures, then you've already received the info and e-mail letting you know that the cost of the set has been dropped from $100 to $75.

The reason for this is because Super 7 has partnered with Funko in order to use Funko's distribution and connections to get the figures out into a much wider market. Due to all the extra orders that Super 7 will be getting from this change, they've been able to lower the cost of the figures-- which are now going up for pre-order on several online sites. (Super 7's pre-orders have closed.)

So, if you already pre-ordered this set direct from Super 7-- either from their site or at Comic-Con through the Early Bird pre-order-- you can choose one of two offerings to compensate for the drop in price.

1) You can cancel your pre-order for a full refund and then buy the set elsewhere for $75, if you choose to still buy the set.

2) Or you can keep your $100 pre-order with Super 7 and receive an additional 6th figure that will only be available to those who have already pre-ordered direct from Super 7.

Personally, I'm keeping my pre-order and opting to receive the 6th figure. I don't really see it being a new, fully-tooled figure, but rather some "new" figure using existing parts from the five figures that are already planed for Series 1. (Like perhaps a Dallas in Space Suit.)

If you're on the fence about getting this awesome retro set, hopefully the lower price along with these new pictures will be enough to convince you to grab one. At the very least, grab yourself an Alien for just $14.95!

The figures will be available in November for $14.99 each, or $74.99 for the set.

TOY NEWS FOR 8/30/2013 - NECA - A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET - NES VERSION FREDDY PACKAGING

Here's a cool photo that NECA Tweeted out featuring a look at the inside packaging for their upcoming NES version of Freddy Krueger.

You can find the original article and pics of the figure here.

TOY NEWS FOR 8/30/2013 - SQUARE ENIX - PLAY ARTS KAI - NYCC EXCLUSIVE - MAN OF STEEL - SUPERMAN (BLACK SUIT)

I don't really understand the point of this figure-- or any of the other figures and statues that have come out featuring Superman in this black, Kryptonian version of his usual suit, since he never wore it in the movie.

Yes, I get that it's Krytonian, and I get that it might be an homage to his black "Return of Superman" suit from the comics, but really, for there to be so many figures/statues featuring this suit-- like I said, I just don't get it.

Anyway, this figure from Play Arts Kai will be a New York Comic-Con exclusive. You can pick it up at the show for $80.00

TOY NEWS FOR 8/30/2013 - BANDA - S.H. FIGUARTS - KAMEN RIDER 555: KAMEN RIDER DELTA

Soon you'll be able to complete your trio of Riders from Kamen Rider 555 with SH Figuarts' Kamen Rider Delta.

The 555 (or "Fiaz") Riders suits were very simplistic, but the bold graphic designs always made for some of the more unique and powerful looking Riders, in my opinion. Of course, the series was pretty cool to boot!

Kamen Riders Delta, Faiz and Kaxia from Kamen Rider 555

Delta will be out in December for Y3,675 (approx $38.00)

TOY NEWS FOR 8/23/2013 - NECA - PREDATORS SERIES 10 - LAVA PREDATOR, HIVE WARS PREDATOR AND NIGHTSTORM PREDATOR - PACKAGED PICTURES

UPDATE 8/28/2013 - NEW FIGURES ADDED!!!

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I'm so loving this series!

I don't know who thought of this idea, but they are genius!

And look how cool that packaging is. It's all just such a perfect throw-pack to the Kenner Predator line, even down to the cartoony illustration on the front of the blister.

Can't wait till these start hitting stores!!

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2013 - HOT TOYS - MAN OF STEEL - GENERAL ZOD

For so long, people commented on Hot Toys' vacant, lifeless sculpts. Yes, the likenesses were super-accurate, but the faces always lacked the character that certain actors brought to their roles.

Starting with the Avengers line, Hot Toys began adding some "character" and expression to their sculpts-- and it was a good thing. They've continued to do these kinds of sculpts on and off, where it makes the best sense to do so.

The over-the-top performance of Michael Shannon as General Zod certainly lends itself to just such a sculpt. So, with that in mind, I have to say that I'm very happy to see what Hot Toys has done with this figure, but on the other hand, I'm also of the opinion that this figure looks the most.... for lack of a better word "cartoonish", of their sculpts. It also lacks that "wow factor" in terms of their usual accuracy to an actor's likeness.

I'm not usually one to pick on HT's sculpts, and I'm really not with this one either. I do like it, and it does look like Shannon, but it also has a slightly cartoonish look to me, which I don't usually find in HT's sculpts.

Still, with this figure posed on your shelf, looking all mean and aggressive, it will definitely stand out in the crowd. Plus, the armor on this figure looks just amazing-- and he comes with that awesome helmet (which looks awfully "Prometheus" like in similarity to the Engineer flight suits.)

And just for fun, here's a comparison pic from the film, which obviously serves as the inspiration for this sculpts' expression.

He's scheduled to be out in April 2014 (yeah, right, think more like June/July at the earliest) for $239.99

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2013 - PLAY IMAGINATIVE - SUPER ALLOY - 1/4 SCALE - IRON MAN 3 - "STARBOOST" ARMOR

Interesting that Play Imaginative is leading off their 1/4 scale Super Alloy Iron Man series with a rather obscure suit from Iron Man 3, the Starboost armor.

It does look really damn cool, though, no question about that.

This massive beast of a figure-- standing about 18" tall-- will sport all kinds of sweet articulation, extra hands and light-up features (eyes, chest, hands, and booster pack) all remote activated!

This line is planned to be rather extensive, so this will just be the first of many Iron Man suits from Iron Man 3. If you want them all, I hope you've either got one hell of an income, or you win the lottery, because with over a dozen figures in the pipeline already, and a going price of $600 each, this line is going to make collecting Hot Toys figures the more affordable option!

The Starboost will be out in December for $609.99

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2013 - PLAY IMAGINATIVE - SUPER ALLOY - 1/4 SCALE - IRON MAN 3 - WAR MACHINE MARK II

There are so many figures of this version of War Machine, all coming from different companies, it almost makes me think that there was a version of the film in which Rhodey still appeared as War Machine, and in this armor. But in the final film, he didn't, and we never saw War Machine, only Iron Patriot.

Anyway, this version of War Machine is going to be massive. 1/4 scale-- which means about 18"+. And not only that, but it's part of Play Imaginative's Super Alloy series, meaning that it's comprised mainly (85% to be exact) of diecast, so you can only imagine the weight of this thing!

This figure will have all the bells and whistles you've come to expect from these kind of high-end figures, including full articulation, extra hands and light-up features-- which are controlled by remote! So no more having to pick your figure off the shelf to find all those little switches to turn on the lights in order to "oooh and ahhh" your jealous friends! (Hot Toys-- do this NOW!!!)

It also features a secondary head sculpt featuring a great likeness of Don Cheadle! 

This figure-- along with the Iron Man "Starboost" armor-- stand as just the first salvo of Play Imaginative's rather extensively planed 1/4 Super Alloy Iron Man collection.

This figure is set for a December release at a very, very hefty $609.99