TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2014 - MAX FACTORY - FIGMA - SILENT HILL 2 - PYRAMID HEAD/"RED PYRAMID THING"

I don't know why Figma is calling this figure "Red Pyramid Thing", maybe that's what they call it on the credits of the film, but we all know its real name is Pyramid Head!

I really enjoyed some of the Silent Hill games. They're probably some of the best horror games out there. Truly scarey, creepy and with some of the most twisted designs I've ever seen. I also really enjoyed the films and I feel like the captured the bleakness and tension of the games rather well.

If you're a fan of either the video games of movies, then you might very well be interested in this 8" figure from Figma.

Look for it to arrive in April of 2015 for $59.99

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2014 - NECA - PREDATOR SERIES 12

NECA often Tweets out photos like this of upcoming product that they've just received the final, packaged versions of, and I don't know who takes these pics but, come on, you work for NECA, I know you can do better than this! (By the way, I cropped and cleaned up this photo from the original.)

All their "just arrived" photos are just thrown down on a flat, cluttered/dirty/junky surface and taken at a horrible angle. How about investing in some two dollar foam board and pulling it out to lay the figures on when you want to take these kind of photos. And please, take them at an angle where we can actually see the the beautiful work you guys do!

Okay... Rant over. I love you NECA, but y'know... Jeeze.

Anyhoo, here's the pic of the just arrived packaged versions of their Series 12 Predator line-- of which I have all of (except the ones from "Predators").

Some sites are reporting that this series will be out any day now despite the fact that it has yet to appear on NECA's own online release calendar all the way up to the end of September.

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2014 - NECA - BIOSHOCK INFINITE - BOOKER DeWITT

Here's a look at the packaged image of the main character-- Booker DeWitt-- from Bioshock Infinite-- certainly one of my favorite games from 2013.

He's set to be released on the 18th of September for around $22.99

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2014 - TOYNAMI - VOLTRON - 30th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR'S SET

Man, this set is definitely the most beautiful and definitive Voltron set yet.

I'm not a Voltron collector, but just looking at ol' Beast King GoLion here (that's right, before he was brought from Japan to the US and renamed "Voltron", he was called Beast King GoLion) he's screaming to be added to my diecast Japanese robot collection.

The figure stands 11" tall and comes with weapons, display stand and light-up eyes!

This awesome set is available now for around $249.99

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2014 - MATTEL/MATTY COLLECTOR - MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE - "GIANTS" ACTION FIGURE LINE

I usually don't report much on the Masters of the Universe Classics line because, as a collector, you're either in it or you're not. If you are in, then you know exactly where to get all your up to the minute breaking news, and I can't compete with those guys.

But, MOTU Classics is one of my absolute favorite current toys lines and I'm ecstatic that it's been extended into 2015! There's a lot of great new figure I'm looking forward too-- like Squeeze, Multi-Bot, Dragtor and Blast-Attack. It will be very interesting to see how Mattel and the Four Horsemen execute those crazy designs!

But, getting to the topic of this post, Mattel has officially announced the opening of a subscription service for those giant, over-sized MOTU figures that were shown at SDCC.

The subscription will open on the Matty Collector site on September 10th and run through the 25th and will consist of four figures-- He-Man, Skeletor, Beast-Man and Stratos.

These figures are styled pretty much like Gentle Giant's "jumbo" Star Wars line, with complete recreations of the original packaging. Sadly, Mattel did not make the packaging "collector friendly" so if you want to open the figure for display, you must ruin the card.

TOY NEWS FOR 8/28/2014 - BANDAI - STAR WARS - MOVIE REALISATION SAMURAI TAISHOU DARTH VADER

Well, I guess this is kinda cool.... right?

Yeah. I guess. I think... Damn, I'm really undecided on this figure!

I like the idea, but I think it lends itself to more of a statue than an action figure.

Everyone knows that the inspiration for Darth Vader's design came from old style Samurai armor, so I guess this design just takes that idea to its most literal conclusion. The results are pretty baddass, regardless of my own ambivalence on the figure itself.

This figure by Bandai will stand just about 7" tall.

Are Samurai style Stormtroopers in the works, too?

This figure will be out in Dec/Jan for around $90.00

HOT TOYS - MMS - IRON MAN 3 - IRON MAN MkXXXVI "PEACEKEEPER"

What would a month going by be like without another Iron Man offering from Hot Toys?

Well, luckily, we don't have to worry about such things because here comes yet another Iron Man armor-- the MkXXXVI-- "Peacekeeper".

Gotta say, this one is particularly badass looking. Feels like a combination of Igor and Red Snapper-- which are probably my other two favorite armors (aside from the MkVII).

You can grab yours right now exclusively at sideshowtoy.com for $269.99. He's set for an October 2014 release.