TOY NEWS FOR 2/16/2013 - McFARLANE TOYS - DISPLAY PICTURES

TOY FAIR 2013 COVERAGE!!!

It looks like the boys over at McFarlane Toys are almost at the point of making real action figures-- finally!!

They started with action figures back when they first hit the scene in 1994, but the as the level of detail in their figures grew, they switched to and "action statue" format to preserve the detail of the original sculpts. (They still do this with their sports lines.) At first, they were unlike anything else out there and people loved the incredibly detailed sculpting and paint apps and took the loss of articulation as a fair trade-off. But the market has changed over the years and several companies (NECA being the most notable) who were originally inspired by McFarlane's quality and detail were able to take that and turn it into real action figures while still preserving the detail of the original sculpts. Once that happened, McFarlane's offerings began to look a bit dated and many of their lines slowly died at retail.

Over the past few years, they've tried to make certain moves towards doing what NECA has mastered, but they still haven't quite hit the mark. With their Walking Dead figures, while they had all the joints of an action figure, they were sculpted with one pose in mind, and moving the "figure" into any other pose other than the intended pose simply did not work. With wave 2, we saw a lot of those same problems once again. 

What didn't make sense is that McFarlane Toys overcame this problem a long time ago with their HALO line, so why the problem with the Walking Dead? Looking at the new figures McFarlane displayed at Toy Fair this year, it looks like that problem might finally be solved!

I look at the new Walking Dead and Assassin's Creed and I see action figures! Real action figures! Not pre-posed action statues-- but real, poseable, action figures.

Bravo McFarlane Toys! You still have a good deal of quality control and paint app issues to solve, but it looks like you're finally back on the right track!

Thanks to www.cooltoyreview.com and www.toyark.com for the pics!

 

ASSASSIN'S CREED

HALO 4

THE WALKING DEAD - TELEVISION SERIES

THE WALKING DEAD - COMIC BOOK SERIES

STATUES

TOY NEWS FOR 9/20/2013 - McFARLANE TOYS - HALO 4 - SERIES 2

How long has been McFarlane Toys been producing HALO figures for? Been a long damn time, and the line still seems to be going strong.

Here we get a nice look at what's coming for HALO 4 Series 2 including the massive Didact.

I like like the fact that Master Chief comes with a nicely scaled Cortana, but it also makes me regret buying the one from the first HALO 4 series. I think we'd all much rather have this one, right?

As an added bonus, each figure with come with a code for specific unlockable items and weapons for use in the HALO 4 multiplayer. That's pretty damn cool.

(Unlockable from Walgreens exclusive C.I.O. figure)

This series should be hitting store just about any day now. The regular figure will run around 13.99 each while the Didact will be 29.99

TOY NEWS FOR 2/6/2013 - McFARLANE TOYS - ASSASSIN'S CREED FIGURES - OFFICIAL PICTURES

TOY FAIR 2013 COVERAGE!!!

So it looks like McFarlane Toys will be taking over the Assassin's Creed license, which, I assume, means that NECA is done with it.

This now means that you can now go from collecting 7" brilliant and fairly priced figures to McFarlane's (barely) 6" sloppy and over-priced shlock.

In case you're interested, here are some details from McFarlane:

There will be seven figures in series 1, including two of Connor. They will be 6" tall, have 25 points of articulation and cost 14.99 - 16.99 each.

The sculpt looks great, but McFarlane's quality control is heinous. Perhaps I shouldn't be so harsh, but I remember when McFarlane Toys first began. Todd started his own company because he said that nothing out there could come close to the quality of what his Spawn license deserved, so he created his own company to ensure it was done right. That desiccation ultimately made McFarlane richest and most successful of all the Image founders. From there, McFarlane toys went on to become the most influential action figure company since Hasbro in the 80's and changed the face of action figure quality and standards (in the US and Japan) forever. I just feel that they have fallen so far from what they used to be. Now it seems that they are doing what it takes "just to get by". Are they better than Hasbro? Most of the time, yes. But other companies who were originally influenced by McFarlane Toys are now kicking their ass!

I'd love to see McFalane Toys start to really step up their game again, but Todd is older and has lost that "fire" he once had (I guess being a millionaire for 20 years will do that to ya) and McFarlane Toys has also become a major corporation. That means cutting corners and saving costs. It means putting out crap just to cash in on a brand or summer blockbuster. It means being Hasbro.

Okay. I'm tuning the rant machine off now.