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After releasing him in 2018 in his Justice League outfit, Medicom will be updating their MAFEX Aquaman figure to his most recent outing in his standalone movie. The figure will arrive with Aquaman's Trident as well as two head portraits and a variety of hand options. The figure has a July 2019 scheduled release date. The 8th of February date shown is the date the movie is released in Japan.

Welcome to our review of the Star Wars Black Series Deluxe Creature box set of Luke Skywalker in Hoth gear and the Wampa. The set is based on the Hoth Wampa scenes from The Empire Strikes Back and even had Luke suspended upside down in the box. The set was released in 2015 under the blue line phase 2 packaging. Packaging 4/5 The deluxe packaging sticks to the standard design principle of the blue line with a matt black box and large window to show off the figure. The Star Wars Black Series logo sits bottom left and the grey lined circular illustration top right. Interestingly the illustration is only of Luke and not the Wampa. The character name sits bottom and centre in blue as Luke Skywalker and Wampa. The Hasbro team have had a bit of fun with the packaging with Luke actually packed as though he is suspended upside down from the roof of the Wampa's cave - his lightsaber just out of reach beneath him. While I guess there was temptation to use a diorama printed cave background, the release sticks with the standard black backing card to keep it consistent. On the back of the box is a movie still of the Wampa dragging Luke through the snow, this has been converted to a grey almost shadow art image. The European release of Luke and the Wampa had an over-sticker on the rear of the box at the top for the character name. This obscured the text that was in place on the US release and the reason for covering up this descriptive text is not clear. "WHILE ON PATROL, LUKE AND HIS TAUNTAUN ARE ATTACKED BY A VICIOUS WAMPA. THE CREATURE HANGS LUKE UPSIDE DOWN IN ITS CAVE, BUT LUKE USES THE FORCE TO ESCAPE" "Steady. Hey, steady, girl. Hey, what's the matter? Do you smell something?" The box opens via either of the two side panels and the figures slide out in their inner tray. There are no twisty ties, just a bit of tape around the accessories. Paint & Sculpt 3/5 Luke follows suit with the prior releases of Luke X-Wing and Luke Bespin with a facial sculpt that is a passing likeness to Mark Hamill, but nothing spectacular. We have a basic single skin tone, over which we get painted eyes and eyebrows. The lips are once again left plain. What we do get however is some painted bruising around Luke's right eye and the right corner of his mouth - there is then some scratching in a blood colour. The Rebel Hoth headgear is sculpted with the padded insulation type material with the larger peaked gear over the top. To the side of this is the comms gear painted in silver. The scarf piece is a soft goods strip and thi hangs off the side of the helmet. This piece has been attached so it hangs down when Luke is upside down. It is less impressive when Luke is standing upright as it defies gravity and goes up before looping over and hanging awkwardly. The costume is well executed with the various cream shadings of padded winter clothing. Everything is pretty much cast plastic of the colour the piece needs to be, with a few areas then painted. It is all missing a wash to weather it up as it too shiny and clean. The Rebel decals on the tunic are neatly painted with a variety of colours used. The belt is sculpted as part of the tunic, and not loose as seen on Bespin Luke. The holster is then the separate part in soft plastic that is glued at it's top to the belt. The bottom section is not connected so not to impede articulation - which can leave it sticking out from the leg and the sculpted strap on the thigh that is meant to be the bottom strap of the piece. I'd have preferred to see this as a whole individual piece. The giant lump of plastic that is the Wampa is sculpted nicely and is a decent match to the Wampa we see on screen, although some licence has been taken in the fact that this is sculpted plastic and not real fur hanging down the face. The fur is all sculpted flowing detail. The eye are black and soleless with a grey paint around them. For me this should have almost all been black - one of the things about the Wampa is those giant black eyes. Under these eyes and on the nose is a pale yellow tone. You can see from close up shots of the screen Wampa that this should be more a flesh tone. The mouth is painted black with sculpted white teeth and the lips are the same grey from round the eyes - more yellowed teeth and lips would have been a little better. Finally we have the curved horns, well sculpted with the ridged detail. They are however poorly painted in the grey single tone and should be a lot darker The addition of running blood around the Wampa's mouth and down his chin has split collectors. The blood was of course seen on screen as he tucked into a slice of Tauntaun, and the way it has been applied is pretty nice on the chin as it flows away from the mouth and then drips down. The remainder of the Wampa body is the same sculpted fur detail, captured on each piece that then flows into the connecting piece past the joint. The colouring starts as a cleaner white at the shoulders and varies to a cream further down. The same colouring is used at the top of the legs which are white and move to a cream lower own. The palms of the hands are furless, like an Ape, with sculpted muscle definition. The claws are the same dull grey as are the three claws on each foot. Accessories 4/5 Luke is packed with the same accessories as have accompanied him in the previous releases. The first is the DL-44 blaster cast in a black softer plastic with painted grip and barrel. Like its predecessors it is prone to warping. It slots into the right hand of Luke where a trigger finger can slide into the trigger. When not in use the blaster slips into the holster. The fit is snug without being too tight as to run the paint. A rubber strap then comes over the top and fastens into a socket to keep the blaster in place. Luke also gets his Lightsaber. This is perhaps the best painted hilt I've seen with clearly defined black fins as well as gold, black and red button details and a black emitter. The blade is a deep blue and this is straight and true. The blade plugs into the hilt with a click. Luke holds the saber in either hand, or when not in use it can be hung on a hook on the belt. With the arm articulation, as we will see shortly, the figure can also hold the weapon in both hands. We can only grade Luke in this section for accessories as there is nothing included for the Wampa. This is not a huge problem, and apart from a slab of meat there is nothing really that could be included to add any value to the snow monster. Articulation 4/5 Luke comes with the standard 16 points of articulation. As we've seen the arms are ball jointed shoulders with single joint rotating elbows and pivot wrists. This supports some good lightsaber posing in one or both hands. Legs are ball jointed at the hips, but are a touch held back by the lower hem of the cold weather gear. Beneath the hips are thigh swivels and then a set of double jointed knees. The legs end with a pair of ankle rockers and the figure stands pretty well. The head is articulated via a neck ball joint and pivot but can only really turn as the head gear and raised collar stop any looks up or down. The plus side of this is that the ugly pivot joint can't be seen - an issue we have had on Bespin Luke and Anakin Skywalker. The final joint is a torso joint set quite low down in the stomach area. This will rotate and also lets Luke lean forward or backward into poses. The Wampa, impressively, has 17 points of articulation. And despite the bulk is pretty wide ranging in terms of poses available. Starting with the legs - you wont get the "crouched chewing on a Tauntaun" pose but with ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, single rotating knees and ankle rockers the Wampa can do quite a bit with wider and bent knee stances. Being so heavy and with huge planted feet he stands solidly without issue. The arms are ball-jointed at the left shoulder with a full range of movement, the right can rotate - there is a reason for that as we will see. The elbows are a single rotating joint and the wrists a pivot. The head is popped onto a ball joint so can move slightly from side to side, take it too far and it will sadly pop off. The final two joints both sit in the torso - one each under each segment of fur. Both rotate and combined do give a degree of lean and bend to the midriff. The fun of this set comes with the ability to pose the characters in the various hoth scenes. With the help of a stand we can follow the Wampa's capture of Luke right through to the scenes in the cave... And it is here at the climax of the cave scene that we find out about the Wampa's final secret - a removable right arm. This is the reason the right arm is a rotating joint only as the peg is designed to pop out of the body. It leaves behind a painted blood red inner on both parts, although the inner socket on the body remains white as does the peg on the arm. Summary Fans of the Hoth scenes on Empire will have to add this set to their Black Series collection and the set has many ways of posing it is a lot of fun to play with. There are few gripes including the face decor for Luke and his the clean and un-weathered glossy uniform. That soft goods scarf on the side of the helmet is also frustrating. Th Wampa is a huge lump of a figure but the blood effects will split fans and a bit more care over the paint apps on the face would have made it look much better. At a £44.99 price tag at time of release (2015) this is a lot of plastic for your money and it has some nice touches like the removable arm. I score the Luke & Wampa set a solid 4/5 - with individual scoring of 3/5 for Luke and 4/5 for the Wampa.

New promotional images have been released for the Marvel Legends Spider-Man Kingpin Build-a-Figure wave. These images show both the packaged product as well as the figures in a diorama rooftop setting. The wave is due to arrive in early 2019 (for some reason the Symbiote Black Suit Spider-Man hasn't got a promo image?)

New promotional images have been released for the SH Figuarts Captain Marvel figure. The figure includes both masked and unmasked head, as well as some FX clip on pieces similar to the recently announced Hasbro "Binary Form" Captain Marvel. The figure arrives in March 2019, and promotional images have already been released and can be see in our post here.

Here are some better details about the Kaiyoda Amazing Yamaguchi Revoltech Iron-Man revealed back in November. The figure looks to be arriving in May 2019. He will include a wealth of swap out options including hands and clip on weaponry, very similar to the Nanotech used on the Mk50 in Infinity War. There are also a set of FX blast parts, including an impressive set of 6 clip on firing missiles.

The recently revealed Harry Potter 1/12 SH Figuart figures of Severus Snape has now got scheduled release date of May 2019. This promotional image confirms the inclusion of two head options as well as Snape's wand. The Draco Malfoy figure is pictured too, as seen at a recent event, but there are now more details on his release as yet.

This Far East catalogue scan gives us a better look at the SH Monsterarts Godzilla from Godzilla King of Monsters. The figure is due to arrive in July 2019. Also shown are King Ghidorah (also scheduled for 2019 release) as well as Rodan and Mothra.

Welcome to our review of the Star Wars Black Series Clone Trooper, Mark 1, as seen in Episode II Attack of the Clones. The Clone Trooper was released in 2014 and was the last figure in the phase 1 orange line packaging. He was numbered 14 in the line, having seen the last wave skip a number 13 due to issues with getting the planned Chewbacca figure into the existing packaging. Packaging 4/5 The Clone Trooper was the last figure to grace the original phase 1 orange line packaging, the next wave would move to the blue line 2nd series. The figure is presented in the matt black box with Star Wars Black Series logo top left, and next to this a basic illustration of the Mark 1 Clone Trooper in the circular insert. The figure sits in the box on a black card insert with the weapons either side. An orange line, in the design of the Imperial corridor lights, runs the full length of this backing card. The character name, CLONE TROOPER, and the number #14 are also picked out in orange underneath the window. The back of the box has a large Star Wars logo and under this a repeat of the character name and number. The orange line runs the full length of the box back to the right and there is then an image of the Clone Troopers advancing, converted to a grayscale image. Just over this is a short piece of text giving a brief background to the Clone Troopers. "CLONE TROOPERS ARE GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SUPER SOLDIERS WHO ARE DEPLOYED INTO COMBAT FOR THE FIRST TIME ON GEONOSIS, WHERE THEY BATTLE THE SEPARATISTS' DROID ARMY" "The Droid Army is in full retreat" Paint & Sculpt 3/5 Like the Stormtrooper that preceded this release, the Clone Trooper has a very crisp sculpt to all of the armour parts. The helmet is cast in white plastic over which is painted the visor and the various markings. The paint is pretty neat, but up close you can see areas of white where the black hasn't quite covered. The top ridge curves out of the helmet and angles round to the back. The helmet then flares at the sides down to the base. To my eyes it sits a little too high on the neck and is too slim when you consider there is a human head inside this. The armour is, like the head, cast in white gloss plastic with the black inserts like the neck painted in. Like the helmet this leaves some areas unpainted and the line rough and messy. There is similar issues around the joints and this is made worse as the joints themselves are cast in black and painted white, a white that is a differing shade to the rest of the armour on the elbow and knee pads. Accessories 3/5 Accessory number one is a DC-15S blaster. This is cast in black plastic and has no paint apps whatsoever. The detail on the cast is crisp and you can see the various parts of the weapon and a brush of gunmetal silver would have brought it out a treat. The weapon sits in the Clone's right hand with a trigger finger slotting into place. He can also hold it in the left, but not as easily and there is no separate trigger finger to use on this other hand. The other weapon is the corresponding DC-15A Blaster Rifle. This larger of the two weapons is also cast in back with no other paint apps included. It is also designed to fit into the right hand of the clone with the trigger finger bent into the trigger. The left hand can, and will, cradle the barrel if that pose is preferred. Articulation 3/5 The Clone Trooper body carries 18 points of articulation, two more than is usual for the Black Series. The head is sat on a ball joint allowing it to rotate and also lean forward so the front touches the Clone Troopers chest. The torso then has a ball joint built in around the stomach area which allows the upper body to rotate and gives some degree of leaning in and out of poses. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder, but are massively restricted by the large shoulder panel which stops movement about half way up. The extra joints vs normal are located in the biceps where we have a swivel. This is because the elbows are then double jointed so the bicep gives the rotation. These double joints work brilliantly for handling the weapons, but without the ability to raise the arms at the shoulders a lot of the good work is undone. The arms end with pivot wrists which can bend and rotate. The leg areas are less restricted by the armour and the ball joint hip can swing out and to the side and a semi-sitting pose is achievable. There is a swivel in the thigh just beneath the hip to rotate the legs in or out. Knees are double jointed and sadly very very loose which is a shame as this can impact the ability for the troops to stand well on display. We finish with ratched ankle rockers. Summary The Mk1 Clone Trooper would lay the groundwork for the brilliant Mk2 clones to come in the line later on. On its own it does have its flaws which combined do make the figure a difficult one to mark highly. The helmet looks too thin and sits too high on the neck. Paint around the armour is messy and rather than bleed we get white areas unpainted. The weapons are left in their cast plastic colour when a dry brush would bring out the brilliant detail the weapons contain. And finally the articulation, even with extra joint upgrades, is restricted by the shoulders and the knees are far too loose - the same on all the early releases. I score our Mark 1 Clone Trooper a just above average 3/5

Welcome to our review of Luke Skywalker in his Bespin fatigues from the 6 inch Star Wars Black Series line of action figures. Bespin Luke was released in 2014 in the 3rd wave of the fledgling Black Series alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi and an Imperial Stormtrooper. Packaging 3/5 Luke is packed in the original phase 1 packaging, a matt black box with grey Star Wars Black Series logo up top with an illustrated grey image of Luke in a circular insert to the side. The figure is visible in a window and is set against a black backdrop. A broken orange line runs down this backing card. Under the window, now in an orange text, we have confirmation that this is number 11 in the line and the figure is Luke Skywalker - there is no mention of this being "Bespin" Luke. The orange line continues round the back of the box and we also have a still from The Empire Strikes Back with Luke brandishing his lightsaber in the depths of Cloud City - this, like the front image, is converted to a grey image. Over this sits a short piece of text that does then give the figure context in terms of what film and scene it is from. "LUKE BATTLES DARTH VADER ON A NARROW PLATFORM IN CLOUD CITY AND REJECTS VADER'S URGING TO TURN TO THE DARK SIDE AND RULE THE GALAXY WITH HIM. "You'll find I'm full of surprises." Paint & Sculpt 3/5 The head sculpt, like the previous X-Wing Luke, is passable as a young Mark Hamill. It is however quite basic with the head cast in skin tone and only the eyes and eyebrows painted. This lack of detail around the lips and the fact the skin tone plastic is quite glossy means the figure (as is the case with all human characters of this era of Black Series) doesn't quite match up to the looks of the Alien characters or those in Armour like Boba Fett and the Stormtrooper. Luke's costume is a good representation of the flight suit he wore on Bespin with the main suit of the body cast in a brown plastic with sculpted cloth creases, pockets and seams. It is then washed with a darker brown to create a dirty grimy look - as you'd expect having had Luke just come from the swamps of Dagobah. The figure comes with a belt which is a separate cast piece in a rubbery plastic. This has a holster and a hook for the lightsaber. It is also washed to dirty it up and then we have silver painted buckles and rivets. Accessories 3/5 Luke's first accessory is the DL-44 blaster, the same weapon packed with the Wave 1 X-Wing Luke Skywalker. The blaster is done in a softer plastic and that leads to some warping on the barrell. It is cast in black and has a brown grip and silver barrel. It is designed to fit in Luke's right hand with a trigger finger that slots in place. When not in use the blaster will fit into the working holster on Luke's belt. The blaster slips in neatly, not too loose but not overly tight either. To secure it in place there is a flexible rubber strip that wraps over the grip and plugs into a hole on the holster. Accessory two is Luke's lightsaber. Again, this is the same as the one packed with X-Wing Luke. it has a removable blade, and the blue on this is more subdued than the X-Wing release. Like the blaster it is also susceptible to warping on both the blade and the hilt due to a softer plastic compound. The saber can be hung on Luke's belt by matching up the loop on the base of the saber with the hook on the belt. The saber can also be fit into either hand, with a two handed pose an options in certain poses thanks to the arm articulation. Articulation 4/5 Luke has the standard 16 points of articulation and this gives him a pretty wide ranging options for posing. The head is ball jointed and can rotate and look up and down - the only downside being a visible joint on the neck which can spoil the look of the figure. The torso has a ball joint fitted quite low down in the stomach region, this serves as being able to rotate the torso as well as giving some back and forth lean. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders and beneath this is a single rotating elbow joint that can bend to 90 degrees. This lets the figure achieve quite a few weapon and action poses, including a two handed lightsaber stance. The arms finish with peg hand joints - although there is no option to remove one of these or a swap out option for the hand that gets cut-off by Vader. The legs are ball jointed at the hips with a thigh split underneath. This upper leg movement is therefore quite expansive with the holster moving with the legs. Knees are double jointed to bend back on themselves for kneeling and crouching. The figure finishes with solid ankle joints and has no trouble standing. Summary Bespin Luke is a figure of its era, a well executed body with a generic head that is lacking some details. Articulation is standard and the accessories are contemporary to the figure and the various Bespin scenes. My only build on the figure would be the addition of a removable hand for the iconic "I am your Father" scene. As it stands I score Bespin Luke an above average 3/5.

The McFarlane Fortnite line continues its rapid expansion with the announcement of two new 7 inch action figures for 2019. Carbide and Omega are scheduled for a April 2019 release. "Fortnite Carbide Premium Action Figure From the highly popular action building game Fortnite, the heroic Carbide arrives in the nick of time to save the day and protect your collection! This hyper-posable figure features 22 points of articulation, making him perfect for Emote posing and comes complete with the Stabilizer Back Bling. Equipped with a devastating Grenade Launcher, Carbide comes packaged in a premium glossy Fortnite-themed window box. Also included with the figure is the Positron Harvesting Tool for harvesting your materials and a Fortnite-branded display base." "Fortnite Omega Premium Action Figure From the highly popular action building game Fortnite, make way for the villainous and nefarious Omega! This hyper-posable figure features 22 points of articulation, making him perfect for Emote posing and comes complete with the Destabilizer Back Bling. This figure arrives ready for battle with the included Assault Rifle and features premium glossy Fortnite-themed window box packaging. Also included with the figure is the Onslaugth Harvesting Tool for harvesting your materials and a Fortnite-branded display base."

NECA have unveiled this wonderful looking Ripley figure from Alien Resurrection. Ripley 8 will be part of Aliens Series 14 and she will arrive in Spring 2019 along with the Resurrection Xenomorph and the Newborn alien. The figure is packed with two weapon options and her basketball. "Ripley 8, the third and final figure in our upcoming Resurrection assortment due Spring 2019. early test sample shown. Not Final #FacehuggerFriday” - Randy Falk, Twitter

Welcome to our review of the DC Collectibles Arsenal from the Arrow line of 6.75 inch action figures. Arsenal was released in 2015 and is number 7 in the line and was released alongside figures of Felicity Smoak and John Diggle. Visit our DC Collectible Archive for more figure reviews... Packaging 3/5 Arsenal arrives in the standard window box for DC Collectible figures. The colouring is essentially white with character name also in white actually on the shaped window. The Arrow logo sits underneath the figure window and beneath this is the green band with the warning messages and the figures number in the collection. Round on the left spine is a close up promo image of the figure with a repeat of the Arrow logo and character name underneath. The figures number, 7, is presented once again in an arrow shaped insert. The back of the package is predominantly white also with a large Arrow logo at the top of the box. We then have a cityscape (presumably Starling City) on top of which sits images of the three figures in the wave - Arsenal, Felicity Smoak and John Diggle. We then get a plain green band to finish off the back of the box and a short credit to the sculptor Erik Sosa. There is no background text, show info or character bio as is common on other figures. The figure is slid out of the box via the side flaps. The inner tray is shaped and also carries the cityscape image in a central band. Arsenal is tied into the tray with twisty ties and the accessories all taped into place. Due to the paint used on these DC figures, be careful when removing the ties and the paint as it flakes and scratches easily. Paint & Sculpt 3/5 The head sculpt for Arsenal is somewhat obscured behind the permanently fixed red hood. The likeness to actor Colton Haynes is passing and not helped by a slim head and no paint apps on the skin, relying instead on skin tone plastic. The mask is sculpted so has some definition, and this is painted neatly with some well painted eyes beneath the mask. There is a touch of colour on the lips. You can just about see the hair start to appear under the hood. The hood itself looks to sit too high for me, and also does not sit naturally at the sides. It looks more like a shaped helmet than a flowing hood. Considering the head is trapped under the hood anyway, it might have been better to sculpt the head and hood together. Arsenal's costume is very well detailed with a good level of stitching, trims and fastenings down the red leather jacket and into the combat trousers. All of this is painted very well with neat lines and no obvious bleeding between colours. The quiver is slung on Arsenal's back and includes individual arrows rater than a solid sculpted mass of arrows. These are however glued in position so they can't be adjusted or moved. Accessories 4/5 Arsenal is armed first and foremost with a futuristic dagger that is cast as a single piece and coloured silver. It has no real detail other than a bolt or rivet on the handle, its shape is smooth and organic. The weapon sits in either of the gripping hands supplied fitted to the figure. When not in use it also fits into a holster at Arsenal's belt. The second and third accessories are the bow and arrow. These are cast in a brittle feeling plastic and then painted in red and black. The bow is fitted with a working elasticated string, which works well. The bow fits into either hand, but works best in Arsenal's left hand. The lone arrow is harder to pose, but can be held in the hands in a preparing to fire mode. There is no room in the quiver to slot this single arrow if not being used. Arsenal is also supplied with three other pairs of hands. These clip in and out fairly easily but you will get immediate paint rub and flaking as you do this. We have a pair of fists for fighting poses, two bow string hands and finally two open handed poses. Articulation 1/5 Supported by the appropriate hands you can then set about posing Arsenal. Unfortunately this is pretty disappointing, as has been the case with other Arrow figures. Arsenal has 15 points of articulation, losing the usual head articulation to that fixed hood. The legs work pretty well with a T-joint hip, thigh swivel and double jointed knees. Sadly they are let down with the ankle rockers which cant seem to level out the feet properly when the legs are spread out, making him tough to stand when open up the hips for action posing. The arms are the worse element though, especially when we consider this is an archer who should be capable of pulling off one or two bow firing poses. The shoulder is a ball joint and does open up nicely as well as rotating. The elbow though is atrocious with a single joint that can't even get to a right angle. In reality this means the following poses are about as good as you will get for wielding that bow. Neither of which are very flattering, and the fixed head makes them look even worse. Summary Arsenal, as a figure, promises much in the packaging even while the packaging itself is fairly boring with little in the means of info about the character you are buying. The figure looks OK in hand, although not the best likeness, and the accessories are good. But there is no point in well designed accessories without the articulation to use them. The joints on Arsenal are woeful with the immediate issue of paint flaking but also the disappointing fact that the legs are hindered by those ankle rockers and the arms are virtually useless with the barely bending elbow. If you are an Arrow completist then this figure won't break the bank but don't expect too much from him when released from the box. I score Arsenal a 2 out of 5.