Search this site

Hasbro have announced, via Yahoo Movies, the full details of the Star wars Black Series Hoth pack leaked recently by Robotkingom. The set is the first European Convention Exclusive and includes Princess Leia and Han solo from the Hoth scenes of The Empire Strikes Back. The figures are presented in a display box designed to look like the ice corridors of Echo Base. Leia appears to be pretty much identical to her single release. Han is a new figure as such with a new sculpted brown Hoth coat with soft goods fur and scarf. The set will sell at £49.99 and will be on sale at MCM London Comic Con, Paris Comic Con, Lucca comic Con in Italy and Noris Force Com in Germany. Robotkingdom first broke the new of this set a couple of weeks ago and took pre-orders for the set. They have now been forced to write out to customers to cancel these orders and refund the monies as Hasbro will not be supplying them with the set. Apparently the set was initially offered worldwide via all the various Hasbro distributors. As confirmed by Robotkingdom and In Demand Toys, this has since changed so that only the UK/European distributor will get these and not the US or Far East. Ironically this will make the set harder to get in the UK as most independents source stock via the Far East Distribution channel. "Fans will be able to get their hands on the collectibles, while stocks last, when they go on sale at MCM Comic Con London (26-28 October, 2018), Comic Con Paris (26-28 October), Lucca Comics & Games in Italy (31 October-4 November), and Noris Force Con in Germany (21-23 September)."

NECA have revealed the packaging for their next Ultimate Jason action figure release. The dream sequence Jason, from Friday the 13th Part 5, is due to start shipping in the next 2 weeks. UK collectors may have to wait a few weeks longer. The figure comes with various head options as well as a selection of Jason's weapons and his gravestone. "Shipping out to retailers in just 2 weeks, we have the final packaging photos for our Ultimate Dream Sequence Jason from Friday the 13th Pt 5!"

Entertainment Weekly have released a number of new images from the 2019 Captain Marvel MCU movie. The images give us a first look at Carol Danvers in her costume as well as images of The Skrull, Ronan the Accuser and a 1990's Nick Fury. As with any release like this, I do like to speculate how these might translate to figures. I'd expect at least one Captain Marvel wave from Hasbro in Legends form. These may even be teased at NYCC in a month or so. We already know there are some comic book figures on the way in the shape of Nighthawk, Living Laser and a Kree Sentry assumed Build-a-Figure. These could fit into a Captain Marvel wave, leaving 4-5 slots for MCU figures - which is consistent with how Infinity War was handled. For me there has to be a Carol Danvers Captain Marvel in this, and Ronan looks to be a fairly easy tweak and repaint from his Best of MCU release. That would leave room for a Nick Fury and a Skrull or two. I would then imagine there may be some supporting 2-packs which is where other characters like Coulson (not seen yet) and Jude Law's Mar-Vell. Diamond Select will be much lighter on the action figures. And I suspect they may just go with one figure of Captain Marvel, and we may have to wait till late 2019 or even 2020 for this to arrive. I expect they will go heavier on their PVC statues which seem to be the focus of their MCU releases recently. And then we will have the Far East companies, with SH Figuarts most likely leading the charge. I doubt they will go heavy, especially with Avengers 4 to follow, but an SH Figuarts Captain Marvel is likely. All of this is of course speculation, and we await news as we start the count down to the Captain Marvel movie.

Amazon has updated listings for the next two Star Wars Black Series figures, Val (Vandor) and L3-37. While the listings remain under their original code names, images have been added for the figures both loose and out of packaging. L3-37 is listed as Medusa while Val is down as Artemis Trooper. Neither figure is in stock, nor can a pre-order be placed - but you can add it to a list for future updates. L3-37 and Val should arrive in Wave 19 sometime in October/November. They will be joined by the Imperial Patrol Trooper. There is also a good indication that Wave 20 will be combined into Wave 19 meaning the wave should also include Dengar, Lando Skiff, Leia Hoth and possibly Rio Durant. We await 100% confirmation on this.

Welcome to our review of the Marvel Legends "The First Ten Years" Yellowjacket. In 2018 Hasbro announced and would later release a selection of Marvel Legend figures under the banner of The First Ten Years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each set, which varied from a single figure release up to 3-packs, revisited a movie from the first 10 years of the MCU and gave us reworked and new figures from the movie. From 2015 was this two pack of Ant-Man and Yellowjacket from the first Ant-Man movie. Packaging (5/5) For this set of "First Ten Years" releases, Hasbro have moved away from the standard Legends scooped side packaging to these sleek boxes. The window remains and is bordered by a red line and then the gloss black of the box. The overriding logo is top left and that of Marvel Studios and their "First Ten Years" logo. The Marvel Legends logo sits opposite on the right. Beneath the window are the character names with the movie represented by the movie logo bottom right, but also the circular Pym logo. Round the left side we find a red info box containing text about Ant-Man. Each 10 Year MCU set is numbered, and Ant-Man is number 8. "When the Government attempts to seize Hank Pym's Pym particle shrinking technology for use in warfare, Pym trusts in the help of petty criminal Scott Lang to do the Ant-Man suit and strike back against corruption. Geared up as the half-inch hero, Lang must stop Pym Industries Representative Darren Cross before he sells the shrinking technology to HYDRA and enables them to create a new army of unstoppable, shrinking secret weapons" To the right spine is a montage piece from the MCU with images of the movie. On the back of the packaging is a movie poster image with character bio's for both Ant-Man and Yellowjacket. On the rear of the box you can also see feint panel images taken from various movies of the MCU. This montage of MCU scenes is repeated on the inner cardboard insert. "Ant-Man : Scott Lang is enlisted by Hank Pym to suit up as Ant-Man and fight against competing forces intending to use the incredible, shrinking Pym particles for evil." "Yellowjacket : The new lead of Pym Industries, Darren Cross, threatens to sell his highly weaponized Yellowjacket suit to the criminal organisation HYDRA." Sculpt & Paint (5/5) Yellowjacket is a completely new figure to the Legends line, having been overlooked in the original Ant-Man releases. The Sculpt is impressive, capturing all the intricacies of the Yellowjacket suit with the inlaid honeycomb panels. The head sculpt is two piece with translucent yellow lenses over the painted yellow eyes. The backpack is a separate piece that can be removed if you wish (although he looks quite odd without it). The whole figure is cast in a black plastic and the only other colouring on top of this is the yellow of the suit. Each painted yellow section is bright and almost reflective like a road sign or Hi-Vis jacket. There is no issues with bleed or sloppy paint application. The hands are a small niggle with one as a fist and one open as though firing. It would have been nice to have alternatives so there were a pair of each. Articulation (5/5) Yellowjacket has a full suite of articulation, 19 points altogether on the figure. The arms are ball jointed shoulders with a bicep cut underneath. Elbows are double jointed for full movement and the hands are pivot wrists. The legs follow a similar vein with ball joint hips, thigh cut, double joint knees and ankle rockers. On the main body there is articulation at the waist, as a ratchet T-joint in the chest and with a pivot ball joint at the head. Yellowjacket stands well enough even with the backpack, and most joints are tight. On my review figure one of the arms is quite loose and may be an issue in the future. You can also add a further 8 joints on the figure with the backpack. The two upper spear pieces will rotate, although they don't bend which is a shame as they were often pivoted backwards on screen. The lower arms are jointed just under the backpack and again a little further out. A third joint on the rear arms allows the final pointed section to open up or close up on the body. While a flight stand is not included, Yellowjacket can be posed very nicely in flight mode on an aftermarket stand. Accessories (2/5) The only accessory that comes with Yellowjacket is a 1.6cm version of himself. This is a a repack of the 2015 tiny Yellowjacket accessory and it is painted with distinguishable yellow panels on the black plastic. The figure doesn't stand unless you secure it down, but it is cast in a dynamic fighting pose. Sadly the Ant-Man supplied doesn't line up to this mini-figure fight and is posed to be riding an Ant, and Ant that is not included in this box set. For me these accessories could have been left out with no detriment to the set. And if you were going to add an accessory then maybe Darren Cross' briefcase might have been a nice addition? Summary Accessories aside, Yellowjacket is a pretty flawless figure all round. While the pickiest of us would have liked two pairs of hands to vary the fighting pose, there isn't much else you can find to fault. The set, like most of these MCU 2-packs, comes alive when you start to pose the two of them together in their final showdown. I score Yellowjacket a top score of 5 out of 5. After missing him out the first time round, it is so great to have him in my MCU display. To make the most of him I do urge you to get a flight stand - and then it will only be a matter of finding that perfect pose. If you enjoyed reading the Yellowjacket review, checkout the corresponding Ant-Man review HERE.

Welcome to our review of the Marvel Legends "The First Ten Years" Ant-Man. In 2018 Hasbro announced and would later release a selection of Marvel Legend figures under the banner of The First Ten Years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each set, which varied from a single figure release up to 3-packs, revisited a movie from the first 10 years of the MCU and gave us reworked and new figures from the movie. From 2015 was this two pack of Ant-Man and Yellowjacket from the first Ant-Man movie. Packaging (5/5) For this set of "First Ten Years" releases, Hasbro have moved away from the standard Legends scooped side packaging to these sleek boxes. The window remains and is bordered by a red line and then the gloss black of the box. The overriding logo is top left and that of Marvel Studios and their "First Ten Years" logo. The Marvel Legends logo sits opposite on the right. Beneath the window are the character names with the movie represented by the movie logo bottom right, but also the circular Pym logo. Round the left side we find a red info box containing text about Ant-Man. Each 10 Year MCU set is numbered, and Ant-Man is number 8. "When the Government attempts to seize Hank Pym's Pym particle shrinking technology for use in warfare, Pym trusts in the help of petty criminal Scott Lang to do the Ant-Man suit and strike back against corruption. Geared up as the half-inch hero, Lang must stop Pym Industries Representative Darren Cross before he sells the shrinking technology to HYDRA and enables them to create a new army of unstoppable, shrinking secret weapons" To the right spine is a montage piece from the MCU with images of the movie. On the back of the packaging is a movie poster image with character bio's for both Ant-Man and Yellowjacket. On the rear of the box you can also see feint panel images taken from various movies of the MCU. This montage of MCU scenes is repeated on the inner cardboard insert. "Ant-Man : Scott Lang is enlisted by Hank Pym to suit up as Ant-Man and fight against competing forces intending to use the incredible, shrinking Pym particles for evil." "Yellowjacket : The new lead of Pym Industries, Darren Cross, threatens to sell his highly weaponized Yellowjacket suit to the criminal organisation HYDRA." Sculpt & Paint (4/5) Ant-Man re-uses much of the 2015 Ant-Man figure, but this release see's Scott get a new movie accurate helmet completely covering his head. This is painted in silver and is detailed in red and black - all very neatly applied. The eye lens are a little flat in a plain red, I'd have preferred something similar to the translucent lenses seen on the recent Wasp figure. The body is cast in a black plastic with texturing now added on the main panels which are painted red and trimmed in silver. Despite the slim-lines the silver is also applied neatly and without any major issue. The figure does lack a wash to weather the suit and add some grime to the helmet. As an added bonus you get an unmasked Scott Lang head with this release. This is executed using the Face Print technology and is a very crisp likeness to Paul Rudd. It is also a more neutral portrait to the one seen in the single carded 2018 release. Articulation (4/5) Ant-Man has 19 points of articulation, with a huge range of motion. On the trunk of the body is a pivot ball joint head, T-joint ratchet chest and rotating waist. The arms are ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows and pivot wrist. The only complaint here is that the shoulders dont close up fully to the body and do stick out somewhat. The legs are ball jointed at the hip, with a thigh swivel, double jointed knees and ankle rocker. While Ant-Man stands pretty well, the hip joints are quite loose straight out of the box. This does mean Ant-Man has a habit of sliding into the splits. While more frustrating than anything, it does mean Ant-Man will be best displayed on a stand. Accessories (2/5) Ant-Man's helmet head can be used as an accessory and held under the arm as the suit helmet. The other accessory is a repack of the 2015 tiny Ant-Man accessory. This stands just 1.6cm high and is cast in a softer plastic. He is painted with distinguishable red, black and silver parts. The figure does not stand, having originally been paced with Ant-thony the flying ant and is cast to ride him. This Ant accessory is not included in this set, which does make the inclusion of the mini Ant-Man a strange one? Summary Ant-Man is a huge improvement on the original release which was far from screen accurate. The paint is crisp and the texturing a nice addition. The Paul Rudd head is very impressive and articulation makes this a pleasure to pose - particularly when fighting the included Yellowjacket figure. I score the Ten Years of the MCU Ant-Man 4 out of 5. The only gripes are the lack of wash to weather the figure and the relatively pointless mini Ant-Man that cannot stand on its own. If you enjoyed reading the Ant-Man review, checkout the corresponding Yellowjacket review HERE.

Welcome to our review of Admiral Piett who joins the Star Wars Black Series 6" line as an exclusive to Entertainment Earth and through them as an online exclusive to numerous smaller retailers. The figure was announced on May the 4th 2018 and would go on to be released and dispatched through the summer (UK) of 2018. Packaging (4/5) Admiral Piett arrives in the 3rd phase Red & Black packaging. As an exclusive there is no numbering for the figure. The character name is specifically listed as Admiral Piett, putting him after his promotion in The Empire Strikes Back after the demise of Admiral Ozzel at the hands of Darth Vader. "am ambitious Imperial Officer, Piett rose through the ranks to captain and was assigned to the Super Star Destroyer Executor, Darth Vader's flagship. When Vadar strangled Admiral Ozzel, Piett was granted a battlefield promotion to admiral - and given a grisly warning of the penalty for failure" Sculpt & Paint (3/5) The Piett release utilises the face print technology and gives a decent likeness to actor Kenneth Colley. There is a waxy finish to Piett's skin which does detract from the likeness. The Uniform is a direct re-use of the Tarkin body, which in itself is a repaint of the Grand Admiral Thrawn release. The Imperial insignia is painted to reflect Piett's rank. While it is more of an accessory, Piett is packed with his peaked Imperial Cap which fits really well onto the head. As Piett is seen wearing this through most of the movies it seems to accentuate the sculpt and give the figure a more screen accurate look The figure sadly has some significant paint flaws with finger marks across the uniform and smudges of skin tone paint on the collar. Articulation (4/5) Piett comes with the standard 16 points of articulation. On the main body we have a neck pivot and ball joint and a ball joint in the waist. Arms are ball jointed shoulders, single jointed rotating elbows and pivot wrists. The legs are ball jointed hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees and ankle rockers. For a character like Piett, the articulation is sufficient and most stiff Imperial Officer poses are achievable. Accessories (2/5) Piett is armed with a single blaster pistol, the same included with General Veers. It is a reasonably complex cast with clear sights added on top of the barrel and trigger. There are no paint apps, the gun is cast in black plastic only. WHile the right hand is cast with a trigger finger, I don;t think it was designed for this weapon as Piett fails to hold the blaster at all well. In fact the left hand, without the trigger finger, is the best grip out of the two. For a character that doesn't wield a weapon then a pack in like an MSE droid might have been a better option. Summary For Original Trilogy fans, it is brilliant to be getting all these Imperial Officers to expand the Imperial forces - which for now has been limited to Stormtrooper variants. I also have no real issue with the re-use of the Imperial body providing the head, hands and accessories are tweaked to match whichever character is being released. Piett feels a touch of a let down after Tarkin and his Interrogation Droid and Veers with his Assault Armour. Thankfully unlike other recent exclusives, Piett feels well priced with most UK retailers having him for between £22 and £25. I score Admiral Piett a 3 out of 5 with the score marked down for those paint errors and the lacklustre accessory.

Happy #SatTOYday! CLICK HERE for this week's issue And can you believe we are into September already. That means New York Comic Con is round the corner, then we head straight into the final quarter and the Christmas Peak. But before we get to New York there has been some more convention reveals from the Fan Expo Canada this week - with 6 new figures revealed by Hasbro across their Star Wars and Marvel lines. Another company heavy on the reveals over the past couple of weeks has been Medicom with a raft of new MAFEX figures confirmed across Marvel and other brands including John Wick and Alien. Talking of John Wick, Diamond Select Toys are soliciting their own 7" John Wick figure along with a number of new figures for early 2019 - these also include A Borg from Star Trek and Rogue from X-Men. And just to top off a very big fortnight of news, NECA confirmed they had finally secured the licencing and approval to release their 7" scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at retail. For the moment this is only in the US and only with Gamestop, but apparently there are possibilities if companies outside of the US want to pickup the distribution. I have a whole stack of new figures backing up for reviews at present, and I find myself distracted from the more bread and butter Marvel and Star Wars figures with the new Doctor Who figures hitting B&M stores in the UK. After the initial mad rush and apparent scarcity, these are now showing up in depth and this weeks review is the brand new 3rd Doctor and TARDIS set. www.facebook.com/mephitsu www.twitter.com/mephitsu www.issuu.com/mephitsu #SatTOYday #news #newsletter #actionfigures #toys #startrek #starwars #marvel #diamondselect #neca #hasbro #SHFiguarts #Mafex #TwinSuns

2018 see's B&M stores release another batch of 5.5 inch Doctor Who figures. As well as the usual three figure sets we've come to expect, this year we are also getting a brand new TARDIS with the 3rd Doctor and TARDIS box-set. Read on for our review and gallery of the set. While B&M have been bringing us Doctor Who 5.5 inch figure packs for a number of years, 2018 see's them expand to a larger set containing a TARDIS, and a classic 3rd Doctor TARDIS at that. The set is slightly more expensive than the three packs, coming in at £19.99 The box uses the same colour schemes as the other sets with a varying cosmic backdrop that changes from a bright orange cosmic swirl up to a purple starscape and then round into reds and eventually blackness. The box design is brand new with a window that is sandwiched between and upper and lower rail and then wraps round the left hand side. In the window the TARDIS sits to the right with the 3rd Doctor set back a little to the left. Like all of these sets the branding uses the generic TV Movie logo and the character name and features of the set are presented in deep blue inserts. Here we see the confirmation of the scale as the 5.5 inch collectors series, and the set confirmed as the Third Doctor and TARDIS. The final insert sells the fact the TARDIS has opening doors. After putting out sets with no text or bio info on the back for a number of years, this boxset goes in to a three paragraph sprawl about the TARDIS and its ability to travel anywhere in time and space - it really is a layman's introduction to the Doctors time machine. To the side of the text is an image of the TARDIS and the Doctor. This is the promotional image we saw earlier in the year where the colouring of the TARDIS is very very light compared to the prop - and thankfully compared to what we actually get in the box. The colouring was obviously updated in the final factory run. The box opens from the top or bottom and the entire inner section slides out. The figure is sat into an inner tray that itself is slotted into the cardboard backdrop and taped in place. The TARDIS is firmly fixed in place with what looks like a clear strip that comes down each side and disappears in the seem of the door In actual fact the TARDIS is screwed into the packaging by means of a black packing bar underneath. This needs removing before the piece will come loose. You then find the plastic strip is protecting the doors in transit, but it takes some patience to feed them in the door so they can be released and the doors will then open. The Doctor's tray is released from the card insert by removing the tape. He is then held into the inner tray with some clear elasticated ties like the other releases. Looking at the figure first, and this is as good a likeness for Jon Pertwee as we've seen in the range. it is the same sculpt as used on all the 3rd Doctor figures, but the paint on this one is neat, the skin tone not as orange as it's been on other figures and the hair is a nice shade of white with grey wash. The costume is re-used also from various Pertwees and is the breasted jacked with sculpted crevat and plain trousers with shoes. The red of the jacket is bold and bright and the shirt beneath this just as bright. The black trim is pretty neatly applied, particularly the very thin lining around the cuffs of the jacket arms and the breast pocket. This outfit is essentially based on the one Pertwee wore in The Time Monster. The jacket is pretty much spot on (at this scale and price anyway) while the shirt was more a ruffled shirt than an actual crevat. The re-use is more obvious when you compare this 2018 Pertwee with others from the Doctor Who line. These images also show the improvement in skin tone from prior released figures. The Doctor has 16 points of basic articulation - fairly consistent with the Character line as a whole. You won't find expansive moving ball joints or pivots on this figure, instead the joints are more reminiscent of late 1990's figures utilising the large peg and socket joints. This all starts with the head which is cast as a single piece incorporating the head and neck. This then plugs into the torso allowing it to rotate only. There is a joint at the waist hidden beneath the coat which is actually a rubberised section on top of the harder plastic torso. Like the neck this is simple rotating joint only. The legs are a t-joint type design that will swing out to side and out to front and this allows you to sit Pertwee down or to pose him into some slightly more action orientated stances. Beneath the hip is a thigh swivel, then a knee joint. There are no ankle rockers, although the figure stands easily. Arms are a little more basic than the legs starting with a plug into the torso at the shoulder which limits the arms to rotating on a single axis only from the waist up past the head and round. A bicep swivel tries to help the arm move laterally but as the arm is sculpted quite flat any turning of this joint will throw the look of the arm. Under this is a basic elbow bend joint. The hand is plugged into the wrist so by default can be rotated. Moving to the TARDIS now and this is based on the existing classic sculpt that Character have used previously to make TARDIS versions for the 1st, 4th and 7th Doctor. Each version had amended decor, roof section and light - and this 3rd Doctor TARDIS is essentially identical to the one released for the 4th Doctor. TARDIS experts can and will point out numerous inaccuracies. But for £20 this is as good a TARDIS model as you can get and for me fits perfectly with the display. The decor is much darker than the original promo, which is good, with a level of weathering and washes. The decals are black with white text and are accurate to the Pertwee era. The base is black and is based on the TARDIS appearance in Spearhead from Space where the prop had been placed on a black plinth after the original base had deteriorated. As you rotate the TARDIS you will find the sound grill and battery panel that was used on the previous versions for light and sound FX. This TARDIS has neither sound or light effects and while not adjusting this rear panel will save money - I suspect it will confuse some buyers and I wonder if B&M will get any returns due to the TARDIS "not working". The one feature that is kept is the opening doors. These work on a spring and clip system. You pus the right hand door open first and this clips back. The second can then be opened and clips in the same fashion. Inside the TARDIS all you see is the inner workings and the redundant battery box. While a nice TARDIS interior card insert would have been great - this bare bones interior is no different to all the prior classic releases. Closing the doors in theory work the opposite way to opening them (obviously) but due to limited space it can be tricky. Once you release the left hand door, the space left is difficult to get your fingers in to clip back he other door - that can lead to some difficulties until you work out how to unclip the left door then hold it part way open while you release the other. In my opinion this is one of the better decorated TARDIS models we've had and it looks the part for me being dirty and weathered as opposed to the cleaner brighter versions we've had before - as seen in the above comparison with the 4th Doctor release. Posed with the figure the TARDIS can look a little small at times but I think that is because we are used to a larger TARDIS in the modern series. If you compare shots of the 3rd Doctor with the TARDIS then his head usually goes up to the top of the windows - which is the same on the model. The door opening is also big enough to have the Doctor propped inside ,poking his head out of the door as though he is about to run off on another adventure. I can find very little to fault about this release which gives you a well executed alternative look for the 3rd Doctor as well as a TARDIS to display with him. While some may point out small inaccuracies, you have to appreciate at the current time it is either these innovative but inaccurate repaints, tweaks and adjustments or nothing. Casual buyers may be confused by the lack of sound and light when they see the battery panel, but there is nothing on the box to say these are included. I score the B&M 3rd Doctor and TARDIS box set a 4 out of 5. It is perhaps a cardboard console room insert away from being a 5 out of 5.

Welcome to our review of the 2018 Star Wars Black Series Chewbacca figure from Solo, A Star Wars Story. The figure was an exclusive release sold by Target in the US. Pros : new head-sculpt is an improvement on previous releases. The new bandoleer is well done. The goggles work really well. Cons : remains poorly painted with at least a wash away from bringing together the various coloured fur pieces. Articulation is limited. While main characters Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Qi'Ra and Tobias Beckett got general releases of their figures from Solo, A Star Wars Story, Chewbacca was selected to be an exclusive release and was sold by Target in the US. Chewie is packed in the standard Phase 3 box with the Gregory Titus artwork and window box to display the figure. The figure is titled simply as Chewbacca, following the usual trend of not naming movie's on Black Series releases. This means we now have three boxed figures for Chewbacca. Round the side of the box this character name is repeated - against the bold red of one spine and in red against the black of the left spine. Round the back we get a larger Titus illustration and a short bio that talks about Chewie as "A mighty Wookiee nearly two centuries old". Our figure was purchased via a Far East seller and carries the white Far East distribution over sticker. There are a large amount of these Chewie figures that were sadly packed with a part missing from the gun. We sadly received one of these and after failing to obtain a correct replacement I ended up going ahead with the review. If you are in the market for this figure then you'd be well to check the packaging upfront to see which version you are getting. Chewie opens like any Black Series figure by the top or bottom flap and slides out in the inner tray that itself sits in the red cardboard backing tray. There are a set of goggles to one side of Chewie's head, and his blaster rifle at the other side. This Solo Chewbacca figure see's a new headsculpt and for me this is the best to date and would easily fit as an Original Trilogy Chewbacca. Like all releases to date there is a good depth of sculpt in the fur around the head and beneath this sit very neatly painted eyes, a black nose and a slightly open mouth with teeth exposed and behind them a pink painted tongue. The fur is variated in shading working out to a lighter brown as it moves to the ruff around his neck. For me, and like the previous two Chewbacca's, the fur is still short a dark brown wash to really enhance that sculpt. From the head the fur sculpt continues down into the body, with each segmented sculpted to hang over the adjoining part so the joints underneath are still manoeuvrable. Each section seems to have a slightly different shade, and there is no blending with quite stark changes between say the upper arms and lower arms. Again I would argue a dark brown wash would bring all of this together. The extremities finish with very simply painted toes and fingers. These are a dull grey in colour. The bandoleer is a brand new piece replicating the double shouldered version Chewie uses during the Vandor raid and beyond in the movie. This is cast as an individual piece and cast in a rubbery brown plastic. The various canisters are then painted with black and silver detailing. The trademark satchel bag sits tucked round the back and is shaped against Chewie's butt. Everything below the head is a re-use of the previous Chewie figures. The head, as you can see from this image, does make this newest Chewbacca look smaller than his two predecessors. This shorter head for me is more accurate and also scales Chewbacca better against the Han Solo figure. The earlier Chewbacca's were always criticised for being too tall. There is also a significant variation in fur colouring that is more visible when placed side by side. While none of the paint jobs to date have done Chewie justice, I think this is the closest colouring to what we see on screen. Chewbacca has 16 points of articulation, but the overall posing and movement is hindered by those overlapping fur sections. We start at the head where you can certainly feel a ball joint in play. The movement is very restricted side to side by that fur collar but there is some forward and backward movement. A similar joint is employed mid torso and this is much more varied in its movement and the lower piece is a rubbery section which does flex as you twist and bend Chewbacca. The hip joints can't be seen because of more fur and this also holds them back a little so the ball joints can only really lend themselves to wider stances. Under the hip is a thigh cut and then you move down to a single knee joint which once more is held back by the surrounding fur. It does still bend to 90 degrees - just no more. And weirdly as a result of being a single joint it also rotates - although when you do this it makes Chewbacca look like he's had a nasty accident. The legs end with ankle rockers, once more restricted, but they do support a fair few stances - and thanks to Chewie's bulk and large flat feet you won't have much of an issue standing Chewbacca up. The arms are also ball jointed at the shoulder and here the fur from the adjacent torso is not restrictive so both arms raise out fully to side and then rotate around the head. The elbows are a rotating single joint and with a bit of pressure can get to within a few degrees of a right angle bed. This does mean that Chewie can't hold his weapon in a two handed firing pose - the same issue we had with the earlier releases and the bowcaster. The hands are jointed at the wrist and here there is also a pivot so both hands can be pivoted as well as rotated. The first accessory packed with Chewbacca are the goggles he wore on Vandor during the heist. These are a sculpted front piece with translucent plastic lens that when worn still allow you to see the eyes beneath. The strap is then an elasticated piece - similar to a hair bobble. While the strap is a little messy where it attaches to the goggles, it works surprisingly well and the glasses sit neat on Chewbacca's head and don't look oversized or as though they are floating. Because the strap is elasticated you can also raise them up so they are on Chewie's forehead or have them round his neck. I would be tentative with the durability of the strap and the fastenings so be mindful if you are adjusting this regularly. And then we have the offending Blaster Rifle. If you look at the images above, the missing part is a sliding stock that sits on the barrell. Having it missing doesn't mean there is an unfinished part or an obvious gap - but it does mean it is no longer screen accurate, and once you know about it I find it frustrating that I don't have a complete piece (that might just be me). The weapon is cast in a grey plastic with same brown shading on the handle and on a side section. There is a touch of silver around the barrels. Chewbacca's hands have not been updated or adjusted from the original release which were designed to hold the Bowcaster. I needn't have worried though as these still work perfectly well for the blaster rifle. The trigger finger even slots in place. As we said earlier, without expansive arm movement the ability to hold the rifle in two hands is missing and you end up with the same posing w did for the Bowcaster where we kind of move the left arm across and leave it hovering as near to the gun as we can. As a key member of the heist team in Solo, I am pleased we got this Chewie pretty quick to display alongside the rest of the team. I do not understand why it is an exclusive as it pretty much a re-use of prior parts and doesn't immediately scream of anything complex in terms of paint job like we saw with Gree or Wolffe. The key to getting Chewie is to shop around and look for options to buy direct from the Far East. Sadly the figure is coming out excessively overpriced through the UK distribution channels and I have seen him as high as £40, nearly twice the price of a standard release. When it comes to scoring there are some significant factors to consider on price and on quality control with the missing parts. On the assumption you get this for sub £30 and it has the correct parts for the gun, the I score Chewbacca a 3 out of 5 - consistent with the Original release and one better than the Force Awakens version. While I like the new headsculpt and the way the goggles have been realised, my issue remains the lack of paint job to bring the various shading together and the posing issues which are disappointing for such an action orientated character from the movie.

The Hasbro panel at Fan Expo Canada has seen the Hasbro team confirm four new 6" Marvel Legends figures arriving in 2019. Like the figures revealed at The Unboxing Convention in Mexico, the releases unveiled this time are all comic based figures and very much X-Men themed. In what appear to be standard releases we have Guardian, Mystique and Weapon-X. Then there is Wendigo who may well be a BAF within an X-Men themed wave.

Hasbro have promised a new approach to their Action Figure reveals this year, spreading the announcements out across a number of Conventions Worldwide rather than at the traditional big US events like SDCC. At Fan Expo in Canada we were treated to two new figures - one in the 6" line and another in the 3.75" Vintage collection. Dryden Vos will arrive in 6" form to expand the Solo, A Star Wars Story figures further. He will come with an innovative function where his scars will change shade depending on the temperature of the room he is displayed in. He comes with his daggers and his cape which appears to be rubberised and not soft goods. Vos will be a standard release in early 2019. For the Vintage Collection it was confirmed that Captain Phasma would be released on the Vintage cardback. The figure itself, like a number of the Vintage figures, has been released previously in 2015 as part of the 3.75" Black Series releases at Walmart / Asda. Phasma will also hit stores in early 2019.