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Randy Falk, NECA Director of Product Development, is back on Twitter after an absence working on new products. His first share are these behind the scene work in progress images of the two Pennywise figures which are getting the Ultimate treatment later this year. "BTS - Both the 1990 and the 2017 versions of Pennywise are getting closer to production & are looking incredible!!" - Randy Falk

Pros : The best MCU Widow available to date, particularly for Phase 1 and 2. Good articulation, good paint job. Cons : The gripping hands have nothing to grip. She needs to come with two hand guns and not the fake ones molded into the holsters The Mandroid wave in 2014 was the start of the Marvel Legends line as we know it today, it moved away from blister packaging to the shaped window box. The Logo was updated and now incorporated the "Infinite Series" subtitle. And most importantly it absorbed the MCU figures into the Legends line fully - up to now theyd been released on movie specific cards like Iron-Man 3 and Avengers. In this first wave, alongside comic book figures, we got four figures from the MCU all based on Captain America Winter Soldier. There was a Stealth Suit Captain America, a WW2 uniform Cap, a Winter Soldier and the figure we are looking at here - Black Widow. The Winter Solider movie logo was used across the MCU figures in this wave, including Widow both front and back of the window box. Black Widow had been absent in the 2012 Avengers wave, and Hasbro it seems recognised that and while they gave us the Scarlet Johanson head from Winter Soldier with the longer straight hair, they also included a crimped short hair version so you can make an Avengers Widow from this figure. Out of the box and Widow sits in the inner stray with her Avengers head and two alternative hands to one side. The rest of the pack is filled with the giant torso of the Mandroid BAF and its shoulder cannon. While the cardback looks like a plain grey, it is nice to see the inclusion of a Captain America shield logo in the background piece. Starting with the longer hair head sculpt that comes on the figure in the packaging, and it is showing its age a little compared to the newer sculpts and paint finishes. That being said I can see the Johanson likeness in the sculpt. The lipstick is a bit too thick and bright pink in colour and the eyes quite cartoonish. The hair is nicely sculpted to flow down over the shoulders and does include a touch of wash to bring out the depth of the sculpt. Moving down to the body sculpt and this is well executed in most areas, although the waist is perhaps a touch too thin and the hips a touch too wide to accommodate the ball joint articulation. The suit while looking one colour initially is two tone with a dark grey colouring interspersed with panels of black. The outfit has a bunch of details including the red clasp on the upper waist belt, the SHIELD logos on the shoulders and the neatly painted clasps and zips throughout. All the paint is neat and I have found no issues with bleeding or wayward splodges. It is worth noting at this point that the outfit has been sculpted as more of an Avengers outfit rather than Winter Soldier. While the two are very close in design, the Avengers version has the double strapped thigh holsters - while her Winter Soldier version has singled strapped and she was also often shown with her belt slung loose and at an angle Widow's slim build means her articulation is impressive and you get good range of movement out of just 16 points of articulation. The legs, as we've mentioned, start with a ball joint hip and under this is a thigh swivel that will move despite the holsters being connected to the parts either side of the joint. The knees are double jointed, allowing for kneeling and crouching posing, you will struggle however for any martial arts kicks. Her feet are articulated just above the ankle with rockers and despite the wedged heel of her feet and small surface area she is not overly difficult to pose standing. The arms have a ball jointed shoulder with a full range of movement. There is no bicep swivel, and the elbows are a single rotating joint only. That being said the slim arms allow this joint to do more than enough for arm positioning. The wrists are jointed with a plug in hand, these are not hinged so they will only rotate within the sleeve. Widow comes with a pair of open hands and a pair of gripping hands. These are tight to swap and what is odd is that the gripping hands actually have nothing to grip? The holsters on her waist are for show only and the guns in them do not come up and are a molded piece. If you want to arm Widow you will need to find some suitable 1/12 handguns from elsewhere. I have also seen some complaints about missing batons, but of course she didn't start wielding these until Age of Ultron and then into Civil War. The final two joints are on the trunk of the body with a torso ball joint sitting just under her cleavage. This does not give much movement forward or backward, but it can rotate the upper torso - but doing so takes the zip out of line and does spoil the look of the upper torso. The head is a ball joint and of course is designed to be popped off to put her alternative head in place. This operation is a little easier than the hands and the heads clip into place with a satisfying snap. I am pretty sure (although my eyes aren't the best) that the head sculpt is the same on both heads, and it is the hair piece which has been changed. But what a difference the hair piece makes, and this second Avengers head to me has a much closer likness to ScarJo than the first and is my choice of head for display. Black Widow would go on to be re-released in 2016 in a Best of the MCU wave with a Hulkbuster Build-a-Figure. This wave was released solely for the UK and European market. If you purchased this figure in its re-release in the 2016 Best of MCU wave this Avengers head sculpt is the only head you will receive. The head included in this Best of MCU release was painted so the hair colouring was slightly darker, making it a slight variant. I prefer the newer look with the darker hair and less pink in the lipsticks, but there is very little in it. Regardless if you want a WInter Soldier Widow or an Avengers Widow, this figure ticks a lot of boxes in terms of a good (but not brilliant) likeness, a well executed body and costume and a decent level of articulation. But it also disappoints when you consider the holding hands have nothing to hold and her guns in the holsters are molded in place. Despite being 4 years old, this is still arguably the best Widow for your MCU Legends collection with the following version for Age of Ultron being a repaint of this figure with the batons added in and a tweaked head sculpt - and that is not easy to find being part of an Amazon 4-piece exclusive box set. I score the 2014 Black Widow a 3 out of 5.

Mezco have been teasing a number of new One:12 Collective Batman products for Batman Day 2018. The first is an alternative purple suit version of their comic book Catwoman. This will be exclusive to Mezco themselves and not distributed elsewhere. "The One:12 Collective Catwoman- Purple Suit Variant has arrived and features a classic all purple bodysuit with black accents, whip, waist belt with an opening tool kit, removable backpack, and removable goggles. This figure is extremely limited and only available through MezcoToyz.com, so catch her while you have the chance!" Also teased was this look at a Commissioner Gordon figure. Whether the Bat Signal accessory will be included is not known at this stage. And if that wasn't enough for Bat-Fans, check out this teaser video for a One:12 scaled Batmobile

Pros : A brilliant likeness to Jon Bernthal. The skull paint detail on the chest is also impressive. Cons : Lower half is devoid of paint using moulded plastic colour only. One of the two weapon is very lazy and a bizarre colour? In late 2016 Hasbro announced that they will be releasing 6" Legends figures based on the popular, but grown up, Marvel Netflix shows. The wave, called the Marvel Knights wave, would include figures from Daredevil and Jessica Jones alongside comic book figures of Blade and Bullseye and a comic book Man Thing Build-a-Figure. Like the content of the shows, the packaging is a lot darker than we are maybe used to from Marvel Legends with a deep blood red theme around the box and a more grown up style of artwork on the scooped side panels. Punisher is released under the Daredevil logo, being based on his appearance in the 2nd season of Daredevil rather than his own show. We do get the iconic Punisher skull atop the packaging on the top flap. Round the back is the usual figure image and a checklist for the whole wave. The bio piece talks about Frank Castle and his quest for revenge against the criminals of Hell's Kitchen, grounding this again as the Frank Castle from Daredevi season 2. Despite there involvement in the show, the Netflix log is not on display anywhere on the box. Out of the package we now see the blood red card insert is more than just a plain piece with an intricate illustration of some New York style buildings. The figure sits in the inner tray and his two weapons are arranged either side of his head. The Man Thing arm sits down to the figures right. The head employs the face print technology to give us a very impressive Jon Bernthal likeness, complete with some bruising and cuts around the nose and eyes. We also get a more realistic five 'o' clock shadow around the chin and the shaved sides of Frank's head. The only thing throwing the look on the head is the hair which sits a bit too high and a bit too thick and there is no real gradual transition from shaved sides. Frank is wearing his outfit from the end of Daredevil season 2 with his flak vest that has been spray painted with the iconic Punisher Skull. The way this is executed is as good as the face paint/print as the skull is not a solid colour and does look spray painted onto the black of the vest. Frank is wearing a plain black pair of combat trousers and boots. These look to be cast in the black colour and while they have a good level of sculpted detail like folds in the cloth and laces in the boots - there is not a scrap of paint on them to bring out that detail. The coat is a separate piece and can be removed, although this then makes the figure look bizarre with big baggy sleeves. It does give Hasbro scope for a re-released version without the coat at a later stage - and I would buy that one as well. Articulation has been dialled back a little on Frank compared to Daredevil for example. While cost may play a part, it is also a sensible decision for Hasbro as The Punisher does not need to be doing kung fu kicks or flying poses - he just needs to look mean and be able to be posed firing guns. The head is ball jointed as usual and the movement is good, with the head bending fully forward so the chin touches the chest. Do be careful with the head as the joint can make the head look unnatural in terms of its position. The head joint is also very visible from the back. The torso is a ball joint and is not immediately visible, but once moved it can throw out the look of that painted skull. Arms are ball jointed shoulders with a bicep swivel. The elbows are a dialled back single joint, but this still bends beyond 90 degrees and it also rotates - making the bicep joint above it a little bit redundant. The wrists are pegged and jointed, but the joint doesn't move easily. Only one set of hands are included with Frank. Legs are ball jointed hips, disguised well under the coat. The thigh is cut with a swivel and Frank does get double jointed knees as well as a satisfyingly ratcheted ankle rocker. Frank stands perfectly well on his own in a variety of poses. The Punisher would not be The Punisher without an arsenal of weaponry, and Hasbro have given us a couple to start off with. First is a machine gun with scope that Frank often uses throughout Season 2 of Daredevil. This is cast in black plastic and is crisp with plenty of detail. It has been left black with no paint apps. This fits into either of Frank's gripping hands, and even with the single jointed elbow you can get a two handed pose with the other hand cupping the muzzle. Our second weapon is a hand gun. This looks like it is from a different line altogether. While the Machine Gun was crisp and neat, this one is lacking any real detail other than a textured grip and it looks soft and warped. This handgun is cast in a silver plastic, again with no paint apps - why not black? When was the last time you saw Frank Castle blasting away with a shiny silver gun? Like the rifle this fits in either hand. And a pair of these would have been nice considering Frank is often seen utilising a weapon in each hand. While there would have been room, there is no holster on the belt in which this gun can be stowed. While these weapons are nice, well the machine gun anyway, I would have given these up if Frank could have come with the mini-gun he was using in the Daredevil Season 2 finale. That is the iconic weapon we associate with this outfit and I am already scouring the market for a 1/12 version for my display. The Punisher Netflix figure is really well executed in terms of the likeness to Bernthal and the costume. The articulation is appropriate to the needs of the figure and yet pretty wide ranging. The paint is excellent, particularly that facial print and the skull. But it is not a perfect figure by any means and the lower body would have benefitted from some extra paint or weathering. The accessories are also varied - one being great, the other not so much - and why could we have not got a mini-gun to make this spot on screen accurate. I score Frank Castle, The Punisher, a very impressive 4 out of 5.

As seems to be the common process now for SH Figuarts Marvel releases, the US distribution of the newly announced Bucky 1/12 figure will include a packed in FX Piece when US distributor Bluefin bring this to the US market. The FX piece is an exploding mud/earth type effect that has been used in other sets and in standalone releases in various colours. The figure plus FX piece will be boxed and set you back $85 with pre-orders up already on Big Bad Toy Store. While the single Far East release hasn't got a confirmed release date as yet, this US set is scheduled for November 2018.

Pros : Great head sculpt likeness. Great body design with textured outfit. Good accessories and alternative hands. Articulation is spot on Cons : The only gripe you could throw at the figure is the lack of an unmasked Matt Murdock head? In late 2016 Hasbro announced that they will be releasing 6" Legends figures based on the popular, but grown up, Marvel Netflix shows. The wave, called the Marvel Knights wave, would include figures from Daredevil and Jessica Jones alongside comic book figures of Blade and Bullseye and a comic book Man Thing Build-a-Figure. Like the content of the shows, the packaging is a lot darker than we are maybe used to from Marvel Legends with a deep blood red theme around the box and a more grown up style of artwork on the scooped side panels. The top panel carries the DD (Daredevil) logo, also in deep red. Round the back is the usual figure image and a checklist for the whole wave. The bio piece is brief and touches on the way Matt Murdock was blinded as a young boy and his evolution into Daredevil. Despite there involvement in the show, the Netflix log is not on display anywhere on the box. Out of the package we now see the blood red card insert is more than just a plain piece with an intricate illustration of some New York style buildings. The figure sits in the inner tray and is surrounded with his batons and two alternative hands. The Man Thing head sits down to the figures right. Despite being in a mask, with only his mouth exposed, the head is a brilliant likeness for Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and is employing the face print technology to do so. The mouth is naturally shaded and the stubble on the chin is not heavy hand, and is subtle and realistic. The mask/helmet around the head is also brilliantly done with its devil horns and relief sculpted panel lines. From some angles on display it can look like Daredevil is a little too happy in his work with the mouth, exaggerated by that mask over the nose, looking like it is grinning. The rest of Daredevil's costume is as impressive as the helmet, and the colouring is superb with that deep red almost burgundy colouring against the contrasting black panels. Look closely and the suit is not smooth, but carries a texture that is part of the sculpt and there are other nice touches like the painted silver clasps around the torso straps, belt and holster. The only thing spoiling the look is round the back with a coding number of some kind printed on the back of the leg in bright white. Daredevil is a prolific martial artist and the figure has 19 points of articulation to try and let you replicate some of his stances and movement from the show - although to get into the more dynamic fighting poses you will need a stand of some kind. The head is ball jointed, while the torso beneath it has the T-shaped ratchet joint, and this allows the figure to be hunched over into a boxers pose when squaring up to the Hand or Wilson Fisk. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder, followed by a bicep swivel and then double jointed elbows which further enhance those fighting poses by letting the arms bend back on themselves past the 90 degree mark. We finish the arms with a wrist joint that is a pegged hand with a small pivot, although this is virtually impossible to move. If you need to swivel the upper torso the waist is jointed, and we then move down into ball jointed hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees and a wide ranging ankle rocker. Daredevil can stand perfectly well in a number of poses and the joints feel tight. As well as his hand to hand combat, Daredevil also employs a pair of billy clubs. These are individual sculpted with one shorter than the other, as seen in the show. They do come out of the pack a little misshapen having been cast out of a softer plastic. They are not easy to straighten out. The billy clubs fit into either gripping hand If you don't want Daredevil fighting with his billy clubs, then these can be stowed in his working thigh holster. The fit is tight, but they slot in and stay in place. You can then swap out the gripping hands to a pair of fists which are included - and unlike a lot of fists on other lines, these are perfectly scaled to the body. I was also pleased to see that Daredevil scales well against the other male Netflix release of Punisher. Charlie Cox is the same height as Bernthal, both just under 6ft. But it seems the perception from other toy companies is that Cox is a smaller guy and the Select version for example was heavily undersized. I cannot find much wrong with this figure, particularly at its £22 or so price point. The sculpt is detailed, particularly that texturing on the suit that matches what we see on screen. The head is brilliant using the face print technology. And of course he comes with an appropriate set of hands and accessories. Short of an unmasked head there is not much else Hasbro could do to improve Daredevil and I give him a 5 out of 5. I now look forward to see if Hasbro will build on this debut Netflix wave and give us the other half of The Defenders.

Happy #SatTOYday! CLICK HERE for this week's issue And it is finally here, Avengers Infinity War is in cinema's now and looks to be getting rave reviews. Issue 78 is very Infinity War heavy with news from Tamashii Nations and Diamond Select on new Infinity War product. We also have a double whammy review as we take a look at two of the Marvel Legends Infinity War figures from Hasbro. Beware some mild visual spoilers in this issue. In other news we have some new DC and Marvel goodies coming from Medicom. The Disney Store prepares for May the 4th and it seems a new Elite Series figure is part of that celebration. And we sadly say goodbye to Toys R Us www.facebook.com/mephitsu www.twitter.com/mephitsu www.issuu.com/mephitsu

Pros : Tall and imposing figure with a lot more detail to her costume and armour than first thought Cons : the hips are a touch loose, impacting her stance. The spear comes a little warped due to softer plastic used Wave 1 of the Avengers Infinity War figures includes the first of the Black Order in the shape of Proxima Midnight. The packaging on these new figures uses a purple and yellow theme against the usual black of the Marvel Legends boxes. The side art, presented in a purple hue, is particularly impressive. The card back shows an image of the figure against a purple misty backdrop. There is a the briefest of background text which won't spoil anything and simply confirms Proxima Midnight as a lieutenant in the Black Order. Proxima Midnight comes with the torso of Thanos, who is the build-a-figure for this line. The figure and the part are in a standard inner tray with no twisty ties. Proxima's spear is laid diagonally across the package. Out of the packaging and looking at the sculpt, and Proxima is a magnificent head sculpt. She does look a little masculine, but that seems to mirror what we see on screen. The head piece has some red detailing on the cranial sections, and under these are some very well painted dark eyes with red pupils staring out. Her hair is swept back from the forehead and is coloured purple. The costume is not as plain as it may look at first as there is a swirling relief pattern across the whole suit with varying panels of metallic grey and metallic white. Her left arm is armoured, with bronze shoulder guard down into gauntlets. The same principle applies to her right leg with golden straps around the thigh down to a bronze boot. Proxima is a very tall figure, standing 7 1/2 inches high and she therefore cuts an impressive figure against the normal human sized characters. She will look brilliant once you build your Thanos and have them side by side, and this will be further enhanced as we get Cull Obsidian later this year, While she is tall, the body shape is very lithe and therefore articulation is awesome. Proxima has 18 points of articulation starting as usual with a ball jointed head - although this is restricted somewhat by the hair. The torso has a ball joint not a T-joint and there is no waist joint. The arms have a ball jointed shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows and wrist joint - the shoulder on the left arm is a little less manoeuvrable than the right due to the shoulder armour. The legs are a similar setup, with ball jointed hip, thigh swivel, double jointed knees and ankle rockers. Proxima stands pretty well, but her hips are a little loose so there is an issue with her sliding into the splits. Proxima is armed with her spear. This is another hefty sized piece, being the same size as the figure - 7 and 1/2 inches long. This is cast in a softer plastic and while the majority of the sculpt is neat, the end blades can be warped out of the pack. There is no paint app, just the simple bronze plastic in which this was cast. The spear fits in the right hand and can then be cradled with the left should a two handed pose be warranted. Proxima Midnight is a pretty awesome release and has very few flaws assuming you protect those leg joints and keep her standing - a couple of foot stands seem to have fixed the issue for me. The painting on the spear could be better and a harder plastic would prevent warping. That aside I am happy to score Proxima Midnight a very impressive 4 out of 5.

SH Figuarts have updated the listings for their Infinity War Spider-Man figure with new images of his costume. We've known for a while this is the Iron-Spider suit and have also seen the mechanical arms on other items like the Hasbro basic line. THis gives us a closer look at the arms which look to be a backpack type design on the Figuarts release and have articulation across the segmented joints. They do look a little plasticy to me and I would hope the retail version addresses this. How long until Hasbro now unveil their updated version?

The SH FIguarts Infinity War line continues to get bigger, as promised in the launch poster, and the latest reveal is this Infinity War Hulk figure. Hulk looks to come with neutral and angry head options. We await more details on this figure, and would expect this to be a late 2018 release

For the third year running we asked fans to choose their favourite NECA Alien figures and have compiled the result to find out the 2018 Hall of Fame. To keep the vote manageable we take the previous years Top 10 and pit them against the figures released since. Find out who has held onto their slot and who has broken into the Top 10 for this year.

Another new figure announced by SH Figuarts as Infinity War hit cinemas was this new release of Rocket Racoon. The figure looks to be pretty much a re-use of the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 release which was packed with Baby Groot and released last September (2017). This newer version seems to have some variant paint apps as well as a brand new weapon. Alternative heads sculpts are still included, including the disturbing "smiling" Rocket.