Search this site

In March, SH Figuarts revealed a bunch of brand new 1/12 figures for release across 2018 for the Avengers Infinity War movie. At the time the images for Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier and the new Infinity War Hulkbuster were held back. These images and more details of each figure have now been revealed. Bucky Barnes will come with his rifle which seems to potentially have moving parts and a removable ammo clip. He will also get the standard swap out hand options for a variety of poses. The head-sculpt on Bucky sadly looks quite a way off in terms of the likeness to Sebastian Stan. No dates have been confirmed for Bucky as yet. But the current line-up runs until July so would expect the two of them would land August onwards? The Hulkbuster will arrive in December and is a combination of a standard SH Figuarts figure and a Chogokin (Super Alloy) release. This would indicate some level of diecast metal parts and it also will come with light up features. We would assume that will equate to a much higher than average RRP.

Pros : Articulation is very good with butterfly shoulder joints to aid more dynamic poses. Cons : Would benefit from alternative hands. Where is the rest of his costume? Avengers Infinity War wave 1 is giving us four MCU figures alongside three comic book figures - and by purchasing the whole wave (well you can skip Iron-Man if you want) you get to build your very own Thanos to face down your Avengers. In this review we look at Iron Spider. The packaging shape and design remains consistent with the current Legends releases. The colour scheme is very much purple and yellow, a good representation of Thanos and the golden Infinity Gauntlet. The packaging overall is black but the Avengers logo is presented in a rich gold and under this a purple name stripe. This purple theme goes to the two side panels where we have a purple hue image of Spider-Man. Round the back we get a promo image of the figure and some top line text about Spidey's role in Infinity War, don't worry there is no spoilers as such in the text. Under this is a checklist for the Thanos Build-A-Figure. The card insert continues the yellow theme, and when you take out the figure you can see this is now an Avengers "A" logo against an exploding background. The figure sits in the tray alongside the leg of Thanos. There are no twisty ties, the figure and BAF piece pop straight out. The sculpt is well proportioned and the head has the spider-web design sculpted into the head around the two defined eye sockets. Down into the costume and the spider logo is all relief sculpted and then painted neatly with a gold paint to trim out and separate the red and blue panels. While the painting is pretty spot on throughout, there are spots of red visible on or under the blue panels. Spidey stands 5 and 3/4 inches high, which is spot on in terms of Tom Holland's build. As you move past the torso the details of the suit do dry up so we have basic blue legs down to the top of the boots where we have some final gold trim and the red legs. One notable absence at this point are the additional mechanical legs that we associate with Iron-Spider. There is a rumour that these are coming with this same figure in a two pack in the future which feels a bit naughty getting fans to double dip the same figure. I did hope that the figure could be fitted with the unmasked Tom Holland head from Homecoming which would be nice as a variant - sadly the peg holes are not compatible without doing some work on one or the other to make it fit. Articulation is impressive, and being Spider-Man you can see why there are extra bells and whistles to make this as pose-able as possible. If you count up we have 21 points of articulation starting with a ball jointed head which can be tilted back neatly as though he is looking up at building. We then have a T-joint chest and a waist swivel to articulate the torso. The extra couple of joints come in the shape of butterfly joints either side of the shoulder. This allows the arms to be swung inward a lot more than the standard arm articulation so if you want Spidey in a web swinging pose this is possible. The arms then have your usual ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows and a wrist joint. The legs have a ball joint, but these are less rounded and more natural than some I have seen on the Legends figures. Under this is a thigh swivel, double jointed knees and finally ankle rockers. Spider-Man sadly only comes with the set of hands that are fitted. These are both web-shooting hands, and while these are fine for web shoot poses (with both hands) they look odd with any other pose. The figure is crying out for a neutral set of hands to balance out the hand poses - either fists or gripping hands. Iron Spider feels like half a release, and I am convinced that this figure will get a re-release with more bells and whistles in the coming months. He needs a second pair of hands as a minimum, and should really also have his mechanical arms - as seen on every other version of this figure, including Hasbro's own 12" and basic line 6" figure. That being said, the articulation on what we gave is impressive as is the sculpt. Paint apps are neat and the suit is very visual and is growing on me the more I play with it. I score Iron Spider an average 2 out of 5 and await the improved version....

The promotional images of the SH FIguarts Revenge of the Sith Anakin Skywalker have finally been released. It seems pre-orders will go up by the end of the week. The initial magazine scan that leaked this figure indicated it would be a Bandai Webstore Exclusive, we will update the article once we have more details this coming Friday (27th). The figure comes with three head portraits, with the "Sith Eyes" version looking great, and the screaming head looking pretty disturbing. Accessories include his trusty light-saber, and we will also get alternative hands with force gesture and clenched fists visible on the promo images.

The Disney Store is targetting May the 4th this year as its big launch day of new Star Wars product for Solo and the wider Star Wars Universe. Within what will likely be a product range of PVC figurines and roleplay are some new 6.5" Elite Series figures. This image is now circulating of one of these figures, a brand new and extremely impressive Darth Vader from Return of the Jedi complete with removable helmet. The figure is branded as a 35th Anniversary Figure to celebrate 35 years since the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983. At this stage it is not known if Vader will be the sole figure, or there are more planned in this anniversary wave.

Responding to a fan's question on Twitter, Diamond Select Toys have pretty much confirmed the end of the Gotham Select 7" figure line which launched in 2015 and has given us 12 characters from the show. While the end of any line is sad, the Gotham line is one that leaves me a little unfulfilled when you consider the figures we never got like Fish Mooney. The last wave with Mr Freeze and Azrael seemed to be going in the right direction with more visual figures, but we have to assume the sales were not there. If you want to have a look at the figures released in the Gotham line, then check out our Gotham Select Archive

Medicom's MAFEX Spider-Man figure will arrive in February 2019. This new version of Spidey is more comic book based and is highly articulated and can achieve, as you can see from the images, a wealth of fantastic poses. The figure has two masked head options, each with their own eye expression. It has also been revealed that an unmasked Peter Parker head will be included alongside a mask for him to hold. The figure also comes with swap out hands and feet and these are magnetic to allow the figure to be posed climbing a wall (assuming it is a metal wall. The figure also gets a number of web shooting FX pieces. The figure is likely to set you back $70 / £60 when it goes up for pre-order

Promotional images have been released of the Medicom MAFEX Bruce Wayne figure from Justice League. The figure will come with three Batarangs and a Parademon weapon. Also included is a new Batman head and collar piece, these will allow collectors who own the Justice League Tactical Suit Batman to amend it's look with this variant head option. Bruce Wayne is scheduled for a February 2019 release. Expect to be paying at least $80 / £70 when this goes up for international pre-orders

Mezco have announced the full details of their DC Darkseid figure arriving between September and November 2018. This 19cm figure not only has a few extra cms on the usual Mezco 6" offering, but it also comes with some pretty innovative features. The figure is essentially cast in Poly-stone, with metal parts including his Helmet and Chest piece. The clothing remains soft goods and tailored and the cloak is removable. Other features include a light up feature in the helmet with four swap-out magnetic face-plates. There are also a number of hand options, a mother box and the usual display stand. He will be supplied in a special metal collectors case. All these extras do mean the price on Darkseid is $180 with $36 non-refundable deposit for US collectors. Watch out for UK pre-orders opening soon. Darkseid, Overlord of Apokolips, joins the One:12 Collective. The One:12 Collective Darkseid figure is the first ever fully articulated Poly-Stone figure featuring a newly created One:12 Collective body that encompasses his immense stone physique. Incorporating magnetically interchangeable faceplates and light-up Omega Beam eyes, Darkseid is primarily made of Poly-Stone with casted metal accents to achieve a level of authenticity never achieved with the character. The tyrannical New God is clothed in his signature royal tunic with a real metal helmet, chest plate, waist belt, and includes an Apokoliptian ceremonial cloak with an armored harness. His sentient Mother Box super-computer is also made from metal and magnetically stores on the back of his belt. Darkseid, ruling dictator of the dystopian planet of Apokolips, seeks to abolish freewill and enslave all life in the universe. A being of unparalleled strength, intelligence and boundless evil, his divine powers make him not only a threat to the heroes of earth, but to every world within his grasp. THE ONE:12 COLLECTIVE DARKSEID FIGURE FEATURES: One:12 Collective body with over 28 points of articulation One (1) Light-Up helmet with four (4) magnetically interchangeable faceplates (removable) Hand painted authentic detailing Approximately 19 cm tall Six (6) interchangeable hands One (1) pair of fists (L&R) One (1) pair of Mother Box holding hands (L&R) One (1) pair of posing hands (L&R) COSTUME: Metal Helmet Metal Chest plate and shoulder armor Vest garment Metal waist belt Metal shoulder harness and cape (removable) Boots with metal heels ACCESSORIES: One (1) Mother Box (magnetically attaches to belt) One (1) One:12 Collective display base with logo One (1) One:12 Collective adjustable display post Each One:12 Collective Darkseid figure is packaged in a deluxe metal tin, designed with collectors in mind.

It is strange to think that as of Tuesday evening (24th of April) there will be no more Toys R Us stores trading in the UK. With most already having closed their doors, the final batch of stores lock up for the last time this Monday or Tuesday. I took a final nostalgic trip to my local store in Preston over the weekend, and it was sad to see the store reduced to the state you see in the images below. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Toys R Us employees for all their hard work over the many years that Toys R Us has been serving UK collectors. We hope they have all found alternative employment and wish them the best for the future. The UK market is going to be a very interesting place in the coming weeks and months as we see how things settle after the removal of the biggest player. We suspect Smyths will alter very little in terms of their product and service offering, and they may well now look for new stores in areas once served by a Toys R Us. They are also going to be busy having confirmed acquisition of Toys R Us in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We collectors may continue to drop lucky with Smyths who do seem very fluid in their stock of lines like Star Wars Black Series and Marvel Legends. The supermarkets are bound now to take advantage, is it a coincidence that Asda are the only major retailer with the Infinity War Legends at this point? Others that will flourish, most likely on older stock, are the discount brands like Home Bargains and TK Maxx. The other player is of course The Entertainer. but they seem content in their own bubble and like Smyths we will have to watch out for the surprise stocks.

Pros : Headsculpt is a good likeness. Articulation is excellent, with flying poses easy to achieve (with a stand) Cons : Redwing has little use. No Flight Stand included. Costume paintwork is basic and looks plasticy While the key characters from Civil War were done via standard release, the secondary characters like Falcon, Bucky and Warmachine were dealt with as exclusives and in multi-packs. After missing out on a figure from his Winter Soldier debut, the first MCU Falcon was a Walmart US exclusive and this thankfully translated to the UK and was on sale in Asda stores. It was also packed into a Disney Store 4-pack alongside Cap, Iron-Man and Warmachine. After sales in the UK in Asda stalled, the figure then turned up in The Entertainer stores for less than RRP. The figure would also be re-released in parts of the world as part of a "best of MCU" wave that repacked all the movie characters with the Giant-Man BAF. The packaging makes no reference to being exclusive and follows the usual design principles with the scooped sides and side art-work. Round the back is an image of the figure and a short bio. The figure unpacks by opening either side panel and slides out in a cardboard tray. The tray looks quite plain at first glance while the figure is boxed, but once out of the pack you can see a Captain America shield logo across the piece. Falcon himself is sat in an inner tray with parts to his flight suit either side of his head. The two wings sit behind the tray. Falcon carries a basic likeness to Anthony Mackie. The beard is in place as is the tight lipped expression. His eyes are covered with the flight goggles. These have a painted red lens, not opaque like we see on screen. The strap for this goes round the back of the head but is the same black colour as the hair so it does lose definition. The rest of the body on Falcon is exceptionally well detailed with the various panels and straps well defined around that central torso and then down the arms and legs. The issue is that this is cast in grey plastic and then there is no further paint save the red trim and a couple of silver clasps. To reflect what was on screen the suit should be darker and a wash would have made that sculpt pop. The flight suit has to be assembled, starting with the main silver back pack which locates into the two large holes on the back of the figure. There is then a recess in the backpack which is where Redwing sits when not deployed. The stored Redwing piece then slots into the top recess and lines up with the two central notches. Listen for the click when you put this in or you may see Redwing go walkies when handling the figure. We then have the two wing, each of these are about 6" across. The wings are curved and will only fit into the backpack one way. There are two pegs on each wing which line up to the backpack and clip in place. While these pegs hold them securely, it does mean the wings are not articulated in any way. It might have been nice to see the wings on a pivot or hinge to allow some movement. There is a second Redwing accessory which is the deployed Redwing. This is cast in grey/silver plastic with a red stripe across the top. While it is a nice idea, the accessory has little value as it has no stand or clip to put this with you figure. The best you can do is lay Redwing at Falcon's feet - or the more adventurous might try to get it on some wire to simualte flying. Falcon has 19 points of articulation and importantly includes both a torso joint and a waist swivel. This means you can bend the torso forward and twist the legs so that flight poses are plentiful. The head is on a ball joint and can look down when in flight posing. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed arms and pivot wrists. The legs similar, with ball jointed hips, thigh swivel ,double jointed knees and ankle rockers. If you do have Falcon standing then the ankles will do the job if you get the balance right - those wings will overbalance the figure in certain poses. The figure itself also doesn't come with any kind of stand, and that is a shame for a figure who is more often seen flying in the movies. I would highly recommend adding in a flight stand as it does bring Falcon to life and there are loads of poses you can play with for your Civil War display. My final grip before we sum up is the lack of accessories, and I would have loved to see the two pistols that Falcon uses in the movie. We do have firing hands, complete with trigger finger - so at some stage these could have been planned. It does mean if you can find a compatible pair of weapons, then Falcon can hold them. If you had given Falcon a flight stand, two guns, poseable wings and a wash of black paint then this would have been a very high scoring figure. It would have also probably have been a deluxe release with an extra tenner on the RRP. For what we get I am going to score Falcon a 3 out of 5. The missing wash is a shame and does make the figure look unpainted in some areas. I would have also have preffered they lost all the Redwing bits, and instead give the figure the guns he was probably going to come with or some articulation in the wings.

The next Tamashii Nations Movie Realization figures, Star Wars Movie Realization Snowtrooper, has gone up online alongside some gorgeous promotional images. The figure is being released around September, but will be a Bandai Webstore exclusive. The trooper will come with a samurai sword and a re-imagined version of the E-Web cannon.

Diamond Select Toys have tweeted about a number of their Marvel Select figures being re-released into Disney stores to coincide with the release of Avengers Infinity War. The figures in question are comic book based, but are characters that will appear in Infinity War and this is the same principle that they applied for Civil War. Doctor Strange is the blue headed version, but includes the Stephen Strange head. Hulkbuster is a repack with the Gladiator Hulk more of a re-stock. The final figure is the Mighty Thor. The tweet does indicate there is a further reveal or announcement coming Monday.