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The 2nd series of Ash vs The Evil Dead figures from NECA are due into stores in March 2018. As we wait for their arrival, NECA have shared images of them in their packaging. The 3 figure wave includes a new Ash figure, now in combat fatigues. He comes with two head options and a shotgun. We then have the adult Demon Spawn, who has three different heads, and will potentially be an army builder for fans. The wave is finished off by Henrietta who gets two head sculpts, one of which splits apart - as seen in the show when she is defeated by Ash and his chainsaw. The figures are due for release in March. UK stocks may be later on in March or early April. UK pricing on these is likely to sit around £25. Preorders for the full wave can be placed now at either of our main site partners Kapow Toys and Toys in the Attic From the hit Starz TV series, Ash vs. Evil Dead! The series follows Ash, stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who spent 30 years avoiding responsibility, and the terrors of the Evil Dead. The Series 2 assortment includes Asylum Ash, Henrietta and Adult Demon Spawn. Asylum Ash comes with two interchangeable head sculpts and shotgun accessory, and has 30 points of articulation. Henrietta comes with two interchangeable head sculpts, one of which comes apart to simulate her gruesome defeat by, you guessed it, Ash’s chainsaw. Henrietta has 25 points of articulation. The Adult Demon Spawn features plenty of gruesome detail and will have three variants with different heads, all with over 30 points of articulation. Figures stand approximately 7” tall.

Diamond have revealed the final packaged shots of their Thor figure for Thor Ragnarok. Sadly the alternative head without helmet has been lost, another change by Diamond from the figure they displayed at SDCC for fans. With no diorama base either it is difficult to weigh this figure up without feeling short-changed vs what we usually expect from Diamond for a Marvel movie release. We are getting the dual swords Thor uses in the arena as well as alternative hands. There also seems to be some kind of lightning effect piece that is peeking out from under the side spine on the left. It is not specifically mentioned on the blurb but we have seen a lightning effects piece on display with this figure at New York Comic Con 2017 (wishful thinking that the other head is tucked away there too).

Review : Azrael Gotham Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 4 Released : September 2017 £22.99 Pros : the armour is well designed and some innovative joints to allow the shoulder armour to move fully Cons : no fascial scarring on the unasked head, the masked head doesn't look quite right, the base is awfully warped and poorly designed Series 4 of the Gotham Select figures by Diamond may be the last as both the show and the figure's popularity seems to be waning. This is a shame as the 4th wave, like the show, has started to move away from the "men in suits" releases to more recognisable super villains. The fourth wave is based on the Wrath of the Villains story-arc and is made up of Mr Freeze, Azrael and the mastermind behind Indian Hills - Hugo Strange In this review we are looking at Azrael. As with all Select figure releases, Freeze comes in the extra large blister packaging with wrap around side spine. The predominant colouring is dark, with the Gotham Cityscape as the backdrop. The Gotham logo is written up the spine with the "Wrath of the Villains" subtitle underneath. The triangular insert that expands onto the blister contains an actual shot of the figures head and confirms the character name as Azrael. The side panel also features an image of the figure rather than the normal image from the show, and this will potentially frustrate boxed collectors as the first three waves did run with the wide panel showing the actor from the show, and not the figure. Round the back we have quite an in-depth write up of Azrael, the history of the Dumas family and Theo Galavan. Another image of the figure sits to the side of this and below that shots of the other figures in the wave as well as an image of the diorama that you can build by picking up both Freeze and Azrael. Azrael is strapped into the inner packaging by means of a quantity of black twisty ties. To the side sits the alternative head. To the other side are three versions of the Sword of Sin and a weapons case. Beneath this sits a second tray containing the various parts of the diorama base wie will look at a little later. Azrael comes packed with the unmasked head of Theo Galavan in place. My earliest views on this when the promo pictures were released were not positive, but I am pleased to say that in hand the likeness is much closer to that of actor James Frain. It is not a perfect likeness, but I suspect Frain's features are not easy to capture and replicate in 1/10 scale. It is also one of those figures that ends up much better in hand vs any image we can take or show. Paint on the head is neat, although the eyes are a tad cartoonish and lack realism. The beard is well done, but I appreciate when we start blowing it up in images it looks quite messy - trust me, it is fine in hand. The hair is sculpted swept back and is a single tone brown colour. The disappointment is in the lack of scars or wounding on the face, something that was quite prolific on Azrael's face in the episodes once Galavan had been resurrected I have said a couple of times now that it is pleasing to see some more outlandish costumes in Gotham, both on screen and then replicated in figure form. Azrael. alongside Freeze, brings some much needed colour to the Gotham collection. The costume is very well executed with a grey under suit which is then embellished with brown leather armoured pieces, each themselves trimmed in a blood red paint. The chest section is an ornately designed cross strap piece, complete with bronze buckles and pouches. The figure is finished off with a back cloak which beautifully transitions to a deep red at the base. As we begin to talk articulation, I am going to start with the shoulders which on first glance look to be pretty much trapped in position by the shoulder armor. Thankfully, Diamond have been pretty forward thinking for this issue and both shoulder pads are actually articulated, sitting on a very small ball joint that slots into the shoulder of the figure. This makes them fully articulate as the arms are raised up on the larger ball joints of the main shoulders. Very well executed. The arms follow the standard setup with a single jointed rotating elbow that bends to 90 degrees, and pivoted wrists which both swivel and angle within the wrist socket. The head too is a ball joint and this has a full range of movement. You will see also at this point that the hood section is loose to the figure as a separate piece, this therefore also rotates with the head if needed. The torso has a ball joint built into the trunk of the figure, following the line of the armour. This allows Azrael some upper torso movement leaning forward or backwards. Te legs are standard too for a Select figure, using the T-joint hips, thigh swivels, double jointed knees and ankle rockers. This gives the legs a full range of movement, but you will not be able to use much of it as the solid rubber cloak prevents any posing outside of a wider action stance. I am pleased to find that the ankles are a bit more robust on Azrael and so far there have been no issues standing him up and keeping him standing over a period of time. Azrael comes with a second masked head, and this is easy enough to swap. The heads pop off the ball joint nice and easily and the hood section that we talked about earlier slides off too once the unmasked head is removed. The masked then snaps into position. The masked head is well sculpted with a hood over the top of an armoured mask which is painted in a similar grey with red trim to the armour. Beneath the two eye slots we see the skin of he head and too ver wide staring eyes. While I cannot put my head on it, there is something not quite right about this head. I can't decide if the hood is too square and angular, or if the mask ist too flat and couldn't possibly have a human head underneath - or perhaps a combination of the two. Certainly if you look at images of Azrael masked from the Gotham episode the mask protrudes much further out of the hood, and the hood is less bulky and doesn't have a lot of definition. Azrael is packed with three versions of the Sword of Sin. The first is a full length sword which we will assume is the real Sword of Sin that is recovered in the episode Unleashed. The second a touch shorter and I believe this is the fake version presented by Hugo Strange. The third one is the broken "fake" blade which is a result of Azrael's clash with Nathaniel Barnes on the GCPD building roof. Each blade is cast in a relatively hard plastic with cast detailing on the blade and the hilt. Te blade s are each painted a bright silver, while the hilt are a single tone gunmetal grey with the tiniest hint of bronze flecked here and there. While the broken blade makes sense in terms of the show, Diamond could have probably got away with just including one of the full versions, and I am assuming this is to be screen accurate in letting Azrael have both his fake sword and the true version he later obtains from his family crypt. The fake Sword of Sin even comes with the case that Hugo Strange presents to Azrael in Indian Hills. This is a sleek silver affair that is actually hinged ad clasped so it open and closes really well. Inside is a black plastic interior with the molded insert for the shorter full length sword. You can slot this shorter blade into the void and close the case, The case can the be carried by Azrael in the left hand, sadly the right hand is sculpted closed and cannot hold the handle. The right hand is actually sculpted purely to hold the sword hilt, of any of the versions, and while it is snug getting he circular pommel through the hand once in place it sits very well. The arm articulation is not far reaching enough for a two handed sword pose, but some pretty decent dynamic shots can be achieved. When it is not in use, the sword can be slipped into the sheath that is slung across Azrael's back. Any of the three versions work with the sheath, but there is a significant flaw if you use either of the full bladed swords. Because the sheath is cast out of a more flexible material and then slung across the figures back - it is actually bent quite badly. An sword placed in there for a period of time will end up bent and misshapen also. The accessories and options included with Azrael do give you a few different options for posing and displaying. However if you are a stickler for accuracy to the screen, the case does present an issue as he was never given the case while wearing his armour. It does however look very cool, and creates a real contrast between a Dark Ages knight and a modern assassin, which is what Strange turned Galavan/Azrael in. The accessories and options included with Azrael do give you a few different options for posing and displaying. However if you are a stickler for accuracy to the screen, the case does present an issue as he was never given the case while wearing his armour. It does however look very cool, and creates a real contrast between a Dark Ages knight and a modern assassin, which is what Strange turned Galavan/Azrael in. The initial plan for the diomara piece with Azrael, and Mr Freeze, was a two part piece that would combine to build a cell from Arkham Asylum. After showing this off to tans in multiple promotional images, the cell was dropped sadly. In its place Diamond simply rehashed the alleyway and balcony that they first put out with the Series 1 figures of Gordon and Selina Kyle. Azrael comes with the top section of this diorama, and the whole thing is pretty much useless unless you purchase Freeze as well. We start with five parts that are packed behind the figure in their own tray. There are no instructions present, and while it is not difficult to work out assembly - anyone who misses the image on the card back that this is a two part set may be confused as to what they actually have considering they may not have the bottom section from Mr Freeze. Taking the Mr Freeze alley scene as the base, we clip in the second section of red brick wall. We then attach the balcony, supported by the two triangular supports. Finally the ladder hooks to the side. Design wise, Diamond have tried to differentiate this piece from the Series 1 Gordon and Selina diorama with the red brick paint job and the Joker inspired graffiti. Sadly, the aesthetics can't do anything for the badly warped balcony or ladder which just look and feel cheap. The other issue is one of dimensions, as we saw with Series 1. The gap between the base piece and the balcony is dead on 7", not at all realistic to what you would actually find in an alleyway leading to a first storey balcony. Stick either of the figures underneath and it looks wrong and undersized. There is also an issue with stability, with the whole piece being quite lightweight. While our image (and the promotional image) does show a figure in the balcony this is only because the figure underneath is supporting it with its head as well as acting as a weight on the base. Take this away and the whole thing topples over far too easily. I have no doubt that this diorama will end up, like mine has, in most collectors bits box or spares drawer. So the base is all kinds of wrong and that is a shame, especially considering what Diamond first showed us and then withdrew. The figure is however half decent and had some innovative inclusions like the articulated shoulder pads and that working sword case. The masked head isn't right and while the unmasked head is a pretty good likeness, it is missing some crucial wounding and scarring that we associate with Azrael in the show. That all adds up to a just over average score for Azrael at 3 out of 5. I would hope that should the Gotham series survive beyond Series 4 that Diamond take a look at the range and decide if dioramas are the way to go or if they remove that cost and reinvest into some better accessories and detailing.

Hasbro have revealed details of the first 3.75" basic figures that will be released for Solo. The figures are made up of Han Solo, Chewbacca and Qi'ra. These will be packed into an initial wave which also includes the Last Jedi Maz Kanata with jet-pack as well as repacks of Luke Jedi Master and K-2SO from Rogue One. We also know that we will also be seeing a Lando figure in this range as well as the new Imperial Range Trooper. We will also be getting a brand new Millenium Falcon. Sadly this looks to be the smallest Falcon released to date for 3.75" figures. It features pop off parts and a jacket-less Han Solo figure, who can sit in the one cockpit seat or be laid flat to "sleep" in the rear quarters. The figure is exclusive to the set. The ship features blast off panels and a removable miniship which seems to be the front section.. All the figures and ships will be Force Link enabled. This is badged as Forcelink 2.0 which is backward compatible with the original Forcelink figures from The Last Jedi line, as well as the new figures for 2018. A new Forcelink wrist band is coming with its own exclusive Han Solo. STAR WARS FORCE LINK 2.0 STARTER SET (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $29.99/Available: Spring 2018) Bring STAR WARS adventures to life with the newly designed FORCE LINK 2.0 STARTER SET including FORCE LINK wearable technology, which allows fans to activate movie sound effects and phrases in more than 30 compatible STAR WARS toys! Use the Force with an exclusive 3.75-inch HAN SOLO figure only available in the FORCE LINK 2.0 STARTER SET, featuring unique sounds and expressions from SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY. FORCE LINK technology unlocks an extensive collection of sounds and phrases with compatible figures, accessories, vehicles, and playsets. Includes FORCE LINK wearable technology and exclusive 3.75-inch figure. Compatible with all products in the FORCE LINK line, each sold separately. Requires 3 AAA batteries, not included. Available at most major retailers. SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY 3.75-INCH KESSEL RUN MILLENNIUM FALCON VEHICLE (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $99.99/Available: Spring 2018) Make the KESSEL RUN in less than 12 parsecs with the MILLENNIUM FALCON! Relive the adventure and imagine flying through every obstacle like ace pilot HAN SOLO with speed and action. Fans will experience flashing lights and sounds as they pretend to race along KESSEL RUN. Press the button to pretend that the iconic starship kicks in to hyperdrive with lights and sounds. Press the button a second time for accelerated lights and sounds as well as activate the rumble pack vibrations! Push the button a third time to pretend that your ship picks up even more speed and watch the panels pop off before rumbling to the finish line! Comes with an exclusive 3.75-inch scale HAN SOLO figure and removable mini ship. Both the figure and mini ship are FORCE LINK 2.0 enabled, with phrases and sounds activated by the wearable technology, sold separately. Includes 1 vehicle (with removable mini ship) and 1 figure. Requires 3 AA batteries, included. Available at most major retailers. STAR WARS 3.75-INCH FIGURE Assortment (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $7.99/Available: Spring 2018) Enter the world of STAR WARS and launch into action and adventure! Each 3.75-inch figure features five points of articulation and comes with unique battle accessories. Characters include classic heroes and villains, as well as favorite characters from SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, and ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY such as CHEWBACCA, LUKE SKYWALKER, QI’RA, K-2SO, MAZ KANATA, and more. Activate an array of sounds and phrases specific to each character with FORCE LINK 2.0 wearable technology. FORCE LINK wearable technology is compatible with all products in the FORCE LINK line, each sold separately. Available at most major retailers.

Hasbro have released the first images of the Solo 6" Black Series figures. The first four will include Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Qi'Ra and the Imperial Range Trooper - who comes with what appears to be soft goods fur. The four figures will likely be included in the waves of Solo figures around late April or May 2018. We would expect the wave to be filled up with a combination of the Deathstar Trooper, Tarkin and the Jawa. The figures all appear to be using the face printing technology and these glam-shots indicate some very good likenesses of the lead actors.

Mezco have teased another new One:12 figure that will be fully announced at Toy Fair 2018, and it see's the Mezco team moving outside the Marvel & DC world once again for a more niche item in a figure of John Wick. John Wick will feature a nice potrait of Keanu Reeves. He will then be wearing a fully tailored cloth dark suit. I must admit that in this preview image the tailoring on the suit doesn't look particularly good and we would hope to see a more refined and scaled stitching in the release version. We'd expect John Wick to be a very late 2018 release, potentially into 2019 if (as the image states) licensor approval is pending. An attempt to resume a quiet civilian life is cut short for John Wick when Italian gangster, Santino D’Antonio, shows up on his doorstep and compels him to repay past favors. Chaos unfolds as John soon realizes there is a bounty on his head. Highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, John Wick is also a master tactician and marksman who will do what he needs to survive. Approximately 17cm tall and featuring 28 points of articulation, John Wick sports his signature all-black outfit and comes complete with a variety of comprehensively designed accessories, including a head sculpt featuring the likeness of actor Keanu Reeves.

For the Pacific Rim sequel, Uprising, the toy licence has moved from NECA to Diamond Select toys. Diamond have at least two waves (6 Jaegers) planned for the movie as well as some Kaiju releases. The first wave is imminent to specialist stores in the US, with UK stocks likely following in early to mid-March. With the release date upcoming, Diamond have released packaged images of the first wave. This figures will be packaged in the Select format packaging with the wonderful art panel to the side including shots of each Jaeger from the movie. The colouring is striking, one of the nicest Select packaging design schemes I have seen for a while. Diamond have opted to not include the usual diorama base with the Pacific Rim figures and instead gone with swap out arms and weapons. While Gypsy Danger fills the Select packaging nicely, the other two - Bracer Pheonix and Saber Athena - do look a bit lost with lots of empty packaging. It makes you wonder what a nice miniature city scape would have looked like as a diorama to pose your Jaeger within.

The Friday the 13th Accessory set was first revealed by NECA at SDCC 2017. The set contains a variety of Camp Crystal related diorama pieces and props to enhance your Friday the 13th display. As the March release date draws closer, NECA have now revealed the pacakging for the set. Rather than a window box, as used on say the Alien accessory sets, this one will be slim closed box affair. The front of the box carries the Friday the 13th logo and an image of Camp Crystal. The back is an innovative take on a notice board with photo's of the included accessories. The set will retail around £26 here in UK, you can place your pre-order at our partners at Toys in the Attic Add to your Friday the 13th collection or build amazing dioramas with this new deluxe accessory set! These incredible pieces are perfectly in scale with NECA’s line of 7” figures and are great for building scenes from the cult classic horror movies. The set comes in closed box packaging and includes: – Camp Crystal Lake Sign – over 7” across – Dock Base – 7” long and over 11” tall – Rock and Sign Base with Chain – attach a figure (sold separately) to re-create Jason “floating” at the bottom of the lake. * SET DOES NOT INCLUDE FIGURE

Back in October 2017 we shared details of Hong Kong's Soap Studio's who were expanding their action figures into the 1/12 6" scale with an offering similar to Mezco with real cloth tailored clothing. The first few figures were predominantly DC based and we got a look at both Arrow and Flash from the CW. Soap have now opened (Hong Kong) pre-orders for another DC based set, Bruce Wayne and Ra's al Ghul from the 2005 Batman Begins movie. The set has Bruce and Ra's al Ghul, as played by Christian Bale ad Liam Neeson, as they appeared in the early scenes of the movie - training at the League of Shadows mountain fortress. Bruce will come with Bruce Wayne accessories include his sword and a number of hand options. Ra's al Ghul comes with swords, alternative hands and either an alternative head - or a working soft goods hood to hide his identity. The figures are released as a 2-pack in May 2018 and retail at 1,180 HKD. That is a direct conversion to £ of £108 but expect to add quite a bit to this for import and shipping costs.

While not officially announced, details are starting to circulate of a Marvel Legends range of 6" figures to celebrate the first 10 years of the MCU. Listings from Walmart have revealed the releases are across some of the movies from the first 10 years of the MCU. From Avengers we will finally get our hands on the Mark 7 Iron-Man.. And from Civil War comes a 2-pack containing Captain America, and a very impressive Crossbones. Both figures will come with masked & unmasked head. Cap looks to be a re-use of the body, but the images indicate both head sculpts are new - most likely using the face pring technology The other listings indicate releases for Captain America : The First Avenger, Thor : The Dark World, Ant-Man and Avengers : Age of Ulton. If this line can give us Crossbones, then dare we hope that from that list of movies we may well see Malekith (Dark World) and Yellow Jacket (Ant-Man). For the first Captain America I can only imagine it will be a Red Skull, or at a push Peggy Carter. For Avengers 3 I am going to say Vision considering he will also work for Civil War and the upcoming Infinity War. We expect to find out more about this 10 year celebratory line at Toy Fair 2018.

The Mezco Blog has unveiled another One:12 Colletive figure ahead of Toy Fair 2018. The Sovereign Batman is the second in a set of three Batman figures which started with the Ascending Knight Batman which is due to ship in May 2018. The principle behind the Trilogy of Batman figrues is to show Batman in his past, present and future - with Sorveign Batman being the present Batman. The figure will come with a wide ranging arsenal of accessories including Batarangs, Grappling Gun a Sonic Disruptor, Bat-Drone and some Kryptonite Knuckle Dusters (for you know who). The suit, as with all One:12 releases, will be tailored cloth and enhanced with sculpted cowl, chest bat logo, gauntlets and boots. The cape too is soft goods, and will include a wire armature to assist in dynamic posing. Batman will retail at $80 and that will be £70 - £75 here in the UK. We would expect him to ship in the last quarter of 2018 at the earliest. More details will be revealed at Toy Fair 2018 The Sovereign Knight is the 2nd installment to Mezco's One:12 Collective Batman trilogy. Sovereign Knight is the Batman of right now, in his prime. Bruce Wayne has enhanced his tech greatly from the beginning of his war on crime. The Bat-Suit has been augmented to provide more protection and greater mobility. His Batarangs honed, Grappling Gun upgraded and new additions to his arsenal like a Sonic Disruptor, Bat-Drone and Kryptonite Knuckle Dusters. Sovereign Knight Batman features 30 points of articulation and is approximately 17cm tall.

Review : Mr Freeze Gotham Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 4 Released : September 2017 £22.99 Pros : very well sculpted head and suit Cons : diorama base is a re-use (of a pretty poor previous release), ankle rockers are loose and impact posing Series 4 of the Gotham Select figures by Diamond may be the last as both the show and the figure's popularity seems to be waning. This is a shame as the 4th wave, like the show, has started to move away from the "men in suits" releases to more recognisable super villains. The fourth wave is based on the Wrath of the Villains story-arc and is made up of Mr Freeze, Azrael and the mastermind behind Indian Hills - Hugo Strange We are going to walk through the wave in order, starting with Mr Freeze. As with all Select figure releases, Freeze comes in the extra large blister packaging with wrap around side spine. The predominant colouring is dark, with the Gotham Cityscape as the backdrop. The Gotham logo is written up the spine with the "Wrath of the Villains" subtitle underneath. The triangular insert that expands onto the blister contains an actual shot of the figures head and confirms the character name as Mr Freeze. The side panel also features an image of the figure rather than the normal image from the show, and this will potentially frustrate boxed collectors as the first three waves did run with the wide panel showing the actor from the show, and not the figure. Round the back we have quite an in-depth write up of Mr Freeze and how he would be resurrected by Hugo Stranger and become his enforcer. Another image of the figure sits to the side of this and below that shots of the other figures in the wave as well as an image of the diorama that you can build by picking up both Freeze and Azrael. The blister has to be ripped open to access the figure and you now find Freeze tied into an inner plastic tray with a further tray behind this containing the diorama parts. The figure is tied in with black twisty ties and the same ties are used on the two weapons. The three canisters are held in place with a length of tape over the top. Be mindful to remove the ties careful as their location can rub the blue paint on the armour if you pull the figure out round them without removing them fully. Over the past 18-months or so the Diamond Select head sculpts are getting better and Mr Freeze is a good example of the progression in the head sculpts especially when compared with a Gotham Series 1 figure. The head is a good likeness to actor Nathan Darrow with some nice facial definition around the high cheekbones and furrowed brow. The eyes are covered by goggles and these are not removable. Flesh tone is nice and pale as it should be. There is no additional tones, but the sculpt is sharp enugh that the light falling on the face further defines the features. The hair is well defined but is painted a little too silver and there is too great a contrast between this silver and a white dry-brush over the top. The strap of the goggles goes through the hair, but has simply been painted in the same silver as the hair. Not immediately noticeable is the size of the Freeze head, but when you put Freeze with other similarly scaled figures the head does look large - and this disparity is even within the Gotham series, and also specifically in Series 4 with Freeze having a much larger head than Azrael and an even bigger head than Hugo Strange, Moving down from the head and we have a beautifully realised suit which is made up of a grey undersuit and electric blue armourd pieces. The neck segment is huge and covers the bottom half of the head, consistent with Mr Freeze's look on the show. Get up closer and you the start to see sculpted detail into the suit with a hexaganol pattern in the grey suit and lots of panels and edges into the armoured blue pieces. Everything is neatly painted but the colouring of the grey is flat, adding a wash would have accentuated the sculpted pattern detail. Articulation clocks in at 16 points, standard for a 7" Select release. The head, within the collar, is ball jointed and has a full range of lateral movement, and some forward motion available to make Freeze look like he is looking down - so far as until his nose hits the rim of the collar. Both arms are ball jointed at the shoulder, and designed so that the blue shoulder guards retract under the base of the collar as the arms are raised. Both arms move out to the side and up above the head. The elbows are a single joint, bending to just under 90 degrees. They also rotate fully. The final arm articulation sits at the wrist where both hands can be rotated and pivoted. While you would expect to see a ball joint sit under the blue chest area, it is actually positioned further down around the stomach area, disguised by the blue panel and grey belt. This allows Freeze some good movement independently of the legs. There is a huge range of motion when you lean the torso back, the forward movement not so much as the blue stomach panel hits the lower belt buckle and prevents movement. Moving down to the legs and we have the usual T-joint affair at the hips that Diamond employ on most of their figures. While not the most attractive joint when opened up, it does give a lot of lower leg movement including a full seated position. There are (ugly) thigh swivels just under the hip joint which are the only way of opening up the feet position to aid in posing and stability. The knees are then double jointed and work extremely well for kneeling poses. The final joint, and often the most important, is the ankle rocker and sadly Freeze suffers the usual Select curse of very floppy ankle joints. This makes him difficult to stand up as the weight of the figure on these loose ankles will eventually destabilise any pose. Freeze is packed with two different freeze guns for him to wield. The first is reminiscent of a shotgun with one freeze cartridge. This weapon is the early version of the ray that Freeze wields in the show as he hunts for his wife - predating the suit by a few episodes. This is cast in a dark grey with silver dry brush to bring out the sculpted detail - of which there is quite a bit, and it is all very crisp and well defined. The cartridge piece is non-removable and i painted in a matt blue with silver framework. The freeze ray can fit in either hand, although it is more comfortable in the right which feels a touch tighter. Both hands include a semi-flexible trigger finger can be slotted into the trigger. The arm articulation allows for some partial two handed posing, but these are more of a loading or "at rest" shot than being in the action of firing - the elbows would need to be double jointed like the knees to support these poses. The second weapon is the more advanced ray he is armed with after his time in Indian Hills and is contemporary to the suit the figure is wearing. Like the first weapon this is grey cast plastic with dry brushed detailing. Sadly this is a touch less angular as the first weapon, with clear warping on the lower rail. The three canisters are again all painted in blue but now have a grey frame. This larger freeze ray also fits into either hand, although this time the left feels the snuggest fit. Freeze also comes with three further loose freeze canisters, which he can use as freeze grenades. These are painted with the same electric blue paint and with the darker silver frame. Each as a visual loop on the top of each canister. The canisters fit in either hand ready for throwing, but there is no designed area on the body to hang them or slot them when not in use. That means they will more than likely end up in the "bits box" than be used on display. It would have been nice to see a holster of some kind be worked into the belt. Putting the canisters aside (literally) the most dynamic posing - if you are not overly fussed with screen accuracy - is a gun in each hand and firing away at his enemies in the GCPD or similar. You can of course throw those canisters around the base of the Freeze figure to look like spent cartridges. What ever weaponry combination you choose, Freeze is a lot of fun to pose. Like most Select releases, the Gotham figures come with a diorama base. The initial plan for Freeze (and Azrael) was to include a diorama of an Arkham Asylum cell, with half in each release to combine into a full diorama. This was such an awesome idea, and was a perfect fit with the Wrath of the Villains theme of Series 4... but then Diamond cancelled it. What we get instead is a very disappointing re-use of the alley we got in Series 1 split between Jim Gordon and Selina Kyle. Freeze comes with the lower part which is packed into the box as a base and a wall. They clip together using three corresponding sockets. To be fair to Diamond they have tried to differentiate this alley way with a red brick pant job and a joker-esque graffiti tag with two eyes and the words "hahahaha!". The box also carries the Wayne Enterprise logo, another nod to the show. On its own it is less than impressive, but join us for our Azrael review to see what the full piece looks like once combined and assembled. Had we not known about the Arkham cell diorama then we would probably be less frustrated with the diorama included in series 4 Mr Freeze (and Azrael). However, because we do know we do feel a little slighted by its removal - something Diamond does quite often between initial showings of a figure and final release. The figure itself is very impressive, a proper "super villain" suit to add some colour to the drab grey Gotham figures to date. Yes, he could do with a touch of wash on the grey parts of the suit - and those ankle joints could do with being tighter. But for a circa £22 figure, this is still a great figure in terms of value for money. We award Mr Freeze 4 out of 5.