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The NECA social channels have shared this first look at the box design and artwork for their upcoming diorama piece, the Predator Clan Leader Throne. The Throne is scheduled for a March 2018 release and is priced around the £73 mark here in the UK. "Enjoy the first look at the packaging for the upcoming Predator Clan Leader Throne" - NECA, Facebook Add to your Predator collection or build amazing scenes with the new Bone Throne diorama element! Only the most powerful and respected member of a clan can be seated upon this throne, which is crafted from the bones of their most worthy opponents. The Bone Throne measures over 14” tall and is cast in resin with some plastic elements, such as the six Alien Queen “fins” on the back of the throne that can be angled to your liking. Sized to fit NECA’s 7” scale line of Predator action figures (will fit most figures 7-9” tall). Closed box packaging.

Our YouTube channel & videos may be basic, and was trying to give an alternative to reading the longer written reviews we publish on the website. But it does have a small following and was on track to contribute a small amount annually to our growing website hosting costs. Sadly, YouTube have today changed the criteria for being paid for advertising and our channel will be removed until such time we can show 1000 followers and 4000 hours watch time. I now have some thinking to do on how to proceed. There is quite a bit of time being invested in YouTube and while the money is not everything (I fund the site mainly as a hobby from my own pocket) this may now be best spent elsewhere. If anyone has any feedback or thoughts on the YouTube content and the value it does or doesn't add (be as honest as you wish) then let me know via the Disquss function, or over on our Facebook thread

Following on from their Christmas Eve tease, NECA have shared this new image of the various parts that will make up their 7" scale Pennywise figure from Stephen King's IT. The image shows three different head options, indicating this release may be more akin to the Ultimate line with boxed packaging and a number of accessories and parts for the figure. Earlier tease (Christmas Eve 2017)

At the back end of 2017, the Mephitsu Archives was granted number 28 in the Feedspot Top 50 Action Figure blogs - a fantastic achievement that I am really proud of. Now while this is brilliant for me showing off and for bragging rights, and allowing me to display a shiny gold medal on our site, what does it mean for you? Feedspot is a one stop shop for blogs on any subject you can think of, and once you have signed up you then can create a custom feed based on your interests and blogs you want to follow. Your custom feed will then appear on your page as you visit Feedspot, but the big plus is that these blogs are also turned into an email digest which you can choose to receive Weekly or Daily, bringing the key headlines of your selected subjects direct to your inbox. Why not give it a go! And remember to add Mephitsu Archives to your feed

Review : Deckard NECA, Blade Runner 2049 Wave/Series : Series 1 Released : October 2017 £24.99 Pros : good likeness to Harrison Ford. Some new innovation in elbow joints. Cons : very plain paint job with no weathering or washing. Box is quite dull. Please Note : for some reason my Deckard figure arrived in a sealed box which was actually for Agent K. With no option to return (no stock left) I kept this as I was unboxing anyway - but had no choice other than to write the review using the box that I was presented with. The Bladerunner licence from the original 1982 classic movie is one licence that action figure companies like NECA have desired for many years. When the Bladerunner 2049 sequel was announced for release in 2017 it seems a licence for this movie was more accessible and NECA swooped in and obtained the licence to produce figures and vehicles. NECA have announced four 7" scale figures in their Bladerunner 2049 line. The first pair were Deckard and Officer K, released in October 2017. Further figures of Luv and Wallace will follow later in 2018. Like all new licences, NECA have used the window box packaging on the Bladerunner figures. The design incorporates a central window that wraps onto the top flap. The rest of the box is a gloss black colouring with deep dark red lettering. This text and the framing isn't quite visible, making the box very dark and brooding. The Bladerunner 2049 logo sits under the window followed by the character name and the subtitle of "Action Figure". The two side spines are quite plain with a repeat of the logo and a smaller character name (and the "Action Figure" subtitle) sitting just above a red NECA logo. The back of the box see's another logo and under this in red text is a synopsis for the movie, this text is the same on both Deckard and Officer K packaging. Beneath this is a large colour image from the movie of the character and aside this are four other smaller boxes with head shots of the figures in the series, including Luv and Wallace who are as yet unreleased (due Spring 2018). The bottom of the box carries the barcode, NECA logo's and the team that put the figure together. The figure is accessed via the top or bottom flap and slides out in a plastic inner tray that is then sat in a cardboard outer tray that has also served as the figure backdrop in the packaging. This cardboard piece is actually very detailed with a skyline shot from the movie. Deckard is held in place by a single twisty tie around his waist and his weapon sits up to the side of his head. Thanks to the return of Harrison Ford in Star Wars, The Force Awakens, we have had a wealth of "older" Ford figures in the past 2-years. This however is easily the best at a £20-£30 price point. It is not perfect, but there is no denying this is Harrison Ford with those distinctive eyes and jawline. NECA always do a great job on facial likenesses and I do like the way they often throw in a gesture or expression - there is no such "look" for Ford and the head sculpt is very neutral. The head is also perhaps slightly oversized and the whole figure does not scale well with other NECA " figures with Deckard towering over Dutch from Predator as an example. The paint apps are neat with nicely painted eyes and lips. There is some depth to the skin tones with areas of darker flesh. The hair too is good, with a dark grey base colour and a drybrush of lighter grey over the top. Deckard's outfit is screen accurate and is made up of a grey T-shirt over which is a blue long sleeved shirt. The T-shirt is quite plain with just a touch of creasing around the neck area. The outer shirt on the other hand has lots of sculpted detail from pockets, seams and buttons out to creasing and folding of the fabric. The painting on both is a single tone with the only other details the black on the buttons Trousers are a brown colour, and again single tone with no washes or brushing. The shoes are slightly lighter brown to the trousers and these have had a touch of darker wash to dirty them up. There is however no different colouring for the lacing or the sole. Deckard has 14 points of articulation, a couple less than usual NECA figures. It starts with the ball jointed head which can turn full circle and be leaned back and forth. There is no torso joint, but the waist is a ball joint and not just a simple swivel, that means the torso can be rotated and leaned back and forth like the head. The arms are very mobile with ball jointed shoulders. There is what appears to be a new design of elbow joint with the forearm and upper arm joined by a third piece that slots into each arm piece and appears jointed at either side. This almost gives the movement of a double jointed elbow, but means the joint itself is not on show - it is very clever and one I would like to see developed further by NECA. The arm articulation ends with pivoted wrists that rotate and can be bent. The right hand is unencumbered by the sleeve of the shirt so will adjust to 90 degrees. The left hand is held back a little by the sleeve. The leg joints follow the current method from NECA of putting in ball jointed hips and then surrounding them in a flexible rubber crotch. Deckard can swing his legs out to the side to do the splits, or straight forward into a sitting position. The knees are a single joint, but bend to a right angle and these also rotate which means the thigh cut swivel we see so often can be dispensed with. The legs end with rocker ankles and these are nice and tight and Deckard has no issue standing. There is a single accessory in with Deckard, his pistol. This is cast in quite a hard plastic and yet is messy in the sculpt. You can see some real detail like double triggers and texture of the grip. And yet the barrel looks warped and the side detail under the barrel piece is undefined. The pistol is painted in a gunmetal colour for the barrel and trigger, black down either side and with a brown grip. The pistol fits into the right hand only. The trigger finger is sculpted on the hand, yet won't go into the trigger and ends up sitting to the side of it. Here in the UK these Bladerunner 2049 figures have hit the £25 mark, and therefore when you consider this price vs what you get there is a feeling of being a little bit underwhelmed in terms of value for money. While the sculpt is great, the decor and paint apps are not the standard we usually see from NECA in terms of washing and weathering. While in terms of points of articulation the joints have been lowered in number, the type of joints are great and innovative and there is no issue in posing Deckard. The packaging is a bit dull and not easy to read, and there was a frustration to find mine had been misboxed. Overall I am going to award NECA's Bladerunner 2049 Deckard a 4 out of 5. It could have been top scorer with some more paint apps and a better box.

Diamond Select Toys have revealed the first packaged shots of their 2018 GHostbusters II figures - Vigo, "Geared Up" Louis and Ray Stanz. This packaging is the vanilla version of the figures, exclusive to Toys R Us in the United States . These are slimmed down versions and do not include the diorama parts. The larger packaged Select figures will follow these into comic book stores and specialist retailers soon after. These will contain the diorama parts that you can collect over series 6 (this one) to 10 and build the front fascia of the Ghostbusters Firehouse. Our partner Toys in the Attic are one of these stockists and are expecting stock around 9th of February, you can pre-order the set from them here Rey comes with four other hand options - two gloved, two unconvered. There is also the proton emitter and stream. The goggles from the first release seem to have been dropped and replaced by the Santa Hat. Vigo has no specific accessories that I can see. Louis gets a walkie talkie, alternative pair of hands and the proton emitter and stream. The bases you can see in these images are specific to these Toys R Us exclusives, to date they have not been included in the Select releases - and this is a shame considering the issues some of the GB figures have had with standing unaided.

Our friends at Toys in the Attic have confirmed the ETA for the Marvel Select Guardians of the Galaxy Star Lord and Drax figures from Diamond will be 21st February. Pre-orders are being taken now... We would hope to be reviewing these two releases as soon as we can after the 21st "We have finally had confirmation that shipping for the below will be 21/2/18" - Toys in the Attic (Facebook) Marvel Select Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Drax and Baby Groot Action Figure Guardians of the Galaxy Star-Lord and Rocket Action Figure

One of my earliest collections as an adult was the Playmates Star Trek figures. I remember around the time Generations was released picking up figures left right and send, eventually branching out to the Deep Space 9 figures - which at the time were pretty costly in the UK as they were only available in the US and had to be imported across. Roll on to present day and I have finally re-engaged my inner Trekkie with the recent purchase of the Diamond Select Khan figure. With the review of this figure now complete and more Trek products incoming via the new McFarlane licence it is about time to add a dedicated Star Trek page to the archives. The page will hold both Diamond and McFarlane products as well as a news feed of Star Trek action figure articles from our main blog. This makes it a perfect bookmark page for fans of Star Trek figures. Take a look at www.mephitsu.co.uk/startrek or click the image below. Make it so.....

Diamond Select Toys have been involved in the Star Trek licence for a number of years, dating back to the Art Asylum releases and more recently being wrapped into their Select range with classic figures of figures like Kirk, Spock, Picard etc. In this review we take a look at our first Diamond Select Star Trek figure - the December 2016 release of Khan from Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan. For anyone who collects Select figures, the packaging is very familiar using the same design as Select lines such as Marvel and Ghostbusters. This is an oversized blister on a backing card, with the left hand side of the card wrapping round the spine and onto the front of the blister. The general colour scheme is a rich blue on this release, with yellow text and highlighting. The front wrap around uses the classic Star Trek text logo and under this sits a federation badge with a number 50 in it to represent this being the 50th year of the Star Trek Original Series. Above the Star Trek wording is the character name - simply listed as "Khan" in white text. The triangular flash that extends from the wraparound over the bottom corner of the window simply carries an image of the USS Reliant from the Wrath of Khan movie. The left hand side of the packaging carries a blue shaded image of Khan Noonien Singh, as played by Ricardo Montalban. This is Khan as we find him in the 1982 Wrath of Khan big screen adventure. A further Star Trek 50 logo sits beneath this image. Round the back of the packaging we have a blue backdrop onto which is dropped an image of the figure in a yellow insert. To the side of this sits an in-depth text bio of Khan and his history within the Star Trek universe from his first appearance in the Original Series to his big screen appearance in 1982. Under this sits four "also available" slots detailing the other Select Star Trek figures released to date - Kirk, Spock, Picard and Worf. The whole packaging needs to be pulled open to access the figure and he comes out in a large inner tray with all the pieces strapped into place with twisty ties. The contents need to be unpacked carefully. Pulling them out through the fastened twisty-tie can result in paint damage. You will then be presented with a Khan figure and a number of other pieces - and then 5 other pieces that make up the diorama. While this figure does come under the Select banner, it is very different in execution than say a Marvel figure or one of the new figures from Ghostbusters/Gotham. The Star Trek Select figures are more akin to a Kotobukiya statue with virtually zero articulation, and some dictated pose options using the parts required. Because of the way the figure is presented, I am going to start the bulk of this review with the diorama piece and not the figure. This is because there is no way to review the figure without having it stood/sat on the base so it makes sense to build this first before we move on to Khan himself. The diorama is the Captain's chair and a piece of the bridge from the USS Reliant, the Starship that Khan steals to go after his nemesis, Captain Kirk. There are five pieces to the diorama, and while there are no instructions it has been engineered to be simple enough to understand and put together. The two upright pieces slot to the back of the base, and the curved rail then slots into these. The chair is then placed into the remaining square slot on the base. The chair is very nicely cast and decorated, with the circular embossed floor panels and the leather look padded segments of the chair. Like the Starfleet command chairs we see on Star Trek, the two armrests are complete with a number of controls and these are also hinged so they can fold inward over the legs of the Captain once he is seated. The other feature visible on the diorama is a foot shaped depression with foot peg. And if we take Khan straight out of the pack you will find his bent right leg will line up with this socket. The fit is quite tight so there is a touch of force required to get the peg into the hole in the right leg. Once in place there are no real points of articulation on Khan, his pose is quite rigid with just some very small movement in the arms and the head which can be turned. The sculpt of Khan (first head) is a good likeness with the rugged features of Montalban captured within the sculpt and then shaded beautifully with varying skin tone shades. The eyes are very realistic and painted very well and are framed with Khan's bushy eyebrows. The hair is a mid-grey with washed black to bring out the depth, it flows back over the ears and hangs at the back of the neck. The trunk of the figure is the only piece which can't be changed on the figure. This is also really well sculpted starting with the bare chest which is exposed and the various medallions and trinkets that Khan wears. The leather look tunic has the ridged collar and the lined panels and it is not a single tone colour, but instead is very dirty and dark. This first set of standing legs are a little less impressive as they do look quite plain. Up close there are sculpted panels and rips, but the colours used are grey on a slightly lighter grey so they are not as visual. The first set of arms we get out of the box are the "folded" set, or more accurately the left resting on top of the right. These arms are as equally well sculpted and decorated as the core trunk of the figure - the paint job of the clothing remains consistent and the skin tone still has varying shades to help define the musculature. The right hand is gloved and painted in a brushed steel effect. The left hand is uncovered and beneath this we have a wrist and and a bronzed coloured rope piece that snakes back up the forearm to the sleeve of the tunic. The next look we will explore is seated Khan, so do to this we need to apply some force to pop the existing legs off the torso. Once done the seated legs slot and pop into position. The seated legs are sculpted as a single piece and have a flattened base to allow Khan to sit on the command chair. They are identically painted and decorated vs the standing legs. The seated legs sit securely on the chair, with the weight of the figure holding it in place. It is worth noting that the feet don't quite meet the floor when Khan is seated, and that can look a little odd from some angles. The leg position also means Khan is sitting forward on the edge of his seat so the back does not touch the back of the chair - that is the pose he takes up for much of the movie scenes when he is commanding the Reliant. Our next look is to change the neutral head for what I think is meant to be an angry version. Like the legs there is a touch of force needed to pop off the head and you can then snap the replacement onto the ball joint. While the neutral head is a good likeness to Khan, I am less impressed with this second version. I guess the intention was to capture the angry Khan as he is ranting at Kirk towards the end of the movie as the Reliant and the Enterprise face off in the Nebula. Diamond haven't quite captured this and for me the look is more like Khan is surprised than angry. Again its painted really well with carrying skin shades and the now open mouth has nicely painted white teeth and a pink tongue. The final options for Khan are the arm variants. These probably take the most force/time to remove as its difficult to get a grip on the folded arms to then pull them out. The plastic is quite tough and can take a bit of pressure to finally coax them out. The only other left arm option see's it moving from being folded to being bent at 90 degrees and straight up. With the fisted hand that comes with it you can almost see Khan shouting at Kirk and shaking his first at him. With a small degree of movement thanks to the shoulder joint you can raise this arm up and down to pose it where you want. The right arm gets two further options, the first of these being a mirror of the left one where it is bent at the elbow and the hand is open palmed. This arm does have a further joint at the elbow so you an swing the forearm back and forth to either be across the stomach, out in front or out to the left hand side. If the fist is not acceptable, the left hand is also interchangeable and a finger pointing version is included. Again this is a pop out joint and the new one slots in easily and can be rotated as you wish. The third alternative for the right arm is a straight version with virtually no bend at the elbow at all. With this one, it probably best suits the standing Khan as it can hang down to a point where the hand is almost resting on his thigh. Out of all the arm options, this looks the least realistic and the most awkward a there is just something a touch off in the shape and the position being held. This straight arm will work with the seated position, and you can either have it resting on his knee. When you do this you will have to have the arm rests of the chair folded out. You can of course raise the arm using the shoulder joint and fold the arm rest in and then bring the arm back down to rest on the arm rest. This is my first Star Trek figure from Diamond and I have thought long and hard on the scoring I should give as it will obviously set a precedent on reviews of similar figures. The term action figure is probably not an overly fair description of this release, with Khan being more akin to a statue. He does have about four/five points of very basic articulation depending what configuration you use for posing. Articulation aside, the sculpt and paint job is excellent - better in many ways than other Select figures. The only downside is the angry head which doesn't quite work. The diorama is impressive, but is quite big and will take up some pressure shelf space - and unlike other Selects, this diorama base can't really be dropped to save space otherwise the figure won't be able to stand or sit. It isn't even possible without some custom work to have the chair on its own? For under £20 this is an impressive piece, but you have to be clear you are buying more of a statue than a figure. I score Khan Noonien Singh a heady 4 out of 5 stars.

NECA have released promotional images of the packaged Texas Chainsaw Massacre Hitchhiker & Nubbins 2-pack. The set is in their 8" Mego style collection, with sculpted heads and soft good tailored outfits. There is also a number of accessories included, such as a camera, pelt, knife and a razor. There is also a feature where Nubbins can be attached via loops on his figure to other figures in the line so they can be his puppeteer. "Shipping soon from the #NECA stores, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Nubbins Sawyer 2-pack packaging is complete!" - NECA, Facebook The set will retail in the UK around the £55 mark and should arrive a few weeks after the US release in January. You can pre-order the set at our site partner Toys In The Attic. This first appearance of The Hitchhiker from Texas Chainsaw Massacre in our clothed action figure line celebrates the character’s circle of “life”! The Hitchhiker (aka Leatherface’s brother Nubbins) first appears in the 1974 film, where he meets a gory end. However, his mortal remains return in the second movie as a puppet-like pal carried around by Leatherface’s other brother, Chop Top. This collector’s set includes both versions of the character and plenty of accessories. The Hitchhiker is fully articulated and comes with pelt, knife, razor and camera accessories. Dead Nubbins has synthetic hair, a bendable wire armature for posing and loops that allow your other TCM figures to be his “puppeteer.” Figures are approximately 8” tall and come in window box packaging.

Another tweak for 2018.... When I started using YouTube it was to create a slideshow of images from our reviews. It then moved to being a review in itself, albeit in a very simplistic photo/text format. These have then been getting longer and longer and more labour intensive to make - without actually getting any better than the basic videos they are. In an effort to re-energise our YouTube channel I am tweaking the format to a 2 minute review that scores four elements of a figure (packaging, paint, articulation and overall) using the collage videos from our review. Viewers can then choose to visit the full review at the end of the video. I can of course track how well these are working through the YouTube analytics. But would love to know what you think of this streamlined version - you can leave comments below via Discuss or on our social channels. Our first two "two minute review" videos are now live for the NECA Damaged Aliens from Series 12

Happy #SatTOYday & Happy New Year! CLICK HERE for this week's issue This is arguably my favourite issue every year as I spend some time looking back at the year that was. I also love to look ahead and do some predictions over figures I think we will see in the coming year. For our end of 2017 special we do this again with our 2017 awards and our look ahead to 2018 and my predictions as to what we might just see on shelves. We also have the usual news round-up, but no review this week as we've taken a Xmas break recently. There is a big stack of figures which will be reviewed in the coming weeks - so watch this space. www.facebook.com/mephitsu www.twitter.com/mephitsu www.issuu.com/mephitsu