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A1 Toys have a couple of Star Wars Black Series deals in their January sale. The 2015 SDCC Exclusive First Order Stormtrooper is on sale at just £19.99. And even better is the SDCC 2016 Obi-Wan Kenobi set for £24.99

Over 2-years since its initial release, the 6" scale Black Series First Order Tie Fighter and exclusive Pilot has started to show up in Entertainer Stores priced at just £49.99 (original RRP was £169). The set is also available online for same price AND with Free Delivery, click here for the link.

Lanard Toys, the company that brought us the 3.75" scale Kong : Skull Island figures, are producing a number of sets and figures from the 2018 monster movie Rampage, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The sets follow a similar vein as Kong with a monster creature packed with articulated 3.75" figures and vehicles and accessories. The figures themselves are more stylised than being representation of the characters and are very GI Joe inspired in terms of look and articulation. In the US these will be sold exclusively in Walmart. There may be a similar deal here in the UK via Asda, or they may well go to Smyths who were the retailer that took the Kong figures in the UK. The larger three sets are titled "Big City Brawl" and include George the albino Gorilla, Lizzie the Crocodile and Ralph the Wolf. There is then one small figure per set, and the George set then gets a small helicopter vehicle. We then have two smaller sets called "Canister Contact" these are made up of a 3.75" figure and various accessories like road blocks and weapons. There is then a smaller (unmutated) version of Ralph and Lizzie. There is also a smaller George pack complete with your very own Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in 3.75" scale. And talking of "The Rock" you can get a second version of him in the Mega George pack which contains a giant version of the albino Gorilla. This is very similar to the Kong 20" figure released last year in terms of size and packaging. These are all starting to turn up in stores now across the US.

NECA have revealed the final packaging designs for their 7" Kratos, God of War figure. The figure is due to ship (in the US at least) in the next few weeks. From the upcoming game by Santa Monica Studio comes the first packing shots of our God of War (2018) 7" Scale Kratos Action Figure, which ships out in just 2 weeks! (NECA, Facebook)

Part of our plans for 2018 includes streamlining our website menu's and access to reviews and news - ideally bridging the gap between the two. Following on from yesterdays launch of our Diamond Select page, we are pleased to open up our NECA landing page. The page has simple links through to our NECA Reviews by movie title and range including our full Aliens archive as well as Terminator, Robocop, Gremlins etc. The page also has our most recent posts about NECA products in a simple news feed. If you just follow the site for NECA products, this is the page to now bookmark - click the image below to have a look around

Part of our plans for 2018 includes streamlining our website menu's and access to reviews and news - ideally bridging the gap between the two. I am pleased to therefore announced our Diamond Select Toys landing page is now live. The page has simple links through to our Diamond Reviews for Marvel Select, Ghostbusters and Gotham figures - and also has our most recent posts about Diamond Select products in a simple news feed. If you just follow the site for Diamond Select products, this is the page to now bookmark - click the image below to have a look around

Rey and Crait Environment Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Toys R Us (US / Australia) Exclusive Released : December 2017 No Official UK release Within the raft of The Last Jedi 6" Black Series releases and exclusives were four exclusive sets that saw a figure released with a diorama environment. While the Snoke & Throne saw no difference to the standard release of the figure - the other three took a basic figure and upgraded it with superior soft goods, die-cast parts and a diorama piece. The three sets of Kylo Ren, Rey and Jedi Master Luke came in a deluxe box with opening front cover and were split between Toys R Us (Rey on Crait), Walmart (Kylo Ren in Throne Room) and Target (Jedi Master Luke on Ahch-To Island). The Rey figure was the same base figure as released in Wave 12, but it now included a mix of soft goods and plastic parts on Rey's robes. As well as her staff - the set also included die-cast versions of her blaster and light saber hilt. The Crait piece was a plastic diorama piece based with what we assume is a crashed ski speeder piece. Of course Rey's role on Crait appears to have changed in the final cut of the movie, so the set is somewhat inaccurate as to what we see on screen. The figure also carries the cut on the arm that we also see on the re-release that comes in Wave 14. You can read our review of the basic release Rey, Jedi Training here. Images are promotional images

Happy New Year, and here we go with 2018.... 2018 is our fourth full year of operation and this year I am hoping to take the Mephitsu Archives on the next few steps in our journey. 2017 saw us hit quite a few milestones, most notably our application to be considered for a spot on the Feedspot Top 50 Action Figure Blogs. We ended up being placed number 28 and are now proudly sporting our Top 50 blog medal on the site. We also expanded our YouTube presence, with 222 video's now online and our video's themselves have progressed from basic slideshows to mini reviews. Facebook and Twitter did grow slightly, but not as much as we would hope - our base now seems to have hit that point where both want us to regularly use paid adverts to grow any further. Instagram is another new avenue we've opened, but I am still learning the ropes on this one. I do have some thoughts also around our Facebook Group and our website Forum - and for these I may need to get some help if anyone is interested? 2017 did have some downpoints to. Saying goodbye to Clect was one of them and we wish the team all the best for their next project. We also struggled to grow our readership on Issue and via direct mailing. I also personally spent too much time and money in 2017 obsessing on having the newest figures first and up for review. In hindsight this is not practical considering we are UK based - the big US sites will always have first dibs on the figures and the reviews and it is not practical for me to spend so much trying to keep up. 2018 therefore will see me concentrate more on the figures I purchase for my collection - I think this will bring back my own personal enjoyment whilst not bankrupting me or getting me in trouble with Mrs. M. With this slightly amended approach on reviews, the site will concentrate more on News and I intend to continue the #SatTOYday newsletter feature and have some other avenues to explore with our regular news updates. I also need to be practical about the site and the costs now associated with hosting and paying for developer add-ons like the map based store listing. You may therefore see some more affiliate adverts and I will be continuing to work on site partners and other avenues of monitisation to make the site self sufficient. And to end I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to those who have already stepped in and supported the site through 2017. Our good friends at Kapow Toys have been supporting us for 6-months now as a site parter. Toys in the Attic linked up with us at the start of 2017 and have also supported our Halloween Spectacular and given us our first exclusive reader discount code. And to Darths Hutt who acts as my sounding board quite often on Facebook. This has been a long post, but hopefully this sets us up a good strategy for 2018 and you will all stay with us on the next step of the journey. Can I thank everyone for their support and wish you and your families a Happy New Year and a fantastic 2018.

Diamond Select have revealed packages images of their Marvel Select Gladiator Hulk from Thor Ragnarok. The release of a packaged image should indicate the figure is on his way to stores. Diamond have indicated the Thor figure will arrive a little later than Hulk.

When NECA launched the Alien X club they promised an end of year exclusive for those who purchased all the releases in 2017. As we reach the end of the year, that final exclusive has been revealed as a Purple Kenner Inspired Xenomorph warrior. This new figure looks to be using the Aliens Xenomorph Concept figure - Aliens 1986 Warrior with smooth dome - as seen most recently in the Hadleys Hope pack with Burke. Obviously he gets an all over paint job in bright purple. While this release won't be for everyone, it is going to be sought after by collectors - particularly as not everyone subscribed to the Alien X club or kept up purchases through the year. We now await the pricing and release details. NECA Club x ALIEN exclusive figure revealed! The classic Kenner Tribute Purple Warrior is the perfect match for the 6-piece Kenner Tribute Diorama that club members received earlier this year. Based on the card art illustration and coloration, it stands over 9” tall and features over 30 points of articulation and a bendable tail. Release date coming soon!

McFarlane have released the full details of their Walking Dead Saviour Prisoner Daryl 7" figure, as announced back in October 2017. Darrell will have 15 points of articulation. While the Ezekiel figure released at the same time has used 3D scan technology, Daryl is listed as being sculpted from photographs of actor Norman Reedus and that shows when you look at the two newly announced figures side by side. I guess there was some element of cost saving on Daryl by tweaking the existing head sculpt. Daryl will come with a mop accessory as well as the standard display base. The US RRP on Daryl is $19.99, around £20 here in the UK once it makes its way over the pond. Release date is scheduled for February 2018 After Negan executed Abraham and Glenn in front of the other survivors, he instructed the Saviors to take Daryl hostage. Taking Daryl as an insurance policy, Negan informed Rick that he would comply with Negan’s rules, or else his prisoner, Daryl, would suffer dire consequences. Spectacular likeness of Daryl sculpted from images of the actor Norman Reedus Figure is featured in the Savior prisoner outfit worn by Daryl in Season 7 of The Walking Dead® Figure includes mop accessory Designed with 15 points of articulation for dynamic posing Figure features a stylized The Walking Dead® branded display base and showcased in window box packaging

McFarlane have released the full details of their Walking Dead Ezekiel 7" figure, as announced back in October 2017. Ezekial will have 15 points of articulation and is sculpted using a 3D scan of the actor, Khary Payton. He comes with his cane staff which actually works so that the sword can be removed. The usual display base will be included. The US RRP on Ezekiel is $19.99, around £20 here in the UK once it makes its way over the pond. Release date is scheduled for February 2018 A wise and theatrical personality, Ezekiel, often referred to as ‘King Ezekiel,” is the leader of the peaceful community known as The Kingdom. Flanked by his pet tiger Shiva at his side, Ezekiel has a reluctant truce with The Saviors, but makes sure to keep the security of his kingdom in tact. Spectacular likeness of Ezekiel taken from 3D scans of actor Khary Payton Figure includes Ezekiel’s Shikomizue (cane staff with sword) Cane staff features removable sword Designed with 15 points of articulation for dynamic posing Figure features a stylized The Walking Dead® branded display base and showcased in window box packaging