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The Hasbro panel at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando has confirmed a new release in the 6" line coming later this year. Commander Gree, as seen in Revenge of the Sith, will be a Toys R Us exclusive. Gree will utilise the existing Mark 2 Clone Trooper helmet and will then tweak the existing body and panels to represent his lighter armoured gear from the battle on Kashyyyk. Gree will come with what looks to be the standard Clone weaponry - DC15A and DC15S - and will also come with a pair of macro binculars. While some Toys R Us exclusives like the First Order Snowtrooper and this years Hover Tank Pilot have crossed the pond and been widely available in the UK - others like the Astromech 3-pack have not been sold outside the US. For UK fan's we would hope that Gree falls into the latter camp and will not be restricted to UK collectors and leave us once again paying a premium. Price wise the US RRP has gone up from prior releases and now sits at $24.99. Images credit to Vinylmation The other news coming out of Hasbro at Celebration is that the upcoming Hera figure has been withdrawn from the schedule and is being worked on some more. The figure is absent from the Hasbro display. This of course is nothing new and happened to the original Leia figure. We await details for Hera and what that means for the next wave.

Just 24 hours after the announcement of Rey and her Jakku Speeder, Hasbro have confirmed another vehicle release in their 6" Black Series. Arriving on the 1st September 2017 as part of Force Friday will be this set of Luke Skywalker (Tattooine) and his trust X-34 Landspeeder. The set includes a new head sculpt for Luke, he will also come with the head gear and the poncho that he wears in the early scenes of A New Hope. The macro binoculars, as included in the original 2016 and subsequent 40th Anniversary Release (2017) are also included, as is his light-saber. The set will retail in the US at $59.99, that will equate to some where in the region of £60 in the UK. For those attending SDCC 2017, there will be an enhanced release of Luke and the Landspeeder exclusive to the show. The SDCC version will come with added decoration and weathering - something Hasbro couldn't replicate on the standard release due to cost. It will also come with moving parts under the bonnet (hood). It won't be cheap at $89.99. That is £72 in the UK, but unless a deal is made to distribute internationally you will have to rely on the secondary market which will bump the price - particularly as this will also be a large item to ship STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES X-34 LANDSPEEDER & 6-INCH LUKE SKYWALKER (SDCC Exclusive) (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $89.99/Available at Comic-Con International in San Diego)

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After an 18 month wait, Hasbro have confirmed what will be the #02 release in their Star Wars Black Series line. The original release was the monster First Order Tie Fighter at the back end of 2015. At the time Hasbro did say that this was the start of more vehicle releases not just a one off. Hasbro have now announced via iO9 that they will be releasing this stunning Speeder in the Autumn. And if that wasn't enough, it will be packed with a brand new 6" Rey figure that boasts 28 points of articulation. It is brand new sculpt and comes with soft goods to allow Rey to ride the Speeder. She now sports her Scavenger head gear with removable mask. The satchel has also been updated and is now worn as a back pack. The speeder is also articulated with 9 points of articulation and two opening panels. The base is clear but sculpted to look like the super heated displaced air under the speeder when it is in motion. You can use the base and articulation to tilt and pose the speeder as you wish. The US RRP will be $60. That converts to $8 here in the UK, but I suspect the RRP for UK customers will come out somewhere around the £55 mark. As far as we are aware these is no exclusivity on this and i twill be available for all retailers to order and stock. Rey and her Speeder will be on display at Star Wars Celebration and we will update this thread with images as they come in from Orlando.

Review : Order 66 Clone Trooper 4-pack Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Entertainment Earth Exclusive Released : December 2016 Price : £109.99 When Disney celebrated Rogue Friday on the 30th September 2016, it was announced that Entertainment Earth would carry an exclusive box set of Clone Troopers. This follows their 2015 exclusive of the Imperial 4-pack. The set would soon be confirmed as an Order 66 box-set and would be made up of a four Mark 2 Clone Troopers from Revenge of the Sith. The set is easily available to the UK, but at a premium of £110. This is some what higher than the $99.99 (£80) that Entertainment Earth sell the set for in the US. The pack arrives as what looks like a cube. This exterior is adorned on the front with a grey scale image of Mark 2 Clones in battle while Gunships fly overhead. To the top left is the Star Wars Black Series logo and to the base is the Entertainment Earth over-sticker identifying the set as an Exclusive. To the left side is a plain black spine at the bottom of which is a replication of the Black Series logo and some bold red text confirming the content of the set. At the top of the spine are some safety notices. The right spine is a similar plain design with a further Black Series logo and some legal text. It is the rear of the box that the gloss red colouring comes in - the colour we usually see on the right hand spine of a single carded release. This reverse is made up of four panels, each one the same size as a standard release spine. At the top of each panel we find the hatching design and character name - being an exclusive there are no numbers. Now the whole outer packaging is actually a sleeve and the inner packaging slides out of this from the back. You now see that the red reverse now becomes the spine of four inter-connected figure boxes. They are designed and connected in such a way that they can be folded out so the rear becomes a flat panel containing the details of each figure, while the front becomes a sequence of four windows through which you can view each figure. The outer sleeve is quite flimsy and damages quite easily. You can see from tour review set that even in transit there was some considerable damage done. The front of each segment is designed to match what we see on a single release. There is an individual grey lined art panel, each specific to the clone above it - although you can't really determine this due to the lack of any colouring within the image. The left side of each box segment also follows the usual design rules with a grey oversized text print and on top of this the red character name. The back of each segment contains the same lined artwork as the front and the character name in dual language. There is then a short bio of each Clone, which is repeated in three other languages. Each clone slides out via the top or bottom of the packaging and comes in its own inner tray on top of a red card backdrop. I am going to flip this review a little on its head and first off look at the articulation and sculpt together. Each figure is basically identical in everything but decoration, so the sensible thing to do is look at them as a whole first before we look at each one's decor individually. The sculpt is identical to the Mark 2 clone we saw in the 2015 Amazon exclusive "Evolution of the Stormtrooper" boxset. And in turn the body is the same sculpt we have had since the release of the Mark 1 clone back in 2014 (Wave 4). The bonus over the original release is that the Mark 2 helmet is much better proportioned to the body and the looks are therefore much improved. The armour panels are all nicely captured, and are smooth glossy. Under these are an under-suit which is only visible in a few places, and yet it has been sculpted with a pattern and if you look closely round the back you can even see creases/folds in the clothing. Articulation starts with a ball jointed head which can rotate round fully and also has a very wide range of movement up and down, so much so that the troopers chin area can rest against it's own chest. The shoulders are ball jointed, but movement is limited as the two shoulder panels block most movement upwards. Instead you will be left to position the arms out by just a few degrees and then let them rotate. A bicep swivel does help matters when posing. And being an older figure design, the elbows remain double jointed. The hands rotate fully in the sleeve and have some movement forward and backward on a peg. The torso sits on a ball joint, hidden nicely by the cut of the chest armour. This is surprisingly versatile and not only rotating it will bend the torso forward and backward by quite a distance. The legs are also ball jointed at the hips, but like the shoulders the armour blocks alot of the movement. These clones therefore won;t sit, but can kneel albeit stiffly and while looking a touch awkward. The kneeling action is supported by double jointed knees and ankle rockers. The ankle rockers are fairly stiff on most of the four, but I suspect will be a weak spot and could impede the ability for the Clones to stand on their own going forward. Each clone starts with a gloss white finish to all the armour, on top that black under-suit. The joint pegs are left black and the only discolouration to the gloss white is round the back of each knee where the white strap looks a little yellow vs the rest of the armour panels. 442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper We will start with the Green Trooper, who represents the 442nd Siege Battalion. These troopers were never actually seen on screen, but are listed as fighting in the battle of Cato Neimoidia The markings on the 442nd start with a grey panel either side of the helmet crest. There is then a triangular top to the chest armour, with each shoulder pad painted green on the top half. There is a stripe just above each elbow and panels either side under the arm. A further panel extends from the belt into the crotch area. The top of the thighs are both green with striping to the knee pads. The green trim ends with the lower part of each shin guard. The green is all crisp and vibrant, but what is really nice is that it isn't a fresh factory coat of paint - the panels are chipped and scratched so the Trooper looks battle-worn and weathered. On top of this there is also further splashes of grey to break up the shiny gloss armour and to show the Trooper as being in the midst of battle. Other paint applications include the blue gills down the side of each helmet, two horizontal lines to the right of the Troopers chest plate and some grey striping to the rear of the knee pads. The same grey is used to fill in the holes on the back panel. The 442nd trooper comes packed with the smaller DC-15S hand blaster. This fits into either hand, and with the arm articulation can be cradled in a two handed pose, or fired one handed. The gun is cast in black plastic with no other paint application. 212th Attack Battalion Clone Trooper Out next Trooper is the 212th Attack Trooper, as present on Utapau and under the command of Commander Cody and Obi-Wan Kenobi. They would later turn on Obi-Wan as Order 66 was released by Palpatine. Essentially the Utapau trooper is identical in pattern to the 442nd - albeit the panels being in an orange rather than the green. The one noticeable difference is the chest panel where the two horizontal lines are absent. Similar weathering s applied to the 212th Trooper, but less aggressively as the 442nd figure. The grey splashes are less pronounced. The 212th should ideally be a direct match when placed with the 2015 Commander Cody release. Sadly the colour isn't a match and the Cody colour is darker and less glossy. The 212th also comes with the DC-15S hand blaster. Shock Trooper The next trooper is the Shock Trooper, the personal troops of The Emperor himself. These are the guys we see on Coruscant in the Senate building and later they accompany The Emperor to Mustafar. While the 212nd and 442nd Troopers held similar design (other than colour) the Shock Trooper uses a different set of design principles. The helmet ridge is painted red and then under this and around the brow is a pattern of red squares. This same principle is applied to the beak of the helmet, with a dashed line moving out and round the breathers. The two cheek recesses are also painted red. On the body the whole top of the chest panel is red, as are the whole of each shoulder panel. Down the arm are two lines of trim that go all the way round the bicep armour panel. The belt is now red not white, although the rear capsule remains white. There is a red vertical stripe down the thigh panels with two thicker horizontal lines then coming across to the centre line. The entire boot section from knee down to boot is red. The weathering remains, with realistic scratches and defects to the red sections and grey weathering on top - particularly prevalent on the chest and thighs. The Shock Trooper is armed with the larger DC-15A blaster rifle. Like the smaller weapon it is cast in a plain black plastic with no further paint applications. It sits comfortably in the Troopers hand and can be cradled with the other hand. Firing poses will be limited to firing from the waist and not in a snipers position as we see in the movie. 501st Legion Clone Trooper While I wouldn't say we (or the way the set is packaged) has saved the best till last, the 501st Clone is probably the most well know being Anakin's own troops and the ones that take part in the massacre at the Jedi Temple. The 501st Trooper carries the least amount of decoration. It starts with a reverse triangle painted down the helmet This starts surrounding the central crest, which remains white, and works down to a point around the breather section. The line of this triangle then continues into the chest and moves down the centre of the chest panel until it splits around a central white section with the two blue lines turning and trimming the bottom line of the chest panel. The two shoulder panels are completely blue, and the only other blue decor on the arms is a small trim at the cuff of the forearm armour. Round the back of the figure, and different to any of other three, the blue colour is used on the back panel. To the legs and there are two vertical stripes running the full length of each leg down through the leg armour and stopping at the boots. The bottom piece of the knee pad is then trimmed blue. The 501st comes with the smaller DC-15S blaster. Summary This is a set that does lots of things right. It packs in four figures that follow a particular theme. For each figure the trim is well researched and painted, and the weathering is really nice. Each figure also comes with the right choice of weapon. But the issue with this set is one of value for money. This is nothing more than a re-release of an existing sculpt with new paint applications. And for this the UK customers are charged £110, which is £27.50 per figure. And of course that is more than a new release on it's own. There is also the problem of tying such popular army builders up in one set. Sure, do an EE wave of Clones and let us pick the ones we want and how many we want to Army Build. And for Boxed collectors, the packaging is not really the best for display. If you can get this set around the £80 mark then its worth it. For £110 you are paying a premium for four great, but not exceptional figures. Based on the RRP I score the set an average 3 out of 5. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US Video Showcase Part 1 Video Showcase Part 1

Just as we thought Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 was going to be overlooked by the main Japanese figure makers, SH Figuarts have revealed this 1/12 Star-Lord figure. Peter Quill will be released in September 2017. But at this stage no other details are known. They key question would be if SHF are planning on a full set of Guardians? More details as we get them.

Following Guardians of the Galaxy (May) and Spider-Man Homecoming (July), the third Marvel film of the year will be Thor : Ragnorok, the third title in the Thor series. After a few odd set images, we now get a full 1m 52 second teaser for this next outing of our favourite God of Thunder. As always, it's fun to speculate what figures we may get out of this movie. For Marvel Select we are looking at two releases (pretty much confirmed, although things can change), and the indicators seem to be lining up that one of these will be a "large" figure. Expect therefore a new Thor and a Gladiator Hulk from Diamond. For Marvel Legends we can hope for a more in-depth set of figures - and most likely mixed in with comic book releases into a larger wave. I wonder if they would go Gladiator Hulk for the BAF and mix in releases like Thor, Hela, The Collector and Loki. Doctor Strange (not seen in the trailer) is an outside bet - as would be Heimdall and Valykrie. One:12 Collective from Mezco appears to be sticking more to Comic Book releases - although we have seen a MCU Netflix Daredevil as well as movie releases from DC. Will Mezco give us anything Thor related? That would leave the Far East manufacturers like SH Figuarts and Mafex - and if they follow suit with recent releases we may get a central character (Thor) or nothing at all.

Happy Sat-TOY-Day everyone! CLICK HERE for this week's issue This weeks issue is short and sweet with just a handful of news stories this week. We have some new Destiny figures confirmed by McFarlane, including some US retailer exclusives. We have details of two new SH Figuarts Marvel releases, but watch out as one is a limited exclusive. And over with Diamond we see their new iZombie release - now with packaging details, and just a few weeks from release. And we stay with Diamond for this weeks review - their new Disney Store Exclusive Select Star-Lord. www.facebook.com/mephitsu www.twitter.com/mephitsu www.issuu.com/mephitsu

Tamashii Nations have released a full set of promotional images for their SH Figuarts Homecoming Spider-Man 1/12 figure. He will be released on the 11th August 2017 and is packed with a bunch of add-on parts. For starters the eyes can be swapped out to give he head two different expressions. There are at least 3 hand options that swap out at the wrist. And being Spidey he also comes with two web effects - one for firing, one for swinging. Being at High School, Spidey also gets a back-pack and a mobile phone. The Japanese RRP is 6264 Yen, that is £45 or $56 on a direct exchange. The US release, via Bluefin, has also been confirmed. And as an extra bonus will come with a diorama piece on which you can display Spidey.

Review : Hawkgirl DC Collectibles Wave/Series : DCTV (CW) Legends of Tomorrow #02 Released : March 2017 £19.99 While Hasbro and Mattel between them seem to monopolise the Marvel and DC licences for 6" figures respectively, there are other companies making figures. Where as Diamond Select are doing an awesome job on the 7" Marvel figures, DC have their own in-house DC Collectibles who are putting out some brilliant 6.75" figures at present across a number DC licences - both comic based, animated and for TV and movies. While CW's Arrow and Flash have been on the table for a while at DCC, 2017 see's both Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow join the schedule. Here we take a look at Hawkgirl from Legends of Tomorrow. The packaging for most DCC figures is boxed and using white as the predominant colour. This allows the figure to take centre stage in the window. This window wraps round the right side of the box, and here the character name is printed onto the clear plastic window. The other three sides of the window are surrounded in white and the Legends of Tomorrow logo sat under the window at the base of the box front. Under this logo is a coloured band that contains a lot of the legal and trade mark notices. This band is colour coded to the TV show, grey being used for the Legends of Tomorrow releases. On the angled part of this bar, as the box turns the corner, is the number one - identifying Hawkgirl as the second figure in the Legends collection. To the rear of the box, and this is quite sparse in terms of what you may be used to from Hasbro or Mattel. The grey bar continues round the back and carries the DC logo and the sculptor detail. Above this, and the rest of the box rear is made up of an "Also Available" advert - showing the Black Canary, Reverse Flash and Firestorm. Continuing to the other spine (the left as you look at the box front) and DCC have taken a leaf out of the Diamond Select packaging with a colour image. Unlike Diamond though, who use movie images or comic art, DCC have gone with a full colour image of the figure itself showing off the head and shoulders of Hawkgirl. Rather than a full image, the grey trim continues to this side and here it carries the Legends of Tomorrow logo, the character name and the number of the release (#02) Once out of the box you will find Hawkgirl and her accessories in a standard inner clear tray with her wings strapped into a secondary tray behind the main figure. The backing card continues the white theme, broken only by the Legends of Tomorrow logo. It is good to see that DCC have packed a short instructional insert which shows you how to assemble Hawkgirl's wings as well as how to swap out Firestorms head/hands, and attach Zoom's speedster effects. I often comment that many companies simply let us work this out for our selves, so well done DCC. Hawkgirl only lasted one season on the show itself, but you can see why DCC choose her to spearhead the Legends figures alongside Firestorm. She stands 6.75" high out of the box, but your eyes will be drawn to the impressive wings that are slipped into the tray behind her - we'll come to these a bit later. Hawkgirl comes with a masked head sculpt, although the likeness to Ciara Renée is still recognisable. The helmet is a deep bronze and green and is washed and weathered. There is a bob of hair at the rear of the helmet, and this is painted with two tones of brown. The exposed skin of the face, and down into the neck area, is perhaps a touch too light and a slightly darker tone would have matches the actor's own skin tone much better. The eyes are a bright brown and the lips a toned red lipstick. Around her neck, Hawkgirl wears her amulet and this is sculpted detail that is then painted with a deep green sash and a gold pendent. If you look closely there is a lot of green paint missing leaving the necklace looking unpainted from some angles. The chest section is intricately designed with geometric shapes and lines which are then painted in bronze and washed to weather up and darken the designs. These are trimmed in a deep green which sweeps up and into the arms. The two shoulders are capped with shoulder pads which are a flexible grey rubber to move with the arms. The arms are then a deep green, but wrapped with gold trim that spirals down the arm and into the gold cuffs and finally deep green gloves. The hands do have a two other options packed in - you can choose from a pair of gripping hands, a pair of flat hands and a pair of fists. These pop in and out relatively smoothly. Hawkgirl comes with her belt, which is an individual piece that can be moved up and down and around within the waist and hip area. This is a green colour and then dry-brushed in gold. The legs reverse the design of the arms, with them now in a bronze colour and with spiraling green trim. While they are sculpted as tight fitting, it is good to see some creasing and folding towards the top of the thighs to replicate the way real clothing behaves. The figure ends with a pair of ankle boots. While the paint application in the main is neat on the clothing, my figure came with a blemish on her right thigh and some smeared gold paint on the green part of the legs. Hawkgirl comes with her mace weapon. This is cast in a harder plastic which means the details are much crisper than a lot of comparable weapons in similar scales - the spikes actually do hurt if you grab hold of them. The mace fits in either hand, although it is tighter into the right hand, The wings are really impressive as I mentioned earlier, and are each constructed in three sections. The feather detail is nice although they are essentially just a brown plastic with perhaps a varying brown wash. Each wing has a ball joint that slots into a corresponding hole on Hawkgirl's back. Once in place the wing span of the figure is an impressive 13.5". Articulation on Hawkgirl is less than other DCC figures on the figure itself, but while you loose a couple of points on the body, you gain back with the articulation on the wings. The head is ball jointed and rotates fully round and has a good range up and down. Shoulders are ball jointed and can be moved out to 90 degrees, and impressively as you do this the rubbery plastic shoulder pads do move up and round with the arms. The elbows are a 90 degree bending joint, with no rotation. But to help arm position DCC have added a bicep swivel on Hawkgirl. The arms then terminate with a rotating wrist that works on both sets of hands. The figure looses the torso and waist joint so the next stop is the legs where there is a T-joint hip and double jointed knees. There is no ankle rocker, but an ankle swivel which allows the boots to be rotated. The wings are each articulated in two places with hinges that allow the segments to fold in and out. The whole wing can then also be moved being on a ball joint where it plugs into the figure. This means a wide range of wing positions can be achieved. The downside is that there is no flight stand included with Hawkgirl, and I'd recommend finding one that works to allow her to be posed in a flying position. Even with the wings adding weight to the back of the figure, and with no rocker at the ankle, the figure still stands perfectly well. Hawkgirl is a release that should only set you back £20 or so. And that is a brilliant price for a 6.75" figure with 13" articulated wings. The figure is not perfect though and unlike Firestorm (who was released at the same time) this release has some paint issues and the skin tones used are too light vs the actor. I am therefore going to score Hawkgirl 4 out of 5 Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Diamond Select Toys have been showing off the packaged samples of their upcoming Liz Moore Action figure from iZombie. This is the second version of Liz that Diamond have released, and this is much improved likeness and based on her appearance in Season 2. I have to resist calling this a Select figure, while still in that 7" scale - it is a single blister carded figure with no diorama piece, therefore not technically qualifying as a Select release. Liz will come packed with various accessories from a Mobile Phone, to a take away coffee, mug and rat. She is due to ship in late Spring early Summer. US RRP is $19.99, expect to pay £20 here in UK.

NECA have shared the packaging for their upcoming Terminator 2 T800 release. The set is a re-release of much of the Ulitmate T2 T800 figure, but does come now with a rose box accessory so you can recreate the Galleria Mall Scenes. It is being released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Terminator 2, and the 3D release of the movie on the 25th of August. The figure is due to start shipping in the US in the coming weeks. Expect to see this in UK stores by late May / early June. UK RRP is probably going to fall around the £27 mark.