Search this site

NECA have shared this teaser work-in-progress image via their Twitter feed. It shows the sculpted head and hands for Nubbins as seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The full reveal is scheduled for Toy Fair next month. Based on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre releases to date, this should be in the larger 8" format with retro style body and soft good clothing. "This little guy is hoping he'll be ready for his big #ToyFair2017 debut next month. #monstermonday @THETomSavini" - Randy Falk (NECA) via Twitter

Tamashii Nations have shared the following promotional images on their Facebook feed for the upcoming SH Figuarts Suicide Squad Deadshot 1/12 figure The figure boasts an awesome likeness to Will Smith, but also includes his masked head if that is your preferred look. Release is scheduled for May / June 2017. He never misses and neither will you with this recreation of Deadshot from Suicide Squad brought to you by Tamashii Nations’ top articulated figure brand S.H.Figuarts. Using top of the line digital print technology, you get a dead ringer of Will Smith as Deadshot. Minute details from Deadshot’s suit are also recreated down to the last minute detail. Set includes interchangeable hands (x4), interchangeable head piece, and weapon. Availability : May/June 2017. Materials : PVC, ABS Size : 155 milimeters.

The promotional images for the SH Figuarts Doctor Strange have been released by Japanese retailers, and it was also confirmed at the same time that while the figure would be an exclusive in the Far East, it would be carried by Bluefin who are the US distributor. The US pre-orders have now gone up and confirmed an exciting pack in with this Doctor Strange - a brilliant looking 7 piece flame effect set. The US price for the figure and this flame effect is $84.99 and the ETA for arrival is June 2017. Product Description via Big Bad Toy Store You might think you've entered the Mirror Dimension when you see these out of this world accessory parts included in the S.H.Figuarts DOCTOR STRANGE & BURNING FLAME SET. The array of interchangeable flame and magic effect parts allow you to truly bring to life the fantastic world of superhero sorcerer Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange’s facial expressions are replicated with superb detail utilizing TAMASHII NATIONS’ digital coloring technology. This digital printing technique allows for the reproduction of minute details that allow for the creation of expressions true to the character. Set includes interchangeable head part, interchangeable hand parts (left ×4,right ×4), interchangeable hand parts for effects (left and right), effect parts (large ×2, small ×2), burning flame effect（stationary type ×3, attachable type ×4).

Review : Princess Leia Organa, A New Hope Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Wave 9 (Phase 3) Released : December 2016 Price : £22.99 This review is written with a heavy heart when you consider that as this figure of Princess Leia, as we first saw her back in 1977, was released at the same time that we said goodbye to Carrie Fisher. While this review is far from a tribute, it is appropriate we take a moment to celebrate the life of "our Princess" This is the 3rd Leia we have had within the Black Series line. The original Slave Leia arrived back in Phase 1 and was followed by Leia in Boushh disguise in Phase 2. This release, based on her first appearance in 1979 is reflective of the outfit she wore through the majority of the movie and is as iconic as any that she wore in the Trilogy and beyond. Leia arrives in the red and black themed Phase 3 packaging, and is numbered on the distinct red spine as #30. She sits in Wave 9 of this 3rd phase, arguably the most desirable wave to date containing such exalted company as the AT-AT Driver, Sabine, Snow Trooper, Obi-Wan and of course Darth Revan. The front of the box carries the standard grey lined artwork, a particularly nice portrait of Leia. To the side of this sits the exact figure title as Princess Leia Organa. Hasbro haven't particularly used any of the Series Film Titles on the Black Series - and in this case you get the impression that there could be an intentional focus to tie this Leia figure in with both A New Hope but also the recently released Rogue One - where Leia appeared as a CGI character at the very end of the film - tieing this Stand-alone release neatly into the 1979 original. The back of the box repeats this grey line image of Leia and over this is the 4 line overview of Leia that talks predominantly about her role within the Rebellion. She sits within the usual inner perspex tray, with her two blasters packed to her right hand side. All of this in front of the Phase 3 red inner card trim. Out of the box and Leia stands a touch over 5" high. This means she is comparable to the original Slave Leia, but a good half a head shorter than the Boushh version. In 1/12 scale 5" would equate to 5ft - and Carrie's bio has her standing at 5ft 1 inch. That is good enough for me and well done to Hasbro for sticking with the scale on this release. This figure has courted controversy since it was announced with the choice of going full soft goods for the clothing - the first time Hasbro has done this having used a mix of soft goods, rubberised plastic and hard plastic on other releases. There was also a lot of negative commentary about the facial sculpt and paint when it went on display at Celebration London 2016. I was there, and saw the figure briefly before it was taken down - and this production version has certainly fixed a number of issues. Looking at the sculpt the figure is recognisable as Princess Leia, but doesn't quite carry a knock out likeness to Carrie Fisher. As often is the case it is more likely the paint that isn't helping the sculpt with the head cast in what appears to be a flesh toned plastic. That means there is no depth or shading, even with the high cheekbones. There is a touch of blusher to either cheek and the lipstick is a bright red. The eyes are neat and painted brown with thinly lined eyebrows. The hair, the iconic danish side buns, is replicated perfectly and up close you can see the lines and strands of the hair. This isn't brought out too well in the paint job with just a flat brown applied. From this point down the outfit is soft goods. It is cut from a lightweight white cloth that is sheer against a light source and shows off the shape of the figure underneath. The torso section looks great, flowing down to a rubber silver and cream belt that draws the fabric in at the waist. From here it then flows down as a long flowing skirt. There isn't as much folding or creasing here so it doesn't look quite as good as it did further up. It does however hang very well on the figure and splays out at the ground with two splits about half an inch up on each side. The soft goods for me fail at the arms and at the hood. Neither sit right out of the box. The sleeves look ballooned rather than hanging naturally to the position of the arms. The hood sticks out terribly not matter where you have it, as you can see on our images. The positive it adds being soft goods is that you can put it up over Leia's head, and this works a little better - although in the spirit of the movie, this hood wasn't worn in too many scenes. You kind of feel that this hood would have been better served as a rubberised piece like Maul and this would have then held in the soft goods at the neck. The other visible parts of the figure are the arms which are slender and flesh toned, but with no real detail. There are then knee high white boots with a trim back sole. And above these the legs are sculpted and flesh detailed. You can remove the whole soft goods leaving you with Leia in a white one piece bathing suit of sorts. I guess this will give Hasbro a good base for a number of female figures such as Mon Mothma or even a number of the female Jedi's we saw in the prequels. While the soft good robes are not to everyone's taste, the articulation they allow is brilliant. The head sits on a ball joint and rotates fully and looks up and down. The arms are jointed at the shoulders, elbows and wrists and can easily reach most positions and can also hold weapons with one or both hands. You can twist the waist under the dress, and this allows the torso to rotate separately to the legs helping the firing poses in particular - like the one she adopts when blasting out of the detention centre. The legs are really articulated with ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, double jointed knees and ankle rockers. With such a wide flowing skirt to the dress you can knee Leia, have her down on one knee or take u wider action stances. With a bit of work (my attempts weren't great) I also think you can bend her into the pose where she is loading the Death Star plans into R2-D2. She is packed with two accessories, each representing a different scene in a New Hope. Her first is the long barreled elegant blaster she is using aboard the Tantive when its attacked by Vader. This fits into her right hand and even with such slender fingers, they do still slip into the trigger. The other is the E11 blaster she takes from Luke to blast her way out of the detention centre. The cast is the same one used on the Original Trilogy Storm Troopers to date and that came packed with Luke & Han in their Storm Trooper Armour. It has been tweaked ever so slightly with a touch of silver paint to the side of the barrel. With such articulated arms it is easy to get Leia to hold this in two hands and this really defines the figure - a princess in a pure white dress, but toting a blaster rifle and looking determined. That just about sums up Leia and Carrie. This Leia release won't be to everyone's liking. The soft goods has pro's and con's, while the articulation (supported by the soft goods) is very strong. The sculpt isn't the best - but then again Hasbro are not renowned for awesome human sculpts or rather not renowned for painting up their sculpts to their full potential. For me I like the soft goods in the main, but that hood is a frustration. I award Princess Leia Organa an above average 3 out of 5. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Happy Sat-TOY-Day everyone! CLICK HERE for this week's issue. It is our first Sat-TOY-Day newsletter of 2017 and it's a packed issue particularly as a lot of Toy companies are now gearing up for Toy Fair in February. The big news of the past fortnight is from NECA who have confirmed a brand new licence that will excite a lot of fans. Kong is also back, with new toys from Lanard based on the 2017 Skull Island movie. We have new Star Wars Black Series vehicles hitting US stores and are getting a Rogue One Galen Erso at some stage. All this and more... Funko/Playmobil, Marvel Legends, SH Figuarts AND Diamond Select. www.facebook.com/mephitsu www.twitter.com/mephitsu www.issuu.com/mephitsu

Hasbro have fully revealed the content of the next Marvel Legend X-Men wave, from which you will be able to collect and assemble Warlock as the BAF. The wave is made up of a classic X-Men suit Cyclops. Dazzler, Polaris, Shatterstar and Sunfire make up the next 4 figures in the 7 figure series, arguably the least desireable figures. Wolverine, or rather Old Man Logan, is comic book based but is obviously included to take advantage of the Old Man Logan focus in Spring with the Fox release of Logan at the Cinema. The odd thing about Logan is the the exclusion of any accessories or BAF piece, meaning you can skip him and still build the Warlock BAF. The final figure is Colossus, who is sporting quite an unusual costume, particularly that neck piece. He will come with an alternative "metal" bearded head. The BAF is Warlock, who once assembled can be posed with normal fist or circular saw hand weapon.

Following on from the successful Friday the 13th Part 3 Ultimate Jason, NECA now appear to be lining up a sequel of their own - a Friday the 13th The Final Chapter Jason. So far our only details are these accessory pieces and a tweet from Randy Falk Getting everything ready to make this #friday13th truly Ultimate! (Randy Falk, NECA, via Twitter) This new Jason looks to be coming with a Gravestone, Meat Cleaver, Saw and that very unusual weapon - the Corkscrew

We have known a Lambert in Spacesuit figure from Alien (1979) was on its way in 2017, having had some sneak peaks through 2016. NECA have now shared the following images of the figure which are taken from the card back. The figure will be part of Series 11 which also includes the Kenner inspired electric blue Alien Xenomorph which re-uses the Big Chap Scult. The third release in the series is an as yet unknown figure. This does mean that the series will be a mixed release from different properties within the Alien universe and not focused on one film or theme. A new #facehuggerfriday as promised brings a first look at the WIP cardback for Series 11, a mixed wave of Alien Awesomeness (Randy Falk, NECA, via Twitter) Lambert will come with two head options, the Spacesuit helmet, a torch and a pistol. The additional head is to satisfy those collectors who are not always happy with the expression that NECA sculpt into their character faces and allows this one to be displayed with either a neutral face or a more terrified look. The scared version is sculpted with the flight cap, while the more neutral look is uncovered.

Hasbro have confirmed that they will be releasing a 3.75" Galen Erso in their 5POA Star Wars range. Galen will come packed with his Mouse (MSE) Droid. The info was released via Mads Mikkelsen on his official Twitter feed. Mads appears to have been sent a packaged figure as he tweeted the packaged image in hand rather than a promotional image. Where the figure fits in the release schedule is unknown, but is expected to either be included in (or land after) wave 3 which contains the likes of Bodhi, Admiral Raddus and Jyn in Imperial Ground Crew disguise. For any 6" collectors eyeing up the MSE Droid. This looks to be the newer and therefore smaller sculpt and will be too small scale wise for the 6" scale - you will need to look out for the older mode as reviewed HERE. There is of course still hope we will see Galen in 6" form and I think a 6" MSE Droid has to come along as some stage.

This banner has gone live on the SH Figuarts website, confirming that we will be seeing 1/12 Figuart figures from Guardians of the Galaxy. This shouldn't really be a surprise as SHF have been heavily supporting the Marvel Cinematic Movie's for a while now moving from just doing the Avengers movies to now covering every release in some fashion. We now await the reveal....

We've seen a couple of images so far for the SH Figuarts 1/12 Doctor Strange movie figure, and now Tamashii Nations have unveiled the full suite of promotional pictures. There was some frustration about this initially being down as a Far East exclusive, but US collectors in particular can be relieved that the US distributor Bluefin have now confirmed this will be sold directly in the US. Pre-orders are due up soon, ETA remains June 2017

We first heard about Funko tieing in with Playmobil in February 2016. Funko were looking for the next Pop! and were taking the iconic Playmobil 3" figure, blowing it up to 6" in height and applying iconic properties to the figures - pretty much the same model as Pops! where the likeness of the actual actor was not an issue, allowing multiple properties to be pumped out. We are now just a few weeks away from the first of these to hit shelves. We would expect UK pre-orders to go up soon. The one that is up Forbidden Planet International who are quoting an RRP of £17.99 but are then discounting these to £12.99. They should hit stores later this month. One interesting dynamic is if we will see these in more mainstream stores like Asda, Tesco, Toys R Us and Game - retailers who all picked up Funko product, namely pops, around 2015. The first licences we will see are Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Willy Wonka, Doctor Who and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Across Social Media you can see the response to these is luke warm so far, particularly amongst the specific fan bases like Whovians and Ghostbuster collectors. There is also a lot of noise around the size, with many collectors thinking these were standard size and scaled with existing Playmobil. In fact Playmobil themselves are branching out with licenced properties at their own scale - starting with Ghostbusters. This explains why these are a different size - and you wonder if the partnership included Funko getting to use the Playmobil design, while Playmobil benefitted from licencing deals or at least some help in obtaining their own deals. The Funko Playmobil figures are finally here! In February we announced this historic partnership, and now the 6” figures are making their way onto shelves! Collect these fun and nostalgic figures soon!