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The following image has been shared across social media, confirming Disney Stores are now selling a very impressive 5 pack of Disney Elite figures. The pack is lead by Kylo Ren and he is joined by Captain Phasma, unmasked Finn (FN-2187) and a Flame Trooper. There is then an exclusive Heavy Weapons Trooper - a figure never made available previously, and a bit of a kicker for collectors who have supported this range to date as they will now have to re-buy 4 figures to get this 5th version. The price is also a disappointment, as there is no discount for being re-releases or multi packed and will set you back £99.99. Watch out for this pack in Disney Stores now.

Believe it or not, it has been 2 years (October 2014) since we saw that very first image of the SH Figuarts Han Solo and Luke Skywalker running down the steps of the Falcon at the Tamashii Nations booth at their 2014 Tokyo event. Luke has now been confirmed as release, and it seems SH Figuarts are about to confirm the same for Han Solo based on this image. We would expect the figure to hit in early 2017 an will be 6264 Yen, that's £48 or $62, and there should be official promotional images very soon. Check out the SH Figuarts Chewbacca in the image. Chewie was on display last year at the 2015 Tokyo event. Let's hope it doesn't take another 12 months to get the big furrball to store shelves.

Medicom's MAFEX range of Star Wars figures has been the closest contender to SH Figuarts in the past couple of years, but has never really matched the SHF releases in term of volume. Medicom appear to be trying to remedy that with a number of new releases being announced recently including Rey from The Force Awakens, and a Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader. They have now confirmed two more trooper figures will be added to the MAFEX range in mid-2017. The Clone Trooper will hit stores in July 2017. He will come packed with blaster, rifle, interchangeable hands and a figure stand. There will also be Phase 1 and Phase 2 helmet options in the box. This will allow you to display him either from Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith. The Sand Trooper lands a month earlier in June 2017. He will also come with a figure stand, blaster, rifle, interchangeable hands and the backpack. Looking at the promotional images this is definitely an original New Hope Sandtrooper, and not as we might have expected an update version that will be seen in Rogue One. Both figures will retail for 5800 Yen. That is £44 in the UK and $57 in the US.

Hasbro has released the full promotional images of the various Rogue One exclusives which will go on sale as of Rogue Friday. As we had expected, K-Mart in the US will be carrying the diorama figure of Jyn Erso - with costume specific to Eadu. This figure will be part of a 2 figure set, with the second figure as yet un-announced (and most likely a spoiler). If we assume the same arrangement as last years Rey figure at Kmart, then there will be no UK general release for this figure, although it should be offered by some of the smaller independents. STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES 6-Inch JYN ERSO (Mountain Base) (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Suggested Retail Price: $24.99/Available: Fall 2016) A skilled warrior in the Rebel Alliance, JYN ERSO is on a mission to destroy the Death Star! This collectible 6-inch figure features extensive articulation and detail, including a new poncho and hat as seen in the film. Fans can connect an additional STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES figure with diorama base to create the ultimate collection. Each sold separately. Available exclusively at Kmart. And for Toys R Us it is confirmed that they will be carrying the Hover Tank Pilot. This is another new Imperial Troop type for Rogue One, and will sit neatly with the Scariff/Shore Trooper and Death Trooper who are coming in the first couple of Rogue One waves. We would hope that Toys R Us will make this a Worldwide offering and have this for sale in the UK as well as the US. This was the case of course for last years Snow Trooper Commander, but not (as yet) for the Droid 3-pack. STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES 6-Inch IMPERIAL HOVERTANK PILOT Figure (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Suggested Retail Price: $19.99/Available: Fall 2016) An elite soldier for the Galactic Empire, this impressive 6-inch scale IMPERIAL HOVERTANK PILOT figure features articulated movement and true-to-story detail. Recreate battles from ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY with exclusive army building unit and new pilot character class. Available exclusively at Toys “R” Us.

As we saw at the end of August, Bandai are going to be doing 1/12 figure kits for Rogue One starting with the Death Trooper. But these images from a recent Far East Trade show indicate the Death Trooper is not alone in terms of Rogue One releases. Also on this promotional panel is the Scariff/Shore Trooper and K-2SO. Fans of the ships will also be glad to see the Tie Striker, U-Wing and a new X-Wing. And checkout what looks like a Death Star kit in the bottom right. It also appears Bandai's kits are going to get bigger, with the Storm Trooper arriving in 1/6 (12 inch) scale. UK and US fans should of course remember that current licencing won't allow Bandai to supply these directly outside of Japan, so you will need to find a 3rd party importer and will be paying a higher price because of this.

SH Figuarts have confirmed that their Suicide Squad Joker will be released in February 2017 and will cost 6264 yen, that's about £47 in the UK and $63 in the US - although expect to add a bit onto this for import.

Tamashii Nations Movie Realization range has been a huge hit with its re-imagingings of Star Wars characters into Feudal Japan. So much so that they have recently moved the line into Marvel with a Spider-man Samurai figure, and now it seems a Samurai Iron-Man is on the way. There is no other details at this stage other than this image.

I am probably more excited than I should be for these new 3.75" figures of the Dark Crystal coming from Funko. So far we've seen a few prototype images and two lovely exclusives for SDCC and then NYCC. Now the images have been released of the first figures, due in October 2016. This first "wave" will include Jen with the Crystal base, The Chamberlain, Aughra, Kira with Fizzgig and a larger boxed figure of Ursol the Mystic. Each of the figures will include a crystal shard that will assemble into Jen's base to make the full Dark Crystal. Sadly for completists, there is no news or details on the Landstrider or Garthim which were boxed up as convention exclusives. If Funko choose to hold these two pieces back it will be a frustration to many and may impact onto sales. Assuming a similar RRP to the older Re:Action figures, or the newer 3.75" Game of Thrones figures from Funko then expect a $10/£10 price either side of the channel.

Playsets are quite often overlooked by a lot of Toy companies due to their relatively poor sales. When manufacturers do go for it however, they have been going bigger and better in recent years - and those two words are certainly suitable for this new offering from Mattel. Officially part of their Batman vs Superman 6" range, this 4ft (1.25m) 5 story play-set will be sold exclusively by Walmart in the US, so expect it to be in larger Asda stores in the UK as part of their Xmas promotion. The set includes Wayne Manor and then a working lift taking you down into the multi leveled Bat Cave which includes zip wires, weaponry, traps and a hidden jail cell. Also includes is an exclusive unmasked Batman figure. The US price is a very reasonable $99.97, which would equate to £77 in the UK. For now we will have to see if indeed Walmart pass this over the pond and then at what price.

Back in July 2016 the monthly DC Collectors Corp box had two new 3.75" Funko figures packed with it - Harley Quinn and Joker. Along the same lines as their new smaller Game of Thrones figures, these are less retro than Re:Action and along with Game of Thrones and Dark Crystal seemed to indicate a new direction for Funko. As we suspected at the time, these first two exclusives will now be followed by a 7 figure wave. "Whether this signals a wider release plan remains to be seen, but it would seem odd for Funko to invest so much into 3.75" sculpts and then not to use them at mass market." (Mephitsu Archives, July 2015) The first wave is due in January 2017, and thank fully Funko have retained those wonderful bomb shaped circular backing cards. The figures are all taken from Suicide Squad and is made up of Killer Croc, Katana, Enchantress, Underwater Batman, Deadshot, Harley Quinn (inmate) and The Joker (shirtless). It is a shame that the more iconic Harley Quinn and the purple coated Joker were exclusive as they would have rounded out the set much better than the inmate and shirtless versions. Fans will also be hoping that a second wave will follow so the Suicide Squad can be completed with Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang and El Diablo. In terms of price, the similar Game of Thrones figures have a $10 price in US, and have been available here in very limited quantities for between £10 and £15. I suspect these Suicide Squad figures will follow suit but will be better stocked in terms of the licence having a bigger pull with stores and independents vs Game of Thrones which is stigmatised by the poor sales in general of the first Funko 6" figures.

King Arts have already released a number of 1/9 Diecast Marvel figures - concentrating particularly on Iron Man, but with an Ultron thrown in too for good measure. Now they are expanding this 1/9 range with their first Captain America figure. Cap will stand 8" tall, and at this scale puts him out of any compatability with any of the other Marvel licences other than perhaps the Dragon vignette statuettes. He will come with a particularly nice Avengers themed base, masked and unmasked head, swap out hand options and of course his shield. The face sculpt in particularly is pretty decent, and certainly the better of any others we've seen other than the 1/12 Hot Toys releases. King Arts products aren't being imported all that much into the UK or US, so prices will be high. If you were buying direct in Hong Kong then the Cap figure will run at 798 HKD, this is around £80 on a direct conversion.

Tamashii Nations are tweaking their existing 1/12 SH Figuarts Mk1 Clone Trooper and releasing him again, this time as the red trimmed Captain as seen briefly in Attack of the Clones. The catch for collectors is that this is a very limited exclusive, available at the Tamashii Nations show in Tokyo across the 28th to 30th of October. As an exclusive it works on a lot of levels - being a cheap repaint for TN, and being a minor character that many collectors perhaps won't be too bothered about chasing down. Then again if you are an SHF collector, then chasing down is becoming 2nd nature - particularly to anyone outside of Japan.