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Review : General Hux Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #13 (Phase 3 Wave 4) Released : Jan 2016 in US / June 2016 in UK Price : £22.99 As we know Wave 4 was delayed into the UK for what ever reason, and that has caused a massive demand for the two new figures in the wave - Asty, and the one we have here, General Hux. Hux is a #13 in the Phase 3 red packaging and comes packed with his pistol. Unlike most, the grey lined artwork in the bottom right corner of the box is a pretty poor likeness for Hux. But his black outfit does look striking against that red insert of the Phase 3 packaging. Round the box there is a very short paragraph about Hux, replicated in 3 other languages below the English version. Out of the box and Hux stands a touch over 6 inch. The head sculpt is where your attention is drawn, and to be brutally honest itis particularly poor. It bears very little resemblance to Domhnall Gleeson, and is almost just a generic human head. There is zero paint applications other than the eyes. The lips are left flesh colour and there is no wash or variation to bring out what little definition there is in the head sculpt around say the ears or under the noses. The hair is also a very unnatural orange and is one colour only - no depth, no definition. There is then insult to injury when the neck is a different skin tone to the head and is flaking paint straight out of the box. I guess the head was cast in a skin coloured plastic and the neck is then painted over the black of the rest of the body. The First Order cap is OK and sits naturally enough on the head with the First Order decal front and centre. The factory strikes again here with a big splodge of that orange hair paint on the top of my hat. Once your past the head, the rest of the figure is pretty nice. Considering this is a black coat over a black uniform it is sculpted with enough detail including pockets on the coats and a texture on the tunic. There are neat silver bands on the left sleeve and a crisp First Order decal on the left shoulder. Under the coat and on top of the tunic is a black belt, with a silver buckle - but Hasbro have chosen not to paint the red detail on the rest of the belt as it's hidden by the coat.The legs again are a slightly different shade of black and then end in very high gloss jack boots. The coat can be removed if you wish. This looks "ok" although the perfectionist in me is put off by the arms not quite matching that tunic - but Hasbro have attempted to blend the two with some lines on the shoulders that blend into the tunic. A perfect solution, in the spirit of how the Black Series was launched in 2014, would have been for alternative arms - but we seem to be well beyond that type of variation in our Black Series figures. Articulation is standard for a Black Series figure. Watch the ball jointed head because of that paint flaking - I wouldn't move the head much at all. Shoulders and elbows work as usual with the shoulders withdrawing under the coat when raised the 90 degrees out to the side. The rotation on the 90 degree elbow joint is the key point on the whole figure - allowing Hux to be posed with his hands behind his back The legs are held back by the coat and then the bottom of the tunic, so although the hips are jointed there isn't much you can do. Splits in the side of the tunic and the back of the coat do stop a complete lock of the legs and with the double jointed knees this can allow for at least a wider stance and a small degree of "action" posing although that is not really what Hux is about and most collectors will have him hands behind his back leading the First Order troops. General Hux's weapon is the same as First Order Tie Pilots and is cast in black plastic with silver trims down either side. It fits best into the right hand, but can go into the left if needed. There is no holster under the coat to hold the gun when not in use - an artistic licence I wouldn't have minded if Hasbro had added considering the gun itself was never seen on screen and is an artistic addition in itself. It is clear now that any Human characters in the Black Series line will receive very little "love". While Aliens and Armoured figures continue to be executed reasonably well, having these key human characters look not much better than their 5 POA 3.75" counter-part will start to damage the line. Having waited so long for Hux, it is a disappointment I can only just give him a 2 out of 5.

Review : First Order Snow Trooper Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #12 (Phase 3 Wave 4) Released : Jan 2016 in US / June 2016 in UK Price : £22.99 Wave 4 in itself posed a peculiar challenge to collectors, with a US release at the turn of the year - but no such release in the UK until very limited numbers were obtained by specialists some 6 months later in June. By this time the UK had already had wave 5 and wave 6 - and that will have damaged the demand for the #12 figure, The First Order Snow Trooper, as Hasbro re-packed him two to a box in wave 6. Add to that the Snow Trooper officer exclusive at Toys R Us which has been around, and in quantity, since Autumn last year and you can see why collectors are a bit "meh" about this figure and why the prices are so low at time of writing. The Snow Trooper, #12 in phase 3, comes in the red phase 3 packaging. Interestingly there have been three reported inner tray positions for the figure - some apparently using the same inner tray as the Toys R Us figure with gun in hand and pointing down, another with gun in hand pointing up and this one where the gun sits separate. In hand the Snow Trooper stands a touch under 6 inch, which does make him look a little "short for a Storm Trooper" particularly against the standard First Order Troops. He is however a very solid, squat and heavy figure. He comes packed with his blaster rifle and his backpack. The sculpt is very clean and crisp, as we expect from Hasbro in terms of armoured figures. It is also cast in a nice contrast of gloss plastic for the helmet and armoured panels on top of a duller white under-suit. There are no paint applications as such other than some black and grey accenting on the helmet, arms and boots - as well as some touches on the chest control panel and above this a decal of some sort. I would say this decal may well indicate rank, but it is identical to that on the Snow Trooper officer. Paint niggles include some spots of paint caused in the factory, and the black of the visor is too short and should extend further to either side of the helmet. The backpack sits into an octagonal hole on the troopers back. I had assumed the octagonal shape would keep the backpack in the correct position - but they then made the backpack peg round, so the fit is not as tight as one might hope. The backpack, like the armour, is cast in high gloss plastic with a few black and grey paint apps to pick-out the controls. Articulation starts with the standard Black Series head ball joint and even with the overhanging helmet, the Snow Trooper can rotate a full 360 degrees and can look straight or downwards - any backward movement to aim the head looking up is blocked by the helmet. The arms are retractable shoulder ball joints with the armour on the shoulder sliding neatly into the chest armour when you raise the arms. They will not go to a full 90 degrees to the body, but move more than I might have expected. The elbows are the now standard single joint with the swivel function. The elbow will bend 90 degrees in the natural motion, and has some degree of backward movement too - not that this looks natural. The pegged and jointed wrists will rotate fully and bend forward a little to help cradling the gun. There is a hidden joint up under the chest panel, and this lets the torso rotate a full 360 degrees if you wish. Watch out though for turning it too far to the side as the backpack will get pushed off to an odd angle. The legs are tucked away under a rubberised skirt, but still hold a good range of movement. The hips would swing out to a seated position and a splits position without the skirt - but with it you will be held to neutral stances only. There is a thigh split and swivel, most likely to allow the feet to move out for more stability - but as always as you twist the joint the lines of the sculpt are thrown out. The double jointed knees are also held back by the skirt - but I have found you can get a walking position that will still allow the figure to stand, and with some support you could get a running motion too. There is an ankle joint of sorts, but the overhanging ankle armour keeps that in check allowing for minor adjustments to the foot position. The only other accessory is the rifle, which can be held in either hand and you can also get a cradling pose using that elbow joint. The rifle is nicely painted with white paint applications over a black plastic. This does however mean the white of the gun does look a little yellow up against the armour of the figure. Further paint apps on the gun pick out the scope and barrel in silver. The First Order Snow Trooper is a nice, average figure in the Black Series. Yes, a thinner or differently designed skirt would have aided the posing options. And I think I would have liked him to stand a little taller. Sadly he will suffer from the way he has been packed in both wave 4 and wave 6, with the exclusive release ahead of him coming out, and from the pretty lack luster way the Snow Troopers were portrayed in the movie. I gave the Snow Trooper officer a 5 out of 5 on release, and I think this version needs to be a little less than that at a 4 out of 5.

Like so many recent waves, the latest Marvel Legend wave has broken online - and not via any official release by Hasbro. We knew many of these figures from Hasbro panels at Toy Fair, but this is confirmation of the full line-up You will need 6 figures to build your Abomination - Scarlet Witch (MCU Civil War), Secret War Captain America, Captain Britain, Eel, Wonder-Man and Iron Skull.

Entertainment Earth will be offering this Bif Bang Pow set of the Big Bang Theory characters in Star Trek outfits at this years SDCC (booth #2243)

Mafex have released promotional images of two figures based on the 1968 Stanley Kubrick cult Science Fiction classic, 2001 : A Space Odyssey. The 1/12 figures are based on the space suits as seen in the movie. The red as worn by Dr David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and the yellow as worn by Dr Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood). We must stress that the helmets are non-removable on these figures and therefore there is no likeness for either actor. The figures are highly articulated and will stand 160mm (6 1/4 inches) high. Price is expected to be around £40-£50 here in the UK. They will be released in February 2017.

Tamashii Nations have revealed the first (Action Figure) exclusive for Star Wars Celebration London. The Teppou Ashigaru Storm Trooper, from their Movie Realization line, is a tweaked version from the base figure released last year. #SWCE Exhibitor Exclusive Teppou Ashigaru Sandtrooper from Tamashii Nations at Booth #S803 The Teppou trooper stands at 170mm (6 1/2 inches) high and like all Movie Realization releases is a Samurai styled version of the familiar Star Wars Storm Trooper. The Trooper will be available from the Tamashii Nations booth, S803. There is no price details as yet. There is also no images of the packaging or an indication of how many are available.

Series 2 of The Muppets Select figures from Diamond are hitting stores next month (July 2016) and the following images have been released showing all three releases in their packaging.

Mafex are also expanding their Star Wars collection with the planned release of a 1/12 Force Awakens Rey, and a Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader. The Vader obviously shares the sculpt with the hologram version and looks to come with either removable helmet, or alternative head potrait Rey, in a move that beats the Hasbro version, will come with X-Wing helmet as well as her sandstorm head gear. She also comes with her staff, the blaster given to her by Han AND Luke's lightsaber. Both will be released in 2017 and will likely be in the £40-£50 bracket once they reach UK shores.

It seems the Japanese companies are also not immune to the temptation of taking an existing figure, casting it in blue translucent plastic and releasing it as a holographic figure The Mafex holographic Darth Vader will be a Festival 2016 exclusive, with a limit of 2000 units being available. The price is 4500 yen (£28) but expect to pay much more via the secondary market to get one of these into the UK or US

After the Joker and Harley Quinn, it seems the next Mafex 1/12 figure from Suicide Squad will be Deadshot. Arriving in March 2017, Deadshot will come with two head options - masked and unmasked - as well as an armoury of weapons. The price is TBC but likely to be around the £40-£50 mark when imported into UK. It is clear from this image and the likeness of Will Smith, and of course the associated figures of The Joker and Harley Quinn, that there has been a real step-up from Mafex and the other Far East firms in sculpting human likeness.

A look at the planned boxed packaging for the NECA Ash vs Evil Dead figures, due later this year "Happy 58th Birthday @GroovyBruce Here is a look at part of the @AshvsEvilDead packaging design in progress" Pre-order the first three figures via our affiliate partner, Forbidden Planet

Diamond are casting their Select series net far and wide this year, with numerous new properties joining their long running Marvel range. The latest are figures from the new Alice sequel, Alice through the Looking Glass. The first two figures will be Alice (Mia Wasikowska) and the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). Each figure will have 16 points of articulation, will come in the standard oversized art panel packaging and the figures will be packed with diorama backgrounds representing buildings from Wonderland. These bases will connect together into a larger scene.