We've just passed our 6-month anniversary, and how the Archives have changed. Our old host was proving inflexible for our needs so we are in the process of moving house. The new site can be found at www.mephitsu.wix.com/home The old site will remain in place while we move all our stuff. We also have a brand new Facebook page (likes wanted please) and continue to grow our Twitter presence slowly but surely Thanks to all those of you who have visited and supported us

Looks like both Darth Vader (February) and Princess Leia (March) #1 comics from Marvel are coming with an Action Figure Variant to match the Vintage cardback Luke cover that was one of the many Star Wars #1 variants. Pre-orders for both are up at Forbidden Planet, links below... Darth Vader #1 Princess Leia #1

The CLICK HERE The smaller scale ships have an expected due date of March 2015 The Elite Scale ships have an expected due date of November 2015

You have 20 seconds to comply... Despite 3 films, there isn't a great deal of action figure potential in the Robocop trilogy when you consider most characters were corporate bad guys, or street bad guys. Even the other cops were pretty drab. However, if there is one figure that has been begging to be made in 7" Scale it is ED-209, and last year NECA delivered. ED-209 comes boxed and to my knowledge is the biggest 7" scale figure NECA had done at that stage - he has now been surpassed by the Alien Queen. The box will be an issue to MIB/MOC collectors as it is fully sealed with no window to view the product. For loose collectors like me, ED-209 takes some unpacking - but once you have unstrapped ED and brought him out of the box he stands a good 10" high and is very sturdy stood on the two legs. Articulation is limited, but I was surprised you can adjust the height of the legs on a ratchet system. There is also movement in the two weapon arms. The paint job is pretty good, you could argue that some weathering would have been appropriate but that is not to everyone's taste. Weight wise he is probably lighter than I imagined, and although I haven't had any issues yet I have heard stories of the usual NECA fragility and parts breaking a little easier than they should. NECA built in a sound chip to this release and it plays a number of clips taken directly from the film. This hasnt worked for me as the sound is muffled and pretty poorly defined, I also then worry about battery corrosion in the future as I still haven't worked out how to get to the batteries. At the £80 (approx) Price Point that NECA hit with this, it is an awesome figure and adds a real focal point for your collection. It's not as detailed or as articulated as the Hot Toys 1/6 scale - but nor does it need a small mortgage to buy it. I applaud NECA for pushing the boundaries on some of these larger figures and look forward to more in the future. 3 out of 5 for me, the sound-chip was unnecessary and lost ED-209 a mark.

Dead or Alive, you're coming with me... Robocop is one of the definitive pop culture movies of the 1980's and for me as a collector of Movie Action Figures a Robocop representation was a must for the collection. Over recent years the key Robocop Action Figures have come from McFarlane and most recently via NECA who picked up the licence. Having had a look at what was out there on the secondary market and what was coming I plumped for NECA's Robocop with Spring Loaded holster. The figure comes in the usual NECA clamshell with artwork front, back and sides taken from actual pictures of the figure. Robocopy stands around 7" high, in the approx 1/10 scale that NECA works within. Once out of the packaging and the figure is nice and solid, and unlike a number of NECA releases has tight joints. Articulation was never going to be great on what is an armoured figure. But there is movement in the head, arms, shoulders, waist and legs and you can get Robo into a few positions other than neutral posing. He stands reasonably well in neutral, but I have used a Kaiser Doll Stand to get him into a more action orientated position. Paint work is good, for what it is, and the sculpt is pretty spot on. The figure comes with swappable hand with the replacement version having the data spike as seen in the movie when Robocop links up to the Detroit PD computer. He also comes with the hand gun from the movie, which leads us on to the negative with this figure for me - the spring loaded holster. On paper this sounded a great idea, but the issue is that the mechanism is so delicate you will find it popping apart more than opening satisfactory for Robocop to grab his gun. There is also no real detail inside the opening, so once open there is a lack of detail. Close up and leave the holster alone, then Robocop is a nice addition for any fan. As well as this version, the sculpt has been re-used in a damaged version, a Robocop 3 version with jet pack and the new Video Game releases. I give Murphy a 3 out of 5, with two marks docked due to the spring loaded holster and how it could easily ruin a figure. Take that away - say in the damaged version or the Robocop 3 release, and the score will be 4 stars.

Planet of the Apes figures from Neca were only just on my radar in 2014 and had always been pushed aside in preference of other purchases. However with a lack of new releases in other lines for December I asked Santa for a couple of the POTA classic figures to compliment the movie figure collection. Christmas morning and I unwrapped Doctor Zaius Packaging wise, this seems to be a new direction for Neca and from a clamshell into a box very similar to and potentially inspired by the Star Wars Black Series 6". The box art is very nicely done front and back and the colour of the boxes are a match to the primary colours of the character Out of the box and Zaius is the usual articulated action figure you would expect from Neca. He feels solid, although I always worry over joint strength with any Neca figure and dont push them too far. He comes with a walking stick (my 2nd figure in December who needs a walking aid) and I think a bottle of somekind - need to rewatch the movie to find out more about this. He stands and poses very well for an older orang-outang and once grouped with one of the Chimpanzee's and a Gorilla Soldier will form a lovely POTA trio amongst my other movie 7" figures. Bravo to Neca for taking this range on and for going with an expanded core of characters. I dont think this line has major longevity, but it is a nice side project to get 5-6 figures out there for POTA fans. I give it a solid 4/5

Boba Fett was first made available in the Black Series range as an SDCC special box set at the 2013 convention - just ahead of his single release in wave 2. As well as special SDCC presented packaging, this Fett contained the Han in Carbonite block. The Carbonite block could be presented stood up, and also laid flat to look as though Boba is transporting it back to Slave I.

I have found it difficult to get excited about the Black Series 6" Clone Trooper. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because I prefer the mk2 helmet or perhaps I was expecting him to be a bit "cartoony" like some of his 3.75" brothers. I finally picked him up a couple of weeks back from Film n Figures in Chorley, but had him whipped away and "put away" for my Birthday. Now I finally have my hands on him I am still not overly excited with him as a figure, but he is much better than I was perhaps expecting. The Trooper arrives in the now defunct black with orange trim box, and is packed with a rifle and a hand blaster. Paint is good, but like the Stormtrooper there are small areas that just arent quite perfect - although these dont detract massively from the figure. Posibility is good and on par with the Storm Trooper, and despite the armour he can achieve a number of good poses and hold his rifle in one or two handed poses. Negatives are the plastic used for the knees which are obviously black and then painted white - unlike the rest of the armour which has been cast in pure white. Like the ST this guy is going to come into his own displayed in squads or even larger armies. As a luke warm fan of the PT I will probably add one more and then the upcoming sergeant to make a nice trio for the PT display. Going forward I then expect Hasbro will give us plenty of different clone flavours and colours, with Commander Cody already on the cards. Solid enough figure, but not exciting enough for me. PT and CW fans should love him.

I think, although it is getting confusing, Anakin Skywalker is part of wave 4 of the Black Series, and is number #12 and is also the one of the last figures to come in the red trimmed box. Wave 4 also includes the Clone Trooper as well as repacks of Boba Fett and the Storm Trooper. UK distribution is still sketchy on these with specialists seeming to be the only avenue, although I have seen one story of them being located at Toys R Us in the UK and now a confirmed sighting in Smyths. Not much to talk about packaging wise, its the usual sleek black box that the BS6 is known for. My first concern on receiving my Anakin, who was ordered rather than chosen in store, was what appeared to be some pretty bad black marks on the alternative head. However, once out of the box these wiped away easily - phew. Anakin comes fitted with his "standard" head and the paint and sculpt on mine is spot on. The outfit is also very well done and quite intricate when you compare it to say Obi Wan's. The skirt is a very nice mix of soft goods - both cloth and some leather type material. Anakin comes with his lightsabre, which can be hung as just the hilt on his belt, or posed in either hand. Unfortunately as yet I haven't managed to get Anakin in a decent "action" pose with his light sabre, nor does it seem he can hold it in both hands without looking very odd. The negative on this figure is the second head, the Darth Vader head which illustrates him turning to the Dark side. Paint aps on this are poor on the hair, with the flesh colour bleeding into the hair, the head also sits slightly too high on the next piece - although I have a feeling the head was designed to be looking down slightly which improves the look. With this head I wanted to replicate the look of Anakin on the steps of the Jedi Temple as he leads his clones to massacre the Jedi, so add a custom cloak and Anakin looks just the part.

Wave 3 almost carried on where Wave 2 left off, but thank fully the Black Series immediate future was secured in Wave 3 by the absolute superb job Hasbro did with their 6" StormTrooper. Thank fully the decision was made to provide the Stormtrooper as a carry forward into wave 4 and to be ordered as solid cases . This meant that retailers were given some alternative options to meeting the Stormtrooper demand and the potential for the other 3 wave 3 figures peg warming was reduced. Han Solo, #08, was carried forward in this wave - so the case include 3 new figures. #09 was the first of these, and the one that potentially saved the line. The Stormtrooper, like Vader, is one of the figures you have to get right in any Star Wars range and Hasbro pulled it out of the bag with this one. The Stormtrooper is perfectly articulated and comes with 2 different weapons and a working holster. The armour is moulded in white plastic so is crisp and shiny and the only downsides of the figure were painted joints at the elbow and knee's which could be sloppy but also, by the nature of this being white paint on black plastic, doesn't match the rest of the armour. The Stormtrooper was a hit, being in significantly short supply for a number of weeks while the collectors and Army Builders went to work. #10 saw a return to the prequals, Obi Wan Kenobi from Revenge of the Sith. This could have been en epic figure but turned into arguably one of the worst of the range so far. Issues are aplenty with Obi Wan. Firstly his articulation isnt great, so he cant really achieve a natural 2-handed light saber pose. His head is undersized, so much that you cannot display him with the Anakin counterpart (see wave 4) as they look ridiculous. The head also suffered from bad paint apps. The lightsaber was the only accessory included and the blade too light and looked almost clear. Finally Obi was not supplied with a Jedi cloak which does go some way to rescuing the figure - as can be seen by those who have bought custom cloaks online. #11 was the 2nd Luke of the range so far, Bespin Luke as seen in Empire Strikes Back. Luke is actually a pretty solid release. He didn't appear to suffer from poor paint applications and his articulation was fairly good. Luke however lacked accessories, particularly when you compare him to X-Wing Luke from wave 1. Fans screamed for alternative hands, or a battle damaged head.

Wave 2 of the Black Series both lit the touchpaper of the Black Series, but also came close to killing it completely. Wave 2 was always going to be massive due to the inclusion of Boba Fett, but putting him in a case with Slave Leia, Greedo and Han was always a disaster on paper. Retailers had to order heavy to get in enough Boba's to satisfy demand but were then left, for anything up to a year, with peg warmers of Leia and Greedo in particular. Add to this some poor paint apps in Wave 2 and Box Set re-releases and carry forwards the damage Wave 2 caused is still being felt today. #05 was Slave Leia, as seen in Jabba's palace. Although this is an iconic outfit for Leia, it does fall down as an Action Figure as the joints on Leia's arms and legs are a little bit too visible. Leia also looks a bit under sized vs the male characters - although the scale has been proved correct against the character bio's. Leia came with two weapons, and a neck chain which could be clipped off. Her skirt is soft goods but is prone to fraying. Leia is pretty well articulated thanks to those ugly joints, but cant really achieve the sitting pose for putting her on the end of Jabba's throne, she was also prone to pretty sloppy paint applications. Leia was always destined to keep pegs warm and should have really been a pack in for a box set or with Jabba himself. #06 was the one everyone wanted, Boba Fett. Boba first turned up as a 2013 SDCC exclusive, boxed up with Han in Carbonite. Soon after he arrived as a single release and old sold all the other figures in the case. Boba comes with his rifle, blaster and backpack and has soft good cloak slung over his shoulder. His articulation is great, if not a little wide legged in his stance and a couple of decent poses that cant quite be realised due to the leg pouches. Boba would go on to be re-released in wave 04 to meet demand and get a repaint for a Wallgreens US exclusive in 2014. #07 was Greedo, a nice background character and an obvious partner piece of the Han (read on). Greedo got the award for least accessories so far, coming with his blaster only. As with Leia, Greedo was tagged as a peg warmer and this was made worse by the release of a 2-pack exclusive to Toys R Us that contained both Han and Greedo in the Cantina scene. This 2-pack should have been Greedo's route to Market, and the single slot in Wave 2 set aside for a figure big enough to sell as much as Boba would. #08 and the final piece of Wave 2 was Han Solo, as seen in A New Hope. Han was a big enough character to go against Boba, but still suffered due to the bizarre decision to carry him through into wave 3 as well as release him in the cantina box with Greedo. Han comes with blaster, Stormtrooper rifle, alternative hands (flight gloves) and an alternative storm trooper belt. Han, like Leia, suffered with sloppy paint applications and was often found cross-eyed on the shelf.

Star Wars Black Series : Wave 1 It was a bold move to move the well established Star Wars characters from 3.75" to a new 6" scale, but in 2013 that is exactly what Hasbro did as they launched The Black Series, highly articulated and detailed collectors figures. The Black Series included the traditional 3.75" figures, but a brand new 6" scale which brought Star Wars in line with Hasbro's Marvel output. Wave 1 was released in 2013. The interesting element of wave 1 was a choice of characters that didn't include Darth Vader or a traditional Storm Trooper. Instead Hasbro went a little left field and delivered what, even today, are some of the jewels of the line. The honor of #01 went to Luke Skywalker, which is predictable, however they released him in his X-Wing outfit from a New Hope. An odd choice you may think, but unlike a lot of Luke's costumer this figure allowed Hasbro to show what they could do with the Black Series. Luke comes with a removable X-Wing helmet, blaster and lightsaber. With a wealth or articulation you can pose him to your hears content and represent a number of looks - my favorite of which at present is the "Top Gun" pose holding his helmet under his arm. #02 is a Darth, but was Maul rather than Vader. Maul comes packed so he can represent both his cloaked Tatooine gear and uncloaked Naboo Duel. The cloak effect is sculpted which to me works for this figure as opposed to the soft good route. His head is sculpted into the cloak and to un-robe him you swap the head with the alternative version provided. Maul comes with his dual lightsaber, which comes apart into two separate sabers and can also be used without blades (unlit). His final accessory is a pair of binoculars. Maul does suffer a little with articulation compared to Luke, particularly when in his cloak. #03 is a Sandtrooper, Orange Pauldron. It really showed us early on what a Stormtrooper sculpt could look like in the Black Series, but by making this the Sandtrooper they got to include more accessories - which included the back pack (which does sit a little high vs what we saw on the film) and 3 separate guns/rifles. Sandie also includes some specific "sandtrooper" elements in the sculpt vs a standard Stormtrooper including a knee pad, and paint variants on his helmet. #04 is a companion piece to Luke, and is everyone's favourite droid R2-D2. R2 obviously lacks a lot of the articulation due to the nature of his design. But this is overcome with a box full of accessories and arms that allow you to have an Artoo for any situation including the leg boosters from Revenge of the Sith to the Lightsaber launcher from Jabba's sail barge. Artoo also comes with the 3rd leg which can we wound up or down by turning the head. He is a little small scale wise if you look at him on-screen, and whether this becomes a bigger problem will depend on when C3P0 is released and how the two look together. Wave 1 set the benchmark for Black Series. It contained 4 interesting figures with great articulation and each with a real good depth of accessories. Although it would be Wave 2 and the arrival of Boba that lit the match for Black Series, Hasbro would not match what they did in wave 1 in any future waves with accessories and options being significantly scaled back. Wave 1 remain, at the time of writing, the rarest figures of the range to date. None of them have had a re-release, and with many collectors jumping on board at later waves, making these four launch figures highly sought after.