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Diamond Select have just released the promotional images and script for their three upcoming Select Action figures from Captain America : Civil War. Winter Soldier, Captain America and Iron Man Mk46 are due to hit stores in May 2016. Each figure has 16 points of articulation and is supplied with a themed diorama base. Join all three bases together to complete a larger diorama base. Bucky will come with a rifle, while Cap will come with a removable shield. All three will come in the Select collectors packaging.

Happy Sat-TOY-Day and welcome to Issue 17. Marvel is gearing up for Civil War, and to support this it looks like the UK is going to be getting an exclusive Marvel Legends wave of cinematic figures. On top of this Mezco One:12 Marvel pre-orders are going live, as are those for the NECA Aliens Creature packs. There are both Star Wars and Iron Man items announced from the Far East and closer to home we find some bargain Doctor Who stock at Argos. CHECK OUT this week's issue.

NECA confirm full details of their first Alien Creature Pack... To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Aliens, we’re releasing a deluxe creature pack that includes some frequently requested favorites from the terrifying movie! These six pieces will make for some mind-blowing dioramas, since they’re perfectly in scale with our line of 7″” figures. Set includes: • 2 Stasis Chambers with ‪#‎LED‬ Lights – Press a button to cast an eerie glow on the ‪#‎facehugger‬ preserved within it! You can even fill the tube with water if you choose. Facehugger can also be removed from tube. Batteries included. • 2 ‪#‎Chestbursters‬ with bendable tails • 2 ‪#‎Facehuggers‬ with bendable tails Starts shipping out to retailers in June 2016! ‪#‎NECA‬ ‪#‎Aliens‬ ‪#‎FacehuggerFriday‬ ‪#‎ActionFigures‬

Happy Sat-TOY-Day and welcome to Issue 16. News still feels very thin on the ground with just a couple of juicy snippets this week courtesy of NECA and Mezco. In reviews we focus on two new arrivals in the UK from Diamond Select - Ray Stantz (Ghostbusters) and Black Panther (Marvel Comics) CHECK OUT this week's issue.

NECA released this clearer image this week of what we now know will be the first of two Alien Creature packs. One will come themed around the Aliens and a second release will then cover Alien 3. This one pictured makes sense as being the Aliens version, and those light up Stasis pods look awesome. It is not confirmed as yet if the picture represents the content of the pack, but we would assume so considering this is now looking like a finalised promotional image. We would then have to assume the Alien 3 version will contain that Royal chest burster and the partially grown chestburster that we saw at Toy Fair 2016 last month.

Review : Winston Zeddemore Ghostbusters Select (Diamond Select) Wave/Series : Series 1 Released : February 2016 Price : £19.95 Winston Zeddemore is the third figure of Diamond's wave 1 Ghostbuster Select Figures, the others being Ray Stanz and Louis Tully whom we have also reviewed in our Ghostbuster section. Winston arrives,in the green supernatural packaging complete with full side panel image of Ernie Hudson and an overview of his character and place within the plot of the 1984 movie on the cardback alongside a full size image of the figure and a checklist of the other two figures in wave 1. Out of the box, and like Ray, Winston stands 7 1/2 inches high. My eye is not perfect, but by my reckoning the Winston body is identical to that of Ray - with the exception of the top half of the Torso which looks a bit wider and has a different neck piece to link in to the Winston head sculpt. Like Louis, the Winston head-sculpt is not perfect. It feels like a passable attempt, but like so many sculpts from DST it is too soft and isn't helped by a shiny look to the paint. Like the skin tone, the moustache and hair are also too glossy and that makes the moustache a focal point on the face and draws you away from the other elements that are done pretty well - particularly the eyes. Round the ears, the paint has bled or rather the black of the hair doesn't come down far enough to finish covering the last of the hair sculpt. Like Ray, the uniform is spot on and includes all the same bits and bobs. The utility belt is practically identical although one of the straps is on the right hand side on Winston, where as it sat on the left on Ray. Weathering on the uniform is really good again and everything else is crisply painted, including the Zedemore name badge. The Proton pack contains those tiny safety stickers again, but one on Winston is peeling and that could be a problem for the future as to how well these will last even while the figure sits on display let alone if it is being played with. The gubbins to hang the proton emitter to the proton pack fails again on Winston, so his wand will just end up in his hand on display - or if you are careful you can drape it around the pack to hang to one side. This is how we captured some of our images of the emitter holstered. I feel like I am not doing Winston any justice at this point in the review as I am already about to talk about Articulation - but the fact is, this is pretty much the same figure as Ray. Winston's articulation includes the ball jointed head and shoulders, bend and swivel elbows and those swappable hands - again 5 pairs, 2 of which are gloved with those clever rubber pieces. The torso is joined as are the hips and then we drop down to a thigh swivel, double jointed knee and rocker on the ankle. Unlike Ray, Winston stands much better. There is no logical reason why he should with it being the same figure, but I suspect his ankles are a bit stronger. Where Ray came with the goggles, Winston comes with a Ghost Trap. This is a two part affair with a thin tube in between. It looks the part, but is too light to sit on the floor in a display as the tension on the tube pulls it to either side. A bit more weight would help. There is also no way, that I have found at least, of hanging the trap from Winston's belt. Also included, the same as Ray, are the walkie talkie and that proton stream. Having inspected Winston as closely as I did with Ray there is still no obvious way of inserting the stream into the Proton Emitter so this piece is of little use. The third piece of the Diorama jigsaw comes with Winston, and it is the central plinth that we see Dana draped across in the film. This arrives in two parts, with the stone table slotting into the base section. Like the two side panels from Ray & Louis, this is decorated nicely with a rough texture and a granite décor. The piece doesn't immediately lock into anything else from wave 3, and because the base is stepped on the bottom it also won't stand flat unless you prop it up. That being said, even with these 3 pieces you have the start of a pretty impressive display - a big one at that. Ray is obviously the star of wave 1, and Louis gets the short end of the stick with some dialled back articulation and paint job. Winston falls somewhere in between and this is where I find my 5 star point scoring has limitations as ideally Winston is probably around a 3.5. I am going to give Winston the benefit of the doubt and give him 4 stars, even though that head sculpt isn't perfect, everything else is as good as Ray. I am now excited for wave 2 and adding Peter and Egon as well as that Dana figure. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Review : Louis Tully Ghostbusters Select (Diamond Select) Wave/Series : Series 1 Released : February 2016 Price : £19.95 Louis Tully was always going to be the poor relation of this first wave of Select Ghostbuster figures, perhaps of the whole range. He is not a primary hero, he is not a cool villain and in essence he is a possessed accountant in slightly unkempt normal clothes. He has also suffered with some very unflattering promotional pictures of him without glasses. I can say, before we begin, that in hand Louis Tully is a lot better than you may think.... read on. Louis arrives in the Green ectoplasmic themed Select box, and does feel a bit lost in the giant packaging. This is more around an devoid of any accessories to flesh out the blister, so much so the diorama piece has been brought to the front to fill the right hand side of the blister. The imagery of Louis is his possessed look and this red eyed Louis fills the huge left hand side spine art along with the Ghostbuster logo. Round the back is a full image of the figure (still unflattering) and a decent paragraph about Louis role in the movie. Underneath are the "Also Available" images of Winston and Way and the text "collect all 12" error which as we all know by now is actually "collect all 15". Out of the pack and Louis stands 6 1/2 inches high, cutting a diminutive figure amongst the larger figures of Ray and Winston - exactly as it should be. I personally think the likeness in hand is much stronger than we expected. It's not Rick Moranis to a tee, but it is a good attempt and the addition of the thick rimmed glasses makes him look so much better. The hair is sculpted in the swept back uncouth look from when he was possessed, and his eyes are actually coloured red to reflect this possession. The hair may have benefited from a darker wash to bring out the detail, but other than this the head is neat and well painted. Louis is wearing a blue shirt over an orange T-shirt over brown trousers. All of these are a flat colour and don't carry a great deal of detail. The collars of the shirts are a bit soft and feel like they are blending into each other especially as I have some paint bleed around the collar on my figure. The hands are plain and open palmed, they also feel a bit chalky - an issue we've seen on some Funko figures recently. The shoes are the most detailed part of the outfit with some black trim and a different colour sole to the top leather parts. There is also a great touch on the shoes as Louis is not wearing socks so Diamond have painted the ankles a skin tone, something that they didn't need to do as you can only see these ankles if you pick the figure up and look up the pant leg. Articulation starts with the ball jointed head which can look side to side and also up and down. Shoulders are ball jointed, followed by a bicep split. The elbows are jointed, but no swivel - not that it is needed as you don't need Louis rocking a two handed machine gun or anything. The hands are pegged and can bend back and forth as well as rotating. There is no torso split, another one missing that we did have on Ray & Winston. Whether this is an aesthetic call to not split the plain shirt or more around "does he really need it". The normal DST hip joint is there, but hurray it's very stiff - brilliant!.The thigh swivels and the knee is double jointed so Louis can be positioned kneeling if you wish. The ankle joint is held back a little by the pant leg, but the feet do rotate as needed. Where the articulation does its job is the ability to pose Louis in that hunched, almost Neanderthal, crouch that he exhibits in the film whilst seeking the Gate Keeper. By rotating the thigh, bending the knees and then flattening out the feet you can recreate this and that gives Louis a lot more character on display than a neutral stance that we have seen in those promo shots. My point from the start of this review still stands though that Louis Tully feels like a poor relation, and you also feel short changed vs the sheer amount of gadgets and goodies you got with your Ray and Winston. Not only is Louis dialled back on articulation and paint apps, but he fails to come with a single accessory. Surely the colander head gear that Egon experiments with was a must for this figure - perhaps as a swappable head if it couldn't be made to work over the hair sculpt? I wouldn't have minded either if they packed in a few ghosts or demons with these lesser characters as a further bonus to encourage us to purchase? I guess the diorama piece is the big draw though for collectors to go all in on this range and buy figures like Louis. Louis comes with the opposing piece to that packed with Ray, the larger triangular piece and it's inter-locking monolith are thankfully an identical finish - so no issue yet with varying finishes on your diorama. I am not sure if DST spoiled us with Ray, or let us down on Louis - most likely some point in-between. Any collector of a range knows that in order to get a Ray you have to buy a Louis to support him. Louis is not a bad figure by a long shot - decent sculpt, decent articulation and a big hulking diorama piece. He just feels like he needs a couple of bits to elevate him above the average. I am going to score Louis Tully a 3 out of 5. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Review : Ray Stantz Ghostbusters Select (Diamond Select) Wave/Series : Series 1 Released : February 2016 Price : £19.95 I am possibly too excited to be finally reviewing these 7" scale Ghostbuster figures from Diamond. As a collector who's focus is on Movie & TV figures and who grew up in the 1980's then Ghostbusters has always been a big miss on my shelves. I know we had some figures from NECA and a 6" range from Mattel, but it now feels like Diamond will be giving us the Ghostbuster range we deserve and have waited over 30 years for. The plan with the GB range is for Diamond to release 15 figures in total across 5 series/waves. This is an increase from the original 12. With each figure you get a part of the rooftop from the epic climax to the 1984 movie, so only buy picking up each figure will you build the diorama. Series 1 starts with Ray, Winston and Louis Tully and in this review we are looking at the first of these Ray Stantz. The Ghostbusters Select packaging is a continuation of the Select oversized blister that we have seen on Marvel for many years, and more recently that has transferred to other licences like Gotham. The box is gorgeous, with a green and black theme and of course the iconic Ghostbusters logo emblazoned across the wrap around left hand panel. Beneath this, on the corner flash, is the character name and an image of the character from the movie. Like all other Select packs if you spin the pack round to the left, the left hand spine is a full colour panel representing the character, and in the Ghostbuster line these are actual shots of the actors from the movie and the graphical Ghostbusters symbol stamped on top in red & white. Round the back and the card is headed with the GB title logo again, with the Select stamp underneath. There is then a quite in-depth write up about the character Ray, not just a generic plot overview. Aside this write up is a full figure image and beneath this, and obviously now out of date, is the wording "collect all 12 figures to build the rooftop scene". In a panel edged in yellow & black hazard chevrons is the Also Available figures of Winston and Louis. All of this is set on a background of the silhouetted Ghostbusters firing their proton streams up to the top of the packaging - and yes they are crossing the streams! Out of the box and Ray is presented in an outer perspex tray. Behind this is a second tray containing the roof top pieces. There is no doubt this is a true Select release when you look at the first tray to find Ray is supplied with 4 alternative pairs of hands, a walkie talkie, proton emitter, goggles and a proton stream. Once you have fought through the wire twist-ties that Diamond are still using Ray comes out of the pack already strapped into his Proton pack which is then linked to the Proton Emitter with a relatively thin tube - be careful to release both of these or you will snap the tube as you extract Ray. Ray stands a good 7 and 1/2 inches high and just looks stunning. I really like the head-sculpt, an area that has let down some Select releases in the Marvel range. The likeness is clearly that of Dan Aykroyd, and it's not just a neutral look but rather captures that look that I can only describe as a mix of amusement & fear that Ray has in periods of the film. The uniform, rather than being plain, is sculpted with various folds and creases as well as a multitude of zips and fasteners. On the chest is the name plate which is perfectly legible despite the scale. On top of the jumpsuit are a utility belt, elbow pads and of course the proton pack. Paint application is neat on the face and right across the figure, and rather than a plain colour to the jumpsuit it has a décor applied that dirties it up and makes is pop. Each piece of equipment on top of the jumpsuit is neatly coloured from the grey of the belt and elbow pads, to the silver of the fasteners and belt straps. The Ghostbusters logo is then applied, obviously as a decal, on Ray's right shoulder. Round the back and the Proton Pack is a very detailed sculpt but I would criticise that it is a cast black plastic with no wash or detail applied. Despite this you can't argue with the other details with coloured wiring and panels and four tiny warning stickers with actual legible writing applied in various parts of the pack. The pack is a separate piece, but doesn't look to be removable and this is possibly a good call considering how fiddly and prone to damage removable backpacks can be. Attached to the backpack is the actual proton emitter, this feels a bit small but I think this is my mind remembering these wrong. Diamond have been ambitious in trying to make this clip to the pack when not in use, and instead of an unsightly plug and hole they have gone with a triangular slot in device - and sadly it fails on all levels and after a good 20mins of trying with Ray (and with Winston) I have not been able to lock the emitter into the pack. The other equipment that comes with Ray includes a walkie talkie and the goggles. The walkie talkie is a plain black plastic piece, and it can fit into one of the open gripping hands and also sits in a working holster on the belt. The goggles are on a rubber strap and go over Ray's head quite tightly and then sit either over the eyes, or propped up on his forehead. I love these goggles and it works really well compared to the other option which would have been a swap out head. I am not overly sure why we have so many hands. There are 3 pairs of flesh hands, and then 2 pairs of black gloved hands. The gloves can be applied with or without a rubber cuff. You will need the gripping hands for the proton emitter, but after that the other hands don't really need to hold or do anything - it's a similar situation to last years Ant-man. It is a shame there is no Ghost Trap or PKE meter included as standard with Ray. It looks like Diamond are approaching the range with a different equipment piece in each pack, so it looks like if you collect all four you will still only have one trap between the four main characters. The final accessory is the proton beam, and if any readers out there know what to do with this then please let me know. It looks OK, but nothing spectacular in terms of an orange strip wrapped in some blue. Translucent plastic may have been a better choice as the flat orange and blue don't pop enough. But enough about that, my big question is how does this fit to the proton emitter? It looks like it should slot into a whole a the the barrel of the beam emitter, but there is no such hole. In fact the only shot I got of the beam being used has it jammed into Ray's hand rather than the gun. This feels like a big miss and you almost wish Diamond had just left the beam out of the box completely. Articulation is good, standard fare for a Select figure. The head is ball jointed, as are the shoulders which then move into a jointed elbow with a swivel and those pegged hands which can be swapped in and out very easily. The arm articulation will allow you to get Ray holding his Proton Emitter with both hands, although not naturally in an action firing position. There is a torso joint which gives the top half some additional movement to the sides and with a lean back or forward. Hips are the two way joint that Select are known for, and yes they are a tad loose although not as bad as I have seen recently. The thigh is cut with a swivel and the knees are then double jointed. The ankles are jointed with a rocker built into the boot. Despite this leg articulation, Ray is difficult to stand as the Proton Pack naturally pulls him backward. You may need to put Ray on a stand to keep him upright. The diorama piece is an ambitious project and is also a very good piece of marketing to ensure fans must collect all 15 figures to finish their diorama. This means Select don't just have to make the four Ghostbusters, like Mattel, but have a vehicle for giving us more minority figures like Dana and Louis Tully - brilliant for hardcore fans. I was worried ahead of handling the diorama about the quality - particularly after the bendy plastic we had with the recent Gotham interconnecting scene. I needn't have worried as the piece is solid and really well made. Ray' has one side of the rooftop so there is triangular base, into which slots one of the monolith pieces. This single piece is 8 inches across and 10 inches deep, so you can imagine what the full roof is going to look like. The plastic is textured and patterned like a granite and I just hope that Diamond can keep the consistency of finish in future waves or we may end up having varying finishes on pieces of the same diorama - an issue we saw with the balconies that came with the Avengers figures of Hawkeye and Chitauri. So how do we score Ray? For a £20 figure he is stacked full of detail and that diorama piece alone adds real value over say the Mattel 6 inch equivalent. The sculpt is great, the paint is great and the added details like those safety stickers just blew me away. Yes there are faults... the proton emitter clip hasn't worked, and the proton beam is a mistake. But I for one can overlook these and am really pleased with Ray and score him a 4 out of 5, and he misses out on the perfect score by the thinnest of margins and in the hope that Diamond can fix the niggles before wave 2 or 3. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Happy Sat-TOY-Day and welcome to Issue 15. News remains relatively quiet after all the Toy Fair news, but there are a few gems this week including two new NECA figures announced. There was also a first look at another SH Figuarts Civil War figure and we found out who would make up the other half of the Star Wars Black Series 6" Starkiller diorama. In reviews we look at the 6" Black Series FN-2187 Finn as Stormtrooper CHECK OUT this week's issue.

Kmart reveal the other half of the Starkiller base diorama. It will be Returning with the other half of the base that will link in with Kylo. Rey will come with the light sabre. Kmart have a page up for the exclusive, but no ETA Click here for the Kmart page (US Only)

Review : FN-2187, Finn as Storm Trooper (The Force Awakens) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #17 (Phase 3 Wave 5 / Wave 1 2016) Released : January 2016 Price : £22.99 One of the very first images of The Force Awakens was of Finn in his Storm Trooper armour, and it is surprising that it has taken until Wave 5 to get him out there. FN-2187 arrives in Wave 5 (Wave 1 2016) in the Phase 3 red & black packaging. He is number 17 which is boldly printed on the right hand spine. Both the front lower right and the rear of the packaging contain a very nice grey lined illustration of Finn in his armour and across this on the rear of the box is a short paragraph explaining Finn's exit from the ranks of the First Order. Out of the box, and Finn stands 5 3/4 inches high which is a good match to the height of John Boyega, and consistent with the wave 1 Finn figure. Packed with him are the usual Storm Trooper weapons of the larger blaster and the smaller hand gun, which like the other First order troopers slots neatly into a slot on Finn's right thigh. He also comes with his Storm Trooper helmet, which is decorated with the three blood stripes that he receives during his Jakku mission. The helmet decoration is neat enough, but quite sterile in terms of red paint on bright white. It doesn't quite capture the grimy look that Finn had on his return to the First Order transport ship. The helmet however is one of the better fitting helmets that the range has seen. There is very little difference between it and a standard First Order Trooper head. It also slots snugly over Finn's head, maybe a bit too snugly and I would watch out for paint wear on the nose and hair if you swap the helmet on and off regularly. Once on, Finn is only given away by a touch of flesh visible in the chin area from certain angles. Of course the rest of Finn is essentially the same body and sculpt as any First order Trooper. However, it's not that simple as Hasbro' have gone with the nice touch of reducing the torso height to make Finn a little shorter than usual troopers. This is pretty effective, although not necessarily needed considering there is very little in the film to show Finn being considerably shorter - not to the extent it was with the Luke figure from A New Hope which is of course mentioned on screen. Outside of the torso tweak, the armour is identical to all the other First Order Troopers and is cast in gloss white. There is a good definition between the armour and the black under-suit, with my only real complaints on paint application being around the belt area where there is a bit of bleed as these are black plastic painted white. It is good to see that the issue of massively variant white finishes that we saw on the Original Stormtroopers and the Clone Troopers has been rectified and there is no clear difference between a painted piece or a cast piece. The head sculpt is pretty much the same as the wave 1 Finn, but the paint application on this one have improved the look no end with neater eye application and a more realistic skin tone which has a hint of gloss to reflect Finn's clammy/sweaty skin. Articulation is half decent but, like all armoured trooper figures so far in the range, it is restricted by the bulkier parts of the armour. The head swivels and looks up and down with the helmet either in or out of use. The shoulders are ball jointed and can rotate fully round the figure, and they can then extend out to the side of the figure by almost 90 degrees thanks to the shoulder pad being designed to retract into the chest armour. Elbows are on a single joint, but they do rotate and that allows two handed weapon poses if needed. The wrists are pegged, but cant really do much other than rotate thanks to the wrist armour. Like the other First Order troopers the torso joint allows for a huge range of movement - bending Finn forward and back and also twisting his upper half to either side. The hip joints allow you just about enough to get Finn sat down, so there is a chance you can get him into your 6 inch scale Tie Fighter if you want to. The knees remain double jointed so can bend really well, and then the ankles are finished off with a rocker joint that means Finn stands pretty well neutrally or in more action orientated stances. Both guns are painted well with white panels on black plastic, and both can fit into either hand with as mentioned the smaller hand gun clipping to the thigh armour for storage. All in all this is a no risk figure for Hasbro. It was a look that had a key part in the films plot and was simply a case of combining two existing figures and applying a bit of extra paint application. It is also good to see the facial paint decoration is improved and the way the torso has been shortened does show Hasbro trying to go a bit extra for collectors when in all honestly they could have missed that off and not many fans would have complained. I worry over paint wear from the helmet, but had they made the helmet a looser fit they would have lost the look of a realistic helmet. I am also thinking adding a bit of weathering, similar to what we saw with the Sandtroopers, would have perhaps given this figure a bit of a stand out look on collectors shelves. I scored the original wave 1 Finn a 3 out of 5, and I think this Trooper version deserves at least a +1 to this and gets a strong 4 out of 5 from me. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US A special shout-out to Louise of Craft Geek Diorama's who helped me get this Finn for our review when all looked lost as to finding this figure. Please check out the Craft Geek page if you have a few moments - stunning work.

We are live with our 14th issue of the Sat-TOY-Day News & Reviews. After the Toy Fair excitement, this week has been a little quieter than usual - but there has still been some gems, in particular a gorgeous looking Ant-man figure courtesy of SH Figuarts. CHECK OUT this week's issue.