Images have turned up, courtesy of Hobby Maniax, apparently confirming that Tamashii Nations will be releasing SH Figuarts 1/12 figures based on the upcoming DC Suicide Squad movie. The first two figures, pictured below, are of the Jared Leto Joker and Harley Quinn. At this point, no more details are available

Review : Alfred Pennyworth Gotham Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 2 Released : March 2016 £19.99 - £22.99 Alfred Pennyworth, faithful butler to Bruce Wayne, is the 3rd figure from Gotham Select's 2nd series of releases - hitting stores in March/April 2016. Alfred, like all the Gotham figures, arrives in the Diamond oversized blister/box packaging with the usual visually impactful left hand art panel and with a full image of the figure on the card back along with a paragraph about Alfred and how he fits in the show. The card back also sports a checklist of the other figures in series 2 - Detective Harvey Bullock and Ed Nygma. Out of the box and Alfred comes with a pretty substantial diorama piece which we will look at a little later. There are no other accessories included. Alfred stands a touch over 7 inch which is a little under Sean Pertwee's 6ft stature, but this is not hugely noticeable in amongst the other figures. As a collector of Dr Who figures, and knowing how difficult it was for that line to capture his fathers face (Jon) I didn't expect a perfect likeness for Alfred. The sculpt does a job but lacks a bit of definition where Sean has a very rugged look. Alfred is one of those odd head sculpts that looks very different from different angles, and doesn't photograph all too well. The paint on the head does very little to work with the sculpt, and is pretty poor in areas. The skin tone does have depth and works well from most angles, but they have then gone with very heavy - almost mascara made up - eyes and huge floaty eyebrows. The hair is also two stark in contrast, its too brown and dark on top and then two light at the sides and the change between the two is a crisp line with no blending from one colour to another. The rest of the body is a sculpted 3 piece suit and is presented in a plain black matt finish. The waistcoat is nicely done with a crisp gold watch chain that is exceptionally neatly painted. The waistcoat sits over a shirt & tie and I suspect from the folds in the collar this is another "partial" use of the shirt & tie that we saw on Gordon and Bullock. The suit jacket is a rubber coverall piece and has a bit of flex to it to aid movement. Being rubber there are some softer details, particularly the handkerchief in the top pocket - but the fact it is included on the model does show a good level of attention to detail. The arms finish with a white shirt cuff popping out and then into a simple skin coloured pair of hands on the right of which there is a sculpted ring. The transition from waistcoat to trousers is difficult to make out and perhaps a slight variant in colouring may have helped. The trousers are very plain with little in terms of cloth folds or ruffles - Alfred is obviously a mean hand with an Iron. The figure finishes with glossy lace up shoes. I have been really impressed with articulation from Diamond recently, but sadly Alfred appears to be a step backwards in many areas. The head is ball jointed and rotates fully, but lacks any significant up and down movement leaving his head quite rigid in terms of positioning. The shoulders appear to be the usual ball joint, but for some reason they can only be raised outwards to about 45-50 degrees before sticking. There is no bicep swivel, and the elbows follow suit with the shoulders in not moving to the full right angle. With the combination of shoulder and elbow restrictions you wont get much in terms of poses out of the arms. The one I wanted was the hands behind the back "butlering" pose, and you can just about get this but to look more natural you would need the elbows to bend further to allow the hans to touch round the back. The torso split remains, and is quite unsightly on Alfred and in reality does little but allow a touch of twisting to either side. I would have probably preferred this to be dropped and more work put into the arms? The legs are much better with the T-joint ball hips that can go out into the splits, or into a seating position - albeit restricted ever so slightly by the coat tails. The thighs have a swivel, unnecessary in my view and unsightly. The knees are double jointed, and then there is a pivot and swivel on the ankles. This gives Alfred a good range of lower half movement - not that you would do much other than have him stood straight waiting for Master Bruce to hand out some instructions. Alfred stands very well and has no sign of loose hip syndrome. Like most "human" size select figures, and in keeping with all the Gotham releases to date, Alfred is packed with a diorama piece. Unlike the first series and Bullock from series 2 this is not a stand as such - and is more akin to a display prop. This takes the form of the Bruce Manor Fireplace, a big affair that stands almost as tall as the figure itself. It is hollow cast, but despite this feels quite solid and contains quite a bit of detail in ornate carving. It is painted in a solid brown, with a wash to bring out the carving detail. The fire back is then painted a contrasting grey tile. The Fireplace is probably my favourite Gotham pack in to date, and will make a lovely display considering the air play it has had in the show and what it represents. It will also work with the upcoming series 3 Bruce Wayne figure. Alfred is not the best the Gotham series has to offer. The face painting in particular is too heavy handed, and when the actor's face is so difficult to capture anyway the paint had to be spot on - which it quite clearly is not. It is also a shame on the articulation on the arms and head which feel to have taken a step backward. The Fireplace does save the figure somewhat, a big and chunky piece that does have some significance to the figure & the show rather than a generic alleyway scene. Alfred is not a write off and thanks to the Fireplace diorama piece scrapes a 3 out of 5 overall score. Buy from AMAZON UK Buy from AMAZON US Buy from FORBIDDEN PLANET

Tamashii Nations have released the full details of their SH Figaurts Tony Stark figure, along with promotional images (see gallery below) Tony will come with swap out lower legs and lower arms, which can be replaced with Mk43 armour parts. He is also supplied with a light up stand, as seen in his basement, and this may be exclusive (or the light up part) to pre-orders in the first run. The Japanese pre-order price is 6,000 Yen, this converts to £38 or $55 - but expect to add customs, shipping on top. Shipping is due in October 2016. Also released as a promotional image, and possibly part of a coordinated launch, is the image of an Iron-Man Mark 3 suit - which is pictured alongside two other slots and scheduled for November. We are also aware of the Mk43 getting a re-release, so this could be SH Figuarts ramping up their Iron-Man suit figures and working towards the basement diorama we see on the Tony Stark promotional image we led in with - only time will tell.

Marvel Cinematic Universe "inspired" Daredevil Marvel Select 7" scale Recipe WWE Create-A-Wrestler, Roman Reigns Special Forces (body) Kent32 cast head NECA Kick Ass 2 (batons and holster) Paints - Revell Aquacolor Purple Red 331 matt (costume) Carmine Red 36 matt (eyes) Anthacite 09 matt (costume) Black 08 matt (highlights) Flesh 35 matt (head) Dark Earth 82 matt (base color for stubble and hair) I am not a prolific customiser by any stretch of the imagination, nor a particularly good one. I certainly can't sculpt, but I can paint relatively neatly and I can also spot a good opportunity / recipe for a custom figure. I've loved the look of the new scarlet MCU Daredevil suit from Netflix since its debut at the end of season 1, and as a Marvel Select collector I was urging Diamond to give us a 7 inch scale Daredevil to sit alongside the other great MCU figures - but so far nothing is on the cards. I was then pointed in the direction of Mattel's WWE Create-a-Wrestler figures, which are 7" scale, for another custom. I noticed that the Roman Reigns Special Forces pack bore more than a passing resemblance to the Daredevil suit and the project kicked off from there. The head sculpt does not yet exist for a Netflix Daredevil, but the very talented KentThirtyTwo does have a Ben Affleck Daredevil 7 inch scale head - so this was ordered and shipped in from the US to use - you could just as easily use the comic Daredevil head from Diamond Select. After assembling the parts needed and deciding to use the standard arms from the WWE figure and not the metal ones, it was all down to painting. The whole figure can be disassembled intentionally making painting easy, and so the figure was given an undercoat of black and then the panels picked out in a deep red and a charcoal grey. I used an image I found online for the paint job. I think it is a custom design sheet and is credited to a Troy McKie - I have included it in the gallery below. Once painted and re-assembled the head was attached and painted up also - this is not perfect as the stubble was difficult but it passes at the scale. Finally I needed the weaponry and the thigh holster, and these came from a NECA Kick Ass figure (don't use the Mezco version as the sticks are too small). The back holster from the NECA figure pushes off after applying some heat - and once you cut down the pegs this was glued onto the thigh and then a spare rubber strap (I think it was originally off a Dr Who figure) was put in place. So there he is. Certainly NOT anywhere close to accurate (but neither was Yellowjacket, Wolverine and Nick Fury) but I prefer the look to that of the comic Daredevil. He is currently sitting as part of Team Cap as I can't see Matt Murdock signing up to the Sokovia Accords, perhaps he will even represent Steve Rogers to fight them. This Daredevil also works really well with the scenery packed with the recent Gotham Select Bullock figure, and if you have it - throw in the Dumpster from Origins Wolverine too.

Diamond are bringing figures from the 1995 movie Mallrats to their Select range of 7 inch figures. They will start with lead characters Jay (Jason Mewes) and Brody (Jason Lee). Like most Select releases, the Mallrats will come with specific Mall Store diorama bases These are scheduled for release in October 2016 and are already up for pre-order in the US at Big Bad Toys Store. A Diamond Select Toys release! They're not here to shop, they're not here to work, they're just here! Finally, after 22 years, fully poseable action figures of the cast of Kevin Smith's sophomore(ic) masterpiece Mallrats have arrived! Jay and Brody are the first two in the series, each with character-specific accessories - sock full of quarters and baseball bat for Jay; chocolate pretzel and giant cookie for Brody - as well as diorama bases depicting different stores in the mall! Each figure features approximately 16 points of articulation and the actor's likeness. Packaged in display-ready Select packaging, with spine artwork for shelf reference. Sculpted by Patrick Piggott!

After a number of hints, Diamond Select Toys have now confirmed they will be releasing a 7 inch Select scale figure of Doctor Strange from upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie starring Benedict Cumberbach. At this point all we have is a silhouetted image, which shows the pack in will be some kind of diorama piece - perhaps a throne? You can already pre-order this item at Big Bad Toy Store in the US. The expected release is touted for October, which is before the movie comes out. A Diamond Select Toys release! The Sorcerer Supreme and soon-to-be-cinematic superstar is the next Marvel Select masterpiece! This 7-inch action figure depicts Dr. Stephen Strange as he appears in the upcoming Marvel feature film, with a screen-accurate costume and the likeness of actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The figure features 16 points of articulation, and comes with a diorama-style base capturing an environment from the film. Packaged in the display-ready Select packaging, with spine artwork for shelf reference. Sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios! We would expect a reveal at SDCC and pre-orders worldwide to go up shortly after

What Star Wars and Marvel products can I buy at Disneyland Paris I was lucky enough to spend a week at Disneyland Paris recently with the family, and alongside the rides, food and meeting Mickey Mouse. I thought it would be interesting to use the opportunity to do a "store report" while I was there - looking at the merchandise you can buy on the parks that line up with our site focus, particularly the Marvel and Star Wars offerings. It is an understatement really to state that shopping is pretty Big at DLP. I wouldn't even hazard a guess at home many retail stores there are across the Village and the two parks, but you certainly won't ever be more than a few metres from a shop selling Disney goodies. My focus was in line with the website, and I was looking in particular for Star Wars and Marvel items. It you are going with a similar focus in mind then let me first save you some time as to which shops to hit Your key destinations need to be the Disney Store and the World of Disney stores which are both in the Disney Village. There is then a large store in the inside of Studio 1 in the Studio Park. And your final destination should be Constellations, in Discoveryland near the Buzz Lightyear ride. From 2017 you would also add Star Traders to that list, but this Star Wars focused store is closed until then for refurbishment. So what is there to spend your Euro's on, and how much are they? Let's start with Marvel, and this feels a relatively new addition to the Disney stocks and is about a 50:50 mix between Disney own brand and other suppliers. The role play items were the ones getting the most shelf space - Hawkeyes bow and Caps Shield and Helmet being the most prominent and selling for between €29.99 and €34.99 (£24-£27). In terms of Disney merchandise you then have the big 16" or so talking figures for €34.99 and these were in Cap, Ironman and Spiderman flavour only. Disney are also very good at the 3 inch figurines, which they knock out in sets for the majority of their properties. Marvel now has two of these a 6 pack Spiderman set and a 6 pack Age of Ultron set. Both of these are pretty decent and are only €9.99 (£7.89) but nothing that you can't pick up in any Disney store in the UK for the same price (and not have to worry about packing and bringing home). The other Marvel stuff was all made by Hasbro, and was pretty disappointing. Mashers were everywhere but priced at nearly double what you would pay in the UK. Marvel Legends were found in both 3.75" and 6" but at €34.99 (£27) for 6 inch, and €19.99 (£15.79) they are overpriced and were older ranges - the 6" being the Allfather figures. There was a set of 5 POA figures too which I hadn't seen before, but they weren't the best quality and yet priced the same as the Legends at €19.99 (£15.79). The nearest to a high end Marvel product I came across was in the Disney Art Store, which is just down from the Disney Store in the Village. Among a lot of art work and statues of the Princesses were a set of 5 Marvel Comic figures. Priced at €109 (£86) they stood about 10 inches high, and were not bad - although I have seen better from Kotobukiya etc, albeit at a higher price. Research has shown these are actually made in the UK by Enesco in Carlisle, Cumbria, and are again not exclusive to Disney and can be bought at specialist stockists in the UK. They also have a SRP in the UK of £69, nearly £20 less than Disney are selling them for in Paris. So nothing exclusive to take home in terms of merchandise, but I am sure that will change in the coming years. If you are a Marvel fan then take time to visit Spider-man in the Studio Park, and then pop into the Cafe next door which has been decked out with big walls displaying all of Iron-man's 42 armours. Star Wars, has the Force Awakened in Paris? I was more hopeful for Star Wars goods, even though I went at a time where Star Tours and Star Traders were closed. I did a lot of research ahead of arriving in DLP and had a number of items in mind - particularly the exclusive Astromech's, the Tie Fighter popcorn tubs and those rubbery Happabore and Dewback that had been showing up in the parks in the US. I was sadly disappointed as none of these have yet to translate to the European park. Poor show Disney! What you have got is shelves upon shelves of Disney Elite ships and figures. Price wise these are identical to what you would pay in the high street €24.99 (£19.99). The ships were a bit more interesting in that they had older models I had not seen in the UK - such as the Y-Wing and B-Wing. The figures were restricted solely to Darth Maul, Anakin, Poe Dameron and the unmasked Kylo Ren. If ever there was an opportunity for a park exclusive figure then it sits in the Elite range and has been missed so far - and I suspect if I went back in 12-months time they still wouldn't have shifted anywhere near the total volume of these figures they are currently sat on. The PVC figurines were knocking about in various guises, predominately the Force Awakens sets which included a 6 pack, 10 pack and the mega set at a €54.99 (£43.50) although you would need a pretty big case to bring that one home. I also located the odd set for Rebels and a few Original Trilogy sets. In an example of pricing per franchise, these were much higher priced than their Marvel equivalents. Hasbro figures were in attendance in some stores, these were 3.75" Force Awakens and Rebels 5POA figures only and the first waves only. At €19.99, and like the Marvel ones, these are not going to sell any time soon. Not a Black Series figure in site at any point in the park, but that was expected as Disney likely see them as direct threat to sales of the Elite series. The other quirky find was the Vinylmation figures for Star Wars. These are blind boxed, stylised 3 inch figures who each come with a mickey mouse ears head sculpt. The figures are exclusive to Disney in the US, but not to the parks, and are not widely sold in the UK. I found these mainly in the World of Disney store near the park entrance, but they did crop up in small numbers in some of the boutique type stores down Main Street if you want to vary your chances by selecting from different cases. Each figure was priced at €12.99 (£10.24) and were labelled as the Series 6 collection, including figures solely from Return of the Jedi. True exclusivity came down to items badged with the Star Tours logo. First off were the Disney / Star Wars cross over figures at a very reasonable €10.99 (£8.69). These figures take a Disney character like Mickey and put them in a Star Wars outfit, like Luke's X-Wing outfit. They are non-articulated and stand about 3 inch high. I brought home Jedi Mickey as a souvenir, but if you want the full set you will be out of luck as most have sold out so figures like Pete as Boba Fett, or Donald as Stormtrooper can't be found. The other Star Tours merchandise that caught my eye was the Star Tours speeder, which is still being sold and could possibly be an investment piece if it gets replaced when the 2017 ride is launched. I thought about it, but ended up leaving it on the shelf. At €31.99 (£25.29) it wont break the bank, but it looks quite cheap and most of the boxes were quite banged up. So I save the best till last, and that is the Build Your Own merchandise that can be found in the Disney Store. Build your own lightsaber is pretty fun, and Mini-Meph built a single blade one for €29.99 (£23.71) and you can do a double for €49.99 (£39.52). BYO Light saber can be found in the Disney Store in the Village and also in the Studio 1 store. My favourite was the Build a Droid stand, which you can only do in the Village Disney Store. The BYO Droid is a fairly recent addition from the US and is priced at €10.99 (£8.69) for a custom droid and clamshell. There are a variety of flavours to choose from and it keeps the kids happy for ages (big and small ones). Mini Meph bough a cool looking gold and black R2 unit, while I built M3-PH the new Astromech for the Archives - complete with rebel logo Mickey ears. We will be reviewing the BYO Droid later this week, so stay tuned. So there we have it. Disneyland is BRILLIANT and if you want Mickey merchandise or Princess stuff, then you have a shop in every direction to choose from. Sadly, at this stage, there Marvel & Star Wars offerings are a little slim and certainly not yet as strong as the US parks. I suspect the merchandise will ramp up when Star Tours returns - and Disney will also be seeking out ways to integrate Marvel more into the parks. For now, I would recommend filling your case with Build a Droids and if you are looking for true exclusive souvenirs then try the meet n greets with Spider-man or the Jedi Training activity (for the kids 7+) the pictures and experiences from these are awesome.

The following two images have been posted on Facebook by Jan, who has found this set for sale, marked up as the SDCC Droid Set. The location is unclear from the image, but based on what we can see the latest suggestion is that this is an image from a Hong Kong Toys R Us The 3 pack appears to be 6 inch scale looking at the sculpts and contains... R2-A3, an R2 series astromech droid used aboard Wedge Antilles' T-65 X-wing starfighter R5-K6 , an R5-series astromech droid that was built by Industrial Automaton and belonged to Garven Dreis, the leader of the Rebel Alliance's Red Squadron (A New Hope) R2-F2, is the interesting one as he is listed on this box as being the R2 unit who flew with Biggs at the Battle of Yavin. In fact Biggs droid was R2-Q2, and R2-F2 was only added to the Star Wars Universe via the X-Wing Miniatures game. They all seem to be based on the original wave 1 R2-D2 mould, with new R5 head for K6. There seems to be plug in accessories down the side of each droid. (source : Wookiepedia) No more details at this stage, but this looks pretty good as an exclusive pack in terms of content. Considering their place in the Star Wars timeline (circa A New Hope, Rebels Red Squadron) who knows if these droids may be referenced or even appear in Rogue One, or associated media like comics or novels.? We know from Hasbro Q+A that there will be two Convention Exclusives this year. One will be Rogue One based. And one will be shared between SDCC and Celebration London. We await more details... and of course confirmation - this may end up being a fake or custom?

The release date of end of May, early June 2016, is getting closer for the first three of the 12 inch scale Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro. The following promotional images have just been released to further whet our appetite. Captain America, Spider-Man and Iron-Man will each have their own exclusivity deal in the US, one for each of the key retailers. Captain America will be a Toys R Us (US) exclusive, and can be pre-ordered in the UK via Forbidden Planet at £58.99 Spider-man will be a Walmart exclusive and therefore MAY translate to Asda here in the UK. Iron-man will be a Target exclusive

Mezco have just unveiled the full details of their One:12 Collective Punisher figure, as well as opening up the US Pre-order via their site. US price sits at $80. UK customers will need to expect to pay circa £70-£75 once he hits UK stores for pre-order. Scroll down for full details and a full gallery of images Source : Mezco When veteran war hero Frank Castle's family is slain in front of him during a mob related shootout, he vows vengeance and becomes the Punisher. Waging a one-man war on crime, the Punisher utilizes his vast military skills to brutally serve justice to those he deems deserving. An expert in hand-to-hand and weapon-based combat, he is an unstoppable force. Meticulously developed to capture the intensity of the character and outfitted on a newly designed One:12 Collective body, the figure has impressive details. The final product creates a "real world" look reflecting the character's severity. THE ONE:12 PUNISHER FEATURES: Hyper-realistic portraits 1:12 scaled, highly realistic fabric uniform with special silk screening applications Detailed sculpted costume accents, including belt, gloves, harness and boots Gauntlets with magnetic attachments Super articulated body with over 32 points of articulation WHAT'S IN THE BOX: Standard portrait Alternate Portrait 1 Alternate Portrait 2 Fists (L&R) Holding hands (L&R) Grappling hands (L&R) Posing hand (L) Karate strike hand (R) Armored skull load bearing vest with belt and knife sheath Combat knife 9mm automatic pistol with extra clip Machine gun with extra clip Grenade launcher with six grenades Submachine gun with extra clip Display base with posing post The Punisher is packaged in a deluxe, fifth panel window box with translucent acetate slipcover. Designed for collector convenience, the packaging allows for both maximum protection as well as ease of removal for display.

In the same vein as the Civil War images, this promotional shot of the Marvel Legend Punisher figure has also been circulated. The Jim Lee Punisher is due to be a Walgreens US exclusive, alongside Namor. Again there is no exclusivity mention or company logo on this image. The image also appears to be rolling this figure into the Spider-man themed releases, badged as Spider-Man series 3.5

This promotional image has surfaced showing 6 inch scale Marvel Legends Winter Soldier and Falcon as seen in Civil War. If you look closely enough, you can see Falcon will include his Red Wing drone as pack in accessory. These two figures, for those who remember our Toy Fair 2016 coverage, were down to be Walmart exclusives in the US. The interesting part of this image is the lack of any Walmart logo, and a reference to Captain America series 2.5