Search this site

Diamond Select announce wave 2 of their Muppets Select range Wave 2 will be made up of Bunsen with Beaker Animal with Drums Statler & Waldorf with Balcony! DST have promised more pictures at Toyfair 2016 in just a few days, so stay tuned... ‪#‎DiamondSelectToys‬ ‪#‎Muppets‬ ‪#‎ActionFigures‬ ‪#‎ToyFair2016‬

Having seen the SH Figuarts Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 1/12 figures at a couple of shows, SHF have now released the promotional images for the first two - Leonardo and Donatello. Leo and Donnie are being released in August 2016, and you should be able to pre-order these from the usual SHF suppliers by the end of this month. Each turtle comes with their weapon - Leo's Sword and Donatello's Staff - as well as two face options, three sets of hands, a pizza (of course) and a manhole cover. There is also a neat option round the back of each turtle where the belt can also be swapped out. One version will be flat to the shell, while the other allows the Turtles to holster their weapons. The Japanese RRP is 7,020 Yen - which on a direct conversion works out to £42 - expect to therefore be paying around £50-£60 with customs/delivery. ‪#‎SHFiguarts‬ ‪#‎TMNT‬ ‪#‎Turtle‬ ‪#‎Leonardo‬ ‪#‎Donatello‬ ‪#‎ActionFigures‬

Eaglemoss have announced their latest collectible figurine collection - Marvel Movies. Each issue will have a 1:18 Marvel Movie figure, starting with Iron-man, Black Widow and Captain America in the first 3 issues. Future characters will include Thor, Loki and Nick Fury. Subscribing will get you a free Rocket Raccoon figurine. And paying an extra £1 per issue on subscription will enrol you to receive a number of special edition Hall of Armour Iron-man figures. Sadly, although is badged the Marvel Movie Collection, it looks exclusive to the Disney held licences only - so no X-Men, Fantastic Four or Deadpool figurines. There are discounts for Issue 1 and 2, but after that you are going to be paying £12.99 an issue. Click through on the picture for more details over at Eaglemoss' website.

Diamond Select have confirmed that the full Ghostbusters Rooftop Diorama will be on display at Toy Fair this weekend. I look forward to seeing it from a number of angles, and seeing more of their GB figures - perhaps even a look at product from the 2016 reboot movie, of which DST have confirmed they have a licence and will be doing Minimates as well as 7" Select figures. ‪#‎Ghostbusters‬ ‪#‎DiamondSelect‬ ‪#‎ActionFigures‬ ‪#‎ToyFair2016‬

A few weeks ago at the UK Toy Fair, there were a number of interesting McFarlane products on display at the booth of Distributer Star Action Figures. These new McFarlane products were badged as The Red Caps, a new range of collectors figures covering a number of licences including McFarlane's own Spawn, The Walking Dead and Assassins Creed. Images do exists from UKTF if you look, but most sites were asked not to use them. It seems we will find out much more about this Red Cap line at the New York Toy Fair this week. And McFarlane have kicked off in advance with this announcement of a licence Tie in with Titanfall. The promo poster carries the Red border, which was seen on the product packaging at UKTF. And promises bigger figures at 7" scale, a scale McFarlane used to work in with their old Movie Maniacs line. All very interesting and one to watch for this coming weekend. #McFarlane #Spawn #Titanfall #ActionFigures #ToyFair2016

Mini-Meph, age 6, takes a keen interest in the site and quite often helps with photo shoots and with new items. He did a short review for me back in September on some of the new 5POA Star Wars figures - and this week asked to do another review on one of the new Star Wars Lego sets he has bought. I am delighted to indulge him, so over to Mini-Meph - and everything you are about to see and read has been done by him with just a few assists from me to get it online. This is the Utapau Trooper Lego set. I got it from Smyths Toy Shop. It normally costs £11.99 and is a 2014 set with Darth Vader ont he box. The set came with four Clone Troopers. Two Airborne Troopers and two 212 Troopers. I like the two Airborne Troopers. The 212 troopers come with short guns and the Airborne troopers come with long guns. And the guns fire by pressing the bit at the top and the end goes flying. The helmets all come off with printed faces underneath. I did not like why it did not come with one droid or super battle droid for the troopers to fight. But it does come with a big Spider Droid. You will need more Seperatists sets to have a battle. The Spider droid can fire 3 missiles out of its body with a firing thing around the middle. The legs move to help it walk. The troopers were well easy to build. I did like the fact they had skirts, but they were a bit hard to put on. The droid was harder to build and took quite a long time. I would give this set a score of 5 out of 5 Buy this set at Amazon UK Buy this set at Amazon US Behind the Scenes...

In this week's Sat-TOY-Day news we see the Marvel and DC franchises starting to flex their Action Figure muscles as both gear up for the release of their respective Spring Blockbusters. Over in reviews we take a look at NECA's T800 Guardian from Terminator Genisys. And we also review the Kylo Ren Starkiller Base exclusive courtesy of Hasbro's Star Wars Black Series. CLICK HERE to go straight to our Sat-TOY-Day news centre

Review : Abe Sapien Hellboy (Mezco) Wave/Series : Basic Series Released : 2004 Price : N/A Mezco's first Hellboy figures are now over 10 years old, yet still stand up really well in the modern collection. Hellboy is my grail collection, and I am slowly building my Hellboy assets year by year. After bagging Hellboy himself, Nuala and Liz Sherman in 2015, 2016 has started really well with the acquisition of not one, but two Abe Sapien figures. Abe was released in 2004 as part of the first wave linked to the first Hellboy movie. Other figures in the launch wave were 4 variant versions of Hellboy himself as well as Kroenen and Rasputin. He would get a re-release in a 1.5 wave with battle damage added. He arrives in a sealed blister pack, and unless it has been curated well over the past 12 years or so it will likely be starting to yellow and there be a brittleness to the perspex. The card art is quite dark, in tones of blue and black. In stark contrast there is a red Hellboy head & shoulders image to the left hand side and above this the intricate Hellboy logo in silver. The back of the card details the plot of the Hellboy movie to the right hand side in a crisp white text. The rest of the card is made up of a composite image of all the figures in the wave with a grey lined art image of Sammael, the Desolate One, hovering above them all. Out of the packaging and you will be presented with a rather naked looking Abe, as well as an alternative head sculpt, a belt, one of Sammael's eggs and a two part breathing apparatus. Abe stands dead on 7 inches high and has quite a bit of weight behind him considering what a slight frame he has. There are two head sculpts included - one with goggles and one without - and both are a great likeness to Abe from the first HB movie, despite a lack of actual features for the sculptor to work with. Both heads, like the rest of Abe's body is decorated with a variation pattern of blue's and has a very high gloss finish to represent the wet look of his skin. The goggles on the alternative version are fixed into the sculpt and are decorated in black with bronze trim. The heads are really easy to swap over, a feature that more modern figures may want to look at. Down from the head is a sculpted neck with gills to either side. The neck works down into a muscular chest which is again decorated in this blue variation with a high gloss finish. This continues down the arms to a web sculpted hand which is then over-painted with a more greenish tinge on the palms. Abe wears a basic pair or knee length shorts, and as these are a lycra (or similar) fabric there is no discernable detail apart from a side seam, and a slit at the back where Abe's leg fins poke through. The shorts appear to be painted a flag grey, with a further wash on top. Like other figures of the era, the hip joints are quite clunky looking with the choice made of articulation over the look of the figure. Down from the shorts the high gloss blue skin continues down into the legs and finishes with some pointed toed feet. Accessories are easy to install. The first is the belt and this wraps quite loosely round Abe's waste and fasteners with a plug. The belt is leather look with a dark brown base colour and a lighter brown dry-brushed on top. The buckle of the belt bears the BRPD logo and is picked out in a silver and bronze trim. Being quite a loose fit can mean the belt can slip down too low, but in the main it sits fine and can be adjusted easily. The second accessory is the two part breathing accessory and this needs installing while the head is removed. The ribbed piece slots over the neck and the head goes back on to hold this in place. The second piece, the one that looks like a horse collar, is hinged and then slips around underneath the ribbed neck piece. Once on the head still keeps a good degree of movement, with the neck section concertinaing nicely as the head moves. The final accessory is one of Sammael's eggs, and this doesn't really add any value. Abe's hands are both flat palmed so he can't hold these eggs at all - and it is a bit too small to have any impact as a display/diorama piece. Articulation on the figure is awesome, and will put some modern figures to shame. Starting at the head and this is on a ball joint that not only serves move the head fully but is a dream to swap in and out for the two head versions. There is then a second joint under the neck piece giving Abe the ability to both move his head and then his neck. This means that without the breathing gear, Abe can actually look directly down at his own feet. Ball jointed shoulders move the arms either straight out to one side or round right above his head. The arm articulation then goes on to a bicep swivel, an elbow joint, a forearm swivel and a pegged hand. There is a torso joint, but no waist swivel, and you then move down to those unappealing hip joints. They may not look great, but they move brilliantly and Abe can do the splits, or sit down or anything in between. Just below the hip ball is a thigh swivel, and then there is a basic knee joint and a final pivot on the feet which can be pointed with toes vertically downward. I guess the articulation, all 21 points of it, is geared around getting Abe into a number of swimming/underwater poses - and it is therefore unfortunate that Mezco didn't go the extra mile and include a clear "flight" stand to help Abe make the most of all this movement. Everything about Abe Sapien is brilliant, there are very few flaws and that is amazing considering he is already 11 years old as I write this. He isn't that easy to find nowadays, but when he does show up he isn't breaking the bank like some other HB figures like Sammael or Nuada. As one of the main backup heroes to Hellboy I think every HB collection needs an Abe, and this one is as good as any - with the other option being the Hellboy 2 version where Abe gets shoes and a shirt and a BRPD scanner. I score Abe Sapien a perfect 5 out of 5

Review : Selina Kyle Gotham Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 1 Released : November 2015 £19.99 - £22.99 Released in November of 2015, Selina Kyle is the 3rd figure in the début series of Gotham Select figures from Diamond Select Toys. Alongside Jim Gordon and the Penguin, Selina is a "Select" release so she comes on that oversized Select style card and is packed with a diorama base. She does look a little lost inside that huge packaging, particularly in such a dark outfit against her dark diorama base - but the packaging is lifted by that huge left hand panel with the Gotham logo and the character name and image of Camren Bicondova from the TV show. To the side, left, is the spine art that is synonymous with Select releases, and this is a shot of Selina from the show and round the back there is an image of the figure itself alongside a bio of the character and a "also available" checklist of the other figures in series 1. Out of the box Selina comes in an outer plastic tray, behind which is tucked the numerous pieces of her diorama - we will build this and discuss it later on. The only other accessory included is a milk carton. Selina stands 6" high, so a good inch shorter than the adult characters of Gordon and Penguin. Diamond often struggle with human facial likenesses, and Selina's is once again slightly off. She will be recognisable to Gotham fans as Selina, but her eyes are a little too wide and they haven't quite captured the "moody" look of Kyle from the show. The paint hasn't helped either with thick black lines round half the eyes, but not all so that visually pushes them wider apart. They have also applied perhaps a touch too much blusher and not dirtied Selina up to reflect her situation as a street kid in the first series. The hair however is well done and sticks out of her hood naturally. The hood itself is crowned by her goggle glasses and all of this is neatly painted, although in flat colours with only a dry brush of a lighter brown on the hair to add texture. The hood has also not been sculpted or designed to connect to the body, so it looks "odd" from behind, but in terms of retaining head articulation I can see why the decision was made. Selina's outfit is predominantly black, from a black zipped leather jacket down to ripped trousers and black ankle boots. Diamond have done a good job of each of these with differing textures and finishes on each. The jacket has a number of zippers and buttons and a ruffled look along the chest and both arms. The zippers are all picked out in a crisp silver, and the whole jacket has had a very subtle dry-brush with a grey to pick out the rolls and ruffles in the cloth. The top half is finished with a pair of finger-less gloves on each hand. The right hand is sculpted as a fist, and the left in a wider gripping pose - into which slots the aforementioned Milk carton, a nice snug fit. The trousers are a more tighter fit than the jacket so less texture, but each rip is done really well and a brown legging is then coloured underneath adding some more depth to the dark costume. Like the jacket there are details in the trousers like some bracers on the knees and a ribbed shin area and these are also dry-brushed in that grey to raise them up and make them pop. The boots are quite plain at first glance, but look closer and there are straps wrapping each boot round the ankle and a thin, but neatly painted buckle to either side. So all pretty good so far, let's now look at articulation. As I mentioned earlier the decision to not attach the hood to the jacket has left the head with the ability to turn a full 360 degrees and also look up and down - the down look a must for diorama posing later on. Shoulders are ball jointed, so move up down and out to the side fully. The elbows rotate and bend 90 degrees, and there is a distinct ratchet movement in the elbows that bend with a satisfying click on each turn and then hold themselves in position. The wrists also rotate and then flex up and down slightly on their peg. There is a waist joint of some description, but it doesn't allow any movement. It was all going so well up to now, but once you hit the legs there is a real frustration. Anyone who collects DST knows that loose hips are a long term problem, and female hips seem to suffer even more. Like the Black Widow figure from Summer, Selina's ball jointed hips are really flexible in terms of movement, but will not support the figure without sliding into a splits pose - or more often than not collapsing the figure over all together. This is a real shame as everything else on this figure has worked really well, and if you go down past the hips to the double jointed knees these are also ratcheted and really slick and the ankle rockers allow the feet to be planted in a number of poses. A figure that doesn't stand is the biggest frustration I can ever have as a collector. It means you either risk damage or shelf avalanches or stick them on a stand - which then detracts from the figure. With Selina, peg stands won't fix the issue so unless you want to superglue the hips you will probably need to use a waist stand such as a Kaiser Doll stand. Looking at the diorama now, and there are a number of pieces to assemble - all without any instructions. The two wall sections slot together and then the balcony fits onto this supported by two more brackets. Finally the ladder hangs down the side. On its own, this is no use to anyone as it will not stand on its own. The reason is that this was designed to combine with the alley way scene from Jim Gordon to give a double height stand. Once connected to Jim's alleyway the piece looks quite impressive. But then when you start to use it you will start to find flaws pretty quickly. First off, the plastic is quite soft and therefore the balcony rail and ladder will be mis-formed. It also makes the balcony quite wobbly if you stand a figure up there - and I don't think it would support more than one before it either sagged or fell over. The bigger issue though is if you try and stand a normal human figure in the alley under the balcony. I now know why every promo shot of series 1 had Jim Gordon standing slightly in front of the diorama as opposed to on it. The gap between the street/alley and the bottom of the balcony is less than 7", so there is no way any adult figure can stand on it. This is a real shame as it would have only need another inch and a half of wall piece to raise it up to a usable level. So Selina has great points, but also some pretty big flaws. I hope Diamond can eventually fix this floppy hip syndrome - it is a bug bear on so many figures, from War Machine to Black Widow and now Selina Kyle. I would also like to see more thought into these diorama's - if you are going to combine them to make bigger pieces - make them in scale as much as possible and usable - not something that is so undersized it makes the figure look ridiculous. I score Selina Kyle a 3 out of 5 Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Review : Bishop (Queen Attack) NECA, Alien Series Wave/Series : Series 5 Released : August 2015 Price : £19.99 After making his début in NECA's Alien range in Series 3, it was inevitable that Bishop would find his way back round again for another release later in the run. His reappearance in Series 5 may be a little soon, but it fit in beautifully in terms of sitting alongside the Ripley from Aliens and coinciding with the release of the Power Loader. It is debatable whether you could class this release as a true action figure. In reality it is only half a figure, but NECA make up for this by packing in a value adding accessory in terms of the Alien Egg and Facehugger. Bishop arrives in the usual NECA clamshell pack we have seen right from the launch of the Alien series. The header card is presented with the 1986 Aliens logo and the side art around the blister is atmospherically shot using the figure and accessories themselves. Round the back of the card and you will find yet another brilliant shot of the figure in one of NECA's famous diorama's. Overlaid on this is a quick summary of the plot of Aliens which is the same as the Ripley card back. And at the bottom are three circular flashes showing head shots of all three figures in Series 5 - Bishop, Ripley and the Genocide Alien (two versions). Out of the pack and Bishop is strapped in to the top half of the plastic insert, and beneath him is the open Alien Egg. To the right, as we look at it, is the Facehugger itself. There are no other accessories included. We will look first at Bishop. The sculpts on NECA at the moment are industry leading at the price point they sell their figures. Bishop is no exception, but it is surprising (or maybe not after what we have seen so far from NECA) that this is actually a new sculpt - or at least a revision of the series 3 version. The face is longer and drawn out into a shocked expression, if Android's can be shocked? The hair is also messier and drawn out to either side of the head. And rather than paint applications, the Android blood and vein's are actually sculpted onto the face and then painted. Painting is neat, but I find the eyes a little too cartoonish vs the original release and perhaps the wash to bring out the facial lines is a tad too heavy particularly where you look at the furrowed brow. Down into the torso, and what is left of the uniform is sculpted to include more of the Android blood and is also ripped just under the collar. Under this collar you get the first sight of Bishop's innards, and of course these then spill out gruesomely from the chest cavity downwards. The various pipes and wires are all neatly sculpted and then painted in that milky brown with a lighter wash on top to bring out the details. If I have any criticism here is that I may have expected a glossier sheen on this detail to give it a wet look. Both arms are likely a direct re-use from the S3 release, but that is fine. They are the only area where the damage and blood splatter is purely paint application and that is nicely concentrated around the palms of the hands - a nice touch from where Bishop has been trying to deal with the damage himself. The back of the figure has been sculpted deliberately flat so that it sits flat on a surface, yet NECA have resisted the desire to leave this plain and un-sculpted and the back has fabric folds coming in from the shoulders and a belt down near where the waist would have been. Rear paint applications of the blood are a bit messier here, mine almost looks like a thumbprint from the factory. But this detail means you can have Bishop gripped by your Alien Queen if you wish rather than lying prone on the floor. Articulation was never going to be a deal breaker on Bishop as he wouldn't need much. The head used the usual joint and therefore can look up and down as well as side to side. Sadly, if you do lean the head back too much while Bishop is lying prone a gap opens up at the base of the neck. Arm joints start with shoulder ball joints and that means the arms can be spread-eagled either side to about 45 degrees to the body. The elbows then rotate and bend to a similar 45 degree level and the wrists can rotate. This means you can prop Bishop up slightly as he lies, and also spread flat with arms out to either side. Before we move on to the 2nd half of this figure, the Egg & Facehugger, I must stop and pause. As you will read shortly, the Egg / Facehugger combination is pretty decent but isn't directly relevant to Bishops appearance in these final scenes and therefore there is a bit of me here that says that this figure could have been so much more as a diorama piece had NECA chucked in his dissected legs also - or even (and I know this is pie in the sky) with a Newt figure? But it was the Egg we got, so let's have a look at that now. The Egg is exactly same as the open version packed in the egg box 6-pack that was released a couple of months after Bishop. The egg is nicely sculpted with a flat bottom that means it also sit's fine on a flat surface display. The egg is textured with what I can best described as a dried riverbed cracked surface and this is then painted in varying shades of green and brown. The pink egg flaps are peeled back, and between each flap on the outside are strings of goo which are painted in a creamier colour. The inside of the egg is decorated in a "brain" texture which is painted pink with a cream wash. Onto the Facehugger, and this is also sculpted really well and looks to be perfectly in scale with the 7" figures. From the 8 spider like legs, to the two air sacks, the Facehugger is then painted in a brown with a darker wash to bring out the details on the spinal tail. Articulation, as such it is, is delivered by a flexible tail which is achieved by the plastic being sculpted over a metal bendable armature. Sadly, and a problem I also encountered with the 6-pack, the tail is quite weak and can split and start to break if you bend it. This brittleness means getting them into a decent pose runs the risk of damaging them, so you may be as well leaving this one laid out flat as it comes in the pack and therefore having him shooting out of the egg or scuttling across the floor. Queen Attack Bishop was never a release to set the world on fire, more so a supporting act to the big figure of the series - Aliens Ripley. Everything on Bishop is done well with just very minor gripes around the painting of the eyes, the neck joint and the detail of the paint in the chest cavity. The egg does a job of filling the space in the pack and will look great in any Alien diorama - in fact the problem you will have is that you only have one of them and will need to immediately go and find the 6-pack to flesh out your display. Bishop gets a 3 out of 5 from me.

In this week's Sat-TOY-Day news we take a look at a couple of juicy rumours in the Star Wars Black Series, as well as a full page of NECA reveals from the past 7-days. Captain America Civil War products are also starting to be revealed en-masse and we have The Muppets (who could want more?) CLICK HERE to go straight to our Sat-TOY-Day news centre

Our latest Newsletter is loaded. Issue 09 takes a look at the newly announced Star Wars 3.75" figures. Some NECA reveals and the first Diamond Select Marvel figure of 2016 On top of this is a full review of the Character Options 5" Dr Who figure - the 8th Doctor CLICK HERE