Marvel Legends 2-Pack - SHIELD Leaders - Maria Hill and Iron Man
It was a little over a year ago, at San Diego Comic-Con, and I had been floored by the Hasbro Marvel team. Let’s face it, since Hasbro took over the Marvel license, they had some hits and some misses (some would argue more of the latter), and had just started hitting their stride. They had just released a Build-a-Figure Fin Fang Foom (wow!) and the their newest 2-packs were reminiscent of the Marvel Legends of old.
And then, the void. The retail channel was bogged down in older Legends products, and new product kept getting pushed back.
But the day has come, Marvel Legends fans! The newest wave of Marvel Legends 2-packs are hitting retail shelves, and I’ll be reviewing them over the next couple of days. First up, the SHIELD Leaders 2-pack, featuring the former top cheese at SHIELD, Maria Hill, and the guy who replaced her in the top spot, Iron Man.
I have had a set of these in my grubby hands for a few weeks, but those were due to go out to the winner of the Marvel Universe Covers Contest, so I first took some shots of the packaged figures. To whet your appetites, here they are.
In an industry that is dominated by licensed properties, the Four Horsemen have forged ahead with the Seventh Kingdom, a non-licensed property of their own creation. Seventh Kingdom is one line within the umbrella of the Horsemen’s Fantastic Exclusive, in which fans help determine the product characteristics, like character selection and articulation.
The Seventh Kingdom’s Queen Alluxandra and Isadorra are part of the 3rd round of Fantastic Exclusives. The first round was headlined by Xetheus the minotaur, and the second was headlined by Ramathorr the elephant, both from the Seventh Kingdom as well. I picked up Queen Alluxandra and Isadorra at the Four Horsemen’s booth at San Diego Comic-Con.
This winter, Action Figure Express will have two exclusive X-Men Minimates sets, the Silver Age X-Men in their matching blue and gold suits, and the original X-Factor which reunited that team in their costumes with large colored X across the front. Well, kind of. The sets as planned contain four X-Men each, while the teams each had five.
The four members in the 4-packs are Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, and Beast. The odd man out is Angel. Don’t fret, though. An Angel for both teams will be released in the standard 2-pack format. Not together, though. Silver Age Angel is in an AFX 2-pack with a modern Madrox the Multiple Man – which could be unfortunate since people may want to army build with Madrox. And X-Factor Angel will be part of a Toys R Us 2-pack with Warpath.
I think this is an odd arrangement – if you’re going to release a packaged set of a team, why release one of the key members separately? … Oh no – if I start chanting “No Monkey, No Money!” just talk me down gently.
X-Men Minimates Go Retro With AFX!
It’s been an extremely exciting year for Marvel Minimates so far, and 2009 is going to keep delivering more of your favorite Marvel characters – focusing on Marvel’s Mighty Mutants! Two new exclusive box sets will be hitting collections later this year starring none other than the X-Men!
First up from Action Figure Xpress is the much-requested Silver Age X-Men box set featuring the original five members of the team in their first appearance duds. Featuring Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman and Beast – Minimate-aholics will be able to complete their set of founding X-Men with the Silver Age Angel available in Series 31 (due for release in December of ’09). Please take note that the Silver Age Angel will NO LONGER be the chase figure in this assortment, giving fans much improved odds on completing their Silver Age X-Men team. The Silver Age X-Men box set is now available for pre-order on ShopAFX.com and will also be shipping to customers in the end of this year.
As if one team of classic X-Men with interchangeable heads and accessories wasn’t enough, a second box set featuring the team’s landmark X-Factor outfits is also in the works from Action Figure Xpress! Featuring new versions of Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Jean Grey – fans will again be able to complete their five-member team by visiting Toys R Us and picking up the X-Factor Angel & Warpath two-pack this fall. The four-pack X-Factor set can be pre-ordered from ShopAFX.com and will be available concurrently to the Silver Age X-Men set.
For our complete offering of Silver Age X-Men characters, look for a new visual checklist on Minimates.com in the coming days and be sure to stay tuned as more and more of Marvel’s Mighty Mutants make Marvel Minimates history – two inches at a time!
It’s that time of year again! Entertainment Earth is holding one of it’s big inventory clearance sales, and that includes action figures.
They’re saying it’s up to 80% off – most of the things I am interested are between 30 – 50% off. That includes DC Universe Classics, Halo, and GI Joes.
For example, at the Mattel DC Panel at San Diego Comic-Con, a very upset fan was lamenting the lack of availability of Killer Moth. Well, upset fan, Killer Moth is on sale right now for $8.80! Buy him now! No more tears!
With sales like these, things sell out quickly, so don’t procrastinate!
Summer Blowout Sale!
Thank you for your business! To show our appreciation, we’re marking down items up to 80% off! Buy action figures, games, and collectible statues and busts at our lowest prices ever! Star Wars, Star Trek, Spider-Man, and more are on sale. But hurry… our limited stock won’t last long at these prices!
More Masters of the Universe Classics updates from Mattel – they’ve posted pictures of the October figures, previously announced at San Diego Comic-Con.
Teela, Captain of the Eternian Guard, will be the first female figure in the line, and is the “regular” figure that will be included in the fall subscription, if you have one. Mattel had hinted previously that Teela would come with a special accessory – as many guessed, it’s Zoar the falcon.
Zodak features the 200X redesign of Zodac, and is the bonus figure for the month – he is not part of the subscription. I really liked the Zodak redesign, so I’m stoked he’s getting his day in MOTU Classics.
October MOTU Classic figures revealed!
MOTU Classics Teela – front
MOTU Classics Teela – back
MOTU Classics Zodak – front
MOTU Classics Zodak – back
Teela and Zodak will hit on Oct 15th! Get em while you can. If you have a 2009 Subscription you are guaranteed Teela!
Teela comes with sword, shield, staff of Ka, alt. head with snake armor and Zoar the falcon in orginal deco. (not to worry, Zoar in blue and red deco is coming too, but not for a little while…)
Check out Teela’s bio!
Zodak will be a “bonus” figure for October and is not included in the subscription.
Zodak comes with cosmic armor and an all new Power Staff!
Yes, we know there is a small type-o in Zodak’s bio and are working to fix that before it ships out!
For those of you with your magnifying glasses out, Tyler Pearce did us a solid and posted the bios on Mattel’s Facebook page. Enjoy!
Teela
Real Name: Teela
The adoptive daughter of Duncan, the current Man-At-Arms, Teela grew up in the palace of King Randor. Trained from an early age in the ways of battle, at 18 she became Captain of the Guard, leading Randor’s troops and acting as a defacto member of the Masters of the Universe. She has yet to become aware of her true heritage as the magically cloned daughter, and heir to, the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull. She carries the staff of Ka which was once used by the Snake Men in their epic battles against the Horde and King Grayskull during the Great Wars. Teela uses her magical staff to track her foes every move.
Zodak
Real Name: Kar-Tor
An ancient and powerful enforcer for the Council of Elders, Kar-Tor studied the teachings and mystic fighting techniques of the Cosmic Enforcers and knows how to instantly identify an opponent’s weakness. After his mentor, the original Zodac, left Eternia to fulfill the Eldor’s bargain with Tolla*. Kar-Tor took his place on the Council and helped lead them in battle against the Snake Men, eventually trapping King Hssss in the void with the power of his staff. Although he prefers a solitary life of meditation in the mystic mountains, when he is called to battle Zodak attacks his enemies using all the power at his command.
*Mattel mentioned a typo on this bio and I’m guessing this should read Trolla.
