Toy Fair Archives - Page 12 of 23 - ActionFigurePics.com

Toy Fair 2014: Square Enix Grows Play Arts Kai DC Presence with Watchmen, Arkham Origins, and More DC Variants

Square Enix is one of the companies I love to visit at the shows – their Play Arts Kai figures always amaze me, and I’m a big fan of their DC stuff in particular. At this Toy Fair, they introduced a couple more DC lines that look pretty solid right out of the gate. I’m a big Watchmen fan, and while I’ve been temporarily sated with Mattel’s recently concluded Watchmen 6-inch line, it looks like I’ll be collecting again with the Play Arts Kai Watchmen. Rorschach is the only one revealed thus far, but it’s a great start.

Since Square Enix has been in the game with Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, it’s not surprising that they’re in with Batman: Arkham Origins too. They’ve got Batman (of course), Robin, the Joker, and a really impressive Deathstroke on display.

Their DC Variants line, which features a broad range of DC characters re-imagined in Square Enix style, has been hit or miss with me – call me a purist. At this show they’ve added Hawkman, Joker, Harley Quinn, and Darkseid to the line-up. These will mostly be passes for me, but what do you guys think?

Photo credit: Comics Alliance – many more pics, including more DC and Appleseed

Toy Fair 2014: ThreeA Toys Reveals Dr. Doom, Iron Man Articulation

One of the toy companies I was most looking forward to is 3A Toys, who are at Toy Fair this year to increase their presence with retailers. They’ve generated a very dedicated grass roots fan base in the past several years producing toys based on the artwork of co-owner Ashley Wood. More recently, they’ve been branching out with licensed properties – and one of the ones I’ve found most interesting is their collaboration with Marvel.

The first 1/6 figure to come out of this collaboration is Iron Man – he’s currently available to pre-order at Bambaland (3A’s online store) in four different colorways. In addition to 3A’s unique styling for the character, Iron Man will feature mostly hidden articulation, via a thin skin covering joints that are usually exposed – in this case over the elbows and knees. I’ve been curious to see how this will look the more bent they are – the figures shown at Toy Fair show a little bunching with bent elbows, but not as much as I expected.

I think I would have preferred the joints to be exposed, like they are with Dr. Doom, the next figure that they’ve revealed. While the skin does make Iron Man look pretty sleek, he is after all a guy in a suit of armor, so joints wouldn’t be out of place. The WIP Doom looks pretty damn awesome. In previous Q&A’s Ash has said Spider-Man and Ultron are the next to come, but expect this line to have a slow burn, due to 3A’s meticulous design and development process. It took about a year from the initial Iron Man announcement to having the figure available to pre-order.

Photo credit: CoolToyReview.com – many more excellent pictures of 3A’s Toy Fair booth

Toy Fair 2014: Funko Announces Game of Thrones Legacy

Sandman has been raving to me about Funko’s Game of Thrones Legacy figures. Apparently, Funko held back the official announcement for the line to land just in advance of the release of Season 3 of Game of Thrones on DVD (Tuesday, February 18) and Toy Fair this weekend – however, the announcement did not beat the figures to stores. Apparently, large wooden ships carrying the first assortment of action figures has already laid siege to Barnes and Noble, where you can find the first wave exclusively until it hits more broadly at retail in early March.

The figures look awesome and have some great articulation (we need to convince Sandman to take some pics) – no doubt thanks to Gentle Giant, the design studio that seems to be behind almost everything super-articulated and super-realistic these days. Early reports are that you should be careful with the joints, however, as there’s some brittle clear PVC that tends to break. Hopefully that gets addressed as production continues. We’ll be looking for coverage of the second wave, so stay tuned for more Game of Thrones.

Continue reading “Toy Fair 2014: Funko Announces Game of Thrones Legacy”

Toy Fair 2014: Masters of the Universe Classics Rio Blast, Club Etheria, and DC Super Powers Highlight Mattycollector Reveals

There’s no substitute for seeing the figures in person, but Mattel has been kind enough to share the big reveals from its Collector Event this afternoon via the Mattycollector site. In previous teases leading up to Toy Fair, Mattel promised a subscription in the likes of Club Filmation in 2013 and a send-off for DC Universe Classics – and they did exactly that. Club Etheria is a six figure sub that apparently will have some day of sales. The previously revealed Madam Razz and Broom land in this sub, which also features Double Mischief, Entrapta, and the club exclusive Light Hope. An additional accessory was shown for one of the unrevealed figures – if you didn’t guess it, Mattel provided a spoiler in the image file name.

As for the DC Universe Classics send-off, Mattycollector will offer 6 figures, 3 each in September and October – with an enticing Collect & Connect if you get all six. It’s a Super Powers send-off, featuring Batman, Superman (in 2 flavors, one of them in the fan-demanded light blue), Wonder Woman, Green Lantern as the Riddler, and Mr. Mxyzptlk. The C&C is Kalibak, in his Super Powers brown colors. It really is a fitting finale for the line, which Mattel and the Four Horsemen have said had its roots in the classic Super Powers line.

Finally, Rio Blast was revealed as the September figure for Club Eternia. For fans of the Spirit of Hordak chase figure, Mattel will repeat that in 2014, with a Kowl and Loo-Kee 2-pack. And in a licensing move that feels odd to action figure collectors, Mattel is making Hot Wheels from Marvel Comics. And there’s much more – read on for the press release and pics.

Continue reading “Toy Fair 2014: Masters of the Universe Classics Rio Blast, Club Etheria, and DC Super Powers Highlight Mattycollector Reveals”

Toy Fair 2014: G.I. JOE Continues the Fight Against Cobra as a Toys R Us Exclusive

After a resurgence with their 25th Anniversary line, Hasbo’s G.I. JOE brand has taken a beating the past five years. This is thanks in a big way to lackluster performance of both G.I. JOE movies. Rise of Cobra in 2009 was considered enough of a dud (despite clearing over $300MM worldwide box office) to delay Retaliation to 2013, wreaking havoc in a line that was already heavily ordered at retail. Without the backing of the sequel at retail, the line sputtered and died – and even though Retaliation surpassed its predecessor, the damage was done.

This year, Hasbro has managed to extend the life of the brand by going the retailer exclusive route with Toys R Us. I’m glad to see the line continue, but it’s a tough road ahead. Retaliation did well enough to warrant another sequel from Paramount. And while a director and writer have been attached, no release date has been set – how long the JOE brand can maintain itself in absence of TV or movie support has yet to be seen.

Continue reading “Toy Fair 2014: G.I. JOE Continues the Fight Against Cobra as a Toys R Us Exclusive”