009 Action Figure Sat-TOY-Day News, 16th January 2016

Issue 09 : Saturday 16th January, 2016

The countdown to Toy Fair commences, in conjunction with FigureLand

Issue 09 : Saturday 16th January, 2016

That was the news that wasn’t...

This week has been interesting to say the least, with potentially a HUGE bit of news that we are not bringing you following a request by the company involved. The online news business is fraught with these type of stories where a big story turns out to be a leak or often unsubstantiated or fake.

Star Wars 3.75” Reveals New listings at Entertainment Earth have confirmed a number of new figures for the Star Wars 3.75” range.

In cases like this I feel that we will always follow the respects of the manufacturer. Firstly, I can’t afford expensive law-suits - and secondly, I think it is the right thing to do to maintain and/or build a good relationship with said manufacturers.

Although waves are unclear, these figures are listed as ranging from wave 3 through to wave 5.

So that was the news that “wasn’t”, what about the news that was?

In the standard single figure range we will be getting an unmasked Kylo Ren - I have no idea why his hood is up?

Well, the Star Wars behemoth continues to roll onward - with a raft of new 3.75” figures confirmed this week and released for pre-order to many sites along with the official promotional images. Yet, this is at a time when many UK stores are clearing Star Wars out at ridiculous prices - checkout the Tie Fighter bargain later on which is actually the same price as a figure!

NECA are stirring up fans really well for Toy Fair, and it was nice to see that even with such a big show coming up they are still happy to share new reveals with the fans on Twitter.

Before the US Toy Fair, we have the UK show which starts next week (Sunday 24th January). As with any big show, we will be covering all the key news that comes out of this trade only show. And our coverage is supported by our good friends at Figureland.

Reviews have slowed again (sorry) but you can read our full review of the Doctor Who 8th Doctor this week, and online we have also posted reviews for Rose Tyler (Dr Who), Khal Drogo (Game of Thrones) and the Han & Tauntaun deluxe pack (Star Wars Black).

On the to-do list are more GoT items, one from NECA and some older figures that have been a bit of a grail quest for me over the last 12-months.

As well as Kylo they will be adding Unkar Plutt and FN-2187 with blood marked helmet. Within these we will also get the Rebels era Captain Rex that was shown way back at SDCC. Also in the single carded figures will be a Ep7 Admiral Ackbar, Han Solo and Taso Leech.

We are also rapidly approaching the release of the Diamond Select Ghostbusters, as well as expecting the NECA delivery trucks to hit the UK and bring us our Isolation Aliens, AvP Predators and Ultimate Sarah Connor. All of these will hopefully be picked up, reviewed and archived as soon as they hit the stores.

So enough waffle, I will let you crack on… but before you go, and particularly if you are a follower of our Facebook page - THANK YOU - we hit 400 likes this week.

The final addition to the single figures will be Nien Nunb and the Heavy Weapon Stormtrooper.

This trooper was part of the Amazon 7-pack, so nice to get him singularly although he looks to be without his heavy blaster.

In the two packs we will get Captain Ithano and his first mate Quiggold - these were the guys from Maz’s Bar.

Wave 2 of Funko’s Doctor Who Pop! range was released for pre-order this week.

Where wave 1 was themed around the more current series, this one returns to early series and includes the 9th Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, River Song, Silent and a 1970’s classic Sarah Jane Smith.

Pre-orders are now being taken for delivery in late February / early March.

And it wouldn’t be a Funko release without an exclusive, and this one's a doozy and will be a must have for all Who Pop! collectors.

Exclusive at Gamestop only is this K9 Pop! Thankfully for UK fans, Gamestop usually ship to UK.

Then there is X-Wing pilot Snap Wexley who is buddied up with another First Order Snowtrooper variant - black pauldron.

And finally… the Armour-Up range is continuing and within this we will be getting another Finn (FN-2187) with helmet built into the armourup piece. Joining him is the Special Forces Tie Fighter Pilot.

All of these are expected to ship towards the end of January, so start checking the pegs. The Armour Up figures are due in February.

Issue 09 : Saturday 16th January, 2016

Tuesday 12th of January saw the reveal of the first Marvel figure of 2016 coming from Diamond Select.

Spectacular!

Spectacular Spider-Man leaps right off the comic book pages and into Disney Stores as an exclusive.

You'll get to see the two different sides of Peter Parker with this highly detailed, lifelike Spectacular Spider-Man Action Figure by Marvel Select. There's Parker as a photographer, complete with camera, then as his Super Hero alter ego.

This new figure boasts both masked and unmasked heads and a wealth of interchangeable hands as well as a removed mask and camera accessories.

● Fully poseable figure ● Two interchangeable heads, with mask and without

Spidey is expected to be in stores by the 29th February, so not long to wait. He has a US RRP of $24.95 and will likely convert to around £19.99 here in the UK.

● Includes interchangeable fists, mask after having been

Pre-orders are up in the US via Marvel.com and it is expected that Disney Store UK will offer a similar pre-order soon.

● Free standing

removed, and camera ● Collector quality and detail

About Figureland…

Figureland is a new UK based company providing action figures, statues, toys, games, collectibles and there's lots more coming!

The UK Toy Fair 2016 is coming up fast, taking place at Kensington Olympia from Sunday 24th January through to Tuesday 26th January.

The company aims to please those who are looking for specific products from a vast array of brand names.

Not only will the company provide high quality figures and busts but also many other

Our Toy Fair coverage will kick off from the Sunday, bringing you the key Action Figure news and releases that will be announced at Toy Fair.

collectible products like replica movie props, plush toys, model kits to smaller items like

Supporting us in our coverage are Figureland who will be in attendance at the show itself, and sharing their news and pictures.

The website is open all year round and our phone line is open Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm

All the UK Toy Fair news will be initially shared via our social channels, so sign up to our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

We will then be summarising any key news in the Sat-TOY-Day newsletter (issue #11) on Saturday the 30th of January.

In the meantime please give Figureland a visit via the links (right) and checkout their stocks of Action Figures and all their upcoming pre-orders. Figureland can also be found trading at local cons and events - and you can follow where and when via the Figureland Facebook feed.

mugs, key rings, ice cube trays, apparel and more.

Issue 09 : Saturday 16th January, 2016

NECA have been raising the excitement ahead of the US Toy Fair with a number of hints and snippets this week on Twitter.

This week we have seen more “after Xmas” clearance prices on a number of juicy items in the UK.

Actual reveals came in the shape of this look at a prototype Hunter Killer from Terminator which will be released as part of their Cinemachine range.

Also revealed in all its glory was the Weyland Yutani Commando which will be part of the 7” Alien range, slotting into series 8 which will be themed around the Alien 3 movie.

If Tie FIghters are your thing, then the 3.75” scale Special Forces Tie is now just £10 in Tesco stores. And the larger 6 inch version has significantly dropped price on Amazon and is hovering between £100 and £110

We are expecting to see more of Series 8 at Toy Fair.

Tesco’s clearance also includes the Black and Orange 3.75” X-Wing pack, which had an RRP before Xmas of £49.99.

It now seems to be being sold off at £13.50.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Our Independence Day The Funko Pop! machine continues rolling, and this week we saw that the cult movie Independence Day is now being absorbed into the collection.

The first three Pops are Will Smith’s Captain Hiller, the ID Alien and Jeff Goldblum’s David Levinson.

And if it’s the white & blue one you fancy, that can be found over at Asda for £26

Diamond showed off more images of their Ghostbuster Select build-a-scene diorama this week, backdropped beautifully by their Stay Puft giant Money Bank.

The Select Ghostbusters are due into stores imminently...

It is probably no coincidence that these are landing ahead of the long awaited sequel this year, and we would expect to see more ID figures from both the old and new movie in 2016 My personal find of the week was the Bandai 1/12 First Order Stormtrooper kit on Amazon UK. As many of you know, Bandai are restricted from selling their 1/12 kit range outside of Japan - so £15.67 delivered, this kit is one to snap up now while it is available.

Marvel 3.75” Last week we showed you images of new Marvel 3.75” scale figures of Black Panther and Spider-man.

This week these figures have hit retail, and are available NOW at Kapow toys - slotted into this 8 figure wave which also includes Captain Marvel and a Mk1 Iron-Man. Click the image to go direct to Kapow’s website.

Issue 09 : Saturday 16th January, 2016

Review : 8th Doctor (Night of the Doctor) Doctor Who 5 inch (Character Options) Wave/Series : Toys R Us / Forbidden Planet International, Autumn 2015 releases Released : November 2015 Price : ÂŁ14.99 With this exception of one figure, the current Dr Who 5 inch range at Toys R Us has been made up of re-releases and tweaked repaints across both the boxed and blister packed collections.

The exception is this figure, that of the 8th Doctor as seen in the 2013 50th Anniversary prequel, Night of the Doctor.

This release represents the 4th version (kind of) of the 8th Doctor.

We had the original green coat from the 11 Doctor box set, and then a tweak of that to a blue coat in the Dalek 2-pack. The 3rd version was only really a head, and included with the War Doctor figure. It is surprising, as you will see from the gallery and the review to follow, that even with a head from the 50th anniversary they still went ahead and sculpted a new version for this figure.

The Doctor arrives in the boxed packaging, which gives him a more collectors feel vs the blister packed figures we have also seen on Toys R Us pegs. As well as being sold via Toys R Us, these boxed figures are also being sold via Forbidden Planet International as part of their partnership with Underground Toys.

The packaging is standard fare for this new boxed range with its black through to orange vortex design around a window through which you can view the figure. Round the back is a large image of the actual figure, and to the left of this is a 4 paragraph bio of the 8th Doctor and talks about his first adventure in San Francisco through to his regeneration in the Time War. If you have purchased from Forbidden Planet, or indeed overseas, then you will find the Underground Toys logo bottom centre next to the Character Options logo and safety/legal notices. If you have bought at Toys R Us then this Underground Toys logo will have been over-stickered with black as the Toys R Us deal is solely with Character.

Out of the box, and this is a good looking figure by any standards and shows how strong the Dr Who range could still be in this scale if Character returned to the larger scale en-masse. The Doctor stands 5.5" high, taller than some of the older figures, and representative of this move to calling this a 5.5" range. This makes him a good half inch taller than his younger self from the earlier 5" figures. This doesn't make a massive difference unless you are putting clearly odd sized figures next to each other.

The sculpt is one of the strongest I have seen on this scale of figure for a long time. As I said, this is another new sculpt rather than using the existing Paul McGann heads, and it captures his look from Night of the Doctor really well - much better than the lone head that came with the War Doctor. Unlike previous releases, the hair on this also captures his on-screen look really well.

The outfit on screen was an evolution of his clothes from the original TV movie, and all of it is represented on the figure. The Doctor is wearing a detailed waistcoat into which is sculpted very crisp button details, and a watch chain snaking away under his coat. Under this is an off white shirt, which has its collars folded outward and under this is a blue scarf. Like most CO coated figures, the coat itself is an additional piece that slots around the sculpted torso. The coat is new also, and is much crisper again on detail than any older coats CO may have done. You can see clear button holes on the collar and then buttons down the front and across the back. The white shirt protrudes from the cuffs of the coat and the hands are sculpted in a gripping position to hold the accessories, we will talk about these a bit later.

There is a slung "gunslingers" type belt round The Doctors waist, and then we go down into the trousers which are then tucked into a pair of knee high boots. The trousers aren't massively detailed, but there is a much improved folding of the cloth and matching how natural fabric would behave, even bunching it up where it tucks into the boots. The boots are laced from top to bottom, with each lace sculpted.

So big tick for the sculpt.

Issue 09 : Saturday 16th January, 2016

Painting is also excellent. Working back up, the boots are painted a patent leather colour and then dirtied up with a dark wash which picks out the lace detail even more so. The trousers, which on older Who figures would have been plain brown, are really nice with a dark brown base coat and then carefully painted details into the fabric folds - more so than a dry brush even, as though each stroke was done by hand to match the fold of the fabric. The belt is black but with a very neat, and incredibly thin, silver painted buckle. The waistcoat achieves an almost metallic copper look and again is washed to bring out detail and "dirty it up". The shirt, scarf and coat are quite a flat colour but don't really need much else.

The head is a flat skin tone with a subdued lip colour and those bright eyes McGann has picked out really neatly. The hair is a dark brown and then like the trousers dry-brushed/painted to bring out the high points and give the hair depth. One niggle here is that around the ears the hair paint doesn't extend far enough and leaves a touch of sculpted hair a skin colour - but it is barely noticeable.

By this point articulation is more of a side issue as this figure has ticked all the boxes so far. But it doesn't let you down here either.

Granted it's not Marvel Legend or Star Wars Black level of articulation - but it does represent a step on from earlier Who figures.

The bandoleer comes already on the figure, but can be easily removed by pointing the right arm up and then bending the elbow. It is sculpted to hang naturally one way up, so make sure you get it right if you are replacing it back on the body. The bandoleer is painted black with silver detail. The Karn Chalice is a pewter coloured cup, with a decent amount of detail sculpted into the base considering it's size. It fits best in the left hand.

The sonic is a brand new sculpt also from what I can tell. This is another surprise as I would have assumed this may just have been a tweak from an earlier classic figure. The screwdriver is cast in silver with an insanely small, yet neat, gold ring round the handle and a red emitter at the top.

So you can probably tell by now that I am really impressed with this figure. Even at a smaller scale it certainly holds its own against the bigger 6" scales. It has no major flaws, and in fact only scored two minors in the whole review - that of the gap on the thigh joint and the hair paint.

The one issue this figure will have, is staying on shelves. It isn't clear if he is packed as a wave, or packed individually, but he will certainly outsell all the other figures by a substantial degree.

I score Night of the Doctor 8th Doctor figure a top notch 5 out of 5. Well done Character

Also reviewed this week and accessible online via our website are the following figure reviews.

Click the image to go directly to access the review The head remains pegged, and simply rotates. It is a tad tight and I would worry down the road about rubbing paint on the neck, so be careful. The shoulders have been upgraded to ball joint now (hurray) pivot joint so as well as moving his hands round he can also move the arms outwards and then rotate the whole arm rather than relying on that bicep joint to rotate the arm. The bicep twist is still there, not that it is needed, and does still pose a weak spot on the figure and the arm can pop out if mishandled (it pops back in easily enough). The elbows remain a pinned joint and the wrists a peg so they rotate.

There is a waist joint, and you can move the whole torso separate to the legs to a small degree either side of facing front. The hips move front to back and side to side, although side in particularly is restricted by the coat. There is a thigh swivel - which is a touch too wide for me on one leg. The knee joints, although still pinned, are much better looking, with some thought going behind how the joint looks closed up.

The boots rotate just under the knee - and for me I would have taken this ahead of the thigh joint to the stance if needed. Unlike a couple of other Who figures we have reviewed recently, Doctor 8 stands perfectly well.

Accessories packed in with the Doctor include the Sonic Screwdriver, the Karn Goblet and the bandoleer he took from the ill fated Cass in the mini-episode.