Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
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Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
Well the UK Toy Fair came and when, with a bit of a whimper to be fair in terms of new Movie/TV based Action Figures. Sadly, the big companies always hold back for the New York US Toy Fair a few weeks later and this year the UK was further disadvantaged due to a calendar clash with the Nuremberg Toy Fair. We will be launching our US coverage page shortly and the aim is to update this through the event and then we will summarise the key news in a Toy Fair special later in February. It seems all those NECA figures that hit the US over Christmas have finally made their way here into the UK. This week Mephitsu Towers received the full Alien Isolation Wave, the Pops Terminator from Genisys and the Ultimate Sarah Connor. Checkout our published review for Amanda Ripley later in this issue, and then head over to the website for the other Isolation figure reviews. We will turn our attentions to Terminator for next week. In other news this week we saw lots of new figures from the Far East - SH Figuarts and Mafex, and the usual wealth of sneaky peaks from NECA that keep their fans so engaged. Mezco are also ramping up their One:12 range of uber 1/12 figures and the addition of Batman vs Superman and Star Trek is a big move and throws a gauntlet down to the Japanese companies who have been monopolising this smaller super articulated figure market. So enjoy, and please let us know if you have any feedback. And in case you are new - and in case you like what you see - please visit our Sat-TOY-Day news page at www.mephitsu.co.uk (or our Issuu page) and you can choose to subscribe to this newsletter so you never miss a future edition.
It wasn't that long ago that we were drooling over the Mezco One:12 Spock - and now it seems Mezco are going to be bringing us more of the original Enterprise crew.
One:12 : Dawn of Justice This teaser poster from Mezco confirms that they will be expanding their One:12 range of super articulated 6" figures to include both Batman and Superman from the upcoming Dawn of Justice movie.
Announced this week, for release in June/July 2016, is Mr Sulu as seen in the 1960’s Original Series. Sulu comes with two alternative heads and a wealth of accessory options and swappable hands
Each figure will feature 35 points of articulation and we would also expect real cloth outfits if they follow the same format as previous One:12 figures.
From the original Star Trek series and the bridge of USS Enterprise NCC-1701 comes Chief Helmsman, Hikaru Sulu, one of the iconic series’ most celebrated crew members. The groundbreaking character of Mr. Sulu, portrayed by the inimitable George Takei, bravely guided the starship during its original five-year mission.
That now leaves BvS collectors with a wealth of options to add to their collections with Mezco adding their content to ranges already announced by Mafex and Mattel (wonder if it is a M thing)
Black Series Expands Announced late last year via Hasbro Pulse, this is the first packaged image of the 1/6 scale helmet collection. These are imminent into stores in the US and we would hope over here too. As well as the Kylo Ren & Poe Dameron helmets pictured, we know that Phasma and a First Order Stormtrooper are also included in the first wave.
Sulu was originally the department head of Astro Sciences; he was also an accomplished botanist, fencer, noted expert on projectile weapons, and pilot of “antique” aircraft. He assumed command of the ship on at least four occasions, repeatedly proving himself a skilled and valuable member of the Enterprise crew. Hikaru Sulu went on to become Captain of his own vessel and was honored with a holographic portrait in Starfleet Headquarters. Digitally modeled to craft an exceptional actor likeness and assembled on a One:12 Collective body with over 28 points of articulation, numerous accessories as well as interchangeable parts. This figure features a series accurate outfit to create an amazing collectable.
The One:12 Collective Hikaru Sulu features: ● ●
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Real fabric uniform with accurate trim and insignia Incredible sculpted details capturing the likeness of this groundbreaking character Leather-look screen matched boots Included with this figure: Regular head Alternate smiling head Fists (L & R) Posing hands (L & R) Phaser holding hand (R) Communicator/Tricorder holding hand (L) Sword holding hand (R) Communicator with flip up panel Tricorder with opening top section Phaser Fencing sword Away Team belt with holster for communicator and phaser Display base with posing post
Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
Figuarts Farm-Boy
Another potential SH Figuarts release cropped up on social media this week.
The SH Figuarts Farm-boy Luke Skywalker was one of the very first figures we ever saw from the Tamashii Nations Figuarts range displayed with A New Hope Han in that fantastic Millennium Falcon boarding ramp diorama.
R4-P17 was photographed on display over in the Far East and it seems he will be joining the release schedule at some point.
Since that first glimpse, neither Luke nor Han have made it onto the release schedule - with the initial focus being on Return of the Jedi Luke & Vader, and then a prequel focus in terms of Maul, Battle-droids and Clone Troopers.
Boba Fett is well represented so far in the 1/12 6 inch scale, but all the versions released - from Hasbro, Figuarts, Bandai etc - are based on his appearance from The Empire Strikes Back. Well it seems Medicom are the first who will take their original Empire Boba and release him with the revised Return of the Jedi costume.
Farmboy Luke however is not yet forgotten and this photo showed up this week from a Japanese trade show. The fact Luke was on display should indicate a release isn’t too far away - although as we go to press, no-one is taking any pre-orders. It seem’s for this figure, it is a long game and patience will prevail. We will keep you posted on any future developments
Utilising the existing R2-D2 sculpt, this is no-brainer for Tamashii Nations and also fits in with their apparent focus on the Prequel trilogy, and will fit nicely in with their upcoming Obi Wan from Episode 2. However, it is worth noting that although revealed in September, the Figuarts R2-D2 still hasn’t had a release date confirmed - so if and when R4 will make an appearance is very uncertain.
Bandai Kylo Ren We have known for a while that Bandai would be bringing Kylo Ren into their 1/12 scale buildable kit figure range. Having had mixed reviews over their 1/12 Darth Vader kit from 2015 it was always going to be interesting to see how Bandai would tackle the numerous robes on Kylo - would they go the plastic Figuarts route, or more soft goods like Hasbro. This sneaked image of a Bandai catalogue doesn’t give us a definitive answer, but it does look a lot like a soft good robe to me. And that is fine considering the kit will then double up as the uncloaked Ren from the Starkiller scenes.
With the red bracers and bolder colour scheme on the Jet Pack, ROTJ Boba Fett is up for pre-order now in Japan and will set you back around £37. You will have to wait until October 2016 though to add him to your collection.
Medicom’s Mafex range is also stepping up its game with the Marvel licence, and this week was busy showing off their Mark 45 Iron-man from Age of Ultron. Sporting what I believe is one of the best facial sculpts I have ever seen on a 6 inch scale figure, Iron-Man Mk45 will also coming with repulsor blast effects for the hand. Now granted Mafex are a little behind on this with SH Figuarts having had their Mk45 on shelves since late 2015 and now already working towards the release of a Mk46 model for Civil War. But with such a stunning head sculpt of Robert Downey Junior, I can still see many Marvel Movie fans having this on their shopping lists. The Mafex Mk45 won’t hit shelves until September 2015 and will set UK customers back around £52 excluding import costs.
Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
You’re a Wizard Harry! Figures Toy Company announced this week that the Harry Potter movie franchise will be added to their retro style figure catalogue in 2016. Released in both 8" and 12" scale, the first three figures will be Harry, Ron and Draco. The RRP is $29.99 for 8" and $59.99 for 12". And they will ship internationally. Although the Mego style isn’t to everyone’s taste, it is good to see the Potter universe back on the market as Action Figures and with the spin-off movie later this year this may signal a renewed interest in the overall licence.
NECA have tweeted this image of a very small, but perfectly formed Doll sculpt from Ash vs The Evil Dead. This is likely to be a pack in with one of the AvTED figures due later in 2016. We await more details, perhaps at the US Toy Fair in a few weeks?
Terminator 1 If you are a fan of Terminator, and didn’t pick up NECA’s first range of Terminator figures, then you are probably grateful that NECA have chosen to revisit the range under their Ultimate format. With the T800, T1000 and Sarah Connor already finalised - and released - the attention appears now to be turning to the T800 from the 1984 original Terminator movie. These two images of prototypes were released this week by NECA and show that the initial T1 Ultimate figure will be a revisit of the Tanker Pursuit figure which originally came out in 2012.
The Ultimate format should ensure we get a wealth of options for this version of Arnie - and you can just see behind the 2nd image the start of a page detailing what we would assume are the accessories. You can see a shotgun accessory as well as at least two heads - one with glasses and one without.
Original Release 2012
As yet, there is no release info on the T1 figure, we hope to find out more at Toy Fair.
Predator : ScarFace NECA surprised many fans with this image this week. This figure is the Scarface Predator as seen in the 2005 Video Game, Predator : Concrete Jungle. It is interesting that this figure isn’t going into the standard Predator release schedule - but is instead getting a standalone boxed release, similar to the Video Game 8bit figures. Again, we expect more details at Toy Fair.
Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
NECA’s Ultimate Sarah Connor, from Terminator 2, is hitting UK shores as we speak, and our review will be up next week. Our review copy was supplied by Zavvi and you can get your’s via the link (left) at £22.99 including FREE delivery while stocks last.
Also appearing to be landing in more depth in the UK is the US Kmart exclusive Kylo Ren with Starkiller base. Like Sarah Connor, we have picked this up from Zavvi and will be reviewing in the next 7-days. The price is £29.99 including FREE delivery
Toys R Us are gearing up for Batman vs Superman with the addition of this new section in the front part of their stores. The range is predominantly the basic action figures from Mattel, and these are priced at £9.99 and are made up solely of Batman, Armoured Batman and Superman. There is also a supporting Batmobile which is priced at £29.99. The three pack, at £32.99 contains Batman, Superman and an exclusive to this pack Armoured Lex Luthor. On the bottom shelf of the plan you can see some role play items and then some larger figures. The two pack are similar to Hasbro’s hero series and are £24.99. Also £24.99 are the larger individual figures with electronic functions.
Marvel Select figure collectors would be advised to keep a close eye on the Disney Store website this coming Monday (1st February). It was announced via a Marvel Select fan forum that not one, but two Disney Store exclusive Select figures would be announced on Monday and go up for immediate pre-order with a release date towards the end of February. As it is fairly certain there will be no cinematic exclusives this year, these two figures will be Comic based. Speculation is obviously rife, but the safest bets seem to be with a comic version of characters that will be in Captain America : Civil War. That leaves the forerunners as Captain America himself, another Comic IronMan, Crossbones or Black Panther. Following this announcement we expect DST to go to New York Toy Fair and likely reveal these new exclusives as well as giving us our first look at their three cinematic figures for Civil War which have already been announced as Captain America, Iron-man and The Winter Soldier. As an eternal optimist, and a collector of Marvel Cinematic figures from DST I am hoping there may be at least one more surprise this year - but also as a DST collector of Marvel Cinematic figures I am expected to be left wanting more by the time Xmas comes round again.
2nd of April, 2016 Parklands Academy Chorley, Lancashire
Adults from £5.00 Kids from £3.00
+booking fee
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Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
Review : Amanda Ripley, Flight Suit (Alien Isolation) NECA, Alien Series Wave/Series : Series 6 Released : January 2016 Price : ÂŁ19.99 Before I start this review I must admit to have not seen or played any of the Alien Isolation game. In fact, with the Archives (and my own collection) focusing on Movie & TV figures - and having already skipped the Genocide figures - I was considering missing Series 6 completely. In the end, the figures managed to sell themselves and in my opinion they do fit within the Aliens Cinematic figures really well and are sensitive to the designs of the 1979 original movie in particular. The first of the Isolation trio that I will look at is the Amanda Ripley figure in flight suit. Amanda comes in the standard Alien/NECA clamshell packaging with Alien Isolation logo on the header card and an insert at the bottom of the blister to detail the characters name. Alongside this on this name card is a green lined image of Amanda in her spacesuit.
It is interesting that on this series NECA have abandoned the side inserts which usually sit either side of the blister and include atmospheric shots of the actual figure. Whether this is for the Isolation wave only, or a more permanent change we will have to wait and see. The rear of the blister is taken up predominantly by an image of the actual Amanda figure, and overlaid onto this is a short paragraph that sets the scene for the Isolation Video Game. Underneath all of this is the usual "also available" section with three flashed inserts of the full wave - Amanda in Spacesuit and the Isolation Xenomorph being the other two.
Out of the pack Amanda stands 6 3/4 inches high. As you inspect your new figure you may get a sense of Deja Vu, this is down to the big re-use of parts from her mother - the 1979 Alien Ellen Ripley that we saw in Series 4. The entire jumpsuit torso and legs is a direct re-use of the Ripley figure, with the only variance being some retooling of the arms which now have a much shorter sleeve. The colours have obviously all been changed, and that means that Amanda has visually more detail particularly round the back - where the paint used is more contrasting vs the original blue's used on Ellen. The trainers are a direct re-use as well, I suppose footwear taste can run in the family. Amanda also sports decal logo's on each arm and these are screen accurate to the game. Talking about accuracy though, there are some issues with the re-use of the Ellen 1979 body - most noticeable the black vest which is much lower cut in the game and on top of which Amanda wears a pendent. The head is obviously a brand new sculpt, and is a good likeness for Amanda from the game and for Kezia Burrows, who was the motion capture model for Amanda. The hair is sculpted in a ponytail with a couple of strands loose down the forehead, and over the hair piece is sculpted the head piece with camera and microphone.
Once open, Amanda comes packed in her blister and is flanked by her kit bag, weapon and a version of the movement tracker that was used in the 1986 Aliens sequel.
Paint application is great, as we would expect from NECA. The hair has a variation of colour within it to give depth and the headset is very neatly painted on top of this, with no bleed or splashing - there is even some tiny red detailing on the camera. If you do look very closely at my figure, the skin tone of the head is still visible on the alternative side (right as you look) of the headset - so it's not an absolute perfect job right across. Facially the eyes are very neat and so intense and the face itself has some oh so subtle shading variations towards the cheeks and chin and of course on the lips.
Issue 11 : Saturday 30th January, 2016
The brown jumpsuit has some wash applied to dirty it up slightly, but more so to bring out the detail of the folds in the cloth. Pockets are picked out in black with a gold zipper on each. Round the back, the stitching that runs from the middle of the back down to her bottom is a very stark cream colour with zips either side also in gold. The undershirt is a green colour and perhaps is a little shiny if I am nit-picking, and that vest is then a flat black. Trainers, like Ellens, are a cream finish with red line detail round the top of the sole. Articulation is identical to her mother. Arms are on ball jointed shoulders which allow a good range of movement, although like Ellen I would be concerned about rubbing of those shoulder decals when the shoulder withdraws into the torso when raised. Elbows are swivel and pivot and the hands are on pegs so both rotate and flex up and down to a small degree. There is a joint just below the torso which allows the top half of Amanda to twist, but not by much.
That being said the flame-unit has had a repaint to a lighter grey with the white and red tanks still in place. Silver detailing is used on the strap clasps, and the barrel - with the whole gun having a black wash to weather it. The strap doesn't quite fit neatly over the shoulder and head, and won’t go over the shoulder alone neatly when the kit bag is also in play. The gun does fit neatly into Amanda's right hand. Although reminiscent of the Aliens Motion Tracker, the one packed with Amanda is a more compact design and therefore a new sculpt for NECA. The unit is coloured in a dark green finish with a black wash to dirty it up. The screen has a decal applied to mimic the one on the film/game prop with the concentric circles expanding outwards and some data readings either side. There is no shoulder strap, with the unit being hand-held only in Amanda's left hand.
Legs start with a hip joint which doesn't really move very much at all. Amanda will never sit or crouch. The knee joints are perfectly hidden, something NECA is doing really well at present, and these do bend to about 45 degrees. This means you can get some running positions or action poses in conjunction with a stand if you want something more dynamic in your display. The ankles rotate, and this is essential to getting Amanda balance when she is holding out her weapon or the scanner, or both. Looking at the accessories now, and starting with the kit bag. The bag is nicely designed and has been painted in a two tone black & grey design with plenty of wash on the grey to dirty it up. It carries a US flag on the top right quarter, and this is painted really well. Buckles and buttons are picked out in silver and the strap itself a cream. The whole thing has been sculpted to go on Amanda's right shoulder only, and once hooked over it sits nicely. There are three round straps at the base of the bag which you would think should hold something - but am not exactly sure what.
All in all, I love this figure. As I suspected from the early images, she is sympathetic in design and execution to both the 1979 and 1986 movie's and like Windrix won't look out of place in an Alien themed display. Yes, she is a mainly recycled figure with just a new head sculpt - but in a way that is quite innovative. If recycling and not being 100% accurate in places was the difference between getting this figure or not then I applaud them. Although not as iconic, Amanda is as good a human figure as any in the Alien series to date - on par with her mother. Unless you are majorly offended by re-used figures, there is very little to complain about with Amanda and I think a 5 out of 5 score is more than fair.
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 weapon packed with Amanda is a direct re-use of the flame thrower that came with 1979 Ellen. In the game, based on some quick looking at screenshots, Amanda picks up and uses lots of different guns and although the flamethrower is one of them, perhaps a different pack in would have increased the uniqueness of this release..