017 Action Figure Sat-TOY-day News, 19th March 2016

Issue 17 : Saturday 19th March, 2016

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Issue 17 : Saturday 19th March, 2016

Happy Sat-TOY-Day Everyone…

The big three of Marvel, DC and Star Wars continue to dominate the news this week with some new-old figures coming from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends and the One:12 goodies from Mezco finally going up for preorder.

There is also more mouth-watering stuff coming out of the Far East. Have a look at the next release from Hong Kong company King Arts and tell me you don’t want that in a Marvel Cinematic Universe collection!

It is the 30th Anniversary of Aliens this year, and NECA are planning a number of new releases including their creature packs, and we take a look at press release for the Alien 30th Anniversary Creature Pack this issue.

Still with Aliens and series 7 of Aliens hit the review desk this week. You can read our full Grid Alien review in this issue and then click through to the website for a look at the Concept Xenomorph.

C2-E2 is taking place this weekend, so keep an eye on our social channels for any news coming out of that show - see the top right of the page for direct links.

We are also expecting wave 2 of the Gotham Select figures to hit this week, and are also lining up a couple of retro reviews of older figures again stay tuned for those going up.

Doctor Who fans, and particular those who collect the 3.75” range of figures, may want to head over to Argos where the figures are reduced to just £2.69 each at present.

It is being widely reported that we in the UK may be getting a "best of the Marvel cinematic universe" wave of 6" Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro.

Touted to land in May, this wave will bring us 8 movie figures and include the Hulkbuster BAF across 7 figures, with Thor not being packed with a BAF part.

This looks a great opportunity for UK fans to get hold of some of those US exclusives like Loki, Hawkeye and Thor The line up will apparently be… ● Avengers Movie Loki ● Avengers Age Of Ultron Hawkeye ● Avengers Age Of Ultron Iron Man ● Avengers Age Of Ultron War Machine ● Avengers Age Of Ultron Thor ● Avengers Age Of Ultron Hulk ● Captain America: Winter Solider Black Widow ● Avengers Movie Captain America

Stocks will vary by store, and you can’t pick which one you get - but at that price it is worth checking out your local store.

Hong Kong’s King Arts announced this awesome looking 1/9 scale Mark 6 Iron-man from Avengers and the landing gantry diorama from Stark Tower this week.

These three 3.75" Star Wars figures have turned up on eBay via a Hong Based seller.

They appear to be an articulated version of Phasma, General Leia and a Starkiller base Han Solo.

The origin will be questionable, likely factory samples or errors, but these look like another wave of the Walmart / Asda exclusive 3.75" Black Series.

Time will tell if these will make their way to retail, and then if they will hit the UK. Especially when you consider we are still waiting on wave 2 which doesn’t look like will be hitting Asda.

These diecast pieces are highly detailed and follow on from other previous releases such as their mini Ant-Man 6cm figures, and their other 1/9 Iron Man armour releases.

Being direcast these items are not going to be cheap, with the US RRP set at $156 for the Mk6 and $232 for the gantry.

There is no listed UK RRP price so UK collectors will have to rely on overseas importing on these items and will end up paying a premium import prices.

Both the Mk6 and the Gantry are due in the final quarter of 2016.

Issue 17 : Saturday 19th March, 2016

After showing off some of the elements at Toy Fair, NECA finally revealed the exact details of their first creature pack to support their Alien 7” range this week.

Tamara/Tomy are releasing this Death Star playset in April as an expansion to their 3 inch Diecast range of Star Wars figures.

The first set, due in June 2016, will be based on the 1986 Aliens movie, and will be part of a 30th Anniversary celebration.

The set includes two light up stasis pods, complete with facehugger - and for added realism you can actually fill these with water!

Alongside the pods will be two facehuggers and two chestbursters.

A further set later in the year will be themed around Alien 3

Licensing arrangements will likely mean this can't be offered for sale outside the Far East, but I am sure there will be import options.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Aliens, we’re releasing a deluxe creature pack that includes some frequently requested favorites from the terrifying movie! These six pieces will make for some mind-blowing dioramas, since they’re perfectly in scale with our line of 7″” figures.

Set includes: • 2 Stasis Chambers with #LED Lights – Press a button to cast an eerie glow on the #facehugger preserved within it!

You can even fill the tube with water if you choose.

Facehugger can also be removed from tube. Batteries included.

• 2 #Chestbursters with bendable tails • 2 #Facehuggers with bendable tails Starts shipping out to retailers in June 2016!

Source : NECA press release (March 18th 2016)

Mezco One:12 Mezco release promotional images for their first (red) One:12 Collective Daredevil figure.

The timing on this was perfect, hitting the same week that Daredevil himself returned to our screens on Netflix.

This has also gone up for preorder in US for $80 at Big Bad Toy Store, and UK pre-orders soon followed from Kapow Toys at £67.99 (click image right) with a due date of late September.The alternative black and yellow/red versions are still TBC for release.

One, Two, Freddy’s Coming for YOU...

This weekend at the Alamo Drafthouse NECA were part of a screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, and they brought with them a variety of prop replicas and within that they revealed two new figures.

The first is a retro 8" "Doctor" Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street 4.

The second is Freddy from A New Nightmare and will be a conventional 7 inch release. NECA later tweeted that this figure is not necessarily an Ultimate release, and will likely just be a basic release.

No more details at this stage. Pictures courtesy of NECA Twitter feed.

Our good friends at Films & Figures are also due to have the Daredevil up for pre-order this weekend and are also expecting to be able to list pre-orders for the One:12 Captain America who has an ETA of September also. Price will be around £70 also with a discount for getting in on the first batch of pre-orders.

Click the Cap image to go to Films & Figures.

The 3 inch Takara range hasn’t really created much interest over here and in the US, not like other Far East Star Wars offerings like SH Figuarts and Bandai.

The range already boasts 15 character releases from across the full saga including Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Stormtroopers and a Yoda.

For anyone wanting to start picking up the line, then there are plenty for sale at relatively low cost on Amazon CLICK HERE

Issue 17 : Saturday 19th March, 2016

Review : Grid Alien (Alien vs Predator) NECA, Alien Series Wave/Series : Series 7 Released : March 2016 Price : ÂŁ19.99 - ÂŁ22.99 NECA's Alien series has finally reached the 2004 Alien vs Predator movie, and cleverly NECA have aligned both their Alien and Predator series to release figures from the movie around the same time - so not only do you get your Xenomorphs here in Series 7, but you can pop over to Predator series 14 and 15 and get some Predator's to face off against your Aliens.

Out of the pack and the Grid Alien stands 9 inches high. Although you would suspect a re-use somewhere on the figure, considering all the prior Alien figures NECA have at their disposal, every part looks to be brand new. Both the Grid Alien, the one we are looking at here, and the standard AvP Xenomorph share the same sculpt in essence and that sculpt is absolutely amazing - as we have come to expect from NECA.

The Grid Alien arrives in the NECA clamshell packaging, and for the first time this is resplendent in AvP livery. The top header has the blue neon abrieviated AvP logo, and underneath the Alien vs Predator sub-text. The insert card contains a big cut out of the Alien head and the card reads "Grid Alien".

Like the more recent releases, NECA have abandoned the side inserts which used to contain atmospheric shots of the figure.

On the card back, is an image of the figure and a basic plot summary for the AvP movie. For those unfamiliar with the film or the Grid Alien origin there is no explanation of how the Xeno came to look this way, and this is a shame considering the write up that went on the back of the Series 7 Concept figure. For those who don't know, the Grid Alien went head to head with a Predator armed with a laser net and came away with the grid pattern across his dome.

Each element of the exo-skeleton is really intricately detailed and very crisp and well defined. The head grid pattern is actually sculpted not just painted and as you run your finger over the dome you can feel the grid damage. Having seen this on the dome my one criticism on the sculpt is that this isn't carried forward onto the shoulder pieces where the damage is just painted.

Articulation on the Alien Xeno's is getting better and better, and on the Grid Alien there some more improvements. The head is articulated half way down the neck rather than at the base of the dome. This means Grid Alien can look left and right as well as up and down, a much wider range than any of his predecessors.

Issue 17 : Saturday 19th March, 2016

The arms remain ball joined at the shoulder and like the Concept Alien the elbows are joined with a joint and a swivel. Down to the hands and you will find more improvements with the new pegged hand and now joined fingers. This joint moves the middle two fingers together and allows the Grid alien to present either a clenched hand or open palm.

On first review I thought that the jaw articulation had been withdrawn, but I can confirm it is still there although unlike others it is quite tough to move and the inner jaw is difficult to get out - you will probably need to employ some tweezers or similar.

Paint application starts with the all over shiny black colour and this is made up of a number of layers and washes which bring out all these sculpted details on the exo-skeleton. The grid damage is painted in a rich green, although as I mentioned earlier it looks much better on the dome where the damage is sculpted vs the shoulders where it is just painted.

The torso joint, in my opinion, is becoming one of the most critical joints on these Alien figures. By adding in a torso joint with a wide range of movement has opened up posing considerably with my favourite being where the torso is twisted to one side as though the Alien is turning to face a new victim.

The improved ball jointed hips are also making standing much easier, supported by the double jointed knees and rocker ankles.

Grid Alien still needs help from the tail for support, and what a tail this is - much bulkier than it's predecessors with a wicked looking barb at the end. Because of its weight the tail is also heavier which then acts as a counter weight to the figure and further supports standing poses.

I would go as much as stating that this is the most articulated and pose-able Alien Xenomorph to date, and you will have a blast posing him in a myriad of positions from crouching to running to attacking - I've even seen a fellow reviewer hang him upside down in some kind of Spider-man pose. Many of these action poses will need a support stand, and NECA themselves are adding one of these to their range later this year.

It is worth noting at this point that my figure came packed funny which had bent one of the rear protrusions - you can see this on the pictures. For me it adds character so I am not overly bothered, but I can confirm after looking at other examples of this figure that this is a one off.

Putting this damage aside as it's not a wider issue, then the Grid Alien is practically perfect. Articulation is moved on another level with this release, the paint is awesome and the sculpt is world class - this new AvP Xeno sculpt is my new favourite. I score Grid Alien a 5 out of 5.