020 Action Figure Sat-toy-day News, 9th April 2016

Issue 20 : Saturday 9th April, 2016

k e e w s i h t Also s w e N A C E N g n i m o c s r a W r a t S w e N i a d n a B m o fr , o n a T a k o hs A : W E I V E R s e i r e S k c a Bl s r a W r a t S

NECA have updated their Cinemachine product page with packaged shots of their first wave.

Wave 1 will be themed around Aliens and contains the Derelict and Space Jockey from Alien (1979) and the Dropship and APC from Aliens (1986).

NECA have confirmed, via Twitter, this week that they will be working on a product line for the 2017 Alien Covenant movie.

NECA had originally not committed to a range based on a sequel to Prometheus after their line for the first film didn't do too well and was cancelled, leaving a number of figures unreleased. With the 2017 movie now an "Alien" movie rather than a direct Prometheus sequel, it seems NECA will be adding Covenant figures to their 7" range, which is brilliant news for collectors.

Each box is numbered, a current theme amongst collectible memorabilia, and includes a very 1980’s green lined computer render of the model on the box reverse.

This first wave is scheduled for release in April/May, so will hit stores very soon. Price will be circa the £20-£25 range that the NECA figures sell for.

UK collectors can pre-order now at Forbidden Planet

The first look at the packaging for the Kenner inspired Aliens Ripley was revealed this week. The card continues the Kenner inspired look of the figure, paying homage to the 1991 original packaging.

It is still unclear exactly how Kenner Ripley will fit into Alien Day (26th April) as NECA have tweeted that she will be “timed for Alien Day”.

The statement is ambigious as it could mean she will be available on the 26th either as a limited quantity via say NECA store, or perhaps even on shelves. It could also mean that 26th is the day pre-orders will be taken, with the figure shipping later in 2016.

NECA give us a good look at Masked Scar and Ancient Warrior, packaged.

These will be part of Series 15 alongside the Temple Guard, also from AvP. Like Aliens, the NECA Predator range will remain faithful to the blister cards that have been in play since the line launched.

Release date is down for April, so these should hit stores very soon, with preorders being taken now.

The following listing (right) appeared on Hobbylink Japan's website this week. It lists the details for a Bandai 1/12 scale Clone Trooper kit which will be released in June 2016.

The kit will include helmet options to build either the phase 1 or phase 2 trooper. It will also come with a display base and swap out hand options. Two weapons will be included. The description doesn't mention any additional parts such as pauldrons and kamas but we can hope they may be included.

Sadly, the kit is not going to be directly available to either the UK or US. In fact if you search for this listing on their .com website you will find nothing - you can only see it HERE on their .jp.com site. This is of course down to their licensing agreement only allowing these kits to be sold in Japan.

The list price of 2203 Yen equated to about £14.20 but expect to pay £20-£25 to import these.

There appears to be no stopping Mezco, and their One:12 Collective figures, and this week we found out the One:12 range is now expanding to include Universal Monsters.

The first release will be Frankenstein's monster, as played by Boris Karloff in 1931. And we would assume other classic Universal Monsters like Dracula and the Wolfman will follow.

Disney Store in the US are running a 5 day Star Wars celebration from 30th of April until the 4th of May. Within this is an all new Boba Fett collection which includes an exclusive statue and a white Prototype Boba Fett in the Elite series.

As yet there is no confirmation of the UK or other countries matching this event or stocking the new product - but we expect they will.

UK fans can however grab a bargain at present with all in stock Elite figures reduced at Disney Store to £15.16.

There is no denying that Mezco have identified a gap in the market between regular £20 action figures, and the high end ⅙ figures and are exploiting it beautifully with these 6” scale figures.

Perhaps the most iconic movie monster of all time, Frankenstein first terrified audiences in 1931. Portrayed by legendary actor Boris Karloff as a terrifying yet misunderstood and tormented creature, Universal's Frankenstein monster has gripped moviegoer's imaginations ever since.

Cobbled together from corpses stolen from graves and the scaffold — reanimated by lightning — Frankenstein terrorized a small village while seeking vengeance on his creator.

Meticulously developed to capture the terrifying look of the iconic creature and outfitted on a One:12 Collective body, the figure's detailing is incredible; the final product captures the look and spirit of the character as he appeared in the legendary film.

THE ONE:12 COLLECTIVE FRANKENSTEIN FEATURES: Accurate real fabric clothing Hyper-realistic portraits Super articulated body Character specific sutured forearms Film-accurate asphalt spreader boots

WHAT'S IN THE BOX: Standard portrait Angry portrait Posing hands with attached forearms (L&R) Grasping hands with attached forearms (L&R) Functioning shackles with real metal chain Display base with posing post Each figure is packaged in a deluxe, fifth panel window box with translucent acetate slipcover.

Designed for collector convenience, the packaging allows for both maximum protection as well as ease of removal for display.

So you are a collector, most likely of action figures if you are reading our humble publication. And as a collector you have a few staple needs. Organising and displaying your collection is a crucial one. And of course you also need to buy, and quite possibly sell. And we all like to show off your collection to like minded collectors... who doesn't like getting praise from their peers?

I am going to assume that you collect yourself having championed such a Collector friendly website & app. Tell us what you collect?

"Yep. As a child it was Star Wars - 1977-1986 really were my prime years.

As an adult it's the same Star Wars stuff I gave away as a child but now I also collect World of Springfield Simpsons, Twin Peaks Fan Art, Kid Robot Dunnies and things that catch my eye! (When I had money before building Clect!)."

The internet has helped with many of these collectors needs in recent years, alongside the more traditional arenas like comic conventions and swap meets and fairs.

But even online it's still not overly easy to interact and meet your Collectors needs. Facebook, and it's group option, has brought like-minded fans into one place. But these groups are often narrow in terms of focusing on one franchise or collection and you have to be a member of several groups to touch a wider audience. These groups also allow a degree of trading, but with no safety net or any real validation of good/bad traders. You can of course use eBay for your trading, but eBay certainly isn't what it was and everything now seems "rare" and is on overly inflated buy it now prices.

And what is your favourite collectible?

"My Robert Harrop DR & Quinch from 2000ad"

So imagine a place that allows Collectors to do everything....

Organise, display, chat, buy and sell? Well that is the exact place Steve Brumwell imagined and with the help of likeminded collectors Steve took that Vision and made it a reality in the guise of Clect.com

So Clect.com, whose brainchild was this and what kind of journey have you been on to get it to this stage in 2016?

The team at Clect recognised that collectors had, what they term as, a fractured digital collecting experience.

It was this need that sparked the development of Clect, a platform that allows collectors to come together on a single platform that will eventually combine the collectors digital needs of sharing and cataloguing their collection, interacting with other fans and of course buying, selling and trading.

I was blown away by Clect and the team behind it after I signed up a number of weeks back.

In these last few weeks I have been lucky enough to talk to a number of team behind Clect, and recently got the opportunity to question the Clect CEO and co-founder Steve Brumwell about the Clect.com journey to this point and their plans for the future.

"Well it was my idea but Karl, Jon and Morgan came on board quickly and as a result are intrinsic to the core conceit. Well our journey has been pretty incredible, I just spent four months in San Francisco at Jason Calacanis’ Launch Incubator. This culminated in me pitching on stage to 2000 people holding a lightsaber with Morgan Spurlock dressed as a Stormtrooper. We are now halfway through raising our seed round."

And is there a specific base of collectors that have embraced the site more, for example I see that Action Figure collectors like myself are quite prevalent?

"I would say Star Wars and Batman are the two dominant # on the platform right now, action figures and statues are the most uploaded."

And can you tell us about the Clect.com team?

"We are all collectors. I suppose I am Hannibal, Karl is BA, Jon is Murdoch and Morgan is Face."

With iOS launched what are the time-scales for Android users?

"As soon as we have iOS stable and at a high level of growth we will convert quickly. It's very hard to launch on Android and then convert to iOS. We know that there are more Samsung phones in circulation now than Apple!"

How did you meet? Was there an "Avengers" moment when you all came together with a shared goal?

"We were all involved in a mass brawl at a comic con in 2012 when someone suggested that Jar Jar Binks was the greatest Star Wars character ever and have been friends ever since we were bailed from a fake Star Trek brig! I have known Karl for 20 years, I met Jon when I was a headhunter and I stalked Morgan until he agreed to be a co founder is the real answer."

How will Buy & Sell work?

Can you tell me what your user headcount is right now, and is it as you had hoped? And what kind of user base are you targeting for the future in terms of numbers of users?

"We aren't really focused on user growth just yet, we have around 3000 people signed up but we are working with a core engine of power users to make the platform better every week."

What has been the reaction across the collectible community?

"Good, they are happy to find a platform dedicated to their passions. We know we aren’t by any means meeting all of their goals yet but the feedback we are getting is key to making the platform their home. "

"Version one is buying and selling from each other. Not only posting things for sale or trade but also the ability to try and make someone sell by sending them an offer for something you just must have! For me this was a Darth Revan figure I finally got last year! Of course we will put all of the normal safety and security precautions in place to protect buyers and sellers."

Do you think your Buy & Sell facility can be a genuine contender to eBay for the sale and purchase of collectibles?

"Yes. All it takes is our community to want to do this on a platform built for them at a cheaper % cut rather than a platform that is now dominated by garden furniture and clothes!"

And was the eBay frustrations a factor for wanting to launch your own transactional platform.

"Yes eBay only shows you what people want to sell. Clect shows you a collectors entire collection and you can try and make them sell (within reason of course)."

What future additions are on the drawing board for Clect. com? And which of these excite you the most.

"Lots - we would rather keep these secret at this point and also listen to what the community wants."

But don't just take my word for it - with 1000 new users signed up in the last week, Clect is only as strong as its supporters. Here are some quotes from Clect members...

“I find Clect quick and easy to use! I love the fact that I quickly upload something, and almost immediately start having conversations with other fans or collectors from the same universe. I have so many collections and items, I have a hard time remembering where I got each item or the story behind it. Clect solves all of that for me with one super cool friendly app and website!

“Just loving this new website!

I have already shared it with other So glad a friend of mine told me friends and family members. Great about it! WOOT” Job, and I can’t wait to see what is next!”

“Clect is the easy-to-use visual online database that I have been waiting for. It will help me keep me a detailed record of my collection and introduce me to a few like-minded people into the bargain!”

And let's finish up talking toys, what is on your shopping list for 2016 - what are you looking forward to picking up for your collection?

“Ohhh nice the cards look great”

"I have no money as I have put it all into building Clect. If someone wants to buy me a present I would love the Mezco Judge Dredd!"

“loving the new look of the cards!”

“I think of it like an online binder, full of cards. like you use to collect and swap card with your mates in the playground, it’ s a beautiful thing to look through your cards at your collections”

“I used to find it difficult to keep track of my huge and ever-growing collections.

I used to look at something on eBay and think "do I have that?" and sometimes could never be sure as almost all of my stuff is in storage.

Clect is open now, and you can sign up via their website or through their newly launched apple app on the iStore - Android is coming later this year.

Clect has changed all this for me!”

The platform is still evolving, and although not all the planned features are working fully the ability to catalogue, build and share your collection is really rewarding and 4000 users are already live and sharing their collectibles - and boy are there some amazing collections to look at.

Thanks to Steve, and to Karl who made this article happen.

We here at the Mephitsu Archives are already huge advocates of Clect.com and we look forward to seeing it evolve in the coming months and years. Look us up when you join and say "hi"

The first Teaser Trailer for Rogue One (A Star Wars Story) hit this week.

As most figure collectors will have done, I watched the trailer a number of times and was subconsciously trying to work out which figures we will be making their way to toy shelves, particularly in the 6 inch Black Series.

There are very strong indications that SDCC will get a Rogue One 6 inch exclusive this year, and the exclusive may possibly be shared with Celebration.

The safe bets are on that figure being the Shadow Trooper as seen in the trailer.

There is also talk about 8 figures at launch in the 6" series. And as well as the primary heroes and villains, I think many fans will have looked at that trailer and seen a great opportunity for Hasbro to release the Imperial Royal Guard.

Following the trailer almost straight away was this image courtesy of StarWars. com.

“Walkers. A swarm of TIE fighters. And a mysterious new trooper revealed in the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer.

So marks the powerful packaging for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story toys, collectibles, and more, revealed below exclusively at StarWars.com.”

The packaging design for Rogue One will be used across the Star Wars range and across multiple companies.

It is however unlikely that Hasbro will utilise this design on the Black Series range having set the precedent with The Force Awakens to go with their own design on the larger 6 inch collectors line. Whether this will be a straight continuation of the phase 3 red & black packaging - or a new box design (phase 4) launched for Rogue One - is yet to be revealed.

The packaging on show does retain a lot of the usual packaging designs, with the character head on prominent display in the right hand corner (Kylo Ren last year). It is however nice to see the character art supported by the background images of the AT-AT’s and Tie Fighters, and the art-work style itself feels like an almost deliberate attempt to replicate the comic art of the late 1970’s early 1980’s.

Review : Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars Rebels) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #20 (Phase 3 Wave 6 / Wave 2 2016) Released : April 2016 Price : ÂŁ22.99 It is safe to say that even though Ahsoka Tano has not appeared in any of the live action Star Wars films, she has reached cult status among a large population of Star Wars fans. From her teenage years as Anakin's Padawan in The Clone Wars, to her new role as mentor and Rebel leader in Rebels, Ahsoka continues to grow with the franchise - and who knows when and where she will turn up next.

Out of the pack and Ahsoka stands 6 inch tall, measuring up to the highest points of her head tails. When we are looking at what is essentially a cartoon character sculpted as though she appeared in live action, it is difficult to say if the sculpt is a good representation or not. In this case I think the fact that this is how I would imagine Ahsoka to look in "real life" and in that respect the sculpt should be applauded.

It is probably fitting then that Ahsoka marked the first animated Star Wars character to be announced for the Star Wars Black Series 6 inch line, and a testimony to Rebels itself that Hasbro have turned over 2 slots in a 6 figure wave to Ahsoka and her fellow Rebel, Kanan Jarrus.

Wave 6, or wave 2, 2016 depending on how you are tracking your figures, hit US stores in March 2016 and UK independents in April. The 6 figure wave contains three new figures in Ahsoka, Kanan and the Tatooine Luke Skywalker.

Force Awakens Han gets a repack into wave 6, and the other two slots are made up with the First Order Snowtroopers - a figure yet to officially hit the UK as we are all still waiting on that elusive Hux wave (wave 3).

Facially this is certainly an older and wiser Ahsoka and much more solemn, exactly as we see her in Rebels season 2.

Around the face, the head tails are shaped really well and hang naturally both front and back. Sadly the paint application on the face is a bit too basic, and a tad too glossy for my liking.

The face markings are neat but my Ahsoka has a splash of white on her nose, and some bleeding on the silver of her headpiece into the head tails. The head tails are neat enough from a distance, but up close are very "mucky" with the blue smudging onto the white and the whole thing looking like it has been handled too often by dirty hands.

The outfit is a good representation of the one we see in Rebels : Season 2 and is crisp in both sculpt and paint application.

Across the chest plate their are some very small painted yellow & red detail, and the same in yellow on either arm.

Ahsoka is number 20 in phase 3, and arrives in the now familiar black box with red trim. The rear of the box has a slightly more in depth bio than usual, talking about her role in The Clone Wars and her re-emergence in the fledgling Rebellion.

The skirt section is trimmed neatly in silver with a dark brown belt. Under this is the only soft goods on the figure, a material skirt, which reaches to half way down Ahsoka's thighs. The boots, knee high, are two tone but here again the paint is messy with a smear right across the right hand boot.

Ahsoka comes with her two new neutral light sabers from Rebels. One is longer with the curved hilt, and the other a straight hilt and slightly shorter. Like previous releases with light-sabers, the blades are removable and both saber hilts can then be hung on hooks on Ahsoka's hips. The sabers fit neatly into either hand, although both hilt and hand feel very soft in terms of the plastic and I wonder how many times you will get away swapping the weapon in and out of hand before the plastic is too stretched.

With Ahsoka not being a particularly bulky or armoured figure, her articulation is probably one of the strongest sets of movement we have seen for a while in the Black Series. The legs move well, aided by the material skirt which doesn't overly restrict the hip movement like a plastic version would have.

The knees are double jointed and there is good movement in the ankles and therefore Ahsoka can both kneel and adopt some fairly action orientated stances.

On the whole, Ahsoka lives up to the expectations. She isn't quite perfect with paint flaws being the biggest issue and that will vary from figure to figure, so if you have a chance of comparing 2 or more in the wild (and yes I know that is a challenge in itself) then inspect carefully. The issue with a good sculpt under average facial paint continues and like many humanoid figures before her, I would love to see what a talented painter could do with the sculpt.

There is no waist swivel, but instead a torso joint build and hidden under her chest plate, this allows her entire torso to swivel well to either side - again adding the facility for more dynamic posing. Arms are jointed at the shoulder with a ball joint that can extend out fully to the side and above the head.

The elbows are single joint with swivel, and as the arms are quite slim they can hold a light-saber with two hands if you wish - especially thanks to the maneuverability of the wrists which seem to be upgraded somehow with a side to side pivot as well as a swivel. The only downside on the articulation is the head, which as I think most of us expected is fixed in place due to the head tails.

For ÂŁ22 the figure is probably what we now expect - whether this is good value for money is a wider debate. With the paint flaws I will knock Ahsoka down by one star and award her 4 stars out of 5.

Checkout Mephitsu.co.uk and our social channels for more reviews‌ Coming Soon : Kanan Jarrus and Luke (A New Hope)