036 Action Figure Sat-TOY-Day News, 3rd September 2016

Issue 36 : Saturday 3rd September 2016

s v h s A o t e s o NECA get cl e t a d e s a e l e Evil Dead r s m e t i r e t s u New Ghostb d n o m a i D d n a i a d n a B m fro h t i w s s e r p Mafex im r! e d a V d n a y Joker, Re

NECA surprised a lot of people last week with their announcement of a 7 inch scale diorama of the 1979 Space Jockey from Alien.

NECA have revealed the Ultimate packaging for their soon to be released Ash figure from The Evil Dead "Your #monstermonday update, Ultimate Evil Dead 2 Ash in packaging coming soon to a shelf near you" Randy Falk, NECA

As seen in the 1979 horror classic Alien, this stunningly detailed #replica of the Fossilized Space Jockey is perfect as a #diorama element and a striking #display piece on its own!

It’s perfectly in scale with our line of 7” figures, which means that it’s appropriately massive: two feet long, over 18” tall, and the circular base is 18” in diameter! The Fossilized #SpaceJockey is made of hand-painted foam rubber and latex with all the details you see in the movie.

Comes packaged in a sturdy reinforced corrugated box. No retail packaging. Starts shipping out to retailers December 2016! **Note: Not final-- prototype photos shown

One of NECA's newest properties, Ash vs The Evil Dead see's its first releases in September 2016 and NECA have now revealed the packaging design.

Following the other new releases, such as Rocky, the AvED figures will be a window box release with a vibrant red colour scheme. In the first wave of 3 are two versions of Ash - Hero Ash and Value Stop Ash - as well as Eligos the Demon. Both Ash figures come with an alternate head, that means four heads overall and any head fits any of the two bodies. The figures will retail here in the UK around the £22.99 mark, and pre-orders are being taken at our affiliate partner Forbidden Planet.

The price point has been discussed on Twitter with Randy Falk saying he expects the piece to hit a $300-$350 retail price, that's about £225 £265 on a direct conversion - but more likely £300+ in UK once it’s been shipped in via the UK distributor.

Within the stunning promotional images for the Space Jockey was another look at the long teased Lambert in Pressure Suit from Alien.

When quizzed about Lambert, NECA have confirmed that they expect a 2017 release - and having saved on cost with the re-use of the Pressure Suit they will be providing two head options with the figure.

One head will come with skull cap, the other normal. This is a bit of a nod to customisers who can use the 2nd head to make a crew suit Lambert if they wish using the Alien Ripley or the Alien Isolation Amanda.

"Your first look at #NECA's upcoming Ash vs Evil Dead Series One 7" scale action figures in packaging via Twitter @NECA_TOYS. Expect them on store shelves and inventories late-September/early-October!" NECA, Facebook

NECA's Kenner inspired Series 17 Predators are about a month away from hitting retail. As NECA countdown to this anticipated set of figures, they have released this teaser image of the card-back for the Ghost Predator.

Like the figure itself the card-back echoes back to the Kenner Predator figures of the early 1990's with it's comic art and retro grid effect background.

Diamond have confirmed that Series 4 of the Ghostbuster Select line will contain Gozer, Walter Peck and a revised version of the Series 2 Peter Venkman.

Bandai have just announced they will be releasing a 12 inch version of the Rowan Ghost from the 2016 Ghostbusters film. The figure will stand 300mm high and is coming to stores in December 2016 costing 5940 yen this is around £45 or $60.

This time round Venkman will be "slimed" and with a revised “surprised” head sculpt. That means we now have three versions of Peter if you also count the SDCC marshmallow covered version. Each figure will come packed with the 10th, 11th and 12th pieces of the rooftop diorama.

This leaves the final 3 figures in Series 5 to be confirmed - although we know that the Library Ghost and at least one Terror Dog needs to be included.

Diamond have also revealed this closer look at two of the head options that will come with the Series 3 Slimer figure due later his year.

The figure is not part of any of their super articulated lines, and appears to be a Vinyl stand alone release..

Articulation, if any, seems to be restricted to the shoulders.

You can pre-order Series 3, and get hold of a number of the Series 1 and 2 figures, via our affiliate - Forbidden Planet

So far, SH Figuarts have confirmed Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther and Ant-Man in their 1/12 Civil War range. Now it seems the Mark 3 War Machine will be joining this line up.

It seems an absolute age since we saw the very first image of A New Hope Han Solo from SH Figuarts. Now after all this time the

So far this catalogue image is all we have, but we do know the figure will be released in February 2017 and have an RRP in Japan of 6,696 Yen. That's £50 / $67 with a bit extra on top for import and p&p.

scoundrel is getting a release, with him down to hit the shelves in February 2017.

Han will be packed with his trusty blaster and will retail at 5940 yen.

This will be circa £44 in the UK and $57 in the US - there will be a few $/£ on top for import.

Also revealed this week is an unmasked Kylo Ren figure from SH Figuarts. This unmasked version will be a Tamashii webstore exclusive with pre-orders opening on Force Friday (30th September) and the figure shipping in February 2017.

Kylo will be packed with his own mask and the melted Darth Vader helmet. He will also come with his broad-sabre with an unlit and lit version The 6264 yen price equates to £46 / $60, however the exclusivity will make it more difficult for collectors out of Japan to get there hands on this one.

Following their earlier release of the original trilogy Darth Vader (#006), Medicom are returning to the Dark Lord of the Sith with a revised release depicting his look at the end of Revenge of the Sit. This MAFEX Rey 1/12 figure was unveiled a month or so ago via a Far East Trade Show, and the sculpt is also getting an exclusive release as a Hologram Darth Vader.

Revenge of the Sith Vader will arrive in the first quarter of 2017 and will retail in Japan for 5500 Yen - that equates to ÂŁ40 or $53, but be prepared to add a bit onto this by the time she is imported into the UK or the US. Vader will come with his saber, and there will be two head display options one with the slimmer Revenge of the Sith mask, and one with the burnt Hayden Christiansen head sculpt. It is not completely clear if these will swap out with one another, or if the figure will be engineered for the helmet to be removable to show off the head sculpt.

Medicom have released the following promotional images of another MAFEX Joker variation figure from Suicide Squad.

Following the purple coated Joker, this one is presented in his White suit, complete with interchangeable straight jacket. There are also two head options, one smiling and one laughing. The handgun from the first figure is repacked here. There is also a machine gun and another cane option.

There are no more details at this stage in terms of release date.

We got an early look at Medicom's MAFEX Rey 1/12 figure a few months back through some pretty grainy images from a catalogue. Now, Medicom have unveiled this figure in a series of promotional shots.

Rey will arrive in the first quarter of 2017 and will retail in Japan for 5800 Yen - that equates to ÂŁ42 or $56, but be prepared to add a bit onto this by the time she is imported into the UK or the US. The figure will come with Rey's desert scavenger headgear as well as her backpack - which will be removable. She is also supplied with X-Wing pilot helmet, staff, blaster and of course, Luke's lightsaber.

The countdown to Rogue Friday (30th September) is go and across the past week we have seen a wealth of new Rogue One product announced - officially by Disney and their licensees, and of course leaked.

For those who are keeping Rogue One a complete secret we are respecting your choice by keeping any Rogue One news behind Spoiler warnings.

If you want to checkout all the latest Rogue One merchandise news as well as links for some of the early pre-orders - then head over to www.mephitsu.co.uk or click through the Death Star.

Review : Ultimate Tech Noir Terminator The Terminator, NECA Wave/Series : Ultimate Series Released : July 2016 ÂŁ22.99 - ÂŁ25.99 After giving us the three iconic characters from Terminator 2, NECA is now winding back the clock to 1984 and bringing us figures from the original Terminator movie in their exciting Ultimate format. Although we are unlikely to get any figures past the titular character from T1, their addition to the range will be welcomed by fans. Summer 2016 sees us getting two Terminators from T1 in quick succession, and in this review we will look at the first release - The Tech Noir Ultimate Terminator.

The inner tray slides out via the top or bottom flap and is packed against a four sided cardboard background which represents a generic road with concrete crash barriers.

Looking at the figure first, Tech Noir stands a touch over 7 inches tall and is beautiful representation of the youthful Arnie from 1984, there is no re-use of the T800 head from the T2 series where Arnie was obviously older. The heads are of course no doubt tweaked from the first set of Terminator figures, but they are still an almost perfect likeness of Arnie.

Out of the box the figure comes fitted with the undamaged Tech Noir nightclub head, the one with a centre parting on the hair as seen when the T800 reaches the club looking for Sarah Connor.

The Ultimate series packaging design has been locked in since it launched in 2014, but each box is carefully designed to replicate the look and feel of the original movie. The Tech Noir is no difference, with the front of the box dominated by a replication of the original 1984 promotional poster. The words Schwarzenegger are emblazoned across the top in bold red text, and under this is a head and shoulders shot of Arnie as the Terminator. To the bottom left of this image is a movie synopsis in white text, a direct replication of the wording used on the poster and the box ends with "The Terminator" text logo.

This "The Terminator" text is replicated on the top of the box and on either spine and is placed across a red 1980's laser grid background, it is here also that the NECA and Reel Toys logo first appears. Round the back of the box we get a series of images, this time of the figure itself and with some digital text that we would normally see scrolling through the Terminator eyes as they processed a target.

Like all Ultimate releases, the figure itself is not immediately visible. You view it by opening the front flap which is held in place by two Velcro tabs. The opening flap is decorated by a full image of the figure itself against a nondescript grey and red background.

The figure and its various swap out parts can then be viewed through the viewing window.

The sculpt is crisp and like a lot of NECA faces is sculpted with a personality and a "look" rather than being a neutral face. The head is painted well with varying tones of flesh accentuating that frowning brow and the angular chin. The lips are just a shade redder and are very natural, with the eyes very intense and extremely neat considering the space the factory have to paint the whites of the eyes and then the pupils.

It's not all perfect however as my review figure did have a couple of blemishes on the nose and the side of the chin. The hair captures that centre parting that Arnie wears early in the film really well and you can see the individual strand detail which is further enhanced with a dry brush of lighter brown on the dark brown base coat.

The jacket, relieved in the movie of course from a punk when Arnie arrived in 1984. the detail is the usual high level that NECA fans are used to. The jacket has a worn and dirty look and is creased and folded in the right areas to hang perfectly natural off Arnie's frame.

There are zippers and buttons, and round the back is the beautiful black triangular section complete with silver studs - each one is sculpted and then painted, with not one paint splodge or smear.

There is also a real chain over the left shoulder that is a metal type material and is perfectly in scale with the figure and hangs nicely on both front and back - brilliant, this could have so easily been a plastic sculpt or even a painted piece.

Under the jacket is the graffiti shirt and this extends well under the jacket, it's not just painted in a strip that you can see through the coat. The hands are black gloss finger-less gloves, and these are a bit too shiny for my liking and the studs here are painted and therefore not as defined.

Down into the trousers, and these are a brown textured effect and again have folds and creases where you would expect and are weathered and grimy thanks to a paint job that other firms would have simply made plain and fresh - this all adds to the personality of the figure. The motorcycle boots are just as well detailed, and are thankfully not as glossy as the gloves and are complete with metal and leather straps and another chain (sculpted plastic this time) round one boot.

Like all Ultimate series the Tech Noir Terminator is jam packed with a number of options that you can use to vary the figure you put on display. So what can you swap out on the figure? Well the first thing is the head, for which you have three options. Aside for the centre parting head we have just discussed, there are then two further heads which are presented with a variant hairstyle - the one Arnie was sporting after the battle with Kyle Reese in Tech Noir. This hair look is starting to migrate to Arnie's soon to be trademark crew cut.

These two faces are not a direct re-use of the first with a slightly varying expression on each. The undamaged head on mine is looking to one side, am not sure if this is deliberate. The damaged head is presented without his left eye which instead is painted in a blood red. Both heads snap on the ball joint really tightly and do require a bit of force.

The next swap out is Arnie's right forearm. This pulls out at the elbow joint and can then be replaced by a second version where the sleeve is rolled up to the elbow and on the exposed arm the skin is peeled back to expose the metal tendons underneath - all of it sculpted and painted in true 18 rating gory detail. To enhance this additional arm there are also two scissor pincers included for Arnie to perform his own repairs. Sadly the figure does not hold these all too well and essentially display wise you need to pose Arnie with his arm on a table with the scissors either side to look relatively screen accurate. The scissors are also very fragile and one pair of mine snapped straight out of the box. The other hand is not left out as this can be swapped for a closed/clenched fist version if that is your desire.

And as Arnie is of course a killing machine from the future he also comes with three weapons. The first a shot gun which is cleanly sculpted and painted with a light brown stock and a gun metal barrel. The shotgun will hit into either open hand - not the clenched fist or the damaged version - and looks "OK". Sadly the figure articulation doesn't allow a two handed pose as the arms and coat are a bit too bulky to bring the left arm across enough to cradle the barrel. The other two weapons are single handed guns which look more natural. The first is a sighted handgun cast in a silver with a black wash and black hand grip. The other is a plain black cast automatic weapon. Both of these single handed guns do suffer a bit from being a softer plastic and both came out of the box a little misshapen - but nothing a hot water or hairdryer couldn't fit.

Tech Noir Arnie is another NECA master stroke. It gets a highly sought after figure back into circulation with the bonus of allowing collectors to tweak the look to how they want to show off their T800.

You may even want to buy two or more for your Terminator display.

The level of detail is insane for the price point, the jacket alone being a masterpiece let alone the graffiti T-Shirt underneath.

So the arms aren't the best in terms of articulation to hold a shotgun, but they do have enough movement to allow them to be stretched out to the side and to rotate over the head. The elbow then bends to 90 degrees, and yet is well disguised within the sculpt and doubles as a swap out part on one of the arms.

The damaged arm is really well done, but the scissor pincers a little too fragile and without a real option to pose Arnie as you see him in the film - but that would be asking a bit too much from a ÂŁ25 figure.

There are then three weapon options, all of which are detailed and engineered well to fit into the gripping hands. All that for the same price essentially as a smaller less detailed Star Wars or Marvel figure from Hasbro?

I award the Tech Noir Ultimate Terminator a 5 out of 5 and look forward to moving on to the subsequent Police Station Assault figure.

Each wrist is on a ball joint, with a reversal of usual pegged hands and with a more solid ball attached to the arm and the socket piece being on the hand. This makes them more robust and they feel like they have a wider range of movement.

Legs start with hips that are once again behind this flexible crotch area that NECA have used a number of times now to stop the hips looking too unnatural, but retaining a decent about of movement.

Like most NECA figures you won't sit Arnie down or put him in the splits.

The knees further support lower body articulation, but are single jointed not double. They do rotate though, as does a further joint at the top of the boots. And even with this the ankle rocker still remains without ruining the cut of the boot.

That just leads the head articulation to talk about, and that is just about perfect in that they can be swapped out with a bit of effort but also rotate fully and look up and down. This means you can position the head looking down, and coupled with those intense and frowning eyebrows it makes Arnie look very menacing.

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