039 Action Figure Sat-TOY-day News, 15th October 2016

Issue 39 : Saturday 15th October 2016

e w s a l a i c pe s C C Y N r u o It’s e g n a r d i m wrap up the om r f s w e N e r Action Figu NYCC 2016.

Also… er l i a r T e n O New Rogue e g n a r t S r o t Select Doc s r e p o o r T f i r a c S i a d n Ba a c i r e m A . t p a C r a W l i v Ci

Hasbro's NYCC press event and subsequent Star Wars panel has revealed a number of new products for both 6" and 3.75" fans.

For the 6" Black Series collector's it was confirmed that the Baze Malgus and Chirrut Imwe that we saw in the Go Rogue stop-motion video will be joining the line. There was also a look at Director Krennic and confirmation that the general release Scarif / Shore Trooper is the Squad Leader - the Walmart version is the standard trooper and there is a Captain that we expect will show u soon also. The big news was that Hasbro have gone back to Darth Vader and are releasing what they are calling "The Definitive" Darth Vader.

It is probably no coincidence that Bandai have released more details and images of their Rogue One 1/12 kits during the first day of NYCC 2016. One of the key points made is that their 1/12 Shore Trooper kit will be manufactured so that the collector can build three variant versions of the Shoretrooper.

The kit will use a combination of decals and individual coloured and swap out parts so you can choose to build The Trooper, The Squad Leader or The Captain.

Last year we saw the first 6 inch limited articulation Hero figures from Hasbro, a line of 4 or 5 POA figures taken from The Force Awakens with a Darth Vader thrown in for good measure. These first figures were sold in Hong Kong, and also made their way to the UK via Aldi. Since then there have been new figures of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo added to the range - and these are being sold in discount stores in the US and Far East, but sadly not in the UK. For 3.75" fans we are getting new figures of Chirrut Imwe, Bodhi Rook, Jyn Erso in her Imperial Ground Crew outfit, Deathtrooper Specialist and Shore Troopers.

CLICK HERE for our original look at the first 5 figures

There is also Admiral Raddus, a new character for Rogue One AND a new Darth Vader for the 3.75" line. Finally the 4-pack containing Saw Gerrera was shown - this will contain (from left to right on image) Edrio Two Tubes, Saw Gerrera, Jyn Erso and the Hover Tank Pilot

The range is now getting two new figures.

The first is Rey, as seen in The Force Awakens and supplied with a solid colour blue lightsaber.

The second see's the line going to the prequels and giving us a Darth Maul figure, again with individual light sabers one for each hand

This 6 inch line Hero range checklist now reads as follows if you want to hunt these down. Watch out for a similar line also from Bandai (Far East licence) which is of a similar size and level of POA and detail. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

First Order Stormtrooper First Order Snowtrooper Kylo Ren Darth Vader Finn Luke Skywalker (Return of the Jedi) Han Solo Kanan Jarrus Rey Darth Maul

UK fans will be glad to see Toys R Us have put the exclusive Hover Tank Pilot up on their website at £22.99 It isn't in stock yet, but confirms UK availability and we would expect it to be turning up in stores and for order online very soon.

Toys R Us have added product listings for a batch of new 6" Black Series figures online.

First up is the three new figures that will make up the 2nd wave for Rogue One - Krennic, Scarif Squad Leader and the Force Awakens C-3PO (Leia is already confirmed via another couple of independents as being held back from this wave) There is then the long awaited wave that contains Leia, Darth Revan, The Snow Trooper, AT-AT Driver, Sabine and the Obi Wan Kenobi The price of each of these sits at £21.99 and all are out of stock. As yet they are also missing the option to sign up to be alerted when these are in stores.

CLICK THROUGH for the product page

The 2nd trailer for Rogue One landed this last week and has been shared like crazy across all social media platforms.

Rather than analyse the trailer to death, I'd like to stick to what we do best - Action Figures - and try and pick out anything new in the trailer we may end up getting (next year now) in the Hasbro range particularly who always go much deeper on movie's than Disney Elite and Bandai.

It was interesting there is no real focus on the Shore Troopers who have a fleeting appearance in the beach battle, and the Death Troopers only show up once - with more focus on the Original Storm Trooper design. It therefore seems a no-brainer that Hasbro will re-issue these in the 6" Black Series.

You would also assume the "disguises" that Jyn and Cassian are wearing would also translate to a figure as the head sculpts are already done and both bodies can be used elsewhere potential future exclusive options if they can push them through before the Episode 8 marketing begins?

Zavvi have the Rogue One wave 1 6" Black Series figures in stock at £18.99 inc free delivery currently Deathtrooper Cassian Andor K-2SO Unmasked Ren Jyn Erso is currently pre-order at £22.99 Boxed collectors should be warned that last year Zavvi were shipping in polybags, but did seem to improve to boxes later in the year. Dispatch is being listed as in 10-days, so there will be a wait for delivery Zavvi is an associate of The Mephitsu Archives

Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is a character we've not really seen yet, and as interesting as his role is in the movie I am not sure he will make a great figure.

On the flip side Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whitaker) looks great and with us already getting him from Hasbro in 3.75" a 6" figure would be nice too.

And what about a Rogue One era Mon Mothma, is Hasbro brave enough to give us a "non action" female figure in either range?

Background figures like Edrio Two-Tubes or the Rebel Soldiers or Officers may not be forthcoming in the 6" scale after Hasbro were maybe burned by Zuvio last year, and to a lesser degree the Guavian Enforcer - especially when we still need Bodi Rook to round out the Rebels at 6" scale. We know Two-Tubes will at least make it to the 3.75" range,

The movie also gives us a real opportunity for some figures that could span both Rogue One and A New Hope - the Death Star Trooper being the key one for me, and hopefully the Death Star Gunner too as you have to think they show up somewhere in the movie.

There are also plenty of Imperial Officers floating around, none more so than Krennic who it seems will show up as the Director (figure we've seen) and as flashback to an earlier time.

These officer sculpts would no doubt lend themselves well to being tweaked into some other Trilogy officers - particularly Tarkin or even a Thrawn?

Star Wars Rogue One fever is officially here in Mephitsu Towers. Keep checking back for our Rogue One figure reviews.... You can also join the discussion on Facebook and let us know what figures you are looking forward to or wishing will make it to store shelves.

Watch the New Rogue One Trailer now via the link below...

NECA have teased and tweeted about the Series 17 Predators for a number of weeks now, but the full line up has not been revealed until now.

The three figure series includes the Elder Predator, Youngblood Predator and the Serpent Hunter. The NYCC display of these figures includes a "Bone Throne" which was initially planned as a diorama piece for the display, but NECA have now confirmed that assuming solicitation to fans and retailers is positive they will look to release this next year.

One reveal from NYCC is an updated display of the Ultimate Jungle Hunter Predator which we did see at SDCC, but has been improved from what was a very early prototype in July.

After its first appearance at SDCC 2016, the full details for NECA's Ultimate City Hunter Predator have now been fully revealed.

Based on the Predator's return in the 1990 sequel Predator 2, the City Hunter will arrive with helmeted and unhelmeted head options as well as a wealth of weaponry and upgrade parts from the original City Hunter 7" release - these include increased articulation and working elements such as the opening gauntlet. There is also some firing effects - on top of what you can also get in the upcoming Predator Accessory Pack).

City Hunter should ship in December 2016 and we would expect pre-orders to go up this weekend

At long last, the classic Predators are back – and with some huge upgrades! From the 1990 film Predator 2, we present the definitive collector’s version of the City Hunter. The action-packed sequel to the original movie moved the hunt to Los Angeles, where even on the streets, the Predator stalks his prey with deadly precision. #NECA’s longest running action figure line continues! Series 17 features even more action figure debuts from the Alien Vs. Predator movie and video game.

The assortment includes Youngblood and #Elder from the 2004 movie, and #SerpentHunter from the 2010 video game. Check out the product page for a brand-new photo gallery: http://neca.io/2dvRaaA Elder #Predator wears a regal soft goods cape with real chain and comes with a removable mask and staff accessory. #Youngblood Predator features dual wrist blades and comes with a staff with impaled #Xenomorph head. The frequently requested Serpent Hunter Predator (also known as Alien Head Predator) features a unique, Xenomorph-inspired bio mask, dual extendable wrist blades, and sword and shuriken accessories. We’ve paid close attention to detail to make these as accurate to the movie and game as possible.

Each stands 8.25” tall and has over 30 points of articulation. As an added bonus, Elder and Youngblood’s hands and blades are removable and compatible with other #AvP #Predators. Blister card packaging. Starts shipping out to retailers in the first quarter of 2017.

The chilling creature has received “Ultimate” treatment, including additional articulation in the biceps (bicep swivels), elbows (double elbow joints) and torso, plus an opening gauntlet! Comes with 2 interchangeable heads and 5 hands, plus bloody skull and spine, smart disc, removable net launcher, cannon blast effect, collapsed spear and extended spear. Collector-friendly deluxe window box packaging with opening flap.

Underground Toys US have announced, via Twitter, a new 5" figure of the 10th Doctor in Tuxedo.

NECA have tweeted the following image with the commentary "Some bts for #facehuggerfriday a little something that might find its way into Series 11 along w/ Lambert & the Clear Blue Kenner Warrior" This appears to be either another Kenner inspired Alien or a comic based Xeno rather than being true to any of the movies. Twitter, Facebook and the various online groups are debating anything from the Kenner Scorpion to the Panther to a Defiance Comic Drone. It seems that we won't find out for sure just yet and it may be as far out as Toy Fair 2017 when the full Series 11 lineup is revealed.

The figure looks to include an updated David Tennant head sculpt. The body looks to perhaps borrow from other figures. The coat looks to be one used on most 3rd Doctor figures, as is the bow-tie. The Trousers are most likely recoloured original 10th Doctor legs so that the Converse sculpt for the feet can be re-utilised. Either way I have no issue with “clever� re-use to make new figures.

This version of the 10th Doctor, in his Tuxedo, was first seen in the Season 2 double header Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel. He would go on to wear it again in The Lazarus Experiment from Series 3 and in the Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned.

As yet there are no clear details on how this will be sold in the US or UK. Previous Underground Toys exclusives have been sold by Forbidden Planet International in the UK, but more recently Toys R Us have also been involved.

Following on from their Aliens Creature Pack, NECA have revealed they are now working on an Alien's Marine Pack containing the much requested auto guns from the Aliens Special Edition.

"What do you think about a USCM arsenal accessory pack? Design in progress shown here.

Let's Rock!! #facehuggerfriday" - Randy Falk, NECA It is obvious that this product is in the very early stages of development, and as per the rough layout plan the intention is to ideally include two of the Auto Guns as well as a wealth of other weapons including Pulse Rifle, Flame Unit, Handgun, Hicks Shotgun, Knife, Torch and what looks like a flame effect for the Flamer Unit - all of these have of course been packed in other figures to date, but the auto-guns for me will be the big winner for the pack and the other bits will make nice spares or extra pieces for your existing Marines.

It seems that this figure is also not the only one, with four more announcements to be made. The first of these is due Monday 17th October and this teaser has been posted in advance... let the guesses begin?

Idle Hands have revealed the next lot of Ghostbuster 7" figures in their Select line. This gives us a better look at the Devil Dog and the Gozer - and also a first look at the Ghost Taxi Driver.

Click through the Idle Hands link for more images.

Bluefin, the US distributer of the Tamashii Nations products, has revealed that SH Figuarts will be adding Streetfighter figures to their 1/12 line.

The first two figures will be Chun Li and Ryu, and like all SH Figuarts they will be super articulated and allow for a myriad of action orientated poses.

It is not clear how deep in terms of characters Tamashii may go on this line, a lot will depend on early sales.

The concern on this wave is the Devil Dog as fans will be wanting to purchase two of these, leaving the wave open to potential shelf warmers on the two ghost figures.

US stores will have this very soon at a $24.95 price tag, with pre-orders also up on Marvel.com.

Promotional images and details have been revealed by Kaiyodo for their upcoming 6" 1/12 scale Revoltech Spider-Man.

These four figures are Logan and Shatterstar who will fall into an X-Men wave. There is then Shocker and a Build-a-Figure Sandman which will be part of a Spider-Man wave.

At this point, and as is usual form, there is no clear wave details or where these figures will slot in. We suspect we won’t find out any more until Toy Fair 2017.

Now it seems the "blue" head is back, and will be released as a Disney Store Exclusive later this month - particularly well timed with the release of the big screen Doctor Strange This blue head represents Dr Strange's masked Superhero look from the 1960's and is a pretty impressive look on what is already a very stunning figure. The standard head is also included, as is the Eye of Agamotto, a spell effect and the stained glass window display base. The cape is also removable giving further display options for the good Doctor.

These three figure will make up the 5th Series of the Diamond Select Ghostbusters and will box off the construction of the Rooftop diorama.

Hasbro have revealed 4 new Marvel Legends 6" figures for 2017 at their NYCC events.

When the Comic book Doctor Strange figure was released in the Marvel Select range late last year, it came with an intriguing image on the reverse of a alternative blue head for the figure and yet this was not packed into the final figure.

When queried at the time Diamond confirmed this variant head was withdrawn.

This highly articulated figure will include 3 pairs of hands, webbing and an innovative wall stand so Spidey can be posed climbing walls. This wall stand looks to be either a magnet (not many metal walls, but certainly would work on a fridge) or a suction design. There is also three different sets of eyes to give Spider-Man some variations in expression.

If we assume pricing will be similar to previous Revoltech releases, then expect to be paying around £45 - £55 for this here in the UK or $55-$65 in the United States.

Other territories, including the UK and Europe, will follow later this month - with the UK price expected to be £19.95 in line with the other current Disney Store exclusives

Review : Captain America (Civil War) Diamond Select Marvel Cinematic Universe Wave/Series : Civil War Released : August (US) / September (UK) 2016 Price : ÂŁ19.99 Prior to this this release, we had been given two different Captain America figure from his first two movies in Diamond's Movie Select range. The first World War 2 release was a relatively early figure for the range, but still stands up well today and matches his look from the first movie. The decision was made to skip Avengers in 2012 in lieu of other characters like Hulk and Hawkeye, so the next Cap was from Winter Soldier - and here they went with the Stealth Suit, with a battle-damaged unmasked variant also released via Disney store. Come Age of Ultron and again Cap was skipped, and that has left Avengers team builders left without a remotely screen accurate cap to lead them. So we are now at 2016 and with Civil War, Cap is back as the lead figure - and finally collectors of the MCU Select figures have the Captain America they deserve - and arguably one of the finest released to date across the range.

Like Bucky and Iron-Man, Cap arrives in the bulky blister pack with the left hand panel in a variating blue with the Captain America character name in bold white font with the marvel logo up top and the Civil War at the base. Shooting off this panel on the front is the triangular flash that contains a head and shoulder action shot of Cap and his shield.

The side panel wraps round to the left hand spine and a stunning image of Cap from the movie, but stylised to look painted rather than a direct photograph and these panels alone look awesome when lined up on a display alone, or with other MCU packaging.

Round the back and all three Civil War releases share the same text overview of the movie, and to the side of this is a shot of the Cap figure himself. Under this sits an "also available" piece with images of Iron-Man and Winter Soldier.

Back around to the front and you will see Cap in the large blister window and the space of this window is nicely filled around Cap with two sets of spare hands and a large metallic Avengers "A" logo - more on these a bit later.

Out of the box and Cap stands 7 1/4 inches high - exactly the same as his Winter Soldier release, and consistent with Chris Evan's on screen height. Although Cap is masked on this figure, you can spot the Evans likeness from just the nose downwards. It is a huge step on from the Evans sculpts we have seen on the previous two figures, and for me is on par with that wonderful Hugh Jackman sculpt on Wolverine from a couple of years back.

What also helps with the sculpt is the paint detail. Not only is cap skin-tone spot on, it also has some subtle washing to bring out the sculpt details. The lips are neat and not overly blushed and the eyes are blue and intense behind that mask. The mask is also well sculpted and painted, with that silver A logo on the forehead and the silver wings down either side. At first I thought I had some paint splodge on these wings, but it turns out it's a painted rivet and exactly where it should be. The helmet moves down into brown leather straps with painted silver buckle.

Moving down and into the costume, and this two is a full re-work from previous suits - there is no re use on this figure despite the temptation to do so from the Stealth Suit at least. The top chest section centerpiece is the silver star, and from this the suit runs outward with sculpted lines and panels rather than simply relying on paint detail. Around this are the shoulder straps, again in brown leather and with silver buckle detail. The blue isn't washed as such on the suit, but a darker shade is used for contrast on the Cap's under-suit around the neck and around the star to make that pop even more.

This same dark blue is used subtly on the arms in a couple of areas, as is the brown leather strapping. The arms are crowned at each shoulder with a red and silver Avengers logo. I thought at first this is decal, but it has a relief to it that I am still not sure if this is actually part of the sculpt and hand painted?

Let's look at the Shield next, always an import part to any Captain America figure. The shield is also not a re-use and has been shrunk down since the Winter Soldier figure by a good half inch to 2 1/2 inch across. The shield had never bothered me before on the two previous releases, but not you see the proportions of this one to the figure then the WW2 and WS versions now look over-sized.

The shield is a high gloss finish, particularly the red which is even glossier than the Mk46 armour on Iron-Man. Each ring is neatly painted and finishes with the blue inner circle and five pointed silver star.

The hands on Cap are brown fingerless gloves and he comes with the gripping set fitted. These two have a lot of sculpted detail, with a ribbed section to the back of the hand and cut outs for each knuckle which is then painted in the skin tone. They are also washed to bring out the depth and my only minor grips is that this brown wash is also used on the fingers and here it makes them look dirty - although I guess while fighting Iron-Man in that Soviet bunker that is exactly what Cap's hands would be.

The best bit on the entire figure for me is the midriff where the red and white comes in on the costume. Diamond have resisted the temptation to make this bright and shiny - something that both Figuarts and Hasbro did with their Civil War Cap. Instead this centre section is muted and the white dirty and used, again giving the Cap some character. Within each muted white panel is some more washing that brings out even more depth.

The detail continues round the back with a brushed silver (vibranium) reverse and then two sculpted straps which then turn into flexible straps for Cap. At first I struggled with getting the shield to fit snugly on the arm - and the key is to use the flat hands for the shield poses on whichever arm you see fit. These flat palms swap in and out neatly and allow the shield straps to slide into place and far enough up Cap's arm to keep it tight in position.

The other set of hands are the fists, and sadly the size issue we had with Bucky continues here and both fists look tiny to the body.

The belt, like the Winter Soldier Cap, is loose to the figure and you can see why when we start to look at the articulation. This belt is a brown leather matt colour and with a brushed silver buckle - again not bright and shiny, but dull and world worn.

The legs continue the detail started in the upper areas, although here you can now see a movement to reflect real cloth not armour of sorts. The legs are therefore sculpted more with fold and ruffles of cloth and not clean lines - building to a real stuffing of the trousers into the top of Cap's military boots. These boots are painted a darker brown and are sculpted with three straps round to the side where there are well defined and painted buckles.

Articulation now, and so far the Civil War range has seen impressive articulation on Bucky, and not so impressive on Iron-Man. I am happy to say that Cap actually surpasses Bucky and is one of the best articulated Select figures I have ever owned or reviewed.

We start with a ball jointed head, with the ball also on a pivot so the head can rotate, tilt and look up and down - so much so that Cap can actually look at his feet with his chin touching the chest of his suit.

The arms are a standard ball jointed shoulder with the arms reaching out to the side to a full 90 degrees and then of course they rotate so can be raised up above Cap's head, or any combination in between. The elbows also give a full 90 degree bend, and with a rotation built in too. The hands are pegs but with a hinge between peg and hand and this allows the hand to bend also nearly 90 degrees - regardless of which hand combination is in place.

Unlike the previous Cap, there is now a torso joint that is neatly hidden where the red & white midriff meets the upper armour.

This opens Cap up to a lot of action poses, particularly throwing his shield of leaning in to strike an opponent. The waist is then also jointed to rotate, hidden by that flexible belt, adding more movement to the torso.

Like all the Civil War figures Cap comes with that off-white Avengers facility backdrop. This comes complete and works nicely on its own, although like the Iron-Man figure it does have a hole in the face of the wall.

Once assembled, using the clips provided in a baggie with your Diamond Select fold out brochure, all three bases link in to make a pretty impressive back drop. And it is here that the silver Avengers A comes into play as this slots into the corresponding holes on the Cap and Iron-Man base.

It does however become apparent at this point with the base fully built that it needs a further left hand piece to finish it off. What Diamond originally had planned for this 4th piece is not known, but you can finish off your diorama by purchasing a further Winter Soldier and reversing the base - or waiting for the upcoming release of the unmasked Captain America, and we will be taking a good look at this figure when it hits stores.

The legs remain the T-joint hinge used on most Selects. This means Cap, like Bucky, can do the splits but sadly thanks to the sculpted rolls in the trousers they are blocked from getting much past half way to a sitting position. That being said they move far enough to work with the knees to allow Cap to adopt some kneeling and sliding action poses, and even to make him look like he is jumping with an appropriate stand.

The knees are double-jointed and can be bent fully past 90 degrees, with the joint cleverly built into a knee pad of the suit.

And if you need it there is also a thigh swivel to adjust the legs and therefore feet out or inward to the body.

The figure ends with rockers on the ankles, hidden in a split in the boot, to allow you to plan the feet securely in a number of poses and keep Cap standing. My one issue with all this articulation is some rubbing paint on the hands in particular, and rubbing where the top of the legs start hitting the torso when they are bent.

I considered if this Cap was good enough to be the 2nd ever recipient of our 5* rating - but it is probably not quite there. If they could replicate all of this plus a new Evans head sculpt for the Disney version, then that would clinch a 5*, but it looks like the Disney Store version is only getting a recycled Winter Soldier unmasked head.

Captain America therefore walks away with a 5 out of 5 and will take some beating to the title of best Select Movie figure (although Dr Strange is already looking impressive).

Checkout our full Marvel Select Civil War review archive by clicking through the Civil War logo