Issue 64 : Saturday 14th October, 2017
SH Figuarts are not known for their larger figures, but 2018 will see them break that mold with the release of their Thor Ragnarok figures. Of course we will get Thor himself, but also released will be a large Hulk figure in Gladiator armour. Not much else is known at this time and we await more details.
Tamashii Nations, like Diamond Select, have a licence for figures from the 2018 Pacific Rim sequel, Uprising. Tamashii will be releasing 6" scale figures from the movie and had a few of the new offerings on show at NYCC. These are not super articulated Figuarts figures and are instead similar to what Tamashii Nations do with the Godzilla licence. These are badged "Sofvi Spirits" - or Soft Vinyl. The price on these, in Japan, will be between £16 and £30 depending on size.
The Mezco One:12 Doctor Strange figure is not due until November 2017, but it has already been confirmed that an alternative Marvel : Now version of the good Doctor will also be released as a Previews exclusive. Stephen Strange comes in the alternative black and red outfit he wears in the Marvel Now comic series, this is pretty much a full new tailored outfit from Mezco and the trademark Cloak of Levitation has gone.
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He will also come with some different accessories to the main release. While the stand remains the same, the magic effects are now coloured differently. The Astral projection piece has gone altogether and the eye of Agamotto is replaced appropriately with the Orb of Agamotto. We now await full details of release from PreviewsWorld.com
Hong Kong based Star Ace are a high end manufacturer of 1/6 scale Action Figures with licences including Harry Potter, 300 and Hunger Games. They have just unveiled a new range of smaller 1/8 scale figures at NYCC. These figures will come in around 9" tall and will be articulated with soft goods clothing and appropriate accessories and effects. The first two licences being tackled are Harry Potter and the CW DC TV shows. Potter fans can look forward to a Dementor, Voldemort and Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry Potter. DC fans will be getting Flash and Arrow.
Obsidian Fury - released March 2018 Saber Athena - released March 2018 Guardian Bravo - released March 2018 Gipsy Avenger - released February 2018 Bracer Phoenix - released February 2018 Titan Redeemer - released February 2018 Raijin (Kaiju) - released February 2018
NECA have confirmed, via Randy Falk on Twitter, that their 7" Blade Runner 2049 figures will include a 2nd wave. The first figure from this 2nd wave was then teased as Randy changed his Twitter profile to this image. NECA have revealed the final packaging for their 7" figures from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The set of three figures contains titular hero Valerian, Laureline and K-Tron. They are due into stores imminently.
This confirms that Jared Leto's Neander Wallace will be one of the 2nd series figures. The second figure in this 2nd wave will be Luv, as played by Sylvia Hoeks. We now eagerly await more images of both figures.
NECA have shared this image and tweet about the development of their Ultimate Ahab Predator figure. "Finalizing the blister layout for the Ultimate Ahab Predator - he's loaded to the gills #prednesday"
The image is the proposed layout for the inner blister and gives us a good insight into what accessories and parts Ahab will be packed with. As well as the masked and unmasked heads, there are a number of wrist blade options. These have been confirmed as both 2 blade and 3 blade configurations. There is also a shoulder cannon, swap out hands and some other weaponry.
NECA celebrate Friday 13th with the announcement of their Friday the 13th Accessory pack. This set is scaled for use with NECA's 7" Jason Friday the 13th figures, and allows you to enhance your display with scaled scenery and props as seen in the movie. There is a very innovative underwater chain stand which gives Jason the illusion of floating in water. Also included are the Camp Crystal Lake Sign which is over 7" across. There is then a decked stand that looks like the boat mooring dock. This is also 7" across and stands 11" high with the lamp. The whole set will ship in February 2018. Also confirmed for 2018 is the next Ultimate Jason figure as being based on the 2nd movie in the franchise - Friday the 13th Part 2.
The Pacific Rim sequel, Uprising, hits Cinema's in February 2018 - and with the new movie comes a new company tackling the Action Figures. While NECA held the licence for the original Pacific Rim movie, the baton has now passed to Diamond Select Toys for the Uprising figures. Diamond have now revealed, via Yahoo movies, the first three figures that will launch the wave. First up is the familiar Gipsy Avenger who is an evolution to Gipsy Danger from the first movie. We then get the bulky tank like Bracer Phoenix and the sleek red Saber Athena. More Jaegers are planned including Titan Redeemer and Guardian Bravo, as well as a selection of Kaiju. The figures will be launched in Spring 2018 and were on display at NYCC. The NYCC display included a licensor pending Kaiju figure which looks impressive.
Fans weren't overly impressed with the prototype Hulk figure displayed by Diamond at SDCC for Thor Ragnarok. This new image, taken at NYCC, will go a long way to alleviate the concerns as it looks absolutely stunning. The rest of the 2017 offerings were on display at the Diamond Select booth including Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and the Netflix Daredevil.
Diamond will be producing a basic range of the figures which will be $19.99 in the US and sold via Toys R Us. They will then do a Select range of figures in the larger Select packaging and these will come with additional weapons and parts and retail for $24.99. In the UK we will likely have access to the Select figures via our local or online independents.
It wasn’t all good news at NYCC for Diamond fans. After losing the unmasked head on Starlord - it was now confirmed that the T-Shirt design, see on the prototype shots, has also been dropped on the production version.
The first batch of McFarlane 7" figures based on the Destiny video game have been a real hit with collectors - and McFarlane have now confirmed a second wave of figures from the sequel, Destiny 2, will be released in Spring 2018.
First up is Ikora Rey who is armed with ther Deadpan Delivery Shotgun. The impressive Commander Zavala will be armed with his Daedalus Assault Rifle. And finally Cayde-6 who comes with the Ace of Spades Hand Cannon. The figures are all around 12 points of articulation and will come with the standard McFarlane (Color top) display base. We expect to potentially see these at NYCC 2017 as prototype figures.
Diamond's Ghostbusters II display at NYCC has given us a couple of snippets of information about the 2018 range of figures based on Ghostbusters II. First up, it looks like Janosz will come with Baby Oscar and what we assume is a lenticular image of the Vigo painting. And secondly we get our first proper look at the Ghostbusters firehouse diorama. Some other snippets from the show - The Terror Dog on display is a Toys R Us (US) exclusive in the basic packaging - he is semi-translucent. And Ray wit Slime Blower will also come with the demon Vigo head so you can convert it to the possessed Ray figure from the GB2 final showdown.
The stars of the McFarlane display at NYCC - for figures anyway - were these prototypes of the two upcoming Stranger Things figures. Hopper and Seven are looking fantastic - check out the detail, including that nose bleed on Seven. It has been confirmed, as we expected, that a 2nd Series of Stranger Things figures are now being developed. This series will include Dustin and Lucas and we will also get a Deluxe release of the Demogorgon.
Hasbro have unveiled 5 new 6" Black Series Star Wars figures at NYCC. Beware some visual spoilers from The Last Jedi further down the page
There has been an absence of Marvel Cinematic Figures at NYCC from Hasbro aside from the basic range Black Panther figures. Instead, a number of new comic book figures have been announced. The famous Bounty Hunter group will get not one, but two steps closer with the release of Dengar and 4-LOM. That will leave Zuckuss as the final figure awaiting release to create that iconic line-up of scum and villany. Lando gets a second figure, this time in his Jabba's guard disguise. The figure comes with the staff and removable helmet.
Multiple Man will fall into the X-Men wave and he will come with three head options. Also in an X-Men wave will be Gladiator. Over to Spider-Man we get Spider-Man Noir, who looks to be a re-use of the Nick Fury body. We also get Prowler. For the Avengers wave we have a new Taskmaster - who looks fantastic. And talking of Fantastic, Mr Fantastic (who was previewed at SDCC) is included in this promo image set. He will be a Walgreens (US) exclusive. Hasbro have confirmed The Thing will follow in due course to allow collectors to complete The Fantastic 4 team.
The Rey we saw earlier in the year will be released. This is Rey as we see her at the end of the Force Awakens with her robes and cloak as she flies off to find Luke. This is the outfit we expect her to be wearing as The Last Jedi opens. And talking of The Last Jedi we will be getting a 6" figure of Benicio del Toro's DJ character.
Disney figures seem to be a trend for 2017 considering we've already had release of the Kingdom Hearts figures in the US from Diamond, and a similar range coming from SH Figuarts. Now Funko have entered the arena with an announcement of their Disney Afternoon collection of 3.75" figures
While Funko is no stranger to Action Figures, these are not the usual stylised figures - nor the retro range we've seen in their Re:Action line. The "chase" strategy is not new to Funko, and while it may frustrate collectors - it certainly keeps the collectors keen.
Check Out our BRAND NEW Directory for UK Action Figure and Collectable Stores.
For UK collectors the price is looking like being ÂŁ9.99 per figure and Funko will likely get these into most places that are already stocking Pops! so Toys R Us, Smyths and even Asda & Tesco. Online is going to be a little more complicated as the case breakdown and chase figure will likely lead to varying prices by figure.
You can search physical stores via our online map...
For those unfamiliar with the Disney Afternoon Collection - it is a video game compilation released in 2017 that contains 6 games previously released between 1989 and 1994 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The games are Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Duck Tales 1 & 2, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers 1 & 2. These games themselves were based on animated TV shows that were shown in what Disney termed their "Afternoon Block"
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Review : Lambert (Compression Suit) NECA, Aliens Wave/Series : Series 11 Released : July 2017 ÂŁ24.99 Pros : the alternative head is awesome, and the Compression Suit sculpt is a proven winner Cons : not many, providing you can look past what is essentially a repaint with two new heads Series 11 of NECA's Aliens series is a real mishmash of figures taken from three different sources of the Alien Universe. Lambert is the only figure who originates in any of the movies, with the other figures coming from the world of comics (Defiance Xenomorph) and the 1990's Kenner Toys (Blue Warrior).
The side art panels are back with images of the actual figure printed down either side, NECA seems to be reserving these solely for the movie releases now. The blister pack reverse repeats the Alien logo on top of an image of Lambert against a backdrop of the Alien ship. There is then a short section of text which summarises and sets up the plot of Alien rather than any bio details for Lambert. THis same text has been used on all the 1979 Alien figures to date - Kane, Ripley, Dallas and the Big Chap. The final part of the rear is the "Also Available" section which shows head shots of the three figures in Series 11 - Lambert, Defiance Xenomorph and the Blue Alien Warrior.
Lambert has been floating around for a while in teasers and previews - it is brilliant to therefore get her in hand and to expand the original 1979 crew by another member.
Whilst not as bad as some of the other recent releases - the paper used for the inserts is very thin and is prone to creasing and warping inside the pack. I have a theory that the side panels in this one have helped keep the backing piece in place - but if you are keeping your figures on card then watch out for this, and avoid keeping the figure near any heat which may warp the packaging further. Lambert arrives in the standard clamshell packaging. Being an Alien release the header is the bold "Alien" 1979 text against a dark backdrop. The blister front has a green hue and illustrations of the Alien eggs. The name Lambert is printed in white text with the sub title "Compression Suit".
The blister has to be cut open to access the figure, and she slides out in an inner tray surrounded by the helmet and accessories. As with most NECA releases at present - she is strapped in securely with a multitude of twisty ties.
I guess we shouldn't read anything into that subtitle in terms of other versions of Lambert arriving - we know from Dallas that just because NECA sculpts a head, it doesn't mean numerous outfit releases?
Lambert comes out of the box with her neutral head in place. This is a decent likeness to Veronica Cartwright. In many ways it is not a traditional NECA head sculpt as it lacks any expression at all - in recent years NECA have become very adept at capturing the mannerisms and looks of characters from the movies.
The head is well painted with a base skin tone and then depth and shadow added. The eyes are neat and blue and the lips picked out without looking like they've had deep red lipstick applied. The hair doesn't quite capture the style Cartwright had in the film, the parting is too central and the hair is very dense - whereas Cartwrights style around the fringe and over the top was quite wispy. It is painted brown with lighter brown dry brushing over the top.
You would assume, from such a bulky sculpt, that articulation would be virtually non-existent. There are no obvious joints as you inspect the figure. And yet the suit will surprise you in terms of how far it can actually move. The head, of course, is ball jointed and can spin and look up and down. The shoulders - hidden under those bronze panels - are ball jointed and can be raised up to not quite 90 degrees from the body. While these shoulders also rotate, you won't want to raise them any further or risk damaging those shoulders. The elbow joints are very well hidden - but they are there and can get a small bend into the elbow as needed. The wrists are also jointed on a pivot. The most useful joint is the torso one, this again is disguised beneath that chest plate. The movement here is very extensive with the top part of the body able to rotate and lean backwards. Forward leans are sadly blocked as the chest plate hits the lower control box and blocks movement. The legs finally are jointed at the hips and knees - again with the joints really well disguised. Lambert will never sit or kneel, but there are some good wider stances and poses to go after - and this is not a figure you need worry about falling over thanks to her bulk, weight and a set of solid ankle rockers.
We have of course seen the Compression (Space) Suit before - it originally made it's debut in 2014 with the Kane figure. That being said the Suit is a thing of beauty that perfectly captures the look and feel of that bulky prop suit from 1979. There is so much detail in the sculpt you will find yourself surprised for the first few weeks as you inspect the figure. The basis of the suit is a ridged puffy material - but that texture changes in places, particularly around the joints where it turns to a webbing type material. Over the suit are various straps and panels - with the "Cricket" pads being the most visual around the lower legs. There are some metallic sections like the two shoulder pads - filled with sculpted detail - and the chest plate. The rear suit pack has its own valves to regulate the air flow and pipe work that snakes upwards and will connect to the helmet when we get this on later. The scheme of Lambert's suit is blue with a light blue base tone and darker elements in places. The panelling is then cream and the metallic sections a bronze colour. Detailing is amazing with washes on the suit to dirty it up and some green washes on the metallic to make it look like it is corroding. Various decals are also in situ including on the characters rear, the back pack and of course the nameplate on the chest piece.
Remember at the start when I was surprised over the neutral look on Lambert's face? Well the alternative head is the complete opposite, and here you can see how brilliantly the NECA team are able to capture a character's look from points in the movie. This is the first time a second head has been included with a Compression Suit figure and it gives you an alternative look for the character with its cream headpiece. It is the look on Lambert's face that is fantastic, a look of terror is captured forever in the sculpt and for me there is no choice in terms of which head you would have on display. Painting here is even better than the first head with the cheeks given a rosy tone and the eyebrows painted to match the furrowed brow. The teeth are also showing and painted with the white enamel against the pink gums. Swapping heads is fairly easy, they pop in and out pretty easily - a little heat may ease them along if they are resisting.
The helmet can be fitted with either head in situ. If you are using the standard head then the helmet can be slid over the top by angling it to the side and then sliding it over. If you are using the alternative head then you will have to remove the head and then position the lower section of the helmet into the neck piece. Then add the head, and finally position the top section.
That being said it's a decent piece with top handle, silver connection at the end and a fuzzy white lens. It can be forced into both hands, but fits better in the left. Any sticklers for detail and accuracy can leave it off and drop it in the spares box.
The helmet design is brilliant also with its clear perspex through which the head sculpt is still clearly visible. Paint scheme is the same as the other metallic parts with an overall bronze look and some green corrosion added in places. The top light has a yellow painted lens and there are some coloured buttons round the back just above where the piping connects. The piping from the back pack we touched on earlier is a soft rubber and is designed to slot into corresponding connections in the helmet. Slot the thinner piece in first and then the larger piece goes over the top of this into a groove and into a slot of its own.
The second accessory is a gun. This can be seen throughout the Compression Suit scenes strapped to the side of all three of the expedition. it does beg the question if these were available why were the Nostromo crew so poorly armed later on in the movie? Anyway, I digress. The gun is cast in black with silver drybrush and some red detailing to either end. The gun is designed to sit in the right hand with a trigger finger that lines up to the trigger. When not in use there is a loop from the belt through which the gun can be slipped and secured - it takes a bit of playing with to get it in position.
As we mentioned, the suit is identical in every way to that used on Kane and on Dallas (pictured above). I have no issue with this considering he suits were made by the same company in the movie and are a standard issue for the crew. Even the fact Lambert is (obviously) female doesn't really make much difference as the suit is so bulky that any physical differences are obscured. One criticism we levelled on Dallas at the time was a lack of weathering on his suit which was very clean. The same cannot be said of Lambert as there is a dirty wash over the suit to weather it and add dirt and grime. The first accessory is a bit of an odd one - it is the flashlight that originally came with Kane. Now in the movie, Lambert does not have one of these although logic says she did have access to one.
Lambert completes the trio who were involved in the expedition to the Derelict ship. And out of the three she is the superior figure benefitting from a brilliantly designed body sculpt and articulation . Issues from previous figures like sticky paint and lack of weathering have been fixed and the overall paint job is top notch. The release also goes one step further with two head options - the second scared version one of the most expressive and realistic sculpts I've seen from NECA or indeed anyone in this scale and price bracket. The figure has no flaws what so ever, and is so impressive I am going to say it has even exceeded by expectations and score it a 5+ review.
Checkout the alternative covers that didn’t make the front page this week
Issue 64 : Saturday 14th October, 2017