Issue 80 : Saturday 25th May, 2018
The 6" Black Series Zuckuss figure was originally down to be exclusive to Toys R Us stores, but of course things have changed dramatically with the Toys R Us brand since the Toy Fair 2018 reveals. While the exact route to market Zuckuss will now take is unknown, it seems the figure is getting closer to release as this boxed image indicates. The general consensus is that Amazon may swoop in to make this and the other Toys R Us Exclusives (both Star Wars and Marvel Legends) available. That would be excellent news for all concerned, including the UK, considering Amazon’s worldwide shipping and custom fees service. The boxed figure looks superb, including what looks like impressive weathering to the coat/cloak. We await more details.
When Hasbro announced the release of the Stormtrooper with Blast FX a couple of weeks back, we couldn't help but notice the addition of a figure stand to the packaging. Jedi Business.com have now confirmed that these stands are going to be a wider part of the Black Series going forward, although it is not yet clear if the stands will get a release in every figure box - or will be sold in pack quantities. Each stand has a Star Wars logo and two foot pegs, and the centerpiece is reversible to make a grilled floor effect. You can even join up the stands for a larger connected display. Checkout the full article and all the photos at Jedi Business.com
The Star Wars show has revealed our first look at the 6" Black Series L3-37 figure from Solo, A Star Wars Story.
We also knew that Enfys Nest and her Speeder were on the way, and images have been released for this next addition to the vehicles line. A few retailers jumped the gun back in Spring, but this is now going up for pre-order and could ship as early as June 2018.
The droid, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, had been seen in text stock listings - but it is brilliant to now see this key character is definitely getting a 6" scale figure.
Also seen on the show was the Tobias Beckett figure, presented to Woody Harrelson. Following the show, Hasbro released the full promotional images of the L3-37 figure, but as yet we don’t know where she will fit in the release schedule.
A poster showing the Solo figures inserted into the movie promo posters has given us our first look at Val (Mimban) and there is a mystery figure also in silhouette - I have no idea who this is as I haven't yet seen the film, but if you have and have an idea then please hang fire on any spoilers.
The Doctor Who Site has revealed exciting details of the B&M store Doctor Who packs for 2018. Over the past couple of years, B&M have commissioned packs of the 5" Doctor Who figures for sale in their stores. Each pack is generally made up of repacks and repaints. This year the bar has been raised significantly.
Pack three gets us up to date with the 12th Doctor. The highlight here is the Bill Potts figure we saw over Christmas 2017. It seems this might have been destined for Toys R Us stores, and has since been reworked into this line. It is worth noting the T-shirt design has changed since the image we first saw, and this therefore may be just one of other Bill figures on the way - it was noted earlier in 2018 that Amazon were potentially lining these up as exclusives? We get a tweaked Missy figure from Extremis. The final figure is the 12th Doctor in his red jacket. This is another repaint of the original 12th Doctor figure. If we follow the last lot of exclusives the three packs will retail around ÂŁ16.99, potentially a little higher this year.
The 1970's pack is made up of a new 4th Doctor in his Weng Chiang "Sherlock Holmes" inspired outfit. This had been developed by Character when the line was in full flow, but never made it to an official release. This version appears to be a 3rd Doctor body with a new cloak section. The Doctor is accompanied by a Brigadier figure based on his look in Spearhead from Space and throughout Pertwee's first series, cleverly this is a re-use of the Captain Jack Harkness body with a Lethbridge Stewart head. Finally we get a repaint of the Auton to make a Terror of the Autons version.
The next pack is an 11th Doctor themed pack and includes a repainted 11th Doctor as seen in The Snowman. This is the Doctor figure from the 2014 Impossible Girl set, minus the hat. He is accompanied by Clara from Asylum of the Dalek and Amy from Let's Kill Hitler. While Clara is just a straight up repack from the same "Impossible Girl "set, Amy is a full repaint from her original figure with some impressive printing on her T-Shirt and Coat.
There is a fourth set with a new 3rd Doctor figure and a repainted TARDIS. The Doctor is wearing his Time Monster outfit, This is the red jacket that was used in the 13 Doctor box set, but with a white cravat instead of the bow tie. The TARDIS is a non electronic version, and in the promo images looks a little too light in the blue, but we will see how this looks in reality when the sets hit stores.
At Toy Fair 2018 NECA confirmed they were producing 7" scale figures from the upcoming 2018 Shane Black Predator movie. The Toy Fair announcement confirmed a single release of an Ultimate Predator, to arrive after the films release in August 2018. No images or details were shared, or could be shared until the movie was released. NECA have now confirmed a 2nd release from the movie arriving in November 2018. Again there are zero details or images and like the first announcement, there will be no visuals or details until after the movie release. Announcement!
Riding on the wave of promotional activity that is Deadpool 2, NECA have revealed the packaging for their Collectors Edition 1/4 scale Deadpool figure. This is a re-release of their original 1/4 Deadpool, but is now packed to the brim with additional accessories. These include an unmasked Wade Wilson head, a brain head and a baseball cap. We also get some pizza head toppings, blast effects, Mr-T chain and a stuffed unicorn. There are also the usual Deadpool armaments of Katana's, Sai's, Tactical Knife and a working holster. The packaging is an innovative window box with two folding side panel window sections that display the accessories. These fold in on the box and the whole thing is then presented in white outer sleeve with a striking image of Deadpool. The figure is due for a June/July release and will be around £120 here in the UK.
Predator (2018) – Deluxe Action Figure – Predator Figure #2 From the upcoming Predator movie directed by Shane Black! Images and information regarding this figure will not be available until the movie release date. Shipping Date: Early November 2018
NECA have teased this image on World Turtle Day which gives a very big clue that they are going to release a box set of 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. You can see the artwork on the box and the accompanying tweet mentions the "classic flick"
"At NECA we shellabrate #WorldTurtleDay by kicking back & watching a classic flick on VHS just like it's 1990 all over again. #tmnt #TurtlePower" We would assume this would be the 2018 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive, the third year running a Turtle set has been one of NECA's exclusives- the licence NECA holds for Turtles wont allow a wider release.
It is the annual Tamashii Comic Con over in Japan and the various Tamashii brands have been showing off new and proposed items for release. SH Figuarts had a wealth of new Star Wars 1/12 product on display, some of which we'd seen before and others that are brand new to the SH Figuarts Star Wars line. Most figures were marked as "display only" with no specified release date. This is common for Figuarts and while a figure may be on display it could still be months or even years away from release - if it gets released at all. Starting with the Prequel Trilogy and there were two new Revenge of the Sith clones on display utilising that existing Mk2 clone sculpt - the Shock Trooper and Utapau 212th Attack Battalion Trooper. Revenge of the Sith is further represented with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The big surprise is then the Episode 1 Jar-Jar Binks, his first appearance in 6" scale from any company. And also from Episode 1 we get another look at that Queen Amidala in flowing red ceremonial robes and a TC-14 Protocol Droid (re-use of the C-3PO sculpt). The other Episode 1 figure on display was what looks to be a new Darth Maul, now with his flowing black robes and what could be a revised face sculpt.
The Original Trilogy looks to be getting the bulk of new product and this starts with an R5-D4 droid and some Jawa's from A New Hope. The Jawa's can be kept in check with the (very clean looking) Sandtrooper - a variant on the existing Stormtrooper mould. It's amazing to think we have not had a Boba Fett figure yet in this line, and this should be fixed with the Return of the Jedi version on display. Han in Carbonite will be released - potentially indicating an Empire Boba may soon follow using the same sculpt? The figures of Luke and Vader from Return of the Jedi were displayed in front of a stunning new Emperor Palpatine and his Death Star 2 Throne. These were identified with the place cards separately so could be individual releases rather than a deluxe box set. And the Return of the Jedi vibe continued with a Wicket the Ewok, complete with Endor Log and a Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jabba figure also gets another outing, but there is still no Throne environment.
One more Original Trilogy figure seen on display is not quite a full SH FIguarts release. The Emperor's Royal Guard is however a Figuarts ZERO release, a 6" scaled statue in essence with zero articulation. That works pretty well for this character and its posing and the cost will also be lower and allow for collectors to purchase a few for the Imperial display. The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were pretty much ignored in all this new product, but there was one gem with the reveal of a Crait Projection Luke Skywalker. I think there is more to come for Solo, A Star Wars Story - but the one figure we did get to see was the Imperial Patrol Trooper.
And into the side line of Movie Realization figures is the reveal of a very odd looking C-3PO Samurai inspired figures.
Moving away from Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy get a boost with Star-Lord, Rocket and Groot - all as they appeared in the first Guardians movie in 2014. And another figure taken from a characters debut movie is the 1/12 Captain America in his "Army Mascot" outfit. To keep the MCU in check, it looks like a 6" Director Fury is also going to get a release. The final Marvel MCU movie of 2018 is Ant-Man and the Wasp, and the Wasp is a confirmed release for later this year. She looks brilliant, particularly when buddied up with the existing Civil War Ant-Man. Moving to the Manga Realization line and the final reveal was a gorgeous Samurai inspired Wolverine with yellow and blue classic X-Men colour scheme. These Marvel figures were all marked as Display Only, and there were no confirmed release dates - in fact some of these, if SH Figuarts stay true to form, may be months away from release and some could end up being shelved all together.
The Marvel SH Figuarts reveals at Tamashii Comic Con were not as extensive as Star Wars but it did confirm some new additions to the Infinity War figures that had already been announced. Up first is a beautiful 6" scale Falcon, complete with articulated wings. He will be joined by the new War Machine. Thor gets his "Stormbreaker" look complete with the Stormbreaker Axe. And not to be outdone, Black Panther gets an unmasked vibranium charged figure with the purple "charged" lines. The final reveal was the Infinity War Iron-Man, now shown with added weaponry, fins and the booster shoes. We suspect these are additions to the announced figure - or a deluxe pack in with swap out parts rather than a whole new release.
It has been confirmed that Tamashii Nations has secured the rights to make 1/12 scale Harry Potter movie figures under their SH Figuarts banner. The first figures will be the key trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione as seen in the Philosopher's Stone. Each figure will be priced around 6500 yen, that is a ÂŁ44 each, but expect to pay extra for importing these from Japan. As with most Figuarts there is the potential for Bluefin to import these to the West, but that will add further cost and take this to curca ÂŁ50 / $60 each. Harry will come with the Sorting Hat, wand, Firebolt Broomstick, Hogwarts School Books and Hedwig the Owl. There will also be alternative face portraits and hands to personalise the look. In some low res images it also looks like Hedwig may have articulated wings. Harry will be the first to hit stores in October 2018.
SH Monsterarts have confirmed the release of this awesome Godzilla Earth figure, to be released in November 2018. Ron also comes wit alternative face options and hands. He has his wand, broomstick, books and Scabbers the Rat. Ron will get a November 2018 release.
This is Godzilla as we find him in the recent Netflix Godzilla Planet of the Monsters. This representation is of the 300 metre high Godzilla, and to show his enormous height you get a smaller figure of the original 50 metre Godzilla to pose with him. The actual figure is still only 7" tall so is not in scale with other SH Monsterart releases. The pack also includes the shuttlecraft from the Netflix show and this can be posed on an included flight stand. In Japan this is exclusive to the Bandai webstore. US and International customers can get this via Bluefin import, and you will be paying circa $120.
Hermione arrives in December and comes with her wand, school bag & books and a feather for her Wingardium Leviosa spell. Again there looks to be alternative head sculpts for differing looks.
Promotional images released for the SH Figuarts Infinity War Captain America have revealed that Cap will come with Corvus Glaive's spear. The figure is due for a July release, and US / Western collectors will be pleased to know that Bluefin will be bringing this over from the Far East and packing it with one of the explosion effects as a package. The US release will cost around $82 and is up now on Big Bad Toy Store
The shockingly massive Godzilla as seen in the animated "Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters" joins S.H.MonsterArts! To accentuate the 300 meter size of the creature as seen on screen, an in-scale 50m size Godzilla portrayal and a shuttlecraft is included. The set also includes a stand.
Mezco have released the full details, and the promotional images, for their One:12 Collective Logan figure. The figure is comic book based rather than be styled directly after the X-Men movie Hugh Jackman incarnation. This 6" Logan figure will feature the standard highly articulated body with appropriately scaled cloth tailored clothing. This includes Logan's jeans and his wife beater top. You can then have him wearing his trademark brown Leather Jacket and a Stetson hat if you wish. THe costume can also be accessorized with Logan's dog tags.
Low resolution images have found their way online, shared by MFCT and Marvellous News, of the packaging for the upcoming Hasbro Marvel Legends 10 years of MCU releases. We knew about 9 of the 10 releases as of Toy Fair so it is nice to see these in their packaging. The only one not shown is the Iron-Man 3 set with Mandarin. The images also reveal set 10 for Infinity War, and this one is a bit of a kick in the teeth for collectors (like me) who have just spent circa ÂŁ120 for the Thanos Build-a-Figure - only for this updated version to be included in the pack.
The figure can be further tweaked for your display with the choice of three different heads. While one is pretty neutral, the second is sculpted with a snarling expression. The third comes with an eye patch. We also have 6 hand options, which of course being Logan includes a set of exposed Adamantium Clawed Hands. Being a One:12 release Logan is packed with a display stand, with appropriate yellow and blue X-men logo. Logan is tentatively scheduled for release between November 2018 and January 2019. The US RRP is $80 and US collectors can pre-order now through Mezco with a $20 non refundable deposit. Expect wider pre-orders and those UK pre-orders to go up around the ÂŁ75 mark.
This new Thanos uses the same body as the BAF, but the Infinity Gauntlet is resculpted to an open hand whereas the BAF has a clenched fist. The colouring on the Gauntlet also looks a lot prettier. He also gets two new heads, one neutral and one that seems a cross between smiling and grimacing in anger. The Iron-Man is also a repack from the 1st Infinity War Wave but gets a light up arc reactor now. Doctor Strange looks fantastic and is updated from his previous (hard to find in the UK) release and gets a number of magic FX pieces.
No release dates are known other than the first batch of Ronan, Captain America & Crossbones 2-pack and Iron-Man Mk7 which are down for an August release.
The One:12 Collective Logan figure invokes his rugged and feral nature. He features three head portraits, a cowboy hat, a dog tag, a fitted tank-top with jeans, a belt with a western-style buckle, a leather-like jacket with a functional zipper, and cowboy boots. Logan comes with six interchangeable hands - both with and without his trademark claws extended.
The packaging is special sized for the release and is both wider and deeper than a standard figure. The design features remain the same however with the gloss black box and bold red spine. The Gregory Titus artwork is gorgeous, front and back, and the rear text even dares you to army build this figure as it talks about Jabba the Hutt employing a gang of these "intimidating Gamorreans". For those who want the exact details on this new packaging option it measures 180mm (7") across, 85mm (3 1/4") deep and is 230mm (9") high this is the same height as the standard figure boxes.
For me, the Gamorrean Guard has special meaning as a figure. It was one of the few I spent most of my childhood without - despite getting the majority of the other original vintage figures. When I did finally pick one up it was towards the end of my formative years, and the collection would be sold soon after as I moved inevitably as was the era to the fledgling computers and video games. When I relaunched my collection with POTF this was one of the first figures I went to buy in the mid-90's and he stood proud alongside a makeshift Jabba's throne room with Bib Fortuna and that Special Edition Jabba. I championed the Gamorrean in both the 6" Black Series Fan Votes, losing out both times (to Darth Revan and Jaina Solo) and in the end it has taken a while to get the Gamorrean into the 6" Black Series. with the figure now in hand I can see why when you consider not only the size, but the details over and above a standard figure that are necessary to make this look and feel accurate.
In the US the figure is exclusive to Target stores and US collectors am sure will be army building this to their heart's content. In the UK it is a shared exclusive, in so much it is not numbered but is available from the majority of independent stores with a price ranging from a reasonable ÂŁ31 up to and beyond the ÂŁ42 mark.
The figure, like all Phase 3 releases, is packed against a gloss red backdrop that actually accentuates the figure with the green set against that red. Like the Tusken Raider, Hasbro have made this a figure you can tweak via the weaponry and three are included and packed to the figures side.
The sculpt is amazing. Hasbro have always executed Aliens well, but this guy is stunning. The face is well proportioned and pretty screen accurate and has sculpted facial ridges and rolls and the paint is then applied with some washing and tone variations. Those tiny eyes are blue and sharp and shine out from that prominent ridge. The nose and lips are toned towards brown and are glossier and the trademark tusks stick out from beneath. The horns also protrude either side of the helmet cap and this is just as well executed as the head with an armoured silver crown, complete with studded rivets. This then goes down to a leather strap, weathered to a black at the edges and there are then two armoured ear flaps which return to the studded silver finish.
For quite a stocky and bulky figure, the Gamorrean still packs 17 points of articulation (inclusive of that jaw). The head is jointed and can move to some degree within the constraints of the sunken neck. You can also feel and move a waist joint under that fur lined nappy. Arms are ball jointed at the shoulder and raise up and down fully, with the armoured panels designed to move with the arms. The elbows are a single rotation and the wrists pegged with a pivot.
From the head we go down into a basic tunic that is painted brown and then washed with a dirty brown to give it a leather dirty look. Around this we have more armored panels on the shoulders and wrists. There is then a separate chest and waist strap in black plastic. Sat just under this is that circular stitched emblem each Gamorrean wears, this too is neatly sculpted and it's a pity it sits behind the strapping - but of course that too is accurate to the movie.
The hips, hidden under the skirt, are ball jointed into that giant groin area. The thigh swivel is still there, under the skirt, despite the legs being so stocky. We then have the usual double jointed knees and ankle rocker. You would have to go do some to find a pose where the Gamorrean doesn;t stand perfectly - he is of such a weight and size that the feet are more than secure in most poses.
The arms and legs are muscular and contain a lot of muscle detail and up close the skin is not smooth, but is textured like a rhino or an elephant. It may be one tone green compared to the head, but it works brilliantly. The sandals are a plain grey, painted over the green skin tone plastic. When i first saw the soft goods loin cloth I was sceptile. I didn't think it would work having seen how it looked on the smaller 3.75" Vintage figure from some years back. And yet I was wrong and this is another area where I think this Gamorrean tops the Black Series as the best soft goods application to date. The fur can be moved around with the leg articulation, and to save his modesty there is a pair of brown under garments under the fur section.
Articulation starts at the jaw, another extra that Hasbro have thrown in to this release. While in the movies the Gamorreans didn't really have much jaw movement, the figure can go much beyond what we saw in the film opening his maw to a yawn pose or similar. Into the mouth we have a sculpted tongue as well as teeth and if you look closely he even has a sculpted uvula.
Once you have the figure you have a choice of three weapons for him to wield. These represent the three weapons seen in Jabba's Palace during Return of the Jedi. The first of these is a single bladed axe with wooden shaft. The internet seems to agree this is a Gamorrean Axe and a traditional weapon for the Guards. It is cast in a crisp plastic with wooden coloured shaft and dull grey blade with rusting brown detail on the edging.
The axe can be held in either hand, both of which are designed to hold the weaponry. If you are being anal about accuracy, this Axe is seen used by the guards that escort C-3PO and R2 into the palace and by a guard in the main throne room as Luke threatens Jabba later in the Tatooine scenes.
Weapon two is the longer Vibro-Lance. This is the weapon we see the Gamorrean Guards using when they are force choked by Luke as he enters Jabba's palace.
While screen accurate, it is not easy to spot in the Jabba's Palace scenes of Return of the Jedi - and I am still looking. We got a better look at it in scenes from The Force Unleashed.
The lance is cast in a grey plastic and this is harder than the plastic we've seen on other Black Series weapons and it therefore has a good amount of crisp sculpted detail from the corrugated grips to the rivets and mechanism on the pronged blade. The only criticism is the lack of any paint on this accessory which would have looked much nicer in a metallic finish with some weathering / dirtying.
Like the other axe, this is cast in hard plastic with a painted wood look handle and grey dull metallic blade. The blade has the texture within the cast of beaten metal and the edge of the blade is weathered with a rusty paint tone.
Like the axe the lance can be held in either hand, and is also long enough to work with the arm articulation so two handed poses can also be achieved.
This axe also fits in either hand with the articulation of the figure then allowing for a range of action and guarding poses. You can of course dual arm your Gamorrean with two of the three weapons employed across the two gripping hands. For me the double axe poses is the most "Gamorrean" for your display.
The final weapon will be familiar as the axe originally packed with the Vintage Gamorrean Guard back in the 1980s. This seems to be referred to most commonly as a Vibro Ax and has accompanied most Gamorrean Guard figures released by Hasbro and indeed other companies like Sideshow.
Before I sum up I wanted to touch on scale for the Gamorrean Guard who are reported as being about 6ft high on average, but many are portrayed shorter. This Black Series release is only 5 and 3/4 inches high, so he will stand shorter than other denizens of Jabba's Palace like Boba Fett (as seen above).
I originally got very giddy over this figure and was going straight for our highest rating, the 5 star plus.... however, after sleeping on decision I am going to scale it back to a 5 out of 5 score. The Gamorrean does everything right as a figure - from the brilliant sculpt, the excellent paint job and weathering, the appropriate soft goods use, the articulation and those three accessories. There is virtually nothing to fault. The issue that has made me scale this back from our highest accolade is the availability. Hasbro have made an awesome figure here, but in doing so we are paying double the price of a standard figure herein the UK. For that price we should be expecting perfection and the only way this could therefore exceed expectations it to come in sub ÂŁ30 and with availability that makes us able to army build these for our Jabba's Palace display. I am yet to see what the mass market US release into Targets will do to the price and availability here in the UK. It is also a sculpt that warrants future use, perhaps as a repack in a multi-pack release.