If you’re reading this, then you’ve survived Black Friday! Welcome to an all new edition of Toy News Tuesday! If you‘re new around here, Toy News Tuesday is the one weekly column right here on ScienceFiction.com where we seek out all of the awesome news you need to know about any announcements and cool happenings in the toy industry and put them all in one easy to find place for you! Now that the holiday season is in full swing, it’s time to get out there and snatch up all the best gifts for those closest to you! Black Friday has come and gone, so the time for all the coolest new toys to be restocked daily is now! Luckily, that also means it‘s a light week for news! Let‘s dive straight into the Toy News for the week of December 2nd, 2014!

That’s One Expensive Date

Every so often, you hear someone going on about how a toy packaged with a factory error or ‘defect’ is worth more than a regular version of the figure. That’s great, you’ve got a ‘Jar Jar Binks’ figure on a ‘Darth Maul’ card backer. Error figures are only ever worth what a buyer is willing to pay for them, so unless you find someone who is really really into what you’ve discovered, it usually isn’t’ worth much at all (and sometimes it’s worth even less than a regular version of the figure!). Unless of course, you find something REALLY cool. Like this guy for example…

Kotaku reports that Ebay user Jetfour recently found and sold a factory sealed Samus Aran figure from Nintendo’s Amiibo figure line for a WHOPPING $2500. Yes, you read that right. Twenty-five hundred dollars. The Amiibo line is a series of figures made for use ‘in game’ for some of the games on Nintendo’s various consoles (similar to ‘Skylanders’ or ‘Disney Infinity’). So what made this particular Samus Aran Amiibo figure so special? She was defectively packaged with two arm cannons! Samus Aran usually has an arm cannon adorning her right arm, but for whatever reason, this particular figure had one mounted on both arms for a surprisingly cool looking dual-cannon look!

While it’s possible there are more error figures out there, it’s more likely that this figure is one of a kind. It’s going to make a really cool display piece, but also a really expensive one too! It’s probable that the new owner will likely be keeping it factory sealed in it’s original casing as to retain it‘s true ‘error‘ nature so it is not confused with a custom figure. That said, if you’re that worried about having a dual cannoned Samus yourself, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to customize your own figure using the arm cannon’s of two Samus figures!

Round 1… FIGHT!

A few weeks back, Mezco announced that they had obtained the licensing rights to fan favorite fighting game series ‘Mortal Kombat’. Wasting no time at all, Mezco revealed a first look at some of their initial offerings in the line with the first three figures in the series, Scorpion, Subzero, and Raiden! These figures are based on the characters appearances in the upcoming ‘Mortal Kombat X’.

One thing worth noting with these figures, is that they have a  surprisingly decent amount of articulation for a Mezco figure. It makes total sense for a line like this, giving the fighting game characters a full range of motion to them, but many of Mezco’s recent releases have had fairly limited articulation, so this is a very pleasant surprise! The full release for each figure from Mezco is below:

Scorpion, the hell-spawned specter, inexorably seeking vengeance against those responsible for the destruction of his clan and the death of his own family, is one of the game’s most popular characters.
To ensure a game accurate likeness, correct to the finest detail, Mezco’s award-winning design team has digitally sculpted the figures using the digital files from the game developers themselves. Mezco’s 6inch scale version features 23 points of articulation, many with ball joints, allowing him to recreate all the moves and poses that have made him part of gaming legend. Of course all ninjas need weapons and Scorpion has them. He comes complete with his spear tipped wrist chains, as well as 2 game accurate swords. He also has an additional pair of fighting hands for even more game accurate poses.

Sub-Zero. This icy assassin is one of the most cold-blooded of all Mortal Kombat characters , and just like each of the three figures in Mezco’s initial wave , is one of the few to be a playable character in every version of the game. To ensure a game accurate likeness, correct to the finest detail, Mezco’s award-winning design team has digitally sculpted the figures using the digital files from the game developers themselves. Mezco’s 6inch scale version features 23 points of articulation, many with ball joints, allowing him to recreate all the moves and poses that have made him part of gaming legend.
Of course Sub-Zero needs the weapons he is famous for, so he comes complete with his game accurate hammer and sword.

Raiden, the eternal God of Thunder, is arguably one of the most powerful characters in all of Mortal Kombat, and just like each of the three figures in Mezco’s initial wave, is one of the few to be a playable character in every version of the game. As befits an Elder God, Mezco’s 6inch scale version features 23 points of articulation, many with ball joints, allowing him to recreate all the moves and poses that have made him part of gaming legend. To ensure a game accurate likeness, correct to the finest detail, Mezco’s award-winning design team has digitally sculpted the figures using the digital files from the game developers themselves. Of course even a God of Thunder needs weapons and Raiden has them. He comes complete with game accurate alternate hands, alternate lightning hands, and a lightening ball.

Each figures comes in it’s own comes in a collector friendly blister card perfect for display.
Mortal Kombat X figures from Mezco, begin the ultimate battle in stores starting June, 2015

Snake is Back!

The crew over at NECA Toys has pulled out all of the stops with their upcoming Snake Plisskin ‘Retro’ figure from the cult classic ‘Escape From New York’! They recently released a whole new gallery on their website of this all new 8” scale retro figure (in the style of the classic MEGO figures).

The figure itself features retro-styled removable cloth clothing of the legendary Snake Plisskin in his original outfit from the 1981 film and features the likeness of Actor Kurt Russell. He comes with a pretty decent amount of cool weapons and character specific accessories, but you know what’s even cooler? Snake even has his tattoo around his waistline! Check out the full gallery on NECA’s Website!

Hot Toys Goes Commando

The team at Hot Toys has been consistently pumping out one amazingly awesome release after another for months on end it seems, so it comes as no big surprise that they have recently announced plans to release an all new figure of Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix from the 1985 cult classic ‘Commando’! This brand new 1:6th scale figure features an uncanny resemblance to the actor it’s design is based on, and comes jam packed with a ton of screen accurate weaponry that is fully wearable by the figure when not in ‘use’! He also has a bunch of interchangeable hands, so you’ll be sure he’s holding each weapon properly in your display! The full release from Hot Toys is below:

“I eat green berets for breakfast and right now I’m very hungry.” The movie Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a critical and commercial success when it hits theaters in 1985. The film’s combination of action scenes and humor has set its place as a cult classic among fans. Today Hot Toys is delighted to present the new 1/6th scale collectible figure of the one man army – John Matrix!

The John Matrix collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando featuring newly developed head sculpt with war paint and muscular body, specially tailored outfit, and a large array of detailed weapons and accessories.

Funko Forecast

Get ready for the Funko Forecast! This is where we’re going to be showcasing all of the cool new announcements and reveals from Funko! With all of the awesome that consistently seems to be flowing out of those guys, it shouldn’t be hard to keep this section alive each and every week!

“You Didn’t See Anything…”

Those crazy Penguins from Madagascar are back! This fall they’re starring in their own movie, appropriately titled ‘Penguins of Madagascar’! On top of that, they’re starring in their very own wave of POP! Vinyl figures next year! The leas cast of Penguins themselves of Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private are hitting in February, while Short Fuse hit’s a few months later in April!

Hot Topic’s Got a Flashy New Exclusive

Just when you thought you’d collected them all, the crews at Funko and Hot Topic have announced yet another Hot Topic Exclusive Funko POP! Vinyl figure! This time around it’s the all new Black Lantern Reverse Flash POP! He’s actually SO fast that he’s hitting stores already right now! Get to the mall quick before all of them sell out for the holidays!

And with that, we bring this week’s Toy News Tuesday to a close! What do you think about the new items announced this week? Do you plan on picking up anything we mentioned in this week’s column? Are there any lines or brands you’d like to see more coverage of? Let us know in the comments section below! Until next week, happy toy hunting!