Welcome back to an all new edition of Toy News Tuesday! We’re 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! Toy collecting is rarely easy. It’s a hobby that requires a certain amount of passion to really get into it and understand just why so many people enjoy doing it. It’s the love of collecting that keeps us going, the thrill of the hunt and the rush of finding that one rare chase figure you’ve been after for months! There are always going to be awesome new collectibles coming our way, and this week proves no exception to that rule with a vast quantity of new products on the horizon to keep the thrill alive! Let’s take a look at the Toy News for the week of September 1st, 2015!
RIP Thomas Sasser
We would like to start this week’s column by extending our sincerest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of model maker and toy sculptor Thomas Sasser, who passed away at the far too young age of 51 earlier this week. Sasser was best known for his work at Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum on their line of screen accurate ‘Star Trek’ electronic starships. As the toy industry says goodbye to one of their best, Art Asylum released a statement regarding this tragic loss:
Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum are saddened to let everyone know that Thomas Sasser passed away last week. A professional model maker and consultant, Thomas had been one of the creative minds behind the Starship Legends toy line for the past decade.
Art Asylum first started to work with Thomas back in 2005 on the Classic Enterprise, and Thomas had worked on every single Diamond Select Toys electronic starship since then in some capacity. His last job for DST was painting and creating the printed details for this year’s SDCC exclusive ship, the USS Defiant.
Thomas’s talent, as well as his extensive knowledge of ships from the Star Trek universe, was invaluable. He will be missed both professionally and personally, and our thoughts are with his family.
ScienceFiction.com would like to send our deepest condolences to Sasser’s family and loved ones. May he rest in peace.
Marvel Animated Minimates Come To Walgreens
Diamond Select has announced that this week features the premiere of the all new Walgreens Exclusive Marvel Animated Minimates line! The first wave is set to hit stores any day now and is comprised of four figure 2-packs featuring all of your favorite Marvel Animated characters! We’ve got sets including Ultimate Spiderman with Ultimate Electro, Spiderman 2099 with Agent Venom, Captain America with The Hulk, and Starlord with Groot and Rocket Raccoon! These sets are going to be found exclusively at Walgreens stores, so don’t wait on them! They’re sure to go fast!
Keep An Eye Out For Hot Toys Nick Fury
Hot Toys collectors have been gradually building up their definitive version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in their collections for a few years now, with each new figure released bringing something new to the table. Now Hot Toys has announced an updated take on a classic figure with their new 1:6th Scale Nick Fury figure! This figure is based on the character as played by Samuel L. Jackson in last year’s spy thriller action adventure, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’! It features a new headsculpt that perfectly captures Samuel L. Jackson’s likeness and includes a bevy of character specific accessories like several pairs of alternate hands, a flash drive, Fury’s smartphone, and a removable eye patch! Check out the release from Hot Toys below:
“You need to keep both eyes open!” Nick Fury is a crucial character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and activating the Avengers Initiative to bring a team of super powerful heroes to protect the Earth from many shockingly dangerous threats!
Fans have been anticipating the reveal of a new collectible figure of this particular character and today Hot Toys is delighted to officially present the new 1/6th scale Nick Fury Collectible Figure from the fan favorite Captain America: The Winter Soldier!
The highly movie accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier featuring a newly developed head sculpt with removable eyepatch to reveal his injured left eye, finely tailored costume, detailed weapon and accessories, and figure stand!
Marvel Legends Exclusives Invade The UK!
Sort of. Kind of. Not really. But there IS a brand new UK Exclusive Marvel Legends box set! This new 5 figure set is comprised of repainted re-releases of some of the Marvel Legends line’s most popular figures, and set to be sold exclusively in Disney Store locations in Europe. The set is available now on the Disney Store’s UK website, but it looks like they ship internationally so all hope isn’t lost quick yet if you were looking to buy one yourself!
As previously mentioned, the box set itself is made up of five previously released figures, several of which are slightly different this time around! While Captain America, Thor, and The Hulk are nearly identical to their earlier releases (in Marvel Legends ‘Mandroid’ Wave, ‘Terrax’ Wave, and the fairly rare Marvel Legends ‘Hulk vs. Valkyrie’ 2-pack respectively), Ultron and Iron Man (previously in the ‘Iron Monger’ wave) came out with a bit of a new edge to them! Ultron is now painted a metallic shiny silver color, while Iron Man is a bit more yellow this time around and includes a previously unseen alternative Tony Stark head.
(via Toy Ark)
More Marvel Madness
Just when you thought you’d had enough, we’ve got more awesome Marvel news! This time the exciting news is for all of you 3.75″ scale collectors! The new wave of Marvel Infinite Series 3/75″ figures are up for pre-order on BBTS, and that means we finally have a confirmed wave lineup! It’s a pretty solid wave, jam packed with a ton of highly fan-demanded characters that people have been clamoring about for a while. That’s right, after years of delays, we’re finally getting Emma Frost! Also included in this new wave are Northstar, Colossus-Juggernaut, Chameleon, Korg, and Deadpool (X-Men Uniform). This series is expected to hit retail this September!
“I Am Grootato!”
When you think of superhero and horror collectibles, the last thing you probably think about is ‘Mr. Potato Head’. Well that’s all about to change! At least that’s what toy company PPW seems to be hoping for, with the release of their new wave of ‘Pop-Tatos’ Mr. Potato Head figures! The ‘Pop-Tatos’ line takes your favorite characters from pop culture and mashes (no pun intended) them up with Mr. Potato Head for a unique new collectible series! This fall collectors can keep an eye out for new ‘Pop-Tatos’ of your favorite Marvel characters like Daredevil, Vision, Starlord, and Groot; as well as horror icons Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees!
(via BBTS)
You’ve Got Questions, DC Collectibles Has Answers!
It seems like every collector has at least a few questions for people in the toy industry, but how do you get in touch with the people making the toys you love to ever ask? Our friends over at DC Collectibles are working to resolve that issue with the launch of a new DC Collectibles Q&A Blog! The first round of questions and answers went up earlier this week, where they discussed the possibility of a DC Subscription Box, the delayed Capullo Series Two-Face, and the possibilities of more Milestone characters in the ‘ICONS’ line! You can expect regular updates to the Q&A blog from DC Collectibles, including awesome news like these all new DC Designer Capullo Series Survival Suit Batman and The Flash figures!
NECA Unleashes The Horror
The team over at NECA have spent their summer creating some of the coolest horror collectibles we’ve seen all year! Now that summer is over, we’re starting to see some of NECA’s offerings that will be hitting stores later this year, like their Ultimate Jason Voorhees figure and Bat-Gremlin! Full releases for each figure are below:
Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives – 7″ Scale Action Figure – Ultimate Jason
It’s hard to believe that Jason Lives came out three decades ago – it’s just as fresh (from the grave) now as it was then. But 2016 marks the 30th Anniversary of the film, so to celebrate, we’ve unearthed our own Ultimate Jason Lives figure! Check out the gallery below.
Gremlins 2 – Deluxe Boxed Action Figure – Bat Gremlin
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!
Queens and Aliens
No matter who you are, most collectors both young and old have a soft spot for Disney. This tends to hold especially true for Funko fans, and with good reason! Funko has consistently put out a ton of great Disney products over the last few years, and they look to keep that ball rolling with some of their latest announcements!
‘Frozen’ fans can expect a few new POP! Vinyl figures coming their way, this time based on the short film ‘Frozen Fever’! There will be new POP! versions of Elsa and Anna.
Disney is also getting two new figures in Funkos plush collectible ‘Fabrikations’ line! The latest additions to this series are fan favorites alien Stitch and the evil queen Maleficent! These are all set to hit stores this October.
These Collectibles Walk Single File To Hide Their Numbers
As if we aren’t getting enough amazing ‘Star Wars’ merchandise this fall, Funko has revealed yet another classic ‘Star Wars’ POP! Vinyl is being re-released from deep within the Funko Vault! This time it’s the infamous ‘Tusken Raider’ Sandpeople! Or is that Sandperson, since it’s really just the one? Either way, this guy is officially back on the market now! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled!
Time To Worship more Vinyl Idolz
The teams over at Funko and Vinyl Sugar have been hard at work pumping out more collectibles than most of us could possibly ever afford, but desperately need to add to our collectibles! It’s not hard to see why they’ve been so successful, with more and more popular licenses falling under their wing each week! This week’s new announcements include a bunch of new Vinyl Idolz figures based on some of your favorite films! Check out the releases from Vinyl Sugar below-
Vinyl Idolz: Shaun of the Dead
Vinyl Sugar is delighted to welcome a new set of zombie hunting Vinyl Idolz! Shaun and Ed are ready to save some lives, grab some pints at the Winchester and wait this zombie thing out…or is it too late for one of them? There’s no time like a zombie apocalypse to try to win your girlfriend back! Coming in September!Vinyl Idolz: Young Frankenstein
Alive! It’s alive! Our new Young Frankenstein Vinyl Idolz are alive! Dr. Frederick Frankenstein – that’s FRONK-en-steen – never wanted to accept his family history, but then he found his grandfather’s diary and found himself changing his mind. Igor is happy to steal a brain for you, as long as you don’t have your heart set on receiving the one you specifically asked for. An Abby Normal brain, perhaps? Watch out for The Monster – if he escapes, he may try to kill you or even steal your fiancé! Hopefully you can play the violin and lure him back to safety. Coming in September!Vinyl Idolz: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Hey bud, let’s party! Fast Times at Ridgemont High is joining the Vinyl Idolz line! Jeff Spicoli is here to learn about Cuba and have some food. We at Vinyl Sugar certainly agree that there’s nothing wrong with a little feast on our time! Brad Hamilton just wants to finish paying off his car, but a job where he has to dress like a pirate is too much to take. After being dumped AND getting fired a few times, Brad’s still waiting for the fun to start! Just remember: No shirt, no shoes, no dice! Coming in October!
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!
