Greetings readers! Welcome to the new edition of Toy News Tuesday! On the off chance that you’re new here, you’ve found yourself knee-deep in this awesome weekly column where Science Fiction’s own toy-aficionado Jordan DesJardins brings you all the important information about all the cool stuff going on in the toy industry! We’ll bring you all kinds of new toy announcements, sneak peeks at upcoming products and just about anything else you could possibly be interested in knowing about the toy industry all in one place every week! It doesn’t matter if you’re a hardcore collector or only kinda-sorta interested in what new stuff we can expect to see on shelves later this year, we can assure you that Toy News Tuesday will be sure to hook you up with your weekly fix of toy news! Here’s the rundown for the week of April 15th, 2014!

DST Announces Marvel Store Exclusive Captain America

While I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about the massive amount of new Captain America merchandise coming our way after last week and the week before, I’m pretty pleased to bring you the recent announcement of this cool new MarvelStore.com exclusive Captain America figure from Diamond Select Toys! This exclusive version comes unmasked in the package (although an alternate ‘masked’ head is included) and is ‘battle-damaged’! He looks like one of the best plastic renditions of the character yet, and will fit nicely into the collections of 7” scale fans! Here’s the whole story from DST:

“With Captain America: The Winter Soldier number one at the U.S. box office, interest in the star-spangled Avenger is at an all-time high! The action-packed thriller sees Captain America teaming up with the Falcon and the Black Widow for one of the toughest battles of his career, and now Diamond Select Toys is teaming up with MarvelStore.com to create an exclusive battle-damaged figure of the hero, available May 19!

 

Starting on May 19, MarvelStore.com will be the only place to order the Marvel Select Unmasked Captain America figure, featuring an exclusive head sculpt of Steve Rogers, as well as a battle-damaged version of his stealth uniform. An exclusive battle-damaged version of Cap’s shield will be included in the packaging, as well as an interchangeable masked head and a diorama display base modeled after the SHIELD helicarriers seen in the film. All will come packaged in the famous Marvel Select packaging, suitable for display and featuring spine artwork for easy shelf reference.

After May 27th, the Marvel Select Unmasked Captain America will be made available on DisneyStore.com, and will begin to make its way to Disney Store shelves in the U.S. and Canada. Then, in late June, MarvelStore.com, DisneyStore.com and Disney Stores will offer the Marvel Select Falcon action figure, based on the movie look of Cap’s new friend and partner Sam Wilson. The figure bears the likeness of actor Anthony Mackie and features his trademark wings, as well as a helicarrier base.”

Get Ready to Hunt for New NECA Predator Figures

Okay, here we’ve got a few pretty big announcements for NECA’s long running and highly successful Predator toyline! First up, a bit of sad news followed immediately by good news, and then the announcement of what is probably the coolest thing NECA has produced yet for this line (If anyone at NECA is reading this, yes, that is a challenge).

NECA Predator Series 12 Lineup Changes

Okay, so to bring you the bad news first, it looks like one of the figures originally scheduled for release in Series 12 of NECA’s Predator line has been delayed and replaced with an entirely new figure. The figure being delayed also happens to be the highly anticipated fan-favorite character ‘Bad Blood’ from Dark Horse Comics classic comic book series of the same name. The figure that will be replacing ‘Bad Blood’ is an entirely original figure design created by NECA for the wave named Viper. The full release from NECA is below:

“Attention Predator fans! One of the figures scheduled for Series 12 has caught a terrible cold, and so his understudy will be stepping in.
Bad Blood will be replaced by Viper, an all-new Predator created by NECA, making this series even more fantastic!

Two important things to note:
1. EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT SERIES 12 IS THE SAME.
2. Yes, Bad Blood will still be released. He will be offered as a deluxe stand-alone figure in the near future.

The 12th series in our most successful and longest running figure collection introduces our first ever Predator from Dark Horse’s Bad Blood comic book series, along with a new and improved Elder Predator from Predator 2 and an all-original NECA creation: Viper Predator! Enforcer Predator makes his action figure debut and is based on the series by Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry and Eisner Award winner Tyler Crook. First seen way back in Series 3, Elder V2 features additional articulation, a shoulder cannon, new straps and belts, and new feet, all upgraded and improved from the original version. Viper Predator, pilot of the Blade Fighter vehicle, is an original design featuring deadly wrist blade gauntlets on both forearms, a removable mask, and 2 pairs of hands.
Figures stand approximately 8″ tall, feature over 25 points of articulation and come with character-specific accessories.”

‘Bad Blood’ Still Coming, Now Better Than Ever

So, you know how I just mentioned ‘Bad Blood’ had been delayed? Well it won’t be for too long, because NECA has already announced his impending arrival! What’s even better, is that the reason for his delay was apparently so they could release him individually as a deluxe figure with a bunch of extra accessories and more detail than any previous figures in the line have ever seen! Here’s the full scoop on ‘Bad Blood’ from NECA:

“Introducing our most mind-blowingly complex Predator ever! Bad Blood Predator has gone solo and is making his first appearance as an action figure, packed with detail and accessories. He’s based on the Dark Horse series of the same name by Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry and Eisner Award winner Tyler Crook.

The Figure stands approximately 8″ tall and features over 25 points of articulation. Comes with sword, spear, trophy heads, piercings and more paint applications and decoration than any of the previous 60+ Predator figures released in the highly popular collection. Bad Blood will also be packaged in deluxe packaging utilizing original art from the Dark Horse series.”

“GET TO THE CHOPPA!”

Just when you thought NECA’s Predator line couldn’t possibly get any better, they announce their first ever vehicle in the series! The small flying vehicle, dubbed the “Blade Fighter” is based on the classic Kenner toy of the same name from the 1993 Predator toyline. Visually, this vehicle looks great, and it looks like it’ll be to scale with just about any 7” figures in your collection! The team over at NECA truly appreciates the fans of this franchise and really shows it with the attention to detail they put into their products like this. Here’s the word from NECA themselves on this exciting new vehicle:

“This massive vehicle is an homage to a classic Kenner vehicle from the 1993 Predator toy line. When fully assembled, the Blade Fighter is over 2 feet in length and accommodates most 6″- 8″ tall action figures! (Figures sold separately.)

Featuring a hinged cockpit, ball-jointed cannons, spring-loaded projectile, spring-loaded detachable 19″ long blades, and removable wing guns that can be hand held by your Predator action figures. The Blade Fighter also includes areas for extra weapon storage and clips for holding an extra Predator mask.

This is a must-have for Predator fans and will come in gorgeous closed box packaging featuring original art and illustrations like the classic toy lines of yesteryear.”

Superman Taking Flight to Sideshow‘s 1:6 Line!

Sideshow Toys looks to be adding the Man of Steel himself to their ever expanding line of one-sixth scale DC Comics figures! It looks like this Kryptonian will be a welcome addition to the line, sporting his classic look (red-trunks included!) and a ton of interchangeable pieces so that it will be one of most definitive figures ever made of the beloved character. There is also a Sideshow exclusive edition that comes with an additional alternate hand. The exclusive interchangeable hand is holding the dismembered head of the cyborg Metallo, who is one of Superman’s greatest villains. Here’s the full release from Sideshow:

““Up, up, and away!” At last, the most famous and enduring superhero from the DC Universe has landed! Sideshow is proud to present the Superman Sixth Scale Figure.

Inspired by over 75 years of comic book legacy, Superman takes flight wearing his iconic red and blue costume, exquisitely tailored with unmistakable S-shield emblazoned across the chest. With the aid of an adjustable themed base, pose the Man of Steel in midair, and complete the look with a freeflowing or poseable fabric cape.

Interchangeable hands and portrait expressions perfectly capture the good-natured and serious sides of the hero’s personality, as well as his powerful heat vision. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail on a fully articulated muscular body design, Superman is ready to protect the city of Metropolis, and fight the never-ending battle for truth and justice.The Sideshow Exclusive edition includes an additional swap out hand clutching the head of the cyborg supervillain, Metallo.

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Artist Credits- Andy Bergholtz (Sculpt), Matthew Black (Sculpt), Nathan Mansfield (Sculpt), Pia (Sculpt), John Neil (Sculpt), J Park (Sculpt), Michael Norman (Sculpt), Martin Canale (Sculpt), Wan Lee (Paint), Kevin Ellis (Costume), Sideshow Design and Development TeamThe Superman Sixth Scale Figure will be priced at $199.99, with optional payment plans available. Pre-orders begin this Thursday, April 10, 2014.”

That’ll about do it for this week’s Toy News Tuesday! News was a bit light this week, but fear not, there are still plenty of awesome new toys coming our way in the next few months! What do you think of this weeks new offerings? Are any of you thinking about picking up any of these? Let us know in the comments section below! Until next week, happy hunting!