Come one, come all, to an all new 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! Another month has passed, and the toy aisles finally appear to have recovered from the holiday seasons of winter! We’re well into the golden age of collecting that is the spring season! All of the new stuff is hitting thje market at once and it’s a great time to be a collector! Let’s check out the Toy News for the week of May 5th, 2015!
The Force Awakens Products Awaken
Earlier this week we celebrated ‘Star Wars Day’ (and a happy belated May the 4th be with you!), and with a holiday of such galactic proportions there’s sure to be a ton of interesting news coming out of the ceremonies! The biggest news bit for collectors is the revelation of the official launch day for all of the amazing new ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ merchandise later this year! A massive amount of brand new collectibles will be hitting stores from a galaxy far far away on September 4th, 2015; a day that the media are referring to as ‘Force Friday’! Many stores are expected to be doing a ‘midnight launch’ for this new ‘Star Wars’ product on that date. If this tsunami of merchandise is anything like the massive waves of collectibles that hit when the prequel trilogy premiered back in 1999, then fans sure are in for a treat! Hopefully this time around the ‘cool factor’ of the merchandise actually carries over into the films though, right?
The next generation of Star Wars toys, collectibles, books, and apparel is in range. StarWars.com is thrilled to announce that Star Wars: The Force Awakens products will land in our galaxy on September 4, 2015, at 12:01 a.m. — “Force Friday” — with stores around the world opening their doors at midnight for a special celebration of all things Star Wars. It will be a day long remembered.“Every lightsaber, every action figure, every LEGO set tells a story for generations of Star Wars fans, and this global event is a celebration of those stories. We’re excited to be part of the countdown to this enormous movie moment,” said Josh Silverman, executive vice president, global licensing, Disney Consumer Products.Fans wanting to be the first to get their hands on Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise can set their hyperspace and social media coordinates now: They will be able to visit their local retailer starting at midnight on September 4, and are encouraged to document their experience using the hashtags #ForceFriday and #MidnightMadness. A wide-range of products — from toys and collectibles, to books and comics, ebooks and apps, to apparel and lifestyle accessories — will be available at mass retailers and Disney Store locations worldwide, as well as on DisneyStore.com.Also revealed here for the first time is the packaging for Star Wars: The Force Awakens products, featuring the mysterious new villain, Kylo Ren. The ominous, shadowy figure and the red lightsaber he wields will be featured on Star Wars product packaging beginning September 4, 2015. Let the countdown begin.Stay tuned to StarWars.com for more on #ForceFriday and Star Wars: The Force Awaken
And That Bird Can Sing
With Season 3 of ‘Arrow‘ wrapping up, fans just can’t seem to get enough of the vigilante and his cadre of heroic stalwarts. Our friends at DC Collectibles took this time to reveal their all new Black Canary II figure! This season saw series regular character Laurel Lance take up the superhero mantle of Black Canary that her sister had previously operated under, so it’s great to see a figure of this version of the character already coming to our collections!
Marvel Select Hulkbusts Out A New Exclusive
With ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron‘ a smash hit in theaters, it’s no big surprise to see one of the film’s key components, the Hulkbuster Iron Man armor, getting a ton of fan attention! Our friends over at Diamond Select Toys have just announced their massive all new Hulkbuster Armor Iron Man figure from their popular Marvel Select toyline! This figure is set to hit the market this July and will be exclusive to Disney Stores and MarvelStore.com.
Iron Man has created a supersuit of armor specifically for taking on his one-time ally. This detailed action figure of Hulkbuster from Marvel Select is inspired by Iron Man’s appearance in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron
Try This One Out For Size
‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ might be kicking all kinds of ass in the box office right now, but let’s not forget about Marvel’s OTHER big superhero movie that’s coming later this summer! Or should we say, their other little superhero movie? Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man‘ hits theaters in a few months, and Hot Toys is already teasing what we can only assume is going to be a 1:6th scale figure of the film’s titular character! Check out the teaser image from Hot Toys Facebook Page below-
“Scott, I need you to be the Ant-Man.” A new superhero is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon! With the amazing ability to shrink but increase in strength, Ant-Man will be a very interesting hero to hit the big screen in few short months! Some fans have already met him in person at the Hot Toys “Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron Exhibition” in Beijing, if you are visiting the city, don’t miss the chance to go to INDIGO mall to see him! Stay tuned for Hot Toys collectibles based on this upcoming movie very soon!
New Players From Play Arts Kai
The team over at Play Arts Kai revealed a few new figures of some of your favorite entirely unrelated characters! Whether you’re a Marvel or a DC, there’s something pretty awesome coming your way soon! First up is the all new Play Arts Kai Harley Quinn figure! While we’ve seen a few Harley figures from Pkay Arts Kai before, this latest one is based on her appearance in the upcoming video game ‘Batman: Arkham Knight‘. This figure includes multiple points of articulation, three sets of hands, two head sculpts, a policeman’s hat, a baseball bat, a pistol, and a figure stand. She is expected to be hitting stores this August! Alternatively if you aren’t into Harley, Play Arts Kai has also announced their all new Spiderman figure from their Marvel Comics Variant line! This figure is an entirely original take on everybody’s favorite webslinger! This figure includes a huge range of articulation, as well as a net-styled spiderweb, webbing strands, several alternative sets of hands, and a spider-web styled display base! Spiderman is also expectd to hit stores in August of this year.
NECA’s New Throwbacks For SDCC
The team over at NECA has been pretty well known for their abilities to pluck the nostalgia strings that are attached to our wallets in order to get us to buy a ton of cool new products they have been producing that resemble those form our childhood. This year at SDCC they appear to be at it again, as they’ve just announced their all new Endoglow Endoskeleton from ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’. This classic Endoskeleton figure is based on the design and paint applications of the classic from from Kenner’s 1992 ‘T2’ toyline! Like the original, this figure is set to glow in the dark! Unlike the original, this figure bolsters a whopping twenty-five-plus points of articulation, so he’s super poseable for your collection! Be sure to snag him if you make it out to SDCC this year! (via SDCC Blog)
More Dead Set To Walk
The world can’t seem to get enough of ‘The Walking Dead‘! Whether it’s comics or the hit television series, it’s pretty safe to say that these zombies and those that outlive them aren’t going anywhere anytime soon! The team at McFarlane Toys has been has at work developing a ton of great new figures for fans of the franchise, and wow are some of them pretty great! We’re getting an all new Previews Exclusive set of figures including a black-and-white Abraham Ford and Carl Grimes figures! While each figure is painted in black-and-white for effects, they are both pretty bloody looking and one has to imagine what kind of hell they’ve been through already! These figures are set to hit specialty shops this July! If the AMC live action television series is more your thing, then McFarlane still has you covered with the all new ‘Walking Dead’ Series 8 figures preview! The all new eighth wave of figures based on the hit series is set to include Rick Grimes, Morgan Jones, Dale Horvath, Bob Stookey, and Eugene Porter! These figures are set to hit stores in October.
Rick Grimes
Morgan jones
Dale Horvath
Bob Stookey
Eugene Porter
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!
BA-NA-NA!
With a ‘Minions’ standalone movie coming out this summer to celebrate the REAL stars of the ‘Despicable Me’ films, it should come as a surprise to no one that we’re getting a wave of ‘Minions’ themed POP! Vinyl figures from Funko! Check out the all new glamor shots below! (via PopVinyls)
The Garbage Paile Kids Are Back!
Once a franchise long thought dead, Funko is breathing new life in the ‘Garbage Pail Kids’ this year with new blind-box figures and more! Check out the release from Funko below-
GPK Really Big Mystery Minis Funko is proud to commemorate 30 years of GPK with our Really Big Mystery Mini Series and Adam Bomb 10” Vinyl Figure! Keeping these GPKs a Mystery is a must…But these are not so Mini! They are 3.75” of disgustingly adorable, sickeningly sweet, vinyl like you’ve never seen. Classics like Acne Amy, Ghastly Ashley, Leaky Lindsay, and Bony Tony have never been so vivid! Each figure has a 1 in 12 rarity! Coming in July!GPK 10″ Adam Bomb FigureOur Adam Bomb 10” figure is the true centerpiece to our GPK homage!The figure utilizes high quality material and clean design to portray the iconic foulness of Adam Bomb’s character!
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!