Toy News Tuesday: Imperials, Orcs, and Murderous Playthings

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, it’s 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! The holiday season is here and the toys are flowing! There’s tons of awesome stuff being announced every day, and a mountain of new products piling up in the collectibles aisles of your local stores, so why wait? Get shopping before they’re all gone! In the meantime, here’s the Toy News for the week of November 10th, 2015!

Matty Collector Continues To Master The Universe

The team over at Matty Collector has announced that they have reached their minimum subscription goal for their ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics 2.0’ toyline. This new line, which is an altered continuation of the ever popular ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics’ is Mattel’s way of bringing fans a ton of great A-List characters from the MOTU brand in the iconic Filmation style straight from the 1980’s cartoon we all know and love! He-Man, the first figure from the subscription, is set to ship out next February, with a new figure coming every other month after that until the years end. Here’s the full list of releases for the first year of the new ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics 2.0’ subscription-

He-Man (February 2016)
Trap Jaw (April 2016)
Skeletor (June 2016)
Evil Seed (Subscription-only figure, August 2016)
Beast Man (August 2016)
Evil-Lyn (October 2016)
Clawful (December 2016)

Aside from the subscription exclusive Evil Seed figure, the rest of these will also be available to the public via MattyCollector.com during these release months, subject to availability. Every Army Needs A Leader

Every Army Needs A Leader

The team over at Hot Toys has been hard at work pumping out every imaginable 1:6th scale collectible you could possibly want from the highly anticipated ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’, so this weeks announcement should come as no surprise! The latest 1:6th scale ‘The Force Awakens’ figure coming our way is the leader of the ‘First Order’ troopers, Captain Phasma! Captain Phasma features a highly detailed chrome armor sculpt, and comes packed along with her signature cape and blaster rifle! She also includes special ‘First Order’ display stand. Here’s the full release from Hot Toys:

As the release date of Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming closer and closer, the anticipation for this long awaited installment of the saga is growing stronger everyday! Following the reveal of the First Order legions of troopers, Hot Toys is very excited to officially present the 1/6th scale collectible figure of their commander clad in distinctive metallic armor – Captain Phasma!
The highly-accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She stands approximately 33cm tall and features the character’s signature chrome colored armor and helmet, specially applied multiple layers of metallic paint on armor with weathering effects, finely tailored cape, highly detailed blaster rifle, and hexagonal figure stand with the First Order’s emblem!
Complete your First Order army with Captain Phasma today!

“Wanna Play?”

Mezco has announced plans for a new stylized roto figure of horror icon Chucky from the ‘Childs Play’ franchise! Yes, you read that right, they’re making an articulated toy of a character that IS already a toy and actually murders people. We guess some collectors just love begging for trouble, right? Either way, this fantastic looking collectible features seven points of articulation with a stylized sculpt that captures every minute detail of the character from his fiery red hair to the soles of his sneakers! Chucky comes packed with a knife accessory.

Warcraft Is Coming

This week at Blizzcon, Gentle Giant announced a whole slew of amazing looking new products coming our way next year for the new ‘Warcraft’ live action movie! Fans of the iconic gaming franchise can expect to see a few large scale statues of some of your favorite characters, as well as miniature replicas of some of the items from the film! The full product listings from Gentle Giant are below:

Durotan Statue –($449 Pre-Order)
From Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) comes Warcraft, an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on the global phenomenon from Blizzard Entertainment.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its human civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

Gul’dan Statue ($599 Pre-Order)
From Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) comes Warcraft, an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on the global phenomenon from Blizzard Entertainment.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its human civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

Orgrim Statue ($449 Pre-Order)
From Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) comes Warcraft, an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on the global phenomenon from Blizzard Entertainment.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its human civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
Lothar Statue ($299 Pre-Order)
From Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) comes Warcraft, an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on the global phenomenon from Blizzard Entertainment.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its human civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
Gul’dan Skull Scale Replica 3D Print ($69.99)
GUL’DAN scaled skull replica, 3D Printed on demand and mailed to your door. Ships in 4-6 weeks.
Gul’dan Skull with Horde Emblem Scale Replica 3D Print (Blizzcon Exclusive $69.99)
GUL’DAN scaled skull replica, With EXCLUSIVE BlizzCon HORDE EMBLEM! 3D Printed on demand and mailed to your door. Ships in 4-6 weeks.
Lothar’s Sword Scale Replica 3D Print ($69.99)
“For the Alliance!”LOTHAR’s scaled sword replica, 3D Printed on demand and mailed to your door. Ships in 4-6 weeks.

Spider-Shogun

A few months back the team over at Tamashii Nations revealed plans for a pretty awesome conceptual toyline called ‘Movie Realization’, in which they took characters from the ‘Star Wars’ universe and re-imagined them as Samurai from ancient China! While the details are pretty scarce, it appears that Tamashii Nations is now expanding upon the idea with a new ‘Marvel’ themed line! Twitter user @DenO_Tokunation posted this photo of the previously unannounced figure earlier this week, leading to speculation that there will likely be more figures for this line announced soon.

(via ToyArk)

The 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!

Funko Sold!

Earlier this week a press release was sent out announcing that Funko, LLC had been acquired by ACON Investments, LCC. What does this mean for collectors? Honestly, only time will really tell. One can imagine that the new owners of Funko wouldn’t want to mess with the cash-cow that the company has become over the last few years, so hopefully there won’t be many changes in the company aside from who is in charge! The full press release is below:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ –– ACON Investments, L.L.C. and its affiliates (“ACON”) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Funko, LLC (“Funko” or the “Company”), from Fundamental Capital, LLC. Funko, located in Everett, Washington, is one of the largest providers of branded pop culture products to a diverse range of consumers and retail channels. Funko’s unique, stylized products connect consumers to their favorite entertainment content and characters through a broad portfolio of long-tenured studio/content relationships and multiple product lines. Funko has built entrenched and long-term relationships and an expansive library of 250+ properties with a diverse base of 100+ studio/content providers whose evergreen properties and new releases drive a robust pipeline of new products and recurring revenue. Equity financing for the transaction will come from ACON’s third US domestic buyout fund, ACON Equity Partners III, L.P. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
As part of this transaction, Funko will continue to be led by CEO Brian Mariotti and other members of the existing senior management team, who will all be meaningful equity owners alongside ACON. Fundamental Capital will retain a Board seat and a minority ownership stake in the business.
“We are excited to be partnering with Brian and the entire Funko team,” said Ken Brotman, Founding Partner of ACON. “Funko has established itself as a fore-runner in the pop culture space and we look forward to building value in a business that is very well positioned for continued growth,” added Brotman.
Brian Mariotti commented, “The growth Funko experienced following our partnership with Fundamental Capital has been spectacular. Now we’re ready to take Funko to the next level and I look forward to partnering with ACON and benefiting from their experience to help us get there. As Funko continues to be a category disrupter in the pop culture and entertainment space, ACON’s expertise will be a welcome asset.”
ACON has had prior successful experience investing in businesses tracking the pop culture market generally. In August 2007, ACON invested in Spencer Spirit Holdings, which included Spencer’s, a long-time iconic mall-based teen retailer, and Spirit Halloween, a leading seasonal retailer of Halloween products. During ACON’s ownership, Spencer’s grew to become one of the higher performing teen retailers amongst its competitive circuit, and Spirit expanded into the largest seasonal retailer of Halloween products with over 1,000 stores nationwide. Buyouts magazine awarded ACON its March 2014 “Middle Market Deal of the Year” award when the firm substantially exited this investment in 2014. ACON fully realized its entire ownership stake in Spencer Spirit in 2015.
Debt financing for the acquisition is being provided by PNC Bank and Cerberus Business Finance. Hogan Lovells US LLP acted as legal adviser to ACON and Reed Smith LLP acted as legal adviser to the sellers. Harris Williams & Co. acted as exclusive financial adviser to Funko in the transaction.
About Funko
Funko, founded in 1998 and located in Everett, Washington, is a leading provider and innovator of branded pop culture products. Funko has built entrenched and long-term relationships with a diverse base of 100+ studio/content providers and an expansive library of 250+ properties. Funko’s products are available through multiple retail outlets including specialty stores, mass-market retailers, e-commerce, international and direct-to-consumer. For more information on the company, please visit www.funko.com.
About ACON Investments
ACON Investments, L.L.C. is a Washington, DC-based international private equity investment firm that manages private equity funds and special purpose partnerships that make investments in the United States and Latin America. Founded in 1996, ACON has responsibility for managing approximately $4.2 billion of capital. ACON has professionals in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Bogota. For more information, visit www.aconinvestments.com.
About Fundamental Capital
Based in San Francisco, Fundamental Capital is a private equity firm that invests in small to mid-sized growth companies, focusing on consumer-based businesses. With extensive operating experience at the partner level, the firm provides not only capital; but also deep, hands-on strategic, operating and financial guidance to grow the companies in its portfolio. Fundamental Capital will retain a board seat and a significant ownership stake in Funko. For more information, visit www.fundamentalcapital.com.

These New Dorbz Sure Are Spooky!

Funko and Vinyl Sugar’s newest waves of Dorbz are going to be themed after some of your favorite horror television series! The two newest waves of Dorbz are going to based around AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ and The CW’s ‘Supernatural’ to bring a little bit of fright to your collection this coming January! The release from Funko is below-

Dorbz: The Walking Dead
Oh no – Vinyl Sugar’s been hit by a zombie apocalypse!
Rick, Michonne, and Daryl are all getting the Dorbz treatment – along with a Walker too, of course!
Maybe smiling is the key to just surviving somehow!
Daryl fans will want to hunt down his bloody chase variant!
Dorbz: Supernatural
Dorbz are going Supernatural!
The Winchester brothers have never been happier to hunt down demons and monsters!
Investigate weird occurrences and the paranormal with Sam, Dean, and Castiel!
Keep your eyes peeled for the bloody Castiel chase variant!

Funko and Gamestop Team Up For More Exclusives

In recent months, Gamestop has been stepping things up to a whole new level with their exclusive Funko POP! lineup, and they don’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down! This past week it was announced that Gamestop would have an all new exclusive POP! three-pack, as well as five brand new exclusives in time for Black Friday!

The new Gamestop exclusive three-pack of POP! vinyls is from HBO’s hit ‘Game Of Thrones’ series, and features metallic variants of the three Dragons; Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion! There is currently no set release date for this three-pack, but one can imagine it will likely be out before the holidays.

Aside from that set, Gamestop has announced they will be doing a ‘blind-box’ for collectors on Black Friday for $20 that will include one of five new Gamestop exclusive POP! Vinyls, as well as four other random collectibles valued at over $40! There will also be special ‘Gold’ chase variants of each of these exclusive POP!s mixed in at random. The new gamesotp exclusives include a Gray and Red Claptrap, Black Lantern Superman, Black Costume Batgirl, 1989 Batman, and a new variant of the Fallout Power Armor!

(via PopVinyls)

BugCat Is Coming For You

Funko’s ‘Bravest Warriors’ POP! series is getting yet another exclusive variant figure, this time in the form of an Entertainment Earth exclusive ‘BugCat’ POP! Vinyl. BugCat is the evil brother of ‘Bravest Warriors’ star CatBug, and this awesome new POP! Vinyl is set to start shipping out next February!

Hot Topic Dominates The Holidays With Exclusives!

Funko and Hot Topic are teaming up to break your wallet this holiday season with a mountain of new Hot Topic Exclusive POP! Vinyl figures! You’d better brace yourselves for this one, because between these exclusive pre-releases and fully exclusive figures, you’re bound to run out of shelf space in the near future!

New Hot Topic Exclusives

Stitch (Disney, Sitting)
Tyreese (‘The Walking Dead’, Bitten Variant)
Ken (Tokyo Ghoul’, Glow In The Dark Variant)
Baby Groot (Marvel, Metallic Snowy Variant)
Agent Carter (Marvel, Golden Orb Variant)
Anti-Venom (Marvel)
Carnage (Marvel)

Pre-Release Exclusives

Marceline (‘Adventure Time’, with Hat & Bass)
Gudetama (Sanrio, Two Versions)
Touka (‘Tokyo Ghoul’)
Ichigo (‘Bleach’)
Rukia (‘Bleach’)
Gir (‘Invader Zim’, with Dog Suit)
Steven (‘Steven Universe’)
Garnet (‘Steven Universe’)
Amethyst (‘Steven Universe’)
Pearl (‘Steven Universe’)

These POP! Vinyls are all set to hit stores any day now, so keep your eyes peeled for them at your local Hot Topic stores!