All at once, completely without warning (unless you’re here every week and know you can pretty much expect this every week around now) it’s 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! This week there seems to be a running theme going that has us just a little bit more excited than usual- girl power! In this week’s Toy News we’ve got a bunch of great new items heading our way based on strong female characters from all corners of the entertainment spectrum! It’s great to see these heroines and villainesses finally getting the fair treatment that so few toylines have offered over the years. And don’t worry boys, we’ve got plenty of cool stuff for you too! There are some great new collectibles for everyone in Toy News for the week of August 23rd, 2016!
You Go Superhero Girls
This week over on the official DC Comics Blog we are being treated to a look at a bunch of upcoming products in the DC Superhero Girls toyline from Mattel! There are already plenty of great products aimed towards young female collectors and superhero fans in this line, but with each new release they really seem to be raising the bar for girls action toys! After years of finding female characters short packed in various toylines, this line is a breath of fresh air! Check out the full rundown of new DC Superhero Girl products from the DC Comics Blog below:
San Diego Comic-Con wasn’t a competition, but if it was, DC Super Hero Girls would have taken top prize in the category of being awesome. The animated series made a splash with its first appearance at the large convention, and it got attention without having to set off any save the day alarms. Girls of all ages stopped by the DC booth in costume as the attendees of Super Hero High, fans packed in for the World Premiere of DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year, the Girls’ first full-length movie, and dozens of people took home an exclusive Katana action doll. In short, fans went above and beyond to show their support of the heroes.
Given the series’ success, a few new DC Super Hero Girls toys were announced at the convention—the initial release of action dolls, action figures, and role play accessories were just a start. Get ready because you’ll be able to re-create the bold moves and valiant rescues performed by Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Batgirl, and other Super Hero High superstars in different ways. For example, want to navigate around campus with Wonder Woman and her Invisible Jet? You can do that with a new set coming this fall from Mattel.
How would you like to take to the skies with Starfire? An action doll based on the energetic character will be flying onto shelves before you know it. She’s sporting the Starfire’s bright purple outfit and multicolored hair, and she’s wielding Starbolts.
If you want to shrink play time down to a small and adorable size, you’ll love the mini Super Hero Vinyls. The tiny but mighty figures feature Super Hero High enrollees such as Bumblebee, Harley Quinn, and Wonder Woman in mid-action. Each figure stands displayed on one of the character’s signature accessories. Harley of course has her hammer.
You can roll into adventures with a new line of sleek and sporty Hot Wheels character cars inspired by the characters in DC Super Hero Girls. The toy vehicles are ready to drive into action with their bright colors and their capes–the purple Batgirl design is especially snazzy. No one else on the street stands a chance.
What if you want something soft to hug? A hard plastic toy doesn’t quite fit the bill, but plush dolls are just right. I imagine this Wonder Woman plush will be taken on all sorts of adventures.
“As Of Now I Am A Vegetarian, and THIS, Is Bat-Cow!”
Our friends over at AFI had the distinct pleasure of premiering three new pieces in the DC Collectibles Super Pets line! The big reveal happened earlier this week where they announced that Harley Quinn’s pair of Hyena’s ‘Crackers & Giggles’ would be joining the line along with the Bovine Avenger Bat-Cow! These are all set to hit stores in March 2017 with a retail price of $15 for the pair of Hyenas or $15 individually for Bat-Cow!
And The Winner Is…
For the past few years, Hasbro has run a fan-poll to see what character YOU want to see made as a figure and added to the 6″ scale Marvel Legends line! Last year the winner was Marvel newcomer Angela by a longshot, and this year looks to be not too different! After weeks of voting through various social media sites, the numbers are in and it appears that this year’s winner is none other than the villainous Songbird! Here’s the post from Hasbro’s Instagram page:
We’re proud to announce Songbird as the winner of the 2016 Hasbro Marvel Legends fan vote! Thank you to everyone who voted- look for the 6 inch figure as part of the 2018 Hasbro Marvel Legends series!
Diamond Select Teases New Minimates
The team at Diamond Select Toys sure knows how to get us excited! This week they shared images of two upcoming waves of Minimates that should be hitting stores any time now! First up we have the new Marvel Minimates Series 68, which is based on the classic ‘Giant Sized X-Men’ lineup and includes our first ever ‘616’ classic Sunfire Minimate, the first classic Banshee Minimate, the first Thunderbird Minimate in over a decade, and of course some of our other favorites like Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, and Cyclops! These are set to hit comic shops and specialty stores in early September, so keep your eyes peeled!
Additionally, DST gave us a look at the new Toys R Us Exclusive ALIENS Minimates Series 3 which includes three Minimate figure 2-packs! This series features sets of Space Suit Kane with Phantom Xenomorph, Dress Uniform Lt. Gorman with Attacking Alien Warrior, and Hiveworld Alien with Hiveworld Red Alien! The best part about these is that they are shipping to stores now (and this reporter may have already found some this week to prove it!), so be sure to hit your local Toys R Us to complete your set!
“My Mommy Always Said There Were No Monsters, No Real Ones- But There Are”
Earlier this year NECA broke the hearts of ‘ALIENS’ collectors everywhere when they made the first ever action figure of the character Newt from the classic 1986 film ‘ALIENS’ and then went ahead and made it a nearly unobtainable San Diego Comic Con exclusive. Collectors were devastated that after three decades we were finally getting a Newt figure, only to make it nearly impossible to get. Thankfully, NECA has heard all of your concerns and come up with a solution in the form of a brand new ‘ALIENS’ 30th Anniversary box set that brings Newt to the masses!
This new figure two pack brings collectors a widespread release of the same exact Newt figure who was an SDCC exclusive just a few weeks ago (albeit, without all of her accessories), and now she even comes packed with a new Ripley figure! While Ripley shares many parts with the previously released Ripley figure from NECA’s ‘ALIENS’ line, this one sports a brand new head sculpt to make her look more like the iconic movie poster for the film! Check out the full release from NECA below:
Continuing the Aliens 30th anniversary celebration, NECA presents a special edition action figure 2-pack that recreates the movie’s classic poster! That iconic image of Ripley rescuing Newt appears on the front flap of the deluxe packaging; open the flap and the figures are posed in the box just as they appear on the poster.
Ripley stands approximately 7” tall and features a new head sculpt and new deco, both exclusive to this set. She comes with a flamethrower accessory that has a special “fire effect” attachment. Newt stands approximately 5” tall. Both feature authorized likenesses and have over 25 points of articulation for dramatic poses. A great display piece both in and out of the box!
FN-2187 Looks FN-Great!
Nearly a year after the first toys for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ hit stores, Hot Toys is still keeping the ball rolling and bringing us new stuff that we didn’t even know we wanted until now! The latest piece in their “Star Wars’ line is a new 1:6th scale Finn in his First Order Stormtrooper outfit! This figure includes a removable helmet featuring Finn’s iconic blood mark as well as a standard Stormtrooper blaster and a special hexagonal stand! Check out the full release from Hot Toys below:
Star Wars: TFA – 1/6th scale Finn (First Order Stormtrooper Ver.)
“I was raised to do one thing, but I’ve got nothing to fight for.”
Originally trained since birth to serve the First Order as a Stormtrooper, FN-2187 was deeply affected by the death of his squad mate and the innocent villagers during the attack of Tuanul on the desert planet Jakku. The skirmish has awakened his conscience and drove him down a different path, one that proved both heroic and dangerous and picking up a new name – Finn.
Today Hot Toys is delighted to officially present the 1/6th scale Finn (First Order Stormtrooper Version) collectible figure as a limited quantity exclusive item only available in selected markets.
The highly-accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of John Boyega in the film featuring a newly painted head sculpt, a sleek First Order Stormtrooper armor with weather effects and helmet with the iconic blood mark, blaster rifle and blaster pistol, and a hexagonal figure stand with the First Order’s emblem.
Don’t pass up on the opportunity to add this exclusive collectible figure to your Star Wars collection today!
“CORAL!”
The crew over at McFarlane Toys have announced the latest figure in their multi-franchise ‘Color Tops’ toyline of 7″ scale figures will be none other than Carl Grimes from AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ television series! This new version of Carl features his more recent ‘Season 6’ look and features Carl in a poncho with his wounded eye patched over! Check out the info from McFarlane Toys along with a 3D rendered prototype:
Carl Grimes
Brand: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Movies & TV
Product Type: Action Figure
Series: McFarlane Collector Color Tops Program
Series: Color Tops: Blue
The son of Rick and Lori Grimes, Carl has gone from being a reserved, fearful child to becoming a true battle-hardened Walker dispatcher. As the youngest original Atlanta survivor, Carl has been forced to grow up brutally fast with little to no room for childhood amenities
Carl stands 7 inches tall and is sculpted in his outfit from Season 6 of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Figure comes with: gunshot wound head, bandaged head, removable bloody poncho, and a removable hat. Stylized display base included.
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!
Even More DC Universe
We know that Funko just announced a bunch of cool new POP! vinyls based on the DC Universe, but now we are getting at least two more! This week Funko confirmed that we are getting Batgirl in her ‘Batgirl of Burnside’ outfit, as well as Hawkman from The CW’s ‘Legends Of Tomorrow‘! These are due in stores alongside the rest of the ‘Legends Of Tomorrow’ line in September!
The Dead Walk As Mopeez!
While many of these characters may have joined the ‘other side’ of the war by now, Funko is bringing us a new wave of Mopeez based on the hit AMC zombie drama, ‘The Walking Dead’! Included in this new set are series favorites Rick, Michonne, Tyreese, Hershel, Glenn, and of course, Daryl! These are hitting stores in September!
More Little Horrors
Finally, Funko is bringing a few more of our favortie horror icons to the Dorbz line! This seasons latest additions include Gizmo and Stripe from ‘Gremlins’, Chucky from ‘Child’s Play’, and the ancient one himself, Cthulu! There will also be a ‘Glow In The Dark’ variant of Cthulu when they hit stores this September!
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!
Jordan is a Toy Columnist & Staff Writer here at ScienceFiction! Journalist, Musician, Toy Collector, and Overall Awesome Guy! For more on Jordan’s thoughts, toys, and wacky adventures, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
