mainWe are BACK! It’s time for 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! We hope you didn’t miss us too much last week, but have no fear! We are back with our regularly scheduled programing now that New York Comic Con has come to a close and our coverage is starting to wrap up! Luckily, there hasn’t been much by the way of Toy News outside of convention reveals since we were last together, but there is still a few great new items in the Toy News for the week of October 18th, 2016!


Marvel Animated Minimates Return To Walgreens For Series 3

Diamond Select Toys has teamed up with Walgreens again to bring us yet another Walgreens exclusive wave of Marvel Animated Minimates! The latest wave is once again based on Marvel’s ‘Ultimate Spiderman’ and ‘Avengers Assemble’ animated series, and will bring us our first ever minimates of fan favorite characters like Squirrel Girl and Spiderman Noir! The full case assortment includes Jetpack Spiderman with Squirrel Girl and Spiderman Noir with Itsy Bitsy Spiderman from ‘Ultimate Spiderman, while ‘Avengers Assemble get sets of Captain American with Hyperion and Falcon with Antman! This new wave is set to start hitting Walgreens stores later this fall.
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Marvel Select & The Disney Store Get ‘Strange’

Diamond Select Toys is back at it again with another retailer exclusive! This time it’s the Disney Store Exclusive Marvel Select Dr. Strange figure! While the Marvel Select Dr. Strange figure is going to be hitting mass retail, this special Disney Store Exclusive variant version  includes an alternative masked head! He still comes packaged with his regular head, for those of you who are after a basic Dr. Strange figure (but at that point, what is the point in tracking down this fancy exclusive version?). The Disney Store Exclusive version of Marvel Select Dr. Strange from Diamond Select Toys retails for $24.95 and is available now!

As the Marvel cinematic universe expands in a supernatural direction, fans are waiting with bated breath for the premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange, spotlighting the Marvel Universe’s Sorceror Supreme. Set to hit U.S. theaters on November 4, the movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch as an injured surgeon making the ultimate career change, and Diamond Select Toys and the Disney Store are proud to announce a new, exclusive Marvel Select action figure of Doctor Strange!

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This exclusive variant figure of Doctor Strange depicts him in his mysterious masked superhero appearance, first seen in 1968’s Doctor Strange #177. The figure stands approximately 7 inches tall with 16 points of articulation, allowing him to strike a wide variety of dimension-shattering poses. Accessories include a removable cape, a separate Eye of Agamotto medallion on a chain, a spell-casting energy effect that attaches to his hand, and an interchangeable unmasked head!

Also included is an 8-inch tall, 3-inch wide diorama piece inspired by the interior of Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum in New York’s Greenwich Village, with a translucent stained-glass window and smoke effects.

Orders will open on October 3, 2016 at marvelshop.com, and the figures will be simultaneously available at U.S. Disney Store locations as well as on DisneyStore.com. Later in October, the figure will also become available in European Disney Stores, as well as through disneystore.eu.

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Masked Doctor Strange joins the roster of exclusive Marvel Select figures at the Marvel Shop, including Unmasked Captain America, Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Unmasked Ant-Man, Hulkbuster Iron Man, Unleashed Hulk and Bleeding Edge Iron Man. And stay tuned for even more exclusive Marvel Select news!

Hasbro Previews Marvel Legends At NYCC

The Marvel Legends 6″ scale toyline has been going strong since well before Hasbro got their hands on the Marvel license, but they sure seem to have perfected it over the last few years! This years offerings look to be no exception as Hasbro took the chance to show off a ton of their upcoming Marvel Legends figures at New York Comic Con 2016! While press images have only been released for a handful of the upcoming figures, characters we can expect to see included in upcoming waves include:

  • Sandman
  • Spider-UK
  • Shocker
  • Green Goblin
  • Old Man Logan
  • Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
  • Adam Warlock (Marvel Now)
  • Spiderman 2099 (Marvel Now)
  • The Jackal
  • Death’s Head II
  • Symbiote Suit Spiderman
  • Shatterstar

While no actual release date has been set for these, these figures will all likely hit in a ‘Spiderman’ or ‘X-men’ themed wave of Marvel Legends figures sometime between now and early next year.

“SNAAAAAAKE!”

The team at Titan Merchandise are once again expanding their horizons with an all new line of Titan 3″ blindboxed vinyl figures! This new wave is based around Konami’s classic ‘Metal Gear Solid’ video game franchise, bringing Snake, Ocelot, and all the rest to life in tiny vinyl form! This first ‘Metal Gear’ themed wave of blinboxes is dubbed ‘The Phantom Pain Collection’, as it is themed on ‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’. These aren’t due out until next April, but they’re sure to fly off of shelves once they hit!

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It’s Morphin Time!

Over the years, we have seen plenty of new takes on the classic ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ Megazord, but I think it’d time to call it, because Bluefin and Bandai have teamed up to offer collectors a new definitive take on the original Megazord that looks like it’s going to be the best version ever! Dubbed the ‘Soul of Chogokin Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord’, this new version of the Megazord is fully articulated and made of high-end die-cast metal!  To top it all off, the five iconic Dinozords can still disconnect to become their own fully articulated Zords, and they’re more articulated and detailed than ever before! The Soul of Chogokin Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord stands at around 10″ tall and has an expected retail price of $299.99 when it releases in May 2017.

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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!

The Full Rundown

This week we are going to do things a little bit differently with The Funko Forecast! There were just so many announcements pouring out of Funko this week that we decided to lump them together by category so you can get all of the information you need without missing anything! Here we go!

POP! Vinyls

Of all of the announcements that came out of Funko this week, I think it’s POP! Vinyl collectors who are going to be the happiest! On the news block this week we have POP! Vinyls coming from ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’, ‘Ash Vs. The Evil Dead’, ‘Cowboy Beebop’, ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ and a ton of new ‘Harry Potter’ POPs!

Ash Vs The Evil Dead (November 2016): Ash, Pablo, Kelly & Ruby

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Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (December 2016): Bill S. Preston & Ted Theodore Logan

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Batman The Animated Series (November 2016): Batman, Robin, Batgirl, The Joker, Harley Quinn, & Poison Ivy

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Cowboy Beebop (December 2016): Spike, Jet, Faye & Ed

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Harry Potter (October 2016): Harry Potter, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, professor McGonagall, Dolores Umbridge, Bellatrix LeStrange, Lucius Malfoy, & Mad Eye Moody.

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Harry Potter Exclusives (October 2016): Harry Potter w/Tri-Wizard Egg (Target), Bellatrix LeStrange Azkaban (Hot Topic), Lucius Malfoy Deatheater (Hot Topic), Harry Potter Sweater (Hot Topic), Ron Weasley Sweater (Hot Topic), & Harry Potter w/ Hedwig (Hot Topic)

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Q-Bert (December 2016): Q-Bert

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Marvel Rock Candy

We haven’t seen many new figures revealed for the ‘Rock Candy’ line lately, but it’s exciting to see Marvel Comics characters joining the fray! Announced for the ‘Rock Candy’ line are Captain Marvel, Thor, She-Hulk, and Spider-Gwen! There are also going to be retailer exclusive versions of Spider-Gwen (Masked, Hot Topic Exclusive) and She-Hulk (Glow-In-The-Dark, Walmart Exclusive). These are due out in December.

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DC Dorbz

DC Comics is diving back into the Dorbz line with a huge new wave of figures! Joining the series are Green Lantern Batman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Sinestro, and The Flash! There will be chase versions of Batman (White Lanten Batman), Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Glow-In-The-Dark), and The Flash (White Lantern The Flash) available, as well as a special Gamestop exclusive Blue Lantern The Flash (complete with his own Glow-In-The-Dark Chase figure variant) Dorbz.

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Mystery Minis

Much like with the POP! Vinyls line, this week we had a ton of cool new stuff announced for Mystery Minis! If you’re a fan of blindboxed miniature vinyls, then you’re in for a treat for sure! The latest waves announced include DC Superheroes Pets, Gears Of War, My Little Pony, and The X-Men!

DC Superheroes & Pets (November 2016)

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Gears Of War (October 2016)

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My Little Pony Power Ponies (October 2016)

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Marvel’s X-Men (Release Date TBD)

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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.