Toy News Tuesday: Goblins, Bats, And Ghosts!

Here we are yet again with 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 we’ve got new toy fever over here! There’s a lot of cool new stuff dropping this week and with all of these reveals its almost impossible to keep up! Luckily for you, that’s literally our job. This week we have some fantastic new pieces from DC Collectibles, NECA, Funko, Diamond Select Toys, McFarlane Toys, and more! There’s a little bit of something for everyone in the Toy News for the week of May 23rd, 2017!

DC Brings Artist Alley To Life

Life imitates art, and now art is coming to life! Our good friends at DC Collectibles have announced an all new line of collectible PVC statues that will bring the distinct art style of an assortment of artists to your collections dubbed the ‘Artists Alley’ series! DC Collectibles will be working with a mix of different artists, all with their own unique styles, to bring some of your favorite DC Comics characters to a whole new medium in a special way. The line is launching with three artists to start, with a total of seven characters being using in the first assortment (with nine statues in total for now, three from each artist). So far DC Collectibles has released images of the first five statues in the series, which will be of Batman, Superman, Catwoman, The Joker, and Harley Quinn. The line will be launching sometime in 2018. Be sure to check out the artist profiles and statue previews below:

Sho Murase

Sho Murase is half Japanese & half Korean, grew up in Europe & has been living in San Francisco California during the past 10 + years. This mix of cultures is reflected in her work, merging asian, manga & western art influences with a personal dark twist. Sho has been working for advertising / animation/ entertainment industries, making style guides, pitch packages and design work. On her spare time she works on her personal art. Her artwork has been exhibited at the German Film Museum in Frankfurt and the Louisiana Modern Art Museum in Denmark, amongst other places.

Hainan “Nooligan” Saulique

HaiNaNu “Nooligan” Saulque is an artist, comic creator and graphic designer based in Sacramento, Ca. An old soul in a young body, HaiNaNu finds inspiration in times past. From the cartoons of his youth to films he missed by decades, from golden age comics to classic newspaper strips, you will find a creator who has immersed himself in the what he loves. His style is contemporary with a flare of nostalgia.

Chris Uminga

Christopher Uminga is a Connecticut based painter and illustrator. With his two Boston terriers by his side, Chris has spent the last ten years developing a unique style that blends together creepy and cute . You can find the influences of classic movies, Saturday morning cartoons, graffiti and low brow/outsider art in his work. He has created art that can be seen on products ranging from comic books, backpacks to t-shirts and toys. Chris owns way too many baseball hats and is a long long suffering New York Knicks fan.

DC Multiverse Robin Swings Into Stores

While the rest of the new ‘King Shark’ wave of Mattel’s DC Multiverse line has been hitting stores for weeks already, we just received word that there is a new Toys R Us Exclusive Robin figure that has been added to the line that is hitting stores now! This Robin is based on Damian Wayne, who is the latest hero to done the red spandex as Batman’s sidekick. Damian comes packaged with a katana and a ‘Court Of Owls’ mask as accessories, but the collect-and-connect figure piece that comes with him is the real treasure to be found here! Damian comes packaged with an alternative Hammerhead Shark head piece for the King Shark collect-and-connect figure, which means that you can now create a comic accurate figure of the character rather than just the version from the ‘The Flash’ television series.

The DC Multiverse Damian Wayne Robin from Mattel is hitting Toys R Us stores now, and is available for order on their website.

Hasbro Reveals SDCC Marvel Legends Exclusives

A few weeks back we got an early look at a few new Marvel Legends items coming our way from Hasbro, several of which were rumored to be San Diego Comic Con 2017 Exclusives. This week we received official confirmation from Hasbro that we can indeed look forward to a few new Marvel Legends items at SDCC, and we’ve got all the details!

First up is an all new Marvel Legends 12″ Daredevil figure! Daredevil will come in a special deluxe packaging featuring artwork from Joe Quesada and includes a number of special accessories like an unmasked head sculpt, a cowl, his signature billy clubs, and several sets of alternative hands. Daredevil is going to set you back $59.99 exclusively at SDCC this summer, although a few are planned to be posted on HasbroToyShop.com for those who can’t make it to the convention!

Additionally, Hasbro has confirmed we will be seeing a new 6″ scale Marvel Legends ‘Thor’ themed figure five-pack! This SDCC exclusive box set will include a number of characters we have never before seen in figure form. Figures in this set include Jane Foster Thor, Odinson, Malekith, Bor, and Ulik! This five-figure Marvel Legends box set is going to cost you $99.99 at SDCC this summer, or if you want to risk waiting and can’t make it to the convention, a small amount of them are planned to be listed on HasbroToyShop.com after the convention.

McFarlane Delves Into High Fantasy & Deep Space

For years, the team at McFarlane Toys have been bringing us a number of high quality products based on some of our favorite properties like ‘Halo’, ‘Alien vs Predator’, and any number of horror and sci-fi films. This week they have announced two new major licensing deals to bring us even more collectibles of our fan favorite characters from some pretty high profile brands!

First up is the reveal that McFarlane is teaming with The Jim Henson Company to produce figures and collectibles based on both ‘Labyrinth‘ and ‘The Dark Crystal’! We first found out about their work with the ‘Labyrinth’ license back at Toy Fair 2017 in February when they first showed off their upcoming Jareth figure, but this is the first news of work with the full license for the film as well as ‘The Dark Crystal’. Check out the release from McFarlane Toys below:

THE JIM HENSON COMPANY TAPS MCFARLANE TOYS TO PRODUCE FIGURES FROM CLASSIC FILMS LABYRINTH AND THE DARK CRYSTAL

Tempe, AZ and Hollywood, CA – May 19, 2017 –The Jim Henson Company has partnered with McFarlane Toys, which will harken back to its roots of “Movie Maniacs” to create figures of classic characters from two of Henson’s most well-known features Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal.

Directed by visionary Jim Henson and executive produced by George Lucas, Labyrinth is a fanboy favorite and wonder of puppetry. Stuck babysitting her brother, teenager Sarah, resentfully wishes The Goblin King (memorably portrayed by David Bowie) can take him away. When her wish comes true, Sarah must head into the Labyrinth herself to save him. Since its 1986 release the film has garnered a cult popularity and is still reveled in today’s era as a timeless classic.

The Dark Crystal, directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, brilliantly weaves a timeless myth of good and evil. In another time, The Dark Crystal, a source of balance and truth in the universe, was broken, dividing the world into two factions; the wicked Skeksis and the peaceful Mystics. Now, as the convergence of the three suns approaches, the crystal must be healed, or darkness will reign forever. The Dark Crystal’s fanbase has only risen since the film’s debut and has also developed a cult following of fans across the world.

McFarlane Toys has produced highly detailed figures and construction sets for various entertainment properties and this collaboration with The Jim Henson Company will give fans of these iconic films new and unique action figures that are “true to life” replicas of their on-screen personas.

The upcoming toys will include a 7-inch figure of Labyrinth’s Jareth The Goblin King, and for The Dark Crystal, fans can look forward to figures of Jen and Kira. Each figure will be highly detailed and come fully articulated to recreate infamous movie scenes. These figures will also debut in new window box collector packaging and will come with Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal branded detailed bases.

“Fans of both Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal continue to grow, while both brands also enjoy the passionate and loyal support of committed followers for decades,” said Vice President of Global Consumer Products for The Jim Henson Company, Federico San Martin.  “We are looking forward to McFarlane toys introducing the characters that defined these classic adventures to our legions of fans around the world.”

“Jim Henson was one of the most visually creative minds, and these incredible movies are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Todd McFarlane, Owner and CEO of McFarlane Toys. “We pride ourselves on our creativity and attention to detail, and to be able to make figures of these iconic characters is something pretty special.”

McFarlane Toys’ Labyrinth Jareth The Goblin King figure will be available at major retailers this November carrying an MSRP: $19.99 (and now available for pre-order, HERE).  The Dark Crystal Jen and Kira figures are slated to release Spring 2018.  For more information about The Jim Henson Company visit www.henson.com. For more information about everything McFarlane Toys, fans are encouraged to check out www.mcfarlane.com as well as the McFarlane social media channels for updates and news.

In addition to this already impressive licensing announcement, an announcement made through Licensing.biz has revealed that McFarlane has also obtained the ‘Star Trek’ license! Yes, you read that correctly, McFarlane will now be producing a line of 7″ scale figures and role play toys based on the various series and films across the ‘Star Trek’ saga. That means we can hope to see figures from classic ‘Star Trek’, ‘Star Trek The Next Generation’, the J.J. Abrams ‘Star Trek’ 2009 reboot, and even the upcoming ‘Star Trek: Discovery‘!

So far only two figures have been announced for the line to start things off. Fans can look forward to 7″ scale figures of Captain James. T. Kirk from ‘Star Trek’ The Original Series, as well as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ when the line launches in Spring 2018! With a license this massive, we’re sure there will be plenty more to come from this line in the future.

As of the time of this writing, there is no word whether this new series of ‘Star Trek’ figures will be their own line, or if they will be released under McFarlane’s ‘Color Tops’ brand. Additionally, we have reached out to Diamond Select Toys to see how this line will effect their ‘Star Trek Select’ 7″ line, and to see if they even have the ‘Star Trek’ license in any sense moving forward after this huge reveal.

Who You Gonna Call?

Our good friends at Diamond Select Toys and the crew over at The Nerdist have revealed our first look at the upcoming ‘Ghostbusters II Select’ series 1! After the smash success of the original ‘Ghostbusters Select’ line, fans are excited to see the license continuing on to the second film! Figures announced for Series 1 include Ray Stantz (with Santa Hat), Vigo The Carpathian, and Louis Tully (in a Ghostbusters uniform)!

While the figures from the original ‘Ghostbusters Select’ line came with parts to build a ‘Rooftop’ display base, figures from ‘Ghostbusters II Select’ come with the parts to build the front of the iconic Ghostbusters Fire House! There is currently no set release date for this wave, although if we had to guess we would say expect them either very late this year or very early in 2018.

New Sci-Fi Awesomeness From NECA

The team at NECA have never been known to shy away from giving us the most comprehensive toy lines possible for every one of their licenses. This week we got a few new item reveals from them that show just how deep they’re willing to dive into their properties to bring the fans the collectibles they want!

First up, with the release of ‘Alien: Covenant’ this past weekend, NECA is finally able to reveal their entire toyline based on the film without fear of spoilers! That said, fair warning that the next few items being revealed below are semi-spoilery for the creature designs in the film if you haven’t seen it yet. Check out the full series of ‘Alien: Covenant’ toys from NECA below:

Alien: Covenant – 7” Scale Action Figure – Neomorph
From Alien: Covenant, the terrifying new movie directed by Ridley Scott! This screen accurate version of the Neomorph, the horrific new creature introduced in the movie, stands approximately 9” tall. It comes with an alternate interchangeable head and a poseable baby Neomorph accessory, and features over 30 points of articulation and a bendable tail. Window box packaging.

Alien: Covenant – 7” Scale Action Figure – Xenomorph – June 2017
From Alien: Covenant, the terrifying new movie directed by Ridley Scott! This screen accurate version of the chilling new Xenomorph stands over 10” tall. It features an extendable inner mouth and has over 30 points of articulation and a bendable tail. Window box packaging.

Alien: Covenant – Accessory Pack – Creature Pack
From Alien: Covenant, the terrifying new movie directed by Ridley Scott! This deluxe creature pack includes 6 pieces from the movie that will make for some mind-blowing dioramas, since they’re all perfectly in scale with our line of 7″ figures. Set includes: 2 facehuggers, 1 open egg, 1 closed egg, 1 poseable toddler Neomorph and 1 Chestburster. Window box packaging.

Alien: Covenant – Head Knocker – Neomorph
From Alien: Covenant, the terrifying new movie directed by Ridley Scott! The Neomorph Head Knocker stands approximately 8″ tall with bobbling head. It’s cast in resin and then hand painted for incredible detail, down to the themed base. Comes in collectible matte finish packaging with spot gloss.

Scalers – 2” Mini Characters – Neomorph (Alien: Covenant)
From Alien: Covenant, the terrifying new movie directed by Ridley Scott! Scalers are cute, collectible mini characters that attach to headphone cords, cables, straps and more for on-the-go fun. This deadly little Neomorph measures just 2” high! Collect your favorites and take them anywhere.

Alien: Covenant – Body Knocker – Neomorph
Solar-powered Body Knockers let you enjoy hours of fun with your favorite characters – no batteries needed! From Alien: Covenant, the terrifying new movie directed by Ridley Scott, the Neomorph stands approximately 6.5” tall and rocks from side to side when exposed to light. Collect all your favorites and watch them dance the day away!

In addition to these fantastic new ‘Alien: Covenant‘ figures, this week NECA also teased a new figure in their long dormant ‘Robocop’ line! Behold, the new ‘Ultimate Future Robocop’ figure! This figure comes straight from the pages of Dark Horse Comics classic ‘Robocop vs. Terminator’ series, and looks to be a mixture of both Robocop and Terminator T-800 parts. There is no word on when this figure is expected to hit shelves, but considering that this year is the 30th anniversary of the ‘Robocop’ brand, it would be a shame to see it release later than this winter. We will keep you posted with more info on this and any other ‘Robocop’ news from NECA as it emerges!

Finally, this week NECA began teasing what looks like a new SDCC exclusive item, and this one is going to be a doozy! While no actual details have been confirmed, based on the three teaser images posted to their Twitter account today, NECA is planning to release some kind of classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7″ scale figure set based on the original animated series designs and colors! So far the four Turtles themselves have been confirmed, but NECA is touting that this is going to be their biggest box set ever, so who knows what else we might see included! The figures shown appear to be classic color repaints of last years ‘TMNT: Arcade’ SDCC exclusive figures. We will keep you updated as more information is released!

Teaser One

Teaser Two

Teaser Three

“Eeny Meeny Miney Moe…”

It looks like another one of the stars of AMC’s hit zombie drama ‘The Walking Dead’ will be coming to your collection in all of ThreeZero’s 1:6th scale glory, and he’s coming out swinging! That’s right, soon enough we will be seeing ‘The Walking Dead’s Negan in beautiful 1:6th scale. While details on this figure are scarce for the time being, the team at ThreeZero recently posted a new teaser image to their social media to preview the upcoming figure! The figure looks like it will be sporting an uncanny resemblance to actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who portrays the villainous Negan on the show. To make things even better, it even looks like Negan will come packed with his faithful barbed-wire-covered baseball bat Lucille in tow! We will keep you updated with more information on this new 1:6th scale ‘The Walking Dead’ Negan figure from ThreeZero as it becomes available.

Mezco’s Got Mercenaries & Sorcerers

This week we’ve got two new fantastic reveals from the team at Mezco! Coming from their One:12 Collective 6″ scale line of figures are a some of comics greatest heroes and villains in the form of Doctor Strange and a special new Previews exclusive variant of Deathstroke!

First up is the all new One:12 figure of Marvel Comics’ Doctor Strange! This 6″ figure of Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme will include a number of accessories including an astral form projection, magic effect pieces, a number of alternative interchangeable hands, and a cloak that features a bendable wire frame so that you can pose it however you would like! Check out the full release info from Mezco below:

Dr. Stephen Strange, MD was once a prominent but egotistical surgeon. Following a tragic automobile accident, he searched the world for a way to heal his badly damaged hands. After becoming a student of the Ancient One, Strange not only mastered the martial arts but the mystical arts as well. He now serves as Sorcerer Supreme and from his base in the Sanctum Sanctorum he guards the world from mystical and magical threats. Doctor Strange joins the One:12 collective with a comprehensively detailed outfit and unique character specific accessories.

The Doctor Strange One:12 Collective figure features: 

• One (1) newly developed head portrait 
• One:12 Collective body with  over 28 points of articulation
• Hand painted authentic detailing
• Over 16cm tall
• Six (6) interchangeable hands including
  • One (1) pair of fists (L & R)
  • One (1) pair posing hands style A (L & R)
  • One (1) pair of posing hands style B (L & R)

Costume:

• Two (2) interchangeable Eye Of Agamotto (open and closed)
• Sculpted gloves on each hand
• Cloak Of Levitation with integrated wire for dynamic posing 
• Intricately tailored cloth  outfit
  

Accessories:

• One (1) Astral form projection (attaches to posing post)

• Spell effect- defensive  (attaches to forearm)

• Spell effect- offensive (attaches to forearm)

• One (1) One:12 Collective display base with logo

• One (1) One:12 Collective adjustable display post

 If you’re less of a Marvel and more of a DC fan, then this next piece might be a bit more up your ally! This week Mezco revealed a new Previews exclusive ‘Stealth’ variant version of their upcoming One:12 Collective Deathstroke The Terminator figure! This figure is set to include all of the same accessories as the standard release, but will sport a much darker color scheme that’s mostly blacks and greys. The Stealth variant of Deathstroke is going to set you back $80 when he releases this September. Check out the Previews posting for the figure below:

A PREVIEWS Exclusive! A military man, Slade Wilson was recruited into the special ops unit Team 7, where he participated in highly dangerous classified missions. There he underwent an experimental procedure that granted him enhanced speed, strength and intelligence, effectively making him the world’s greatest soldier. He is, without question, the world’s greatest assassin and one of the most feared people on the planet. The One:12 Collective: Stealth Deathstroke Action Figure features a body with over 30 points of articulation, hand-painted authentic detailing, interchangeable hands, armored collars, shoulder pads, chest armor, machine gun, hand gun, and other accessories.

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 Goes To The Movies This Summer

If there’s one thing that Funko can never be accused of, it’s failing to keep up with all of the latest trends and popular culture. This summer we’ve got a ton of great movies heading our way, and the team at Funko is already ahead of the game with new waves of POP! Vinyls based on as many as possible! This week we’ve got new POP! Vinyl reveals for ‘Alien: Covenant’, ‘Justice League’, and ‘The Dark Tower’ from Funko!

From the recently released ‘Alien: Covenant’, Funko brings us the all new Neomorph POP! Vinyl! The Neomorph comes packaged with a smaller figure of ‘The Toddler’ as well, making this a solid value for ‘Alien’ fans! The Neomorph hits stores this July!

From DC Comics’ live action ‘Justice League’ adaptation, we’re getting the obvious six figure set of the actual ‘Justice League’ members themselves! Included in this wave are Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg. These release this August!

Finally, this July you will be able to add new POP! Vinyls from ‘The Dark Tower’ to your collection! This wave consists of just two characters, The Gunslinger and The Man In Black. There will also be a Barnes & Noble exclusive version of The Gunslinger if you’re feeling like a completionist!

 Funko Meets Their ‘Destiny’

With the sequel to Bungie’s smash hit video game ‘Destiny’ on it’s way soon, it looks like Funko is finally moving forward with a wave of ‘Destiny’ themed POP! vinyls! The main wave consists of five figures including Cayde-6, Lord Shaxx, Ikora, Zavala, and Oryx. Additionally, there will be several retailer exclusives in this line, with Xur and Atheon being available exclusively at Gamestop stores, and Crota (with a special Glow In The Dark Chase variant) being available exclusively at Target!