Toy News Tuesday: Macklin Is On The Case!

It’s a new week and we’re back 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!It’s summertime, and we’re feeling pretty awesome about things here at ScienceFiction! There’s lots of great films either in theaters already or coming our way really soon, and with them there are plenty of fantastic new toys hitting the shelves for us to hunt down! This week we’ve got lots of new stuff to show you from some of our favorite companies like NECA, McFarlane, Hot Toys, Funko, and so much more! There’s plenty of fantastic new collectibles to check out in the toy news for June 13th, 2017!

Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! Noooooo!

After months of anticipation, at long last, we have the final word, and it isn’t looking good. This week after a long period of speculation, the team at Super7 have announced that they will officially not be continuing Mattel’s short-lived ‘Thundercats Classics’ line.Last year, fans were devastated when Mattel announced the closure of their collector-centric online subscription service and club, MattyCollector. The collector subscription service offered fans a chance to pick up exclusive figures in lines that weren’t available anywhere else and was most well known for the incredibly popular ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics’ line of figures. Luckily for fans of ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics’, the team over at Super7 was able to work with Mattel to save the line with plans breathe new life into the series with both re-releases of old favorites as well as introducing a slew of new characters joining the line later! ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics’ was saved! But what about MattyCollector’s other lines?

During its final year of existence, MattyCollector introduced a whole new line based on another classic 80s series with ‘Thundercats Classics’. The series only saw about a half dozen figures released before MattyCollector shuttered its proverbial doors for good at the end of 2016. Many fans hoped that the team at Super7 would swoop in and save ‘Thundercats Classics’ as well, considering it is a sister line to ‘Masters Of The Universe Classics’. For a long while things were looking hopeful, with Super7 expressing interest in continuing ‘Thundercats Classics’, but ultimately it looks as though a licensing deal with Warner Brothers could not be worked out to keep the line alive. It looks like Mummrah wins this round, you guys.

Dead Lines Tell No Tales

Continuing our trend of sad news this week, it appears that our good friends at Diamond Select Toys have cancelled an entire series of previously announced figures! Though no major announcement was made, it appears that Diamond Select Toys has abruptly cancelled their planned 7″ scale ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean Select’ line of figures. The first wave was originally planned to it later this summer and would have been comprised of Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hector Barbosa as seen in the latest film in the series ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’.

As of this time, Diamond Select has not given any specific reason as to why the line was cancelled, only that “unfortunately, those figures are no longer happening. We could not move forward with production as planned”. Feel free to speculate away as to why these great looking new ‘Pirates’ figures look to have gone to Davey Jones’ locker for good. In the meantime, we least we’ve got DST’s fantastic new ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ Minimates line!

Mattel Unites The League

The first ever live-action ‘Justice League’ adaptation hits theaters later this year! That’s reason enough to celebrate, but now we’ve got at least one more reason with the reveal of Mattel’s new ‘Justice League‘ centric wave of DC Multiverse figures! This new wave of 6″ scale figures bring us the first ever DC Cinematic Universe offerings of these characters in this scale! Figures included in the wave that have been announced so far are Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash! There is currently no word on what (if any) the collect-and-connect figure will be for this wave as of yet; although after the ‘Wonder Woman’ line gave us an Ares figure, we wouldn’t be shocked to see Steppenwolf happen this way.

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NECA Reveals SDCC Exclusives And More!

San Diego Comic-Con is just a few weeks away and the team at NECA is pulling out all the stops! This week NECA revealed images and details for three new San Diego Comic Con exclusive collectibles that are going to knock your socks off!

First up is the Grim Reaper himself! Coming our way straight out of ‘Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey’, which is the totally non-heinous sequel to one of the most excellent and triumphant time travel film ever made, it’s The Grim Reaper! NECA presents this radical new 8″ fully poseable retro figure of The Grim Reaper with real cloth mixed-media robes! This bodacious new figure of the Duke of Spook features the authorized likeness of actor William Saddler and includes a Scythe accessory! Sadly, death is set to be an SDCC exclusive, and as such is limited to a run of just 1000 pieces! If you can make it to San Diego Comic-Con, Death will set you back around $35.

Next up is an all new 7″ figure of Coraline from the film of the same name (which is inherently based on the book of the same name, written by Neil Gaiman). This SDCC exclusive set includes a 7″ bendy Coraline doll in her brightly colored fabric pajamas, as well as a fold out display diorama where you can show her off in your collection! The display features spooky green LED lights that can be turned off and on with a switch on the bottom of the box. The display measures approximately 9.25″x14″Wx10.75″ in total, but it does fold back into its original box easily enough for storage. Coraline also includes a clear figure stand and a blanket accessory! This deluxe Coraline box set is limited to a run of just 3000 pieces and will run $40 at San Diego Comic Con.

The third and final SDCC reveal for this week is yet another new ‘Predator 30th Anniversary’ line figure, with the 7″ ‘Jungle Briefing Dutch’! That’s right, instead of Dillon, Billy, or any of the other members of Dutch’s platoon that fans have been begging for (and denied due to likeness rights issues), fans are getting yet another Dutch figure! This time it’s Dutch rocking a red polo shirt as seen in the beginning of the first ‘Predator’ film. Dutch comes packaged (in a package with a fun nod to the same scene) with a jungle map, a dossier file, and an M-16 with grenade launcher attachment! This “Son Of A Bitch” is going to be limited to a run of just 3000 pieces and will set you back $30.

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If you aren’t making it San Diego Comic Con, then NECA still has something awesome in store for you this week! The team at NECA knows how much we all love their long running ‘Predator’ toyline, so they’ve released images and details for the entire Series 18 lineup! The new wave is based on the Dark Horse Comics ‘Predators’ comic book series, and brings us fan favorite characters like Broken Tusk, Hornhead, and Machiko! Check out the full release from NECA below:

NECA’s longest running action figure line continues with an entire series dedicated to Dark Horse Comics Predators! Series 18 features three action figure debuts that are some of the most requested by fans: Hornhead, Broken Tusk and our first female Predator, Machiko!Hornhead made his first appearance in Predator: Life & Death, and is a great companion piece to the Ultimate Ahab Predator, also from the currently running comics. He utilizes the new Ultimate Predator body, and comes with a removable mask and sword accessory that fits in a sheath on his back. Broken Tusk originates in the classic 1990s Aliens vs Predator comics, and his epic story arc also includes Machiko Noguchi, a human colonist who performs the incredible feat of earning his respect and joining his tribe. Broken Tusk utilizes the new Ultimate Predator body and comes with gun and bladed weapon that measures over 12” in length! Machiko has a removable mask, extra interchangeable hands, and rifle accessory.We’ve paid close attention to detail to make these as accurate to the comics as possible. Hornhead and Broken Tusk stand 8” tall; Machiko stands 6.5” tall. Each has between 25 and 30 points of articulation. Blister card packaging.

Where Do You Get Those Wonderful Toys?

San Diego Comic Con, Duh! This week Mezco Toys announced another SDCC exclusive item in the form of a new 2″ scale ‘Batman 1989’ Mez-Itz figure! This little guy is an SDCC exclusive, but will also be available for order on their website for just $8! Here’s the full rundown from Mezco:

Mez-Itz 1989 Batman- Tim Burton’s groundbreaking 1989 film BATMAN redefined the superhero genre and introduced a bold new look for Batman. This Mez-Itz perfectly captures the look and feel of the 1989 Batman. This 2-inch tall Batman comes complete with his grappling gun and Batarang, perfectly scaled to fit in his hands.The Mez-Itz 1989 Batman figure comes on a die-cut card for easy display in your personal Batcave.

Hot Toys Brings Spider-Man Home In Style

We are less than a month away from Spider-Man’s first solo film as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’! The team over at Hot Toys is pulling no punches and wasting no time in announcing their all new 1:6th scale ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ figure of the film’s titular hero himself, Spider-Man! Hot Toys new 1:6th scale ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Spider-Man figure features an all new specially developed body, four pairs of interchangeable eyes for his mask, a newly sculpted Peter Parker head (which will sport a likeness to actor Tom Holland), and much, much more! Check out the full release from Hot Toys below:

Spider-Man: Homecoming 1/6th scale Spider-Man (Deluxe Version)
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, the young Spider-Man, Peter Parker, is trying to strike a balance between his normal routine life as a high school student and the crime fighting superhero life under Tony Stark’s mentorship. Eagerly awaited by fans, Spider-Man: Homecoming will soon be released and expected to become a mega hit! Today Hot Toys is ecstatic to reveal the highly anticipated brand new 1/6th scale Spider-Man Collectible Figure (Deluxe Version).

Based on the new battling suit given to Peter Parker by Tony Stark, the figure features a newly developed masked head sculpt with four pairs of interchangeable eye pieces to create numerous combinations of Spider-Man’s expressions, newly crafted interchangeable head sculpt featuring likeness of Tom Holland, a newly developed specialized body, an expertly tailored and greatly detailed costume, a pair of magnetically attachable web-wings, a variety of spider-web shooting effect parts, and a Spider-Man themed dynamic figure stand. This Deluxe version specially comes with an additional school blazer, a zip-up hoodie, plus a highly detailed Vulture’s helmet! The suit’s fine details have been remarkably transferred onto this Spider-Man collectible figure, make sure you have reserved a space in your display for this impressive masterpiece.

To Boldly Sit Where No One Has Sat Before

‘Star Trek’ is one of the oldest and most beloved science fiction franchises in the history of the genre, and the team at Quantum Mechanix are exploring the final frontier in an all new way with their recently announced 1:6th scale ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ Captain’s Chair! This new 1:6th scale Captain’s Chair is the perfect new piece for any 1:6th scale ‘Star Trek’ collector, and is a perfect add on for QMX’s previously released 1:6th scale Captain James. T Kirk figure! The new ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ Captain’s Chair is going to set you back around $129.95 when it releases later this year. Check out the full release from Quantum Mechanix below:

Command your own starship with the Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) 1:6 Scale Captain’s Chair from QMx.
Captain Kirk and other designated officers would direct ship operations from this seat of power on the original Enterprise during its five-year mission across the final frontier of space. Developed with QMx’s Star Trek 1:6th scale collectible figures in mind, this replica of the most famous chair in TV history is authentically styled after the original set prop.
Our 1:6 Scale Captain’s Chair FX Replica features:
Four different light and sound display settings. Press the button disguised as a computer disk and the chair cycles through the lights and sounds for standard bridge operations, ship-wide announcement, viewscreen scanning and red alert.
Swivel base just like the full-size prop.
Power setup using either three AA batteries (not included) or a USB plug (cord not included).
Display this classic TV icon either with the QMx 1:6th scale James T. Kirk collectible figure or on its own. It’s an instantly recognizable collectible that will be the perfect desk display for any discerning Trek fan.

Stranger Things Are Afoot At McFarlane

While details on this are fairly scarce, thanks to a new pre-order listing at an online retailer (that has since been taken down), we now know that the team at McFarlane Toys have picked up the license for Netflix’s hit series ‘Stranger Things’ and will be producing a line of 7″ scale figures based on the show! So far all we know is that we can expect to see figures of fan-favorite characters Eleven and Chief Hopper in the line and that the first figures are expect to hit the market in November. There are currently no images available at this time, but we’re sure we can expect to see these soon since they are only a few months out from release. Maybe at San Diego Comic-Con in a few weeks? Check out the full description for McFarlane Toys ‘Stranger Things’ 7″ scale line from the recently pulled pre-order listing below-

From the Netflix TV series Stranger Things comes these 7-inch scale action figures! The Stranger Things Action Figures are highly detailed and articulated action figures of iconic characters Eleven and Chief Hopper sculpted from assets taken directly from the series. The figures are in 7-inch scale with 12 points of articulation for dynamic posing and feature show-accurate attires with accessories included. The figures come in a retro-themed packaging. Eleven stands about 5-inches tall, is sculpted from images of actress Millie Bobby Brown, and comes with removable blonde wig, radio, and waffle. Eleven is featured in dress and jacket outfit. Chief Hopper is sculpted from images of actor David Harbour and comes with a removable Sheriff’s hat, pistol, and coffee mug. The figure is featured in sheriff’s outfit worn by Chief Hopper. Both figures feature a stylized Stranger Things-branded display base and are showcased in retro themed packaging.

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 Unleashes More SDCC Exclusives

With San Diego Comic Con coming up on us pretty quickly, Funko is pulling back the curtain on more and more convention exclusives with each passing day! This week we have three whole new waves of San Diego Comic Con exclusive collectibles to show you from Funko, with new reveals for licenses like Marvel Comics, ‘Scott Pilgrim’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, and more! Remember, these are all set to be exclusive to the convention, but many of these exclusives are going to be shared with specific retailers during the con!

From Marvel Comics we have a number of new pieces revealed like new POP! Vinyls of Tony Stark (Business Suit), Captain America (Bucky Barnes), Red She-Hulk, and Gwen-Pool! We also have a new Gwen-Pool Rock Candy vinyl figure heading our way!

From the fan favorite ‘Scott Pilgrim’ line, we have new POP! Vinyls of Scott Pilgrim (Flaming Sword), Nega-Scott, and Evil Ex Roxy Richter! We also have a Dorbz 3-pack of Scott Pilgrim (Green Shirt w/Sword, Red Astro Boy Shirt w/Bass, and Nega-Scott), and a Ramona Flowers Rock Candy vinyl figure!

Finally, from various animated series, we have a bunch of new exclusive POP! Vinyls! New pieces revealed include Baxter Stockman from ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, The Coon and Mint-Berry Crunch from ‘South Park’, a flocked version of Cat-Dog from the series of the same name, and a special new Ren & Stimpy POP! Vinyl 2-pack!

Funko Invades Your TV

Don’t touch that dial! Funko has two new waves of POP! Vinyls based on some of your favorite television series coming our way this summer, and they are definitely ones you don’t want to miss!

Coming straight from Pawnee, Indiana are the stars of ‘Parks and Recreation’! This wave of POP!s based on the recently ended sitcom include Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, Andy Dwyer, April Ludgate, and Lil Sebastian! Additionally, there will be a Hot Topic exclusive Bert Macklin available when these release in July!

Then, coming from one of the most popular anime series of the past few years is a whole wave of ‘One Punch Man’ POP! Vinyls! The series will consist of fan favorite characters Genos, Lord Boros, and of course Saitama! These are due to release later this summer.

Funko September Specialty Series

The latest figures in Funko’s small retailer ‘Specialty Series’ line have been announced! Coming to your local comic and specialty stores this September are an all new ‘Masters Of The Universe’ Man-At-Arms POP! Vinyl, and a Marvel Comics ‘First Appearance’ Iron Man Dorbz figure! These won’t be found at any major retailers, so be sure to hit up your favorite local shop so you don’t miss out!

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 Staff Writer & our resident Toy Columnist 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.