Once again just as you may have predicted we are 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! The holidays are quickly approaching! If you’re stateside, Thanksgiving is only about a week away with with it comes the looming threat of ‘Black Friday’! The biggest shopping day of the year, and also one of the days that some of the coolest toys for the season drop all at once at most retailers! To tide you over until then, this week we’ve got lots of cool stuff from our friends at Funko, plus NECA, Hot Toys, and some potentially huge news that could change the entire industry! There’s so much to be excited about in the toy news for the week of November 14th, 2017!
Potentially Huge Merger May Be On The Horizon
Hasbro, the world’s biggest toy company, may already own the board game ‘Monopoly’, but it seems as though they’re looking to monopolize even further as the Wall Street Journal is reporting that they’re currently in talks to buy their biggest competitor Mattel! Undisclosed sources have reported to the WSJ that Hasbro has recently begun exploring a potential deal for a merger with Mattel, which would have huge ramifications for the toy industry overall.
One, it would see the two largest toy companies in the industry combine into one massive company that would easily crush the market share of the industry. Two, it would see a ton of major brands and licenses all huddled together under one roof, which could lead to some major new developments regarding toylines and licensing. That means we would see Hasbro, who already owns licenses like Marvel, Star Wars, Transformers, G.I. Joe, my Little Pony, and Nerf, would also potentially come to own the licenses for DC Comics, Masters of the Universe, Barbie, Monster High, Voltron, Ghostbusters, Halo, and many more!
Hasbro is currently valued at around 11 billion, whereas Mattel is only worth around 5 billion at this time, so it’s entirely possible that this deal could go through and change the face of the industry as we know it! We will be sure to keep you posted as this potential deal progresses!
Hot Toys New Femme Fatales
This year has been a big year for strong female characters in live action comic book adaptations, and what better way to celebrate that than a few new beautifully rendered 1:6th scale figures of some of the best of them? The team at Hot Toys is proud to bring two God’s from different universes to the forefront of your collections with all new 1:6th scale Wonder Woman and Hela figures! Wonder Woman (who also has a special ‘Deluxe’ Edition) is based on her appearance in the upcoming ‘Justice League’ live action film, while Hela takes her design cues from her appearance in the recently released ‘Thor: Ragnorok’! Each of these is based on and bears a striking resemblance to their respective actresses, with Wonder Woman looking like a perfect miniature Gal Gadot and Hela looking as though someone shrunk down the incomparable Cate Blanchett. Check out the full releases from Hot Toys below!
“The others… where are they?” Prior to the long awaited DC Comics’s blockbuster Justice League hitting the theatre, Hot Toys has already introduced some of the major league members. On top of Batman, Aquaman and The Flash, here comes the fan-beloved female superhero – Wonder Woman! Together with Bruce Wayne the Batman, Wonder Woman recruited other superheroes to form the unprecedented Justice League to save the planet from the catastrophic destruction. Hot Toys is extremely thrilled to introduce the 1/6th scale Wonder Woman from the epic screenplay Justice League.
Meticulously crafted based on the appearance of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in the movie, the figure features a newly painted head sculpt with long curly dark brown real fabric hair and Wonder Woman’s signature tiara, a specialized body tailored for Wonder Woman, expertly tailored armor with heavier battle damage and weathering effect. Aside from the amazing costume, the figure also comes with assortments of weapons and accessories such as a the sword, a shield with weathering effect, two pairs of Wonder Woman’s signature “Bracelets of Submissions”, her “Lasso of Truth”, bullet sparkling effects, and a specially designed Justice League themed figure stand. The warrior princess is a beautiful piece you shouldn’t miss. Pre-order now and place it along with other Justice League figures.
“Don’t engage alone, we do this together.” In just a few days, the epic blockbuster Justice League by DC Comics will be arriving at worldwide theatres! Alongside with Batman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg, the warrior princess is one of the key members to unite the league and defend the world against their new evil villain! With high anticipation, Hot Toys is elated to introduce the eagerly awaited 1/6th scale Wonder Womancollectible figure from Justice League!
Delicately crafted based on the appearance of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in the movie, the figure features a newly painted head sculpt with long curly dark brown real fabric hair and Wonder Woman’s signature tiara, a specialized body tailored for Wonder Woman, expertly tailored armor with battle damage and weathering effect. Aside from the amazingly detailed costume, the figure also comes with assorted weapons and accessories such as a sword, a shield with weathering effect, two pairs of Wonder Woman’s signature “Bracelets of Submissions”, her “Lasso of Truth”, bullet sparkling effects, and a specially designed Justice League themed figure stand. This Deluxe Version will specially include an additional black colored hooded robe, a leather-like dark brown colored cross-body belt and an Amazonian Mother Box offering greater display flexibility for the fan-favorite “Warrior Princess”! Display the Wonder Woman figure alongside with other Justice League members or even as a “wonderful” standalone piece! This will sure to be something that you do not want to miss!
“I’m not a queen, and I’m not a monster… I’m the Goddess of Death!” With blistering success of the epic screenplay by Marvel Studios, Thor: Ragnarok is well-received worldwide and the characters have all gained tremendous popularity including the newly introduced female villain Hela, the Goddess of Death. With deadly powers unlike anything else in the Nine Realms, Hela is seeking vengeance against those who imprisoned her eons ago. In response to the immense fame of the newly introduced character, Hot Toys is pleased to officially introduce the highly-anticipated 1/6th scale Hela collectible figure from Thor: Ragnarok!
Sophisticatedly crafted with striking likeness of Hela’s appearance portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the movie, the figure features a newly developed head sculpt with black-colored horns, a specially tailored Hela outfit with magnetically attachable green colored cape, two swords, a damaged Mjolnir attached to the hand, and figure stand. Furthermore, Hot Toys will be including bonus accessories for this collectible figure that will certainly be a delight for fans after seeing the film. Stay tuned with us to find out what they are very soon! Marvel fanatics, be sure to pick-up the fantastic 1/6th scale Hela collectible figure now to add to your expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe collection!
“I’m Venkman! No One Wants To Be Winston!”
Netflix’s original series ‘Stranger Things’ second season just hit a few weeks back and once again it’s taking the world by storm! Our friends at McFarlane Toys have definitely taken notice and are excited to bring us our first series of highly detailed 7″ scale figures based on the hit series in just a few months! Last week we got our first look at Dustin, but this week they’ve released our first ever look at the upcoming Lucas figure! Check out the release from McFarlane below!
An integral piece to the strange things that occur in Hawkins, Indiana Lucas is there for his friends. Never afraid to voice his opinion Lucas is strong and always there for friends, no matter what the risk.
- Spectacular likeness of Lucas sculpted from images of actor Caleb McLaughlin
- Figure includes wrist rocket, flashlight and interchangeable hands
- Figure is featured in outfit worn by Lucas in Stranger Things featuring iconic commando headband and corduroy jacket
- Designed with 12+ points of articulation for dynamic posing
- Figure features a stylized Stranger Things branded disc display base and is showcased in retro themed packaging
While some may argue that the ‘spectacular likeness’ of Lucas may look a bit off (and some would say the same for Dustin), it helps to keep in mind that these are early looks at these figures and they’ll likely go through a few more changes before hitting the market in February 2018!
“Good. Bad. I’m The Guy With The Gun”
There have been a number of cool toys and prop replica’s made over the years, but this next one stands out as being one of the weirder pieces made for consumption by the masses. Our friends at NECA have released new images of their all new ‘Ashy Slashy’ Puppet Prop Replica from ‘Ash Vs. The Evil Dead’! That’s right, soon you’ll be able to bring your very own Ashy Slashy Puppet home with you in this replica that has been painstakingly produced to be as accurate as possible to the puppet used on the hit show! Check out the full release from NECA below!
Every day can be demented play day with your very own Ashy Slashy puppet from Season 2 of Ash vs. Evil Dead!
We’ve replicated Ash’s potty-mouthed little doppelganger from the asylum episodes for your (hopefully G-rated) entertainment. This is a working puppet – insert your hand and you can move the mouth, plus the arms are poseable thanks to inner articulation.
Ashy Slashy is approximately 15” tall.
“It’s Morphin Time!”
The 2017 film series reboot of the ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ may have come and gone already, but as we’re coming up on the series 25th anniversary it’s no surprise to see the team at Bandai delving back into the series past for some amazing new collectibles that are coming our way! We’ve got a solid mix of old and new collectibles for Power Rangers fans this week that you surely won’t want to miss!
Bandai has announced that it is bringing fans new fully articulated versions of the Dinozords to the ‘Power Rangers Legacy’ line! While these Zords don’t look like they’ll be able to transform and combine into The Megazord, they’re articulated in order to make them in to phenomenal display pieces on their own! So far only the Red Tyrannosaurus Zord ($39.99) and Yellow Sabertooth Tiger Zord ($32.99) have been announced, so hopefully the rest will be coming soon!
And the real treat this week for old school ‘Power Rangers’ fans is that Bandai has officially announced the return of the original ‘Might Morphin Power Rangers’ Flip-Head action figures with ‘Morphin’ action! These figures appear to be based on the same molds as the original 1993 figures and include all the same original accessories to help you on your trip down memory lane! So far only the Red, Pink, and Green Rangers have been announced (and only sold as a set for a whopping $79.99), so if we are lucky we will see a second set with Blue, Yellow, and Black arriving soon! Maybe even the White Ranger or Goldar will make an appearance before this resurgence of this classic line is through?
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!
GET OVER HERE!
This week Funko has a few awesome surprises in store for collectors, and this first one is certainly one we didn’t see coming! In a move that we don’t think anyone could have predicted, Funko has announced an all new 5.5 inch scale line of retro style ‘Mortal Kombat’ figures! These figures are fully articulated and designed to look like the classic 80’s ‘Masters of the Universe’ toyline (much like Funko’s failed ‘Son of Zorn’ toyline).
The first wave of figures in this line is comprised entirely of classic fan favorite ‘Mortal Kombat’ characters like Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, and Kitana. These figures all come with their own character specific accessories and are due to start hitting the market in January 2018!
‘WITNESS ME!’
In another shocking move, Funko has also announced the return of their 6″ scale ‘Funko Legacy’ toyline with an all new series based on ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’! Funko CEO Brian Mariotti recently announced in an interview with AJF that the ‘Legacy’ line was “far from dead”! It was around a year ago that the most recent ‘Legacy’ figures were released (which were based on the ‘League of Legends’ video game, and came and went without much fanfare), so it’s exciting to hear that Funko is planning to breathe fresh life into this line! It’s especially exciting that it’s for a line of ‘Mad Max’ figures, as many fans and collectors have been hoping someone would get around to making these!
A number of companies have tried to get the rights to make ‘Mad Max’ figures since the film series relaunched a few years back with ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, but they all failed to secure the toy rights as series creator and director George Miller has remained ever protective of his franchise. That all changed recently when Funko announced the launch of their series of POP! Vinyls and Mystery Minis based on the film to much fan fair! Maybe Miller see’s just how much love Funko has for the property and is letting them stretch their legs with it for a bit?
I, for one, just hope that this isn’t the last we hear of the Funko Legacy line of fully articulated 6″ figures! ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ is an excellent place to relaunch from, and here’s hoping we see many more down the long road ahead!
More Heroes and Villains
The team at Funko has a few awesome treats for DC Comics fans this week, with new figures based on some of your DC favorites in several of their lines!
Fans of the ‘Rock Candy’ line will be excited to see the DC Bombshells line is making it’s way in with Wonder Woman and Batgirl joining the line this winter! There will also be special colorways for each available as retailer exclusives like Black and White Wonder Woman at Target and Sepia Tone Batgirl at Hot Topic!
Vynl, one of Funko’s newest lines, is also seeing a new addition with a two pack of Harley Quinn and The Joker also coming this winter!
Finally, Funko’s recently launched 8-Bit POP! Line is adding fan favorite heroin Batgirl to their lineup, plus a special Barnes and Noble exclusive ‘Batman 66’ Purple version 8-Bit POP! of Batgirl! These new 8-Bit POP! Vinyls are expected to hit stores in January.
Long Live The King
Marvel is already dominating the box office right now with ‘Thor: Ragnorok’, but next February Marvel is coming back for more with ‘Black Panther’ coming to theaters to claim his place on the box office throne. The team at Funko seems to be just as excited as the rest of us, as they’re revealed a number of awesome new ‘Black Panther’ products that are coming our way just in time for the movies release next spring! We’re getting POP! Vinyls, Dorbz, Pint Size Heroes, Plushies, and more! Check out the full lineup below!
Pint Size Heroes
Dorbz
POP! Keychains
Plushies
POP! Vinyls
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!
