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! It’s been three weeks and the ‘Infinity War’ hype seems to finally be dying down a bit… just in time for the ‘Deadpool 2’ hype to kick into high gear! This week we have some actual industry news regarding the return of an old friend, new figures of some of your favorites, and a whole lot more! There’s a little bit of everything in the Toy News for the week of May 15th, 2018!
Don’t Call It A Comeback
Rumors have been running wild for weeks about the shocking return of toy retailer KB Toys ever since the announcement of major toy retailer Toys R Us’s imminent demise. K.B. Toys originally closed their doors nearly a decade ago in 2009 after nearly nine decades of business in the toy industry. Now it looks like they’re going to be making a return in a big way to help parents out this holiday season by storming back into the mass market and providing a toy store people can depend on when they need it most. The team at TFW2005 recently posted a rundown of the details recently shared by KB Toys CEO Ellia Kassoff during a presentation at PlayCon 2018, including info about just what and when we can expect to see from KB Toys in the near future!
The short version is that they plan on kicking things off with a wave of pop-up stores in malls just in time for the holiday season, with hopes that these will extend into new permanent mall fixtures much like the previous iteration of KB Toys stores. We can expect somewhere around 300-400 stores to start things off and test the market, with plans to expand to around 600-800 stores by the same time next year.
It’s worth noting that Kassoff plans on keeping banks, private equity and outside of industry investors from being involved in this new version of KB, with the only investors being toy industry people and mass retail industry organizations like the Simon Mall group.
Another awesome information nugget is that these new stores will also have a focus on the adult collector community, with each store hiring a dedicated “Toy Nerd” to help buyers with inside info on all the latest collectibles and incoming items! They also plan to hold events and special meet and greet autograph sessions with toy designers!
All in all, it sounds like the potential return of KB Toys is going to be a godsend for parents and collectors alike! Now let’s just keep our fingers crossed that things work out the way we’re hoping and we get one of the greatest toy retailers of all time back for good!
Plush Finds A Way
If you just saw the glass of water in front of you start to ripple, you may be in for a big surprise! This year marks the 25th anniversary of the beloved ‘Jurassic Park’ film franchise, and our friends at Factory Entertainment have got an adorable new way to help you celebrate this celebration that’s 65 million years in the making!
The newest dinosaur sized potential addition to your collection comes in the form of new ‘Jurassic Park’ “Clawzplay” plushies! They’re essentially a new line of plushies featuring some of your favorite dinosaurs from ‘Jurassic Park’ all dressed up and ‘cosplaying’ as some of your favorite characters from ‘Jurassic Park’! There are four plushies in the set, and they are currently only available for purchase as a complete set, so we hope you’d like them all! You can check out the full solicitation info from Factory Entertainment below!
Collectible And Cuddly Critters Who Love To Cosplay
Just like people, these dinosaurs love to show their Jurassic Park fandom and want to be involved in the exciting culture of cosplay. The world of Clawzplay™ normally features kittens and puppies dressed as their favorite pop-culture characters, but with Jurassic Park, we spared no expense and went pre-historic!
The first assortment consists of; Ellie (Triceratops), John (Brontosaurus), Alan (Raptor), and Ian (T-Rex)
“CHIMICHANGAS!”
Later this week fans across the nation will be on their way to fill up their local theaters and watch ‘Deadpool 2’! The team at Hot Toys is just as excited about the upcoming film, as evidenced by the recent announcement of the all new 1:6th scale Deadpool figure! Deadpool comes fully loaded with a con of alternate hands and eyepieces, plus guns, swords, a unicorn, an X-Men tee shirt, and so much more! The downside is that he still doesn’t include an unmasked head. Check out the full release from Hot Toys below!
Deadpool 2 – 1/6th scale Deadpool Collectible Figure
♪ I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin’ sky ♪ ♪ I’ll be where the eagle’s flying higher and higher ♪ Everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed Merc is back! Fans are extremely eager to see the highly-anticipated Deadpool sequel since the exciting trailers released worldwide! The red-suited mercenary otherwise known as Wade Wilson is battling time traveler Cable, to protect a fire-wielding mutant youth, while assembling some fellow mutants he calls X-Force, an offshoot of the X-Men.
To celebrate upcoming film Deadpool 2, Hot Toys is very thrilled to bring to you today the new 1/6th scale Deadpool collectible figure based on the forthcoming movie! The movie-accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the appearance of Deadpool from the film.
It features a masked head sculpt with 5 pairs of interchangeable eye pieces to create numerous combinations of Deadpool’s expressions, an iconic red and black Deadpool suit made with new materials and excellent tailoring, Deadpool’s signature weapons including a pair of metal swords, a dagger, and pistols, DP’s favorite mystical animal toy unicorn, a pair of interchangeable high heels, an X-Men Trainee jersey, a wearable neck device, variety of interchangeable hands available for different gestures, and a specially designed Deadpool 2 themed dynamic figure stand perfect for aerial poses! The latest Deadpool collectible figure will definitely be an incredibly fun addition to your Marvel’s unconventional superhero collection!