John Ary here with a quick look at a few action figure lines that are making headlines this week...
The Amazing Spider-Man from Diamond Select Toys
Everyone’s favorite movie wall crawler (sans those weirdos who love Ray Park as Toad from X-Men) gets another chance to wow audiences this summer at a theater near you. If you can’t wait until July 3 for some Spider-Man movie action, perhaps these two new 7-inch scale Marvel Select action figures will tie you over? Spider-Man features 16 points of articulation, two alternate hands and a New York City display base that can stand on your shelf or hang on your wall. Dr. Curt Connors (aka The Lizard) also sports 16 points of articulation and oversized collector packaging. Look for these in June for around $20 each or you can pre-order Spider-Man and Lizard online.
Rocky IV from NECA
Everyone has their favorite Rocky movie. Drago is an easy bad guy to hate, but could he defeat an angry Clubber Lang? Now that’s a fight I would like to see. NECA will produce an articulated regular and bloody version of both Rocky and Ivan Drago. We’re still waiting for more pricing and release details, but as soon as we hear something, we’ll let you know over at ArticulationTimes.com.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation Toy Update from Hasbro
Like a lot of Joe fans, I was disappointed to hear that Paramount moved this summer's G.I. Joe sequel back nine months for a March release. Immediately questions arose about the movie toy line. There have been rumors of recalls and cancellations. In order to set the record straight I contacted Hasbro's public relations firm for an answer.
| "G.I. Joe is an ongoing consumer franchise and therefore there is merchandise available to consumers. There is a limited amount of G.I. Joe Retaliation product at retail now, but in light of the movie moving out to March 29, 2013, the majority of the movie line will be made available early next year in time for the film’s release." |
Thanks to Justin Aclin of Hunter Public Relations for the quote. Sound like if you want that new Snake Eyes action figure, you better get it now, because it won't be getting restocked at your local retail outlet until the Spring.
Lord of the Rings from Lego
Back in December we showed you some early box art for the new LOTR building block sets. Now we have new pics and pricing info to share. The Battle of Helm’s Deep ($129.99), The Mines of Moria ($79.99), Uruk-hai Army ($29.99), Shelob Attacks ($19.99), and Gandalf Arrives ($12.99) are all available online or you can now pick these up at your local retailer.
You Pick the Next Wave Marvel Minimates from Diamond Select Toys
To celebrate it's upcoming 50th wave of Marvel Minimates, Diamond Select Toys is asking fans to come up with the next lineup. Here's how it will work according to the company's blog:
| "Over the next four weeks, Marvel.com will present a series of four polls, each representing one group of characters. Poll #1 will be the Main Assault Team, showcasing the Marvel Universe’s star players sporting distinctly different looks. Poll #2 will be the Support Team, giving some love to the unsung heroes who have backed up the all-stars over the years. Poll #3 will be the Primary Targets, villain characters who we’ve never gotten as Minimates or who desperately need a re-do. And Poll #4 will be the Cannon Fodder, army-builder characters who you may want to buy more than one of. The top 1 or 2 vote-getters in each category will be produced for Series 50, and once the line-up is assembled, Diamond Select will create a rare variant figure of one of those characters to round out the assortment." |
I've just cast my vote for Werewolf Captain America. Now if we could just get a good Howard the Duck, Spider-Ham and Thor as a frog, my Minimate dreamteam would be complete.
And finally this week, with news of the G.I. Joe sequel getting pushed back to March for a much needed "upgrade" to 3D, I'm hoping this video of an old school Joe trio getting caught in the middle of a G1 Transformers battle may alleviate some of your Retaliation withdrawal.
That's it this week. For more action figure news, you can follow my toy blog on Twitter and Facebook.
