BY
Dave
Once
again social media has improved my ability to bring you pictures of
the new stuff shown at Toy Fair. Most toy companies maintain some
sort of presence on Instagram or their own blogs online and seem to
recognize the importance of showing their new products directly to
potential consumers. I don’t know if this means the collectors’
market is more important than ever or if it’s simply evolving
business, but whatever the reason I’m glad it’s happened.
As
always I highly recommend you follow Action Figure Attack on Facebook
and Instagram
for some excellent press photos. Toy
Ark
once again provided thorough coverage and is the site we used for
reference to record this Friday’s Toy Fair episode of the Needless
Things Podcast. For the full list of links to Toy Ark product pages,
click
here!
Reveals
didn’t seem to start as early this year, but once they started they
stayed strong all weekend long. Rather than one standout, I had
several contenders for most impressive company this year. There’s
very little in the way of innovation, but mixing classic licenses
with vintage styles seemed to be quite the fad.
Read
on to see some of my favorites from the show and of course, listen to
this Friday’s episode of the Needless
Things Podcast
to hear me, Ryan, Jay, and Josh discuss all of the hottest reveals!
This
year, rather than doing a huge mega-post I’m going to dole out
bite-size posts focusing on small groups or individual companies. You
guys all know by now that Mezco's One:12 Collective is my favorite
current toy line, so let's just dive in!
I’d
be lying if I said I was excited for Mezco’s announcements this
year. It’s not that their stuff wasn’t impressive, it’s just
that we pretty much know now that it’s going to be at least a
couple of years before the new One:12 figures shown actually hit
retail.
I
still fully support Mezco taking as long as they need to get these
figures right, but that delay definitely sucks some of the buzz out
of any product announcements.
One:12
Blade
I
thought that this was a Wesley Snipes movie Blade at first, but
apparently it isn’t. Either way it looks great and will be a
welcome addition to my One:12 shelves. Now all we need is a Marvel
Dracula, complete with mustache…
One:12
Cable
This
guy is one of Marvel’s best badasses in my mind. At a time when
Wolverine was starting to feel a little stale, Nathan Summers came
along and redefined “mysterious loner”. I imagine there will be
some extra heads with this version or one of the inevitable others,
but I’m glad to see a fully human face. There’s been too much of
the Terminator-face Cable lately.
One:12
Ghostbusters
Diamond
Select’s Ghostbusters seemed like they were going to give me what I
wanted, what with great likenesses and (seemingly) amazing
build-a-dioramas along the lines of something
I had suggested Mattel do years ago.
In the end, though, once I had them I just wasn’t happy. There were
small design problems and the rooftop diorama wasn’t actually
sturdy enough for the figures to stand on. Not that they could stand
anyway.
I
don’t want to bag on DST’s releases because they really did do a
mostly good job, but I need great
Ghostbusters. Mezco’s will probably be great, but I just don’t
know that I want to pay what it will cost to get them. Plus, I doubt
we’ll see anything beyond the four guys.
Also,
they still don’t have the tubes on their coveralls.
One:12
Jason Voorhees
Looks
good but needs work. The shirt has that “doll clothes” look. I’m
not sold on any of the One:12 horror releases as being essential yet
– I’m perfectly happy with NECA’s products.
One:12
Green Lantern
Finally!
Someone that recognizes the value and cultural relevance of John
Stewart! To many, he is
Green Lantern, thanks to the Justice
League
cartoons.
There’s
been some controversy in the Phantom Zone over the look Mezco chose
for his suit, but I like it. I realize to some it may evoke
unpleasant memories of the Green
Lantern
movie, but I think it’s a cool look. Plus, we all know there will
be some sort of variants; most likely a classic look from Previews
and some sort of ultimate set loaded with constructs from Mezco.
That’s my guess, anyway.
One:12
Justice League Movie Flash
As
far as toys go, this costume design has definitely grown on me. I
still think it’s a hideous look in both theory and execution as far
as actual Flash costumes, but it’s made for some really
cool-looking toys. I don’t imagine I’ll buy any of these beyond
Batman and Wonder Woman because I’m perfectly happy with Mattel’s
versions(!), but Mezco did a great job here.
One:12
Sovereign Knight Batman
The
above picture was the first one I saw and it made me positive I would
buy this Batman, which is the second in a trilogy of figures that
started with the Ascending Knight Batman (which I didn’t care for).
This
one looks like a blend of elements from the New 52 and the Arkham
games,
which is fine by me. Then I saw this picture:
I
don’t know if it’s the lighting or what, but that suit looks
terrible. It's obviously the same suit, but in this image the mesh texture is way over the top and the colors have far too much
contrast. This one needs more work, for sure. For now my “default”
One:12 style Batman will be the Justice League movie version.
One:12
Movie Hela
I
have my issues with Thor:
Ragnarok
– possibly to be discussed on an upcoming Needless Things Podcast –
but I absolutely adored Cate Blanchett as Hela. I’ve been waiting
for Hot Toys to announce an alternate, “uncrowned” head for their
release and it hasn’t happened yet. If it does, I’ll get that
one. As of now the product listing only promises “additional bonus
accessories”, whatever that means.
If,
however, Mezco gives us the alternate head and manages to beat Hot
Toys’ release date (currently scheduled for 4th
quarter 2018), I’ll go with theirs.
One:12
John Wick
I
watched John
Wick 2
a couple of weeks ago and was left wondering why we don’t have any
John Wick action figures. Little did I know one was in the works from
the company making the best action figures available today.
We
already know Mezco can do suits in this scale thanks to their Joker,
so I can’t wait to see what kind of ultimate arsenal variant
they’re going to put out to accompany this awesome figure.
King
Kong of Skull Island
I
never saw confirmation on which version of Kong this is supposed to
be and I’m not the guy that can just recognize it and tell you.
Whichever ape it is, it looks great. I love the fury on his face and
the slight exaggeration of the sculpt. Mezco is releasing 7” and
18” versions and depending on the price I’m sure I’ll be
tempted by the 18” version.
That's
all I've got for now! I'm sure there's plenty of news that I didn't
come across over the weekend or neglected to cover, so be sure to
check out last week's Needless Things Podcast for even more Toy Fair
goodness!
You
can follow Phantom Troublemaker on Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram for
all the latest on pop culture!
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