The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[cooleddie74]

Looks like those reduced-scale ships (Jango Slave 1, etc.) are going to be continued for the remainder of the year, only switched from the green Yoda packaging to the newer "Vader Reaching Out" design template towards the end of summer.

I guess it doesn't really matter with the four new Vintage Collection vehicles hitting along with the delayed Endor AT-AT Walker finally coming to Toys "R" Us later this spring. The kids and less discriminating can have those smaller vehicles.

[AstroSmurf]

I really want that AT-AT Walker! The more I look at it the more I want Slave 1.

[cooleddie74]

Canadian Toys "R" Us stores (some of them, anyways) have already gotten the new Endor AT-AT in multilingual packaging. The Walker got delayed for the U.S. market because of the Big Millennium Falcon hitting our stores and the last-minute changes to the 2013 toy lineup.

[OdoWanKenobi]

Whoo! On the Mattel front, we get some awesome DC news.

The Batman, Penguin, and Riddler that we saw before were shown, along with a Surfing Contest Batman Also, a Batman and Robin two-pack with a wall to climb! Apparently, this two-pack will be the only way to get Robin. That's just a stupid move. Joker and Catwoman are confirmed as in the works, but not on display.

Fire was revealed for Club Infinite Earths. Now, bring on Ice. You can't have one without the other.

Batman Unlimited series 3 will include:
Red Rain Vampire Batman
Batman Beyond (with wings this time!)
Damian Wayne Robin

I've been wanting a Damian forever! It's also great to get a more accurate Batman Beyond figure. The Vampire Batman will be another cool variant to add to my Batshelf.

[AstroSmurf]

I just saw some images over at Action Figure Insider of the prototype for the new Masters of the Universe Castle Greyskull. I was a little to old when Heman first came out so the line was never been high on my list but I am tempted to start collecting just to get my hands on that castle. Mattel has flat-out knocked that one out of park.

And NECA has some really nice figures for Aliens coming out. I would love to have a couple of those too.

[cooleddie74]

Wait, now it turns out (according to the site Galactichunter) that the final wave of The Clone Wars won't be released in the United States, only in Europe and Asia.

If this is true, there go any hopes of army building that very last animated Battle Droid and the cool-looking 501st Clone with the red highlights and jetpack. There were also a new R2-D2, Anakin and Obi-Wan in this wave along with a few straight repacks that didn't matter so much.

I know we've gotten some great news from Hasbro since the Fair began, but it's decisions like this that have me rolling my eyes and facepalming like a mutha. The Clone Wars line deserves to go out with the American market having a fair shot at it, but it's apparent that the company has just all but completely stopped giving a crap about these figures in the last year. A shame. It used to be a stupendous line with awesome characters....and lots of them.

[Admiral_Young]

Finally a new Damian Wayne since the Batman Incorporated one is so rare now. That's awesome news. Neca also revealed their "Kick-Ass 2" line with figures from The MotherFucker, Kick-Ass, and Hit-Girl. Mattel revealed the "secret" ship from their 2013 Hot Wheel Star Trek Line...it is the USS Kelvin!!

http://toynewsi.com/ig.php?mode=view...art=0&sl=19962


Also Faceless Joker is being added to the New 52 line!

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsall...2/141a3345.jpg

[Shazam!]

cooleddie74 wrote:

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Wait, now it turns out (according to the site Galactichunter) that the final wave of The Clone Wars won't be released in the United States, only in Europe and Asia.

I'd happily trade that wave if it meant we got the Vintage AT-ST, Speeder Bike, Ewok and Rebel packs, Vintage 2-packs etc at retail as opposed to specialist shops.

[cooleddie74]

Shazam! wrote:

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I'd happily trade that wave if it meant we got the Vintage AT-ST, Speeder Bike, Ewok and Rebel packs, Vintage 2-packs etc at retail as opposed to specialist shops.

Me too, although I'd been wanting that blue and red 501st Clone for army building purposes. The final Battle Droid, too.

Today's the street date for some Star Wars items if anybody's interested. Most likely it'll just be the reduced-scale ships and vehicles in the green boxes, but you never know.

[OdoWanKenobi]

Today is street date for the Iron Man 3 stuff as well, that every store in my area already put up days ago.

[cooleddie74]

Yeah, quite a bit of green packaged Star Wars product leaked out early at my stores as well. I've seen the reduced-scale ships along with the two new 12" figures (Anakin, Clone Trooper).

On the bright side, those "Greatest Hits" case assortments of more popular and harder-to-find Vintage figures from last year are supposed to start shipping and arriving any time now. If you missed Shae Vizla, Starkiller or the ARC Trooper Commander(Fordo) the first time around they're returning by March. Toy Fair reps said the "Greatest Hits" figures will probably ship off and on until the Labor Day resets.

[cooleddie74]

Oh, I just found out that the brand new Vintage Collection Slave 1 and TIE Interceptor will be Amazon.com exclusives and not available at mass retail. Two other Vintage ships (Republic Gunship, Biggs' X-Wing Fighter) will be available at all major brick-and-mortar retailers and the fifth (Endor AT-AT) will remain a Toys "R" Us exclusive.

If true, I imagine a lot of mint-in-box collectors are going to be seriously miffed when it comes to the Slave 1 and TIE Interceptor. Amazon is notoriously bad at shipping action figure and other toy packaging and having it arrive in great condition. I wouldn't blame some folks for waiting to get them from eBay or another online dealer that gets their hands on some, because Amazon will ship a mashed and flattened box or cardback and not bat an eye about it.

[Shazam!]

As an opener, I'm not really that fussed it items arrive with minor wear and tear. As long as it's not totally dog-eared I'm usually quite forgiving.

The big question is if Amazon UK will pick these up. They got the Naboo Starfighter so I'm quite hopeful.

[cooleddie74]

There'll likely be a whole lot of e-mails and other messages sent to Amazon requesting that they be more careful and gentle when it comes to shipping these new vehicles. I'm guessing that since they're much larger and a box with inner layers is more sturdy than a carded action figure that many more of them will survive the shipping process in good condition, but so many carded and packaged collectors have gotten mashed and creased items from Amazon that nobody will take anything for granted.

[AstroSmurf]

I have never had any problem with packaging from Amazon as long as it was sold by Amazon themselves. I have always gotten my toys in an actual box from them. The last Star Wars figure I ordered came in a box and was very near perfect. Now their vendors, I have had tons of trouble from them. Several months ago I sent an item back to a seller because they had put a carded figure in a regular envelope and chucked it into the post. When I received it the packaging had been flattened and the figure was broken into several pieces. I bought a CD from someone last summer and it was placed in a plain brown envelope with no padding. When it arrived the case was dust and the CD ruined. Now I rarely buy anything fragile unless it is actually coming from Amazon themselves. If you are careful you should not have any trouble.

But to be honest, I am an opener. Toys can not be left in the packaging. I have to play with it a little and everything is displayed. I don't care if the packaging comes a little beat up as long as the item itself is in perfect condition. I am a hardcore collector's nightmare.