The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[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=vie...ic=IMG_1741.jpg&dispsize=600&start=0&sl=19962


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

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2013/02/141a3345.jpg

 

[Shazam!]

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]

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.

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.

 

[cooleddie74]

Those manila mailing pouches are the bane of every carded collector. I've had a few shipped like that before I learned to demand boxes and they usually arrived with mashed bubbles. The figures themselves were never broken, but they're far less attractive in a display when it looks like a brontosaurus tread on the thing.

Older SW figures (pre-Vintage Collection) with larger, thicker bubbles can survive being sent in a mailing pouch, but even those can arrive with dents and creases. But Vintage? I love that line more than any other in the modern collecting era, but its bubbles are way too fragile. They'll dent if you so much as breathe on them the wrong way.

 

[cooleddie74]

Here's my Vintage Collection Jocasta Nu in her exclusive Brian's Toys packaging complete with the Count Dooku bust and plinth that hide a Jedi Holocron.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

That's some nice looking packaging that I would happily tear to shreds.

I hit some more DC Unlimited paydirt today, and found the New52 versions of Superman and the Flash:

 

[cooleddie74]

If I could afford the price of ordering a second Jocasta I'd happy tear open this package and free both her and the Dooku bust from their factory confines. Sadly, Brian's Toys asks way too much for each one of her to justify multiple purchases, at least until remaining stock gets marked down at some future date.

She was $25 before shipping and handling charges. She's literally the most expensive carded action figure in the history of the Kenner/Hasbro license once you factor in all the charges. She's a gorgeous figure with a tremendous accessory, but until she gets cheaper this is the only one I'm getting.

So no opening!


Very nice Superman and Flash. I've never seen those particular figures before. I'm not up to speed (yes, that's a Flash pun) on the New52 line.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

DC Unlimited is essentially the retail replacement line for DC Universe Classics. This one will be focusing more on the iconic characters, and mostly in their current New 52 looks. The first wave has Superman, the Flash, and Hawkman. Then the second will have Wonder Woman and a Batman based on the upcoming Injustice video game. Aquaman and Darkseid have been shown for the third wave, along with Injustice versions of Superman and the Joker. There's also a companion line called Batman Unlimited, which will be all about Batman. The Penguin that I posted earlier is from that line. However, since this line is focused on one hero, we're free to get many different an interesting versions. The first wave did have his New 52 look, but the second will include a Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns version, and the Zur-En-Arr version from Batman R.I.P. Then wave three will have the Vampire Batman from Red Rain, and the Damian Wayne version of Robin.

Club Infinite Earths on Matty Collector is for the less iconic characters. It's sort of a best of both worlds solution. Collectors still get the obscure characters from DC that they want, while Matty still gets to cater to parents with a retail line of more iconic characters. The retail line is still 100% collector friendly, though, with the same level of quality that DC Universe Classics had. Kids today, geez. I wish I had superhero figures this good when I was a kid!

 

[Roshi]

I forgot to post those:

 

[B.J.]

That's some nice looking packaging that I would happily tear to shreds.

I hit some more DC Unlimited paydirt today, and found the New52 versions of Superman and the Flash:

The lighting reflections and all make Superman's "belt buckle" look like a heart in this picture!

 

[cooleddie74]

Is that a Funko Green Lantern behind the new Superman figure?

 

[Admiral_Young]

OdoWan are those from the Justice League line? That I've been talking about in the thread? I think they are, because the DC Unlimited versions are slightly different. The New 52 Superman looks like the one I finally got a couple weeks ago.

 

[cooleddie74]

Looks like Superman got mad and smashed some potato chips.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

The lighting reflections and all make Superman's "belt buckle" look like a heart in this picture!

Heh, these are some seriously shiny figures. The picture I posted was about the only one I was able to take where the Flash didn't look like a glowing red blur.

Is that a Funko Green Lantern behind the new Superman figure?

It is indeed. I was given it as a gift for Christmas, last year.

OdoWan are those from the Justice League line? That I've been talking about in the thread? I think they are, because the DC Unlimited versions are slightly different. The New 52 Superman looks like the one I finally got a couple weeks ago.

No, the Justice League line is done by DC Collectibles. These are the DC Unlimited figures by Mattel. They have much better articulation than DCC's stuff. I would guess that the figures look similar due to them both being based on the same art style, namely Jim Lee's on Justice League.

Looks like Superman got mad and smashed some potato chips.

I am not that much of a slob. My desk is old and crappy, and that's just where some of the finish is coming off, exposing the wood underneath.