It’s a relatively light toy week at the Planet, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about some of the forthcoming product that we’ve already seen before Toy Fair reveals the rest of the new goodies we’ll all be drooling for this year. Mezco, DC Collectibles and NECA are the companies I am highlighting in this column, especially since Mezco and NECA have recently unveiled some cool new figures.
Mezco is expanding their One:12 line of poseable cloth-costumed action figures with new figures and licenses. The first two licenses they started with were DC Comics’ The Dark Knight Returns and Judge Dredd. We still have the Judge Dredd in stock in both the regular and Previews Exclusive versions. Mezco had an event a few days ago and announced that they have acquired the license for Marvel Comics characters and will kick off the Marvel segment of their One: 12 line with figures of Captain America, Punisher, and Daredevil in different outfits. Mezco will also see an expansion of their DC line with figures from the movies and the comics including Batman V Superman versions of the two titular characters and comic-based versions of Reverse Flash, Green Arrow and Shazam! joining the previously revealed comic-style Flash and Superman figures. Classic Star Trek celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year and One:12 is also crafting figures based on the original TV show with Spock, Sulu and Kirk all announced and shown in prototype form. Space Ghost and Frankenstein round out the news coming out of Mezco for this particular series.
DC Collectibles continues to bring their staple of characters to life in as many incarnations as possible whether it is the comics, live-action and animated TV, videogames and to an extent- the movies. You’ve seen the DC Icons line of figures in the store already and there are at least two additional series revealed beyond what has been released including first time 6″ figures of Atomica and Static Shock. Toy Fair should hopefully provide some answers to what other characters are on their way for the rest of the year and beyond. The Batman: The Animated Series line has also been a massive hit for DC Collectibles and one of the recently announced pieces unites the original Fox Animated Series Batman and Robin with their sweet ride- the Batmobile. This Deluxe box set will feature the two heroes with cloth capes so they can fit in the Batmobile a little more easily. Future figures include Etrigan, Zatanna, Commissioner Gordon and more. I am personally hoping for the original TAS version of Batgirl in the grey outfit and blue gloves to be revealed at Toy Fair. For the live action TV series, DCC has released characters from the CW shows Arrow and the Flash. Forthcoming figures from that line include my most anticipated figure of the year so far- Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance/Black Canary,
plus, The Reverse Flash and Malcolm Merlyn, which are all scheduled for release at the end of March. I would love to see Thea as Speedy, Nyssa, Cisco, Katana and the Atom to continue this collection, plus CBS’ Supergirl would be a smart figure to make as well. As far as the videogame based figures go, an Arkham Knight Batgirl/Oracle two-pack has been teased but no prototypes have been unveiled as of yet- hopefully we will see that at Toy Fair too. DCC’s output for the movies will include statues from Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad line has some surprising entries including Katana and Boomerang in addition to proven sellers Harley Quinn and the Joker.
NECA has been doing a number of new things with their retro cloth 8″ action figure line. They’ve done characters from the usual horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street(although- where’s my Nancy Thompson, NECA?), Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Scream, but they’ve also tackled Home Alone, The H8Ful Eight, and Planet of the Apes. Just before I finished this week’s column, NECA announced that they are kicking off a new 8″ line based on legendary parody artist and recent number one album artist: “Weird” Al Yankovic. The line will feature the usual cloth costumes over an articulated body and is expected to delve into Al’s different iconic song parodies- I personally want to see an Al from “Fat.” The first Al figure that NECA revealed features him wearing one of his iconic outfits plus an interchangeable head so you can switch between classic Al and modern Al. Other recent reveals from NECA(through card art) include Chop Top from TCM and tuxedo Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. As I was going to press, the store received some new NECA product including an upgraded reissue of the 1/4 scale Jungle Hunter Predator, an ultimate 7″ Pacific Rim Jaeger Striker Eureka and a Head Knocker of this week’s latest Marvel movie star: Deadpool.
As far as the few items coming in this week, there are a couple of Diamond Select items including the second Femme Fatales Star Trek piece featuring Counselor Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation. This new Troi is neat as it features her in an outfit that has never been made into any kind of figure before which is her “skort” outfit from the pilot episode “Encounter at Farpoint.” The other neat piece is a Batmobile piggy bank based on the vehicle as seen in the classic Batman: The Animated Series cartoon. DC Collectibles also has a brand new Wonder Woman bust coming out based on the New 52 look.
Next week: Toy Fair 2016!