New York Toy Fair - Top Reveals

Yes, another New York Toy Fair has been and gone. Compared to the rather pitiful displays we get at London Toy Fair, NYTF is always a hive of wonderful new toys, licences and surprises. It's almost like a teaser for when the real good stuff takes place at SDCC in July. But for now, thanks to images provided by The Fwoosh, Toy News International, Toy Ark and Awesome Toy Blog, here are my stand out reveals from over the weekend.

Underground Toys - Doctor Who

Normally Underground Toys have nothing special on display when it comes to Doctor Who, the Classics are a closely guarded secret, the New Series items is just the merchandise we've seen at London Toy Fair. However, this year was different because a production/packaged version of the upcoming John Hurt Other (War) Doctor was on display. What can I say, it's marvellous! A spot-on likeness and some lovely paint apps. Although it's not a classic figure, it does, strangely, come with a spare 8th Doctor head that looks suspiciously based on McGann's Dark Eyes photoshoot, and this is of course another incarnation of the Doctor so who can say no to a 5" version on the shelf? Expect a review when he hits the UK. 

Now this is all very well and good, but the real excitement comes from MattG over at Awesome Toy Blog who was able to speak to Underground Toys about upcoming products. This is what he reported: 

• While there was nothing new shown, Classics will continue, albeit sporadically. They will be continuing in the 5″ scale.
• There will be a SDCC exclusive from Underground Toys – in the 5″ scale. Might even be a 2-pack if we’re lucky!

Yes, 5" classic Who is not dead yet! Thank goodness! I'm sure many will be pleased to hear this directly from the license holders, and I'm sure many will be pleased that the releases are "sporadic" as opposed to the huge bombardment of releases in one go. Fingers crossed that the SDCC will be something Classic and exciting! MattG also added on Whona that it won't be a 5" Capaldi. Pity.

To round off Underground Toys reveals, they also have plush 11th and 4th Doctor toys coming out... Expect the 4th Doctor to murder you in your sleep...

Hasbro 

Hasbro had plenty going on this year. A ton of Marvel movie products from Captain America: Winter Soldier, Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the smaller 3.75" comic inspired figures and the larger 6" Marvel Legends. Nothing here that really took my fancy, I've never been too impressed with Hasbro's Marvel figures. There was also a big boom in Transformers toys, especially with the 4th movie coming out. I'll be honest, I've not really looked at much here. The movie figures don't interest me, and some of them looked a bit cheap and tacky. However, the real star for Hasbro was Star Wars. Now their 3.75" line is basically churning out the same old crap. Wait until Episode VII hits, the stores will be flooded. There was also some interesting items coming out of the Star Wars: Rebels series, but for me the really cool stuff came in the 6" Black Series. 

I've not bought Star Wars figures since 2005, but that Speeder Bike looks amazing! Jabba the Hutt was also a cool surprise. Darth Vader's pretty good, but the use of cloth capes does nothing for me at all. Not a line I'll invest in (that's not to say I'm not tempted), but it's nice to see so many cool things coming out of this 6" scale. 

Playmates

Not much to say here as I have no interest in the current CG TV series of the Turtles, but the Classics line of 1990 movie inspired figures are cool. Again, not a line I buy, but 6" highly articulated Turtles and Bebop and Rocksteady are tempting. 

Mattel

Well Mattel stole the show without a shadow of a doubt. First of their DC line is coming to an end on Mattycollector, which is a pity. The line had gone through so many iterations, DC Superheroes/Universe Classics/Unlimited/Infinite Earths, that it's sad to see it lose the fight. Unfortunately I was priced out of this line years ago, but it still made me excited to see what was out there. Of the final figures, 90s Aquaman takes my fancy. I always loved the redesign, made him look more badass, and it makes for a truly cool looking figure. 

To round off the fact that this line was over, Mattel revealed that they would be releasing some key characters in vintage decos based on the 1980s Super Powers Collection in honour of it's 30th Anniversary. Sadly, I wasn't around when the vintage line was released, but I was captivated by pictures of the line and thanks to ebay I now own a few. The really lovely thing about this line is the packaging. They've recreated the old cards and are releasing the figures on them. Now I'm not a mint on card collector, but in this case I would make an exception. They look beautiful in the boxes. The line is exclusive to Mattycollector, and at $30 a figure it's not something I could afford. Especially for a figure that would stay MoC. Each figure will also come with a piece of a build-a-figure Kalibak (like the DC Universe Classics line) repainted in Super Powers colours. Very nice to look at, and I love that they have used the Hal Jordan Green Lantern as the base for the Riddler figure, just like the vintage Argentinian/European release. The added Mr Mxyzptlk figure is also very cool. Not sure where he comes into things, but he looks great! 

Moving onto their new stylised Total Heroes 6" line (which I have no interest in at all), they had a really cool Batman Beyond figure on display which comes with alternate Terry McGinnis and old Bruce Wayne heads, as well as the cowl, batarang and a teeny figure of the Atom. Really cool, but it's a pity that it's in this line. 

Next we have a total miss from Mattel with their 4" DC Multiverse line. Now these figures span videogames such as Arkham City and DC movies like Superman/Superman II, Batman and Batman Returns. Now for me, the movie figures was where it was at. I don't collect movie lines except Hot Toys, but the chance to have 4" highly detailed versions of Keaton, Reeve and Devito could not be missed. At least until Forbidden Planet retailed them at £14.99. Madness! That much for a 4" figure!? A tenner at least! But judging from the production images, the figures suck anyway. Reeve Superman looks terrible, and the S on his chest is huge! Keaton looks passable, but the sloppy paint apps on his chest symbol and the softness of the sculpts just make them look cheap. Suddenly I'm glad that I don't have to consider getting these. Poor production, insane prices. It was the same with the Batman TV Series line. Sloppy production and far too expensive. £80 for a 6" scale Batmobile and the doors don't even open?! Pfff, mental. 

Finally we have Masters of the Universe Classics. For the main subscription line that I buy, there wasn't much going on. Rio-Blast was revealed and he looks amazing! Such a cool looking figure with tons going on! Figures like him make the line worth the expense. Sadly the same can't be said of the new chase figures, Kowl and Loo-Kee. $20 for two figures that are nearly staction figures? You must be having a laugh. It's bad enough trying to be online when the little sods are on sale, but at the price it's not worth the effort. Hopefully these two will pop up loose on ebay for cheap. Also teased was Eldor's spell book, which suggests that Eldor, the unproduced figure from The Powers of Grayskull line in the 80s, will be released towards the end of the year.

Also announced was a new mini-subscription. Much like last year's Filmation line, this contains 6 figures based on Princess of Power. Thankfully I'm not too interested with the PoP stuff, so it's an easy miss. Presently the only figure I have my eye out for is Madame Razz and Broom, which I'll hopefully be able to get on the day of sale. However, to make matters more annoying they revealed that the sub would have a 'subscription only' figure, much like the main sub. Now this really pisses me off, because the figure is Light Hope and he looks bloody awesome. The pinky translucent plastic, the gold Crystal Castle/She-Ra inspired armour, it's all lovely. Sadly trying to get this guy on the secondary market will be nigh on impossible without serious expense. Damn you Mattel. 

DC Collectibles - Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures

Okay, so although DC had a ton of cool figures on display, this is where my attention was focused. 6" highly articulated figures from the 90s animated shows Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. This was like a dream come true. As a child I loved the shows, and as an adult I still love those shows. As much as I enjoyed the 4" figures from Kenner when I was a little boy, the lack of articulation became more irritating as I got older. They just looked stiff and awkward. But now that's all gone! I can get an excellent representation of my favourite characters and put them in dynamic poses! All that was on display was Catwoman from B:TAS and Batman from TNBA. Both look excellent, but no sign of any accessories. Yet. These are very early prototypes, so I'm sure we'll get something. I hope so, given the $25 price tag! Other figures announced are Two-Face and Mr Freeze, both from TNBA. I'd prefer to see more designs from B:TAS, as I was never as keen on the sharper designs in the later series. Probably not something I'll collect religiously, I can't afford it, but Batman will definitely be mine!