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BEST OF 2011 - Best Superhero Toys
Up, up and away with our favorite heroes and villains...
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While late coming out, DC Direct's Batman: Arkham Asylum action figures did at least manage to take advantage of the excitement for the game's sequel, Batman: Arkham City. As they say, better late than never! The wait was worth it, however, with excellent renditions of the hit video game characters. Each of the two assortments had a Batman (we prefer Series 2's Armored Batman), but DC Direct went all out on the villains for the Dark Knight to bring to justice. The manical Joker, sexy Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, evil Scarecrow and Zsasz, and the hulking Bane all came out great - all instantly recognizable as the classic DC bad guys they are, yet radically improved by Rocksteady Studios' cool new designs. To further our excitement for the games and figures, DC Direct announced over the summer that Arkham City figures are in the works for 2012. Let's just all hope we don't have to wait until the third Batman game to get our hands on them...
Mattel's DC Universe Classics line continued to expand in 2011 with the addition of the Green Lantern Classics sub-line and several great exclusives. This year saw the welcome addition of several JSA members, Batman rogues and even some Super Friends. Although collectors have also had the choice of purchasing action figures of their favorite heroes and villains from DC Direct, the mass appeal of the Four Horsemen sculpts and abundant articulation on Mattel’s DCUC figures continued to dominate the competition in 2011.
When it comes to 3 ¾ inch action figures, Hasbro is the undisputed king. Just a couple years ago the toy giant expanded its domination to the superhero world with the Marvel Universe line. Escaping some of the pitfalls that have trapped others, Hasbro reached the sweet spot with great sculpts, top of the line articulation, and a lineup including the comic giant’s most popular characters as well as fan-demanded and collector-targeted figures. Add to that plenty of multi-packs, store exclusives, oversized figures, and convention exclusives and you’ve got the Marvel Universe in 2011. This year brought a ton of new figures starting with Series 01’s Captain Marvel, Doc Samson, World War Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man 2099, and Spider-Woman. The single-carded figures have continued with Skaar, Doctor Strange, Dr. Doom, X-23, Ultron, Darkhawk, Steve Rogers, Gladiator, Wolverine (1st Appearance), Cyclops, Cable, Apocalypse, Tony Stark, Absorbing Man, Scarlet Spider, and more, while the Comic Packs have included figures like Wolverine & Silver Samurai and Deadpool & Taskmaster. Meanwhile, the super-sized “Masterworks” line brought two versions of the giant Sentinel as well as an SDCC Exclusive! With even more figures due out before the end of the month, it’s truly been a “super” year in the Marvel Universe.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane... it's the one and only Christopher Reeve as Superman. Collectors have been waiting what seems like an eternity for a movie-accurate 1/6 scale Superman figure and Hot Toys has delivered the goods in a major way. While several amazing Marvel film-based 1/6 figures have been released left and right, DC heroes have been far and in between until now. This collaborative project between artist Arnie Kim and Hot Toys has resulted in one of the most iconic movie-based 1/6 scale collectible figures ever produced. With an amazingly life-like head sculpt, movie-accurate costume and beautiful diorama display base, this is the ultimate collectible for Superman fans.
