BEST OF 2011 - Best Exclusives

[JeffSaylor]

Must-have toy treasures...

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#4 DISNEY THEME PARK EXCLUSIVE STARSPEEDER 1000 VEHICLE PLAYSET

Every now and then comes a ride that changes the playing field. Star Tours, based on George Lucas' Star Wars films, did just that in 1987. Now in 2011, the folks at Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic have raised the bar again with the updated Star Tours attraction that now offers 54 possible ride variations. Growing up with Star Tours, there was nothing I wanted more than a Starspeeder vehicle for my Star Wars figures. Hasbro refused to produce such a thing, but now in 2011 at last, Disney took it upon themselves to deliver the goods and deliver they did. This Disney Theme Park exclusive (available at Disneyland Resort in CA and Walt Disney World resort in FLA) is truly authentic in its design, paint, lights and sounds and for only $54.95. It's quite a bargain considering the size and weight of this heavy duty vehicle based on a motion simulator. This playset comes with a R2-D2 and IC-360 Camera Droid figures, changeable destination screens, opening doors, pop up flash cannons, authentic dialogue from Anthony Daniels and Frank Oz, and many more! This luxurious spaceliner seats ten of your Hasbro Star Wars action figures, eleven if you include the port on the roof for your astromechs, making the Starspeeder 1000 the thing to get this year. Disney has never made an exclusive based on their rides this big before and it's worth every penny.

#3 HASBRO'S SDCC EXCLUSIVE MARVEL LEGENDS THOR

By Asgard... Hasbro is bringing back Marvel Legends in 2012 and what better way to celebrate its return than with a brand new Legends Thor action figure? This awesome 6” Thor figure featured an exclusive powered-up deco and was housed within a one-of-a-kind package shaped in the form of the God of Thunder’s trusty hammer Mojilnor! If that weren't enough, the figure also included an exclusive poster which was concealed within the handle of the cardboard hammer. This figure was exclusively sold at San Diego Comic-Con and was an absolute must-have for Marvel collectors of all ages.

#2 MATTEL'S SDCC EXCLUSIVE STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN

One of the standouts of the year was Mattel's Ghostbusters exclusive for San Diego Comic-Con: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Standing over 20" tall, this soft yet sturdy figure makes it onto our list for multiple reasons. Most importantly, it's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, an impressionable character villain who made its stamp into the collective of every man, woman, and child on Earth who grew up with The Ghostbusters. NECA came first years back with their version of Stay Puft, but a version of Stay Puft this large has never been attempted. Mattel not only delivered, but gave him a city diorama for displaying your toys as well. At $70, this wasn't a cheap collectible but certainly a necessary one.

#1 FOUR HORSEMEN'S FANTASTIC EXCLUSIVE SCARABUS

Voted by fans as the winning character of the 2008 FANtastic Exclusive, the Four Horsemen's Scarabus has been a long-awaited labor of love. Part of their original Gothitroplois property, Scarabus marked the most ambitious in-house project the Horsemen had attempted to date. Appropriately debuting at Toy Fair 2011 as an extremely limited set of Dark and Light Talisman figures, Scarabus went on to see a slew of exclusive variants released over the year, including single packs of the "Lord of the Resurrected", an "Evil's Reign" multi-pack featuring the dark lord in three of his evil forms, and a Dark Deities 3-pack.

The Scarabus variants, Egyptian inspired variant versions of the dark lord of Gothitropolis, excited us as much as the original figure. Our favorites were the animal-headed Horos (falcon), Azazel (goat) and Anubos (jackel) but they all came out fantastic. For those that couldn't decide, the Four Horsemen even released a massive Scarabus action figure 10-pack containing one of each of the Scarabus variants, including Scarabus himself. One original Four Horsemen exclusive would have been cool all by itself, but ten unique designs? Out of this world.

>> Figures.com's BEST TOYS OF 2011 <<

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