HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!
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JEFF SAYLOR
Figures.com Editor
(In No Particular Order.)
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#1 - AMOK TIME/DUNK – 1:1 PARASYTE VINYL FIGURE - What the…?! That’s what I thought when I first saw this highly unusual vinyl figure. It’s just
SO WEIRD, weird in a way that totally appeals to me. From the anime “Parasyte,” this figure is actually a morphing creature named Migi that has absorbed the right hand of the main character Shinchi. Created by DUNK and imported to the U.S. exclusively via Amok Time, this large 14-inch tall vinyl combines my love of strange monsters with the obscurity of modern art toys. Aware of that art toy vibe, solid colorways exist for the Parasyte vinyl, including neon green, pink and orange. My money, however, is on the realistically painted version, with life-like eyeball and steely blade appendages. So weird!
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#2 - ART FIGURES 1:6 "BOY BLACK (RIDDICK) – I walked into seeing 2000’s Pitch Black blindly, not knowing what to expect. I left the theater having just seen a spectacular sci-fi film and wanting to know more of this mysterious new actor Vin Diesel and his cool-as-ice anti-hero, Riddick. Two more Riddick movies solidified my love of the actor/character. Alas, aside from a small run of figures from SOTA Toys in 2004, there have not been any Riddick collectibles produced. So imagine my surprise when Art Figures announced a 1:6th scale Riddick action figure. Like last year’s “Heavy Armoured Special Cop” (aka: Judge Dredd), the oddly named “Boy Black” is everything this Riddick fan could want in a figure. With trademark goggles, saber claws and phenomenal Vin Diesel head sculpt, this one sixth scale collectible totally nails one of my favorite action heroes.
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#3 - HOT TOYS 1:6 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST WOLVERINE – They say the third time is a charm and that’s exactly how many 1:6th scale Wolverine figures it took Hot Toys until they slammed it out of the park. Hot Toys’ X-Men: Days of Future Past Wolverine features a phenomenal Hugh Jackman head sculpt, real metal clawed hands and a super cool tech-suit. While
Days of Future Past Wolverine was extremely pricey considering how light the figure was on extras (read: none), this collectible is the best Wolverine figure released to date by any company. Snikt!
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#4 - FUNKO JAWS REACTION (SDCC'15 EXCLUSIVE) - Steven Spielberg’s JAWS is one of my all-time favorite movies. Aside from being a cinematic masterpiece, it has been “Bruce,” the giant Great White Shark, that has always captivated me. I just love sharks, especially Great Whites. Unfortunately, JAWS collectibles have been a rarity over the years. I own the Sideshow statue and the great McFarlane 3D Poster and “Orca” Diorama, but that’s about it. Now thanks to Funko, we can all pretend we’re back in 1975 and afraid to go back in the water. Part of Funko’s retro ReAction series, the series fully embraced JAWS nostalgia with gorgeous original poster art packaging. My favorite figure of the bunch was, you guessed it, Bruce the shark. More specifically, my fave was the SDCC’15 Bloody Exclusive with Bruce the Shark and Quint together as a set. Like two peas in a pod. Nom. Nom. Nom. Awesome.
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#5 – HASBRO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS 6" BLACK SERIES – I’ve been a fan of Hasbro’s new 6-inch Star Wars Black Series since it debuted with Boba Fett back in 2013. Alas, it began to feel like purchasing Blu-rays of my older DVD collection; there are only so many classic characters I needed to revisit in this new scale. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
changes everything. I feel like a young kid again collecting all the exciting new characters! Kylo Ren and his First Order Stormtroopers are by far my favorite (Snowtrooper is AWESOME!), but that Guavian “Deadpool” Enforcer is pretty rad too. Bring on the Flametrooper, Heavy Gunner, and other slick troopers!
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#6 – GECCO 1:6 BERSERK PVC STATUE – Gecco has impressed me greatly with their high-end 1:6th scale PVC statues. Like the beautiful love child of a one sixth scale action figure and a finely sculpted resin statue, Gecco’s figures are dynamic display pieces of some of the hottest properties out there. Their work on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is to die-for (love their SDCC exclusive Raiden in white), but it was their recent release of Guts from the dark fantasy anime BERSERK that took my breath way. While still 1:6th scale, Guts dwarves past statue releases thanks to a large grisly display base, tattered flowing cloak and his absolutely
massive two-handed sword, “Dragonslayer”. The Black Swordsman never looked so good.
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#7 - MECHA WORKSHOP ARMARAUDERS DELUXE BELLEROPHON – When Singapore-based Mecha Workshop announced that they had plans for an action figure based on their Armarauders comic, I honestly didn’t think it'd come to light. The fully customizable Bellerophon action figure project was extremely ambitious, the toys to feature die-cast construction, loads of interchangeable weaponry… even a poseable mini pilot figure that could fit inside. We’re talking a Bandai Super Chogokin level mecha collectible, something I couldn’t visualize a small unknown company pulling off successfully. Boy was I wrong. Everything I mentioned above came out phenomenal and the figure is an absolute blast to play with. The packaging, however, is what impressed me the most. In my many years of dealing with toy collectibles, never have I encountered a packaging design as nice as this one. Needless to say, if you love robot toys, the deluxe Bellerophon action figure is a robot lover’s dream come true.
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#8 - NECA COMMANDO/ ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK ACTION FIGURES - My fondest childhood memories come from the ‘80s. The decade produced everything awesome that shaped me as an adult: a variety of groundbreaking music, the dawn of computers and video games, and some of the best action movies ever made. The latter introduced me to some of the coolest action stars the world has known, including Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix in
Commando and Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s
Escape From New York. Thanks to NECA’s shared love of the ‘80s, I received amazing action figures of both of these unforgettable film heroes.
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#9 – FALLOUT PIP-BOY 3000/ MINI NUKE GAME BUNDLE REPLICAS - It has been a
VERY good year for Fallout fans. Not only did we get an incredible new game, but the Fallout collectible floodgates have finally opened wide. While I eagerly await the final series of Vault Boy bobble heads from Gaming Heads, the neatest Fallout collectibles I bought this year were game bundle exclusives. I’m not a PC gamer, but the life-size Mini Nuke replica that came with the Fallout Anthology was too cool to pass up. Equally awesome was the Pip-Boy 3000 replica that came with Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition. The well-built hard plastic prop can be displayed by itself on the included stand
OR it can be worn and actually used while playing the game. Post-nuclear wasteland here I come.
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#10 - LEGO MINIFIGURES, SERIES 14: MONSTERS - I love the thrill of the hunt; the surprise (and disappointment) of opening a LEGO blind-bagged minifigure. That thrill escalated with the release of LEGO Minifigures Series 14: Monsters. Where past waves only contained a couple characters I had to have, this spooky Halloween-themed assortment packed in the awesome. There really wasn’t a disappointing character to be found, except when opening the dreaded double. Thankfully, my sister and her kids were along for this hunt and together we managed to get all the ghastly ghoulies we wanted. If forced to pick my favorites, Fly Guy topped the list, with the Plant Monster a close second.
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SCOTT RUBIN
Figures.com Reporter/ Reviewer
(In No Particular Order.)
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#1 - EAGLEMOSS STAR TREK STARSHIPS COLLECTION - Previously an “Honorable Mention” in my annual Top 10 lists, the Eaglemoss Star Trek Starships Collection has moved up to claim a main spot and it’s well deserved. The British series of approximately 5 inch metal and plastic Star Trek ships continues to impress with great sculpts and paint jobs that jump right out of the shows and films. Best of all, with this long running line Eaglemoss has been delving deep into the catalogue of ships from all eras of Trek including many vessels that have never before been made into collectibles! My personal preferences tend toward the Federation ships and I’ve recently picked up ships like the Centaur, Steamrunner class, Yeager, and even the “Armored” Voyager from that show’s finale episode. Each starship comes with its own sturdy display base and they look great on a shelf together.
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#2 - WIZKIDS HEROCLIX - Just as in years past HeroClix makes my Top 10 of 2015, and it’s well deserved. A banner year for the miniatures game started off with the DC HeroClix Justice League: Trinity War expansion before a full summer of Marvel with Avengers Assemble, Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Age of Ultron storyline event tournament series, and then back to DC with last month’s epic Superman/Wonder Woman set! 2015 also saw the release of two Yu-Gi-Oh! expansions as well as a storyline series for that property plus new “Extreme” figures, great convention exclusives and prize figures, dice & token packs, and more. If you’re a fan of superheroes (like me) and want to pit your favorite characters against each other in fun battles then you should be playing HeroClix. WizKids continues to rock with great sculpts and paint applications and they’re constantly trying new things and introducing new elements to make the game even better. What we know is on the way in 2016 is really exciting too, with the debut of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles HeroClix, Uncanny X-Men, a Marvel Civil War tournament series, and more!
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#3 - HASBRO MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC COLLECTION - Yes, I’m a grown man who really enjoys My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (go ahead and call me a brony if you must use labels). The show is very well done and the IDW comic book spinoffs are fantastic, and Hasbro has kids and collectors like me stocked with a seemingly never-ending supply of ponies in all shapes and sizes. My favorite is the mini figure series that has released dozens of 1.5 inch ponies in show-accurate colors as well as alternative decos. Traditionally the figures have come mainly in blind bags and some static multi-packs, and in 2015 Hasbro added a new series called the Friendship Is Magic Collection with non-blind single figure packs with new accessories, larger deluxe packs with a figure and a vehicle or diorama, and the in-scale Sweet Apple Acres Barn Pack! These are great ways of getting specific characters to build out your collection and display, and there’s a second series hitting shelves right now that celebrates the silliness of Ponyville with multiple Pinkie Pie figures, Cheese Sandwich (the character voiced by Weird Al Yankovic), and more.
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#4 - DC COLLECTIBLES BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT ARKHAM KNIGHT STATUE - I’m not a gamer but I know a cool-looking character when I see one and that’s exactly what I thought when I got my first glimpse of the mysterious Arkham Knight from the latest Batman: Arkham series game. Like a cooler, more high-tech, and camouflaged version of the Caped Crusader, this Knight looks badass and I’ve been picking him up in various collectible forms since his debut. The pinnacle (at least so far) is definitely the DC Collectibles Arkham Knight Statue, a 10.5 inch polystone masterpiece that is just stunning. It’s screen accurate, very highly detailed, and just fearsome. It even has swap-out head, chest, and shoulder parts to turn it into [SPOILER], whom I also love!
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#5 - LEGO MINIFIGURES, SERIES 14: MONSTERS - While I love putting together LEGOs I don’t buy that many of them these days, mostly because I can’t find room for all the cool, big sets. I’m even less into the blind bagged minifigures as I don’t need
ANOTHER thing to collect and “catch ‘em all.” However, Series 14 which came out a few months ago was the “Monster” wave and it was awesome. All monsters, all the time meant unique and fun characters like the Fly Monster, Werewolf, Spider Lady, Square Foot, Zombie Businessman, and more. As always these LEGO minifigures have beautiful paint jobs, unique accessories and parts, and quite simply they look great. The standouts in this series for me were the genuinely creepy weeping Banshee and the adorably campy Zombie Cheerleader!
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#6 - TOYNAMI ROBOTECH SD FIGURES - As a fan of Robotech since 1985 I’m pretty much going to jump at the chance to buy any new toys, especially since they’re so few and far between. In 2014 Toynami introduced collectors to their upcoming SD Figure collection with the Skull Leader VF-1S in Military Gray exclusive, but we had to wait until 2015 to get the first series of blind box figures. While not everyone’s cup of tea these little “super deformed” vinyl figures are fun, desk-friendly, and highly collectible with two different versions of each Veritech (gunpod in hand and at the ready) and the Rick Hunter figure (helmeted and without). For those who wanted ‘em all (like me) Toynami made it easy with a sealed case getting you every figure and one extra of the Battlepod and Destroid. They also released another SD Figure SDCC exclusive in 2015, the black “Stealth” VF-1S, and at the show previewed the upcoming second wave with more color variants and a Max Sterling figure.
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#7 - WIZKIDS STAR TREK ATTACK WING - Another line that tends to show up on my list from year to year, WizKids’ Star Trek Attack Wing game continues to expand with new waves of single ships as well as larger deluxe vessels and unique items available only through in-store play. Similar to the Star Trek Starships Collection I discussed above Attack Wing is notable for bringing collectors rare and never-before-made Star Trek ships, but while the Collection just sits on your shelf these ships actually go into battle in a fast-paced and very fun game. Recent expansions I had to add to my fleets have included the translucent Valdore-class I.R.W. Vrax, Akira-class U.S.S. Thunderchild, Voyager’s Delta Flyer, and the fearsome Reman Scorpion 4 fighter wing.
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#8 - HASBRO STAR WARS MICRO MACHINES - While there may not be a fast-talking spokesman on TV in 2015, Micro Machines are back featuring Star Wars! The lead up to Force Friday brought lots of surprises and not the least of which was that the classic brand would be returning to stores with vessels and characters from the entire breadth of the Star Wars film series including updates on ships like the X-Wing and Star Destroyer as well as plenty of new designs from Episode VII like Resistance and First Order craft. I’m a Micro Machines collector from way back and have hundreds of Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, and other spaceship toys and I couldn’t wait to get more. The new ships are solid and very reminiscent of the old ones with low price points and easy collectability. Inevitably you’ll find some bent parts and imperfect paint jobs but those are inconsequential on small scale spaceships at this price compared to other toy lines (some of which are on this list). The only real bummer about the new collection? No display bases are included.
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#9 - HOT TOYS 1:6 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ROCKET AND GROOT - Products from Hot Toys are not usually on my top lists, nor indeed even on my radar. I prefer my figures in the 3 ¾ - 4 inch scale, occasionally picking up something larger if it’s a favorite character or something really, really cool. Well, those qualifications certainly apply to Hot Toys’ Guardians of the Galaxy Rocket and Groot. I’ve been reading the adventures of these guys in the comics for a number of years, and of course the movie was awesome so I have a huge collection of toys, statues, and more that have come out over the last year and a half (Hasbro’s 2.5 inch toy line was on my Top 10 list last year!). But for anyone who loves Rocket and Groot, these Hot Toys are the ultimate expression of that feeling. Huge, incredibly detailed, well-articulated, and loaded with alternate parts and exclusive accessories the duo pack of these unique characters is just the best, and absolutely one of the best things released in 2015.
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#10 - DC COLLECTIBLES ICONS GREEN LANTERN STATUE - This one was easy. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) is my favorite comic book character of all time, and DC Collectibles was nice enough to add him to their Icons lineup with a sleek new statue. It’s a great representation of the character’s modern look with a fantastic sculpt and defiant pose that’s perfect for Hal. It also has eye-catching metallic green paint and the really life-like flesh tones that this line has perfected. While some may prefer a more action-packed statue I like the static pose and it goes great in a display with other Icons all lined up like the Justice League is standing tall against impossible odds. There’s a good chance the upcoming Green Lantern Icons Action Figure from DC Collectibles will make it into my Top 10 list of 2016, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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