#1 - WIZKIDS GAMES STAR TREK ATTACK WING - Last year I had a slot in my favorites for Star Trek Tactics, the HeroClix line. While that series hasn’t had a recent release, WizKids’ other spaceship game has been growing like crazy: Star Trek Attack Wing! Based on the game design of Fantasy Flight’s X-Wing Miniatures Game, Attack Wing takes the FlightPath system and adds high quality Star Trek miniatures (about 2-3 inches long), an incredible degree of customization with different ships and their captains as well a huge amount of “upgrades” that allow them to do different things. Notably the game has gone beyond recycling sculpts from Tactics and now includes lots of new ships, including designs that have never before appeared in plastic! From the Reman Scimitar to the Vidiian Fina Prime, both Federation and Cardassian fighter squadrons, and more this game is an incredible source of new Star Trek ships in a great size and at affordable prices.
#2 - DARK HORSE MASS EFFECT SHIP REPLICAS - Continuing with the spaceship trend, 2014 brought more pieces in the awesome Mass Effect Ship Replica lineup from Dark Horse. A bit larger (and appropriately more expensive without breaking the bank) than the previous ships I looked at, the best and easiest to collect of the Mass Effect ships are the approximately 6-9 inch vessels capturing the unique designs from the game. After starting with the requisite Normandy Dark Horse has gone on to add the SX3 Alliance Fighter, Alliance Shuttle, Alliance Cruiser, Turian Cruiser, and more. Mounted on stands and fully painted, these ships look fantastic on the shelf and go great with other similar sized ships like Dark Horse’s Serenity line. And if you’re a really big fan you can always upscale to the larger size replicas like the amazing 18 inch Normandy!
#3 - UNDERGROUND TOYS DOCTOR WHO 3 3/4" FIGURES - For many years fans of Doctor Who were treated to the great 5 inch scale figure series brought across the pond by Underground Toys. After countless Doctors, Daleks, Companions, Cybermen, and everything else from the sci-fi show Underground debuted a new scale, shrinking everybody down to the classic 3 ¾ inch format! They’ve knocked this series out of the park right off the bat with nicely detailed figures of all your favorite characters, and this year they’ve been expanding into classic Who too. Best of all, there are plenty of Daleks! In the recent Wave 3 alone we got a cool Asylum Dalek with the red stamp and a Classic Dalek.
#4 - FOUR HORSEMEN POWER LORDS (Read the review HERE!) - It’s four for four and another new line of 3 ¾ inch (okay, “4 inch”) figures with Four Horsemen’s Power Lords! The resurrection of these classic 1980s figures started in 2013 with some convention and website exclusives, but it was this year that they released the fully carded and painted Wave 1. They’re from the Horsemen so you know they’ve got top notch sculpts, and with the full paint work they’re really nice. This wave consisted of heroic Adam and Lord Power and the evil Ggripptogg, Ggrabbtargg, and Ggrapptikk. Add to that solid articulation, fun accessories, and a huge amount of interchangeable parts (thanks in part to the Glyos system) and you’ve got the fully modern Power Lords. These fun and colorful spacemen and crazy aliens are highly recommended for 3 ¾ / 4 inch collectors.
#5 - NECA PACIFIC RIM SERIES 3 - NECA’s ridiculously awesome 7” Pacific Rim series appeared last year on many of our Top 10 lists, and for good reason. I’m happy to bring the line back again in my 2014 list with Series 3. It included amazing Kaiju in Trespasser and the updated, Battle Damaged Knifehead, but what ensured this would be a top series for me were the Jaegers, and one in particular. Coyote Tango is sweet, but it’s all about the mighty Russian behemoth Cherno Alpha! Our editor Jeff did a fantastic job reviewing this series (see it HERE), a perfect mix of giant monster and robot. And check out Cherno Alpha! Of course, late this year NECA followed up on the Gipsy Danger 18” with a similarly sized version of my favorite Jaeger, but I don’t have one yet to include on this list.
#6 - PALLADIUM BOOKS ROBOTECH RPG TACTICS - Robotech is back! Yes, Toynami occasionally releases new products (plush VFs are out and Super Deformed figures are on the way... soon?), but this year it was all about miniatures. If you missed it, game company Palladium Books Kickstarted Robotech RPG Tactics, a super cool and fast moving miniatures game featuring all of the great mecha designs from the 80s show and more. The Earth forces of the RDF bring to bear the walking tanks of the Destroids along with the transforming Veritechs while the alien Zentraedi have their reverse leg articulated Pods. The game is time and effort intensive as you have to put everything together and paint it all, but the miniatures are fantastic and it’s a great addition to the Robotech legacy.
#7 - MATTEL DC COMICS MULTIVERSE - Getting back to the 3 ¾ inch world, Mattel revived their DC Comics offerings in that scale with some super fan-favorite characters this year. Where once there was Infinite Heroes there is now the Multiverse, a unique collection of characters from movies and video games in a cohesive style and scale. Frankly, and I say this as a huge fan of Infinite Heroes, these are a huge leap forward in detail and especially articulation. Character selection has been amazing, especially with the inclusion of 70s, 80s, and 90s film stars! Most notable, and sought after by collectors, are Christopher Reeve Superman and Michael Keaton, the latter in both masked and unmasked versions. The video game figures are super cool too, especially the total badass that is Arkham Knight Red Hood.
#8 - WIZKIDS GAMES HEROCLIX - Locked in a perennial spot on my Top 10 lists is HeroClix, the miniature game from WizKids featuring DC and Marvel Comics characters as well as Hobbit, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pacific Rim, assorted films, and more. Each year brings tons of new products, with 2014 adding to the lists both a Lord of the Rings and a Hobbit set, Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Deadpool, X-Men: Days of Future Past, War of Light, Guardians of the Galaxy (both movie and comics sets), and Flash. It was hard for a comics HeroClix player NOT to find something cool among the new sets! My favorites in 2014 were all of the Guardians figures and War of Light, an event seemingly tailor made for me as the biggest Green Lantern fan in Sector 2814.
#9 - BIFBANGPOW! TWILIGHT ZONE 3 3/4" FIGURES - Have you guessed by now that I’m a fan of 3 ¾ inch figures? Well, now I’m going to tell you about the new Twilight Zone figures from BifBangPow! and their partners at ZICA Toys. Unlike the previously mentioned Power Lords, Doctor Who, and Multiverse figures, these are fully in the current style of “retro” action figures with five points of articulation and vintage looks. Personally I don’t think that style works for every license, but it sure as heck works here with the sometimes campy, sometimes horrifying, and sometimes quirky characters of Twilight Zone. The initial wave included the Gremlin, Bob Wilson (William Shatner), Talky Tina, Invader, Kanamit, and Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith)! Honestly, they had me at figures of William Shatner and Burgess Meredith. And while the standard versions of the figures are in show accurate grayscale, limited edition 2014 Convention Exclusives featured full color versions of these guys.
#10 - HASBRO MARVEL LEGENDS GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - The coolest movie of the year has brought with it a massive wave of merchandising, all headlined by Hasbro. Of course I’m talking about Guardians of the Galaxy, and the toys included Legends scale figures, Battle Gear 2.5 inch figures and vehicles, larger scale figures, electronic figures, role-play items, and more. Frankly, it’s a smorgasbord of fun no matter your age, and best of all most of it was readily available in regular toy stores (though at first the Legends were a little hard to track down). I loved the movie, and I was super excited to collect toys of my favorite characters and vehicles which Hasbro provided in very affordable packages. Of course there’s a lot more Guardians stuff out there from Legos to Funko items, and you can go nuts with the spending on Dragon Models and next year’s Hot Toys. If you’ve been in a cave for the last few months, you can see a sampling of the Guardians of the Galaxy toys here.
Honorable Mentions:
* Hasbro Transformers Age of Extinction - This probably won’t appear on a lot of Top lists, but Hasbro’s latest Transformers movie collection did a lot of unique things and was awesome for one word: Dinobots! Totally separate from the film, the toy line brought us a ton of cool Dinobot toys in all of the different scales, sizes, and price points. Notably there are a bunch of Grimlocks, and he’s my all-time favorite Transformer so that made me very happy. This was also the year that Hasbro simplified their toys with fewer moving parts and more automation, plus the debut of the one-step changers that made both kids and parents happy.
* Eaglemoss Star Trek Starships Collection - Appearing in my Honorable Mentions for the second year in a row is this elite lineup of Star Trek collectibles in the Starships Collection from across the pond. Sold at comic book stores and solicited in Previews, these highly detailed approximately 5 inch metal and plastic vessels from Eaglemoss cover the length and breadth of the Star Trek universe, and best of all they too are starting to include ships that have never been made into collectibles like the U.S.S. Dauntless! I picked up pretty much all of the Federation ships this year and look forward to more in 2015.
JORGE PELAEZ
Figures.com Reporter/ Reviewer
#1 - HOT TOYS IRON MAN 3 1:6 DIE-CAST MARK XLII - The fine folks at Hot Toys have done it again by delivering the most movie-accurate sixth scale figure of the coolest Iron Man suit to date. This epic collectible features tons of moving parts, accessories and light-up features. Take all that awesomeness and add a die-cast external body to it and you got yourself the number one collectible for 2014. 'Nuff said.
#2 - HOT TOYS THE TERMINATOR 1:6 T-800 BATTLE DAMAGED VERSION - Through the years Hot Toys has delivered some stellar Terminator figures based on all but one film, the one that started it all. Now collectors can finally own their very own original Terminator T-800 figure from the ‘80s. Based on the unforgettable police precinct assault scene from the original film, this figure showcases a young Arnold Schwarzenneger in his prime in the epic role that jump started his career in Hollywood. This one sixth scale masterpiece features two interchangeable heads with light-up features, removable sunglasses, an arsenal of weapons and a deluxe diorama base making this the ultimate grail figure for any Terminator fan.
#3 - HOT TOYS PREDATOR 2 1:6 ELDER PREDATOR v2 - The oldest and wisest of all the Predators is reborn in one sixth figural form and man, does he look good. Although he had a very short appearance at the end of Predator 2, this is hands-down the coolest Predator to appear on film and the folks at Hot Toys have really delivered a movie masterpiece with this one. Armed with his iconic sword, buccaneer rifle and retracting claws, this veteran Predator does not rely on technology to hunt down and kill his prey. You simply cannot have a Predator collection without adding this bad boy to your toy shelf.
#4 - BANDAI TAMASHII NATIONS S.H. FIGUARTS SUPER MARIO - The world famous plumber from the hit Nintendo video game comes to life in action figure form thanks to the folks at Bandai. This awesome highly articulated figure will provide adults and children alike with hours of fun thanks to the diorama expansion sets which help bring the video game to life in 3-dimensional form. This incredible figure is hand-down the coolest video game-based figure released to date an absolute must have for Mario fans of all ages.
#5 - SIDESHOW DC COMICS 1:6 BATMAN - The DC universe continues to expand with amazing comic-based sixth scale figure of the Dark Knight. The Caped Crusader features an incredibly chiseled and muscular heroic body, interchangeable heads with swap-out facial expressions and an arsenal of batarangs and a bat claw to take out the scum that roam the streets of Gotham. The folks at Sideshow have simply delivered the comic-based Batman figure collectors have been waiting for and it is an absolute must-have for DC and Batman fans alike.
#6 - SQUARE ENIX ARKHAM ORIGINS BATMAN PLAY ARTS KAI - This year there has been an overabundance of great Batman action figures released but none of them come even close to Square Enix’s masterful Arkham Origins Play Arts Kai Batman. This amazing figure towers well above all other Play Arts incarnations of the caped crusader and features state-of-the-art articulation and masterfully sculpted details. Throw in a plethora of interchangeable hands, weapons and an incredible paint job and you have yourself the best Batman figure under sixth scale for 2014.
#7 - HASBRO 6” STAR WARS BLACK DELUXE BIKER SCOUT WITH SPEEDER BIKE - The highly successful Star Wars 6” Black Series collection expanded into deluxe offerings this year providing collectors with an upscaled version of the fan-favorite Scout Trooper with Speeder Bike. This is not just a larger version of the smaller figure but rather the most versatile and screen-accurate Scout Trooper figure and speeder released to date. While this amazing deluxe figure did not speed off the toy shelves as expected, it is mainly due to the price and not the quality of the piece. In my opinion, the newly-tooled speeder bike and its imperial pilot are well worth the $40 price tag and the absolute best Black Series release in 2014.
#8 - SIDESHOW STAR WARS 1:6 GENERAL GRIEVOUS - The iconic alien/cyborg hybrid has been immortalized in glorious sixth scale figural form through the talented minds and hands of Sideshow Collectible’s design team. Featuring impeccable detail and a state-of-the-art engineered robotic body, this villainous cybernetic Jedi killer is a true work of articulated art. Grievous features an impressive level of articulation, a beautifully crafted fabric cape and an arsenal of weapons at his disposal to take down the most masterful of Jedi on your toy shelf.
#9 - THREEZERO THE WALKING DEAD 1:6 MICHONNE'S ZOMBIE PETS - Walking Dead fans have been anxiously awaiting the release of one sixth scale figures based on the hit AMC TV show and the folks at ThreeZero have given collectors a taste of what’s to come in the near future. Michonne’s helpless zombie companions feature realistic rubber torsos in a state of decomposition and gaping bloody wounds that will make your stomach turn. This incredibly detailed pair of limbless undead walkers look like they jumped right out of the TV screen and onto your toy shelf and will look amazing displayed next to the upcoming Michonne figure.
#10 - MCFARLANE TOYS THE WALKING DEAD COMIC SERIES RICK GRIMES v2 - This one-handed comic incarnation of Rick Grimes from the popular Image series is the ultimate 4” figure to take down all your undead figures. Don’t let the small scale fool you because this incredibly detailed action figure packs a big one-handed punch with his cool Chuck Norris looks, awesome paint job and arsenal of weapons at his disposal. This figure truly demonstrates how tough of a survivor Rick is and how he can still intimidate and dispatch the undead single-handedly.