Hot on the heels of the release of the regular Puppetmaster figures from Full Moon Toys, Troll and Toad has announced their release of excluisve, limited edition variants of the first two figures, Blade and Six Shooter.

The first exclusive variation is of a "cone-eyed" Blade, with bullet-shaped protruding eyes, a gray trenchcoat and a gray hat. The second figure is titled the "Black Holstered" Six Shooter, and has different colored clothes, including black holster, brown hat, blue bandanna, and brown pants. Each figure comes on a sealed card with a serial number.

Each figure is limited to 5000 numbered copies, and no more will be made. They are available only from Troll And Toad Inc., which sells by mail order. Orders can be placed by phone at 1-606-878-2936, through their website at http://www.aqvault.com, or by mail from:

Following fast on the heels of of the highly detailed Chaos! Comics line, Moore Action Collectibles is poised to release new figures based on characters in Marc Silvestri's popular Witchblade comic.

Rumored to be a film next year, Witchblade is one of the hottest things on the market now, and these figures can only fan those flames. This first assortment includes the Sara Pezzini Witchblade, Medieval Witchblade, and Ian Nottingham. Kenneth Irons is among those scheduled for the second assortment. Look for them to hit shops in early 1998. MAC will follow these up with Beavis and Butthead figures later in 1998.

Thanks to

Just weeks after Mattel has filed lawsuits against the pop group Aqua over their song "Barbie Girl" and Nissan over the Barbie lookalike in their popular car commercial, they've announced that Barbie herself is getting redesigned.

"We are changing her face and we are changing her body," said Sean Fitzgerald, a spokesman for Mattel Inc, the company based in El Segundo, California that makes the legendary doll and pop icon. Fitzgerald said the changes are a reflection of the desires of Barbie's target audience of girls aged three to 11, who are looking for a cooler, hipper and more physically realistic version of Barbie. If Barbie were blown up into lifelike proportions, she would have measurements of 38-18-34. "The new body has a smaller chest, a larger waist and smaller hips," said Fitzgerald.

Barbie's new face is more youthful, sporting less makeup and a softer hairstyle than the platinum blonde, wide-eyed, toothy grinned version that has been a staple since 1977. "There's less makeup and it's more subtle. It's more reflective of current fashion," Fitzgerald said. Barbie's latest visage is the doll's third face since she was introduced in 1959 featuring a look considered sophisticated at the time, with sultry, pouty lips and downcast eyes. But Mattel is not going to abandon altogether the look that brought it billions of dollars of sales. Of 24 new Barbies being introduced in 1998, six will have the new face and one will have the new body. The rest will remain the "classic" Barbie, Fitzgerald said.

Thirty-seven states have joined a lawsuit alleging price-fixing by Toys 'R' Us, and four other toy makers Monday. Lawyers who filed the complaint against the company in federal court in Brooklyn Oct. 2, said consumers around the United States paid higher prices for toys than they otherwise would have because of the alleged conspiracy. The lawyers said the manufacturers named in the complaint -- Mattel, Hasbro, Tyco Industries and Little Tikes Company -- initally were reluctant to restrict supplies to discount clubs, such as Sam's and Price-Costco. But they alleged Toys 'R' Us brokered an illegal agreement among them to ensure that the clubs could obtain certain popular toys only in "combination packs," which cost consumers more. Thirty-seven states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have joined the New York lawsuit. Under federal law, state attorneys generally have primary responsibility for bringing suits to obtain damages for consumers within their states.

Toys 'R' Us has said it followed the law and competed fairly. "The lawsuit makes certain anti-trust allegations, which we believe are completely without merit and without foundation and we're looking forward to an opportunity to vindicate our position in court," said Toys 'R' Us attorney Michael Feldberg. He added, however, the lawsuit does not allege price-fixing. In September, an FTC administrative law judge ruled that Toys 'R' Us used its muscle to prevent manufacturers from supplying low-priced shopping clubs. The judge prohibited the company from pressuring suppliers or making agreements with them to hold back toys from the clubs. Toys 'R' Us said it would appeal the FTC ruling.

Troll And Toad is now shipping the exclusive Ebony Prophet Figure manufactured by Awesome Entertainment. Advertised as the "black-shirted" Prophet figure, it was limited to 2000 copies. Each figure is numbered and comes on a sealed card. The chrome armored, powerful figure is clad in black shirt and brown pants. The character Prophet is a major character in the Judgement Day comic book. Troll And Toad Inc. is a mail order company. Orders can be placed by phone at 1-606-878-2936, through their website at http://www.aqvault.com, or by mail at:

As you read here last week, two of the most popular toy companies and their respective licenses are thinking about doing a special crossover project. We collected your input on the subject and passed that along to the right people who were very grateful for the volume of input and the speed with which it was given to them. Thanks to everyone who participated.

So you want to know how things turned out? This idea certainly brought out strong feelings on both sides. Well, once we weeded out some of the attempts to stuff the ballot box, we came up with the following results:

Thanks again to all that took part in this brief poll.

Friday, November 14th, has come and gone. This was the court set deadline for a financial agreement to be reached between Marvel and it's creditors. This obviously hasn't happened, and interesting developments have occured instead. The newswire report does a pretty good job of explaining the new info, so here it is:

WILMINGTON, Del. Nov 14 (Reuters) - The comic book industry isn't very funny these days and a new federal judge has agreed to take on the tycoons clashing over control of the beleaguered Marvel Entertainment Group Inc (NYSE:MRV - news).

U.S. District Court Judge Roderick McKelvie told Marvel attorneys at a conference on Thursday that unless there were objections by Friday -- and a McKelvie spokeswoman told Reuters none had been filed by the noon deadline today-- he would transfer all of Marvel's bankruptcy-related litigation from the bankruptcy court to his.

Marvel attornies told McKelvie the move was needed to save time and expenses and because the presiding bankruptcy judge, Helen Balick, plans to retire January 31.

McKelvie scheduled a general hearing for next Thursday at 10:00 EST to sort the competing issues in the case. At stake is not whether good guys like Spider Man and Captain America defeat bad guys. It's about which tycoon's investment is going to pay off.

Investor Carl Icahn wants to leverage the control he obtained of Marvel, through purchases of discounted bond and bank debt, into actual ownership of the 40-year-old comic publisher.

But Chase Manhattan Bank (NYSE:CMB - news), acting as agent for a bank consortium, says before that happens it wants to recover at least 65 cents on the dollar of $712 million in secured loans made to Marvel. Chase says Marvel should spin off assets to pay off the loans.

It's been hardball like that since last December 27 when financier Ronald Perelman placed Marvel in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. He wanted to reduce the parent company's $890 million face value in bond debt, which was secured by Perelman's 80 percent control of Marvel stock.

But Icahn and fellow bondholders foreclosed on the shares, took control of Marvel, and ousted Perelman and his supporters. Icahn's repeated attempts to reorganize Marvel by buying out the bank loans have been aborted, most recently by a third player, Toy Biz Inc (NYSE:TBZ - news).

Toy Biz, which was licensed by Perelman to make toys based on Marvel characters in exchange for Perelman's control of Toy Biz, is trying to forge a competing reorganization plan with the banks.

Next Thursday McKelvie will consider Icahn's October 30 lawsuit against Perelman, Chase and Toy Biz which seeks to revoke the Toy Biz license and oust its Perelman-appointed board. The lawsuit alleges ``Marvel's fall from the heights of success and financial health...to near collapse'' could be traced to the ``improper, manipulative and collusive conduct'' of the defendants.

On the other hand, Chase has pending an emergency motion for the appointment of an independent trustee. ``The longer Mr. Icahn is permitted to control (Marvel) through his worthless equity interests, the price at which members of the secured lender group will feel compelled to unload their claims against these debtors will drop even further,'' court papers say.

Icahn attorney Edward Weisenfels told Reuters ``There's likely enough money operationally to keep the lights on and the doors open (at Marvel) at least until the end of the year...but we have no money to write new licensing business, to attract key employees, or to resuscitate'' pre-bankruptcy plans for new ventures.

Toy Fare #5 is on stands now with a first look at prototypes for the Toy Biz New Mutants line, the upcoming Witchblade figure from Moore Action Collectibles, a look back at old Shogun Warriors and its usual dose of humor. This month's Twisted Mego Theater is an homage to the horror film "Scream" and is well worth reading all by itself. The exclusive figure is the Glow-in-the-Dark Evil Ernie from Moore Action Collectibles.

The web site of the month is McFarlane Toys. And there is a very nice article on Nickelodeon's stop-motion animation feature, "Action League Now!". If you haven't caught this yet, tune into Nickelodeon Fridays at 8:00p.m. or Saturday at 9:30p.m. for the show "KABLAM!", the home of this growing cult feature.

The new White's Guide to Collecting Figures continues its broad-based coverage of the entire spectrum of collectibles. This is their holiday issue so we get a little bit of the year in review and holiday shopping tips. There is quite a bit of Starting Line-Up coverage here so you often neglected sports figure fans should be pleased. Beanie Babies are also gaining ground between the magazine's covers. This month's "Tail Enders" column features Silverhawks, an often overlooked line. There are also the standard columns on Hallmark, Disney, Coke, Sports Cards, Bobbing Head figures and all sorts of other collectibles

The Jawa Trader notes that there will be no phone orders accepted for this item. That's because you need to mail-in two proofs of purchase (UPC codes) from Kenner Star Wars figures. The cost for the 2-foot cardboard background seen of the Mos Eisley cantina is $6.00 plus $1.75 shipping and handling (Colorado residents must add sales tax). The item number is LKN53 and must be included with your order. Also be sure to include your mailing address. Action figures are not included.

And if you still need a Cantina Band to populate your diorama, you can still purchase individual figures (item # LKN19 - $9.00 plus $1.50 S&H) and full five figure sets (item # LKN20 - $45.00 plus $5.00 S&H). You can phone order these figures by calling 1-800-878-3326 (phones open 5:45a.m.-10:15p.m. MST) or use the address below. Be sure to include item numbers in any order.

Mail your order to:

Star Wars Insider
PO Box 111000
Aurora, CO 80042

If you still aren't sold, you can see more pics of the cantina backdrop by clicking here.

Recently, we spoke with Ryan Brookhart, Editor of the new magazine go figure! Even though go figure! is the new kid on the block, they are doing alot of exciting things. In pushing the envelope of magazine coverage of the toy world, they are trying some innovative things never before seen in this genre.

For example, in issue 2 (currently on the stands) there is a fantastic "mini-movie" starring the Kankichi Ryotsu action figure (it's a treat just getting to see more of this figure all by itself). This creative blend of action figures and computer technology makes for an impressive display. Almost like Toy Story in a magazine. Well, get ready to be blown away. In the next issue of go figure!, there will be a huge spread devoted to the new "mini-movie" re-enacting the Hoth battle scene from The Empire Strikes Back using real Kenner toys! Ryan has graciously granted us a sneak peek at this incredible feature (shown left). The word is that Kenner is also mighty impressed with this feature, so we just might get to see even more in the future.

Ryan also attended the Star Warz convention in Arizona recently and sent us a few pictures of what he saw there. This is a preview of what we can expect from the next issue of go figure! which will be devoted to pre-Toy Fair news and pictures.

Included in these photos is a look at the new packaging that will include a film strip card in place of the holograms or photos. The card will be die-cut so that a scene can be seen through the slide wehn held up to the light. Look for a possible projector and collector's album to hold all the slides. This idea is reminiscent of the collector coins of the original toys. It's an extra little something to go along with the figure itself. A very innovative design and we look forward to developments in this area.

You can also check out the Purchase of the Droids three-pack including a new Luke Skywalker, Threepio and Uncle Owen. This is a recreation of the scene where the Jawas sell our little droid friends to Luke and his Uncle. If we get a Sandcrawler at some point in the future, this could be one heck of a cool display. The sculpting and detail on these figures looks remarkable. Should be an interesting set.

Thanks loads to Ryan Brookhart for allowing us to give you this sneak peek. You can find go figure! magazine in your local comic shop (be sure to ask for it) and they've just arranged some new distribution so you can find the magazine in Tower Records stores. Plus, go check out go figure's web site at http://www.gofiguremagazine.com. This site is beginning to develop some serious content along with some other nifty features. Well worth a bookmark toy fans!

Are Star Trek/X-Men action figures beaming down to a retail store near you? Maybe. Sources have let us know that both Toy Biz and Playmates are discussing just such a project. In conjunction with the wildly successful Star Trek/X-Men comic one-shot published by Marvel Comics earlier this year, the idea would be to produce two-packs of one Star Trek character and one X-Men character. So you might see Cyclops and Kirk. Wolverine and Spock. Storm and Uhura. Or how about Dr. Bones McCoy and Dr. Hank "Beast" McCoy (two McCoys!). Almost anything is possible for these two-packs.

But wait, there's more. The preliminary idea is to not only crossover the characters, but also the companies. What that means is that each company will have a crack at doing a rendition of some of the other company's characters. So you might get a Toy Biz style Captain Kirk or a Playmates style Wolverine. Interesting huh?

We conducted a brief poll to gauge interest in this idea. We passed along your input. Check out the Survey results above

In an update to a stroy we brought you recently, the new comic superhero makes his debut in his own ashcan edition comic this week at finer comic stores. You can pick this mini-issue up for free and check out what's up with this combination of Superman and Spider-Man. And be sure to check below for info on the A.D.A.M. magnetic action figure. More details can be found at the official site: www.a-d-a-m.com.

New issues of go figure! and Lee's Action Figure News & Toy Review are on the stands as you read this. The brand new go figure!, headed by Ryan Brookhart, takes a radically different view of reporting on the toy world. The new magazine debuted at the San Diego Comicon and has been working very hard to keep the issues rolling. Included in this issue are articles and interviews featuring Lou Ferrigno, Toy Biz sculptor Phil Ramirez, Clayburn Moore, and Freddie Krueger himself, Robert Englund. Also check out some Captain Simian and the Space Monkey's prototype shots and a first look at the preliminary sculpts for the Resident Evil line. Add in a "movie" featuring Kankichi Ryotsu and a bunch of other kooky features and you get a lot of content for your buck. Brookhart promises even more in the next issue which will feature pre-Toy Fair coverage and a new toy "movie" re-enacting the battle of Hoth for all you Star Wars fans.

AFN&TR delivers its usual mix of new toy shots, a smattering of news and info and the requisite price guide and investment advice related to toys. The highlight of the issue is Gus Lopez's debunking of the Rocket-Firing Boba Fett urban legend that has plagued the hobby for years. It's an in depth examination of the facts and rumors surrounding the phenomenon that seems to resurface every few months with the inevitable "my friend had one of those! Swear to God!". Add some G.I. Joe and Transformers coverage with some nice shots of the latest Star Wars variations, Galoob's final action figure line, Starship Troopers and you have this issue of AFN&TR.

Rounding out this volley of new magazines is the debut of an all-in-one type of pop culture mag called Riot. In the wake of the recently announced demise of Combo magazine, another group of stout-hearted publishers have launched an attempt to be all things to everyone in the comics, toys, movies and TV genres. Unfortunately for toy enthusiasts, the debut issue comes up a bit short on content and what is present consists of stale news (but to their defense, this is probably more due to publishing lags than to anything else). Sadly, the greatest contribution the magazine chooses to make with regard to toys is the addition of yet another price guide. While we'll leave it to you to decide if the values contained therein are of any use, we do find it to be curiously incomplete. It omits such hugely popular lines as X-Men and Spider-Man while including things such as Thundercats. If this magazine hopes to capture the hearts (and wallets) of toy fans, they'd be well advised to take a look at what readers find valuable in a toy magazine.

That does it for this update on the newsstand!

Galoob follows through on their promise to supply hungry pre-teens with their hearts desires: Spice Girls fashion dolls! Standing a whopping 11 1/2 inches high, these British babes are sure to light up even the stuffiest stockings this yuletide. Sporting amazingly accurate likenesses of the swinging songtresses, these miniature human replicas do everything but sing! * Heck, we bet even Clint Eastwood will pick up a few of these for the mantlepiece to give his Oscar some company!

*they also do not do anything else.

The new Adam's Star Wars Newsletter is up! Issue #24 has lots of new stuff and coverage of the aformentioned Arizona Star Warz convention! Go check it out to find out about more Expanded Universe figures and the sad news about an upcoming price increase.

Also, the Kenner Cantina Pop-up is now available from the Star Wars Insider magazine for $6 + pops + shipping. Go pick up the current issue for more info.

The recent Arizona Star Warz Convention yielded more new pictures of the latest Star Wars toys shown by Kenner. The Guide to Kenner Star Wars Toys page has some nice shots courtesy of Brandon Vise, including Ishi Tib, Zuckuss, the new Speeder Bike, the Wampa and the Rancor!

And now there's even better shots at Philip Wise's great Star Wars Page!

The ongoing battle for control of Marvel Comics reached a frenzy today, with the filing of a lawsuit by Marvel against key Toy Biz personnel. Comic book maker Marvel Entertainment Group Inc, which currently is in bankruptcy proceedings, filed suit Thursday against financier Ronald Perelman and others, claiming they are responsible for the company's collapse.

The suit, which also names Toy Biz Inc principal shareholders Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter, seeks -- among other things -- to allow Marvel to take control of Toy Biz's board. The lawsuit, which also names Chase Manhattan Corp and other banks, also seeks to strip its bank lenders of their collateral, and to otherwise subordinate the banks' claims. The suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware also claims damages against Perelman, who took the company public in 1991. The suit alleges Perelman improperly transferred Marvel's toy licensing rights to Toy Biz in 1993; over-leveraged the company; and orchestrated an unwarranted bankruptcy filing in an effort to maintain ownership of Marvel.

This follows on the heels of Marvel Entertainment's firing of Avi Arad as head of Marvel licensing, claiming that he made deals that were unfair to Marvel but benefited Toy Biz, and therefore has a conflict of interest. Marvel's Chairman of the Board, Carl C. Icahn, stated, ``While we did not want to resort to litigation, we felt that it was imperative that we stop Toy Biz's improper actions and resolve other uncertainties that are hovering over our Company in order to stop the current downward spiral.'' Icahn added, ``We feared that the exodus of personnel that Marvel has suffered since rumors of Toy Biz's purported merger proposal surfaced would continue unless we took this decisive action to address past improper conduct and to enable Marvel to move toward a reorganization plan that will allow us to emerge from Chapter 11 and restore this great Company.''

Countering the accusations brought about in the lawsuit, Toy Biz presented their views late today in this press release: "Marvel's lawsuit against Toy Biz is without merit and clearly an act of desperation as the Toy Biz plan of reorganization for Marvel gains more support from Marvel's senior secured lenders. This shotgun litigation is not a surprise, given Carl Icahn's history of bullying tactics. His reputation as a corporate terrorist has manifested itself through Marvel's bankruptcy."

Joseph Ahearn, Toy Biz Chief Executive Officer and President, said, ``Marvel's filing of this suit was done not to benefit its creditors and shareholders but to benefit a disgruntled proposed buyer of Marvel -- Mr. Icahn. Now that Mr. Icahn has found that he cannot buy the house he is choosing to burn it down. While Mr. Icahn's press release says that the lawsuit 'is critical' to save Marvel from liquidation, its true purpose is to maintain Mr. Icahn's noose around the neck of this beleaguered Chapter 11 debtor. Given this act of self-interest on the part of Mr. Icahn, Toy Biz would fully support the appointment of a neutral bankruptcy trustee. In fact, that may be the only way to insure an orderly resolution of this bankruptcy filing. I find it hard to understand how the members of Marvel's Board of Directors who have a fiduciary responsibility to Marvel's secured lenders could act in a manner which so clearly contradicts the desire of a growing number of those lenders to support a merger with Toy Biz. "

Whether or not any of this will effect the November 14 deadline set by the court for a settlement of matters is unknown. We'll let you know more as it develops. To get a clearer view of the history of this year-long feud, go look at the Marvel Stock Information page.

A new hero has entered the market, made by a new company. The concept behind A.D.A.M. is an independant comic about "Jim Hawkins, a scientist who discovers a way to combine the DNA of Superman and Spider-Man with the DNA of Adam the first man. Now when Jim Hawkins gets emotionally stirred, his eyes glow red and his powers kick in making him capable of scaling walls like an insect and feats of superb strength, speed and flight. Jim dons his costume and fights crime as a hero known as A.D.A.M. But there is one problem, Jim has no control over any of it. He could become powerless at any given time!"

While we can't vouch for the comic, which seems to be a strange combo of many superhero origins, the 10" action figure seems pretty nifty. With features like magnetic hands and feet and light up eyes this figure can stick to any metal surface. It also has 14 points of articulation. No word on who exactly is manufacturing it, but A.D.A.M. should be available at comic shops soon. Go check out www.a-d-a-m.com for more info.

� Mark Goldman, president and CEO, stated, "Star Wars is among our most profitable lines. In contrast, our investments in high-risk male action properties competing with Star Wars have generated losses in 1996 and 1997. Going forward, particularly as the new films are released, we cannot envision a reason for us to compete against the enormous power of Star Wars -- our most important asset -- so we won't."

All development on future action figure lines has been stopped. Galoob's restructured product portfolio will feature toys based on Star Wars; on its long-term first look agreements with Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox; its Micro Machines® core brand; continuing and new product lines in miniature dolls; and on additional product categories of toys.

Among these new offerings will be a line of fashion dolls based on pop music's flavor-of-the-moment, the Spice Girls. These 11 1/2 " dolls should be in stores in time for Christmas to cash in on Spice-mania.

Galoob's potentially final action figure line is in stores now. Starship Troopers are just now beginning to see retail shelves across the country in conjunction with the TriStar motion picture of the same name. The line contains six basic action figures including Bug Thrasher Carmen Ibanez (shown right), Jet Pack Ace Levy, Toxic Raider Ace Levy, Mega Marauder Johnny Rico, Firestorm Johnny Rico, and Cyber Commando Sugar Watkins. You can see all of the Starship Trooper action figures and other related toys at Galoob's web site.

Goldman concluded, "The restructured product portfolio reduces the risk of profit dilution, enhances the value of our central franchises, and positions the Company to maximize our future Star Wars growth opportunity."

Only time will tell what the future of action figure properties might be at Galoob. However, for the foreseeable future, there will be no more action figures from the nation's #3 toymaker.

And to the right, you'll see the new Thanos from the upcoming Silver Surfer line. This isn't the same Thanos that showed up in the now defunct Fantastic Four line. It's a brand new sculpt and should make a great addition to this line when it gets its big push in the coming months.

Speaking of exclusives, the new Marvel's Gold figure from Neogenesis is Power Man. Go see him and get ordering info at Tomart's page.

We've been looking into the rumors you hear on other sites. Many other sites post rumors and when these go uninvestigated, they often get repeated as fact. For example, we've gotten quite a bit of mail about Toy Biz assortments called "A Rogue's Tale" and X-Babies. According to Toy Biz product manager Jesse Falcon, these are both just fabrications or wishful thinking. So if you hear a rumor, let us know and if we can, we'll look into it and try to give you the facts and not just idle speculation. Isn't that what you want from a News page anyway?

Title says it all, Baby! Thanks to the great folks at Hasbro, we are able to show you just about all of the action figure sections of their catalog. Check out what's coming out in the near future, including new Star Wars, Batman animated, Mummies alive! , Quest for Camelot, GI Joe, SLU, Lost World, Batman & Robin, Legends of Dark Knight, transformers, and Alien:Resurrection. We could have showed you all the Nerf and Tonka stuff, but I think we would've passed out from typing at that point! Enjoy!
Just so we don't get a lot of people wondering about it, no Superman:The Animated Series toys were pictured in the catalog, due to their being shown at Toy Fair 1998.

In addition to the upcoming Gen 13 action figure line, Wildstorm has now announced that another new series will be released, this one based on the art of Joe Chiodo. The first two figures will be Jungle Girl and Bikini Girl. Judging by the pictures above, these look to be non-articulated, although these might be rough prototypes or even highly detailed artwork. Time will tell if these Skyboltz creations will stand tall among today's crop of action figures.

Kenner has announced that many of the 1997 exclusives will be available in wide release in 1998.

There have been a few persistent rumors that we keep getting mail about so we decided to get the facts and lay some of these speculations to rest. First of all, there is no Toy Biz assortment planned called X-Men Omega (supposedly an extension of the Age of Apocalypse line....look for more AoA figures in 1998, just not this assortment).

"Good luck waiting for that assortment." laughed Toy Biz product manager Jesse Falcon.

Another rumor that just won't die is that Toy Biz will be making figures based on the Michael J. Fox film trilogy, Back to the Future. Again, totally untrue.

When asked about his take on all the false rumors spread around, Falcon had this to say, "I guess there are a lot of bored people out there who want to seem important."

The last rumor has been hanging around for months and involves the now defunct Total Justice line from Kenner. It's actually a two part rumor. Here are the facts. There was a preliminary plan for a fourth series of Total Justice. The fourth series was to have included Blue Beetle, Dr. Polaris, and new versions of Flash and Green Lantern. The fourth series was not to include Martian Manhunter or Wonder Woman. In addition, the real fourth series is not planned to be a retailer exclusive. Unless a miracle happens, the Total Justice line will end with the last assortment, currently on shelves.

We hope that clears up these pesky little rumors. Feel free to spread the truth. And let 'em know where you heard it!

The have been showing up at import shops and other specialty stores. Expect to pay about $20 each for these figures. However, some stores do offer a discount if you buy the entire set.

A brand new magazine has hit the stands from the Star Wars Galaxy Magazine. The special one-shot magazine, The Official Guide to Star Wars Toys, has any number of things to get the average Star Wars fan drooling. Star Wars guru Steve Sansweet answers your questions and acts as senior editor for the magazine. There's an interview with a variety of members of the Star Wars toy design team including Rick Ruskin, Team Leader for the Star Wars toys. Get a glimpse of the latest and thegreatest merchandise of all types from the Star Wars universe. There's even a profile of the most prominent collectors on the Internet, Gus Lopez, Paul Levesque, Chris Georgoulias, and Martin Thurn. Round it out with a price guide and dealer section, throw in a few other entertaining pieces and you have a jam-packed magazine for Star Wars fanatics.

A source from deep inside Kenner has sent up more news on what's to be shown this year at Toy Fair! Included in the POFT2 line are some choices that should make those of you who never finished that 1983 Return of the Jedi collection happy. New sculpts are slated for Ree-Yees, Barada, Squid Head, and Prune Face. Rounding out the new versions of the original twelve SW figures is the Death Squad Commander. And look for a great new three pack of Jabba's dancers from the ROTJ:SE. We hear that the Rystall sculpt looks fantastic.

The next internet exclusive offered through the Hasbro Star Wars web page is 90% confirmed to be an Oola/Salacious Crumb two-pack. Remember though, the B'omarr Monk offer has a ways to go before it's over, so please don't bother Jen over there for information for awhile.

Confirmed for the Extended Universe assortment is Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Heir to the Empire novel, in addition to Kyle Katarn and a Dark Trooper from the Dark Forces video game.

And more news on the animated front at Warner Brothers.

Although the rumor about an Adventures in the DC Universe series has been pretty much debunked, what is next at WB? Well, according to our sources, none other than Jack Kirby's creation Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth is gearing up for pre-production! For those of you unfamiliar with this tale, it takes place in a "Planet of the Apes" type scenario, on a future Earth with Kamandi being the only normal surviving human, battling monsters and humanoid creatures. Even the legend of Superman is fading, but Kamandi battles on. Might be a really neat series, and possible toy line.

But what DC fans are really going to be happy to hear is the announcement that WB Animation is going forward with a series of two-hour films based on DC characters, in the vein of the upcoming Batman:Sub-Zero! First up is a Fourth World film, already in production, and then Shazam, followed (in no particular order) by Wonder Woman, the Spectre, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Flash. Speaking of Sub-Zero, it looks like the new target date for release is Easter 1998. We'll report more details as we get them.

The new issue of White's Guide to Collecting Figures in on the stands and the results are in for their "100 Most Popular Personalities on Earth" promotion. The big winner is Gene who edged out her competition, Barbie. White's still maintains that they will seek permission to create figures of each of the 100 winners. Only time will tell how this all turns out.

The rest of the magazine contains the usual hodge podge of articles covering the spectrum of the collecting world. From Nightmare Before Christmas to Waterworld and Congo to Barbie and Gene, there is a little bit here for almost everyone. But probably just a little bit.

Toy Biz is gearing up for a huge year of cool-sounding stuff. Here's a rundown of more stuff to expect for 1998.

Remember that Classic Vulture (the bald, old one we all know and love)? Well, he was bumped from his original line-up, but he's back! He'll be included in another assortment next year. And just in time for Halloween, we can announce that the assortment will contain Jack O'Lantern. How appropriate. Rounding out the assortment are the requisite Spidey and Silver Sable. Too bad we won't get these until next year. I guess we'll have to be patient.

Another exciting Spider-Man assortment will contain Spidey (duh), Madame Web, Red Skull, and a new sculpt of Sandman. Look for some cool accessories, vehicles and playsets to accompany these releases. And to round out the Spidey news, expect three new 12" figures of Spidey, Venom and Black Cat! These will come without the extra costumes that accompanied earlier releases in this line.

Xena fans take heart! Your pleas have been heard. Loud and clear! Toy Biz has a new Xena line in development. The 6" line will contain Gabrielle, Callisto, and two versions of Xena. Another line of 12" figures is also planned to include Xena, Gabrielle, and Callisto. Toy Biz showed Lucy Lawless the sculpts of her figures and she was reportedly very pleased. The folks from Toy Biz caught up with Ms. Lawless just before going on stage in her current Broadway project, Grease. Xena fans should be pleased.

Toy Biz gets Evil! As you've no doubt heard, we're going to be seeing a line based on the massively popular video game, Resident Evil. We now have a few more details on this line which is causing quite a buzz.

Due in April, the first assortment will contain figures of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, the Hunter and the Zombie. Also planned is a massive 8" Tyrant! These figures are going to turn a few heads.

The new Silver Surfer line is going to get a big push in 1998. With two planned assortments, look for lots of galactic figures. In addition to the assortment already announced, look for an assortment with a new Thanos, Drax and two Surfers. Then we will get an assortment with Nova, Ronan the Accuser, a Silver Surfer, and possibly a new Adam Warlock. The Adam Warlock figure is still up in the air. Inside reports say that Toy Biz was not real happy with figure and may resculpt it or drop it altogether. Only time will tell for sure.

We can't forget X-Men. Look for more X-figures including an assortment with Colossus, Beast, Wolverine and Apocalypse. The biggest news is the International release of the Battle Blasters line. This redeco line caused quite a buzz among collectors because of its inclusion on a Mohawk Storm. These were originally slated for a domestic U.S. release in August but was pulled. So now it looks like you'll have to head to Canada to snag these babies.

The first assortment for the Marvel's Most Wanted line has been tentatively set. Look for survey winning Blink and X-Man to lead off the assortment. And batting clean-up (ok, so it ain't fourth....but it's only a three figure assortment so sue me) look for the previously unreleased Hemmingway. This figure wasn't on the survey per se, but fan reaction from this figure at shows and conventions has been so overwhelming that it's been given the green light. Look for all the results of our Marvel's Most Wanted Survey to appear next week. We'll give you the complete rundown with comments from the folks at Toy Biz to boot!

You may have read that the second assortment of the "Mego-esque" 8" Classic Covers figures would include Captain America, Thor, Dr. Doom and Hellcat. Well, the first three are correct, but Hellcat has been replaced by Dark Phoenix. We'll let you in on a few other tidbits about this line in our survey results next week. I'm such a tease, ain't I?

There's still a hodge podge of other offerings to be mentioned. Look for two 12" figures of Dan Akroyd and John Goodman to be released in conjunction with the new Blues Brothers 2000 movie. These will have cloth outfits. Also look for both 12" and 8" Nightman figures to go along with the new syndicated television show. And don't forget the Blade the Vampire Hunter figures that will accompany the Wesley Snipes film of the same name.

Believe it or not, there is still more cool stuff yet to be announced for 1998 from Toy Biz. We'll keep you informed about all the info as soon as we can. Whew!

Hasbro has been granted the exclusive right to manufacture Star Wars toys and games for the next three Star Wars Prequels. The agreement with Lucas Licensing Ltd. continues to give Hasbro worldwide rights to core action figures, vehicles and games, plus additional Star Wars categories, including electronic hand-held games, die-cast vehicles and creative play products. Tiger Electronics previously held the hand-held game license.

In a separate agreement, Hasbro also said it has acquired long-term preferential negotiation rights from Lucasfilm Ltd. for the same categories of toys based on new Lucasfilm movies. This might be a good sign for Indiana Jones fans in regard to the upcoming fourth film in that series. Hasbro's deal was announced on the same day that Galoob Toys Inc. said it had its own exclusive arrangement with Lucas to make small-scale figures, vehicles, playsets and accessories for the next three Star Wars films.