ToyFare goes Monthly!
Wizard magazine's new venture has hit the stands, with an mail-in offer for an exclusive Bullseye figure, shown at right.
Other features include: Toy Biz's new 8" "Mego" figures, an interview with the Kenner Star Wars team, a tour of the Spawn sculpters' studio, news, contests, and much more!
See below for exclusives to be offered in future issues.
News Briefs:
Toy Biz has announced new exclusives, this time for the discount chain BJ's. They are two 8-packs:
Marvel Secret Wars 8 pack: Magneto, Hulk, Doctor Doom, Thing, Captain America, Symbiotic Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Spider-Woman.
Maximum Clonage 8-Pack: Sandman, Spidercide, Jackal, Scarlet Spider, Kaine, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, and Ben Reilly Spider-Man. Both 8-packs will consist of repaints or rereleases. We don't have BJ's down in Texas, so we don't know where they are. But here is their corporate address: BJ Wholesale Club, 1 Mercer Road Natick, Maine 01560.
At the recent Licensing International 1997 show many new properties were unveiled. Toy Biz will be making X-Men vs. Street Fighter figures, and an animated style Silver Surfer line. MTV is in talks with Moore Action Collectibles for figures of characters such as "Aeon Flux".
Toy Biz Goes for the Gold
Here is Marvel's Gold Iron Fist figure from ToyBiz premiered at the Chicago Comicon.
This 5" figure from ToyBiz will feature a simulated leather "gi" (robe).
Strictly limited to 10,000 pieces, the price will be $10 + $5 shipping & handling.
It will be offered in next month's issues of Tomart's AFD and Lee's AFN&TR
through a new mailorder company named "NeoGenesis" Collectible Creations.
Sources indicate that Power Man is a strong possibility. More details as they become available.
Toy Fare Subscriber Bonus!
Yet another exclusive figure repaint from Wizard's ToyFare magazine. This time around, it's She Hulk dressed in her Fantastic Four uniform. To obtain the green beauty, one must purchase a year's subscription to either Wizard or Toy Fare. Inserts will be found in Toy Biz action figures later this year. No mention of just how limited she will be, but it's a safe bet that they'll all be gone pretty quickly.
Updates
The new Spider-Man Web Wars assortment pictures that are commented on below are apparently computer-generated artwork demonstrating the line-up, not the actual figures. For now, we will assume that what was shown at Toy Fair is indeed what will hit the shelves come October. We will let you know if further clarification is announced.
Also, James at Action Zone has announced that the X-Men Battle Blasters assortment of repaints is no longer being solicited by Toy Biz . However, it is too early to write off this line entirely as Toy Biz sources indicate that the line may appear eventually, but is on indefinite hold for now. No explanation why at this point, but possible retailers were tired enough of slow selling repaints not to order them. Could this herald a total rejection of repaints? Only time will tell.
Red Al Simmons unveiled!
The Red repaint of the Al Simmons figure from McFarlane's Total Chaos line surfaced at this year's DragonCon in Atlanta. While not a convention exclusive, that was the only place to pick one of these puppies up until they are available this Fall through the McFarlane Toy Club. It will be a limited run figure.
Special thanks to Chris Morello for the picture.
NewsBriefs:
FAO Schwarz will have an exclusive Spiderman/Deathlok two-pack this Fall. According to Toy Biz, the Original X-Men boxed set will be only $25.00. It had been confirmed that this Christmas there will be a new BTAS assortment reflecting the changes in the show's design. Look for Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Mad Hatter. Meanwhile, Superman Animated assortment 3 will be pushed back to '98. These include Fortress of Solitude Superman, Anti-Kryptonite Superman, Strong Arm Superman, Supergirl, and Metallo. Kenner is already working on designs for the Superman Lives/Reborn figures to tie-in with the 1998 movie.
Two Daredevils?
The Spider-Man Web Wars assortment is about to surface on shelves, with a marked change in appearance from when it was shown at Toy Fair 1997.
Every figure in the assortment has gone from the traditional "comic style" look of the line, to a more animated style as seen in the Hulk "Crash 'n Smash" assortment that went immediately to clearance. We know for a fact that what was shown at Toy Fair was specifically sculpted to be those characters, so the question remains: Will Toy Biz reuse those sculpts somewhere else, and will they change the characters if they do? The Daredevil head can already be see on the 10" figure, albeit with a Spider-Man body. Only time will tell. You can see the Web Wars figures next to their Toy Fair counterparts by clicking here or on the pic of Ol' Horn Head.
New Batman and Robin cartoon redesigns.
Most of the characters in the BTAS series are getting redesigned for it's afternoon debut on the WB network this fall. Batman is pretty close to the Retro Batman figure that was released a while back, with a more angular look, pointier ears, a pouched utility belt, and no yellow circle around the chest bat. Robin is now a much-younger Tim Drake, and hearkens back to the classic Robin outfit, albeit with slightly different colors. As you can see, Bruce Timm and his designers went nuts with a more cartoony, angular, anime style.While it might not be immediately apparent with some characters like Batgirl, the redesigns are drastically different. For a comparison with the original model sheets, click here. Even though they aren't pictured, all of the villains have been redesigned.
Batgirl will also appear in every one of the 24 new episodes this fall, one reason being that Kenner wants to do an expanded line for the new series!. Also, look for Nightwing to make a few guest appearances. Click on him for a look at some promo art for the show. See Wizard #72 (now on sale) for the whole scoop.
For the scoop on the new animated style B&R movie tie-ins, see below.
Star Wars Pop-Up Cantina!
Cantina Pop-Up Cutoutthat was available exclusively through a coupon shipped with The Spirit of Obi-wan Kenobi mail-in figure from Kenner has arrived! Click on the picture at right to get a brief tour through this amazingly neat premium!
Thanks to Chris Morello for the picture.
Babylon 5 Figure News!
There are three 9-inch figures in pre-production: Captain John Sheridan, Ambassador Delenn, and Ambassador G'Kar.
These are to be available only at TRU's by November 1, tentatively
speaking. They will be added to Exclusive Premiere's web page in
October (http://www.exclusivepremiere.com). This contradicts the information in the Latest Tomart's, but was confirmed by a representative of Exclusive Premiere, the company who incidently also brought us the Three Stooges football figures.
Wonder Man makes Three!
Wonderman is now slated to be the exclusive repaint from TOYFARE magazine for September. He appears to be a simple Archangel II repaint in Wonderman's last costume, with possibly a repainted Dan Ketch/Transforming Ghost Rider head..
To see the exclusives for July and August, look below.
New Tomarts hits the stands!
Tomart Action Figure Digest #42 is now on sale, and features the lowdown and pics of the new Toy Biz 8" Mego-style figures! Plus news and pics of Batman, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Babylon 5. Also, they have pics of the different heads on Water Wars Wolverine that is now on the pegs. Click on the cover to go to their site.
Dr. Seuss toys on the horizon?
Shown at left is a toy apparently shown at Toy Fair in February. We don't know if there were any buyers, who made it, if there were any other items for show, or if it's tied into the "Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss" on Nickelodeon. Does anyone out there know what this is? If so, drop us a line.
X-Men repaints scheduled for August.
The Battle Blasters assortment of X-men has been unveiled for late summer. Repaints coupled with the bases from the final Fantastic Four assortment make for an interesting line-up. Wolverine is AOA Weapon X, Beast is the old beast, Storm is Robot Fighter Storm (with her mohawk!), and Sabretooth is Ninja Sabes.
Release Schedule for Upcoming Toy Biz
The X-Men: Savage
Land, and Missile flyers will be $5.99, regular cost. X-Men: Star
Riders will be $8.00 because of their deluxe space vehicles coming with
them.
X-Men:Onslaught,Avengers,Silver Surfer, and Incredible Hulk:
Transformations (basically any 6" figure) will be $8.00 each.
Spider-Man:Spider Force, Web Wars, and Incredible Hulk: outcasts will be
$5.99 as usual.
The release date of X-Men:Savage Land will be June
. X-Men:Onslaught will be August . X-Men: Star Riders will be
available Sept. while Avengers:Legends of Power, X-Men:Missile
Flyers, Original X-Men Classic Pack will be out late September .
Spider-Man: Spider Force will be out July . Spider-Man: Web Wars and Silver Surfer will be out Sept. , and the Marvel
Famous Covers will be out Nov. 1.
Here are exclusive twinpacks that
will be out (all at Toys R Us, because they said Toys R Us would have a
lot): Love and War (Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike (or could be called Arch-enemies, they don't know
which one it will be called) will be out Sept. , Cyclops and Jean
Grey (in X-Factor uniform)will be out July and the Spider-Man and Mary Jane Christmas
Special will be out Nov. .
All shipping dates subject to change.
Thanks to Bob Dover for tracking this info down.
Unproduced Husk figure from the Generation X line!
Husk was slated to be a part of the Generation X "Juniors" assortment that was planned, but never solicited to buyers. Just one more in an ever longer line of figures that made it to the sculpting stage, but not onto toy shelves.
This figure and others that Toy Biz never mass produced will be featured in the August issue of Toyfare magazine. The picture came from Previews.
Packaged KISS figures.
Here's a look at the soon to be released KISS figures layout in packaged form. While not as much a departure for McFarlane as the newly released Monster sets, the stands that form the band's name really helps set these figures apart.
The Spirit of "Obi-Spawn Kenobi"!
The long-awaited McFarlane Toy Club exclusive figure, Necroplasm Spawn, is finally unveiled to be a greenish translucent Spawn I. A very creepy looking piece, in our opinion. A red version will be offered to the club in the Fall.
Special thanks to Chris Morello for the above two pictures.
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Most of the characters in the BTAS series are getting redesigned for it's afternoon debut on the WB network this fall. Batman is pretty close to the Retro Batman figure that was released a while back, with a more angular look, pointier ears, a pouched utility belt, and no yellow circle around the chest bat. Robin is now a much-younger Tim Drake, and hearkens back to the classic Robin outfit, albeit with slightly different colors.