Man of Steel | Bootlegs Emerge on Ebay

Faster than a speeding bullet!!! More generic than Soda Cola... Able to mimic major brands to a negligible degree... IT'S.....

BOOTLEG TOYS!!!

These gems surfaced this week as I was shaking ebay down for new releases and checking regional distributions. I went in looking for Zod but came out having seen the very depraved edge of toy copydom.

 

This beautiful set features the Man of Steel himself in his classic colors, Zod in his trademark black, and Superman in his dream sequence black costume. What is peculiar about this release is that the actual Black Suit Superman is only hitting markets just as recently as this week so it is quite the coincidence that this makes its appearance when it does.

 

First we'll take a look at Superman. At first he looks like a pretty faithful copy of the original we are seeing in stores. On closer inspection the details start to betray the figure as we loose about 50% of the articulation. It appears that we are left with swivel hips, waist, and neck, along with hinge elbows and knees. I would not count on these figures featuring balljoint necks or shoulders.

The "S" Glyph as it will now be referred tois also a smoothed version without all the texturing that we see on the legitimate model. a peculiar change being that may have actually required some extra effort outside of simply recasting the figure. But hey... bootleggers can take pride in their work as well I guess.

 

Second we have our Superman in Black Suit. This is quite a treat since of course this figure is being released currently so that means this effort was underway for quite some time. Pointing towards factory insiders who may find themselves privy to paintmasters or paint schematics. This doppleganger even features the blackened "Heat Vision" eyes that were included with the official release for some weird reason.  The same articulation applies here as the body is identical to the original version.

 

We've seen the good.. we've seen the bad... now we have the fungly. Zod is the most special of this set as the bootleggers chose to use a blackened Superman torso instead of a new mold for the Kryptonian baddie. Times are tough... cut corners. Zod features all the same articulation of the other 2 figures but atleast features his own unique head cast. This is a funny set to have run into and I'll probably order a couple for novelty sake. If there was a rating system for bootlegs I would give it 4 out of 5 Derps.

While identity is key in this set, I'll let the SuperZod slip. The casting thus far seems to be pretty faithful though it will be subject to the pitfalls of EXTREMELY CHEAP manufacturing as seen in most bootlegs. While I have been schooled countless times on the difference between bootlegs, fakes and reproductions I will always call unofficial mass produced figures and products bootlegs.

Man of Steel | SDCC Exclusive Revealed

Mattel has released images of the 2013 SDCC Exclusive Man of Steel 2 Pack

Every year, Mattel has one of the largest toy presences at Comic-Con, and they’re again bringing a host of cool exclusives, including a special ‘Man of Steel’ box set ($50.00).

They’re battling it out on the big screen, but Superman and General Zod bring their fight home in the two-pack. (And Zod comes packing with a steel girder! Look out, Supes!)

Superman looks intense usually but when he really needs to take charge he breaks out the heat vision. Push a button on the back of his figure and his eyes light up to add drama to a fiery situation.
San Diego Comic Con takes place 07/17/13 – 07/21/13

Via USA Today

GeekSummit Summary:
While I nearly figured that all of these features would be included I'm surprised that Zod is not the character getting the heat vision feature and Superman a more deluxe looking fabric cape. While I am always a fan of fabric over vinyl the cape does betray scale a bit and I HATE those rubber tops. The transitions are always made to be blocky and there's no good way to do it via Mattel.

Also is this possibly the only way we get bearded Zod in the Kryptonian skin suit? Would we have rather gotten Superman/Zod with ab crunch and fabric cape options?

So what do you think?

Man of Steel | SPOILERS A PLENTY!!!

A batch of Man of Steel spoilers have landed online from a yet to be released book, "Man of Steel Inside The Legendary Word of Superman."

• Superman's suit is actually a Kryptonian environmental suit that appears to be used to help navigate the Kryptonian vessels which are actually alive.

• The Phantom Zone projector is located in Krypton's orbit.

• The Black Zero, a prison barge, is the ship that takes the criminals to the Phantom Zone, located in subspace.

• Krypton's explosion causes Zod to be able to take control of Black Zero and becomes his flagship.

• The Black Zero also has a squadron of drones associated with it - smaller ships.

• Zod mentally torments Superman, as seen with the recent skulls image enveloping Superman from the latest trailer, which is said to be a dream sequence.

• Superman as a tyrant is part of the dream sequence with the Man of Steel in an all black version of the suit, as Zod is in essence tempting him like the Devil.

• It's said that as comic fans you want to see a flying fist-fight scene.

• We learn more about the Fortress of Solitude, which we learned the origin for in the Man of Steel prequel comic book. It's organic; full of Kryptonian artifacts; environmental skinsuits which becomes Superman's costume; powers up after 18,000 years; bursts from the ice to land in a mountaintop.

• Zod is sentenced to 300 years of reconditioning in the Phantom Zone.

• Kyrptonians gave up space travel; they put together Black Zero through spare parts, sort of "hot wired it."

• We learn that the birth of Kal-El was natural and highly illegal on Krypton. Krypton has a caste system where each person is genetically designed. Jor-El and Lara wanted to create the first free Kryptonian, which places them in extreme danger.

• House of El command key is inside baby Kal-El's ship.

• There are robots on Krypton and mention of a Genesis Chamber.

Source: CosmicBookNews

Man of Steel | TARGET 5 PACK REVEALS NEW CHARACTER: SPOILERS….

While strolling through target this afternoon I couldn't help but notice the huge silhouette of Justice league characters at the endcap. HOORRAYY!!! They finally bulldozed of that pile of TMNT and IronMan peg warmers!!!

While perusing the DC/Man of Steel display I looked down and saw this HUGE figure in a target Exclusive 5 pack. The 5-Pack includes Superman in standard presentation as well as Kryptonian Armor, Jorel in Armor, Zod, and then this King Daddy towering over the rest of the characters.

His name is Namek… Who? You know… Namek… YOU KNOW… Name… K… Kryptonian Name… Did I solve this Lucasian Anagram? Probably not as I hope it has a much deeper meaning.
Anyway Namek appears to be either Zod's right hand or possibly his boss. there's no telling really at this point. Having seen the newest trailer (#5) there is a HUGE pari of hands pinning Superman down. this could possibly be Namek himself about to take some fire up his nose.

Google won't turn up much for you but I'm assuming this is an all new character conjoured up to unlevel the playing field a bit. this could also possibly be the HUGE character we see bounding upwards towards Superman from the very first trailers. Either way… entertain your curiosity and try and dig something up on this guy!!!

Man of Steel | The Official Movie Guide

While sweeping through Wal-Mart on my lunch break I swung through the electronics to find a miniature display for Man of Steel. They had T-Shirts up to 2XFanboy so I picked one up and also this AWESOME Official Movie Guide book. Finally we get to see a little more of their marketing photography as well as some screen captures from the movie. Very interesting shots for sure.

Have a look!!!

 

 

 

Man of Steel | Play Arts Jor El & Faora

New shots out of an asian collector even show is the first shots of Play Arts Kai Square Enix' Man of Steel line of figures. This round we have Jor El & Faora coming soon!!!

Man of Steel | Screenshots from TV Spot #3

Man of Steel's 3rd TV Spot has hit the net. Below are a few screenshots revealing new imagery not seen in previous trailers.

Man of Steel | UPDATE Movie Masters Wave 2 Package Shots

More new surfacing on Movie Masters Wave 2 for Man of Steel. Wave 2 will feature repacks of Superman and Zod both with added accessories as well as Zod in Armor and Foara in Armor. These are looking pretty nice. I would only say look forward with caution as Zod is packed in a dramatic pose that I see endangering those bicep swivels. That's just me. But hey... atleast we're just buying him for the accesories!!! Yay Mattel!!!