Man of Steel | SDCC DC Movie Masters Superman vs General Zod Movie Pack

Mattel has revealed their next exclusive for San Diego Comic-Con 2013: a DC Man of Steel Movie Masters Superman vs General Zod Movie Pack.

 This 2-pack brings to life the super charged battle between two powerful Kryptonians, Superman™ and the General Zod, an exciting diorama set in the city of Metropolis! The package features lights that simulate Superman’s Heat Ray vision, and shows off the Kryptonian’s super strength and flying ability. The diorama is completed with sound effects to help bring the scene to life. Full image will be available on 6/17.

This product will be available for pre-order at MattyCollector.com on June 4, 2013, to be picked up at San Diego Comic-Con (details to come). It will also be available for purchase at the show, then at MattyCollector.com on August 5, 2013.

Credit: ToyArk.com 

Man of Steel | Wal-Mart Comes out Swinging with Exclusives

I ran out on my lunch break this morning to peruse the triangle of megachains around my office building to see who if anyone was jumping the gun for this weekend's street date on Man of Steel action figures. Who would it be?

WAL-MART... Always!

 First we have our Mega Figure Set. Standing 10" tall this pair of figures feature twist/punch and sounds/phrases. These are pretty sharp looking for kids toys. I may end up suckering in on these and picking up a set. 

Then on to the 3.75" Exclusive Powers of krypton figures. These are your typical kid friendly gadget driven figures sure to accompany ANY Superhero movie. All figures have a light up feature in either the crest or in their HUGE ExPloD-O arms.

Solar Power Superman and Energy Punch Superman both have these action launcher appendages which replaces the right arm. These carry the light feature in the arms.

Then we have the most classic versions of these 4 offered; Heat Vision Superman and Blade Blaze Zod. I opted for these since they were the plainest presentations of both characters. Both of these figures carry the light up feature in the chest. The emblem blows out pretty bright as the body itself is transparent/lucent as well so it has quite a glow to it. So I decided to take Good and Evil home in equal shares to give you a quick preview of what we'll see in these Exclusive releases.

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The packaging is much more attractive and dynamic than the Movie Masters for sure. Still red-heavy but definitely more eye catching.

 

With much more product to display of course the field is opened up a little bit but definitely a nice presentation for these picture box displays. We also get a glimpse of some vehicles available either in this exclusive offering from Wal-Mart or possibly across the board from all retailers.

An exploded view of the packaging reveals a peak at the inner tray showing a skyline of sprawling Metropolis in the background through an orange dusky burst.

In the package the figures are activated through a cut in the window of the box. Once opened they are activated by a protruding button on fthe backs of the figures. 
 

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Ahhh. Freed from their plastic prisons lets check out our accessories. First is the awesome heat vision blast accessory that comes with our Hero. This really makes the figure. I could throw the rest away.

 

The figures themselves look pretty cool for 3.75" with limited articulation. If I were to gripe about anything it would be their inability to stand on their own. Between the "heavy" gear and the awkward weapons, the figures themselves are pretty light and don't stand on their feet so well. But your results may vary. The added plastic in the buttox/thigh tends to give the figure a 1degree lean that throws him off balance.

 Here with the gear now we see Superman's heat vision could use a boost with this "House of El" blaster and goggle combo complete with transparent red football padding. Zod features a translucent tank top version of his screen incarnated Battle Armor.

 And here are our 'tagonists duking it out with a jabfest in closing. Thanks for looking. Get out there and find your own!!! There's bound to be all sorts of surprises in the coming weeks!!! Feel free to notify me, I'll keep a running tab for all to see!!!

WHAT DID YOU FIND?

Boba Fett Kitbash Prototype Figure

Note to Self... Let's make one...

Star Wars | New Vintage 12" Stormtrooper Bootlegs Emerge

Crazy Toys Brings us a NEW 12" Vintage Stormtrooper

Well, let me start by saying that even though these are (bootlegs-knock-offs-reproductions-fakes) not official vintage Star Wars merchandise, to myself the Star Wars (and especially Stormtrooper) fan these are one of the greatest things I've ever seen. Though it could be seen as offensive on both Vintage and Gentle Giant's Star Wars efforts, I welcome ANY well done incarnation of simply my favorite toy EVER... In childhood... fist full of '77 stormtroopers... In adolesence... fist fulls of '95 Froot Loops Han Solo Stormtoroopers... In adulthood... Way too many stormtroopers for a grown man. And now? It has come to this... Basically a matched effort of Gentle Giant's 12" line. I do not have one in hand... (yet) but minus the dookie packaging job (once again) these almost seem to be more authentic looking than GG's figure. Sadly they may just be direct copies. @ half the price.

With the release of the Gentle Giant's 12" line my interest was peaked in a neighborly way but I say let folks reboot their collection with an entire array of 12" vinyl figures @ $100 a pop, but not me sir... not in this house... not tonight!!! Though I debated for months on tracking down a 12" trooper to call my own I just couldn't get past the fact that these were just blow mold/rotocast heavy vinyl Hamilton Gifts quality 12" figures... for $100? I'm essentially paying for the fact that shipping and the size of these things prevent them from being able to have a retail presence with these pieces. It's enough to make me seek a reasonably priced substitute... for me there is Crazy Toys out of China/Hong Kong. Most likely under an illegitimate contract to produce these figures much like the now repackaged 3.75" figures, now making their second rounds on the interweb, will be debated ONCE AGAIN as abominations to vintage collecting.

 

This time around the packaging is very plain but different enough in format to be a little more "classy". Its a plain black design featuring photos of the figure itself (or its original moldsake) with the figures blister packed on a fold over resealable plastic case fitted to its carboard backer. If I had to guess... the backside of this is either plain brown paper or just more repeated photography with no mention of trademarks or copyrights or anything like that. But anyway back to the footlong model...

As you can see the figure is a pretty faithful DoppleTrooper to the 3.75" figure as well as the Gentle Giant 2-ups. It could even possibly be sourced from an original 2-up. That would make this a pretty authentic step figure to the vintage figures. I don't think it is a direct copy of the Gentle Giant figures though because they (Gentle Giant) seem to me to be less detailed as a casualty of their process where as this one seems to be a very sharp direct cast and copy of an authentic production figure. Regardless of its origins or deceitful existence though, I will be excited to have one of these on my shelf.

I think these shots featuring the Gentle Giant artwork behind is possibly more of a bait a switch tactic photographically to draw the eye in. I doubt we will see much color inside or in back of the packaging on these. It comes in a plain window box (with no plastic) with its badly photoshopped Star Wars logo dropped at the bottom (I hate Bevel and Emboss).

But the nice thing about this figure (initially) is that there is no way to confuse it with a legitimate vintage product. But then we go back to Gentle Giant legitimately having the license to produce their work as is now being subverted by Crazy Toys... and doing a damn fine job of it.

Either way... hate if you must... I'm getting one.

Man of Steel | UPDATE Movie Masters Wave 2 Photos Surface

More good news!! A South American buyer got a hold of these new Wave 2 figures and posted these shots on ActionFigureInsider's Mattel forums. Here are the shots and new insights into Wave 2's initial offerings:

Faora

Doesn't seem to have come with any accessories. She does feature a custom "F" Shield

 General Zod

General Zod is a further aged version of the initial Zod released in wave 1. This one sports the battle armor as well as his helmet be it for battle or space travel. Also comes with "Z/U" stand.

 

 

Superman

Superman sees an immediate participation in wave 2 with these additional accessories. He comes with an "S sheild Key" and apparently some part of the chains to hoist the Fortress of Solitude doors perhaps? 

Man of Steel | Empire Magazine features new photo reveals

Emprire magazine will feature two collectable covers for the Man of Steel Edition coming Soon.