Toy Fair 2013: Playmobil Pandemic!

Now our pal, Travis Denman, must have seen my Playmobil Advent Calendar coverage from last year because while he was on his recent New York Toy Fair trip he generously snapped me pictures not only of two brand new advent calendars for 2013 (which I'll show at the end), but also all sorts of other crazy Playmobil stuff. Thanks, Trav and Vinylmation Kingdom!

Now, I'm not for a moment suggesting that this hold much interest for the adult collector, but if you have kids then you'd be crazy not to delve into the eclectic, vivid plastic worlds that Playmobil creates. What child wouldn't enjoy the hell out of this insanely fun dinosaur park? Some kind of sissy child, probably. Check this out!

Of course this set up consists of multiple sets but those are some fantastically designed, colourful dinosaurs for your kids to bash each other over the head with. Not to mention that rocking volcano. I need to start picking up some of this stuff as gifts. I can think of at least one new Dad who I know that needs a pink anklyosaurus painfully buried in his bare foot first thing in the morning. I can make that happen, bro!

Join me after the jump for some cool crap plus those new calendars....

Toy Fair 2013: Star Wars Lego!

More Toy Fair 2013 coverage, this time combining two of my favourite things in the last thirty plus years: Lego and Star Wars (just narrowly coming in behind beer and boobs). But first I really can't thank our pal, Travis Denman, and Vinylmation Kingdom enough. They certainly don't owe us anything, and are out there on the frontlines doing all the hard work while I'm stuck on the other side of the globe in a former penal colony. So thanks heaps to those guys for the pictures (which I am going to pick and choose from) and let's begin with my biased commentary. Beginning with the best Lego minifigure of all time...

Holy. Crap.

That there is the first ever minifig of everybody's favourite piano playing space elephant, Max Rebo! The only thing missing is he modesty-protecting underpants! Lego, you ingenious Danish bastards, you have once again out done yourselves!

And to find out what else those crafty characters are up to, join me... after the jump!

Dungeon Heroes Kickstarter Preview: Your Lunch Break Dungeon Crawl

UPDATE: Dungeon Heroes is now on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crashgames/dungeon-heroes-your-lunch-break-dungeon-crawl

I missed my big chance to play Dungeon Heroes at Gen Con with Crash Games' Patrick Nickell and Michael Coe. They had two copies of the two player game, which pits good vs evil, in a quick-to-learn, yet deeply strategic dungeon crawl. Before I knew it, the night was over and I didn't get a chance to play.



But even just watching this game was a blast. Players choose to be the good side (a group of 4 classic heroes represented as polyhedral dice, trekking their way through a traditional dungeon) or the evil side (a secret, sneaky puppeteer controlling the layout and placement of upside down item, trap, and enemy tiles throughout the dungeon). Seeing the actions of an evil dungeon lord pan out is very exciting, but not as exciting as when the good player can overcome the calculated plans of his opponent.

Click through the jump for more!

Pop Vinyl Game of Thrones? Oh All Right Then!

Fantasy epic Game of Thrones sure has a lot of gore and tits, but is it button-eyed and cute enough for us over-zealous consumers? Probably not, but thankfully the gang at Pop Vinyl have a solution! They're releasing delightful, large-headed vinyl figures of your favourite GoT characters, including womanising demon-monkey Tyrion, blood-thirsty monster The Hound, and dreamy rapist Khal Drogo. Put them on your desk at work for a sexy conversation starter.

Imagine the size of the sword that would be required to take out this version of Ned...

Source: Awesome Toy Blog.

Join me after the jump to see the rest of wave one! 

Hot Toys Tease Agent Coulson and Chitauri Footsoldier!

Fresh off their Facebook page, Hot Toys surprise us with a tease of two previously unannounced The Avengers 1/6th scale figures: Agent Phil Coulson and a Chitauri footsoldier! Did not see this coming...

The full figures will be revealed this Friday at the annual Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong event, along with the 1/6th scale Hulk, Iron Man Mark VII, and The Dark Knight Rises Catwoman! HOLY CRAP!

To be honest, I'm not a hardcore enough fan to pick up either Coulson or the Chitauri, but I look forward to seeing them, and I'm pretty sure I'll grab that Hulk, Iron Man and Catwoman! We'll show you those as soon as they break!

Lego Minifigs Series 8 Images Disappoint?

What has impressed me most about Lego's blind-packaged minifigs series is how creatively left-field some of the figure choices have been. We've had minotaurs, sea-kings, rabbit men, the Statue of Liberty, a genie. We've seen a lot of uniquely sculpted pieces and characters we never would have imagined.

Well the much anticipated Lego Minifigs Series 8 have finally been revealed and, for me at least, something is a little rotten in the state of Denmark! There's a few fun figures, but don't a lot of these seem kind of... bland?

Santa, the pirate and even the alien overlord all appear to be close to what we've had in regular sets. We've already had a skiier, and a cheerleader, and that robot helmet has been used before. In fact a lot of these accessories have been used before. Is there much new here? I'm assuming the bat - as cool looking as it is - is readily available in the Monster Fighters line. I kind of dig the DJ and the Shakespearian actor but this is very much looking like the first set that I won't go out of my way to collect. In fact I can't see myself grabbing more than a couple of these.

What do you think?

Source: Awesome Toy Blog

Michael Fassbender + Assassin's Creed = Fassassin's Creed!

I doubt I'll top that title, but resident ass-bender Fassbender is apparently producing and starring in a film adaptation of the hit stabbing-through-history videogame series Assassin's Creed. I can't tell you when it will be set or whether he will be Altair, or Ezio or Super Mario, but I am pretty 100% sure that he will wear a badass costume, probably with a hood, and that he will go out of his way to stab a lot of people.

The Fass elevates pretty much any movie to greatness. If you're making a film and you're worried that it might be a bit balls, then just put Fassbender in it and it will automatically become awesome. Sometimes (i.e. Shame) he'll even whip out his balls just to remind you who's in control. I think he's a great choice for Assassin's Creed and his presence alone could be enough to get me to go and see it when it hits.

Are you excited about Fassassin's Creed? Tell us all about it! We've got time.

Get Some Hobbit Up in Your Hole!

If you're a little on the hobbitty side then you might  wish that you could decorate your hole with this newly released Comic Con poster for the first part of Sir Peter Jackson's epic The Hobbit. Aint it Cool showed it, I stole it, and I'm giving it to you. I'm a digital Robin Hood:

It's quite an enchanting and evocative poster, and perfectly captures beautiful vast expanses of scenery where absolutely nothing happens. Once Dark Knight Rises wraps up I guess we're going to have to be all about the Hobbit, so expect a lot more where this came from. 

And speaking of Hobbit holes, is there a market for a The Hobbit: A XXX Parody? Where's that announcement? Surely that will satiate a short, hairy niche? Only a matter of time. Remember, you heard it here first!

New "Marvel NOW" Faux Reboot Confuses Everyone!

Entertainment Weekly has news on Marvel's response to DC's New 52 with their own universe shaking relaunch dubbed Marvel NOW! which will begin in October. Except it's not actually a reboot. Although characters are changing costumes and alliances. And there'll be a whole host of new issue ones. And a lot of the teams have been split up and mixed together. And if the bulk of your Marvel knowledge comes from the films then prepare to be thoroughly confused.

Art by Marvel CEO Joe Quesada shows off the head-scratching new looks for the major players:

So seeing as how armour on the Hulk makes about as much sense as oven mitts on Wolverine, I'm going to assume that this harness is some kind of control mechanism? If so, I think it's sweet that they made it purple. "We're going to take over your body against your wishes, Bruce, but to make up for it we've made the mechanism purple. We notice you wear a lot of purple pants."

More befuddled cynicism, and another image, after the jump!

Pre-Order Comic Con 2012 Exclusive Captain America and Commander Fox Right Now! (Plus more!)

So the good news is that even if you’re unable to immerse yourself in the heady sea of the Great Unwashed at this years SDCC, you can still get hold of a couple of awesome Comic Con exclusives from the privacy and sanctity of your own home!

Our dear friends at Sideshow Collectibles have a lot on offer this year and it’s available to purchase right now, ahead of the Con. Let me show you my personal favourites, starting with the exclusive edition of Hot Toy’s Captain America Rescue Version 1/6th scale collectible figure, in his “ZOMG I gotta’ go rescue, Bucky!” make-shift suit:

He'll set you back $219.99 and will ship within 2 - 3 weeks! You can pre-order him right here:

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series Captain America - Rescue Version Sixth Scale Figure

More pictures and more stuff... after the jump!

Supanova Haul Tease.

Giant pop culture expo Supanova exploded all over Perth today as shoulder-to-shoulder (anime-wig-Halo-armour) crowds flooded the exhibition halls. The staff at the event welcomed us with open arms and over the course of an extremely chaotic day we photographed costumed attendees, met celebrity guests, attended panels, sold comics, and bought a hell of a lot of stuff!

One of my big goals with this coverage is to review a ton of new and recent product and showcase some of the awesome Australian stores who can hook you up if you're on our side of the globe. There is much photographing and editing to do but we'll trickle out reviews over the next week or so. But to keep you keen, here is a tease of what you can expect.

Yes. That is a portal gun. Yes. It is awesome. Yes... I'll try to review that first.

Thanks to everyone today for being so good to us! Plenty more soon!

Here... We... GO! Hot Toys Joker 2.0 Raises the Bar.

We've teased it but here's the full reveal from the official Facebook page. The uncannily skilled artisans at Hot Toys knock it so far out of the park that it's not even the same game any more. If you thought that Hot Toys had peaked and were incapable of surprising you, then you're wrong. Their Joker 2.0 has two interchangeable heads. This is the laughing one:

No. That's not a photograph of Heath Ledger. That's an action figure. 

Pick your jaw up from the floor and join me after the jump.

Why Not Listen to (Samples) of The Dark Knight Rises Score!

The only cure for your Avengers fever is getting struck down by the Batman plague! And what better way to get those bat-symptoms started than injecting your ears with these 30 second doses of Lord Han Zimmer's The Dark Knight Rises score!

This was made possible by the evil geniuses at Batman-News who know ten times more about Batman than you do. I promise. The full score will be available for purchase on July 17th. Which is forever away.

It all sounds pretty epic so far. If you're short on time and just want a taste then may I suggest to Sir and/or Madam that you sample a bite of track number 12: Imagine the Fire. I'm sure Sir and/or Madam will find it most satisfying. Take it away, Hans....

Sponsor News: Let's Discuss This Week's Toy and Collectibles Highlights!

Our friends at Big Bad Toy Store have released a slew of new pre-orders and I am going to share and comment on everything that caught my seasoned eye as a professional Collectorian. ( I have a degree in the Acquiring and Displaying of Awesome Unessentials). Like this spoilerish pair of figures from Sir Ridley Scott's stomach-splitting Prometheus:

What!? I always assumed they were called Space Jockeys because they raced horses, wore jockey shorts, and constantly jockeyed for our attention!

This is actually a set of two separate figures as opposed to an elaborate piece of armour. Made by NECA, both are around 8.5 inches tall and BBTS has them listed right here for $34.99. Also interesting to note that this pair of Engineers are identified as "Series 01" so maybe we'll get a fass-bending David the Uneasily Polite Android later on.

To see what else caught my keen Collectorian eye... join me after the jump!

Hot Toys Black Widow Revealed!

Here's the moment that a lot of us have been waiting for! On Hot Toy's facebook page they have finally released the full gallery of the Hot Toys Avenger's Black Widow 1/6th scale collectible figure, capturing the likeness of Scarlett Johansson! Here she is!:

For many more pictures and thoughts... join me after the jump!

Preview: Toy Star Wars Trade Federation MTT is Frigging Massive!

Our friends at Big Bad Toy Store have a new pre-order up today which caught my covetous (and wandering eye). Every year our bros at Hasbro release a new giant vehicle, usually about the size of a pony, that we're forced to inventively  squeeze into our already overflowing collections. And I'm glad they keep doing it because these things are usually pretty badass! The giant Millenium Falcon and AT-AT of recent years are some of my favourite Star Wars items I own.

This year's offering is from the Trade Federation MTT (Multi Troop Transport) from beloved, thought-provoking indie classic La Amenaza Fantasma, also known as The Phantom Menace. If the moniker "MTT" confuses you then basically it's the big brown thing that pops out a whole lot of battle droids. Seriously, this thing has a bigger rack than Christina Hendricks...

And breathe a little because every figure you see here actually comes with the vehicle, a rare time when Hasbro is really sticking it to that "action figures sold separately" fine print. You get 4 fully articulated pilot droids and then 16 semi-articulated droids (with built-in bases) that slot into that impressive, bountiful rack. You also get a rat-tail Obi Wan as a bonus, probably ripped from the unsold Episode One Obi Wans currently keeping the pegs warm.

This thing has lights and sounds, firing missiles and plenty of opening panels and hatches. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on one to see what it can actually do. And I'm going to solve the space problem by using it as a coffee table in the off-season. Now if only someone could score me one of those SDCC exclusive helicarriers...

You can pre-order this one right now from BBTS for $149.99 RIGHT HERE. And then anticipate a ridiculously big package in July!

Before Watchmen: Five Page Preview

USA Today has shared an exclusive five page preview of Darywn Cooke's Minutemen #1, the first chapter of the controversial Before Watchmen project which launches tomorrow. If you can't wait until then and want to get a taste of what the book has in store before deciding if it's worth a purchase, then you give it a read right here thanks to their fancy embed:Before Watchmen: Minutemen Exclusive Preview

Folks that know me will probably assume that I'm predisposed to disliking this thing, and I'm certainly on Alan Moore's beardy, curmudgeonly side on this fight as the original is one of my favourite books of all time, but I am determined to judge this for what it is. Unfortunately, for me at this stage, that's not a hell of a lot.

I'll share my thoughts (and gripes)... after the jump!