I spent the afternoon walking the floor at the Jacob Javits Center,
which covers 675 thousand square feet of convention space, and has
display space for most of the toy companies we’re interested this year.
(Only Hasbro and JAKKS Pacific have showrooms away from Javits, and
Mattel and DST maintain showspace both at Javits and away from it.)
As I am a huge procrastinator, I didn’t have appointments to see most
folks, but did manage to grab pictures of many upcoming toy lines for
2008.
Let’s start with Mezco Toyz.
Hellboy 2
After a brief stint with Gentle Giant, the Hellboy license went back to Mez for the upcoming Hellboy 2: The Golden Army movie. As with the previous movie line, much of the sculpting went to the talented hands of Dave Cortez. There was a mix of products, including mini-busts, the popular 7-inch line, and a premium format 18-inch Hellboy. A new addition is the ubiquitous 3 3/4-inch line, which you might not be able to pick out, given the excellent sculpts and articulation that rivals the 7-inch line.
Heroes
Mez showed 3 waves of figures from the popular Heroes TV series. The likenesses are stunning, and most of the figures will have standard articulation for figures of this sort – e.g., single knees and elbows. Most of the female figures will not, as it would interfere with the sculpts. Like with Hellboy, Heroes will have 3 3/4-inch figures in a box set, although since only mockups were shown at this point it’s hard to tell if they will rival the Hellboy figures in terms of how they match up against their larger siblings.
The Spirit, The Warriors, and Cinema of Fear
Mez also picked up rights for the upcoming Frank Miller movie adaptation of The Spirit. They didn’t have figures to show yet, as it’s quite early, but they did have a comics-based statue. The Warriors line will continue, and there were hints that fans would be "furious" if that line didn’t have a convention exclusive this year. And for fans of the horror genre, I also took some pictures of some Cinema of Fear figures. They had more on display that I couldn’t photograph, and since I don’t have pictures I can’t remember what they were.
The Mezco stuff is uniformly outstanding.
Next I stopped by our pals at McFarlane. I know the articulation freaks out there are happy McFarlane is making strides in that department with their Halo 3 line. They had some two-ups of the Master Chief and various foes, as well as vehicles which I’m not sure were to scale with the actual figures. And although DP and Jason kept nagging me to get the game, I never did – so I don’t know how accurately these guys are realized in 3D, but the figures certainly had the level of detail and realism that McFarlane is known for.
A couple of rows down, I happened across the Shocker Toys booth. Last year when I identified myself as coming from the Fwoosh, Geoff Beckett spent a fair amount of time talking to me about why Fwooshers ought to treat Shocker better than we do. This time Geoff was in the middle of a spirited interview, so I just took some pictures of the Indie Spotlight painted prototypes that were on hand and went on my merry way.
As promised, Shocker had the Maxx, SCUD, Shadowhawk, Katchoo, and Kabuki on display. On the question of sculpt versus articulation, Shocker has heavily favored articulation, and the Maxx and the females in particular have some joint types that I’ve never seen used like they have before. I think they’ll work ok on the Maxx, but I wonder if they’ve gone too far with the crotches on Katchoo and Kabuki.
In the short time I was there, many passerbys commented on the Maxx. However, the protos still looked rough to me, and the paint didn’t meet the standards that I’d expect for pieces intended to sell – so we’ll see if this translates into sales for them. The jury is still out, but this is the closest Shocker has been to having actual action figure product in retail.
As much as I love the Mezco Hellboy line, the highlight of the day for me was at NECA.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Fwooshers who love the TMNT comics from so long ago that I don’t want to remind myself how old I am have been raving about this line since the first image of an early sculpt hit the internet. NECA had test shots on display, and all I can say is "Wow!" The sculpts are great, but it’s not until I saw them in person that I really appreciated the paint apps – the use of black on the figures really evokes the comics without being overbearing.
NECA isn’t exactly known for producing super-articulated figures, but the turtles look like hand candy to me. I had to really restrain myself from picking up Leonardo (my favorite turtle from my youth) and posing him. They also had on display an early 2-up of April O’Neill, whose base features some Mousers, and a 2-up of a black and white turtle which I think is slated to be a convention exclusive. They both look fantastic.
Gears of War and the Shaw Brothers
I had commented to one of the NECA folks about articulation not being their thing, and they pointed me to two of their upcoming lines. They had 2-ups and test shots for Gears of War (another game I haven’t played). These had excellent sculpts, and some exploration into more articulation via cuts in places you don’t normally see cuts.
The surprise came with their Shaw Brothers line, featuring characters from the Shaws’ martial arts films. Not being an avid watcher of that genre of films, I didn’t recognize the characters, but being a fan of highly articulated figures I was shocked to see this line coming from NECA. Think of the articulation from the old Toy Biz Marvel Legends married to NECA sculpting and tell me you wouldn’t want these. The line is in the early stages, so I’m hoping these eventually find their way to specialty retailers.
Next, I found the Diamond Select Toys booth. I had missed our appointment at their showroom away from Javits when Hasbro went long (so sorry, Mike), so I stopped by to see what they had on display.
Metal Gear Solid, Marvel Select, and Halo 3
Metal Gear Solid is yet another video game I have never played (am I old?) – but familiar enough with to recognize Solid Snake in his various incarnations. The sculpts and paint are solid (maybe a little pun intended) but the articulation is a bit inconsistent as some figures leave out joints to maintain the integrity of the pose.
DST also had the upcoming Marvel Select Thor, but not the Extremis Iron Man that they have on display in their showroom. They had some Magnuz-inspired lighting on Thor, and it looks great. While much of the articulation follows the Hasbro Marvel mold, you won’t notice the odd knees as they’re obscured by Thor’s knee pads. It’s hard to tell his size, but I have the feeling this piece will fit in with your Marvel Legends.
To wrap it up, I took pictures of the production Halo 3 toys, which I covered earlier in the McFarlane section. Fans of the Master Chief, rejoice!
On my way out of the Javits I saw a big Mattel sign hanging from the ceiling, so I popped in to see what they had on display. Our "nerd herd" tour is on Tuesday at their showroom away from Javits, and despite our love for all things DC Comics-related, Mattel is at its heart still the leader for girls’ toys, so I was expecting Barbie to be in force.
They did however have one figure from The Dark Knight six-inch line, the Joker Thug, as well as a 3-pack and single-carded figure from their newly-announced 3 3/4-inch Infinite Heroes line. I’ll save my comments for when we’ve got a broader look at these lines on Tuesday, but have posted the pictures so you have a little preview.
Additional Links