Wow! There certainly was a lot to see at Toy Fair this year and the best part is – there was also a lot to love. Several companies made quite the splash with the continuing and new properties that will be offered up for our action figure collecting habits. Mattel continued to impress with their Masters of the Universe line, as did Hasbro with Marvel and Star Wars Black. NECA had the huge announcement that Ripley was finally coming to their Aliens line and Diamond Select carted out all kinds of new wares. But when you get down to it, the company that won the show (for me anyway) was FUNKO. Yep, the guys known for their fun and creative vinyl and bobble head figures made an all out splash into the action figure proper market and they already have their hooks in me.

Let’s take a look at what was on display for each execution. Allison from Marketing was nice enough to provide us with a slew of new information (including that Firefly and Rocketeer Legacy confirmation we let loose a few days ago) so I will have some key points under each section. Now, Funko is so passionate about their products and they are going to lead with the information when they want to release it. So, past the Rocketeer news, there is not a whole lot of unknowns that were confirmed at the show, but I PROMISE you, it is going to be fun watching them this year. As for the shot, let’s start with my favorite…

LEGACY

 

Game of Thrones

Yeah… this is the one that broke the internet a little over a week ago – and with good cause! Can you believe what we are getting here? We were able to debut booth pictures of the entire series two figure ahead of the curve on Sunday, but damn if these press shots aren’t equally as impressive. The Funko booth was the first place I wanted to go to once I arrived at the Javits center and as probably could have been predicted, it was also the place I returned to more than any other.

The prototypes for series two were simply STUNNING and Jaime Lannister ran away with first place, with Robb Stark trailing just behind. There is no other prototype like Jaime, only him. But really there wasn’t a weak proto in the bunch and I love how this wave runs the gamut of getting us a second (and more prolific) Dany, while handing us the King of the North (my second favorite GoT character) and the freaking AWESOME Brienne of Tarth. Yes, you do see THREE females in one wave. That alone wins on so many level and shows us that Funko is operating on a whole other level than what most companies are usually comfortable with. All that said though, I am predicting that Drogo ends up being the most popular figure in the wave.

From the sounds of it, this is only the beginning and I think that, if the success of the figures continues, Funko is going to go DEEP. Deep in terms of character selection, as well character variations. I already want a Winterfell Ned and a Hand of the King Tyrion. If this wave is supposed to hit in August/September, I really hope that allows for one more series in 2014 for the holiday season. And Tywin Lannister better be leading the charge. Just saying, Funko.

Speaking with Allison, you could tell that everyone is the company is so excited for GoT and Legacy in general. There is a passion that just cannot be hidden when you are talking about what you are working on and everyone in that booth was so full of energy. That starts right at the top with their CEO Brian Mariotti – he was leading buyers around the booth with such energy and each and every time they stopped at the GoT Legacy display, mouths were agape. I think this is the start of something big. Furthermore, I have been in the online action figure community long enough to know that this kind of product, backed with the passion from a smaller, leaner and more independent company is the perfect storm of what fans want when it comes to their action figure makers. Not since Palisades have I personally witnessed this kind of energy and I think that Funko is poised to make it very successful. They have such great distribution and a wide variety of products that they can have room to play with new concepts. So, I want GoT to go on forever and for them to get as many of their current (or new) licenses out in this line.

Now, I did not forget to talk to them about the quality issues that are affecting series one, but every time I opened my mouth to list something, Allison said it first. Guys, they know. They really do know and so well in fact, that they can cite specific examples. No one, and mean NO ONE is more devastated by the initial issues they are having and it is partly due to getting these out with timing around Toy Fair and the release of season three on Blu-Ray. But they are committed to fixing the issues and ensuring that they are not going to happen again in any of their lines, let alone Legacy. Here is where I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I really do believe them. Magic and Fantastic Mr. Fox are set to hit before series two, so I think those will be the places to check for improvements. Trust me, we talked about paint sticking, clear plastic joints and joint peg sizes as issues that needed to be addressed, but we also talked about how awesome the soft plastic is on hair and clothing and hard plastic for the weapons.

I know, a lot of us are operating on a little faith right now, but I am more than happy to give it to them. These figures look incredible and if you can free your joints up, they have such great range of movement. This is so exciting and I am hoping that we can bring you even more info in the next few weeks…

Magic: The Gathering

 

This license was announced at Toy Fair and the internet, once again, BLEW UP. This is a pretty major geek property that has never gotten any real action figure love. The figures in the booth were prototypes without the articulation cut in, but they are apparently starting production soon because they are scheduled to hit in June/July. The fantasy need must have gotten out because between these and the Four Horsemen’s Mythic Legions, we are about to get some really cool fantasy figures. Once again, Gentle Giant is handling the prototyping, so that is a dose of good news and I see this line having a lot of cross-over appeal beyond just Magic fans. These will fit nicely into other collections and I think customizers are going to have a ball with them. Funko is already showing they want to do female figures, so if they come out well, people are going to be really excited.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

 

Eh, WAH!?!??! Can you believe this? Fantastic Mr. Fox! I think canonball and I had simultaneous heart attacks of joy upon seeing these. Wes Anderson is my favorite director and seeing any of his works in plastic is just a JOY. These designs lend themselves so well to toys it is not even funny and they have been able to reproduce the likenesses to the point of scary screen accuracy. Fox and Rat are amazing and I REALLY hope that there are more planned because I really need a Badger figure. This is the type of property I would love to see tested more in the future, so success would be great. I see a lot of non-toy fans jump on this simply because they are Wes Anderson. Speaking of, let’s just get an Anderson Legacy line going, okay? Start with all things Bill Murray and lead with Herman Blume and Steve Zissou.

Now, in addition to what what shown, we already confirmed that Firefly and Rocketeer are coming to Legacy as well. However, be on the lookout this fall for another new property to hit. We are not allowed to discuss what it is at this point, but the designs could be killer. Stay Tuned…

ReAction

 

The other big new execution that had a major presence at the show was their new partnership with Super7 in the form of the ReAction line. Spun out of the wildly successful 1979 Alien figure releases, this line is going to capture a huge variety of properties in that late 70s/early 80s small figure feel. Brian Flynn (from Super7) was onsite at the show, and hagop and I got to speak with him for quite awhile about what lead to the ReAction line and where they hope to take it.

We are lucky that Funko and Super7 have been neighbors at SDCC for a long time because that proximity gave way to this really fun partnership. They had been looking for something to collaborate on for a long time and after the Alien figures were unveiled last year, this seemed like the perfect storm. With Super7’s design and aesthetic, along with Funko’s licenses and distribution channels, these little guys are set to take over shelves all over the country. Obviously, getting these first 2014 figures sold successfully is the first goal, but the sky is the limit if they can hit it off.

Brian talked about the approach coming back to Alien as well, think of the properties from years past that everyone wanted action figure for, but never got – that is a big driver for ReAction. So, Goonies, Back to the Future, Escape from New York, Predator – all of them are being presented in a way that represents what they would have been had they originally gotten figures. I think this is a fantastic approach and the nostalgia for those properties and style is at an all-time high, so I expect this to be really, really big.

There are other properties in the works, but those and any other executions (like play sets) are all dependent on how well these 2014 offerings sell. It is as simple as that. These figures do not need likeness rights (but you can tell if they have them based on the actor being on the card backs), so a lot of those properties that have been unicorns might finally see the light of day. However, if you cannot find something you like in all of this, I am not sure what to tell you…

So, if this is your style, or these properties are your love, support it now. I needs me some Karate Kid and Big Trouble in Little China figures!

Thanks again to Allison and everyone at Funko for all of the information and hospitality at Toy Fair. We still have our POP and vinyl coverage coming, and hopefully a couple of surprises about this stuff coming soon. Stay tuned!