Leading off the new arrivals is the Bishoujo Mystique statue, and a pair of repainted Ami-Comis statutes: White Canary and Star Sapphire Wonder Woman. The Ami-Comis are kind of whack, basically just being repainted versions of the previously released White Canary & Star Sapphire, but hey, they may be someone else’s thing. Mystique, on the other hand, is a damn find low end statue, and the painting and sculpt is very well done, especially when it comes down to the skulls on her belt. In addition to Mystique, we also have the black costume variant Batgirl Bishoujo statue in stock, which  looks a ton better than the original release thanks to the new paint scheme/job.  I would easily recommend the 2 Bishoujo statues over the Amie Comis if you interested in picking any of them up.

After what seemed like forever, Square Enix finally released the first set of the Super Street Fighter IV Play Art Kai figures.  And it’s worth the wait, because these figures are MASSIVE! Chun Li and Ryu make up the first wave, and each of them come with a variant head, another set of hands, a  trademark fireball, and a stand for said fireballs. Again, I think it’s bull that Squenix doesn’t package figures for their figures anymore, but they’re fairly sturdy figures as is. Much more so than the previous Final Fantasy releases, as their exaggerated designs lend itself to this look well. They go for about $55 each, which is the average Play Art Kai price these days. If you’re looking for some colorful additions to your collection, and really dig Street Fighter, these figures are meant for you.

The biggest arrivals of last week have to be in the insane amount of new Bandai arts figure. We finally got in some new releases, and man, it’s nice to have something that’s not Shonen Jump related to talk about. The first new D-Arts is from the cult PS2 classic/new hit anime Persona 4, and is the main protagonist’s Izanagi.  The first D-Arts based on Persona 4 (there’s at least 2 more on they way), Izanagi comes with a stand (obviously), a plethora of variant parts and effects, and a massive bladed weapon. The other new Figuarts of note in is Rock Bison of Tiger and Bunny fame! He’s a massive figure, easily overshadowing Tiger and Bunny in terms of scale. What’s a little beat about the figure is the fact that he really doesn’t come with much outside of some variant hands. Still it’s well sculpted and has a ton of articulation. So it’s not like it’s a bad figure. We also got a few older mecha-releases in stock, specifically Gundam F-91, and Eva Units 0-1, and the Berserker Unit 0-2. And a ton of Kamen Rider figures. Possibly a literal ton. A lot regardless. Prices for the figures start at $45 and go up from there. With the rate most of these have been selling out, I advise you come by ASAP if you want em.

Anywho, I promised you guys a look at the new line of Marvel Universe figures, and I shall deliver, because I’m that type of guy, and there’s not much I can talk about at the present. Today we’ll be looking at the new set of 2 packs, as well as a more indept look at the 18th wave which I talked about last post.

The newest 2-packs in the Greatest Battle line consist of Adam Warlock vs. Thanos, a staple of cosmic Marvel, and Mr. Sinister Vs. Gambit, which is a solid set of 90s Marvel mutant memorabilia. Loran took a look at the Thanos figure a few months back,  and this one is repainted slightly different from the one we saw on the blog. The Adam Warlock figure is mostly new, and comes armed with the Infinity Gauntlet, as well a staff. The Sinister/Gambit 2 pack offers a Mr. Sinister painted black, while the Gambit figure is a repainted and slightly altered figure from the X-men Origins: Wolverine line a few years back. If you need some advice as to which one to buy, I prefer me some cosmic Marvel, as this 2 pack goes well with the Guardians of Galaxy box set. Speaking of which, there’s a slightly new Future Foundations 3 pack out, which is basically a repaint of the Fantastic Four box that dropped awhile back, and ties into the Future Foundation Spider-Man figure that will drop this spring. That’s some impressive synergy!

Alright, so let’s give a look at the 17th Wave of MU figures. Starting off with  Avengers-related releases, we have Young Avenger Patriot, which I think is the first YA to get a MU figure. This is kind of rad, except for the fact that the costume he’s rocking was worn for like the first 3 issues, and the mask was discarded shortly after. I guess Hasbro didn’t want to risk making another fugly face sculpt. Still kind of  whack if you ask me. Wave 17 no longer comes packaged with stands, so you’re only get an old-timey Captain America shield with him. Double whack. On the right we have Thor, rocking his Ages of Thunder look. I think the body is a new sculpt, and the hammer and head are just repainted from an earlier Thor figure.

Moving onto the X-men side of things (well technically still Avengers as Storm is an Avenger too…)  , we have X-women Psylocke and Storm. I’m fairly certain this is the first time we’ve gotten a Psylocke figure, and she comes packed with a purple psychic katana & psi-blade. I couldn’t tell you how it’s psychic katana, but I assume it has something to do with being purple. I like the figure, but I’m hoping this gets re-released later in black, so she can be  Uncanyy X-Force accurate. Moving onto Ms. Munroe (Is she still Mrs. Black Panther? I want to say yes. Someone correct me in the comments section) , this is the 3rd Storm figure we got, and it’s the closest we’ll get to her rocking her modern costume. I’m fairly certain it’s a mostly retooled Classic X-men Storm (apart of that awesome Uncanny X-Men box set) and comes with lightening bolts for both arms. I think that’s kind of cool, which is while I bought her and she’s chilling with the rest of my X-Men.

Rounding out the Wave 17 figures, are 2 blatant repaints, Iron Fist and Daredevil. The white and gold Fist is to reflect something nonsense that happened in New Avengers, and black and red Daredevil is to indicate his fall from grace via demonic possession during Shadowlands.  New paintjobs aside, they’re literally figures you’ve seen before, and they both rock the same accessories they’ve always rad (snap on chi and nunchuks respectively). Buy only if you need these figures, and missed them every time they’ve dropped so far.

Each of the figures retail for about $12, and we also got in some older releases as well if you want to check em out. That’s all I got this week, take care of yourself Forbidden Planet Faithful!

The Spartan Gungnir Custom is that such figure. While some of the armor sets have come with parts to make a Gungnir, this is the only one so far available in the single pack. It seems like McFarlane REALLY wanted to get creative with this one. Not only does he have the robot arm and extra ammunition, but he also uses the larger male body to give him more character. It’s this kind of ingenuity that seems to be lacking on some of the figures in this line, though it seems like they’re slowly starting to add them in.

Instead of the standard Gungnir helmet, McFarlane opted to use one of the enhanced versions. This is a pretty cool choice since most helmets in the toyline are just the standard version. Too bad they did it to one that you need a really high rank and lots of credits to get.

The inclusion of the robot arm is one of my favorite additions to this figure. It’s the same one Kat uses, and it surprisingly still looks good, if a bit thin. It adds a lot of character to the design, too. How’d he lose the arm? Did it get chopped off in a swordfight with an Elite? Did he lose it in a reactor explosion? That’s for you to decide.

Even the Sapper chest adds a lot of character to him. But as cool as it is, I don’t think it’s enough! I gave mine one of the extra ammo belts from the armor pack I reviewed a few weeks ago—makes him look truly overkill.

But if a robot arm and tons of ammunition wasn’t enough, they decided to give him Jorge’s body, making him the only other “big guy” in the line! He even got a medical pouch on his left thigh and extra shell casings on his left arm.

However, being the “big guy” has its drawbacks, as he can’t equip the jetpack like the regular male and female bodies. It’s unfortunate, but it wouldn’t be a McFarlane toy if he was perfect, now would he?

The Gungnir comes equipped with the same grenade that every other Spartan has, and the rocket launcher, a first for the Reach toyline. It’s a bit difficult to get into his hand at first, but not near-future like some of the Covenant weapons. The sight of the rocket launcher in the robot arm is just awesome. It’s difficult to get him to hold it in both hands, but it can be done.

If there’s one Halo Reach figure I’d recommend to anybody, it’s this one. He’s just so cool. He has his shortcomings like all others, but none of them outweigh the awesomeness of the rest of his design. If you want one for yourself, come into FPNYC for yours.

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Forbidden Planet NYC!

*Existing discounts or specials; e.g. Magic the Gathering Booster Packs, Student Discounts, Manga Deals; do not apply.

My awesome girlfriend got me one of these a few years ago.   Sorry if your significant other sucks, but you could always treat yourself.  Come on down to Forbidden Planet but don’t dilly dally cause you know somebody is gonna snatch this up A.S.A.P.

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Now tell me that Watson thing isn’t creepy as hell, creepier than Ken Jennings and Alex Trebek combined even.

In related news, a new version of Monopoly was revealed at the New York Toy Fair this past week.  It looks like the computers have taken over our boardgames too.  I haven’t been able to keep up with video game technology since the Super Nintendo system was new, now I have to relearn Monopoly?  Why make this too complicated for me too?

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It’s elementary, my dear Watson.

Honestly I barely remember the show but I’m guessing it has a pretty big cult following cause the dolls sold out immediately and people are still asking for them.  What I do know is that Mattel and Barbie have actually been putting out some pretty interesting products in the last couple years.  I really dug their Ladies of the 80′s line which included a Deborah Harry doll, and much respect to who ever decided to make a Hitchcock’s The Birds inspired Barbie.

Now listen up Mattel cause I’m gonna let you know about my boy Mike Smash.  I’ve run in to Mike at quite a few horror conventions and he always blows my mind with his custom dolls.  His work is mostly based off of classic cult films and TV shows like Return Of The Living Dead, Twin Peaks and Frankenhooker, just to name a few.  But the piece that made this collector cream was his Human Centipede figure.  I mean just look at this thing, who wouldn’t want this on their mantle.

So how bout it Mattel, give Mike Smash some type of high paying, art directorial, descision making job so we can see something as beautiful as this Human Centipede doll made available to the masses.  O.K., Well at least check out his stuff at http://smashcustoms.carbonmade.com/