Tagged: DC Direct

December 22, 2011

New arrivals: Last minute shopping

by Chris Troy

If I had a clever intro, this is where it would go. Please take note of this

To the left of these words is a picture of a figure of New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees, one of the players featured in the 28th wave of the NFL McFarlane’s Sports Picks. I chose Brees because he’s my Fantasy Football QB, and he’s rarely let me down this season (Unlike my running backs). Aside from the Breesus, the line consists of Clay Matthews, Dez Bryant, Andre Johnson, Cam Newton, Peyton Hills, Michael Vick, Ben Roethlisberger and Barry Sanders. If any of those name got you excited, we have Wave 28 in stock, as well as a few older waves and special 2 & 3 packs, so come check them out.

Now that we carry SH Figuarts, I figured the first figure to rob me of my cash would be Wild Tiger of “Tiger & Bunny” fame, or at least a Gundam of some sort. But I was wrong. SH Figuarts Godzilla is out, and man, it’s pretty awesome. Why’s that you ask? Well it’s a fully articulated Godzilla figure for starters! 29 points of articulation in fact, what’s not rad about that? HE CAN BE POSED FOR SWIMMING PEOPLE, THAT’S CRAZY!! Bandai went above and beyond in terms of material as well, as the Big G is made up of 3 different materials (ABS, PVC, and POM). I’m not exactly sure what that means aside from PVC, but hey, that’s cool regardless. In terms of accessories, you get plastic Godzilla nuclear breathe, which is all you really need right? Godzilla goes for about $70 bucks, and will be joined in the future by MechaGodzilla & SPACE GODZILLA, which requires me to type his name out all in capital letters. We also have a ton of other plastic Godzilla figures from Bandai in stock, but real talk, the Figuarts one is the coolest. You’ll want to pick that up real fast.

Last article I said that when DC Direct releases products, it doesn’t mess around. IT WILL FLOOD THE MARKET. Right (as usual), we got another wave Green Lantern figures now in stock, as well as the first wave of the Starcraft premium figures (premium figures=cheap statues). On the Green Lantern end of things, we have Guy Gardner in his native Green Latern colors (oppose to blood-puke Guy from last time) Blue Lantern Brother Warth, Green Lantern Sinstero (perhaps the 1st new 52 figure!) and his daughter Soranik Natu. Despite JUST GETTING A NEW GUY, this is a pretty solid wave, and each figure goes for about $20 each. The Starcraft series consists of Jim Raynor & Zeratul, 2 characters I know very little to nothing about because I don’t mess with Starcraft. But they’re pretty impressive low-end statues that go for about $30 a pop.

I had a pretty good laugh at Jazzware’s Mortal Kombat figures last week, and that’s come back to bite me in the ass. Aside from the 6″ inch figures, the company has released 4″ figures as well, dubbing the line Mortal Kombat Klassics. Nice job keeping the K motiff going. From what I’ve seen, you can either buy the robot ninja 3 pack, or the murder ninja 4 pack and get the same figure painted a whole bunch of different colors. I’m not sure if this is lazy, or brilliant.

Speaking of lazy and brilliant, expect my best of 2011 list next week. Happy Holidays y’all!

December 12, 2011

In Stock: It’s Never Sunny in Gotham City

By Chris Troy

MANDATORY RETAIL CHRISTMAS WARNING: IT’S TWO WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! UNLESS YOU’RE PAYING AMAZON A GOOD HUNK OF CHANGE PER YEAR FOR EXPRESS SHIPPING, NOW’S NOT THE BEST TIME TO BE SHOPPING ONLINE. LUCKY FOR YOU, Forbidden Planet NYC has a ton of great last minute ideas for the various collectors in your life, which can be acquired by walking into the store, giving us cash or plastic card in exchanged for goods. There’s also the website, if dates aren’t a concern.

So let’s see what’s new this week. We got…some new Bobbleheads in….wait don’t leave, I know that doesn’t sound exciting but follow me here! I’m not the biggest Bobblehead guy in the world either, mostly because I wasn’t around in…the 1960s I guess, when the bobblehead became a thing. I know they reappeared in the late 90s and still exist to date, but I couldn’t tell you why, as I’ve stated it’s not really my scene. HOWEVER, I am a big fan of F/X, and their hit show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” which if you’re not familiar, is a sitcom like “Cheers” only everyone in the main cast is a terrible human being and it leads to hilarity. We won’t be getting IASIP action figures anytime soon as far as I know, but NECA has released talking “It’s Always Sunny” Bobbleheads, which I guess is almost as good? I dunno. But they talk, specifically quoting some of the best lines from the show (sadly not the ones with profanities) and hey, who knows, maybe it will lead to toys at some point if they sell really well (HINT HINT). And that would be great, because my Revoltechs and Marvel Universe figures could really use the company of Charlie Kelly, local business-owner and cat enthusiast. Or at least some “Archer” figures. That would be great.

(This is where I could dump several Tumblr’s worth of IASIP’s gifs. Consider yourself lucky that I didn’t!)

So remember a while back when it seemed like there were new DC Direct toys dropping every other week? It’s kind of happening again, but to a lesser extent thankfully, as we now have 2 different lines of DC Direct toys on the shelves now. First to drop is the 4th wave of Green Lantern figures. I think it’s bull to consider this the 4th wave, considering we’ve been getting bombarded with “Black Night” toys for over a year, but hey, I’m not the numbers dude. This wave consists of Robot Green Lantern (yes, that felt awesome to type out) Stel, Lantern Arkkis Chummuk ( “Chummuk” is hilarious to me by the way), Red Lantern Guy Gardner, and Power Glow Hal Jordan. If you want to call Power Glow Hal a cop out because it’s an older Hal figure re-released in clear green plastic, you are 100% correct: it is. It’s bad and DC Direct should feel bad. On the bright side, you have two more obscure Green Lanterns to add to your Corps. collection, as well as a Red Lantern Guy (who I thought would come with his construct chainsaw but sadly does not). Either way, they’re on sale for about $20 a pop if you’re interested.

The other set of toys DC Direct dropped this week was the 1st wave of the new Arkham City line, based on the awesome game that dropped back in October. The first wave consists of a scrapped character design from Sucker Punch, a Sterling Archer in a Batman costume, and some roid-rager in a Robin costume. Or as the packaging says: Harley Quinn, Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Robin Tim Drake; who spends his off-time as a cage fighter according to the game’s plot. Between that interesting tidbit and Harley dressing like…well, slightly less offensively than her current New 52 version, I question the writing/art direction of the game. But Bat-Archer looks dope and is probably worth the $20 it sells for. I really suggest that if you want any Arkam City figure you buy it immediately, because once Arkham figures sell out, they tend to be gone for good.

October 22, 2011

NYCC Wrap-up/Recap!

by Chris Troy

::: Coughs for several minutes before vomiting up several organs of varying importance:::

Once again, New York Comic Con has come and gone, this time giving me a case of the death, along with a ton of freebies, like posters, shirts and comics that I would never buy. The con was awesome and if you want a recap of what I did that doesn’t involve toys, I suggest you check out the article I typed up for BleedingCool.com, which can be found right here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/18/cosplaying-with-seth-green-chris-troys-nycc/

As for toy news from NYCC that you should care about:

– Next year’s Avengers toyline will have figures in-scale with Marvel Universe/ Marvel Movie figures as well as Marvel Legends sized figures. (3.5″ and 6″ to those unfamiliar with what the hell I’m talking about) On display were Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk, & Loki for both lines, in addition to Black Widow, Thor, and Nick Fury for the 3.5″ figures.)

-The 2nd wave of the returning Marvel Legends line will consist of Big Time Spider-Man, Daken, Madam Hydra, Fantomex, Bucky, Captain America, Madam Masaque, Thunderball, and Build-a-Figure Arnim Zola. As good as the Avenger figures looks, these looks amazing, and I will end up buying WAY too many of them.

-DC Direct & Mattel both had “Arkham City”-based figures on display. Mattel’s will be 2-packs, and will feature characters like Harley Quinn, Robin, Batman, and the Joker. DC Direct, is making single cared figures of Batman and literally ALL his villains from the game, as well as oversized deluxe characters from the first game like Venom-Joker, Killer Croc, & Bane. Also Catwoman, who I guess we can consider an alley at this point.

-Square Enix also had Arkham Asylum figures on display, Batman and the Joker of course. Also, photos of an armored Batman & Harley Quinn. In addition to these, there were Halo Play Arts Kai, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (which we just got in!), Serrah from Final Fantasy 13-2, as well as fully painted prototypes of the new Street Fighter 4 line, consisting of Ryu, Chun-Li, Akuma, and Cammy. Without a doubt, these are the BEST looking Street Fighter figures to date, so expect me to rave about Cammy when she drops in 2012. Continue reading →

August 5, 2011

Neon Genesis Family Guy

By Chris Troy

FLASH FACT: I am thrilled with any time I can get a chance to talk about toys that aren’t Batman-related on this blog (thus forever putting me at odds with Comics Alliance’s Chris Sims). DC Direct has shown me some pity and not released any new figures as of the time this article was written (although the Batman Inc. wave should be hitting shelves any day now), so this week gives me the chance to focus on some non-Super Hero stuff, which again, I am thrilled about. I think I’ll start things off with taking a look at one of the newer Figmas (by Max Factory) that FPNYC has stocked. It’s Asuka Langley (Well, technically Shikinami Asuka Langley thanks to the slight retcon, also I don’t think this is her first Figma. Or was that Revoltech? There is a lot of Eva toys out there…) in her Test Plug Suit from Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.2 , which has been one of the best selling US anime releases on DVD/Blu-Ray this year, brought over by the fine people at FUNimation. I’ve spoken of both Eva 2.2 and it’s toys in the past (At least 2 different Mari entries come immediately to mind), so this mini-review shouldn’t come as much of a suprise to returning readers. Continue reading →

July 23, 2011

This week in new arrivals: Pirate-Batman, Supergods and the World’s Tiniest Fighters!

By Chris Troy

It’s a good week to be a nerd, FPNYC faithful! Captain America is kicking ass in theaters (stay after the credits btw, the teaser for the next big Marvel movie is amazing!), there’s a plethora of awesome news coming from San Diego Comic Con (Play Arts Batman?!?!?!? Square-Enix, you are too kind!) and Grant Morrison‘s “Supergods” is on shelves! Grant is arguable my favorite writer working in comics today, as his runs on New X-men, All-Star Superman, JLA and various Batman titles are without a doubt my favorite take on those characters. “Supergods” is a non-fiction novel which tells the history of comics, as well the story of Grant’s own life. A $30 hardcover novel, I’m about 3/4th through it and I can honestly say it’s a solid auto-biography/history lesson. Just expect a lot of Morrison’s crazy-babble when it comes to his experiences with drug-use during his time writing “The Invisibles” and a bit of Alan Moore bashing (which as much as I like the man’s work, is deserved at times). Some of the copies we have are signed as well, so it’s worth adding to your bookshelves if you want a fascinating look into the life of one of comics’ most talent writers, as well as a pretty solid history of the medium. Continue reading →

July 19, 2011

My little Vigilantes.

By Chris Troy

Another Chris-written article, which means you should expect this to be super-hero toy heavy. In my defense, 90% of the articles Loran have written as of late have been Transformers based and FPNYC IS a comic shop, so my topic is warranted, given our average customers interest. And I do talk about the occasional Revoltech and statue from time to time. Anywho, “My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic” is apparently the new hottness, as “Bronies” (This is a legit nickname apparently. I think there’s a article up on Wired.com that confirms such) are going bonkers over the latest version of a cartoon that aims for little girls, or women who grew up with the original series. Regardless of my personal taste, we have a selection of MLP toys in, which apparently are hard to find on most toys shelves, so if you’re into Ponies, we have them. Feel free to come and lie to our cashiers that their for your daughter/niece/sister or some such (EDITOR’S NOTE: like how the rest of us say that these action figures are for our nephew. I try not to throw stones when my own house is made of nerdobe).

Speaking of children’s cartoons and the man-children who love them, the first wave of Young Justice action figures have hit the shelves. They stand in at about 3 & 3/4 inches each, and sport about 4-5 points of articulation each. The first wave consists of YJ members Kid Flash and Aqualad, Speedy (before he changes his identity to the much cooler sounding Red Arrow) and the villain Icicle Jr., which is a terrible name for a super-villain in my opinion. Each figure comes with an accessory of sorts- Icicle Jr with a glacier sword for cold-stabbings, Aqualad with a water-katana, Speedy with a bow and Kid Flash with….fast food….which is a terrible joke and an odd accessory. Also the 3 hero characters each come with a piece of the Hall of Justice, which if you buy the entire line, you have a backdrop for the figures. A cool little twist and the build-a-figure formula. These figures are a cool spiritual follow up to the Justice League Unlimited line and I believe are in-scale with them as well. Continue reading →

June 22, 2011

Rise of the Green Lantern Merch part 2

By Chris Troy

52 is a pretty significant number to the DC Universe. Post-“Infinite Crisis” (by Geoff Johns and ton of talented artists), there were 52 different universes established. Then there was the follow up mini-series to IC titled “52“, which was a 52 weekly issue mini series, also written by Johns, as well as a ton of other awesome writers and a bunch of talented artists. They’ll be 52 number 1 comics when the DC relaunches this September. And to bring things full circle, last weekend’s “Green Lantern” film debuted at 52 million dollars, which sounds good, as it was the #1 movie in America, until you realize that the budget and advertising probably cost Warner Bros. about $300 mil. Yikes. I think it’s fair to expect seeing a Ryan Reynolds Deadpool movie sooner than a GL follow up.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but will soon for the record. But it’s been described as “Toyetic” (amongst other things) which is good for both young children who were excited to see the film, and collectors who are now getting a whole slew of GL Corp members in plastic that we never had before. Hell, there’s a Green Man figure in one of the toy lines. Green Man from Green Lantern, not Charlie Day in a Zentai Suit ( “It’s Always Sunny in Philly” fans know what I’m talking about [WILD CARD, bitches!- ed.]) Continue reading →

March 3, 2011

Review: DC Direct’s Batman Arkham Asylum Series 1

By Christopher Troy

by Chris Troy

I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with DC Direct as of late. Sometimes the company releases some awesome products to tie into a book or video game and it’s a win/win for the fans. Granted it’s not the most articulated thing in the world, I’ve come to accept that fact because these toys are aimed for collectors, and the DCUC line has me covered for that. However, sometimes a line is delayed a bunch of time, and the end results are mixed. STILL WAITING ON THOSE MASS EFFECT 2 FIGURES DC DIRECT! With that said, today we’ll be looking at the Batman Arkham Aslyum line. Continue reading →

December 5, 2010

News from the Front: All I want for Christmas

by Christopher Troy

Greeting Forbidden Planet Faithful (and should you not like Faithful, how are you guys feeling about Planeteers? No? Alright then.) ! It’s now December, and that means we’re now in Holiday time ground zero. Time to whip out your credit cards and stand in line for stuff that’s going to be covered in dust 6 months later!

Usually at this time of the year bloggers will suggest what kind of cool gifts you should be buying for your loved one and friends. And really, the nerve of them. They don’t know your friends and loved ones that well do they? I bet they don’t. Therefore I’ll write about a person I do know well and am certain what I’ll list said person will want for Christmas-myself. Think of this as a really cool preview of stuff we’ll be getting in soon (hopefully), and you’ll have to fight me for once it reaches the shelf.

FIGMAS:

For the most part, I prefer Revoltechs over Figmas because the former makes Mecha and Sci-Fi toys, while the later usually makes schoolgirls. However Figma’s December is looking pretty awesome, as we’re getting a Figma version of Evangelion 2.0’s Makinami Mari Illustrious and from Persona 3 (and Fes/3 Portable) Aegis (which is a re-release of a figure we stocked earlier in the year) and Metis. Aside from the Persona 3 kick I’ve been on as of late, both Aegis and Metis are awesome looking figures with game accurate sculpts and accessories/alternative limbs and face, a great range of pose ability that Figma is know for and clear, sturdy, poseable bases. Also worth noting is that Metis also comes with Koromaru, the Persona using dog. That’s an instant-buy in my book. Anywo, expect these 2 to go around $35-$40 when we have them in stock/

And wasn’t I just signing the praises of the Revoltech Mari a few months ago. And why this version, versus say the new Prototype Mari that we have in stock from Revoltech. Both figures are great, don’t get me wrong, but the Figma version comes packaged with a Cockpit. That’s super near. That and the sculpt is slightly better, as are the joints. Also one Mari can stay at my work desk, and the other on my PC desk. EVERYONE WINS!

GUNPLA:

FACT: DeathScythe Hell was the coolest looking Gundam from G Wing. I refuse to hear otherwise, so don’t try to argue that point. So a new Deathscythe kit on the 1/100th scale is a severe do want on my X-mas list this year. Granted it’s a variation of the Endless Waltz design and not the Hell version, it looks cool as…well, hell, so I’ll take it. And according to several sources, we’re getting Deathscythe Hell Custom in the Master Grade line come 2011, so it’s a very good time to be a Gundam fan with some disposable income. IE me. The kit goes for about $50-55, and should be on our shelves any day now, if not already.

DC DIRECT:

Confession: I didnt pick up any of the Mass Effect games until this summer, because I clearly things that are good. This of course has been resolved, as I’ve since beaten the original and and about 20 hours into Mass Effect 2. I’m a big fan of the universe, and DC Direct is (in theory) there for me as they’re releasing their first wave of figures this month (originally slated to come out back in October). 2 lines have been announced so far and I’ve already trying to figure out where to put them on my work desk.

That concludes the list of things that I want that don’t have the words “Jack Daniels” in it. Again most of these figures should be out this month, with the exception of Deathscythe who’s out now. All new releases come out on Wednesday, so start checking with the store every Wednesday to see what came in!

October 24, 2010

Collecting Comic Figures part 1-DC Comics

By Christopher Troy

Greetings FPNYC faithful. It’s a new week, so it’s time for my weekly review, and this week’s feature focuses on a topic near and dear to my heart: Action Figures and collectibles based on the 2 biggest super hero publishers in the US- Marvel and DC. Assuming you read the title, you already know that this weeks focus will be on the universe that’s home to Batman, Superman, the JLA, as well a bunch of heroes and villains the average person probably isn’t familiar if they’ve only watched DC based movies and animated projects. Familiar or not, this article was written to help you figure out what figure lines are and aren’t worth your time and money. Let’s begin shall we?

Line: DC Direct/DC Unlimited

Price: Standard figures usually cost around $15-$20, deluxe figures vary in price.

Description: DC Direct started in the 90s, and was usually a toy line created for DC’s non-Superman/Batman proprieties, as well as imprints like Wildstorm and Vertigo. Eventually, the in-house line got the rights to make proper figures on the core-DCU characters, and that’s resulted in no less than a dozen Batman/Superman figures a year. DC Unlimited usually deals with non-DC own properties, mostly video games like World of Warcraft, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, and soon Bioware RPGs like Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2.

Pros: Diversity. In the image from the right, you’ll see Captain Marvel (Batman/Superman: Public Enemies), John Constaine (of Hellblazer fame), The Comedian (The Watchmen movie) Blue Beetle III (1st appearances) and Super-Lois (All-Star Superman), something you would never see on the shelves on Wallmart. Since the majority of these lines only appear in comic shops, you get a whole bunch of different and obscure character most of the time, based on certain artists or story arcs. Also the $15-20 price point is pretty solid.

Cons: I wasn’t joking when I said 20-30 Batman/Figures a year. Also, while the articulation is okay, it’s limited, especially compared to the smaller and cheaper DCU classic lines. Continue reading →

February 16, 2010

Tuesday Toys 2/16/10

Yes, the majority of the toy world’s focus is centered on Toy Fair (being held this week here in NYC at the craptacular Javits Center) and all the neat-o toys coming out in the future. But here at FP- in the present- we’ve got a whole bunch of new stuff for you. NOW…

Hot Toys Michael Jackson Thriller 12″

Blackest Night Series 3

November 19, 2009

Batman Character Toys

Batman Character Toys In Grant Morrison’s creepy comic book classic “Arkham Asylum” doctors attempt to rehabilitate Batman’s former friend turned foe, Two-Face, by replacing his iconic scarred coin with a tarot deck. The theory was to show Tommy Lee Jones there are always more choices than the black and white world of making moral decisions by flipping a coin.

The problem is, with seventy-eight possible outcomes to chose from he soon becomes incapable of making ANY choices, whether it be killing Batman or going to the little super-villain’s room.

Now to the issue at hand: so you wanna’ buy a Batman toy? Well, good luck with that; over thirty years of the caped crusader captured in plastic means there’s enough Battoys to chose from that YOU might want to wet yourself, too… and/or scar half your face and turn to crime.

Do not despair! We’ll soon have you on the right track to choosing a Batman that’s right for you. First off we need to identify what you want the Batman for. Is he for yourself or a gift for a child? Is this Batman going to be played with or just displayed, and if displayed, like, how? On your desk at work or on the wall of your pleasure palace, a la Han Solo in Carbonite? Continue reading →