First, last month I made mention that Hasbro/Kenner are releasing the Locust
vehicle with the pilot figure Wild Bill. Apparently, the Locust they named
is not the one that was put out in the early 1990s, but is the Dragonfly
helicopter from the early 1980s. It appears that they lost the rights to
the name Dragonfly so they just renamed it Locust. [Information from
]
Second, a few months ago I mentioned that Hasbro/Kenner was putting out a
12" Biker Scout Trooper with Speeder Bike and an exclusive Y-Wing Fighter
(to the 3.75" scale) with pilot and R2 unit. Both of these will be Target
exclusives. Now it looks like that the R2 unit will not be separate; it will
in fact be molded into the ship like the R2-D2 on the X-Wing fighter. They
will also be advertised in the Sunday, August 6th Target sales circular. So
if you are as eager to see these as I am, we wont have long to wait. Ill
have a toy review for the Y-Wing you next month if I can get my hands on
one. [Information from ]
Now with that out of the way, heres the latest news from the other parts of
toy land:
New Buffy figures are on the way! Due in at the end of this fall, we will
see the completion of the rest of the Buffy main character set, with the
likes of Giles, Xander, Cordelia, Oz and another Buffy. Apparently there
will be at least two variations in this set: Cheerleader Cordelia and
werewolf Oz. Im getting Cheerleader Cordelia so I can have the two hot
babes from Buffy. That and Willow in red pants is looking rather lonely.
It appears that Mattel wrangled away four sculptors from McFarlane Toys in
order to make their Harry Potter action figures. Look for them to be out in
time for the movie next year.
Jakks Pacific is putting out their fifth series of Titan Tron figures that
are supposed to be out in July. This set will include Chris Jericho, Stone
Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Test, Undertaker and Kurt Angle with fabric
clothing. Hey Jakks Pacific, how about making an American Badass Undertaker
with ride able Titan Bike?
For those of you clamoring for new Simpsons figures, then pay attention.
Just in time for Halloween, Playmates will be releasing four figures and a
playset from the various Treehouse of Horror episodes. The figures are: Bart
as the Fly, Ned Flanders as the Devil, Homer as King Kong and Mr. Burns as
Dracula. I do not know who comes with the playset, but Ill say (for now) it
is Ned Flanders as the Devil. Its also been confirmed that the Comic Book
Guy will be made in early 2001.
The Legion of Super Heroes is getting the toy treatment pretty soon,
compliments of DC Direct. Look for Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl
in January 2001, and each is to have a Legion flight ring.
McFarlane toys has gotten the rights to three upcoming films. First is the
movie "Little Nicky." Second, is the animated movie "Shrek!" And lastly is
the Blair Witch franchise. Also rumor has it, that McFarlane could strike a
deal to do Metallica figures.
Toy Biz has the rights to do the action figure line based on the "Lord of
the Rings" movie due out in 2001.
Another big rumor is that DC Direct has plans to release action figures
based on the Watchmen comic book limited series. They could be out as early
as 2001.
Another set of six figures are due out for the X-Men the Movie line. They
are: Snow fight Sabretooth, Professor X with Transparent Wheel chair,
Logan in Street Clothes (with real fabric jacket), Cyclops in street
clothes, Rogue in X-Men uniform and Toad in street clothes. There will also
be a series of three two packs of eight inch tall dolls called X-Mutations.
Each two pack will feature the movie and comic book versions of different
characters from the movie. So far theres only Wolverine, Storm and Toad.
They will be Toys R Us exclusives available at their stores or though
ToysRUs.com.
Lastly, the 12-inch GI Joe line is getting a big shot in the arm with all of
them coming in the last half of the year. Heres a brief run down.
June should have seen the release of the WWII US Army Airborne Normandy
figure (with real parachute) and Vietnam Jungle Recon Soldier.
July should have seen the release of the US Marine Dog unit (with Doberman)
and two large items. The first is the Navy Gunner with Anti Aircraft gun
from WWII, and the other is the Desert Light Strike Vehicle with driver.
August will see a Navy SEAL figure out (WOW Navy Seals!) and a Desert Air
Defense figure (With Stinger missile launcher).
September will see a marine from the invasion of Inchon (with among other
things a ladder accessory.), an Air Force Special Ops and an Adventure of GI
Joe figure "Rescue the Pygmy Gorilla."
October will see a Sheriff figure made along with an Airborne Ranger figure
with shooting grenade launcher.
November will see the release of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Honor Guard
figure.
Thats it for now; hopefully next month will be as big as this one.
