Well, it looks like 2001 is shaping up to be quite a year for toy
collecting. But before I go on with the news, I want to wish everyone that
reads my articles a happy new year and hopefully you will find all the
figures that you want this year, and for the love of pete, just write me and
tell me what you think. My E- mail is in the by line. Now... onto the news
for the month of January.
The 3.75-inch GI Joe line is beginning the year with two big additions.
First, look for three new two-figure packs for the line. They will be Major
Bludd & Rock Viper, Big Ben & White Out (a Snow Job repaint) and Duke &
Sidetrack (an Ambush repaint). These figures should be available within the
next few months, and reports have them out at various stores right now. (Not
at my Toys R Us, though.) The other news is that the long dead Manimals line
will be put out as exclusives through K-B Toys Stores and their on-line site
http://www.KBKids.com. The first line will be Iguanus, Warwolf and Slythor,
which are available for pre-order now. The other set of Zigzag, Spasma and
Vortex should be out shortly after. If you want more information about the
Manimals line, head over to
and you can find out more in the sites action figures page or look in the news
section on the right hand of the page.
For those of you who remember the merchandising that came with the first
E.T. movie, well get ready for more; Toys R Us has signed a contract with
Amblin Entertainment to carry E.T. merchandise exclusively through their
stores. They should be hitting stores in September to build up to the 20th
anniversary release of the movie in 2002. Ill have more information when it
is available.
Last month I said that N2 Toys might be releasing figures based on various
movie and television properties. Well, it has come true. Look for action
figures based on the Rambo movies and Steven Seagals various movies. Look
for them to be released sometime in the summer of 2001.
McFarlane Toys is expanding on their movie action figures line with some
more modern figures. Pending approval from various sources, we could see
anything from Indiana Jones, William Wallace (from Braveheart) and Maximus
(from Gladiator). Some future prospects include the various monsters from
the Godzilla movies (the Japan versions, not that stupid American one.)
Also. we might see the lead characters from the movie "Taxi Driver" and
"Pulp Fiction." If McFarlane can do a decent job on the Indiana Jones figure
and Jules and Vincent characters from "Pulp Fiction," I just might buy some
McFarlane toys again.
Well, the figures from the X-Men Evolution cartoon have sold well enough to
generate a second series of figures. In this set. look for Wolverine in
martial arts attire with a punching and kicking action; Spike with extending
and firing spikes; Juggernaut with punching action; Blob with a crushing
action; and Storm (shes a hold over from the first set.) Look for these to
be hitting stores in February.
The Simpsons toy line just keeps growing. In May 2001 we will see the
release of nine new figures. Look for the likes of "Casual" Homer Simpson
(Homer in his underpants), Comic Book Guy, Ralph Wiggum (who has one hand
molded so that it looks like hes picking his nose), Lenny, Groundskeeper
Willie, an Itchy & Scratchy two pack, Pin Pal Apu (with Pin Pals logo on the
back unlike Pin Pal Homer), the Patty half of Patty and Selma and Kent
Brockman. Also to be released in 2001 are five additional figures and two
more playsets. Look for Captain McCallister, Martin Prince, Sideshow Mel,
The Bumblebee Man and Bartman (Barts alter ego.) The playsets are a Church
playset with Reverend Lovejoy and an arcade playset with the bully Jimbo
Jones. I have no clue when these are coming out so keep your eyes out.
The Classic Spider-Man second wave is about to hit stores and here are the
four figures that are going to be part of the line. First up is a
traditional Spider-Man based on his costume from Amazing Fantasy #15. Next
is the Scarlet Spider figure that has a whopping thirty points of
articulation. Third is the Battle-Ravaged Spider-Man, which has a torn
costume. Last is the bad guy, Rhino. Start looking for them in March 2001.
Jakks Pacific has put out its latest expansion to their WWF line with their
Finishing Moves series. They are packed in packs of two wrestlers that are
so posable that they can be posed to do their finishing moves. So far there
are only three two-packs available. The first is a Triple H & The Rock pack.
Next is the Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho two pack. The last one is of the
Hardy Boys. I have seen these myself and along with the real-scan technology
that they are using to make the figures more accurate to the wrestlers they
represent, they have also started making real cloth clothes on some of the
figures. I know the Hardy Boys two pack has real cloth pants on them and I
think that the Kurt Angle figure has a cloth singlet as well. Also on the
new figures they have started a points program where you can collect a
certain amount of points and you can get some exclusive figures. So far all
they have is Kurt Angle and Lita, but hopefully they will have more as soon
as they can on their web site. For more information, go to their web site
. You can
even order some figures from their web site if you cannot get them at your local store.
That is about all for this month. As always, you can write me at my e-mail
address above.
