Awesome Toy Blog

If you spent the weekend the way I did, being bitter that you weren’t at NYCC – then this is the post for you!  The fine folks at Hasbro sent out word that their remaining stock of their NYCC exclusives will be hitting HasbroToyShop.com this Wednesday, October 19th after 10AM Eastern.  This is your chance to score a Compound Hulk, Spider-men Mini-muggs or that fantastic Transformers: Prime Bumblebee and Arcee two-pack.  Stock will be likely be limited, so don’t delay and grab your exclusives Wednesday.

Dark Horse sent over an announcement of their 2011 NYCC exclusive – a Spider-man syroco statue.  Similar to their sold out SDCC exclusive, this statue features a rougher surface texture, visible seam lines, and other slightly distressed aspects, making this a unique Marvel collectible.  The statue is limited to 4 per person and will retail for $49.99.  This looks like another top notch addition to the classic Marvel syroco line; check it out below!

A few weeks ago, not only did Hasbro announce their debut at NYCC, they also announced that they would have some exclusive merchandise with them.  Details on this exclusive items are now being shared.  First, via the Nerf Facebook page – the Bumblebee Nerf gun is a follow on piece to the SDCC exclusive Optimus Prime Nerf gun.  The foam weapon features Bumblebee-centric IDW comic art.  Today, on Marvel.com, the Marvel Universe “Compound Hulk” figure was announced.  He’s 1/2 green Hulk and 1/2 Red Hulk, and very Christmasey!  Check out images of the exclusives below.

Dark Horse Deluxe has announced a new Marvel Comics collectible statues line.  Based on ‘Syroco figurines’ these statues are aiming for a vintage aesthetic, in both character / costume choice as well as sculpting and paint.  The figures will alternate between classic Marvel characters and members of the Fantastic Four.  The first statue will be Spider-Man and features Spidey in his early costume, web wings and all.  The statue is available today and limited to a total edition of 2000 units.  Its a great looking piece, so be sure to track one down if you’re a Spider-fan!  Check out an image below, or the full press release after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Name: X-Men First Class
Released: September 9, 2011

This past summer, the film that surprised me the most was X-Men First Class.  The film serves as a prequel to the X-Men trilogy; documenting the early relationship of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr – as they gather and train a team of young mutants to defeat Sebastian Shaw as he attempts to bring the world to nuclear warfare during the Cuban missle crisis.  In the course of saving the world from nuclear war, the rift between Xavier and Lehnsherr forms; setting the stage for the future X-Men films.  Some of the other mutants featured in the film include Beast, Havok, Banshee, Mystique, and the White Queen.

Director Matthew Vaughn takes a fresh look at the X-Men universe with this prequel; which does set the stage for Bryan Singer’s 2000 film x-Men.  He takes full advantage of the film’s 1960s setting; with both set design and costumes reflecting a mod/cool design aesthetic – this was an element of the film that I personally loved.  The film is well directed and paced; and avoids many of the missteps of X-Men: the Last Stand.

Overall, the film is well acted with McAvoy (Xavier) and Fassbender (Lehnsherr) solidly anchoring the film.  Kevin Bacon more than fills shoes of the film’s antagonist; which was the source of some concern prior to seeing the movie. The supporting cast generally handles their material well, but as with any ensemble piece individual characters don’t get as much development or screen time as you may want.

The DVD both looks and sounds great; with audio options including an English DD 5.1 track as well as an English DD 5.1 Descriptive audio, plus Spanish and French Dolby Surround. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.  Special features on the DVD include “Children of the Atom: Filming X-Men: First Class” a two-part making of featurette and an anti-smoking PSA.  The Blu-Ray release includes several other special features including10 X-Men digital comics, a mutant database, an 8-part making of series, extended and deleted scenes, trailers and an isolated score.

In summary, ‘X-Men First Class’ is a great re-launch of the X-Men franchise.  With a story that’s engaging, great effects, solid acting and direction – the film delivers on all accounts.  Both Blu-Ray and DVD releases hit retail September 9th (or can be pre-ordered now).  If you’re a fan of any of the x-Men films, be sure to give First Class a chance.

Thanks to Fox Home Entertainment for providing a review copy of X-Men First Class to AwesomeToyBlog.

Great news for those wanting to avoid secondary market prices on the Hasbro SDCC exclusive Spider-man Mighty Mugg!  A small quantity of figures will be made available next Wednesday, September 7th on HasbroToyShop.com. There is not a set sales time, but it will be after 10AM Eastern.  Spidey had sold out before, so if you missed out be sure to warm up your F5 key Wednesday morning.

This was one of the rate photo projects where I went from idea to finished photo in one evening.  To make that challenging; this was also one of the rare photo projects that heavily relied on my Photoshop skills.  My Avengers boxset from HasbroToyShop was delivered and I was immediately enamored with it!  I just loved the retro stylings of the figures and I was suddenly inspired to re-create the cover to Avengers #1.  I downloaded the cover; and took to removing the Avengers from it; leaving the header area and Loki in the foreground.  Below that were 3 layers of action figure photos taken in the light tent; with the figures isolated from the background – one for Wasp, one for Ant Man and one for Iron Man, Hulk and Thor.  The final layer was a solid grey layer where I had drawn lines for a floor and some sort of wall panel.

Wasp and Ant Man were the most problematic to photograph; I had placed a pin into each figure leaving them hanging from Croc Master’s hand.  Once photographed, I erased any sign of the pin in the photo.  All in all, it was a few hours work – the most time consuming was removing elements of the original cover; but I’m very pleased with the outcome.

Once again, Toys R Us is offering their 2 for $10.99 promotion across their Hasbro brands – Marvel Universe, Captain America, Thor, GI Joe, Iron Man and Star Wars.  One important caveat – this time the sale is advertised as ALL figures, and reports online are indicating that the Star Wars Vintage collection is included.  If that’s the case, this is essentially a buy-one-get-one free sale, so be sure to check it out!  The sale runs all this week.

At Comic-con, Funko introduced a new line of vinyl figures – Blox!  Stading 7 inches tall, these figures are a bit bigger than their Pop! figures and feature a different aesthic.  Check out the gallery below for a few images of Blox from their “monster cereals”, Kiss and DC Universe line.  Other properties which will be represented in the Blox line include Ugly Dolls, Marvel, The Simpsons, Mars Attacks, Disney, Pixar and Star Wars.  These are set to be available in November, just in time for the holidays!

Now that I’ve been sufficiently self-indulgent, it’s time to get back to business.  The folks over at Hasbro have made some of their San Diego Comic-con presentations available to the public, below (click on the Hasbro logo) you’ll be able to download the Marvel Universe presentation.  Highlights of the presentation are the first two waves of Marvel Universe and Legends for next year!  Enjoy!