Awesome Toy Blog

One of the big news items to come out of the UK Toy Fair were the details around the ‘Avengers’ toy line; particularly the existence of a 3ft S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. While the thumbnail image gave some impression of the piece, there wasn’t much to go on. Earlier this week IGN posted a full preview of the vehicle, which is mirrored below. Personally, I’m pleased – the vehicle has a nice balance of play features (firing missles, catapult) but doesn’t sacrifice a cool aesthetic. Expect full details on this vehicle next week, as AwesomeToyBlog heads to New York for Toy Fair 2012.

“All dolphins are evil.” This is just one of the few nuggets of knowledge imparted during the “Kevin Smith: Live from Behind” event hosted by Fathom Events. I had the opportunity to attend the event this past Thursday. Billed as an ‘interactive movie’, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. After settling into comfy stadium seating, we waited for the event to begin. Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes promptly walked on screen, being transmitted live from a theater in Toronto, Ontario to theaters all across North America. The event was split into two sections, the first was a live recording of Kevin Smith’s podcast – ‘Jay and Silent Bob Get Old’ and the second part was a Q&A featuring questions from the audience in Toronto and from tweeting participants.

Overall, I found the event very enjoyable, almost surprisingly so. I’ll admit, I wasn’t a huge Kevin Smith fan going into the event; but I quickly realized that I liked Kevin Smith much more than I like Kevin Smith movies. The live podcast was fun, with a loose format that just allowed conversation to flow. If you’ve not heard ‘Jay and Silent Bob Get Old’ and are a fan of Kevin Smith’s be sure to check it out at SModcast.com.

The Q&A was really entertaining. If you’ve been to Comic-con, I’d describe it as solid celebrity panel – but in much better seats with alot more personal space. During the Q&A Smith and Mewes, answered a variety of questions on topics ranging from Smith’s ‘fued’ with Tim Burton; their movie ‘Red State’; plans for “Jay and Silent Bob’s Groovy Cartoon Movie”. The interactive portion worked really well, twitter was the perfect way for questions to be submitted and handled.  This was a really interesting event – I would love for Fathom events to host more similar events with other prominent creators. You can see future Fathom Events by following this link.

The Hasbro G.I. Joe site unveileved much of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation toy line today including an assortment of basic figures, vehicles, role play toys and SDCC Exclusives. As previewed by USA Today the other day, the toy line does seem to ‘fit’ in better with the current offerings and is less disruptive than the ‘Rise of Cobra’ toys.

On the SDCC exclusives side, the exclusives follow last year’s trend. 2 versions of a figure – this year it’s Jinx and a Transformers-inspired deco’d vehicle – a Shockwave H.I.S.S. tank. Very cool, very purple.

Check out all the images in the gallery below.

Joe fans had quite a busy day today. USA Today got a bit of a toy fair preview today as they debuted the figures from the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation line. The figures look like a nice compromise between realistic military and 80′s Joes. You can see the figures (Roadblock, Duke, Cobra Commander, Zartan and more) over on the USA Today site. Many more pictures to come next week during the AwesomeToyBlog ToyFair 2012 coverage.

Additionally, the Super Bowl 30 second trailer was posted today. While I remain cautiously optimistic about the film, it does please me greatly that Cobra Commander is back to looking Cobra Commanderey. You can check that out here.

The fine folks over at eFx, makers of high quality pop culture collectibles, released a new image today of one of their upcoming pieces in their Marvel line. Pictured below is ‘The Avengers’ version of Thor’s hammer, which has several differences over the Thor movie prop replica. It’s a great looking piece and can’t wait to see more of it. The items will be making their public debut at Wondercon, in March. In the meantime, stay tuned for updates as they become available. I’ll be keeping my eyes on these!

Bif Bang Pow! tweeted a toy fair preview today, and blew my mind. One of their releases for their Doctor Who line is a TARDIS control room playset with K9. That’s right – a TARDIS control room playset with K9.  In line with ‘retro’ aesthetic the playset is constructed of thick cardboard. This piece is posted for preorder now from Entertainment Earth and is due for release in October. Just a bit over a week for full toy fair coverage here on AwesomeToyBlog!

Despite being released in Australia, the ‘Seeds of Doom’ set has now been announced by Underground Toys. This set includes a 4th Doctor (most similar to the 11th Doctors set) with sword, a Krynoid (a repaint / remold of the Ax0n) and Seed Pods. No release date has been posted yet, but should be soon based on the availability in Australia. 

Updated: expect this set in the states late March, 2012.

eFx Collectibles, known for collectibles based on iconic properties such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Disney are adding Marvel Comics to their liscensed properties. The full product line will be revealed in the first quarter of 2012 and prop replicas from ‘The Avengers’ will be on display at WonderCon (3/16 – 3/18). Prop replicas from ‘The Avengers’ includes  Captain America’s shield, Iron Man’s helmet, Thor’s hammer and helmet. In addition to high end collectibles, there will also be lower price products putting these into the reach of every fan. Check below for a preview pic of the products and see the whole press release after the jump.

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I recieved a really cool press release today from Mimoco, the pioneers of designer USB flash drives. They’ve unveiled their new series of drives, the Legends of MIMOBOT. These drives will feature icons, stars and geniuses! They are launching with an Albert Einstein Mimobot; with capacities up to 64GB. Really, they couldn’t have picked a better starting point for their Legends line. Check out the picture below and the full press release after the jump. Can’t wait to see who else will be Mimocized! The Albert Eninstein drive is available now at www.mimoco.com.

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Entertainment Earth unleashed a new coupon code which can save you $10 off a $40 purchase. During the checkout process use source code: EEFB0112 and you’ll save $10 of $40 (or more). This coupon is good through the end of the month, 1/31/12.  Head over to Entertainment Earth and get busy!