Awesome Toy Blog

To celebrate Star Wars day – Mimoco announced a brand new limited Darth Maul Mimobot. This Mimobot features Maul’s capes, double bladed saber and a yellow grimace.  This drive is available in capacities ranging from 8 to 64 GB. You can find this limited edition drive here.

  

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Star Wars Day is May the 4th (get it? May the 4th??) and to celebrate LEGO Star Wars is creating a virtual mosaic experience for fans. This Friday, May 4th (Avengers opening day), visitors of any LEGO brand retail stores and LEGO.com are encouraged to build a LEGO Star Wars creation, take a photo of their creation and then upload it to the starwars.lego.com/creations page. These images will then be compiled into the largest ever LEGO Star wars virtual mosaic image to be revealed on May 5th! To top it off – one random submitter will will a Lego Darth Maul desktop build.  Happy Star Wars day!

  

Gentle Giant sent out a news blast today announcing a contest to win a production sample Kit Fisto mini-bust to celebrate Star Wars Day, May the 4th. You can get all the details on how to enter over on Gentle Giant’s blog. Check out this piece below!

 

The mail bag was overflowing today! Funko sent a few new images for me to share with you spanning a few different popular licenses. Up first are two new additions to the Michael Jackson Pop! series – his look from the 1984 Grammy’s and his ‘Bad’ video attire.  Both of these Pops! are due May 17th.

And from the land of the force come a new twist on Funko’s Blox figures – Blox Bobbles! These take the 2D-projected into 3D figures and add the fun of a bobble to them. This first batch of Star Was Blox Bobbles includes fan favorites Boba Fett, Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper.  These figures can be yours May 31st.

Finally, as the 50th anniversary of the ‘Mars Attacks!’ trading cards really starts to roll – Funko is releasing a Blox figure of the martian. He will also be available May 31st.  Ack ack!

Images of all these new releases are below.

 

Funko, one of the faves here at AwesomeToyBlog HQ, sent over their latest batch of photos today. Up first are 9″ plush of the 1990′s superstars Beavis and Butt-head from the groundbreaking MTV series ‘Beavis and Butt-head’.   I always have to remember that if not for Beavis and Butt-head, Daria may have never existed.

Also on the horizon are the 3rd series of Star Wars Pop! vinyl figures, which may be my favorite yet. The line-up includes a Jawa, Luke Skywalker as an X-Wing pilot, a Clone Trooper, a Tusken Raider and two other figures. Of course, those two other figures are Slave Leia and Jabba the Hutt – and they are awesome and awesomer.  All these figures are due May 24th; check them out in the gallery below.

 

It feels like an eternity since the last Star Wars action figure guide book came out – and by eternity I mean thousands of figures ago. News came out today that Steve Sansweet, collector extraordinaire, has a new action figure guide - Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection: 35 Years of Characters coming out in October. While all the details of what’s in the book are unclear – his previous guide book; Star Wars Action Figure Archive is a fantastic book and a great reference. This is one that I’m excited for. It is now available for preorder from Amazon for just $26.40.

While this past weekend’s Target circuluar had a 50% off coupon for a Star Wars item, there’s an even better deal waiting in the wings for fans of the Fighter Pod mini-figures.  There are two valid $2 off a $5 Fighter Pods purchase coupons available – one from Target.com and one from Playsaver.com. Target allows customers to combine a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon you can stack these and a net a $4 discount off a $5 purchase.  Each computer can print 2 of these coupons – be sure to check it out!

One of the many announcements coming out of toy fair was that Screenlife was releasing a Star Wars themed ‘Scene It?’ game, and it looked great. Unfortunately, Screenlife has been shut down earlier this week by it’s parent company, Paramount Pictures. It is unlikely that ‘Star Wars Scene It?’ will see the light of day. Best wishes to the former employees of Screenlife. You can read more about the shuttering of Screenlife over on Geekwire.

Gentle Giant announced their WonderCon exlusive last week, a Yoda statue wearing 3D glasses and munching on popcorn – celebrating the 3D release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.  This piece will be available at the show and also to Gentle Giant Premium Guild members.

WonderCon will be taking place March 16th- 18th at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Check out the gallery below for the official images of Hasbro’s 2012 Star Wars lines. And, after the jump, read the official product descriptions including the SRP. Enjoy!

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One of the announcements out of the Lego Collector’s Event is that their renewed their Star Wars license for an additional 10 years. This is great news, Lego has done a great job of keeping this line fresh and I look forward to seeing what the future holds! Keep reading to see the full press release for the announcement.

“The Force” Remains with The LEGO Group

-World’s leading construction toy manufacturer renews deal
to solidify LEGO® Star Wars™ franchise development-

BILLUND, Denmark (February 13, 2012)- (Virtual Press Office) – The LEGO Group and Lucasfilm Ltd. today announced renewal of the Star Wars™ licensing deal that, 12 years ago, transformed a construction toy theme into a global entertainment property with strong cross-generational, multi-platform appeal. Fans can look forward to LEGO® Star Wars product and content development for the next 10 years, according to the terms of the deal.

The LEGO Group first acquired the rights to manufacture LEGO toys based on the Star Wars universe in 1999, marking the first time in its global history that the world’s leading construction toy manufacturer would represent someone else’s story and characters in the LEGO world. What was once considered a licensed novelty is now considered a core LEGO franchise, similar to LEGO CITY, and ranks among the company’s global top themes.

A best-seller since its introduction, LEGO Star Wars has experienced tremendous growth over the last six years in particular, due to the continued strength of core construction toy development and expansion to video games, publishing, television and video content and other relevant categories for fans of all ages.

“It is very rare to find an evergreen property that delivers growth year on year in toys, even in years without events driving box office buzz, yet Star Wars defies all odds, continually reinventing itself, and our LEGO business continues to grow exponentially,” said Jill Wilfert, Vice President of Licensing and Entertainment for The LEGO Group. “Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon that shares many characteristics with the LEGO brand–cross generational appeal, versatile story and character content, creativity and imagination—and we believe that we can continue to grow LEGO Star Wars for many years to come.”

“We are delighted to have extended our long and very successful relationship with LEGO Group,” said Derek Stothard, Senior Director for Global Toys and Hardlines at Lucas Licensing. “Bringing together these two iconic global brands has created something special that is enjoyed by kids, families and fans everywhere.”

Star Wars is as relevant—perhaps more relevant—today than it was in 1977 when it was introduced, and in 1999 when the first of the next three episodes began to be told. For 2011, Star Wars is the #1 property and #1 license for Boys ages 6 and older according to NPD Group, and has been a top 3 boy’s license for the last 11 years. The LEGO share of the property continues to grow, as new generations of children discover, engage with and explore the Star Wars stories through constructive play.

A global toy phenomenon
LEGO Star Wars continues to rank among the best-selling global toy lines, with in excess of 200 million boxes sold worldwide since its 1999 launch. More than 340 LEGO Star Wars models have been developed, replicating iconic scenes and starships, as well as more than 425 minifigures from the Star Wars universe. Sets depict everything from the feature film Saga to the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Four cross-platform LEGO Star Wars video game titles have changed the face of casual gaming, selling in excess of 30 million units, and are reciprocally driving desire for building toys and video games while also bringing families together to share both forms of play. The line has inspired short- and long-form entertainment in the form of mini movies and the first-ever 30-minute television special, LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace, aired on top children’s networks around the world, including Cartoon Network in the U.S., Super RTL In Germany and on France TV, and is now available on Blu-ray/DVD. LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary from Dorling-Kindersley has been on the New York Times Bestsellers list for 81 weeks, topping the list at number-one for 18 weeks. Additionally, the franchise is the basis of the first-ever LEGOLAND® Park Miniland display area based on a fictional environment, which debuted last year in Carlsbad, California, Billund, Denmark and Gunzburg, Germany and opens this year in Windsor, England.

Mimoco, the originator of the designer character flash drive, had their drives on display at toy fair. Check out the gallery below to see the full range of flash drives availble including Hello Kitty, Toki Doki,  Star Wars, DC Universe (including the Dark Knight Rises) and even Transformers drives.

Kotobukiya’s toy fair display showcased their product offerings across their ArtFx statues, fine art statues, Bishoujo statues and ice trays. Some of the stand-out new product in their booth included a Batman – The Dark Knight Rises fine art statue, a prototype ‘New 52′ Superman ArtFX+ statue (the entire Justice League is on the way), new Star Wars and Aliens ice trays, an amazing Elvis figure, a phenomenal Tekken statue, and tons more. In lieu of me just rattling off a list of product, why not just check out the gallery below? Also Kotobukiya posted their entire toy fair catalog on their facebook page for your enjoyment.

My first appointment of Toy Fair 2012 was with Underground Toys, who are set to have a banner year. Their products lines include the Doctor Who, Star Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Ghostbusters license. In the past few years their products have gained more and more momentum at retail, particularly their talking plush items which you can find at Toys R Us.  Here are a few highlights for 2012 – check the galleries for images of everything on display.

Doctor Who: There were no new Classics 5″ figures on display – but I was assured that there’s more on the way, so rest easy. What was new? Doctor Who science themed kits, a TARDIS rubbish bin (which was fantastic), new talking plush (different color Daleks, the Silent, a Matt Smith Doctor), DIY Ceramic TARDIS and Dalek, and Doctor Who watches (these were gorgeous). Also much of the recently released and announced items from UK Toy Fair were on display.

Star Wars: Demonstrating how diverse Underground Toys have grown, a huge portion of their booth was allocated to Star Wars and other non-Doctor Who properties. In general most of the new product for 2012 were new additions to their talking plush lines. Jumbo Darth Maul, Darth Vader and R2D2 join their Jumbo Chewbacca figure.

Sonic the Hedgehog: This is a new property for Underground Toys and they introduce it with both clip on and larger talking plushes. In the larger plush – Sonic and Tails are wave 1, with the other pair following later in the year.

Ghostbusters: The Ghostbusters talking plush line expands this year with Slimer joining the talking plush lines. As previously several sizes of plush are available – and don’t worry; Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is sticking around as well.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Underground Toys for taking time out of toy fair to talk to AwesomeToyBlog. See the gallery below for images of everything on display!

From Hasbro’s Fan Media day – here are the details and images from their Star Wars presentation. Hi-res images and the presentation should be posted early next week – in the mean time, enjoy!

Movie Heroes

• Wave 2 – Obiwan Kenobi, Darth Maul, Padme Amidala, Jar Jar Binks
• Wave 3- Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalers, Luke Skywalker – all with Light Up sabers
• Battle Packs new sculpts -Obi Wan Darth Maul, Qui-Gon and Vader, Boba Fett, Luke
• Big Vehicle – MTT. 20 battle droids. 4 articulated, 16 posed
• Cool action feature…motorized droid deployment.

Vintage Collection

• Wave 6- Odd Ball, Grand Moff Tarkin, Nikto, Galen Marek, Shae Vizla
• Wave 7- Ahsoka, Obi Wan Kenobi (CW), Lumat, Nien Nunb, Weequay, Emporor’s Royal Guard (2 sets of gear)
• SDCC Exclusve – Carbonite Freezing Chamber Package. 6 figures in one package with new line look. 3 3/4 figures one from each film plus a new exclusive figure – exclusive Carbon Freezing Jar Jar
• Wave 8 – Jar Jar, Clone Lt Ep II, clone Trooper Ep III, Sandtrooper, Princess Leia Bespin, Darth Vader (ROTJ  with lightning), Orrimaarko, Republic Trooper (TOR)

FAN’S Choice Winer

• Mara Jade Skywalker (JedI)

Ultimate FX Lightsabers – Obi Wan, Darth Maul (they connect)
Fighter Pods – over 100 figures, more in development
Amp’d – Star Wars Vehicle Customization

• Includes KrE-O like figure. Includes larger and smaller vehicles; lots of options