Awesome Toy Blog

The fine folks at Undergound Toys sent over word that they’ve been awarded ‘Toy Range of the Year’ at at the Licensing Awards 2011 for their range of talking Star Wars plush!  Congratulations to Underground Toys, check out the full press release after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Rebelscum for the heads up – Hasbro has now posted the redemption form for the white “Empire Strikes Back” prototype Boba Fett.  You can download the form here on Hasbro’s site.  As with recent Star Wars mail-in, 5 proofs of purchases are required and about $7 for shipping.

Name: Chewbacca
Series: Star Wars Pop! Vinyl
Released: July 2011

Funko’s Pop! vinyl line was one of my surprise favorite items from this year’s toy fair.  I love the simple, yet still detailed approach these figures take.  I also love at the breadth of the line with licenses from movies, comics all the way to cereal boxes.  It’s just a fun line at a great price point (just under $10 from most stores).  For this year’s SDCC, Funko offered a wide variety of exclusive Pop! vinyl figures, including this Chewbacca.

As part of the Star Wars Pop! vinyl line, Chewbacca here is a bobble head.  He shares the same general proportions as all Pop! vinyl figures with a “deformed” aesthetic but features sculpted detailing.  The mold and general coloring as the mass market release of Chewbacca, however the convention exclusive is  flocked.  I have to admit, I’m a sucker for flocked toys – and as a result this Chewie is just about perfect.  The mass market Chewbacca (available now online and in Target stores) is great – you should buy one if you like Star Wars; but the flocked version is awesome.

This is the second of my photos from my Flagstaff camping trip; as I was going into the woods it was obvious to take along some Ewoks.  But this photo was problematic; I wanted to have Ewoks in the foreground and forest in the background.  Unfortunately, the sun was not working with me…eventually I got this shot which was a good compromise.  Some adjustment of exposure was necessary in photoshop and I do think the background is a little overexposed but all in all its the effect I wanted.

A new batch of Funko images arrived in my inbox today, and I couldn’t be happier; as I’m a huge fan of the product Funko is putting out in the market.  If you’re not familiar with their Pop! vinyl line, you have to swing by your local Target store and check out the Marvel, DC and Star Wars lines; they’re easy to find as they are right in the action figure aisle.

The new product in today’s email blast were 2 Halo bobble-heads, celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the gaming franchise; the red Spartan Mark V and the blue Commander Carter. These bobbles are due in just a few weeks, on September 1st.  The line-up for the 2nd series of Star Wars Pop! vinyl was also revealed to include Jedi Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3P0, Boba Fett, Darth Maul and the Gamorrean Guard.  These will be available November 10th.  Finally from the DC Universe, the Pop! vinyl Hawkman will be available November 24th.  You can see images of all these new products in the gallery below, and if you want pre-order many of these items at Entertainment Earth.

HasbroToyShop.com kicked off a new promotion today; with a $10 (or greater) Star Wars purchase you receive 1 Free STAR WARS action figure.  This promotion is going to run through August 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM Eastern.  The comic-con coupon code COMIC2011 is still working to save 10% off your purchase, so that’s a way to get a little more bang for your buck.  Happy shopping!

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!

Last week on Cartoon Network, the first Lego Star Wars animated special; The Padawan Menace, premiered.  I had the opportunity to attend a screening of the special and thought it was a fun, light-hearted take on the Star Wars universe.  If you saw the special and loved it…or missed it, you’re in luck as the DVD and Blu-Ray release details have been announced.  Coming September 16th to both formats, this animated special is available for pre-order now at Wal-Mart.com (just $13!) and includes an exclusive Han Solo mini-fig.  After the jump, check out the official press release which has all the details of what is included on the disc.

Read the rest of this entry »

As with their Marvel presentation, Hasbro has also made their Star Wars presentation available. Details are included for both the main Clone Wars and Vintage lines as well as what to expect to find as retailer exclusives for the fall. Click on the Hasbro logo below to download this material, and check it out!

My first real introduction to Kotobukiya’s product line was this past February at toy fair when I was struck by their impressive Stormtrooper display as well as their ‘Han in Carbonite’ ice cube trays.  I was pleased to see a great SDCC presence by the company which focused on their Star Wars statues, their Marvel fine are statues and their DC and Marvel bishoujo statues lines (the ‘diamond’ Emma Frost statue looked fantastic).

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

12345►

Gentle Giant’s display on the floor included their busts and statues from their many licenses.  Included were displays focused on Star Wars (including their 12″ vintage line), Marvel Comics, Sucker Punch and more.  Sorry for the glare on many of these pictures, year after year photographing the Gentle Giant displays prove to be challenging because of the curved plexi-glass cases uses.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

123►

Another day, another couple of panels.  First up Friday morning is the Star Wars Hasbro panel.  We have marketing, design and sculpting and Lucas Licensing on the panel.

So onto the panel:
Fall 2011:
Wave 4: Savage Opress, Saesee Tiin, Clone Commander Jet, Plo Koon, Hondo Ohnaka, ARF Troofer (Kamino) and Stealth Ops Clone Trooper
Wave 5: Kit Fisto, Seripas, Captain Rex (brand new sculpt and new articulation)
Wave 6: Even Piell, Senator Jar Jar Binks, Chewbacca, R7-D4, Savage Opress
Class I Fleet Vehicles: Clone Pilot Y-Wing, BARC Speeder, Freeco Speeder, AT-RT
Class II Attack Vehicles: Mandalorian Gunship
Republic Attack Shuttle – shown at toy fair, serves as both vehicle and playset
Keep reading for Vintage collection and 2012 preview
Read the rest of this entry »

Just a quick reminder that the first full length Lego Star Wars adventure is set to premiere tomorrow on Cartoon Network at 7PM Eastern.  I had the opportunity to attend a screening while at SDCC, and the special is a fun and fantastic animated adventure.  To whet your palate, check out the trailer below.

Yesterday, it was tough getting to Hasbro’s Star Wars display, as its always a fan favorite.  Today though, I had full access to the cases, no shoving required.  The full slate of Vintage Collection and Clone Wars were on display.  Highlights of the display included several new vintage packaged vehicles – the landspeeder returns; the Clone Wars Chewbacca figure (I’ll break my no Clone Wars figures policy for this) and the Death Star Trench Ultimate Battle pack.  Check below for a gallery of everything Hasbro Star Wars.  The Star Wars panel is tomorrow, so expect some new news out of that!

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

1234►