Awesome Toy Blog

Want to win an Incredible Hulk minibust from Gentle Giant?  Who wouldn’t? Just head over to their blog for all the details on how to enter – the contest runs through Tuesday evening of next week. Granted there’s already 7400 entries, but your luck is bound to be better than it was for Mega Millions.

Skylanders, the hit console game that combines video gaming with collectible action figures is now making the jump to your favorite iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch) with its latest installment ‘Skylanders Cloud Patrol’.  In this game, you can unlock new Skylanders and access existing ones using the code printed on the figure’s packaging. If you’re new to the Skylanders world, you can build a virtual collection using in game currency. ‘Skylanders Cloud Patrol’ looks like its a great way to have your Skylanders on the go, and bide the time until ‘Skylanders Giants’ is released in the fall. You can find the game on itunes. Check below for a gallery of screenshots of the app – or keep reading after the jump for the full press release.

The Skylanders Franchise Comes to the App Store with

Skylanders Cloud Patrol™ for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Cloud Patrol Features 30-Plus Characters From Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure^TM, Arcade Shooting Gallery Style Gameplay, Ranking And Reward Systems, Unlockables And More

Santa Monica, CA – April 5, 2012 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), is expanding the reach of the phenomenally popular Skylanders franchise, the #1 kids game of 2011, with the debut of Skylanders Cloud Patrol™, an entirely new gaming experience for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, available exclusively on the iTunes App Store.

“Skylanders is already a huge success both on consoles and the web with Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders Spyro’s Universe and we are excited to bring the franchise to the mobile platform,”said John Coyne, vice president, consumer marketing. “Now with Cloud Patrol, fans have a brand new way to interact with their favorite Skylanders characters on the go in fun a new form of gameplay.”

Skylanders Cloud Patrol is set in a new region of Skylands that has been overrun by the evil minions of Portal Master, Kaos. With all 30-plus skylanders available to unlock, the game lets players take command of a magnificent sky-ship and use their favorite skylander to dispatch the baddies using touch gestures to tap-and-shoot or swipe the screen to create amazing combos.

Skylanders Cloud Patrol lets fans unlock skylanders and Magic Items and bring them to life in Cloud Patrol using the code bundled with each Skylanders action figure. Additionally, new Portal Masters may earn or purchase in-game currency to build their virtual mobile skylanders collection, Magic Items, and more. Cloud Patrol also features Game Center leaderboards and achievements and a 3D character viewer that allows players to browse their entire in-game collection.

The Skylanders App is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

For more information about Skylanders Cloud Patrol please visit www.skylanders.com. Skylanders Cloud Patrol is developed by Vicarious Visions, an Activision studio located in Menands, NY.

It has been a bit quiet on the exclusives front for the past few weeks, but today I bring news of the Bluefin Tamashii Nations SDCC 2012 exclusive Super Saiyan Son Gohan Special Color Edition. Whew – that name’s a mouthful, but if you’re a Dragon Ball Z fan, then this collector targeted figure may be for you.  Check out it out below.

Kotobukiya sent out a press release today announcing their upcoming ArtFx statue from Frank Miller’s ‘Dark Knight Return’. This statue features Batman kneeling over the Joker, prepared to lay his final blow on his nemesis as the Joker laughs away maniacally. This 1/6th statue is set to be released September 2012 and has a suggested price of $129.99.  Check out images of the statue below, and read the full press release after the jump.  It looks like another awesome Kotobukiya ArtFx statue – can’t wait to see it in person at SDCC.

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Just in time to wear to the Avengers movie opening May 4th, Junk Food clothing has released their latest Avengers t-shirts.  Yea, I know this is an action figure / toy website, but these are the perfect shirts for hunting down the latest figures. In all honesty, Junk Food makes fantastic printed tees (I love their Star Wars and Peanuts ones) – not only are the designs fantastic but they are soft, high quality shirts. Check out these and others on www.junkfoodclothing.com.

Funko sent out word that their Muppets Pop! vinyl figures are due out May 17th – just about a month and a half from now.  These are among my most personally anticipated Pop! vinyl figures to date. Images of the figures are below and they are all available for preorder on Entertainment Earth. Be sure to check it out!

A few years ago there was the casting and filming for Morgan Spurlock’s SDCC documentary “Comic-con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope”. It’s big day is here as the documentary is having it’s star studded Los Angeles premier tomorrow!

This documentary follows 5 attendees as they converge on SDCC 2010:

• Eric, an aspiring illustrator, is hoping to impress publishers and land a job
• Holly, costume and creature designer, hopes her creations will win the big prize
• Chuck, a long-time comic book dealer, is looking for a big sale to pay off his debts
• Skip, longtime amateur illustrator wants to be discovered at this year’s event
• James, a young fan, hopes his girlfriend will accept a dramatic proposal

 The 88 minute film includes one on one interviews with Comic-Con veterans who have turned their passions into professions include Stan Lee, Joss Whedon, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Matt Groening, Seth Rogen and Eli Roth among others.  The film also includes full coverage of all aspects the show, panels, parades, etc…all the great stuff that gets you to the show. COMIC-CON EPISODE IV:  A FAN’S HOPE, brought to you by Stan Less and Joss Whedon is directed by Morgan Spurlock; produced by Spurlock, Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, Harry Knowles and Thomas Tull; and written by Spurlock and Chilnick.

You can see the trailer at http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/comicconepisodeivafanshope/ the website here:  http://comicconmovie.com/ and the facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/comicconmovie

Worried that the Easter Bunny is going to let you down? The fine folks over at FigureOfTheDay.com sent over word of that they’re giving the Bunny an assist this weekend by offering a blind box of collectible figures (with value of $40) for just $20 shipped, this weekend. The promotion starts Friday, April 6th at 12AM PST and runs through 11:59PM PST Sunday, April 8th. Be sure to be early!

Yet another reason to go to see “The Avengers” on opening night, Lego has announced that they are distributing 2 Million posters featuring ‘The Avengers’ done minifigure style. Check out the image below – really starting to get excited for this movie!

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.

Apparently it is Funko appreciation day today – no sooner did I post about the Muppets did I get a bulletin from Funko detailing the release date for the Fab Four themselves – the Beatles. Making their Pop! vinyl debut May 10th are John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and a Blue Meanie. All 5 figures can be ordered in a set from Entertainment Earth.

Also due out in a few weeks (April 12th) is the 11″ Batman vinyl invader.  Check them out in the gallery below.

 A pair of exciting Pop! Vinyl new items today. First up is an announcement of a Pop! Vinyl book planned for release around SDCC – this is something that I’ve heard looks fantastic.  I can’t wait to get my hands on it myself – as soon as I can, I’ll post some more details.

Also revealed are product images of the upcoming Muppet Pop! vinyls. Announced at Toy Fair, with artwork in the Funko catalog, the first series of 8 is due in May and includes Kermit, Miss Piggy and others.  Check out the gallery below for these Muppetastic images.

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!

Funko updated their official facebook page today with some news regarding a few Pop! vinyl re-releases. Re-releases of the  Thor Movie POP, Loki POP, Penguin POP, Riddler POP and Han Solo POP have all been cancelled. But, these figures will make a return at this year’s SDCC with a new deco. This is super-early for any SDCC announcement from Funko, but I love that fact that Pop! vinyl will continue to have a presence at SDCC.

This is a peek behind the curtain, if you will – but the New York Times published an feature on the top notch, fan favorite, Four Horsemen Toy Design Studio. The article covers their banding together as employees at McFarlane Toys to their continued work with Mattel (on DC Universe and Masters of the Universe Classic) to their attempts to expand and diversify their product offerings with their own IP. It’s a really great article and gives some perspective on the business side of the hobby. Check it out here.