The Incredible Hulk has been around since 1962, one of the many many many creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby : the epic story of a man trapped inside of a green monster, or vice versa. These dueling personalities have given rise to a wide array of personalities through the course of the comic, and have made many friends and enemies.

This cast of characters, of course, means action figures. In 2003, ToyBiz released eight Hulk-related figures in a line that they called ‘Hulk Classics’, which coincided with their ongoing ‘Marvel Legends’ property. While the set of eight was comprised of six very diverse incarnations of The Hulk himself, the two villains (Absorbing Man and Abomination) proved very difficult to find, and now reach prices of over $100.

More recently, Hasbro has released a line simply called ‘Hulk’, a figure line that focuses on the Hulk comic rather than the current movie, and spans another eight characters as a kind of informal continuation of the ol’ Hulk Classics line. Because of the large size of most Hulk figures, the included bonus pieces of a buildable Fin Fang Foom, and the skyrocketing price of plastics and cost of transporting them, each figure costs about $15 at retail - an all time high price for a domestic action figure of this scale. So, are they worth it?

Let’s start with the Savage She-Hulk, as the smallest and rarest of the bunch. Hasbro’s previous She-Hulk figure remains one of my favorite Marvel Legends figures of all time, so there’s definitely a prejudice. This new Savage She-Hulk stands a full head shorter than her taller predecessor (which is acceptable, due to the nature of the Hulk family’s size-changing abilities), and is the only figure to include a fabric costume piece. I’m not a fan of mixing cloth and plastic on this small scale, because something never syncs up, and while the tattery white undershirt that she wears serves to allow for full movement, it doesn’t seem to be an accessory that will last long. Of course, action figure purists and weirdos alike can display her sans shirt, as Hasbro conveniently sculpted underthings onto her form. The angry face and messy hair belies her ‘Savage’ nature - something that she learned to control, subsequently joined the Fantastic Four for a little while and became a successful lawyer. I’m up for any She-Hulk, so I’m a fan.

Doc Samson is the next figure of the group, and also my favorite. Maybe it’s just something iconic about a guy with a lightning bolt on his chest, but it’ll always sucker me in. Madman, Captain Marvel, The Flash - all visually appealing guys. Doc is a great figure, cast in the soft plastics that allow for soft, sturdy movement, very simple in execution and just neat looking. He has the double-jointed knees that are rarely seen anymore (but were once responsible for making Marvel Legends a revolutionary force), and the points of articulation in his ball-jointed hips are cleverly masked by the stripes in his pants. If nothing else, he’s a classic Marvel character who we’ve not seen in this scale yet, and he’s a pretty great basic body for customizers who are interested in making him into different guys. Captain Hammer, anyone?

Absorbing Man is probably the disappointment of the set, and not really worth picking up (except for the Foom piece) - even as a stand-in for the excellent but rare Absorbing Man that ToyBiz made in 2003. While the ‘leg-made-of-brick’ is a pretty neat aesthetic choice, and the gentle transformation of his body from flesh to stone is well done, it doesn’t feel like enough. Carl Creel is a guy who once beat a teammate to death using the dead body of another teammate, so never in his life has he appeared as placid and pensive as he does here. Not only that, but the guy can turn into diamond, water, denim - hell, the guy could turn into a delicious buffet if he wanted to - so why limit him to a little bit of stone? As one of the most violent, insane characters in the Marvel universe, Hasbro’s recent penchant for bizarrely narrow heads and simplicity doesn’t match up with the character.

Wendigo is the largest figure of the line, and probably a figure I’d dig more if I enjoyed the character. He’s a big furry monster- what’s not to adore? Well, we already got a similar Wendigo in this scale a few years back, and I don’t feel the desire for another when we could have had something like Zzzax or Valkyrie (who was originally scheduled for this line), or even Psyklop. Yes, Psyklop. Regardless, this extra Wendigo is well made, and even features an uncommon ‘paint wash’ to bring out the details of the sculpt. Hasbro’s kinda eschewed the whole paint wash thing lately - mostly because it takes a little longer to produce, and thus, more expensive.

Skaar, or ‘Son of Hulk’, is a very recent addition to the Marvel universe, and not one I’ve caught up with yet. As we get into these larger characters, the plastic become slightly harder and less yielding, as parts are cast hollow to save on plastic, and they also become so muscled that they can’t really put their arms down at their sides anymore. As a result, they’ve always got that ‘chafed pits’ stance. Skaar has this cloudy-green paint scheme that seems to drift across his body at random, not really adding any definition, but instead serving to confuse the sculpture of the toy. He comes with a sword, a sheathed dagger that loosely pins to his loincloth, and hair sculpted in front of his eyes. Whenever I see the whole ‘hair sculpted in front of eyes’ thing, I just want to scream ‘JUST TUCK IT BEHIND YOUR EARS!’, because the last thing we need is an angry, orphaned, cross-eyed Hulk baby running around.

The last three figures of the set are all incarnations of The Hulk. First, we have the Savage Grey Hulk. This is how The Hulk first appeared (even though that was already covered in a previous ‘First Appearance Hulk’ figure), and the form that he sometimes reverts to when the ‘monster’ personality dominates the ‘Bruce Banner’ personality. He’s about standard size for a Hulk toy - a little above average in height and girth when compared to Spider-Man and the like, but he really doesn’t offer that much more than the previous Grey Hulk, or even Grey Hulk’s gangster personality, Mr. Fixit. That guy came with a hat - the best of all possible toy accessories - not to mention a trenchcoat and a classic mobster gat.

‘The End’ Hulk depicts him as the last survivor on a dead world, almost unable to die (even as Bruce Banner dies inside of him) because of his regenerative powers. As a result, he’s something of a zombie figure, skin all tearing and hair falling out. As with these larger figures, he’s all hard plastics, and the paint and sculpt are simpler than they absolutely need to be, but as a new interpretation of The Hulk, I enjoy it enough.

The final Hulk is ‘King Hulk’, another recent incarnation of the character from the ‘World War Hulk’ storyline. It’s a very similar character to the previous ‘Planet Hulk’ figure, and even re-uses the same torso. Ultimately, the newer figure drops a bit of the previous articulation, again simplifies the paint, and adds a few new details specific to the slightly-different character. Again, I’d just like to throw Psyklop out there. Just sayin’. Cyclops represent.

The scaling back of detail is an acceptable loss, because a more ‘cartoon’ aesthetic does lend itself towards seeing them as comic figures, instead of ‘comic figures trying to look realistic’, but I can’t say that the cutting back in articulation really aids in anything. Bring back the double-joints, Hasbro. Drop us a few paint washes. With recent reports that you’re going to be raising prices on everything anyhow, give us something to drool over so that the hobby doesn’t collapse upon itself like comics did in the 90s. We can’t afford to be moving backwards, financially or aesthetically. Were it not for the giant Fin Fang Foom made from collecting all eight, I could have passed on six of these eight. Damn you and your space dragons, Hasbro.

Collectors, buy these guys for the Fin Fang Foom, but don’t expect all that much from the figures themselves. The whole set will be available as a boxed set at San Diego Comic Con 2008, complete with all 8 figures and the assembled Foom - but it’ll be a heck of a task to try to ship that thing home. The set just might make an appearance on Hasbro’s website, but until then, keep hunting!

True to Hollywood marketing form, every superhero-adventure-summer-blockbuster film has been accompanied by a line of collectible action figures. Mattel produced 2 lines of figures and vehicles to coincide with The Dark Knight (which were exceptionally hot due to the untimely death of Heath Ledger), and Hasbro gave us an array of Iron Man and Hulk toys for the selfsame movie.

While Hasbro’s Hulk movie figures were met with derision due to their substandard quality and ad nauseum repetition the Hulk himself (all with different action features), Hasbro also took the opportunity to ride the Hulk hype and produce an entirely different, comic-based line of Hulk figures - which are selling with wild success, even at the unusually high $15 price tag.

This line of eight Hulk-related figures has been a holy grail for me since I first saw them back at Toy Fair. While I have a causal collection of Hulk toys (because really, the guy’s gone through about a million changes and ‘costumes’, and he’s iconic), I was more interested in the enormous figure that you can build if you collect all eight - Fin Fang Foom. While the name might be ridiculous, the character is a shining example of the wacky energy that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby pumped into their comics in the 1960s. As a semi-rabid Kirby devotee, this was a thing that I needed to have around. Plus, he’s a giant space dragon - a combination of three of the greatest words in the English language. You know, aside from ‘naked sandwich robot’.

Other great Jack Kirby names : Arnim Zola, Flippa Dippa, Agnar the Fierce, Baron Zemo, Bombu, Devil Dinosaur, Galactus, Annihilus, MODOK, and Giant Man. Interestingly, nearly every ‘build-a-figure’ that’s been made in the Marvel lines is a Jack Kirby / Stan Lee creation, from X-Men’s Sentinels to The Blob, excluding Onslaught, Apocalypse, and The Brood Queen. Kirby’s just that epic. You need to buy eight figures just to build one of his.

Whenever a new line of figures comes out, I hit the message boards and browse for sightings. Toys generally start out in California, and over the next three weeks, slowly make the crawl to New York. The original plan for this Hulk line was to release the first four figures in July, and release the second quartet in August. There would be a two-month long interim in which you’d only have half of a space dragon built. It was a strange plan for Hasbro to make, especially when collectors feel very unsettled about half-completed things, but it was Foom. My love affair with space dragons could endure.

I hit Toys ‘R’ Us one morning and found the first five figures, and immediately loaded them into my arms and ran to the checkout counter. I was so excited (and possibly sweaty) that I didn’t even bother checking deeper into the pegs, since the back of the package now revealed a change in Hasbro’s plans. These first five would ship now, and the remaining three would ship in August. Because these were being touted as ‘limited edition’, reports were also coming in that if your local Toys ‘R’ Us (my only real buying option, due to my remote location) was going to get any at all, they were pretty much limited to one case - and that these were all shipping at once. My Foom was legless, and even after returning to the store about 4 times each week, my search turned up nothing. When the pegs were finally taken down and replaced with Batman stuff, I resorted to eBay. Again, for the unrequited love of a space dragon.

But for a while, I was on the hunt again. The toy collector climate in my area isn’t all that heated, since I’m friends with one other serious collector, and the only other collector that I know of is the ‘greasy hat’ guy that I’ve caustically written of before. I’m not the kind of guy who’ll wait outside of the store, breathing heavily on the windows until I’m let in. My dedication isn’t worth the cost of my soul or dignity, or a healthy breakfast. I’m of the mindset that if I’m meant to find something, it will present itself to me, and that stress-less (and somewhat Zen) attitude towards collecting has served me well enough. But somehow - I was really serious about Foom. I was hunting hard, just short of wearing a snazzy camo getup and carrying a compound bow through the toy aisles. I had something to look for - but it was never about ‘having’. Somehow, it was more about Jack Kirby, and having something of his around to inspire me creatively. When it comes to creativity, I’m relentless, remorseless, and have no budget.

Today, I finished my Fin Fang Foom, legs and all, and he’s a towering monument to the heart of comic culture - and by far the best ‘build-a-figure’ made since Hasbro’s taken over the ‘Marvel’ lines from ToyBiz. Sure, Foom has no formal relation to The Incredible Hulk, as he’s more of an Iron Man villain than anything else, but I’ll take him where I can get him. While the classic Marvel Legends line seems to be either fading out or spinning into less ‘Legendary’ characters since Hasbro rook over, the Hulk line keeps true to both recent and classic comics.

Stay tuned for a detailed review of the eight Hulk figures!

Over the past decade or so, the world of comics has been grudgingly granted some measures of legitimacy, as it fights hard to move beyond the common misconception that it’s all ‘muscles and fights’ and guys punching things and girls with ridiculous proportions and non-costumes (obviously drawn as such to attract the arrested arousal of adolescents and other men trapped on a adolescent state). The whole ‘comics are for kids and losers’ stigma is fading, so I’m a fan of anything that takes comic fantasy seriously as a significant cultural phenomenon. Even if you’re not a fan of comics, you can’t deny the impact they’ve had.

So, when an institution as important as The Met says ‘hey, we’ve got superheroes!’, I listen. Using an array of well-known, super-heroic costumes as inspiration, a small gathering of ultra-famous designers and design studios were summoned to create their own versions of the costumes. The characters represented included Batman, Iron Man, Superman, The Incredible Hulk, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Mystique (and her mutant ilk), and Catwoman - movie versions all. Photography was not allowed, so please click around to see links to photos and videos elsewhere on the web, snapped by braver souls than I.

It was a little disappointing that the paper heart of comic culture was not tapped more heavily, and only the superficial movie costume designs were utilized. If the idea was to access the most popular aspects of the characters, the movie versions of them would be it - even if the ‘movie versions’ of all superhero costumes are much more practical and realistic than their truly fantastic comic counterparts. I can’t help but think that exploring the true depths of comic imagery would have yielded some even more wild and/or sexy results. Of course, the designers made it very apparent that the physical appearance of the costume was pretty much irrelevant - it was what the costume represents that they were exploring.

These weren’t redesigned superhero costumes at all, so don’t let the title of the show fool you into some false sense of familiarity. No one’s fighting anything in these, except for a possibly to-the-death battle with dignity. These ‘costumes’ were all super-manifestations of the essences of superpowers - from abstract, angular sports designs for the speed and aerodynamism of The Flash, to a simple, tremendously ugly brick-pattern-slash-football-outfit to symbolize the strength and endurance of the Hulk.

Being completely ignorant of the fashion world, I wasn’t exceptionally thrilled (or even conscious) of the fancy designer names, nor seeing original designs in the flesh. What I WAS excited about was seeing each original movie costume that the absurd ‘designer’ costumes were inspired by. These included Christopher Reeves’ screen-worn Superman costume (accompanied by an excellent hologram that switched it back and forth between his Clark Kent, civilian attire), the Iron Man Mark II armor, and the surprisingly tiny Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman costume. Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman costume remains in one piece, though it bears the fading and loose threads of a costume ten times its age. The Batman costume of choice wasn’t a classic Adam West getup, or the acceptable Michael Keaton gear, or even the tragically-nippled Schumacher versions, but the Batman outfit from the upcoming Dark Knight film. The Met was so topical that it was showcasing costumes that no one had even seen yet.

If they really wanted to see something, The Met would have tossed out some classic villain costumes to reinterpret. Those guys are crazy, and they don’t care if their helmets have 9-foot tall fins on them, or that purple really doesn’t go with green. While heroes are about unity and coordination, the bad guys survive on discord and discomfort - which are two things that would be really fun to see in a ‘fashion’ sense. As it was, making a spider-webby dress to express Spider-Man is a disappointingly obvious decision, and green, inflatable Hulk muscle vests were a clever juxtaposition of form and function - even if they had zero aesthetic appeal.

It wasn’t unexpected that most of the the fashions were fairly pretentious (using one’s own initials instead of Superman’s trademark ‘S’), and had very little to do with superheroes. Every ‘fashion’ expressed very human qualities - things that heroes happen to occasionally represent when they’re not punching things. Sure, the show addressed the complexity of fictional heroism, but it could have very easily excluded the idea of heroes entirely and focused on the spectrum of human emotions. It might have made it feel a lot more coherent, but also far less appealing to a population that’s ready to embrace superheroes. And I wouldn’t have been able to see Rebecca Romijn’s mutant appliqués in person.

As a small bonus at the end of the show for real hardcore geeks, The Met assembled a collection of the most valuable comics in all of geekdom. We’re talkin’ Action Comics #1 with the first appearance of Superman, the first appearance of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #39, and some astonishingly early Batman appearances, all in one place and under plexiglass. For people to tap on, apparently. Why one would tap on the glass in front of an inanimate object as if it were a sleepy kitten, I’m not entirely sure, but it was done. For the record, none of the comics seemed to notice.

The gift shop included some alarmingly (but appropriately) gaudy, $30 t-shirts, a super-glossy show catalogue paperback for $30, or a handsome tin-covered version for $50, among other more common items. The cost prevented me from partaking in the acquisition of new superhero items, as much as I like to extend my tangential superhero book collection.

The show is worth seeing, if only for the original super-costumes. While I came away with a new understanding of exactly what ‘fashion’ is and stands to represent, I’ll leave it to the experts, while I ponder how Wolverine gets his face-pointies to stand so straight. I’m willing to bet that it’s simple cardboard inserts. The show will be open through September 1st, 2008.

So, as Toy Fair 2008 ends, I come to you with my report from the first day of the Big Event. On Saturday, February 16th, Hasbro hosted their ‘Collector Event’ in their rented showrooms near the Javits Center in NYC, and preceded that with a handful of powerpoint presentations at The Times Center regarding their upcoming and continuing toy lines. We got free popcorn and water, and afterwards, we even got a cookie. Which was delicious - even if it was printed with the Hasbro logo. If Hasbro tastes like sugar cookies and white chocolate, feed me more.

Sure, ToyFair hadn’t even really started yet, but Hasbro likes to get ‘the nerd herd’ out of the way. It goes something like this : they shuffle us into a maze of displays, we crowd like so many camera-wielding lambs to slaughter, and we struggle to get suitable shots for our own sites around the wide stance of that annoying guy from that Transformers fan site. Seriously, guy, you don’t need 15 shots of Optimus Prime’s nostrils. I’d just like one of his chassis, please. The difference between nerds and lambs, though, is that lambs have a sense of direction and are soft, whereas nerds depend entirely on their elbows to make their oblivious treks right smack into your nether regions.

Can you tell that I was more than a little perturbed by the claustrophobia of the showroom? To top it all off, one of the new American Gladiators was standing in the doorway to greet us. You know, pecs bigger than your head, glistening, making us all regret every decision we’ve ever made in our nerd-lives, called something like Kickface or Hemorrhage or something such. I’m much more of an American Gladiola.

But I digress. For the first half of the afternoon, no recording devices of any kind were allowed. We sat in a comfy theatre as toy planners and execs told us about Hasbro’s’ plans for 2008, all revolving around their “boys’ properties” of Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, Star Wars, G. I. Joe, Transformers, Marvel Comics, and Indiana Jones - all of which have a movie or TV show of some sort coming out this year. The great things about Hasbro’s properties is that Hasbro capitalizes off of them in as many ways possible - so while the Iron Man movie might be hot, they’ll use this momentum to delve into Iron Man comics and fan-favorite history stuff to make more products that collectors AND casual fans would love to see on a toy shelf for different (and still all valid) reasons. G. I. Joe fans will see classic stuff revisited, and Indiana Jones fans will see figures from ALL of the Indiana Jones movies - not just the new Crystal Skull one.

Now listen up, collectors - there’s a lot of dates I’m going to drop on you for when you can find these toys, and what you’ll be looking for.

- IRON MAN will see seven basic 6” scale figures, which will arrive on shelves on March 22nd, preceding the movie release, scheduled for May 2nd. Expect a ‘first appearance’ Mark I Armor, a Mark III armor, and Titanium Man, among other action-featured Iron Men - as well as a funky Iron Man roadster, ‘cause every hero needs a vehicle. Especially when they can fly. The movie’s designs are based on the comic cover artwork of Adi Granov, which is a great nod to the comics themselves. There will also be a beautiful, deluxe 12” figure, and at least two sets of Superhero Squad figures - which are 2” tall, kid-friendly, cartoonish plastic hunks of neatness. These will be Iron Man related, but not movie-centric at all - including Hulkbuster, First Appearance, Silver Centurion, War Machine, Unmasked and other neat armors. Keep an eye out for an additional Iron Man armor included with the Hulk Superhero Squad packs!

- THE INCREDIBLE HULK MOVIE will be the kind of movie that says, “You know what? We never made that Eric Bana one. Let’s start over & do it right!” The toys will drop on May 1st, and the movie is released on June 13th. The 6” scale movie toys seem to be a whole lotta very similar Hulks with action features, an Abomination figure (not shown at Toy Fair), and a few army guys - nothing incredible. What collectors SHOULD take note of is the ‘Marvel Legends’ style figures that’ll be coming out at this time also - again, not movie-centric, but very much related to Hulk comics. The first wave will include Savage She-Hulk (pictured at left), Wendigo (a more accurate one than the other Marvel Legends one), Absorbing Man (returning, after being impossible to find a few years back), and ‘The End’ Hulk. A second wave will come shortly after this, and if you collect all eight figures, you can build a genuinely huge Fin Fang Foom figure - the dragon that fans have been clamoring for for YEARS. I’m psyched. (One will also be able to get all 8 figures, along with Foom, in a ‘Collector’s Box’ at San Diego Comic Con this year). As mentioned earlier, there will also be at least two Superhero Squad packs, all comic related, including Green Scar, Silver Savage, and a few other Hulks.

- SPIDER-MAN is getting a new animated show on Saturday mornings, and Hasbro’s toys will release on March 1st, capitalizing on that great animated style that I recently wrote about. While there’s no new Spider-Man films on the immediate horizon, Hasbro will be releasing a ‘Spider-Man Classic’ line, which will feature comic characters that we haven’t seen yet, including Tarantula, which will drop on August 1st. All of these are 6” scaled, so everything is compatible with everything else, as Hasbro’s learned their lesson from the ill-fated 5” Spider-Man line of late last year that no one seems to be buying.

- MARVEL LEGENDS are going to have an odd year, with only 2 waves of single-packed figures this year, which run from 5 to 8 figures per wave. No figure or Build-a-Figure plans were revealed for these, but the year will also see eight 2-packs, which makes up for the figural absence otherwise. These will include Ultimate Nick Fury & Ultimate World War II Captain America, and Elektra & Ronin. Fans will note that these are all new, current characters that are important to current storylines, and even better, Marvel Legends will start coming with relevant accessories again, including alternate heads and hands. An Elektra with a Skrull head? YES PLEASE - but it all still means that we’re going to be shorted on buildable, huge figures.

Also planned for 2008 is a San Diego Comic Con exclusive 3-pack under the ‘Savage Land’ theme, which includes Shanna the She-Devil, Ka-Zar and Zabu. I hate the sound of the word ‘exclusive’, I hate that San Diego gets almost all of them, and I hate trying to find them for fair prices - but at least HasbroToyShop.com has offered these to online buyers in the past.

- SUPERHERO SQUAD will see, in addition to the aforementioned Hulk & Iron Man packs, twenty-four more 2-packs, and eight more 4-packs, which will include Hobgoblin, Psylocke, Shang Chi, Nighthawk, Carnage, Ares, and other figures that are so obscure it’s ridiculous and awesome. The new MIGHTY MUGGS line, which feature generic, cartoony, urban vinyl-styled bodies done up in different decos, will have 16 new marvel figures this year, including Thing, Doctor Doom, Hulk, Venom, Iron Man and a bunch of other good choices. SDCC will have an exclusive (shudder) Iron Man Movie figure.

- MARVEL UNLEASHED, a line of extra-sized, super-articulated, premium figures will see four more waves, starting with Iron Man. These can be equated to ‘a step up from regular action figures without breaking the bank’. MARVEL TRANSFORMERS will also begin, mixing Hasbro’s properties up into a myriad of neat things. They start off with an Iron Man and a Hulk that turn into vehicles, Transformers-style! And speaking of mixing properties, there are strong rumors of a Star Wars-scaled Marvel figure line… and who doesn’t want to see Darth Vader and Doctor Doom duke it out?

As big a nerd as I am, my knowledge of G. I. Joe and Transformers is next to nothing, so I regret that almost all of the information about these two properties went right over my head, not knowing many names or which toys have come before. I can mention that a second Transformers movie is starting to film (though no toys were shown), a kid-friendly Transformers cartoon is starting up (with a few figures shown), and a G. I. Joe movie has also started filming. I also went out after this presentation and bought my first three Joe figures. Note, please, that every company I’d talk to this weekend had their own 3.75″ scale line brewing, and ergo, everything would be compatible with the tiny Joes.

- INDIANA JONES promises to be a hot property, with Hasbro delving into every IJ movie, answering fan pleas that have echoed annoyingly for years. On May 1st, all of the toys are going to appear. We have an initial offering of seventeen 3.75” (or ‘Star Wars’) scale figures, with plans to expand the line into at least twenty-nine figures by the end of the year. There’s a lot of lost time to make up for, and they’re doing it well. Each figure will come with a ‘relic’ from one of the movies, amassing a great little treasure trove. There will also be a 12” line, more Adventure Heroes (much like the oft-mentioned Superhero Squad), a ‘Taters of the Lost Ark’ Mr. Potato Head, more Mighty Muggs, and even a classic mail-in program for every line. One can collect 4 proofs of purchase to earn an Adventure Heroes Indy on his horse, a 1/6th scaled Ark, or a 3.75” scale mystery figure that was not revealed to us due to its importance in the new movie.

And finally STAR WARS! As if there wasn’t already an information overload, there’s a ton of SW stuff coming. On July 26th, ‘The Legacy Collection’ will drop, which will include Stormtrooper helmet packaging and will include 30 figures. One week later, The Clone Wars Animated figures will happen, on Clone Trooper helmet packaging - so that fans can distinguish between the two. This will include 23 figures. All of these will include bonus parts to build a few Droids similar to R2-D2 and C-3PO.

These early offerings will include an ‘Episode Six Deleted Scene’ theme, with our classic Star Wars heroes in desert gear for the first time. Now, most exciting for me out of all of Toy Fair was catching a glimpse of Yarna D’Al Gargan (pictured above) - one of Jabba’s Palace dancers that was never made into a figure, and who was featured more prominently on the screen than 90% of every other Star Wars character ever made. The reason that she’s never been made is her semi-controversial feature of ‘having six breasts’, but FINALLY. Finally we can complete out Jabba’s Palace cardboard dioramas with Yarna.

Beyond these basic offerings, there will be comic 2-packs, with characters from throughout the non-canon history of the Star Wars comics, including Cade Skywalker, Darth Talon, Dengar & Fenn Shyshd. There will be four ‘Evolutions’ themed 3-packs, including a trio of Rebel Pilots from Episode 6, and a triple-pack of a Padme Amidala from each movie that she appeared in. And the line extends into even more Mighty Muggs and ‘Galactic Heroes’ - which are the same thing as ‘Adventure Heroes’ and ‘Superhero Squad’.

And, of course, Hasbro had a large Cloverfield Monster on display. For many people, including those who saw the movie, this is the first clear image that they’ve ever seen of The Monster. I’ll refrain from spoiling the movie for you by posting a picture here, but CLICK HERE if you’re curious and want to know more. It’s 14″ tall, touts 70 points of articulation, and comes with a handful of accessories. Itis currently available for purchase through Hasbro’s website and nowhere else.
The showrooms were packed with nerds who had no awareness of anyone who was standing around them, and I was inadvertently groped a handful of times. And I do mean ‘handful’. Hasbro, I love you, but you need bigger showrooms - especially when your sweatiest clientele will all be meeting there at once. I had a claustrophobic moment or two, which prevented me from seeing half of the showroom. You’ve shown me that I’m not elbowy enough to be a ‘reporter’, that toys turn grown men into animals, and that it’s going to be an expensive year. Stay tuned for more Toy Fair this weekend!

For now, CLICK HERE to see a full gallery of Hasbro images, and enjoy!

This week was the release of the nine thousandth Heroclix set from WizKids Games. As I’ve detailed in the past, HeroClix is a collectible miniature game featuring the best of Marvel, DC and indy superheroes. You arrange them on a map, you observe their stats, and you make ‘em duke it out. With various strategies and abilities at your disposal, you roll dice and finesse your way to victory. And it’s a heck of a lot of fun. Even if you’re not a gamer, the appeal of tiny superheroes is undeniable.

This recent expansion of playable Heroclix figures places a lot of focus on recent marvel storylines - notably, Marvel Zombies and World War Hulk. In the former, a zombie plague breaks out in the multiverse that contains our heroes and just about all of them become zombies or are killed, with expected zombie chaos and fun ensuing. In the latter, the dangerous Hulk is sent into space by a group of Earth’s heroic leaders, lands on a planet of insanely powerful gladiators, and must fight for his survival. Of course, this all creates some interesting new characters that would undoubtedly be fun to have little battles with.

As such, this set features a handful of new zombie figures. The first four were released in extremely limited quantities a few sets ago, and consistently reach prices of over $100 at auction. These zombie figures aren’t nearly as strong as their living counterparts, since they’re weakened by hunger and rotting bodies, but their main appeal is being fun to play - especially as an oncoming horde. A zombie Giant-Man is introduced, his morbid figure clutching a still-living Black Panther, who he keeps alive and gradually eats for sustenance. A second version of zombie Spider-Man is also present, as well as a second zombie Wolverine. My personal favorite zombie comes in the form of zombie Iron Man, who’s nothing but an off-kilter torso.

The World War Hulk focus includes a few more characters. First, we have ‘Green Scar’, Hulk’s armored, gladiatorial persona - he’s really mad, and he’s pretty strong. We also have a few warriors that he’d battled on the planet of Sakaar - Miek, Korg, Warskrull, and warbound Brood. There’s also Silver Savage - a warrior incarnation of the Silver Surfer, trapped on the warring planet. Past Hulk villains also are included in the set - Zzzax, Absorbing Man, and The Leader - along with a very special Hulkbuster Iron Man, and one can never have enough Iron Men.

Two other outstanding figures, both in their sculpt and the fact that they were made at all, are the Super-Adaptoid and Devil Dinosaur. Super-Adaptoid is an android designed to absorb and mimic the powers of the Avengers, thus proving to be a stronger enemy than all of them put together. I love characters that can do this, and there are many in the world of comics - Super Skrull is a mimic of the Fantastic Four, Amazo copies the Justice League, Composite Superman copies the Legion of Superheroes, and the list goes on. The bizarre, green amalgamation of superhero costumes on the Super-Adaptoid is my kind of silver age stuff.

Devil Dinosaur plays right into my love of Jack Kirby, and he’s even sculpted with a Moon Boy mini-figure riding him. Of course, the weight of the extra-large figure makes him pretty detectable in sealed Heroclix packs, but it’s a great interpretation of one of Kirby’s bizarre creations.

The rest of the set is filled out with various X-Men characters, which are never as interesting as they could be - except for a few first appearance-type figures, in their original X-Men #1 outfits.

Two figures are only available through promotional means - a ‘Dark Beast’ figure can be purchased ONLY if you have a receipt for 10 booster packs from a retail location, and ‘Rampaging Hulk’ can only be obtained if you’re a new player who shows up for a sanctioned tournament at a shop. So, the set keeps the completists searching, since it’s not as easy as buying a case and hoping for the best.

It ends up being a pretty neat set. I haven’t had the opportunity to test them in battle, but WizKids is consistently improving the quality of their figural sculpts and game mechanics. Check out an almost-full gallery of the figures from this set in our Collectors’ Community!

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