Uh-Oh, Cap is looking hangry and you’re on the menu! (All photos are courtesy of Diamond Select Toys)
Diamond Select Toys celebrates the 20th anniversary of their Mini-Mates action figure line with a box set that pays tribute to the Marvel animated series What If… as seen on the Disney Plus streaming service.
Mini-Mates are two inch tall, articulated figures that have been designed under a multitude of licenses, from Universal Monsters and Nightmare Before Christmas to Kill Bill characters. I’m always astounded at how the simple body form can be transformed to so accurately convey a character.
The Noble Collection’s Creature From the Black Lagoon Bendy Fig captured in a paper craft jungle.
“A sleepy lagoon, a tropical moon, and two on an island” is how the lyrics of the 1940 Number 1 hit song imagines a jungle paradise. That’s certainly not what Julie Adams and Richard Carlson encountered when their archeological team traveled down the Amazon in the now classic 1954 monster movie The Creature from the Black Lagoon. It was way more of a creepy lagoon and prehistoric goon experience.
The Toy Insider 2021 Holiday Gift Guide will help relieve toy shopping uncertainties.
Fall arrived with joy filled promise thanks to the folks at The Toy Insider, who held their first in-person post-lockdown Holiday of Play event this week. Led by Chief Toy Officer Laurie Schacht, these play mavens have admirably virtualized their last few events, but there’s nothing like making a personal connection, even if it’s with a socially distanced wave or an elbow bump.
Halloween Town Denizens. DST Select NBX Series 10 and Previews Exclusive action figures. (All photos courtesy of Diamond Select Toys)
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (NBX) is the gift that keeps on giving for enthusiasts and collectors of all things All Hallows Eve. It’s spooky spin on holiday television staples like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and How The Grinch Stole Christmas seemed pretty quirky upon its release on October 29, 1993, but ultimately it has gained classic status among the classics it set out to spoof.
Though it never generated an on-going sequel franchise, the film continues to ooze oodles of cool collectibles based on the 230 puppets built to fill every corner of its miniature stop motion animation sets.
I could feign astonishment but it’s not too surprising when those characters were fired in the creative cauldron of Tim Burton’s brain. Though he did not direct the film (that was Henry Selick) his eerie but playful visual imprint is unmistakably present from spindly spooks to corpulent corpses.
DST Select NBX Series 10: Mr. Hyde and Corpse Dad.
DST Select NBX Action Figures Series 10… Keeping in step with the abundance of possibilities Diamond Select Toys (DST) has just released a new batch of Nightmare Before Christmas Select Action figures featuring inhabitants of both Halloween and Christmas lands.
DST NBX Series 10 Corpse Mom is ready to roll
Series 10 NBX Diamond Select Mrs. Claus, with choir elf and lounging penguin
This tenth series treats collectors to Mr. Hyde with Corpse Dad, Corpse Mom with Duck Gift, and Mrs. Claus with a Choir Elf and hilarious penguin pie. The figures sport multiple points of articulation and were designed by Eamon O’Donoghue with sculpts by Cortes Studios. They are boxed, along with their fun accessories, in Select action figure packaging featuring side panel artwork to facilitate shelf storage. SRP is $29.99 each.
The Creature Under the Stairs and Cyclops action figures debut as a Previews Exclusive package from Diamond Select Toys.
Dynamic Duo… An even deeper dive into the film’s recesses brings forth the Cyclops and Creature From Under the Stairs in Select Previews Exclusive (PX) format. I think this 2 pack will be a real crowd pleaser. It finally makes these two sort after Halloween Town denizens available to die-hard fans of the film. They’re also designed by O’Donoghue with Cortes Studio sculpts. $29.99 will get you these blokes to adorn your display shelves.
Sally and Jack 3 inch PVC figures from DST’s D-Formz Mystery Box format
D-Formz Blind Box Figures… DST has also announced an assortment of Nightmare Before ChristmasD-Formz. These are 3 inch PVC figures, which will come as blind boxed collectibles. Characters Jack Skellington, Sally and Oogie Boogie are presented in standard and glow-in-the dark versions. Dr. Finkelstein and Santa Claus figures are the rare chase figures, turning up only once per case.
These pieces come packaged 12 to a counter display. They were designed by Barry Bradfield and sculpted by Rocco Tartamella. You can grab ‘em for $7.99 each.
Dr. Finkelstein, Santa Claus, and glow-in-the-dark Oogie Boogie are chase figures in the Diamond Select Toys D-Formz blind box series.
