Tag: new york toy fair
DC Collectibles has been adding to their Gotham City Garage statue series over the last few years and showcasing them at Toy Fair and Comic Con. SkeletonPete knew I’d fall in love with them. He knows me too well. I was instantly drawn to these gorgeous sculptures, these beautiful superwomen on motorcycles, in particular, Wonder Woman, my childhood hero.
When I saw these DC heroines reimagined as fierce biker chicks, I could instantly envision a live action or animated series set in this universe. Shortly thereafter, creators Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly announced their plan for a comic book series of the same name. I couldn’t wait to dive in and that’s unusual for me, as I’m not typically a comic book collector. Well played, DC. Mission accomplished. You reeled me in… and at 99 cents per digital download, it was an investment I was more than happy to make.
The extraordinary sculpt work produced for NECA’s (National Entertainment Collectibles Association) classic Planet of the Apes (1968) action figures truly imbues them with the personality of their on-screen analogs and is what makes them some of my favorite collectibles. This week the toy company brings another key piece to original PotA fans in the form of the The Lawgiver Statue. The visage of the wizened orangutan was featured at NECA’s New York International Toy Fair 2015 booth as part of the jaw dropping diorama pictured below.
At a foot tall, the highly detailed resin statue is scaled proportionally to the toy maker’s classic Apes 6” action figures. As you can see it is a perfect compliment to any Ape City tableau. Word to the wise…, it’s expressly limited to a single run of 1700 pieces.
SkeletonPete Says…
As an early teen “monster kid” I well remember the Lawgiver statue being a prominent prop in publicity shots of actor Maurice Evans sporting make-up man John Chambers’ then state of the art prosthetics. I was apparently impressed enough to paint this fairly large Dr. Zaius portrait which I recently discovered during a home basement “dig.”
Monogram International Inc. is noted for their years of creating unique licensed collectibles and novelties, and I’ve been tracking their creations over many Toy Fairs. Their bust banks are particular favorites of mine, and they have created many ComicCon exclusives in this range. Antman and Loki are stand out additions to the line this year.
Key Characters…
Photographing the varied items at their 2015 New York International Toy Fair booth, I quickly became enamored with Monogram’s soon to be released series of 3D Foam Figural Key Rings. Licensing spans the Marvel, Disney, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and DC universes. The 2” characters have a nice chunky feel, soft but not “squishy.” Their super cute wide-eyed designs are fun and inventive and should make them popular with both youngsters and collectors of stylized characters.
Chase Scene…
Each keyring series includes 9 standard characters and 2 exclusive figures. Marvel Series 1 includes, Spider-Man, Hulk, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Man, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Star-Lord. The two “chase” characters illustrated on the bag in silhouette appear to be variants of Iron Man and Rocket. They will be sold as foil pack “blind bags.” Inside each package the characters are wrapped in cardboard to discourage the “touchy feely” collectors from trying to divine their purchase in advance. It keeps things honest and trading brisk.
The Monogram folks were so kind as to offer Ken Pierce (PiercingMetal.Com) and I a mystery bag each, and of course we opened them immediately. I was happy to find Galaxy Guardian Rocket Raccoon in mine, especially since he was not included in the Monogram display.
Weight of the Universe…
Monogram also unveiled a very early look at their Marvel Avengers paperweight. Shown in unpainted prototype it’s an out of the ordinary collector’s piece, nice for the desk of that comic obsessed executive you know. Standing atop the Avengers logo, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Ultron and the Hulk are all nicely sculpted ranging at what seemed to be 4-5 inches tall. Although not shown at Toy Fair, likely still in the sculpt stage, the company’s product art illustrates The Abomination and Loki as part of the set as well.
SkeletonPete Says…
Though not originally a fan of the mystery box or blind bag collectible model, I’ve come to understand its strengths. Commercially the “thrill of the chase” for your favorite characters certainly drives sales but psychologically adds a layer of fun via anticipation and surprise. That’s not such a bad thing for kids to experience in a world of mostly instant gratification. A personal analogy is how much I enjoyed chasing after 45 RPM’s with Non-LP B-Sides by my favorite musical artists. Now those “bonus” tracks are a click away for download and not truly special at all.
