NYCC 2011 unveiled some of the 3 3/4 inch action figure line  for next summer’s release of Marvel’s Avengers!

Enjoy the pictures of Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Loki! We stole  found these pictures on an internet message board, but they are clearly from Marvelous news, so go czech those guys out for more cool Marvel news!

HULK PLASTIC!!! RAAAGGHRRGRHRRAAA!!!

My Superpower is that I'm Jeremy Renner. Take THAT, undisclosed villains!

Yeah. We will most likely both be one per case. No love, I swear.

Dammit, 70 years and I still can't get away from costumes designed by a Stark...

…wait …who?

Comingsoon (and lots of other sites) are reporting the following news about the Hobbit toys:

Warner Bros. Consumer Products has awarded The Bridge Direct, Inc. the Master Toy License for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. The toy line will launch in the fall of 2012:

Warner Bros. Consumer Products is pleased to announce today that it has awarded the worldwide master toy and game licensing rights for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again to The Bridge Direct, Inc., the global children’s consumer products company. The Bridge will develop an exciting array of products inspired by the two films being directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson—who previously brought Middle-earth to life with the award-winning blockbuster The Lord of the Rings trilogy—including action figures, playsets, and role play accessories, which are expected to debut at retail in fall 2012 prior to the December 14 release of the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

“We’re thrilled about our partnership with The Bridge Direct, which produces engaging products that will recreate the storyline with stunning detail,” said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President of Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “Thanks to many of the same creative minds behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy products, we’re looking forward to unveiling a robust toy line for the two films that captures the excitement of the beloved adventure and delights loyal fans of the series.”

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again promise a timeless story, a broad range of appealing characters, thrilling action and the incomparable movie magic brought to life by master filmmaker Peter Jackson, all of which will make for an amazing toy line,” said Jay Foreman, President and CEO of The Bridge.

Timed to reach consumers prior to the December 14, 2012 release of the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Bridge will debut a multi-category toy line. The battle begins with Basic Action Figures, Adventure Packs, Beast Packs, and highly detailed Collector Figures. Fans can become real-life heroes with premium role play items including a Basic Sting Sword, a Basic Orcrist Sword, a Dwarven Battle Axe, and a Deluxe Sting Sword that features a blue glow just like in the film, bringing the thrill and the fantasy of the two films to life. The Bridge will reveal the 2012 product line to key retail partners in the coming weeks.

This news has been met with gloom and doom by just about every toy blog and news site out there. How did the company known mostly for the fad of Zhu-Zhu pets and Justin Bieber dolls get the high profile Hobbit licence?

Toy Biz had the license for the standard figures the first time around (for LOTR) and made a masterful collection of amazing figures. I still have a large display of them in my office, and my kids love coming over and playing with and looking at them. Yes, I let my children play with my collectibles. Well… some of them, at least…

But people/fans seem to have forgotten that Toy Biz was not the only player for LOTR merchandise back for the first movies. The license was split and different companies got different pieces of the merch pie. Toy Biz had 6-inch figures, Playmates had LEGO-like “building sets”, and a company called Play Along Toys had a small-scale figure line called “The Armies of Middle Earth”. These were small but articulated figures and environments that were pretty nice, in my opinion. I still have the Balrog set on my movie shelves in my family room.

So what, you may ask? Well, the head of The Bridge Direct, Inc. is Jay Foreman. Jay Foreman was formerly the President of Play Along Toys, the same company that created the Armies of Middle Earth figures. Also, the GM of New Business Development over at The Bridge is George Vorkas, who was a senior executive over at Toy Biz. I’m not certain, but I’m willing to guess he was there during the Toy Biz LOTR run. You can read the management bios for The Bridge over at their website.

In case you doubt that they do in fact have the Hobbit license, you can read the section on The Bridge’s site about their toy lines and if you scroll down you can see the Hobbit in that list.

Side note, the Bridge Direct are also planning to make stuff for the Annoying Orange, which makes me laugh and kind of freaks me out at the same time.

Back to the discussion at hand, I think it is way too soon to be spazzing/freaking out/upset about this announcement. It looks like the team behind the Hobbit toys has the experience with LOTR needed and the company certainly knows how to handle large and popular toy lines.

I look forward to seeing what is in store and I am certainly hoping for the best!

UPDATE: 10/14/2011

I had posted this article over on the Bridge’s Facebook page and got a response!

Here it is form the Bridge Direct, erm… direct!

“Rest assured that our team – from the CEO to the designers – has plenty of experience from the LOTR and other action figure lines, and the Hobbit is going to be great! Thanks for your support!”

Live-size, live-action “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots?”

Yes please!

The premise is pretty basic: a down-on-his-luck former boxing champ Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) needs cash for a new robot so he can make some $$$ in the ring as the sport of boxing has been outlawed and replaced with robot fighters. In debt to a lot people, he gets stuck with the child he fathered from a previous relationship. Discovering a robot buried in a scrapyard, it turns out there might be more to it (the robot’s name is ‘Atom’) than meets the eye (pun intended).

So how was it?

Very good flick!

Sure – it borrows heavily fro

m “Rocky,” “Over The Top” and a bit of “Short Circuit”  (is or isn’t the robot ‘Atom’ sentient?) but the movie hits it’s story beats perfectly and the film is well-crafted so you actually enjoy it despite the seeing the story outcome from the very beginning.

PROS:

The row-buts – very well-designed and executed. This one of those rare occasions where the CGI and the Puppetry / Animatronics is seamless (the last time I couldn’t tell when I genuinely knew there was an even mix was 2001′s Jurassic Park 3 with the Spinosaurus / Tyrannosaurus Rex brawl – I still can’t really separate the two technologies)!

The cast – especially the kid. 99.9% of the time you can’t stand the kid; the kid here is genuinely likable, smart and the story treats him as an equal to Jackman’s character.

Danny Elfman’s score – a very non-Elfman score, which so far, I’ve only heard once and that was 2003′s Hulk. You know what I’m talking about – Elfman’s Tim Burton mesh that is distinguishable and in the majority of 90% of film scores. This is a good thing as I like it when composers venture out into unfamiliar territory (Compare the Spider-Man score to Men In Black and you’ll see what I mean…).

One other thing I like – the date in which the film takes place is never mentioned; closest we get is the fact that one of the robots was manufactured in 2014. One of the thing I hate most that sci-fi flicks are esp. guilty of is “dating” their future. Nothing kills the escapism of a film than seeing a date, esp. a current “future” date which hasn’t quite turned out the way predicted (SeaQuest’s “guv’ment banning of beef” in 2004, anyone?). The only thing fanciful are the robots and the sleekness of some of the tech; but just like the swingin’ 60′s fifty-years past, people still wear business suits, jeans, sweatpants, sneakers, dresses, etc. and all the daily shenanigans of life play out as normal.

CONS:

The only real “con” I see is the story is a cobbling of already familiar plotlines…

The “champ / underdog” and “over-the-hill sportsman gets another shot of glory” of “Rocky…”

The “son travels with father to questionable locals while dealing / betting with shady characters” of “Over The Top…”

The “bad father who truly loves his son / discovers love for his son” from just about any family drama…

…but like a said – the film is so well made and adds some new tracks to the well-beaten path that you just follow along happily.

What I’m saying is…

…the movie was good – better, in fact, than some (most) of the mega-budget summer popcorn flicks!

Support it and go and see it!

Dino-Riders were a short lived toy line and TV show that was made of a mix between Kick -Ass and Amazing. They were Amazing-Ass. Wait… that doesn’t work. Kick-Amazing? OK, nevermind. Dino-Riders brilliantly combined Dinosaurs with Sci-Fi and aliens. What could go wrong here? It’s perfect, like mixing Alcohol with an energy drink!

Geez, I am not doing well with metaphors today.

How about I just show you this picture that will perfectly ensnare the concept into your mind. This image PERMANENTLY BURNED into my 9 year old brain.

There are LAZERS firing from these DINOSAURS.

Get it now?

Yes, Dino-Riders were awesome.I have been wondering when they were going to make a comeback, what with most 80′s properties getting updated toylines, movies, etc. in a wave of nostalgia.

Well, I rounded the corner at the local Target and I saw them! Dino-Riders have returned!

Kinda.

The fisher-price Imaginext toy line has incorporated “Dino-Rider like” sets into their toy lineup, and if I had sons still in this age-bracket I would be tempted the pick them up.

We still have our “old” Imaginext toys, but those aren’t really compatible with these new ones. The old Imaginext toy series was a building system where you could assemble Castles, Police Stations, Pirate hideouts, and the like, with wall panels, floor pieces, towers, traps, ad nauseum.

They were VERY cool and I have spent countless hours with my kids building things for and with them. Somewhere in the past few years, fisher-price dropped this building aspect to the toys, changed the figure size and stopped me from buying any more of these things for my kids.

I guess that is OK, because as I have said, my sons are leaving the suggested age range anyway.  Imaginext did some cool stuff by using the DC license to create a line to rival Marvel’s “Superhero Squad” scale of figures.  I guess they made Hasbro sweat. This year Hasbro is running it’s last line of SHS and introduced a line of toys in the same scale as the Imaginext stuff, but Hasbro has the wealth of Star Wars, Transformers and Marvel characters to draw from. Pretty neat, but I’m (and more importantly my kids are) really done with all of that.

So without further ado, here are the Imaginext “Dino-Ridery” sets, in glorious cell-phone in the toy-aisle quality!     Harness the power of Dinosaurs!

Chris Evans as Captain America and Samuel L. Jackson As Nick Fury 6 inch figures

Here are the pictures of the 6 inch Iron Man figures Hasbro provided us of Crimson Dynamo and War Machine:

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HASBRO CELEBRATES ITS TRANSFORMERS BRAND AS “ROBOTS IN DISGUISE” INVADE PASADENA FOR 17th ANNUAL TRANSFORMERS CONVENTION

TRANSFORMERS Fans From Around the World to Experience “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” Brand Exhibition Of The Epic Global Entertainment Franchise

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (May 31, 2011) – Thousands of fans from around the world will celebrate the enduring popularity of the iconic TRANSFORMERS brand from Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), as the 2011 TRANSFORMERS fan convention known as “BOTCON” returns to Pasadena on June 4-5.  Less than a month before the highly anticipated debut of the new Paramount Pictures film TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, Hasbro, in partnership with The TRANSFORMERS Collectors’ Club, will be offering opportunities to engage in and learn about the TRANSFORMERS brand that can only be experienced at BOTCON.

Attendees will be able to preview upcoming and yet-to-be seen TRANSFORMERS toys from Hasbro’s 2011 product line, including movie toys and figures based on the TRANSFORMERS PRIME animated series as well as interact with TRANSFORMERS toy designers.  BOTCON will also be fans’ first time to see, in person, Hasbro’s new KRE-O line of construction sets based on classic TRANSFORMERS characters and attendees will have the opportunity for a chance to win a limited amount of KRE-O TRANSFORMERS toys before they go on sale.  Convention goers can also attend panel discussions and interactive workshops led by TRANSFORMERS experts, purchase exclusive TRANSFORMERS products sold only at this year’s convention and buy, sell or trade TRANSFORMERS toys from hundreds of dealers.

And, as previously announced on the official TRANSFORMERS Facebook page, Hasbro will be inducting film industry legends Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg—the director and executive producer of the blockbuster TRANSFORMERS film franchise—into its TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame. The second annual TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame ceremony will take place during BOTCON and TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON director, Michael Bay, will be present to accept his honor and share some special surprises with the audience.

To round out the TRANSFORMERS movie experience at BOTCON, Hasbro will be welcoming vehicles seen in the TRANSFORMERS film franchise from Paramount Pictures including OPTIMUS PRIME, BUMBLEBEE, SIDESWIPE, IRONHIDE and AUTOBOT RATCHET. The vehicles will be on display inside the Pasadena Convention Center throughout BOTCON.

As the TRANSFORMERS brand continues its meteoric rise as a premier entertainment brand, convention attendees will be able to experience the wide breadth of TRANSFORMERS entertainment including interactive exhibits and hands-on experiences by the brand’s video game, publishing and animation partners.

• Activision will offer BOTCON attendees the opportunity to experience its TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON video game. The game thrusts players directly into an original, action-packed prologue storyline to experience the epic battles on Earth between the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS that will shape the events of the summer’s most anticipated blockbuster film.
• Electronic Arts (EA) will offer BOTCON attendees the opportunity to be among the first to experience TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON for the iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPadTM. The App, which will be available in the iTunes App Store in the coming weeks, is based on the upcoming TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON movie, features fast-paced action and explosive robot-based combat.  Featuring a dozen levels, gamers can choose to play as one of the franchise’s most popular AUTOBOT characters, OPTIMUS PRIME or BUMBLEBEE, as they fight to defeat the nefarious DECEPTICONS.
• The Hub, home of the new animated series TRANSFORMERS PRIME from Hasbro Studios, will offer an inside look at the popular series that just received six Daytime Emmy nominations.  BOTCON will host two TRANSFORMERS PRIME panels including a live table read featuring the voice talent from the hit series as well as a Q&A with the producers.  The Hub booth at BOTCON will also feature TRANSFORMERS themed photo opportunities, a prize wheel and a “larger than life” OPTIMUS PRIME statue.  Members of the TRANSFORMERS PRIMEcreative team from Hasbro Studios will also be on hand during the convention to interact with attendees.
• IDW Publishing will offer fans the opportunity to learn about the latest TRANSFORMERS comic books including exclusive TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON comics.  BOTCON attendees can interact with the comics’ artists and writers and get insider information about new and upcoming TRANSFORMERS series.
• Jagex Games Studio will be giving convention attendees an exclusive first look at elements of its upcoming and highly anticipated browser based MMO video game for Western Markets based on the TRANSFORMERS brand.  Visitors will be invited into the interactive exhibit to be some of the first to see early design and game elements of this much buzzed about online videogame.

“Interest in TRANSFORMERS is the highest it’s ever been,” said Greg Lombardo, TRANSFORMERS Senior Global Brand Director, Hasbro, Inc.  “The live-action film TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is getting a tremendous amount of advance buzz, and TRANSFORMERS PRIME is a huge hit with both longtime fans and a new generation of kids discovering the TRANSFORMERS brand for the first time. BOTCON is all about celebrating both of those groups—the lifelong fans and the new fans—and their love of the TRANSFORMERS brand.”

BOTCON is annually the largest annual official gathering of TRANSFORMERS fans in the world and is open to both TRANSFORMERS diehard and casual fans alike as well as families and children who enjoy the iconic “ROBOTS IN DISGUISE”. This year the convention will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center located at 300 East Green Street in Pasadena, Calif., and will be open to the public on June 4 – 5. Special activities are planned on June 3 for attendees who purchase multi-day packages.

BOTCON general admission sessions will be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5. (On Saturday, doors are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Sunday, doors are open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.). Special multi-day packages and exclusive TRANSFORMERS products are available on a limited basis. General admission for adults (13 & up) is $20 and for children (12 & under) is $10. Children ages 4 and under will be admitted for free. Additional information can be found at www.BotCon.com or by calling 817-448-9863.

Fans can now find the TRANSFORMERS brand on Facebook at www.Transformers.com/Facebook and on Youtube at www.youtube.com%2FTransformers.

# # #

About the TRANSFORMERS brand

First introduced in 1984 by Hasbro and Takara Tomy, the TRANSFORMERS brand has provided kids with hours of MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE fun with their action figures that convert from robot to vehicles and back again. Legions of kids around the world grew up creating fantastic adventures and battles set on both the planet CYBERTRON and Earth that featured the “good-guy” AUTOBOTS and the “bad-guy” DECEPTICONS. Since then, more than 7500 robots have been introduced in animated TV series, comic books and two live-action feature films. A third film,TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, will be released on July 1, 2011, as the first 3D film in the franchise.

About Hasbro, Inc.

Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company providing children and families around the world with a wide-range of immersive entertainment offerings based on the Company’s world class brand portfolio. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, video games and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its customers through the strategic leveraging of well-known and beloved brands such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, PLAYSKOOL, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY. The Hub, Hasbro’s multi-platform joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) launched on October 10, 2010. The online home of The Hub is www.hubworld.com. The Hub logo and name are trademarks of Hub Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserved.  Come see how we inspire play through our brands athttp://www.hasbro.com. © 2011 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

It’s called ProtoPlanet and the comic follows the adventures of a team of scientists and soldiers that need to see through the formation of  ”Proto planets”, or planets that are specifically designed for various tasks by the sponsor. These scientists usually end up “guns blazing” or so Kaim, the main Scientist/Soldier reflects on during the latest adventure.

I quite enjoyed the story of the comic, and I would be more than happy to read more issues. Luke has photographed the Minimates masterfully and given them some artistic rendering that works really well. This first comic reads like a classic issue of X-Men, with plenty of action and story to keep the reader engaged up to the usual “cliff hanger” last page. Luke is a comic fan, and his great first issue reminds me of what I enjoy about comics. I can’t wait to see how the story unfolds and what other surprises exist in this universe he has created.

Luke’s toy store offers the chance to then create your own ProtoPlanet Minimate figures with his sticker kits that are available in a few different packages. You can either just pick up the sticker kit by itself or pick up a set that includes the Minimates that work best with the stickers. The Deluxe kit pretty much gets you everything to re-create the comic, with even more characters and even face variations. Even if you just wanted the Minimates that came with the kit, you would be saving money. However, I can’t imagine not buying this and not wanting to create the custom figures. Especially the Borloth, Dieloth and the “Master” Nolistis. They are very nice creature designs.

In short, I think this is a great and extremely creative idea. Even though this is recommended for adult collectors, a kit would even make a great a great gift for a skillful older kid or teen that would enjoy the customization aspects.

I will first show you this geeky sight available your local Target store:

Avengers Assemble Into some neat rows and columns!

The Avengers is HAPPENING. They are going to TAKE OVER THE TOY AISLE. Since Iron Man has hung in so long, I wonder if this layout will stick all the way up until 2012?

Like most action figure lines, there is a bunch of crap available- some relevant to aged nerds, some not. I snapped pics of it all (well, mostly) just for fun.

Not pictured: Karate-Uniform-Cat-Caretaker-Light-Up Captain America

Hitting first for the action figures are the “Comic Series”. They had Ultimate Cap, WWII Cap, Modern Cap and Winter Soldier at the Target I was at. Supposedly there is a Crossbones figure as well. They also had some “Deluxe Mission Pack” figures where Cap has a parachute, Jet pack, Football armor, and probably a karate outfit. Kids seem to love that crap. Whatever. They also had those battery powered car things that the kids beg you to buy for them, and they play with once before they get stuck under the couch. The figure usually doesn’t come off and the kid stops caring after they watch it for 5 minutes. Do these things really sell? They must, because they keep making them.

Heh heh, if you look over Cap's shoulder on the package in this picture, it says: "Shield Ass".

These things are 3 3/4 scale, and have all the expected articulation for a Hasbro figure. I looked at Cap’s arm and I counted 6 points of articulation. Yes, Captain America’s arm is more poseable than the Green Lantern’s entire body. Ryan Reynolds doesn’t want the ladies to know that. The paint looked kind of crappy, which I guess is to be expected from the first shipment of a mass-market line. Sadly.

Next of interest was a vehicle they had that I am assuming isn’t really in the movie, but I guess it could be. It also includes the first “movie” Cap available, although he looks a little goofy and isn’t as articulated or painted as well as the “standard” figures.

This is the ULTIMATE Assault Vehicle. Don't you forget it.

It STILL looks better than the “standard” Green Lantern figures, and this is the “throwaway” pack-in in a $30 dollar vehicle.

Mattel, once again you suck. You offer a Green Lantern shaped piece of plastic as a pack in.

Why does Cap's shield fire little Cap shields? This concept kinda weirds me out. Are they shield seeds?

Next we get into the kids and role play stuff. There is a larger figure that lights up and makes noise. I’d say about 10 inches high and looks like Chris Evans. There is also this Superhero Squad version for the tinier tots. Of course they also have the smaller Superhero Squad figures as well, but those have been in stores already for a while now.

This shield will go great with my midget and dwarf friends!

The role play stuff so far consists of a larger shield that fires little shields out of it (whatever), and a smaller Frisbee-style disc. There is also a Captain America mask.

I kinda hope we get a Red Skull mask in the Role Play stuff. Think it’s possible?

UPDATE:

Just got a few pics of some of the stuff I had missed before. Czech ‘em out!

I wish I had battle sounds...

Off-Road is the cool road.