Upcoming Hot Toys 1/6 Scale Figures: Marvel Edition

Fall 2020 / Winter 2021 Release Schedule

The amount of time one must preorder Sideshow's Hot Toys figures in advance of release is getting longer and more painful by the day.  Currently, some products are being advertised and pre-sold two years in advance, which just seems insane to me.  Items are announced, I forget about them and the next thing I know, figures are sold out everywhere and selling for $1,000 on eBay.

The below list only features the figures that I'm interested in and hopefully this post will serve as a reminder of sorts for myself.

Est. Arrival: Sep 2020 - Oct 2020

Iron Man Mark XLVII reissue from Spider-Man: Homecoming.  From what I can tell, comes with more accessories than the original.

Noteworthy Accessories: Robert Downey Jr. head sculpt, empty helmet head sculpt, 

Why I Need This: Diecast, under $400 diecast Iron Man figures are rare.

Est. Arrival: Oct 2020 - Jan 2021

Captain America from Avengers: Endgame

Noteworthy Accessories: Mjolnir hammer, normal weathered and broken Cap shields, Chris Evans and masked head sculpts and empty, hold-able Cap mask.

Why I Need This: I really don't.  Nothing in this package (the Evans' likeness, costume, etc.) is that much better than earlier, still available releases.

Est. Arrival: Jan 2021 - Mar 2021

Chubby Thor from Avengers: Endgame

Noteworthy Accessories: Mjolnir and Stormbreaker.  More lightning.

Why I Need This: How much time do you have?  A completely new head and body sculpt with new haircut and beard.  While many of the Avenger Endgame releases are too similar to past figures, chubby Thor is the exact opposite of boring.  It's Thor and he's chubby!  Yep, he's still worthy.

Est. Arrival: Jan 2022 - Mar 2022

Tony Stark (Mech Test Deluxe Version - Special Edition);   $305

Noteworthy Accessories: *Beautiful* Robert Downey Jr. head sculpt, sentimental knick knacks like the "proof Tony Stark has a heart" gift from Pepper, a Mark I face plate with handwritten markings and that one-armed AI robot that saves Tony's life.

Why I Need This: The Downey Jr. head sculpt looks so good and now that Tony is out of the MCU, we're all going a little nuts trying to commemorate him, aren't we?

Sorry, I was so excited about this figure, I listed it way out of order

Est. Arrival: Jul 2021 - Sep 2021

Iron Man Mark LXXXV (Battle Damaged Version) Special Edition

Noteworthy Accessories: *Beautiful* Robert Downey Jr. head sculpt (only damaged!), damaged Nano Gauntlet.

Why I Need This: See above about all of us missing Tony and this figure right here is his moment of truth.  Battle damage *always* makes me reach for my wallet and the damage on this diecast suit might be the best I've ever seen.

At "only" $446 US dollars, you have a year to save up

Coming up next: 

Smart Hulk

the 2012 Cap

Thanos damaged

Rescue

and Mysterio's Iron Man Illusion

Hot Toys Collectibles: Personal Favorites #1

When it comes to pondering possibly one of the most serious questions in the galaxy, "Which Hot Toys figure do I buy in 2020 and which details should I be concerned about?" is certainly one of them.

What should I buy?  Naturally, the most common sense answer would be something along the lines of "Buy the ones that you like best" or at the very least, buy your favorite characters.  But when discussing something as expensive as the 1/6 scale line, it's hard to keep economics completely out of it.

When each figure is in the $300-$400 range, the topic of what's smart financially suddenly becomes something to consider.  While I have no intention of picking these things up and then instantly flipping them on eBay, I also have to consider the possibility that some of these figures may be worth considerably more than what we're paying for them on the secondary markets soon after release.  So while I am not an eBay seller by profession, I would feel terrible if a figure I passed on went on to sell for two or three times their retail price before just months after I bought them.

So while agreeing that one should buy whichever figures they like best, it is hard to not consider the popularity and meta buzz circling around these things at any given time.

Two of my personal favorite Marvel characters are Captain America and Thor and versions of both are in stock and available right now on Sideshow's site.  Specifically, "Infinity War" versions of both characters can still be had for less than $300 each and shipped out immediately.  Right now, I think Cap even has a free shipping special going on.

"Captain America Movie Promo Edition," $267, in stock and ships today

"Thor," $267, in stock and ships today

Emotionally, both these figures press all my buttons.  But they've also been sitting around in stock in the Sideshow warehouses and have never set the market on fire in terms of making a buck.  And since they have been sitting around in stock for years, shouldn't I perhaps pick up some newer, just released figures that may increase in value at a healthier rate?

Case in point are the very, very brand spanking new, just came out yesterday versions of Hawkeye/Ronin and Spider-Man in his homemade suit.

Deluxe Hawkeye is a fantastic bargain that along with coming with tons of accessories, also comes with an additional second costume that allows us to display him as his alter ego Ronin, the persona Clint took up after losing his entire family to the Thanos snap.

NOTE that the additional Ronin costume only comes with the deluxe version of this figure and the standard non-Ronin version is only $20 cheaper at $243.

"Hawkeye (Deluxe Version),"  $267, available now and ships today

Second only to Iron Man, Spidey has had released more figures than any hero in history and one of the newest is the homemade suit he wore before Tony Stark pitched in and spent a few million designing a new high tech state-of-the-art suit for him.  This specific figure unfortunately does not come with a Tom Holland head sculpt (a big, big drawback in my book as I dearly love all the actors from the MCU) but it does for the first time come with a large Mysterio drone as seen below.  This drone has to be the single best accessory Hot Toys has ever included with one of their 1/6 scale figures.  And even with this drone, the figure is still a reasonable (in the collectible action figure world, at least) $267.

"Spider-Man (Homemade Suit),"  $267, available now and ships today

Continuing down the fork of emotional, non-financial favorites, is an upcoming clever Captain America release, the 2012 Cap that the heroes run into when they go back in time in "Endgame."

"Captain America (2012 Version),"  $259, Est. Arrival: Apr 2021 - Jun 2021

This character featured in such a funny scene and the pristine costume's colors pop so vibrantly that you can't walk past this figure without taking a second look.  Releasing next spring, the wait for this figure is agonizing but it's certainly better than the two year wait for some of these.  If Hot Toys were shipping out this figure right now, I'd have already ordered one.

Along that same topic of eye-popping blue is another personal favorite of mine: Pepper Potts in her Rescue suit:

Pepper Potts as "Rescue,"  $407, Est. Arrival: Jan 2021 - Mar 2021

Now, winter is right around the corner so the wait isn't that bad but the line of Iron Man figures are always more expensive than anything else because they're diecast, IE, made from real metal instead of plastic.  Despite the price (which is actually pretty reasonable for a figure with a metal suit), the figure is so striking, it's still tempting.

"Smart Hulk" was one of "Endgame's" biggest and most pleasant surprises and Hot Toys does the idea of that character justice with their next release of Bruce Banner's alter ego.  At 15 1/2 inches, large figures like this are always more expensive than normal human-sized models so at $375, Professor Hulk is if not reasonable, at least no more expensive than any other of the recent large figures.

"Hulk,"  $375, Est. Arrival: Oct 2020 - Dec 2020

Because his release is right around the corner, this personal fave is so darn tempting.  But $100 more than a deluxe version of almost any other one out there right now?  Those are the dork questions that keep me up at night.

Spider-Man as Hot Toy figure is worth talking about for so many different reasons, not least of which is just how many are ever available at any given moment (So.  Very.  Very.  Many.).  He deserves his own article but let's at least do a quick rundown on all the versions available right now.

Before I show the 10 Spider-Man figures available right this second, let me mention perhaps the most controversial fact about all of Hot Toys' Spider-Man figures: most of the suits on the 1/6 scale line prevent almost any kind of creative posing whatsoever.  Spidey's suits are so tight that posing these figures in dynamic ways for any length of time will most likely stretch and eventually destroy the rubber costume on each figure.  To bang home the seriousness of this warning, I just have one phrase for you: stretch marks.

That very big problem is what perhaps makes the homemade suit figure mentioned above so special; because it's a non-rubber, non-stretchy kind of outfit, you can pose that figure as crazy as you want and because he's basically wearing sweatpants, it shouldn't have any kind of negative consequences over the long run.  

Along that very same line, one hopes the same will be true for Spidey in his stealth suit.  Looking at the joints on this figure, one hopes that Hot Toys planned ahead and made those areas of the stealth suit extra stretchy.  Take a look at the standard and deluxe and see how those joints look to you:

"Spider-Man (Stealth Suit) Deluxe Version,"  $305, Est. Arrival: Nov 2020 - Dec 2020

"Spider-Man (Stealth Suit),"  $235, Est. Arrival: Nov 2020 - Dec 2020

Available right this second and able to ship tomorrow, are the Advanced Suit:

"Spider-Man Advanced Suit,"  $251, available now and shipping today

Not a favorite of mine is the Spider-Punk Suit from, not the MCU but the PS4's Spider-Man video game:

"Spider-Man Spider-Punk Suit,"  $235 (w/ free shipping), available now and shipping today

The Spider-Man (Negative Suit):

"Spider-Man (Negative Suit),"  $267, available now and shipping today

Those were all the Spider-Man figures available and in stock right now and here's a few that are still open for pre-order.

Because I'm a Team Xbox kind of guy, the PS4's Marvel's Spider-Man game meant nothing to me.  Regardless, we got a bunch of figures based on the suits one can acquire in that video game.  One of those is the Spider-Man (2099 Black Suit):

"Spider-Man (Spider-Man 2099 Black Suit),"  $265, Est. Arrival: Sep 2020 - Nov 2020

The "Spider-Man (Upgraded Suit)" from the "Far from Home" film:

"Spider-Man (Upgraded Suit),"  $251, Est. Arrival: Oct 2020 - Dec 2020

A fan fave is of course Miles Morales.  I personally don't like how cartoonish the Miles head sculpt is but because this entire figure is based on an animated film, I'm not sure how reasonable that complaint is:

"Miles Morales,"  $267, Est. Arrival: Jul 2021 - Oct 2021

The Spider-Man (Spider Armor - MK IV Suit) figure.  This suit just looks wet to me and it's not one of my faves:

"Spider-Man (Spider Armor - MK IV Suit),"  $255, Est. Arrival: Apr 2021 - Jun 2021

And last for now, Spider-Man (Iron Spider Armor):

"Spider-Man (Iron Spider Armor),"  $250, Est. Arrival: Oct 2020 - Nov 2020

Those are all the different Spider-Man versions available right this second.  So many of those suits look so darn cool so it's a shame they all still have that problem with posing.  Fans who purchase them are almost forced to display their Spidey figures in "museum poses," ie, just standing there with their arms at their sides, not doing anything even remotely interesting.  Not that exciting when you're spending $300+ a pop.  Hopefully, Hot Toys will figure out a high tech solution to the stretch problem in future designs but for now, many fans avoid figures with this limitation.

Time for me to put the pen down and play some games.  I had big problems with last weekends beta test of Square's Avengers PC game so right now, the game garnering all my attention is the recent port of "Death Stranding."  It looks fantastic, easily on par with last weeks MS Flight Simulator.  

With these recent releases, next gen on PC is here right now, no expensive new console necessary.

Rich here, over and out.

Hot Toys Collectibles: Focus on Wonder Woman

 In a continuing look at Sideshow's distribution of Hot Toys figures, today let's look at what's available for Wonder Woman.  To wit, which Wonder Woman 1/6 scale figures can you buy/order right this second.

Unfortunately, no figures are available and ready for shipment right now but the following few can be pre-ordered:

The figure simply called "Wonder Woman" is not based on any past actress but instead, is "inspired by the Amazon’s iconic comic book appearance."  Also important to note, this is one of the only two current WW figure that doesn't have rooted hair.  Instead, her dark locks are molded plastic.

How hair is implemented on figures has long been an interesting debate.  Personally, I don't like Barbie doll-like rooted hair as, much like real hair, it gets messy and hard to control and eventually flies up all over the place.  Molded hair always looks perfect and as intended but the longer variants can interfere with neck and head articulation.

Anyways, here's the generic comic book Wonder Woman:

"Wonder Woman," $255, Est. Arrival: Aug 2020 - Oct 2020

The second and last WW figure without rooted hair is the just announced figure based on the upcoming film "Wonder Woman 1984," with the figure sporting the likeness of Gal Gadot:

"Wonder Woman (Special Edition)," $255, Est. Arrival: Jan 2022 - March 2022

Two years is a long time to wait, something that stops me from pre-ordering these things most of the time.  I don't pre-order, sleep through their release and then find them sold out and selling for three times the retail price on eBay.  That's why my shelves are filled with $10 Funko Pops and not $300 Hot Toys figures.

There's another WW figure that can be pre-ordered coming out spring 2021 but let's save that one until the end because it's so spectacular.  Right now, there's two other WW figures that are officially sold out at Sideshow but can currently be "waitlisted."  What that means is that you can add your name to a list and as pre-order customers cancel their orders and figures become unexpectedly available, Sideshow may give you the chance to purchase said figure.  It's a crap shoot lottery but worth a chance at avoiding high prices on eBay.

There's another comic-based figure just called "Wonder Woman Comic Concept Version:"

"Wonder Woman Comic Concept Version," $243, Wait list now open

And another Gal Gadot-based figure called "Wonder Woman Deluxe Version:"

"Wonder Woman Deluxe Version," $249, Wait list now open

The last Wonder Woman Hot Toys figure available to pre-order right now is presented in two different version.  First, the standard:

"Golden Armor Wonder Woman," $300, Est. Arrival: Apr 2021 - Jun 2021

And lastly, perhaps the most stunning Hot Toys figure I may have ever seen:

"Golden Armor Wonder Woman (Deluxe)," $360, Est. Arrival: Apr 2021 - Jun 2021

Wow.  Just wow.  Let's take a closer look at this work of art:

Just beautiful.  Kind of makes you reconsider your vow to never bother with DC, huh?

This is Rich, over and out.

Expensive Plastic: part 2

 Collecting $5 or $10 Funko Pop figures is one thing, $400 action figures is another.

When it comes to high end collectible figures, the Hot Toys brand 1/6 scale 12-inch figures are the gold standard; no other company even comes close.

A really big deal in Hong Kong, Sideshow is the biggest US distributor of Hot Toys in this country and releases the Hot Toys line approximately 3 months after their overseas release.

Getting into this very expensive hobby may seem overwhelming at first and for good reason; collecting these things are complicated.  Here's an introduction to the topic.

The most basic, human-sized figures start at low $200's, hit the $400's for large figures like Hulk and Thanos and go past $1,000 when you enter HUGE territory like the 21-inch Hulkbuster or vehicles like the Batmobile.

The Iron man ones are always unusually expensive because those figures are diecast, IE, actually made of metal as opposed to just plastic so most of them start in the high $300 range and go all the way up into the $700's.  Let's be clear: that's for one single human-sized (as opposed to "Thanos-sized") 12-inch figure with perhaps a normal assortment of accessories.

Yes, there's accessories.  Half the fun of these things are some of the accessories they come with.  Basic things like weapons don't interest me much (the John Wick figure comes with at least a half dozen firearms) but it's the unusual things from specific films that I find cool.

For instance, the Spider-man homemade suit re-release comes with a pretty intricate drone from the "Far from Home" film.  Compared to most normal-sized accessories (like pizza boxes and sunglasses), the drone is huge and makes the already in-demand honemade suite Spidey a great bargain.  As cool as some of them are, though, most accessories fall into the categories of guns and masks, shields and swords.

These things are such a high ticket specialty item and are in such demand that pre-orders open for some of them 2 years in advance.  You need to take those pre-orders seriously because once these things ship, they sell out quickly and then go up for sale on Ebay for twice, 3 or even 4 times the retail price.

Let me repeat that.  These things are going to cost you over $300 by the time you include tax and shipping when you buy them through the most reasonable channels at the most opportune times.  After released, they hit after markets like eBay and Amazon and can easily sell for over $1,000 each.  There's a whole bunch on Ebay and Amazon right now for $1,400.

Hot Toys must have made too many Stormtroopers for "The Force Awakens" because people are still having trouble selling sets of two for $300.  

"Force Awakens Snowtroopers," $269/pair, available now on Amazon

Finally deciding to pick up one or two of your favorite characters gets complicated fast.  There's many, many different versions of the most popular Marvel and DC superheroes, with the most beloved getting a new upgrade with every single new film.

Forget about Spider-man and Iron Man; there have been over 30 different Iron man suits released in the past 10 years and over 15 Spider-mans.  Even someone as unassuming as Pepper Potts has gotten a few figures released in her likeness, with her appearance as Rescue getting a deluxe diecast figure in the $400 range.

 

"Rescue,"  $407, arriving Q1 2021

Hot Toys has figures from almost every popular franchise you can think of.  Not just Star Wars, Marvel and DC but Harry Potter, Terminator, Robocop, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, single popular films like John Wick and Ghostbusters and horror film villains like Freddy, Jason and Michael Meyers.

Now that you've finally decided to pick up one or two of these, where do you even begin.  Like I mentioned up top, start with the most reputable US dealer, Sideshow.  Choosing to enter the market is only the first step so where do you go after that?

Do you buy the newest ones that have just gone on sale and are likely to sell out the quickest?

Do you try to play the market and buy the ones you think will most go up in price?

Will you try to collect every character from a specific film?  Or do you love a superhero so much that you want every version of that figure?

For instance, let's say you love the MCU's Hulk.  Unfortunately, the Mark Ruffalo Bruce Banner figure has long since sold out so on eBay right now, a used figure is inching into the $300 range.

Gladiator Hulk is sold out so of course that large figure is around $750 on Amazon and $1,100 on eBay.

Good news!  If you're hot for smart Professor Hulk from Avengers: Endgame, that is still in pre-order status on Sideshow's site and can be reserved for a reasonable $375 plus tax and shipping.

The above picture also gives you a good idea of how large these figures actually are.  "Normal" human-sized figures are in the 12-inch range while larger ones like this are entering 16-17-inches tall.

If you love Thor, you're in luck.  There's still copies of his likeness from "Avengers: Infinity War" on the Sideshow site for a very reasonable $267.

If you're partial to chubby Thor from "Avengers: Endgame," he's here, too and due to come out at the end of winter 2021.

Let's give one last example of the reasonable variety of versions available for a more popular hero: Cap.  Still available is his rogue bearded version from "Avengers: Infinity War:"

Also available right now is the "concept art version," which is generally Cap from circa-Civil War era MCU.  You can't see it in this picture but the figure does come with both of his shields.

From "Avengers: Endgame:" (out beginning of 2021)

From the same film, the second Cap from 2012 (releasing middle of 2021):

I can write about these figures forever but no article is complete without showing Thanos.  Here he is from "Avengers: Infinity War" without armor:

Thanos with armor:

And coming in March 2021, Thanos with the highly-coveted battle-damaged armor:

There's so much more to say about the Hot Toys figures (I haven't even touched on the many Spider-man and Iron Man costumes) but I'm going to post this for now.

One thing that occurred to me while I was writing this: since Captain America will no longer appear in the MCU, it might be wise to grab what you can of him.  To a lesser extent, the same could be said of Tony Stark and Iron Man but there are so many different versions of that armor out and about, that character will never, ever leave eBay.  And those prices are only ever going to go up.

Happy collecting.