Toy Fair 2014: ThreeA Toys Reveals Dr. Doom, Iron Man Articulation

One of the toy companies I was most looking forward to is 3A Toys, who are at Toy Fair this year to increase their presence with retailers. They’ve generated a very dedicated grass roots fan base in the past several years producing toys based on the artwork of co-owner Ashley Wood. More recently, they’ve been branching out with licensed properties – and one of the ones I’ve found most interesting is their collaboration with Marvel.

The first 1/6 figure to come out of this collaboration is Iron Man – he’s currently available to pre-order at Bambaland (3A’s online store) in four different colorways. In addition to 3A’s unique styling for the character, Iron Man will feature mostly hidden articulation, via a thin skin covering joints that are usually exposed – in this case over the elbows and knees. I’ve been curious to see how this will look the more bent they are – the figures shown at Toy Fair show a little bunching with bent elbows, but not as much as I expected.

I think I would have preferred the joints to be exposed, like they are with Dr. Doom, the next figure that they’ve revealed. While the skin does make Iron Man look pretty sleek, he is after all a guy in a suit of armor, so joints wouldn’t be out of place. The WIP Doom looks pretty damn awesome. In previous Q&A’s Ash has said Spider-Man and Ultron are the next to come, but expect this line to have a slow burn, due to 3A’s meticulous design and development process. It took about a year from the initial Iron Man announcement to having the figure available to pre-order.

Photo credit: CoolToyReview.com – many more excellent pictures of 3A’s Toy Fair booth

Toy Fair 2014: Hasbro Marvel Legends Report

Guardians of the Galaxy (Photo - CoolToyReview.com)

This year I find myself in the rather odd position of reporting on Toy Fair without actually being there. A casualty of the winter storms Pax and Quintus, I’m warm on the west coast but missing the fun of seeing the figures up close and personal. It’s the first time being on the sidelines since I started covering Toy Fair back in the heyday of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends run in 2005.

In many ways we’re seeing Hasbro’s (second) run of Marvel Legends entering similar territory. Back then, Toy Biz was making waves with the Marvel Legends Sentinel wave. And yet, macroeconomic factors were causing big changes in the industry, and the next year turned out to be Toy Biz’s swan song, with the announcement that they had licensed the Marvel toy lines to Hasbro. Those same factors – rising costs of raw materials and labor, consolidation of retailers  – are still in play today for Hasbro. Rather than shutter the Legends line again, Hasbro’s Marvel team announced a shift in branding strategy at SDCC last year, and with their Toy Fair showing, we’re seeing how that plays out in the Marvel Legends line.

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The Pre-Toy Fair 2014 Hasbro Marvel Update

This upcoming weekend we’ll be braving the cold weather in New York City to attend the Hasbro Toy Fair Preview, of which Marvel will be one of the major brands to show – among others, Transformers, Star Wars, and in a limited capacity, G.I. JOE. But we’ve got some catching up to do, so here are some updates to the Hasbro Marvel lines which will bring us up to speed before the big event.

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Hot Toys Announces Iron Man 2: Whiplash Mark II

Hot Toys Iron Man 2 Whiplash Mk II 01

With the Winter Olympics starting this weekend, this serves as a good warning about what happens when you deny a tech-savvy Russian his bird. Luckily, Hot Toys is here with a reminder – the Whiplash Mk II from Iron Man 2. The original Hot Toys Whiplash, from his first appearance at the race track, came out way back in 2010.

Whiplash Mk II is part of the Hot Toys Diecast line, so expect it to be a little more expensive than your standard Hot Toys figure. It will still come with all the things you expect, like multiple heads, light up whips, and more. You can pre-order the Hot Toys Whiplash Mk II from Sideshow Collectibles for $399.99 and a deposit of $39.99.

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ThreeA Toys Invincible Iron Man Pre-Order on February 12

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The collaboration between 3A Toys and Marvel will see its first product, the 1/6 scale Invincible Iron Man, go up for pre-order in the evening on February 12 (at 8PM EST if they stick to the standard time) at Bambaland. Still no detail on price for either the four-pack or single figures. The Stark Industries Prototype colorway is 3AA exclusive on its own, but available to all in the four pack. And it looks like only the classic red and gold and the Silver Centurion colorways will make it to retailers down the line.

Seeing more of these pictures has me wondering how well the flexible “skin” over the arms and legs will look with the elbows and knees bent. For now, the best view is on the Stealth Iron Man – zoomed in I think you can see some folds. I suppose it’s a trade-off – it looks pretty sleek, but then again, a guy in an armored suit might be expected to have some visible joints.

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