Now that fall is upon us, images are popping up on the interwebs of the toys that will be coming to Canadian retail before Christmas and early 2012. As you know from my other columns, I collect toys. G.I. Joe is my main collecting passion, but I am becoming a huge fan of the new Marvel Universe figures. The early Marvel figures were very disappointing but their articulation and detail has improved greatly. I plan on buying more Marvel figures. Here’s my Pick 5 of the figures I can’t wait to get in the next couple months.
#5 Cable (Marvel Universe)
This Cable figure looks… well… awesome. Cable is one of my favourite X-Men and this is one figure I would love to have on my shelf. My favourite parts of this figure are the armour and his bionic arm.
#4 Steve Rogers (Marvel Universe)
This is the upcoming Marvel Universe release of Steve Rogers. This is the uniform he wore when he returned from the dead and Bucky was still Captain America. This Steve Rogers figure could easily stand on my Marvel shelf or with my G.I. Joe figures. His design is that versatile, he could fit in anywhere.
#3 Fandral (Thor Movie)
Originally I didn’t like the Thor movie figures. The design of the heads didn’t impress me. Then I bought Odin. Who would’ve ever figured an Anthony Hopkins action figure would impress me. Now I have a Thor and Loki. Later this year (hopefully) the new Thor figures will be coming to retail. Many of these figures can be found already at toy shows and conventions. I have already seen the repaint of Odin, Thor with his battle helmet, Hogun and Volstagg. I want to own the Warriors Three. Sadly I’ve only seen Hogun and Volstagg. Fandral has not showed up anywhere yet. So I have passed on Hogun and Volstagg for now, so I can get the complete collection. Hopefully I will not have to wait until “Ragnarök” to possess my Warriors Three. (Game Time – google Ragnarök to find out what I am talking about)
#2 Cobra Commander (G.I. Joe Renegades)
Now I know what you’re thinking, “Ed, you are a die hard G.I. Joe fan. Why isn’t Cobra Commander #1 on your list?” Well there is a reason for that… you just have to wait to see #1. This Cobra Commander is one of the better releases. Usually the Commander has a hood, or he has a shiny face plate. This one is different. If you look closely his left eye is exposed. This is how he is shown on the G.I. Joe Renegades cartoon. It is a radical redesign of an iconic character (not as radical as the Rise of Cobra movie version) and is a figure I can’t wait to get.
#1 Beta Ray Bill (Marvel Universe)
When I read the news recently that Hasbro was going to release a Marvel Universe version of Beta Ray Bill, I did a (very pathetic) happy dance. Brent Chittenden and Ryan P can tell you how much of a fan I am of Beta Ray Bill. At Fan Expo I searched every table trying to find the Marvel Legends version of BRB (which thankfully I found on-line yesterday). So when this one comes to retail and you can’t find one on your shelf, I’ve probably bought it*.
* Crystal Ball Rule In Effect – I heard this at a CanJoeCon. I overheard a guy say every Crystal Ball (G.I. Joe figure) is mine. He bought every Crystal Ball no matter how many he had or the condition they were in. I fear that may happen with me and Beta Ray Bill.
If you have any action figures that you can’t wait to grab, let us know in the comments below. Also you can swing by the Comic Book Daily Facebook page and join the discussion there of what you can’t wait to pick up. If you haven’t “liked” the page yet, make sure you do. It’s good for you.
I guess if you are going to buy all of one figure, you might as well make it a challenge, like Crystal Ball.
What fun would it be to collect every Snake Eyes? And it is almost impossible to get every Shipwreck. Everybody wants that figure.
My wife and I still joke about the Crystal Ball rule. She has bought 2 already. She likes that figure as well. Everytime she buys one, she’ll say “Every Crystal Ball is mine”. She bought one recently at a garage sale in horrible condition, but it was a Crystal Ball and had to buy it. She also has 2 Chuckles as well. I have a feeling she’s going to buy every one of those too.
But hawaiian shirts are cool.
Crystal Ball, really? If you had to pick one G.I. Joe to have a Gollum-like obsession with would it really be Crystal Ball?
Is CB hard to find? He was in a heavily made series no? And with only that shield a complete isn’t that tricky either, or am I wrong?
The problem with Crystal Ball was he is only needed as a single figure. It’s not like and ’89 Night Viper or a ’89 Alley Viper that looked really cool and you could build an impressive army with him.
Since CB’s weapon was just a hypno-shield, he wasn’t taken seriously and the shield was usually lost.
Finding a mint and complete CB is pretty tough. He is usually in horrible condition because he wasn’t popular. Or he is in great condition, but missing the shield.
At this years CanJoeCon my wife bought CB and paid $7 for him complete with shield and filecard. He had to negotiate to get it for that price. The book value on that figure in great condition is $10.
The tricky thing about collecting Joes is the amount of weapons that came with a figure. Lots of figures are available now in $2 grab bins, but the condition of figures can vary from mint to chewed on by a dog. And now with the movie and future films the price of Joes have gone through the roof. Many vendors are selling figures for $7 to $10, while you could have bought those figures 4 years ago for $4 to $7.
Crystal Ball is a challenge to find. There are not as many out there as you’d think.
Early Quarter 2012…. so basically means anytime. I will grab you one when I see it. BRB is one of my all-time fav superheroes right now. I just finished the Walt Simonson Thor Omnibus. I love his description of BRB in the book. To sum it up, if BRB was a beautiful adonis you would know he was hero, but since he is a horse-faced-monster-cyborg you don’t know what to think. But because he is filled with honour, he is worthy enough to weild Mjolnir. I think that’s what speaks to me. No matter what this guy has enough honour to be a god, but basically he is a slave to his race.
OMG, I need that Beta Ray Bill! I plain need it! If you get one, get me one as well!!! When does it come out?
But I don’t collect He-Man or Monster High. The list was stuff I am looking forward to coming out. 🙂
I need more variety in this list! It’s all Marvel legends and Joes. Throw in some He-Man, some Transformers, and some more gender variety like Monster High.
But they are so pretty…. 😛
I am pretty sure we all know that Ed has a fairly extensive Monster High collection.
A quick update. I now have the Cobra Commander and the Steve Rogers figures (which I bought at the Blue Beetle).
Now I have to wait patiently for my Beta Ray Bill.