Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Star Wars The Black Series - Mortgage rates quiver in anticipation!

Curse you, Kit Wagner, for gleefully revealing that our pals at Hasbro are gearing up a brand-spankin' new super-supreme collector line of Star Wars figures!!! Debuting this August, the series features larger 6-inch figures priced at $20 a pop, akin to the Marvel Legends line - aimed at the adult collector, "The Black Series" will feature better sculpting and more detail. In addition to X-Wing Luke (seen here), the first wave will also include R2-D2, Darth Maul and a Sandtrooper.


As if the recent news that J.J. Abrams will be the director behind Star Wars VII  wasn't enough! - this is a lot to process!

I foresee A LOT of father-son trips to the toy store over the next decade or so...and beyond!


Monday, January 21, 2013

The Fugitive Figures You Will Never Find...

Forget about it - these just became the most elusive, infamous action figures on the map. Responding to a wave of criticism from Civil Rights organizations, The Weinstein Company has withdrawn the entire range of 8" action figures depicting characters from Django Unchained, the Southern-friend Spaghetti-Western from director Quentin Tarantino.


The figures produced by toymaker NECA included "House Slave" Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) and had a retail price of $39.99. Tonight, eBay and the secondary market has them up for sale for as high as $4,999.

Announcing the discontinuation of the figure line, the Weinstein Company explained: "In light of the reaction to the Django Unchained action figures we are removing them from distribution. We have tremendous respect for the audience and it was never our intent to offend anyone. Action figures have been created for all of Quentin's films, including Inglourious Basterds, and as a matter of course [were] produced for Django Unchained as well. They were meant to be collectibles for people 17 years and older, which is the audience for the film."


Najee Ali, director of the Los Angeles civil rights organization Project Islamic Hope, labeled the toys "a slap in the face of our ancestors" earlier this month, while Rev KW Tulloss of African American activist group the National Action Network said he was concerned that children might end up playing with the figures, "making a mockery of slavery".