Toys

Batman made his first comic book appearance in 1939, but it wasn’t until 1972 that the Mego Corporation got the bright idea to mass-produce a line of toys featuring the superhero and all his gadgets, vehicles, sidekicks, and adversaries. Ever since then, the character has been a staple of the toy aisle, even during the years when his comics weren’t selling so well.

You can tell it's just about Toy Fair season because nearly every day this February has been filled with toy news of some kind. Hasbro might be leading the pack on that front, with a number of sneak peeks and previews of the upcoming Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series line-ups. Not that we're complaining at all, mind you. Getting an early look at the toys that will be stretching our wallets this year is always a nice treat. Especially when we're getting even more figures in the 3.75" arena. Announced this week, Hasbro will be releasing a number of Marvel Cinematic Universe two-packs, featuring some of our favorite characters from Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

If the world was short on Wonder Woman collectibles in the past, that soon won't be an issue any longer. Since the cinematic debut of the Amazonian warrior princess in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman has been a big part of collectible lines from a number of companies like Matte, DC Collectibles, and Sideshow Collectibles. It's not that Diana wasn't getting any attention in the past, but her percentages compared to Batman and Superman have surely improved over the past year. 2017 should be even better for Wonder Woman, what with her own movie coming out and all, but there are still some folks making up ground on her arrival last year. Such is the case with the new Premium Format Figure from Sideshow, which shows Wonder Woman readying for battle against Doomsday at the conclusion of Batman V Superman.

There are few superhero movies we here at ComicsAlliance are looking forward to more than Spider-Man: Homecoming. After years of trying, it seems like Sony and Marvel may have finally found the right combination of elements to make this franchise enjoyable again. Fortunately, that means any tie-in merchandise is actually going to be worth tracking down. Or maybe I should say it's unfortunate because my wallet is going to be feeling the pain if this new Medicom MAFEX Spider-Man is any indication the kind of amazing figures we're going to get for this movie.

Deadpool is a character with one of the most passionate fanbases, and merchandise section of your local comic shop tells us anything, they're a fanbase that loves their Wade Wilson paraphernalia. When it comes to Deadpool toys, figure and statues, there is a wealth of choice but Mezco's put together one of the most detailed Deadpool sculpts you're ever likely to see for its One:12 Collective, and it's available for pre-order right now.

I'm relatively new to the world of being a fan of Transformers, but I feel like I can tell when I see a pretty amazing action figure of one of those characters. ThreeA's new Optimus Prime Classic Edition certainly fits the bill, standing 16" tall with 59 points of articulation, interchangeable parts that include an Energon Axe and magnetically attached wheel wells, and a whole list of features besides. There's just one problem: It doesn't actually transform into a truck. Well, that and the fact that it'll set you back $390, but I feel like the former is the bigger issue here.

Given that they're completely identical with the exception of their favorite colors and pretty interchangeable in terms of personality, I know a lot of people out there can have a pretty difficult time telling Donald Duck's three nephews apart. I myself used to have the same difficulty, but then I came across a useful mnemonic that --- while it might sound pretty vague --- has legit helped me to remember ever since I came across it: Dewey is blue, like the dew, Louie is green like a leaf, and that leaves Huey to have a bright red hue. Now you can tell them apart, which is good, because it would be a shame if you picked up the pretty amazing looking box set from Hero Cross, which is up right now for pre-order, and didn't know which was which.

If you like your toys to be as meta as possible, then you’re definitely going to want to make a little room in your budget for The LEGO Batman Movie LEGO sets. Yes, the LEGO version of the iconic superhero is getting his very own LEGO sets, featuring LEGO Bat-vehicles, LEGO Bat-villains and much more. As we’ve noted before, it’s kind of amazing to see toy sets based on a movie that’s based on a toy that’s based on a superhero.

I'm not one to get my hopes up for a movie based on the tie-in toys, but dang it, Hasbro is putting out a Spider Racer vehicle that shoots Nerf darts as part of its Spider-Man: Homecoming plans, and now I'm hoping we get to see a Spider-Buggy of some sort in the movie. It's not going to happen. I know that. But the idea has been planted by these toys, and now it's all I want from this movie... aside from two hours of Tom Holland charming the pants off everyone in the theater. The Spider Racer is just one of a few Homecoming toys Hasbro has teased for the upcoming feature ahead of this year's Toy Fair. Want to know what else is in the works? Then you'll just have to read on, provided you can stop thinking about how awesome a canon Spider-Buggy would be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Back in 2014, Mondo released a Harley Quinn print by Matt Taylor at San Diego Comic-Con that was both beautiful and managed to capture Harley in a way we'd never really seen her before. The print was so popular, Mondo decided to make a statue capturing Harley Quinn in her room listening to her favorite records. We've seen the piece a few times now in prototype form, but now the pre-orders have opened, and we can't throw our money at the screen fast enough.