toy fair 2017

At New York Comic Con, we got the first look at Super7's take on the Masters of the Universe, which it took up from Mattel last year. Though many of the first wave were characters we'd seen before, the next few waves look to have even more deep cuts from the subscription service previously under Mattel's command. As strong as those Four Horsemen-designed figures look, Super7 had even more interesting products on display, including a rare Jack Kirby character getting his first toy ever.

Last year, McFarlane Toys reworked its strategy a bit. Instead of focusing on a few longrunning lines, the company switched to a primary series that encompassed all its licensed properties. Dubbed Color Tops, each wave mixes up comic, gaming, television and film characters into a larger collection. While the big guns like The Walking Dead still make up the primary focus, now things like Mass Effect, Attack on Titan, and even Spawn all fall under one banner. Add in building sets, and you have quite a bit of promising content coming from McFarlane in 2017.

It was a relatively small showing from Kotobukiya at this year's Toy Fair, but nearly everything being shown off was brand new. That includes a healthy dose of ArtFX statues both large and small, and some new licenses like DC's television shows. Sure, there were more Star Wars and Bishoujo pieces in place, but Koto has plenty in store for fans of just about everything under the sun.

Creativity abounds at Toy Fair every year, but you can always count on Square Enix to show up with some of the most clever and inspired action figures. Though they might not have the volume output of some of the larger companies at the show, Square Enix certainly brings the quality. This year was no exception with a couple of great new Marvel Variants planned, as well as even more Tetsuya Nomura DC Comics designs.

You can always count on a number of surprises from NECA at Toy Fair, but this year, I don't think very many collectors could have expected the announcements the company unveiled. While new Predator and Alien toys are as expected, you never know what the mad geniuses at NECA might have in store for the likes of Evil Dead, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the other dozens of gaming and movie licenses it holds. All you can be sure about is that you will come away from the NECA booth ready to find a new source of income to pay for all the things you're going to need. Like the new Batman vs Aliens and Predator sets.

Let me tell you, friends, the things Lego has in store for 2017 are likely going to bankrupt me. We got an early look at the upcoming slate of building sets in the Marvel, DC, and Star Wars branches of Lego's release slate, and each area left us dreaming of homes with more display shelves than the library at Alexandria. Toy Fair 2017 was home to a lot of great toys, but nothing gets the creative and collecting juices flowing quite like Lego. Especially when they have some dope Batman sets.

Given that the Star Wars film franchise is between movies at the moment, it wasn't surprising to see Hasbro's offerings for the Star Wars Black series dialed back just a bit. The Last Jedi is still 10 months away, and with Force Friday II coming in September, it's going to be a few more months until we learn everything about this year's Star Wars Black plans. However, 2017 is the 40th anniversary of the celebrated sci-fi franchise, and Hasbro isn't letting that go unnoticed.

Before we all left to enjoy the weekend, DC Collectibles spoiled us with a number of preview images of its numerous Toy Fair reveals. Seeing new Justice League statues, DC Icons figures and more Batman: The Animated Series collectibles was great, but there's nothing like seeing them in person to really get the full effect. We soaked all the details in when we visited with DC Collectibles, and this year and beyond look to carry the momentum built up during the later half of 2016.

If you've been waiting to see what the first half-of the year is going to look like when it comes to Marvel Legends, look no further. Hasbro unleashed a hefty salvo of new figures and sets tied to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and more at this year's Toy Fair. While Thor: Ragnarok was nowhere to be found, there are dozens of new figures planned to arrive already, so Marvel Legends fans of every size and scale will have plenty to look forward to in the coming months.

This year at Toy Fair, Mattel once again lifted the curtain on a number of new figures and collectibles based in the DC Universe. From the continuing DC Multiverse figure line, which mixes the comics, television and movie properties, to DC Super Hero Girls and Teen Titans Go!, there was little that Mattel showed that didn't elicit excitement from everyone in attendance. However, the biggest surprise was clearly the unveiling of the Wonder Woman DC Multiverse wave, which gave us our first clear look at the DC Cinematic Universe version of Ares.