It’s fair to say that the Star Wars collector’s market is a bit dead in the water. The toys don’t populate shelves the same way they did before the Disney Trilogy. Most of these action figures have moved to online retailers, namely Hasbro Pulse. Unfortunately, the new plastic-free packaging no longer allows fans to show off their collections. The powers that be must sense our displeasure because Hasbro is trying hard to lure back in fans of pre-Disney era fans.
Today we saw several OT and Legends action figures on Hasbro’s website. Can it reignite that spark that drove decades of figure hunting and preservation? Well, I’d be down for it, but not with this plastic-free, windowless box BS. It’s too bad because the new Black Series Mara Jade, Bastila, and Malak figures look great. So now, I’m going to download Knights of the Old Republic and wash away the thoughts of Disney’s Lucasfilm.
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Bastila Shan is a brash Jedi Knight during the Jedi Civil War that took place in Old Republic era. Bastila’s affinity with the Force presents a serious threat to the Darth Malak and his Sith fleet.
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Darth Malak was once the apprentice of Darth Revan, a fallen Jedi turned Sith Lord. Revan eventually disappeared—presumed dead—and Malak embarked on his mission to conquer the galaxy on his own.
The figures vary in price and release dates through next year. However, Mara Jade’s packaging is the most insulting thing about these new releases. It has a book cover that’s supposed to reveal the figure, but now that Hasbro is going “plastic-free,” the cover opens to show a picture of the action figure. Why?
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Mara Jade was once Emperor Palpatine’s Hand, his most-trusted assassin. Five years later and now a successful smuggler, the last thing Mara expected was to stumble upon her former arch-enemy: Luke Skywalker.
The Vintage Collection is skirting my dislike of windowless boxes by capturing the classic Kenner box decor. Such is the case with the Speeder Bike and Imperial Scout Trooper. The $44 price tag for a 3.75″ tall figure and the tiny vehicle is a bit steep, though.
Marvel Comics’ merc with a mouth is making a comeback with the new ‘Deadpool’ series by Alyssa Wong and Martin Coccolo. It will be released along with a plethora of titles revealed in their new pull list that includes ‘Crossgren Tales’ and a new ‘Secret Invasion.’ It is not just the Marvel Universe on display, as several Star Wars titles including ‘X-Wing Red.’
Fans of the fantasy-themed romantic comedy light novel series by Fuminori Teshima got some exciting news with the announcement that the books will receive an anime adaption. The stories began publication by publisher Hobby Japan’s HJ Bunko in 2017 with illustrations from COMTA and were nominated for Next Manga Award in 2020.
Crunchyroll said on their website, “The official Twitter account for publisher HJ Bunko announced today that an anime adaptation of Fuminori Teshima and COMTA’s An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride fantasy light novel series is currently in the works. Additional info, such as staff, cast and release date, are yet to be revealed.”
The announcement from HJ Bunko added the bonus info that original novels and comics will be released at the beginning of November 2022.
They also released a promo graphic on social media saying that the “Animation planning in progress…”
“Zagan is feared by the masses as an evil sorcerer. Both socially awkward and foulmouthed, he spends his days studying sorcery while beating down any trespassers within his domain. One day he’s invited to a dark auction, and what he finds there is an elven slave girl of peerless beauty, Nephy. Having fallen in love at first sight, Zagan uses up his entire fortune to purchase her, but being a poor conversationalist, he has no idea how to properly interact with her. Thus, the awkward cohabitation of a sorcerer who has no idea how to convey his love and his slave who yearns for her master but has no idea how to appeal to him begins.”
Hobby Japan released a manga version of the series in 2018 that is illustrated by Hako Itagaki for Comics Fire. It is released in English by J-Novel Club digitally.
We’re officially in the Holiday Season. Halloween stuff was getting booted off the shelves in September, and Christmas was slowly creeping in. Now that we’re in November, it’s nothing but mistletoe, holly, and other things ending with “olly.” Not only are the Christmas decorations going up, but toy manufacturers have been shoving holiday-themed items onto shelves as early as August. Hasbro is no different. Starting today at 1 PM, you can pre-order a very Christmasy version of Optimus Prime. Transformers Generations Holiday Optimus Prime will retail for $55.99 and is due out this December, according to Figures.com.
This Prime is a bit like the yearly HESS vehicle. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the white and red striped trailer and the huge “Happy Holidays” banner across the cab. I could see this being a yearly decoration to put under the tree. But wait, is Optimus Prime Jesus? He rose from the grave and cleansed Autobots and Decepticons of evil infecting their robotic souls. Oh, no. This is going to start some weird Transformers cult, isn’t it?!
As a collectible, it’s a fun gimmick, but something about the design struck me as odd. Look at the truck mode with the trailer attached below and see if you can spot what I’m talking about.
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The striped ion blaster is kind of silly, but it looks extra suspicious when mounted under the trailer. Maybe the festive season gives Optimus a boost? A stiff, thick, bulging boost? I’m sorry, but it just looks too funny. Perhaps if it didn’t look like a phallic candy cane, the horse’s willy of a weapon wouldn’t draw so much attention.
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Also coming soon is an evil spin on a classic Autobot. If you’ve had a hard time finding the ’86 Perceptor released earlier this year, you can always get the Decepticon version called Magnificus. He’s mostly the same figure but with a different color scheme and a different head. Transformers Generations Selects Deluxe Magnificus will be out in January and should retail for $24.99. Pre-orders for Magnificus will start today, November 1st, at 1 PM Eastern on HasbroPulse.
Anyone that has been playing Overwatch frequently for the last six years probably has enough familiarity with how things go. Pick your hero and fill your role as your team attacks or defends different objectives. There is the occasional Team Deathmatch game here and there, but Overwatch is mostly focused on objective game types with good teamwork being emphasized heavily. And with the release of Overwatch 2 nothing has changed, which may or may not be a good or bad thing.
It’s easy to dismiss Overwatch 2 as a halfway-done sequel that does little to nothing to change things up. But there are enough significant additions to come from the game to justify calling this a sequel. New heroes to play with, brand new maps to play on, updates to previous maps, and quality-of-life tweaks are what make Overwatch 2 different. New maps for the game are set to release every other season of the game, with new heroes being added in between. However, most of these new additions will require players to wait and stick with the game for a long time, as opposed to seeing all the brand-new stuff right at launch. There’s also a free-to-play version of the game that is available for everyone to download, which will boost the number of people online significantly.
But are the new heroes that you can play with in the game now worth diving into this sequel? You have the choice between Kiriko, Sojourn, and Junker Queen. Each new character plays with the roles of what you may have seen with the previous roster of heroes, mixing and matching certain elements that weren’t really paired up before. Kiriko is a healer that can support teammates and deal damage with her kunai, while also being super nimble with her movement just like Genji. Sojourn is a character that feels like a variant of Solder 76 with higher mobility and great mid-range shots, provided you have good accuracy. Junker Queen is the new tank that is deadly at close range with a shotgun and battle axe, while also having a good passive ability to steal health from damaged enemies.
All three newcomers have interesting aspects to them that will mesh with different players, depending on your own playstyle. But what’s disappointing is how each of them doesn’t feel too different from what was already seen with Overwatch’s large roster. There are differences between them, but not enough to really impact the overall meta of competitive play or change up the flow of games you’ve probably seen hundreds of times already. Chances are you’ll pick a new character based on what you’ve probably already been playing in Overwatch 1, should you even decide to try them out.
And let’s not forget the entire original roster of characters from the first game. Every character has been tweaked in some way, either getting their abilities adjusted or receiving new moves entirely. You’ll more than likely find a few things that are different about your main that you’ll have to get used to. Overwatch 2 is a game that will get many updates over time, so much of what will be at launch may change months or years down the line. That’s a big aspect to the game as a whole, which can either help or hurt Overwatch 2’s bigger problem.
Balance is a constant struggle for games like this, especially when so much needs to be tweaked and adjusted based on constant feedback from the community. At the time of launch, Overwatch 2 has a lot of things that need to be changed for balance and competitive sustainability. Characters from the previous game have new abilities that can make some skirmishes feel one-sided, as well as encounters with others tilted in favor of one outcome. Eventually, this may get changed, but it leaves those who play with certain characters as their main in a very difficult position when going online for matches, especially in competitive play.
Good luck trying to find an answer to Orisa’s Javalin Spin as she’s aggressively coming toward you when you’re not even a squishy character. Or brace yourself when you hear that sound cue from the enemy’s Bastion using an Ultimate that is bugged out online, allowing them to drop around 20 shells from the sky on top of everyone. Hopefully, Blizzard can be vigilant enough to correct balancing issues like this quickly when they arise.
Other quality-of-life aspects of Overwatch 2 are hit or miss, depending on how you felt about playing the original Overwatch. Players cannot view their character’s abilities during a match, the medal system for post-match screens is no longer around, and you can’t use voting cards anymore for players to receive bonus experience. For some these were distinct parts of the original game, so their absence is very hard to ignore.
There’s also the new Battle Pass replacing the Loot Box system of the first game, which has received a lot of criticism. The Battle Pass itself is nothing different from other games that utilize a leveling system to unlock new cosmetics and other online bonuses. If you’re playing the free version of Overwatch 2 then most of these items are locked off and unavailable. You can also purchase items from the in-game store, but the value of these items is incredibly subjective and will depend on how much you value digital items within the games you play.
When you look at everything together, Overwatch 2 is just more of the same we’ve gotten over the last few years, but with mild additions to it. There are some extra seasonal events that will mix things up, but the core of the original game remains the same, for better or worse. Does that make Overwatch 2 a bad game or a bad sequel overall? No, it’s still a solid experience that gives longtime Overwatch players what they would expect. If you’ve invested a lot of time into Overwatch already, you’ll feel right at home. Maybe things will feel very different over an extended period of time to set Overwatch 2 further apart from its predecessor, but for now it’s the same stuff on a different day.
Heroic and willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of those in his charge, Jaga alone piloted the damaged ship fleeing Thundera. Years passed, and Jaga eventually succumbed to old age, vanishing in a cloud of shiny golden dust. However, he did return in spirit form, and Super7 has created a figure honoring the Ghost of Jaga.
Jaga was originally the third wave of the ThunderCats Ultimates line, but quite alive. After waiting a few years, we finally get a spectral version of the hero. Unlike the original version, the ghostly Jaga does not come with alternate heads. What we get instead are two different swords and a few interchangeable hands. The Sword of Omens is also translucent, which looks pretty cool. Sadly, Jaga does not come with a pile of glowing gold dust.
Ghost Jaga is $55 and is estimated to ship in Fall 2023. Pre-orders for the figure will only be taken until December 2nd.
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Jaga comes with the following accessories:
8x interchangeable hands
2x Gripping hands (vertical hinge)
2x Gripping hands (horizontal hinge)
2x Expressive hands
1x Open palm left hand
1x “Might of the ThunderCats” energy hand
1x Sword of Omens
1x Jaga’s Sword
When the ThunderCats had to flee the doomed planet of Thundera on the Royal Flagship, Jaga sacrificed himself to guide the damaged vessel safely to Third Earth. Super7 honors his bravery with this 7” scale ThunderCats ULTIMATES! Ghost Jaga figure, inspired by the episode “The Ghost Warrior.”
I’ve not seen a Ultimates figure before with translucent parts. So, I’m not sure how good they look close up. Sometimes the effect is ruined by joints and other connecting parts. Sometimes, the glue used to hold some parts together gets smeared, making the figure ugly. Hopefully, this won’t be the case with Jaga.
Author James Patterson’s DC Police Detective Alex Cross is heading to the small screen with Aldis Hodge taking the reigns as the character in the upcoming series ‘Cross’ for the Prime Video streaming service. Hodge will be the third actor to portray the crimefighter.
“From Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television, Cross is a complex, twisted, pulse-pounding thriller created by producer and writer Ben Watkins, based on the worldwide best-selling Alex Cross book series by James Patterson. Alex Cross is a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify—and ultimately capture—the murderers,” Amazon said on their website.
Patterson will serve as a co-executive producer for the series with Bill Robinson and Patrick Santa for James Patterson Entertainment.
Fans will recognize Hodge for his role in ‘Black Adam’ as Hawkman and for his portrayal of the Atlanta Falcons linebacker Brian Banks.
Head of global television at Amazon Studios Vernon Sanders said in a press release, “James Patterson is among the best at captivating audiences with his undeniably enthralling novels and we are confident that with Ben Watkins’ artistic vision, Cross will do the same for our global customers.”
“We are proud to work with James and Ben alongside Paramount Television, Skydance, and the extremely talented Aldis Hodge, who we know will do an exceptional job of bringing Alex Cross to life,” he added.
First appearing in the 1993 novel ‘Along Came A Spider,’ Cross would appear in over thirty novels, two novellas, and has a spin-off series surrounding the character’s daughter Ali.
Prime Video said that “Alex Cross is brilliant, flawed, and full of contradictions. A doting father and family man, Cross is single-minded to the point of obsession when he hunts killers. He is desperate for love, but his wife’s murder has left him too damaged to receive it.”
Morgan Freeman previously portrayed the detective in the films ‘Kiss the Girls’ (1997) and ‘Along Came a Spider’ (2001) followed by Tyler Perry in the 2012 movie ‘Alex Cross.’
The books have been published Little, Brown and Company since their inception.
Happy Halloween, Clownfish TV readers! What better way to celebrate the year’s greatest holiday than with some Evil Dead news? Get ready for gallons of blood, Deadites, and gore galore when Evil Dead Rise hits theatres on April 21st, 2023. The Chin himself, Bruce Campbell, gave the world their first look at a new Deadite from the upcoming film.
Regarding the synopsis found on IMDB, it’s best to take them with a grain of salt. So, the following outline of the sequel’s plot may not be 100% accurate:
A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
The new film was shot in New Zealand. So, how did the Necronomicon end up there? Or is this a story about an ongoing outbreak of the undead, and we’re following a family trying to survive? Does this occur in the original films’ universe or the 2013 remake? Or is this part of the Ash vs Evil Dead series? When it comes to Evil Dead, you never know. The continuity is all over the place.
The Mist‘s Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan from Picnic at Hanging Rock will headline the cast. Evil Dead Rise is helmed by 50 States of Fright director Lee Cronin, while Campbell and the franchises creator Sam Raimi will act as executive producers. As of right now, the cast looks relatively small, meaning this film will probably keep in step with other Evil Dead features: tight, claustrophobic, and demoralizing to the characters. Whether or not the series’s previous heroes, Ash or Mia, will return to the film is unclear.
What are your hopes for this latest installment in the long-running ultra-gory franchise? An Ash cameo? Lots of dismemberment? Let us know in the comments section below.
HiDive announced that they will release their first ever original anime co-production known as ‘Giant Beasts of Ars.’ They are developing the film alongside DMM with Asahi Production handling the animation. Sentai Filmworks will eventually develop an English dub.
They said on their website, “HIDIVE revealed a long list of announcements to fans during its industry panel event at this year’s Anime Weekend Atlanta. This included the action -adventure series GIANT BEASTS OF ARS, an original anime and HIDIVE’s first ever co-production, which will premiere in January during the company’s Winter 2023 simulcast season.”
The movie is directed by Akira Oguro, written by Norimitsu Kaihō, and Ashito Ōyari is handling the character designs along with Hiroshi Shimizu and Masato Kato.
Hina Yomiya of ‘My Dress-Up Darlin’ voices Kuumi. The rest of the cast includes Toshiyuki Morikawa (Ascendance of a Bookworm), Hiromu Mineta (Star Wars: Visions), Yōko Hikasa (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?), and Yū Serizawa (Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside).
HiDive celebrated the movie production on social media:
Co-production GIANT BEASTS OF ARS and The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes movie top list of HIDIVE announcements at Anime Weekend Atlanta. Read more: https://t.co/sSPZuY9GaVpic.twitter.com/Nk4GqOWyx1
“The great beasts created the land, but humans stole it. Angered, the beasts began eating humans, who in turn called upon the gods to fight the beasts. In the age of the sword, heroes and mythology, giant beasts are hunted by humans for profit. Jiro, who makes his living hunting beasts, encounters Kuumi, who is being chased by someone, and in that moment decides to save her. As rumors spread regarding humanity and a mysterious experiment, together they seek to discover the world’s secrets.”
The music is composed by Shūji Katayama and Akinari Suzuki.
With less than 12 hours left, HasLab’s Engine of Vengence crowdfunding campaign looks like it will be short about four thousand backers. So Ghost Rider may be sucked back into the underworld with the rest of Hasbro’s failed crowdfunders unless a miracle happens in half a day.
When I first covered this story a few days after the campaign launched, more than 3k people had signed on. A month and a half later, that number increased by less than 2k people. As of writing this, there are 4,870 pre-orders, but 9,000 are needed. The effort ends tonight at 11:59 PM EDT.
What went wrong? Well, the stretch goals sucked. You’d unlock three Marvel Legends figures by getting the funding up to 12,000 people ($4,199,880). No add-ons for the car or accessories for Ghost Rider. Just three characters: Goblin Queen, Daimon Hellstrom, and Mephisto. Goblin Queen was tamed down from her early appearance in X-MEN comics. Daimon looked OK, but the very generic. Mephisto has a great head sculpt and was very bland otherwise.
The issues weren’t just in the stretch goals but in the car’s overall value and Ghost Rider figure. When we get down to it, you’re paying $349.99 for an unbranded Dodge knock-off with some lights and translucent orange parts. Similar toys have been done on that scale for less than $150. Much like the Rancor campaign, asking a premium price for a basic figure/vehicle isn’t going to draw in the masses.
How did the H.I.S.S. succeed with such a similar price tag? It was $299 but pulled in over triple the number of backers. It was also one of the few (if not first) 1:12 scale vehicles in the toy line—so many similarities. The play features were also close: lighting effects and swappable parts.
It could be brand recognition. G.I. Joe may be more popular than Ghost Rider, especially the Robbie Reyes version. I was unfamiliar with the new Spirit of Vengence until he popped up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., whereas Cobra, the Joes, and the H.I.S.S. were part of an entire generation’s childhood.