Okay, I know I usually stick to the G.I. Joe side of the house, but I am absolutely in love with these Hot Toys Avengers figures, and I figure other Joe fans might be, too. Pre-Orders just went live for Captain America!
Check out the mirrored image below.
No this isn’t G.I. Joe specific news, but I know a lot of Joe fans are keeping a close eye on the Avengers toys and the SHIELD Helicarrier specifically, hoping for a little insight about the size and format of this playset vehicle.
Over on Twitter Hasbro’s PR secret agents have posted a neat image of the showroom floor in the set up process, and you get a pretty good look the Helicarrier and the size of the thing. Figures still look a bit oversized on it, but I think it has some amazing potential with some creative photo taking and imagination.
Check out the mirrored image below!
Yes, panic is a strong word. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen any real panic from anyone yet, but I do think what we’re seeing already from some Avengers toys being shown on Toys “R” Us Canada’s website might be something we want to keep in mind as we prepare mentally for Toy Fair in a couple of weeks. I will admit, I did panic a little bit myself, mostly over articulation concerns, but in all honesty, I don’t think we have much to worry about with the mainline G.I. Joe releases.
As for the product itself, the first thing is the appearance of a clear image of the Avengers Quinjet:
Originally there was some hypothesis that maybe the Quinjet was retooled from the canceled Sigma 6 Thunderhawk and Rise of Cobra Phantom X90, but upon closer inspection that’s not the case. The surface is completely different, and while there are some structural simularities, I think the vehicles themselves are different molds. If you look at the cockpit area, the surface is much smoother on the Quinjet without the vents near the rear, and the wing assembly looks like it’s all one piece, and not modular like on the other planes.
Regardless of the construction, the Quinjet looks pretty neat, and could make for some potentially cool custom fodder.
Next up, is this weird Ground Assault Vehicle:
This thing is actually pretty darn cool, design-wise, as long as it’s larger than the picture indicates (I think it probably is). If it’s close in size to the RHINO or even a bit smaller, it could make for a pretty awesome Cobra vehicle, with some fresh paint applications.
Another potential source of cool custom fodder is revealed with the appearance of Captain America:
Yes, the figure looks great, the webgear looks awesome…but… where’s the articulation? We’ve got single-joint knees and no torso joints whatsoever. Curious… I know some folks were wondering about this last week when Marvel leaked a few early images of the Avengers figures, but now seeing a finished model looking the same way is a concern. Granted, if your only worried about the accessories, this isn’t a big deal, but it is somewhat disappointing, especially considering it won’t necessarily match aesthetically with the rest of the Marvel movie figures that have been revealed so far.
Granted, Marvel figures aren’t necessarily known by their extensive articulation, but still… I have an Ultimate Captain America, Iron Man, and Nick Fury all in this format already, it is kind of too bad the Thor and potential Hawkeye figures won’t match it.
So even beyond folks being excited for G.I. Joe toys in 2012, the potential is there for some awesome customizing above and beyond the Retaliation brand. More info will come in a couple weeks from Toy Fair, and GeneralsJoes will be there as always to cover it!
So, is anyone getting tired of me posting information about Avengers? I hope not, because I’m going to keep doing it. Feel free to skip by if you’re not interested. I’m extremely fired up to see this cartoon, so I fully intend on posting about the videos as they’re uploaded.
The latest five-minute short focuses on The Hulk… DisneyXD.com is the first place to post it (which doesn’t allow embedding for some weird reason). It’s on the same video page that the Iron Man one was posted yesterday.
Along with that, Marvel.com has also begun posting their own content, including very short snippets of the origins of the Avengers. First two are Thor and Captain America.
Thor
Captain America
Along with those, Marvel.com also has hosted the Iron Man Micro-Episode, so it’s embeddable now!
Iron Man Micro-Episode
This cartoon really looks great. It has a very “realistic” feel to it. Sure, the animated style is the typical distorted look, but the dialog is very mature and natural, the action is very well choreographed…it really rocks. October 20th…I’ve marked my calendar!
For a while now I’ve been talking up the apparent wonders of the upcoming Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series. Although I’ve never been a huge Avengers comic fan, I love Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, and a lot of the Avenger individuals. This cartoon promises a large cast of favorite characters and looks like an awesome ramped up action series in the vein of Justice League.
While the series itself debuts October 20th on DisneyXD, starting TODAY, DisneyXD.com and Marvel.com are debuting some five minute “shorts” with a focus on the individuals. First up to bat is Iron Man!
LOVE this. Really love the looks of this. With G.I. Joe: Renegades and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, it looks like this could be a great fall for action animation!