While I was able to cover a lot of what we planned to cover at Toy Fair, there was one special event that I could not make it to because of a previous engagement: the Playmates Media Event. Since I know a lot of our readers are fans of their lines like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Voltron, and Ben10, I was able to get my friend Joe to cover the event for me. Here is his report, along with photos from the event.
Playmates Toy Fair 2017 Showcase
Playmates certainly knows their stuff and has some amazing things in store for 2017. Here’s a look at what they had on display.
Voltron
Voltron has seen a great response at retail so far. Available now are the basic lions, deluxe lions (which when you purchase all of them, can be transformed into an interactive Voltron – The black lion will recognize which pieces are connected and request that you attach the ones that are missing) as well as the deluxe Voltron figure, this one is the most show accurate.
Launching this year are the astronauts which feature removable helmets and weapons, take note that Keith has an interchangeable hand.
Additionally a line of Voltron role play will be launched, featuring dress up of each character as well as an interactive Voltron sword that responds with lights and sounds to movement.
Later in the year villains will be added to the line, and admittedly I don’t know Voltron well but these look really cool and the detail is on par with Playmates amazing work.
Play sets are also in the works.
The thing that stands out most for Voltron are the upcoming die cast lion models. These will also transform into Voltron if you have all five. Let me say that again, transforming die cast lions! In photos you can see the yellow one in its transformed state.
Ben10
Ben10 is being relaunched on Cartoon Network and Playmates has signed on. The show is starting fresh, so the line starts out with Ben and his interactive Omnitrix as well as his transformations and villains. More characters will be added to the assortment later. Vehicles will also be launched with their corresponding characters. The true stand out of this line is the play set. It is double sided and features a different alien planet on each side. But that’s not all! Each side transforms (by flipping the floors out, and sliding the top to change the backdrop) to a different planet so the play set features four different play areas!
Mysticons (No Photos per Playmates’ request)
Mysticons is a new show launching by Nelvana on Nickelodeon in late 2017 with the toy line following shortly after in early 2018. Unfortunately photos were not allowed, but this line is shaping up to be something that will be great! Mysticons, which is targeted at girls aged 6 and up is the story of four girls who are summoned to become legendary heroes. It is rich in mythology and has a deep story line.
The first round of figures features all of the girls and certain villains, with more to be added in waves (they will be handling this just like Ninja Turtles, with the base characters always being available in some form, as well as an assortment of secondary characters). What is interesting to note about these is that they are action figures, and as such, the girls do not have ‘real hair.’ Play tests with children found that girls (and boys) didn’t care, and enjoyed them for what they were.
Also launching are two of the girls and their griffons which are poseable, as well as a line of dress up.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
First and most importantly, Playmates announced their second wave of WWE Superstars Ninja Turtles live from Toy Fair. These 6 inch figures feature the four turtles dressed as your favorite WWE stars and are packed with accessories. Wave two is Leo as Finn Balor, Raphael as The Rock, Michelangelo as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Donatello as Ultimate Warrior. They will be available later this year at all major retailers. Collectors, fear not! More of wave one is currently en route to Walmart, where it is an exclusive!
The basic figure line will follow the TV show this year. The season was broken down into shorter stories which will span a few episodes, and figures will be launching to coincide with those stories. The first “Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series Super Shredder (Featuring the four turtles in Super Ninja Gear, Super Shredder, and Tiger Claw) is already available. Later this year we will see fan favorite Usagi Yojimbo for his story as well as the turtles in samurai. This wave will feature Usagi (with a unique paint scheme) on a horse as part of the vehicle assortment, as well as the four turtles in Samurai outfits. There will be three different Usagi Yojimbo figures! (Street clothes, Samurai outfit, and then the re-deco with the horse) Later in the year will be Monsters Vs. Mutants, featuring the Turtles dressed as your favorite monsters as well as Bebob and Rocksteady Most Wanted, which will feature everyone’s favorite villains as well as Raph in disguise.
In addition to that, Muck Man is coming! He will be available around late Spring. Additionally, check out the photos, as many of the original figures are getting re-releases with updated paint jobs and details (check out the Stockman Fly and Splinter!). These will be spread out throughout the year.
Not to be left out, the Half-Shell Heroes line and T-Machines lines are seeing some additions, as well as a new wave of blind figures featuring new characters and different paint jobs for existing ones.
Last, but not least, Micro Mutants are starting to show up in stores now! Think Polly Pocket, but with Ninja Turtles. Each Turtles shell opens to become a micro playset with micro versions of all your favorite characters! (Check out that teeny Mondo Gecko!)
Hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as I did taking them! What figure(s) are you most looking forward to adding to your collections?