This Week’s Toy News Brings Iconic Heroes Out of Retirement

Congratulations on finding your way back to Toy Aisle, io9’s regular round up of the latest toy and merch news from across the internet. This week, Hot Toys delivers a remarkably lifelike Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones figure, Hasbro mashes up the Transformers and G.I. Joe again with Soundwave partnering with the Dreadnoks, Lego puts a wall-crawling Spider-Man on your walls, and yet another Michael Keaton as Batman figure helps justify The Flash movie’s existence. Check it out!

Hot Toys Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Deluxe Version Indiana Jones Sixth-Scale Figure

Even some of the the less-than-accurate head sculpts of Hot Toys’ sixth-scale figures are still incredibly lifelike, but the company’s artists really nailed an aging Harrison Ford for its latest Indiana Jones figure, based on the character’s appearance in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The 12-inch figure features 30 points of articulation, and while it only comes with one fedora-donning head sculpt, do you really need an alternate? Where this figure really stands out is the detailed clothing accessories, including a weathered jacket made with actual brown leather, a flashlight that glows with an LED bulb, and a whip with a bendable wire inside, allowing it to be posed along with the rest of the figure. Pricing isn’t known yet, but availability won’t start until later in 2023.

Lego Art The Amazing Spider-Man

There’s bad news if you’re running out of wall space for Lego’s ever-growing Art collection. The latest addition stands hand, feet, and webbing above all the rest, as the first Marvel piece featuring the Amazing Spider-Man. The 2,099-piece set actually features Spidey breaking the fourth wall, as he appears to be climbing out of the frame with articulated fingers holding onto the edges, and an adjustable head that gives the artwork a 3D appearance. It will be available starting on August 1 through Lego’s website and its brick-and-mortar stores for $200.

Hasbro Transformers Collaborative G.I. Joe x Transformers Soundwave Dreadnok Thunder Machine With Zartan and Zarana Figures

The Transformers have partnered with both G.I. Joe and Cobra forces time and time again (remember when Megatron transformed into a HISS tank?). While this latest team-up seems like an unlikely pairing — Soundwave with the Dreadnoks mercenaries — it results in one of the best toy mashups we’ve seen in a while. The 10-inch tall Soundwave looks even better with added red accents after transforming from the hacked-together Dreadnok Thunder Machine in 33 steps, while the 3.75-inch Zartan and Zarana O-ring figures wrangle Ravage, who still transforms into a cassette that can fit into Soundwave’s chest. There’s no indication that this Zandar figure still has the unique color-changing skin feature of the original ‘80s version, but that’s probably not going to stop most Transformers and G.I. Joe fans from pre-ordering this for $100, with shipping starting on January 1.

Mattel Jurassic World Hammond Collection The Gates Playset

Kids who grew up in the ‘80s remember gigantic playsets like G.I. Joe’s U.S.S. Flagg aircraft carrier, but toy makers are now a little more hesitant to fund such elaborate playthings up front, and seem more inclined to put the financial risks on the consumers. For Jurassic Park fans, Mattel is celebrating the blockbuster’s 30th anniversary with a crowdfunded playset featuring a detailed recreation of the park’s main entrance gates that automatically open using motors while playing John Williams’ iconic Jurassic Park theme. The gates also come with an appropriately-scaled and equally detailed replica of the film’s #5 Ford Explorer tour vehicle which survived the T.rex attack.

The $250 crowdfunding campaign ends on July 27 and will require 5,000 US-based backers for Mattel to put it into production. After that, international pre-orders will be accepted, with additional accessories being added based on the number. At 6,000 backers, an electrocuted Tim figure will be added, at 8,000 backers, the “Buck” T.rex from The Lost World: Jurassic Park will be added, and at 10,000 backers, a Lex figure and a goat with a removable hind leg will be added. Availability of the playset, if the crowdfunded campaign succeeds, hasn’t been revealed yet.

Lego Architecture Himeji Castle

With its base structure dating back to 1333, Himeji Castle, one of the largest castles in Japan, was rightfully recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1993. Thirty years after that, and almost 700 years after construction started on it, the castle is now immortalized as a 2,125-piece addition to Lego’s elaborately-detailed Architecture collection. Featuring brand new pieces, the set includes a simplified interior accessible by lifting off the roof of the main building, and four buildable cherry trees: two of which feature pink cherry blossoms. It will be available through Lego’s website starting on August 1 for $160.

S.H.Figuarts The Flash Batman

A six-inch action figure for ~$60 is a hard sell, but S.H. Figuarts always delivers a satisfying amount of detailing, accessories, and articulation with its figures. Its new The Flash Batman doesn’t exactly deliver a photorealistic head and face sculpt of Michael Keaton with his cowl on, but this is still a fantastic, Burton-era Batman collectible. The figure, which ships some time in November, includes a swappable unmasked head, four sets of swappable hands, a Batarang, and what appears to be a posable, wire-reinforced cape. Let’s get nuts.

Fisher-Price Little People Collector Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Special Edition Set

There’s never been a bad time to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, but 2023 feels like an especially good year to be a fan of the pizza-scarfin’ foursome. Not only is a new animated film enroute from directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, but Fisher-Price is expanding its Little People Collector line to include adorable, toddler-friendly versions of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello with their favorite weapons and accessories, including a slice of pizza. The four-pack is a Target-exclusive and is available now for $25.

Lego Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman’s Death Egg Robot

Lego has posted a listing for an additional Sonic the Hedgehog playset not revealed back in April with the rest of the collection. As the dire-sounding name implies, the 615-piece Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman’s Death Egg Robot set is centered around a towering mech created by the mad scientist that’s powered by animals trapped inside in a removable capsule. Sonic can rescue the creatures by racing towards the mech inside a speed sphere that can fired from an included slam-powered launcher. The set will be available starting on August 1 through Lego’s website for $60, but isn’t available for pre-order yet.

Disney Zootopia Giant-Sized Nick Wilde Plush

How tall would a life-size version of an anthropomorphic, talking fox be? Probably exactly the height of this new 47-inch plush version of Zootopia’s Nick Wilde. Wearing khakis, a Hawaiian shirt, and a blue striped tie, the plush Nick has bendable, posable arms, and a flexible tail that’s rigid enough to help the toy stand all on its own. Unfortunately, it looks like it might only be available through the Japanese version of shopDisney for around $240 (35,000 yen) when available in December.

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