Tuesday, July 23, 2013

SDCC 2013: Dissecting The Marvel Universe Diorama

Be you long time collector, long time fan or just a new school Avengers movie loving sort, if you entered the Hasbro booth this past weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, you were stopped dead in your tracks in front of the Marvel action figure diorama. This epic display has become a yearly tradition, mixing long past Marvel Universe figure releases with brand new items soon to hit stores, an item or two clearly meant to test the fan reaction (ie; if we go OMIGOD IT'S DEVIL DINOSAUR!!! and start throwing money..they just might make him) and those things that are kit bashed customs meant to drive us insane with the wanting for things they'll probably never make. Clearly. It's evil. This year, it seems like Hasbro had been tipped off on the "Avengers 2: Age of Ultron" announcement and pitted an army of Ultron robots against the entirety of the Marvel Universe. Of course, the baddies still felt it necessary to fight their arch nemesi, even in the face of a Terminator-esque scorched Earth. Hey, villains gotta be villains. Let's take a look at a sampling of this mega-awesome display and then do what dorks do best. SPECULATE!

Photography by Emilie Noetzel - http://www.facebook.com/EmilieNoetzelPhotography














Let's run down the figures found in this setup and assess the likelihood you'll be able to buy any of it in the near future.

 
Devin Dinosaur and Moon Boy: I'm told the DD was a straight repaint of a Jurassic Park T Rex and Moon Boy was a rejiggered Puck, and I'm sure the designers had a HUGE laugh when they suggested this for the setup. Chance of production - 20%  Unless there's been some phenomenal guest appearance in current comics I don't know about, I don't think there will be much of a fan outcry for this duo. Image by Cool Toy Review



Multi-Armed Ultron: Seems a little pricey to produce, but after the announcement at SDCC, perhaps in a boxed set? After taking a really good look at this figure, while it seems unlikely they'd put a figure like this on the pegs, that's an awful lot of work put into the one piece just for a display! There are also Gold Ultrons in this setup, and at this point, I sort of expect them to crank any number of Ultrons out between now and 2015. Chance of production (Multi armed) - 60%  Chance of Production (Gold repaint) - 75%




"Son of" Nick Fury: Super easy kit bash to make a current comic book character that essentially brings the movie Nick Fury into comic continuity? Yea..I'd say this is a safe bet.  This one was in the cases in the new "Avengers SHIELD Gear" figure line. 100%




Iron Man 3 "Igor" Suit: Yes. It's happening. 100%  A few other figures from the movie coming to the silly "Assemblers" line as well. Hey, what a novel idea. Iron Man armor from Iron Man 3.





Purple Man: This is year 2 for this custom, who I'm told is straight up repaint. Are we any closer to a Purple Man action figure? Wellll...a purple guy in a suit isn't really something I see Hasbro pitching to retailers, so unless we get a boxed set titled "Great Rapists of the Marve Universe", then...doubtful. Chance of production - .005%

Wolverine: Yes, there have been a dozen or less (slightly less?) 3 and 3 quarter inch action figures produced, so imagine my surprise when the giant guy is holding one I've never seen before! I'm out of the loop with current Marvel Comics, so don't know where this outfit is from, but I'm fairly certain we are looking at something new, figure wise. Chance of production - It's frikken Wolverine. 90%





The Hood: Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome. I'm positive this is a highly requested figure, which bumps up the chance of production, but again, we've got a dude with guns in a hood. Not very super heroey. Do I expect him in a single pack? ummm 40% Could he pop up in a boxed set? 80% !


??!! - WHO THE HELL IS THE GIRL RIDING THE PTERODACTYL??!!??!! And this is when the internet failed me. I searched around for a while but couldn't find anyone with a clear shot of this woman with the flaming stick of doom. HOW does an entire nation of geeks miss a woman with a flaming stick riding a flying dinosaur? So sad. I blame society. Someone out there is bound to know who she is, so sound off in the comments! Chances of her going into production just on the strength of being a woman in green with a flaming stick riding a dinosaur - 30%  Kids dig dinosaurs




You'll note some other first timers in this set... Northstar and Aurora, Cloak and Dagger, Black Knight, Abomination and A-Bomb are all on the production schedule. We'll have a write up on Marvel Universe and Legends' future on the pegs very soon!

6 comments :

  1. My guess as to the identity of the lady on the Pteranodon: Morgan Le Fay (with the dinosaur meant to stand in as the dragon/beast that she was shown riding in the Age of Ultron series).

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    1. You may be onto something. Can't find a picture of her outfit in the new books, but this one from the old ones shows a lot of green going on... http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/morganlefay1.jpg

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  2. I would generally assume that that woman's the sorceress even though the hairs wrong and she's riding a pterodactyl

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  3. the Pteranodon is another jurassic park repaint

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  4. The Hood is an Indiana Jones custom.

    Say, what's the word on the Igor Armor? Been waiting ages for it

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    1. At this point I'd say slim to no chance of getting any more IM3 armors. As they say, that ship has sailed.

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