News

THE HOTTOYCAST is a podcast by Michael Crawford, Jeff Parker and Eamon O'Donoghue on the topic of high-end action figures. For the current episode, they brought on our friend Fabio Varesi from Kaustic Plastik as a guest.

Fabio talks about his passion for films and figures and answers questions from the podcasters about new licenses and the newly announced high-end MAESTRO line.

If you are a 1/6 collector, you should definitely check out this insightful HOTTOYCAST episode. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms. Enjoy!

Last week, Apple TV+ released a first trailer for the second season of the Golden Globe- and Saturn Award-nominated series »Severance«.

Mark leads an office team whose members can no longer connect their respective memories of their work and private lives after a surgical procedure. The working "innie" knows nothing about his private "outie" and vice versa. But is one complete without the other half?

The dystopian series raises a lot of interesting questions. Season 1 captivated us from the first minute. If you haven't seen it yet, we highly recommend the series! Season 2 starts on January 17th, so there's plenty of time for a rewatch of the first season to refresh your memory. Here is the new trailer:
https://youtu.be/VwP6M9zS_pQ

70 years ago on October 27th, 1954, »Godzilla« celebrated its premiere in Nagoya, Japan. On March 1st of that year, the Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon V was radioactively contaminated by a US nuclear weapons test. This gave producer Tomoyuki Tanaka the idea of ​​dealing with the Japanese trauma of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on film. He pitched the idea of ​​a monster film to the Tōhō studios after the model of the successful US production »The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms«. The film, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury, went down in film history primarily because of the stop-motion animations by Ray Harryhausen. Since the production of stop-motion recordings was too expensive, the Japanese special effects technician at the Tōhō film studios, Eiji Tsuburaya, relied on suitmation, i.e. trick shots with a man in a rubber suit destroying scaled-down city models.

»Godzilla« directed by Ishirō Honda was the starting point for one of the longest-running film franchises in cinema history and established its own subgenre of monster films, the Kaiju Eiga. GODZILLA simply cannot be killed! In the past 70 years 33 Japanese and 5 American films have been made, from »Godzilla« to »Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire«, plus a TV series and various animated series. In 2004, GODZILLA received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In addition to the original, we would especially like to recommend »Godzilla Minus One« to you. The Tōhō studios are celebrating 70 years of Godzilla with this small film collage: https://youtu.be/YF7kFeFeZ9M

The inexhaustible amount of merchandising items and collectibles dedicated to the king of the monsters is as gigantic as GODZILLA himself. You can find some of them in our shop:
https://www.space-figuren.de/products_all.php?filter%5B2%5D%5B0%5D=602&filter%5B2%5D%5B1%5D=956

Thanks to the lively exchange on social media, manufacturers now receive direct feedback on their new announcements - both positive and negative. It is of course gratifying for the fan community when the criticism bears fruit and requests for changes are implemented. The most recent example of this comes from Sideshow.

As part of the Sideshow Con, which took place parallel to the San Diego Comic Con in July, the manufacturer teased and announced numerous new products this year. One of them was the »Lawless Love« Mythos Diorama of Joker and Harley Quinn - an own interpretation of this famous criminal couple. The artists from Sideshow transported the two of them to the 1930s and gave them contemporary clothing that still captures their style and character. In one of our NADFU special episodes for SDCC 2024, Sven and Tobi introduced you to this great piece for the first time:
https://youtu.be/J2aH_7Tx3wg

Shortly afterwards we were able to offer you this collectible for pre-order - including interchangeable hands with different weapons. These include a switchblade and a pistol for Harley as well as a crowbar and a machine gun for the Joker. Of course, the elegantly designed base of this diorama, which has money bags, sticks of dynamite, stacks of newspapers and other beautiful details, is also worth highlighting. The Joker sports his signature green hair and evil, scarred grin. Harley also received a wide grin and chin-length, loose curls from the artists.

Sideshow has now added a second, interchangeable head to this original Harley portrait, which certainly divided opinions. The new head sculpt shows Harley a little more demure with braided pigtails and a subtle smile. The black mask and her red and black colored hair tips also give her more of a classic Harlequin look.

You can find the updated version of The Joker & Harley Quinn »Lawless Love« Mythos Diorama here in our shop:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Comics/DC/The-Joker-Harley-Quinn-Lawless-Love-Mythos-Diorama-DC-Comics::27695.html

Which portrayal of Harley do you like better?

Let's go to the grand finale! The third part of the »Venom« film series is hitting cinemas. »Venom: The Last Dance« will not only be a dark ending for the series, but also a very humorous one. The Marvel anti-hero blesses you one last time with a thrilling adventure with amazing animations and Tom Hardy as an outstanding actor in the main role. Take a look at the final trailer before watching this film:
https://youtu.be/HyIyd9joTTc

The first reviews of »Venom: The Last Dance« clearly show: fun is the most important thing here. If you visit the cinema with this expectation, you'll be rewarded and have a funny roadtrip with Eddie and Venom. Some even claim that it's the best part of the film series. So let's see for ourselves 😉.

When »The Terminator« opened in American cinemas on October 26, 1984, nobody would have guessed what a cult film this small and relatively cheaply produced film would become. The former bodybuilder and five-time Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger first caught the attention of a broad cinema audience with »Conan the Barbarian«. With his role as the taciturn Terminator (he speaks a total of 17 sentences and around 70 words in the film), the man from Styria celebrated his final breakthrough in Hollywood. The same applies to the Canadian author and director James Cameron. »The Terminator« became a milestone in action and science fiction cinema.

Even 40 years after its premiere, every moviegoer today still knows Arnold's famous line "I'll be back", which went down in the top 100 most memorable film quotes. And Arni kept his word, because the Terminator returned in 1991 with »Terminator 2: Judgment Day« and even topped the success of the first movie with both critics and audiences and delivered another one-liner for eternity with "Hasta la vista, baby!"

The female lead, Linda Hamilton, also became a style-defining female action icon as Sarah Connor alongside Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in the »Alien« films and thus made film history.

It's no wonder that the franchise has also dug itself deep into the world of collectibles, because the Terminator keeps coming back there too, whether as an inexpensive little NECA Ultimate action figure, in the popular one-sixth-scale by Hot Toys or as an impressive 1/3 Museum Masterline statue by Prime 1 Studio:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Movies/Terminator:::4681_5149.html

Just this week we put the The Connor Files Kit from Doctor Collector in our shop with 22 memorabilia with which we can celebrate the first two »Terminator« films:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Movies/Terminator/The-Connor-Files-Kit-Terminator-2::28048.html

From October 17th to 20th, the doors of the Javits Center in New York City were wide open to visitors of New York Comic Con 2024 (NYCC for short)! As the largest pop culture con on the American East Coast, it attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors who were able to experience exciting reveals up close in panels, stock up on merch and, of course, discover great collectibles. We have filtered out our highlights from the NYCC for you and give you a short summary here.

Of course, some of the well-known collectibles manufacturers were represented at this event, presenting their newest and most interesting pieces. One of them was PCS, at whose stand we would particularly like to highlight the new 1/3 Eric Draven statue from the 1994 film »The Crow«. This atmospheric interpretation of The Crow is definitely awe-inspiring! The new Jet Convoy Edition of the Optimus Prime Museum Scale Statue is also impressive and other, no longer brand new, but still worth seeing statues such as those of Michael Myers or the Turtles including Shredder rounded off the manufacturer's booth.

Pure Arts also took the NYCC as an opportunity to present their special pieces. These included, for example, the two Batman & Robin statues from the classic television series from the 60s, which you can now also get in our shop. On top of that, the 1/6 Jinx and Vi statues from »League of Legends« were shown, which dynamically capture the two characters. A real eye-catcher was of course the 1/2 Geralt of Rivia statue from the game »The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt«.

NECA also didn't miss the opportunity to exhibit their figures at the con. As always, the manufacturer had a good portion of Turtles and various horror themes at their booth. Ernie and Bert, which have been available for pre-order in our shop for a few days, were also part of their repertoire. We were particularly impressed, however, by a series of brand new figures: the »What We Do in the Shadows« Toony Terrors!

Also represented were the manufacturers Good Smile Company, whose stand featured, among other things, the Azami bust from »Uzumaki«; Hasbro; Mezco; Diamond Select and more!

There are booth tours from PCS and Pure Arts on the Batman Statue Collector channel on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@BatmanStatueCollector/videos

On the channel Art G you will also find videos from the booths of other manufacturers:
https://www.youtube.com/@ArtGcollection/videos

Not only for collectibles manufacturers, but also for film studios, Comic Con is the perfect opportunity to reveal new details and trailers for upcoming films and shows. For example, new trailers for »Wolf Man« from Blumhouse Productions and »Dune: Prophecy«, the prequel series from Denis Villeneuve's »Dune« universe that starts streaming in November, were shown:
https://youtu.be/kAw4PH2IQgo
https://youtu.be/CzVHWNosS2o

A trailer for »Karate Kid: Legends«, the upcoming sixth film in the »Karate Kid« franchise, was shown exclusively at NYCC. So far we'll have to be content with the reveal of the official film poster, which - in keeping with the film title - shows the two Karate Kid legends Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan.

There's also news from Marvel and DC! Among other things, the official release date for the new MCU series »Daredevil: Born Again« was announced at the Marvel panel. From March 4th we will be able to stream the show on Disney+. DC boss James Gunn, however, revealed a new trailer for the animated series »Creature Commandos« at his panel:
https://youtu.be/VdahDEpqPA8

The Trekkies have reason to celebrate, too! At the »Star Trek« panel at NYCC it was announced that the series »Starfleet Academy«, whose first season is currently filming, has already been renewed for a second season. In addition, »Star Trek« veteran Robert Picardo, whose role in the series was already announced at SDCC this summer, appeared as a surprise guest on stage. Another cast member revealed was Tatiana Maslany, who you may know from the series »Orphan Black«, among other things.

Have you been following NYCC too? What were your highlights from The Big Apple?

Today's news is something a little different, because we have a music recommendation for you! Of course, it overlaps strongly with our usual topics and we’ll still talk about cinema. Appropriately for October, we're diving into horror films.

We'd like to introduce you to the band ICE NINE KILLS, a group that has been catching the attention of horror film fans for a few years now, especially with their last two albums, »The Silver Scream« and »The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood«. The incredibly catchy and epic metalcore musical numbers on these albums are all based on absolute horror classics, filled with wit and nostalgic references in both the lyrics and the music. Who doesn’t immediately understand the reference when lead vocalist Spencer Charnas sings “Can’t escape the shower scene” and the iconic screeching violins start playing, when a song kicks off with “You must be Georgie” or when “With sharks like you among us (we'll need a bigger boat)” is accompanied by a deep rumble?

In addition to »Psycho«, »IT« and »Jaws« (Yes, you guessed right!), the six musicians have also tackled »A Nightmare on Elm Street«, »Friday the 13th«, »Halloween«, »The Texas Chain Saw Massacre«, »Saw«, »The Crow«, »The Shining«, »Scream«, »Child’s Play«, »The Silence of the Lambs« and many more classics of the genre - all churned through the symphonic metalcore meat grinder.

The latest addition to the list is »Terrifier«, and the band has collaborated with the people behind the movie series. »Terrifier 3« premiered in the U.S. on October 11th and will hit German theaters on October 31st. To celebrate, the band has pulled out all the stops. ICE NINE KILLS' music videos are already known for being more like short films, but the video for the song »A Work of Art« (Art, of course, referring to the crazed killer clown from the »Terrifier« series) takes it to a whole new level. It’s a 15-minute Hollywood-like production where actors David Howard Thornton (Art) and Catherine Corcoran (Sissy) reprise their roles from the films. Even director Damien Leone makes an appearance and was involved as executive producer.

Watch the short music film for »A Work of Art« by ICE NINE KILLS here (WARNING! Definitely not for the faint of heart or people with hemophobia!):
https://youtu.be/k9TzUxGPbI0

And here’s the trailer for »Terrifier 3«:
https://youtu.be/egI9GUIjeYE

Of course, you can also find collectibles from »Terrifier« as well as other horror classics in our shop!
https://www.space-figuren.de/Filme/Terrifier:::4681_5526.html

We hope to offer you something new with this. Would you like more music tips from us in the future?

Today, we want to present two upcoming movies that could hardly be more different.


SMILE 2

In keeping with the spooky season and the approaching Halloween, the horror film »Smile 2« can now be seen in theaters. The film is the sequel to the surprise hit »Smile« from 2022 and would like to remind you once again that a smile does not necessarily have to be an expression of joy or goodwill.

»Smile 2« tells the story of pop singer Skye Riley, who is about to begin a world tour. Things could hardly go better for the young artist if it weren't for the increasing strange encounters that are gradually pushing her to the brink of sanity. Of course, all of these encounters contain the ominous smile. As soon as she meets people with the almost distorted facial expression, it doesn't take long before an accident, violent crime or suicide follows.

Here is the trailer:
https://youtu.be/FU_bAopCcSE

After »Smile« has already convinced us, we are of course curious to see how well the sequel will work. The first assessments from viewers certainly give reason to approach the film with a certain expectation, since they were very positive.


HAGEN

»Hagen - Im Tal der Nibelungen« is the second of today's notable theatrical releases. The film is an adaptation of Wolfgang Hohlbein's 1986 novel »Hagen von Tronje«. In this fantasy novel Hohlbein devoted himself to the Nibelungenlied and wrote his own interpretation. The novel caused a sensation at the time, because Hohlbein had some surprises in store, especially when it came to the characterization of the main characters. Thus, Siegfried, the hero of the saga, was freed from his Mr. Nice Guy image and was endowed with some negative features.

The film by Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert (both were responsible for »Neben der Spur« and »Die Dasslers«) can be seen as an attempt to add a worthwhile German contribution to the contested fantasy genre. It is unmistakable that the production is inspired by the great players of the genre such as »Lord Of The Rings« and »Game Of Thrones«. Whether this will succeed remains to be seen. However, one can already state that the film looks quite promising visually.

You can watch the impressive trailer here:
https://youtu.be/NCCNRTQh7DI

By the way: if you have tasted blood, you don't have to wait long for more content. A six-part series is to be released on RTL+ in 2025. The series was shot at the same time as the film and is intended to focus more on the perspective of other characters. 


Will you be watching »Smile 2« or »Hagen« in the cinema?

William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, is one of the great, legendary names in the story of the Wild West, around which many myths have grown. It's no wonder that the infamous gunslinger has appeared on our screens throughout film and television history.

The Western series »Billy the Kid« revolves around the life of the outlaw and tells his story (albeit with some artistic freedom) - from his childhood, when he settled with his family to the American West, to his beginnings as a cowboy, to the Lincoln County War, in which he played a major role.

The bloody conflict between the camps of rival entrepreneurs Murphy and Tunstall begins in season 2 of »Billy the Kid«. Disillusioned by Murphy’s brutality, Billy joins Tunstall in his fight against Murphy and his corrupt organization, even if it means facing off against his former friend and ally Jesse Evans. Get a first impression from the trailer:
https://youtu.be/QkFKgEegZwc

From today on MagentaTV you can stream season 2 of the show. You can also catch up with season 1 on the streaming platform if you haven't seen it yet or if you want to refresh your memories after the wait of almost two years.

30 years ago today, »New Nightmare« hit American cinemas. With the seventh installment in the »A Nightmare on Elm Street« series, Freddy creator Wes Craven returned to the franchise and took the director's chair again.

But let's first take a look back at film history. With the huge success of »Halloween« in 1978 and »Friday the 13th« in 1980, the slasher film became the hottest shit in the horror genre of those days. Not only did »Halloween« and »Friday the 13th« receive a number of sequels - Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees became the blueprints for numerous good and less good imitators, films like »The Burning« or »Sleepaway Camp« reused the summer camp scenario and, like Michael and Jason, the mostly silent killers had a penchant for masks. Be it a rather unimaginative balaclava like in »Prom Night«, a funny Groucho Marx mask in »Terror Train« or the helmet and gas mask in »My Bloody Valentine«.

In 1984, the slasher genre was already showing clear signs of wear and tear. And just at the right time, a new, somewhat different slasher entered the scene with Freddy Krueger.

His burned face may still take on the role of the mask, but unlike his mute colleagues, Freddy is extremely communicative and has plenty of sarcastic, nasty things to say. Above all, »A Nightmare on Elm Street« introduced a supernatural element, because Freddy murders the victims in their dreams. In the dream world, pretty much anything is possible, but whoever dies in a dream also dies in reality. To survive, you have to stay awake.

This concept is just wonderfully perfidious, because who hasn't experienced nightmares from a scary horror film in childhood (and maybe after as well) and the fear of these dreams preventing us from sleeping. It's bad when the danger lurks in these dreams!

Freddy hit like a bomb and was a breath of fresh air for the ailing genre. Following Hollywood's rules, the Nightmare film was quickly turned into a franchise, with Freddy increasingly degenerating into a wisecracker who was certainly entertaining with his one-liners, but also lost more and more of his scare factor.

In »New Nightmare« the franchise then takes a brave new path, entering the meta level and addressing filmmaking itself. Actors such as Heather Langenkamp, ​​John Saxon and Robert Englund play themselves and Wes Craven also plays the director Wes Craven. The protagonists are now confronted with the fact that Freddy exists and they have to prevent him from coming into the real world.

30 years ago, some viewers may have been a little confused. Craven was way ahead of his time. The play with the meta level reached its perfection with the »Scream« series but the beginnings can be located here. To us, this film was a lot of fun. As a little reminder and to whet your appetite, here is the trailer:
https://youtu.be/aQw9sjwf0O8

50 years ago today, one of the style-defining slasher films, »Black Christmas«, had its premiere in Canadian cinemas. A few years later, the success of John Carpenter's »Halloween« kicked off the great American slasher film wave of the 80s. But four years earlier, Bob Clark had already set standards with »Black Christmas«.

Much of what became the ABC of the subgenre was already celebrated here. A group of female students are gradually decimated by a psychopathic murderer who hides in the attic of their student house, although we usually only see the killer through the subjective camera. An idea that Carpenter then took up in »Halloween«. We also encounter the concept of the final girl in »Black Christmas«.

The holiday theme, be it Christmas, Halloween or Valentine's Day, which became the title motif of many slashers, is also already established here.

The murderer's terror calls also play an important role, a topic that was frequently used later on, for example in »Scream«. The fact that the calls come from inside the house even becomes the central revelation in »When a Stranger Calls«.

The image of the first suffocated victim, who sits undiscovered in the rocking chair in the attic until the end, and which was also used for the film posters, has become an emblematic shot that represents the film (and the genre) pars pro toto. Bob Clark was inspired by cinematic role models as well though, namely the Italian Gialli. The scene of the murder of the student Barb is a homage to the Giallo in its purest form.

The film received two unnecessary remakes in 2006 and 2019.

You can currently find the film streaming (albeit with ad breaks) on ​​Amazon Freevee. We hope you enjoy rewatching or even coming into contact with this early slasher gem for the first time.

Through his iconic role as Superman, Christopher Reeve reached worldwide fame. After a riding accident in 1995, during which he sustained 2 shattered cervical vertebrae, he was paralyzed from the neck down. After that, he lobbied for research on spinal cord injury and founded organisations to help improve the lives of people with disabilities. On the October 10, 2004, he died at age 52 after a cardiac arrest. Today, on the 20th anniversary of his death, a documentary about his life's story is hitting the big screen.

»Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story« shows Reeve's story and especially how he dealt with his disability after the accident, as well as his activism. Besides a lot of archive footage of the actor, the film also contains interviews with Reeve's children and thereby grants the audience a look into his family life. On top of that, famous friends of his such as Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon and Whoopi Goldberg also share their memories of him.

The documentary has been shown at several film festivals ever since January where it already brought tears to the audience's eyes. A truly emotional and inspiring film - see the trailer:
https://youtu.be/gX-B3HMlMfY

The time has come: Transformers fans will finally get their money's worth again! »Transformers One« is currently being shown in cinemas. As always, things are getting heated on the planet Cybertron. This time, you'll see the tragic beginnings of Optimus Prime an Megatron. Even if there's plenty of action going on, you will have a lot to laugh. Check out the final trailer:
https://youtu.be/jaVcDaozGgc

Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) haven't always been sworn enemies. Previously, they used to fight unconditionally by each other's side. A conflict with their leader Sentinel Prime tests their friendship and suddenly turns them into rivals. Now the fate of the Transformers is on the brink of disaster.

Are you curious to see how the battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron begins in »Transformers One«?

In the pre-Halloween season, we're treating you to postcards instead of candy. And this time, matching Spooktober, they're from Transsylvania 🧛🏻!

Our friend Stefan has captured the bloodsucking Count Dracula in a beautifully gloomy atmosphere. The photo of the 1/6 scale figure by Kaustic Plastik was refined with a few sprinkles of blood by Tim, which - along with the flickering flame of the candle - is accentuated with glossy varnish 🩸. The result is this wonderfully spooky card. Even Dracula seems to be proud and excited.

You can get a free copy of this postcard with every package we send to you in October 📦.

»Silent Hill 2« was originally released in 2001. 23 years later the remake by the Polish developer Bloober Team is being published. Even the original version back then aroused the minds and delighted the surival-horror-gamers who were hungry for content. In contrast to the »Resident Evil« series, »Silent Hill« took a much more subtle approach: while »Resident Evil« was something like the pockmarked freak with tentacles bursting out from under the abdominal wall, while an undefinable green and corrosive substance dripped from the corners of the mouth, »Silent Hill« revealed itself as a psychiatric patient haunted by delusions, who confronted his own shadow and tried to find out what was a dream and what was reality. 

At the center of the story is the widower James Sunderland, who is still mourning the death of his wife Mary, who died three years ago. One day, a letter from the deceased reaches him. In the letter, Mary tells him that she would be waiting for him in the town of Silent Hill. As if that weren't odd enough, James soon comes to the realization that Silent Hill is populated by strange creatures and there are some horrors lurking in the thick fog, all of which seem to be related to his biography in some way.

If you try to catch up with classics like the original version of »Silent Hill 2« nowadays, it is probably impossible to get a gaming experience that is similar to the one that players had in the early 00s. Although the survival horror games of the PS1 and PS2 era in particular have created their own unmistakable aesthetic style, which is often cited (or copied) by hobby developers in their own creations, the crude 3D models of people and creatures simply seem too alien to completely identify with them or to be sincerely afraid of them. From this perspective, a remake of the classic seems justified.

Similar to the remakes of »Resident Evil 4« or »Dead Space«, Bloober Team seems to have taken the approach of preserving the basic essence of the original and expanding the game in worthwhile places. This means that connoisseurs of the original will recognize many corners, puzzles and situations, but will also get a huge extra on top. For example, you can now enter rooms and buildings that were not accessible at the time. It goes without saying that new puzzles and obstacles were added as well. The remake of »Silent Hill 2« is expected to be about twice as long as the original with an expected playing time of 16 to 20 hours.

Starting today, Playstation 5 and PC players will once again be able to roam through the fog-shrouded Silent Hill, enduring or even enjoying grief, guilt and the abysses of human existence.

Here's the trailer:
https://youtu.be/6aFrvEu2Ku8

If you are still looking for cool collectibles for »Silent Hill« you will find them in our shop. Among others, you can still buy the Red Pyramid Thing and the Bubble Head Nurse in 1/6 Scale format by Iconiq Studios:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Games/Silent-Hill:::4684_5110.html

We're back with 🚀 ABGESPACED 🚀 - and episode 38 is all about the Toyplosion!

Sven and Eva revisit the Most Powerful Retro Toyshow, report on their experiences and impressions from the fair and also give you a little insight into the planning behind it. But that's not the only reason why this episode is worth it: We'll also show you a handful of our most exciting show offers, which are now also available in our shop 🥳.

There's been a lot going on in the last few weeks besides that, too! In our News Recap, we're talking about the Emmy Awards, a few interesting cinema releases and promising new trailers. We also have some great new postcards to show you, a first look at the iconic Bulldozer statue and a cool goodie 😁.

Don't miss this episode - now on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/-HT1dd3oFnU
 

The website for the film »Companion« (with the tagline "A new kind of love story") takes us to the fictional dating site findyourcompanion.net with a pretty logo consisting of a pair of heart-shaped handcuffs. So it's safe to assume that the film is about dating and we suspect that a lot goes awry. However, we should not expect a romcom, which is what the first few seconds of the trailer might suggest, before things really get going and the trailer escalates without giving too much away - just enough to keep us hooked.
https://youtu.be/jrEcou9sX3A

Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell in »The Boys«) definitively proved with »Scream« that he can play evil, too. And Sophie Thatcher has been on our radar since »Yellowjackets« anyway.

This new kind of love story is coming to cinemas on January 10th. Are you in?

Dear 1/6 collectors, what the hell was going on over the last two days at the WONDER FESTIVAL in Shanghai? We have rarely seen so many ultra-exciting 1/6 scale novelties at a convention as this time. In our opinion, even SDCC 2024 and ACGHK 2024 are a joke compared to that!

At least from a distance, we had the impression that INART, BLITZWAY and of course HOT TOYS were battling it out on the show floor with a flood of great novelties - to the delight of all fans and collectors, of course. We'll summarize for you what seemed most interesting to us or caught our eye:


INART
The biggest hits in 1/6 scale at InArt definitely came from Middle Earth! They already unveiled the Ringwraith on horse in San Diego, but it was now presented in detail again in Shanghai. The villain was accompanied by the brand new 1/6 Legolas (who looks really good, in our opinion) and the 1/6 Thorin (who looks unbelievably good, in our opinion).
The next character in the »Harry Potter« series was a first prototype of Severus Snape. Of course, all the other Harry Potter figures, such as Hermione, are also real eye-catchers (especially compared to the Star Ace figures ...).
The figures for »Black Myth: Wukong« are extremely impressive - although more of a niche topic for the average collector.
And then InArt had another surprise from the DC universe up their sleeves: Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman from »The Dark Knight Rises«!


BLITZWAY
We have one! A manufacturer that is bringing us a new edition of the classic »Ghostbusters« in 1/6 scale, that is: Blitzway! So if you missed the set back then, you'll soon have the chance to get your hands on Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston. And yes, we're expecting a reproduction or new edition of the Ecto-1 at some point, too.
The second highlight at the Blitzway stand was the announcement of - finally really cool - »The Boys« figures in sixth scale. So far, only Billy Butcher was revealed, but Homelander has already been confirmed and is in the pipeline!
We were completely surprised by the announcement of a 1/6 DeLorean from »Back to the Future« - yes, from Blitzway! We haven't seen it yet, but we assume that Blitzway will present the first prototype shortly. Great Scott, we're so excited!!!
And then finally came the unveiling of the first two »Star Wars« statues (albeit in 1/4 scale) from Blitzway: Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi from »Revenge of the Sith«. There will be a standard version of both characters (probably titled Superb Scale Statue). However, Blitzway is also releasing an extremely high-quality and ultra-elaborate "Black Label" statue of Anakin - after Michael Jackson - which will be hard to beat in terms of detail. Awesome!


HOT TOYS
At the very stylish Hot Toys booth, visitors were once again welcomed by life-size Deadpool and Wolverine. There was a lot to see in the 1/6 area, including some premieres:
Unexpectedly, but of course absolutely cool, the next Artisan figure was introduced: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) from »The Suicide Squad«. Behind her was the sexy Batgirl in the limited “Purple and Gold Version”. And a new version of Scarecrow from »Batman Begins« also surprised us!
Looking over from DC to Marvel, you could see the also brand-new Tony Stark in the 70s look from »Avengers: Endgame«. The new Venom (comic-based) is of course a breaker and should also please Marvel fans. The two new figures Doctor Doom (also comic-based) and Spidy from »The Amazing Spider-Man« were of course also set up at the booth, but are now officially in the pre-order phase (and also in our shop from Monday).
Another figure, which is already in pre-order, celebrated its convention premiere: the ultra nasty Akaoni Samurai Predator, which was created by artist Takayuki Takeya and is based on »Alien vs. Predator«. Speaking of »AvP«: A new edition of the classic Predator from the first movie was shown - but this definitely will need some improvement. But the Alien from »Alien: Romulus« instead looks very cool - amazing that Hot Toys has the license here too or will produce figures for it!
From the »Star Wars« universe, the 1/6 Savage Opress, shown for the very first time, was particularly an eye-catcher. He was surrounded by characters like Chewbacca, Jar Jar Binks and General Grievous (all already shown and listed for pre-order).
To end the booth tour with a real blast, Hot Toys pays tribute to an absolute cult film: True to the motto "I'll be back" we can look forward to further 2.0 versions of »Terminator 2«. We already know and celebrate the T-800 in the battle-damaged version, but we wouldn't have expected that a normal T-800 Arnie and a really nasty and really well-hit T-1000 would be following right after. This is really fantastic news, especially for all the 1/6 collectors who got into the hobby later and may have missed out on such iconic figures. Stunning!


As always, we will list all new products in our shop as quickly as possible over the next few weeks. So it's best to keep an eye on our list of newly added products (space-figuren.de/preorders) or subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss anything ;).

Tomorrow marks another day of some interesting new cinematic releases. We would like to present to you two of the films that will be shown on the big screen starting tomorrow.


JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX

The eagerly awaited sequel to Todd Phillips' 2019 film »Joker«, for which Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for best actor in 2020, is finally hitting cinemas. Phoenix will of course be taking on the titular role again in the sequel titled »Joker: Folie à Deux«. We are looking forward to Arthur Fleck, who is no longer dancing alone, but this time has Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga) at his side. We are also excited for the musical interludes that will run through the film.

Since we have already given our two cents on the two trailers over the last few months, all that remains to be said about the long-awaited release is: Clear the stage for »Joker: Folie à Deux«!


THE WILD ROBOT

The latest animated film from Dreamworks is sure to be a special highlight for the whole family.

In »The Wild Robot«, the shipwrecked, highly intelligent robot Rozim 7134, or Roz for short, is stranded on a deserted island. In order to survive, Roz befriends the animals that live there. When she accidentally comes across an orphaned gosling, which sees her as a mother figure, she has to go above and beyond with the help of her new friends to raise it. But then her past catches up with her ...

The film not only impresses with a top-tier voice cast (including Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O'Hara), but was also in good hands in other respects. Director and writer Chris Sanders has already shown us with his work on »Lilo & Stitch« and »How to Train Your Dragon« that he knows how to stage stories about extraordinary friendships between outsiders. And the trailers show that the animation team has also done a phenomenal job!
https://youtu.be/67vbA5ZJdKQ


Which film are you really looking forward to this week?