This year has certainly been a great year for toys, with lots of options despite the struggles with the pandemic and the distribution problems with what’s been going on at the ports. We have complied a list of some of our favorites from this year, and even considered what the fans have been buying the most of this year with fast pre-sell outs and what’s been of highest demand.
NECA Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Every Release This Year!
NECA Toys continues to offer such great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures and this years offerings has been jaw dropping to say the least. There has been some great surprises with April O’Neil joining the 1990 movie line, and so many new Cartoon, Turtles in Time and Mirage Comics releases and announcements. The brand is surely going to stay strong for years to come, This has been a big year for the brand The line gives you such incredibly detailed figures with great likeness, that every turtles fan will enjoy. These are exclusively available at Target and you can also find these at Zavvi – U.K.
NECA Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures and additional products are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Hobby Link Japan, Things From Another World, Zavvi – U.S./Canada and Zavvi – U.K.
S.H. Figuarts Dragon Ball GT – Super Saiyan 4 Goku Figure
Goku is the first character from Dragon Ball GT to join this line (outside the model kits), and has instantly been pre-selling out every time a store opened pre-orders for him. This level of Super Saiyan is the next level up, and this show is a parallel universe from the events in Dragon Ball Super. Like it or not, this version of Goku if a must-have in this collection and a fan-favorite, and if you missed the pre-orders, you’ll just have to keep checking on availability.
Look for pre-orders and listings on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore and Amazon.
Super7 – ThunderCats Ultimates 7″ Scale Slithe Figure
Of course I can easily say that every figure in the ThunderCats Ultimates line should be added to this shopping guide, and your collection. But there is one that really stands out from the rest, and that is Slithe. The sculpt and likeness is just remarkable on this one and the Four Horsemen continue to nail this right out of the park. Other notable mentions are Jaga, Captain Crackers, the Glow-In-The-Dark Mumm-Ra Figure, and the Thundertank.
Slithe and other figures are available at Entertainment Earth and BigBadToyStore.
Mattel – Masters of the Universe Origins
Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins line continues to remain strong, and this line is inspired from the vintage line of the 1980’s. This line is an instant fan-favorite and Mattel has announced that the brand will continue past 2023 despite internet rumors. So we have a really good chance of getting not only the core characters offered back in the 80’s, but hopefully some more Mini-Comics (as we’ve gotten some already) figures, and many more surprises to come. If you had the pleasure growing up the 80’s, then you surely remember the vintage line and all the joy and happiness that it brought you growing up. This line includes more articulation, and the parts are interchangeable, allowing you to create new characters by popping off the arms, head and hips, as well as the accessories.
These figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore and Amazon. The BattleCat/Battle Armor He-Man set is a Target exclusive.
Super7 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates – Every figure released this year!
Super7 is also offering more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures, inspired from the vintage toyline from Playmates Toys, not the tv series like NECA Toys is offering. The sky is the limit considering there was around 400 vintage figures released from Playmates, so Super7 could essentially make hundreds of these figures if the demand is there and if Nickelodeon allows them too. The Four Horsemen have been doing a great job on this line as well, and I for one say bring on more! If you haven’t heard, they are also offering the Party Wagon, which is expensive but totally worth buying.
Look for these figures and more on Entertainment Earth, and BigBadToyStore.
NECA Toys Gargoyles – Ultimate Goliath Figure
I have been waiting a long time for a modern day Gargoyles line, and NECA surely did not disappoint with their Goliath figure. This has been worth the wait and NECA is only getting started, and plans to offer not only the core cast, but other surprises such as Thailog. This is surely a line to start collecting even if you didn’t watch the series back in the 90’s.
Goliath and additional figures are also available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Hobby Link Japan, Things From Another World, Zavvi – U.S./Canada and Zavvi – U.K.
Valaverse – Action Force 6″ Sgt. Slaughter Figure
Bobby Vala actually went ahead and got Sgt. Slaughter to sign-up for his Action Force line last year, and this figure is due to ship anytime now. Sgt. Slaughter is best known to fans of Wrestling and G.I. Joe, and now he’s joining this new modern Action Force line that Bobby has been working on after leaving Hasbro. Go support this line!
You can buy Action Force figures at BigBadToyStore.
Hasbro Marvel Legends 6″ Fantastic Four Retro Carded Figures
The Fantastic Four animated series (1994) series continues to be fan-favorite and Hasbro just released some new figures inspired from the show. I just got my hands on this wave and it’s a very exciting time for Marvel’s First Family to get these characters, from this show, into the line. This is the show that first introduced me to the characters as I wasn’t [yet] reading the funny pages, so there is a lot of nostalgia here.
These figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Zavvi UK, Zavvi U.S./Canada and Amazon.
Amazon links –
- Human Torch – $22.99
- Invisible Woman – $22.99
- The Thing – $22.99
- Psycho Man – $22.99
- Mr. Fantastic – $22.99
- High Evolutionary – $22.99
Hasbro Transformers War for Cybertron: Kingdom Rodimus Prime Figure
I have been thrilled to see Beast Wars figures back on store shelves this year in Hasbro’s War for Cybertron: Kingdom line, but as much as love the return of the Maximals and Predacons, I have to say that this Rodimus Prime figure is by far one of the best, if not the best offering of the character to-date. This final line of the six part trilogy that started with Combiner Wars in 2015 has been a great run and hopefully you’ve been buying some of these. It’s hard to pick one offered as there have been some great choices, especially from the 1986 Studio Series line like Grimlock and Slug, but Rodimus would be my choice with the trailer.
Hasbro Transformers are available at Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Hobby Link Japan, Zavvi U.S./Canada, and Zavvi U.K and Amazon.
Mattel WWE Ultimate Edition Hulk Hogan Figure
Hulk Hogan has returned to Mattel’s WWE line this year and they started it off strong with bringing him to the Ultimate Edition offerings, and we’ve seen some fast sell-outs on Amazon twice, and at this point it’s unlikely he’ll go up a third time. This is by far the best Hulk Hogan figure ever made, and unfortunately there is not enough to go around on this one. If you were one of the lucky one’s, and have your order in already from the first time he went up like I did, you’ll know just how great this figure is and really captured a great likeness here.
Hulk Hogan’s landing page on Amazon is currently sold out, but can try eBay as people are selling him for a relatively decent price of $60 and up at the moment.
Honorable Mentions:
If this list continues, we can surely talk about dozens of more great toys and collectibles offered this year, but a shorter list of the bare necessities helps narrow down what’s most important at least to me. I’d like to give a shot out to the Four Horsemen Studios for their Mythic Legions line, Chicken Fried Toys as I love what they’re doing, Jakks Pacific and their Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario lines, Playmates Toys for bringing back the TMNT Classic Collection line and finally getting us a Shredder and Triceraton figure, Jazwares for their continued great work on Fortnite, Boss Fight Studio and basically everything they’re doing, and of course Storm Collectibles for their continued great lines including Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.