In
previous years, Toy Fair coverage was done with a series of end-of-day recaps and a final day spotlight focusing on one particular theme or brand that caught my attention. Since this year we spent a fair amount of the show posting live to
Facebook,
Twittter, and
Instagram, I decided to skip the preliminaries and dive right into the spotlight: the incredible number of unexpected licenses coming our way.
To start, let's turn our clocks back to the mid-2000s:
Batman Begins brought the Dark Knight back to the big screen after a near decade-long absence,
Supernatural was starting its first season, and
the Star Wars prequel trilogy had just wrapped up. It was certainly a grand time for pop culture, but less so if you wanted replicas of those pop culture items in 1/24. Of the models I linked to, only Anakin's Starfighter was available the same year the movie came out. The Tumbler wasn't available in anything close to 1/24 until Moebius released their kit in 2013, and the Winchesters' Impala still isn't available.
That is, not yet.
Thanks to GreenLight Collectibles, fans are finally going to be seeing Metallicar/Baby/Hunter as part of their 1/24 Hollywood series. This is coming on the heels of their generally excellent
Blues Brothers 1974 Dodge Monaco, a car that has never seen release in this scale regardless of the outcry from movie fans, police car collectors, and mainstreamer builders.
Supernatural fans aren't the only ones getting love, though. Until just a couple months ago, 1/24
Cars collectors had their choice of
Lightning McQueen, Mater, or
Doc Hudson (unless they also wanted to include
RC cars or
other toys). Then Jada toys released
Mack, as part of the first wave of all-new castings that would include characters ranging from Fillmore to Cruz Ramirez.
Jada is also expanding on their
Batmobile license, revisiting some old favorites but also trying to include some unexpected new ones like the
Arkham Asylum video game Batmobile. Which, after last year's surprise
Batman: The Animated Series Batmobile and the upcoming
Justice League Batmobiles from Jada and Moebius, makes right now one of the best times ever to be a 1/24 Batmobile collector.
Even "sure thing" licenses are coming out with surprises: Chargers and tuners are to be expected in Jada's
Fast & Furious 1/24 lineup, but who ever thought we'd see a Ripsaw or a Rally Fighter two years ago? Jada has also shown plans for a 1/24 series of
Transformers-themed diecasts to be released as part of the
Last Knight push later this year.
One of the nicest surprises at this year's Toy Fair came from McFarlane. Eight or so years ago, the company was in a nadir and their sports lines were the only things keeping the lights on. But then they started picking up new licenses, and the company is in a bit of a renaissance. Their
Walking Dead construction set series was a hit, and even if their vehicles needed the
occasional massaging, the end results
looked really good. They expanded the idea some in 2016, but are poised to really run with it in 2017 with building sets from
South Park,
Steven Universe, and my personal favorite,
Rick & Morty. I had been working on plans for a replica of Rick's Space Cruiser for quite some time, so seeing it there as an upcoming set was fantastic.
And there were still more unexpected treats: new
Scooby Doo and
Halo models from Revell, reissues of supposedly long gone kits from Round 2...all manner of toys, kits, and collectibles that seemed like impossible ideas just a year or two ago. What's next? A 1/24 Wagon Queen Family Truckster? A second-gen Caprice/Impala that doesn't look like a Celebrity? A Checker Taxi in the double-digit price range?
After what I've seen this year, I can't say "never."
The Crocodile Hunter’s daughter, Bindi Irwin stopped by New York Toy Fair 2017 to promote the new GeoSafari® Jr. Talking Microscope by Educational Insights®. Irwin, who is the voice of the microscope, took pictures with fans and signed autographs in Educational Insights’ booth. Crowds wrapped around the corner waiting to meet the Australian teen. The recent Dancing with the Stars winner is following in her late father’s footsteps, continuing his conservation efforts worldwide, teaching children about nature and wildlife. Irwin’s own love of nature and wildlife education is what spurred her to collaborate with Educational Insights, company known for its innovative, award-winning educational toys.