March has wrapped up, and spring is about to begin in earnest—and as the box office for the year begins to start heating up too, we’re getting to see glimpses of more and more of the delightful toys and collectibles that will be emptying our wallets in the months and weeks ahead.
With The Mandalorian and Grogu just a few months away, all eyes are on the new Star Wars movie figuring out yet further ways to merchandise Grogu, but it’s not the only war in the stars getting toy news this month, with the reveal of Hasbro’s Maul: Shadow Lord figures. And while Lego might still be in the shadows of its controversy over the “Smart Play” system launched last month, it’s not stopped the brickbuilder from announcing plenty of new things this month—and also from releasing an early contender for one of our favorite sets of the year inspired by Project Hail Mary.
For all this and more toy highlights for March, check out our roundup below!
Hasbro Star Wars Black Series Maul: Shadow Lord Figures
While everyone’s paying attention to Star Wars‘ impending return to movie theaters, the actual next Star Wars project—Maul: Shadow Lord—is just a week away. And as surprising as that may feel, the real surprise is that Hasbro has already announced it will be making figures inspired by the new series. Expected to hit shelves this summer, the initial wave includes the Jedi Padawan Devon Izara, Maul’s right-hand Mandalorian Rook Kast, the mysterious Eleventh Brother Inquisitor, and an updated Maul who takes “but she’s got a new hat!” and replaces the hat with a cape.
Project Hail Mary blasted into theaters this month, already setting the standard very high for our favorite movies of the year. But perhaps even more unexpectedly is how we fell in love with Lego’s surprise set based on the film, a wonderful replica of the titular ship, right down to capturing its centrifugal-spinning center and adorable minifigure-scaled recreations of Ryland Grace and Rocky (although with some fan instructions and a cute bunny set, an even better Lego Rocky could be yours too!). It’s only fitting that one of the best films of the year so far might have snagged itself one of the best toys of the year so far, too.
The unenviable, questionable task of making a new Matrix movie without the Wachowskis is underway at Warner Bros., and while Project Hail Mary screenwriter Drew Goddard (who is facing that aforementioned unenviable task) was willing to give us a few updates when we sat down with him recently, we were perhaps even more excited by Hot Toys’ lavish replica of the One himself, circa Matrix Reloaded. He comes complete with weapons, fighting hands, and, of course, removable sunglasses for maximum cool.
With the news that Godzilla Minus Zero will stomp into theaters later this year already getting us excited, Tamashii Nations managed to still keep up thinking about the first film with this first-ever action figure based on Godzilla’s “proto” form from the haunting opening of the movie, where he slaughters the Japanese troopers based on Odo Island. Sculpted by Godzilla design stalwart Yuji Sakai, the Odo Island Monster figure is probably going to be our best actual look at this version of Godzilla from the movie ever, considering we only see it in part and during dark night scenes in the film.
MAFEX Joker The Joker
The reign of Joker may have come and gone after Folie à Deux failed to light the world on fire in a similar manner, but that’s not stopping Medicom from delivering on the ultimate action figure for Joaquin Phoenix’s clown prince of crime. Not even for the figure itself, although that’s pretty good, coming with a slew of accessories inspired by the first film, including the infamous interview chair Joker is in when he executes talk show host Murray Franklin. No, it’s mostly great because it literally comes with The Stairs From The Poster for The Movie Joker. Now that is an accessory.
Dammit, Jim, he’s a doctor, not an action fi—oh wait, he is, and we already did that joke. Nacelle’s latest announcement for its burgeoning line of Star Trek action figures celebrates the 60th anniversary of the original series with another reveal of the main Enterprise bridge crew that will make up the line’s third wave: everyone’s favorite disgruntled southern gentleman and chief medical officer, Leonard “Bones” McCoy. As usual with Nacelle’s figures, the real fun is in the accessories—and while Bones comes with a lot of standard expected medical equipment, the big surprise is that he actually comes with a fully in-scale medical bio-bed for you to put other members of the crew on.
Lego Star Wars is caught between some interesting moments right now, with the aftermath of the controversial “Smart Play” launch behind us and the opportunities of The Mandalorian and Grogu, with a whole wave of sets inspired by the film set to launch April 1. Which gives us a brief moment to see Lego launch a new line of Star Wars busts, inspired by the previous helmet display series and similar releases for the Marvel Superheroes line—and the horrifying visage of Yoda wrought with it. The Darth Vader bust, free of having to actually craft a humanoid face out of Lego bricks, looks pretty good, but that Yoda has seen some shit.
Again, with The Mandalorian and Grogu imminent, all eyes are on merchandising the crap out of the first Star Wars movie since 2019, so it’s unsurprising that Hot Toys is turning its attention towards the film for its latest Star Wars figures. The company is planning on three major releases for the film so far: a 1/6-scaled Din Djarin and Grogu, inspired by their appearance in the film (a deluxe edition naturally gives Grogu his latest hoverpram as a fun bonus), as well as “life-sized” articulated replicas of Grogu and one of the Anzellan droidsmiths the little green baby is hanging around with in the film.
SH Figuarts Neon Genesis Evangelion Shinji Ikari
Evangelion gets a ton of merchandise. But you know who doesn’t often get a lot of that merchandise? Evangelion‘s protagonist, Shinji Ikari. Especially when it comes to Eva action figures, which usually focus on the female characters of the series—in fact, Figuarts’ plastic take on Shinji in his plugsuit, coming well after the line’s own take on Rei and Asuka, is one of the first articulated Shinji figures ever. At least we’re kicking off Shinji’s articulated era pretty well: he comes with a variety of face plates replicating several looks from across the show, especially so he can be posed with the aforementioned Rei and Asuka. But while we’re trying not to be too greedy after waiting this long, we absolutely need a school uniform version that comes with the infamous chair from the end of the anime.
Lego’s already done multiple takes on the Helicarrier in the past, but its latest—a scale model replicating the Helicarrier’s appearances in The Avengers and The Winter Soldier—is a definite standout, not just for the model itself but for the killer set of minifigures it comes complete with. Newly updated versions of Captain America and the Winter Soldier inspired by, well, The Winter Soldier; updated versions of Nick Fury, Coulson, and Maria Hill; and, in a left-field but fascinating choice, the Loki-possessed Hawkeye from Avengers make for a great little set of appropriately themed minifigures, and that’s before you get into the cute little hidden details throughout the Helicarrier, like the micro-scaled replicas of events from Avengers, to even an iconic comic book cover hidden beneath the runway.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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