Welcome back to Toy Aisle, Gizmodo’s regular round up of the coolest nerdy merch floating around the internet. This week: The Mandalorian’s Dark Troopers stomp their way into Hot Toys’ figure line, you can take your feet on an away mission to the Comfort Zone, and Lego stokes the nostalgic flames of its Castle line with a new Ideas set. Check it out!
Hot Toys Star Wars: The Mandalorian Dark Trooper Sixth-Scale Figure
Sure, The Mandalorian brought Dark Forces’ iconic Dark Troopers back basically for them to be absolutely bodied by Luke Skywalker, but they were still a wonderfully sinister new update for a classic bit of Star Wars design. And now you can appreciate them not being cut up (and, frankly, in much brighter lighting than on Mando) with Hot Toys’ latest addition to its Star Wars line. Clocking in at just under 13″ tall, the Dark Trooper comes sparsely accessorized, just as it did in the show; there’s some alternate posing hands, including a set to hold the blaster, its lone extra accessory.
But you’re coming for the figure itself here rather than the extras, so that makes sense — plus, as a bonus the figure actually has light up LED functions in its torso and head, fully replicating the menacing glare of the Dark Troopers from the show. It’ll set you back a hefty $US260 ($337) to pre-order one though, and it’s set to ship in late 2022. Hopefully someone else has revived the Dark Trooper project by then! [Toyark]
NECA Jaws Sam Quint Clothed Figure
As Hollywood anti-heroes go, they don’t get more surly than Jaws’ Sam Quint, a WWII veteran obsessed with hunting sharks who was brought to the screen by Robert Shaw. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t quite deliver on his promise of ridding Amity Island of its great white shark problem, but Quint still remains a character worthy of immortalization in an 8-inch figure. NECA has released a handful of new shots of the figure ahead of its arrival in March that will include his full outfit, a harpoon gun, a rifle, a machete, a baseball bat, and a can of beer. There’s no pricing info yet, but NECA has also teased that Bruce the Shark will also be joining Quint later this year, although a planned Chief Martin Brody figure has been officially cancelled.
Lego Ideas Medieval Blacksmith
Proving that Lego really needs to revisit its castle themes, available on February 1 is the Medieval Blacksmith shop — another lovely piece of architecture born from the fan-designed Lego Ideas initiative. The roof and top two levels of the 2,164-piece set provide play access to the shop’s equally detailed interior, and in addition to lush landscaping with an apple tree outside, the blacksmith minifigure is joined by a pair of Black Falcon Knights and an archer. But if you’re looking for the easiest way to justify the set’s $US150 ($194) price tag, it also includes an updated version of Lego’s old-school horses with posable legs. Do you know how hard it is to find Lego horses these days?
Star Trek: The Next Generation Shuttlecraft Slippers
Even the shuttlecraft used by the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D for the occasional away mission in Star Trek: The Next Generation are representative of the few precious years Starfleet decided it was embarrassed to fly into battle with antiquated starships and threw a little money toward hiring a proper designer. For $US30 ($39) you can pilot your own pair of TNG shuttlecraft on away missions to the kitchen for a snack or a midnight bathroom break. The slippers are made from “100% soft-touch polyester” — there’s no tribble fur used here — and they’re exclusively available in adult sizes.