Welcome back to Toy Aisle, Gizmodo’s regular round up of all the latest and greatest toy news — but there’s a twist this week, as Spider-Man: No Way Home has sneakily swung onto the scene and introduced us to a first look at the movie through its action figures, Funkos, and Lego sets! But beyond that, we’ve got Batwoman, more Mandalorian, and some intriguingly different Hot Wheels. Check it out!
Spider-Man: No Way Home Marvel Legends, Funko Pops, and Lego
Today, Marvel came out of nowhere to give us a tease for the next Spider-Man movie in the form of much plastic goodness, lifting the lid on a series of products for Spider-Man: No Way Home. In Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line, there’s not one, but two new Spider-suits from the movie for Peter — an updated “Integrated” version of his Far From Home suit with golden plating that looks highly reminiscent of his Iron Spider gear from Infinity War and Endgame, and a new, black-and-gold suit with red accents. There’s also an updated Doctor Strange, confirming his involvement in the movie, and for the first time in the line, a figure based on J. Jonah Jameson as played by J.K. Simmons, although as his MCU-self rather than his classic Sam Raimi trilogy version.
In the Funko Pop line, Spidey gets three versions — Far From Home, Integrated, and Black-and-Gold — while MJ and Ned also get figures, as does an unlikely, spade-wielding Doctor Strange. Lastly, there’s three new Lego sets: one inspired by Homecoming with the Vulture (although it does include Spidey’s new Black suit, interestingly), another with Mysterio and Nick Fury for Far From Home, and then specifically a No Way Home set based on Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, which includes Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Wong, MJ, and some mean-looking monsters. No doubt there’ll be even more to come by the time the movie is out December 17. [Marvel.com]
McFarlane DC Multiverse Batwoman Beyond
McFarlane’s line of DC Multiverse figures continues to grow, and its Batman Beyond-inspired wave, currently exclusive to Target, steps out of the animated series’ domain to deliver a figure based on the Beyond comics: in this case Future’s End’s Batwoman, Elainna Grayson. Replicating her suit from the comics, a suitable mix between the classic Batwoman aesthetic (including long, exposed hair beneath the cowl) and the Batman Beyond suit, the figure comes with a flight stand, a posable cape for flight mode, alternate hands, and a batarang for good measure, as well as some bonus “Build-a-Figure” parts to create a Jokerbot from Future’s End if you grab all the figures in the wave. She’ll cost $32 and will be available for an October release.
Hot Toys The Mandalorian Swoop Bike and Din Djarin and Grogu Sets
Thought Hot Toys had done enough Mandalorian toys? Well, they didn’t — so here’s even more pricey versions of figures you may or may not already have preorders for. Let’s deal with the actual figures first: the company is producing a new set of both Din Djarin and little Grogu, based on their appearances in season two, with a plethora of accessories you can actually haul around Din’s shoulders and chest, recreating scenes from early on in the season when poor Mando had to schlep his way across Tatooine and back.
The standard version of the set comes with Din wearing chrome-plated Beskar armour; a bevy of alternate hands; Grogu; an unmasked headsculpt for Din based on the final, heartbreaking moments of the season; and — deep breath — a blaster pistol, an amban phase-pulse rifle, the Darksaber, a beskar spear, a dagger, a wired grappling hook, a thermal detonator, a magnetically detachable jetpack, a satchel, and two sets of FX pieces for Din’s flamethrower and the whistling birds on his gauntlets. Whew! If that wasn’t enough, there’s a “Deluxe” version of the set comes with all that and the dirtied jetpack and helmet of Boba Fett’s beskar armour, some magnetized extra satchels to act as carrying gear for Boba’s armour, and a damaged swoop bike handle for good measure.
Which means, maybe, you want an actual Swoop Bike to go with him then? If you do, you don’t really get any figures with it — it’s basically an elaborate stand featuring articulated grips, foot pedals, and steering vanes, and two satchels to sling over the back, one of which is for the included alternate Grogu as a bonus (OK, he counts as a figure, bless him). Start saving the big bucks though, as these sets won’t be available until late 2022, and cost a lot: the Standard Edition Din and Grogu is around $445, the Deluxe is $500, and the Swoop Bike $385. [Toyark]
Mattel Mega Construx Hot Wheels Building Sets
In an effort to bolster the popularity of its very Lego-like (but definitely not Lego) building sets, Mattel is leveraging the notoriety of one of the most iconic toy brands of all time: Hot Wheels. If you’ve ever lamented the fact that Hot Wheels’ die-cast cars come pre-assembled, taking all the IKEA fun out of it, Mattel is introducing a new addition to its Mega Construx line in the form of buildable (and customisable) Hot Wheels racers.
The first wave of the sets range in price from $15-20 for basic single vehicles that include a tiny driver figure, to $25-35 for larger vehicles like monster trucks, to $50 for a car customiser kit that comes with four vehicles and assorted accessories. The spring will also see the arrival of larger scale, more detailed sets, starting with the $90 Mega Construx Hot Wheels Bone Shaker that includes a diecast version of the original Hot Wheels toys.