Bits n Bytes Resin Figures "Goldfish Bowl" Palette by Cris Rose

The first official release of Cris Rose’s new Bits n Bytes mini resin figures arrives this week in the first of many colorful Palettes. This week’s release has been dubbed the "Goldfish Bowl" palette, which comes from the oranges of Goldfish, the turquoise blues of water, and the lush greens of the Goldfish's waterplant surroundings. This Bits n Bytes release includes 6 Sprogs (these are the Bits) and 2 versions of Rotund (the Bytes). Each 1/24th scale robot comes in a solid colored resin, with 6 colors in total. Don’t they all look pretty freaking sweet!?!

The Bits n Bytes Goldfish Bowl Palette is scheduled to go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21st, at 18:00 London time at Cris Rose’s online store. If you buy a pack containing a "Full Set" you are guaranteed one of each sculpt with no doubles. There are also 2 options of 3 packs: the Light Pack consists of the lighter hues, while the Dark Pack consists of the darker Hues. There are 3 Bits per pack and the sculpts are random, but you're guaranteed the 3 different colors.

FF Minimates Box Set - A SDCC 2011/Disney Store Exclusive?!?

This might be the biggest stretch of a “Comic-Con Exclusive” The Blot has ever seen! Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum are releasing a quasi-San Diego Comic Con 2011 Exclusive, which is really just a Disney Store Exclusive, Fantastic Four Minimates 4 figure set based on the new FF series by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting. After the death of Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four #587, the Fantastic Four disbanded, founded the Future Foundation and added Spider-Man to its ranks (is there any Marvel book team without Spider-Man and/or Wolverine as a member these days?).

Seen here in their new Future Foundation uniforms, the FF Minimates box set will debut “during” San Diego Comic-Con at the local Disney Store location. What a crock! How did Disney & Marvel even manage to get the SDCC logo on the packaging? The only really cool thing about this set of 2” Marvel Minimates is that they are the first Future Foundation figures ever released! According to MTV Geek, this Disney Store Exclusive featuring Mister Fantastic, Spider-Man, Thing and the Invisible Woman will make its debut the week of San Diego Comic-Con at the chain's Fashion Valley Mall location, and will ship to Disney Stores nationwide after that.

Help Fund OMFG! Mini Figure Series 1 by October Toys on Kickstarter

Remember the fun of collectible mini figures like M.U.S.C.L.E. and Monster In My Pocket? If so, you’re really going to love the inaugural series of OMFG! (Outlandish Mini Figure Guys) from October Toys and the crazy talented members of the October Toys/Toy Break forum! Over the course of several months, dozens of character ideas were submitted from all around the world and the forum voted for their favorite designs to be put in to production. The result is the amazing figures you see here!

The Blot first heard about this Kickstarter project from fellow toy blogger Spanky Stokes, and I was lucky enough to get involved in the process in time to actually vote on the designs for OMFG! Series 1. The minute I heard about this project I knew it was something special, and I’m not the only one. In less than a week the Kickstarter project has already reached its goal of $11,000!  How awesome is that? What’s amazing about this project is that it has brought together toy collectors from all genres (not just the designer toy world) together to help make these awesome M.U.S.C.L.E. style figures a reality.

OMFG! Series 1 consists of five figures including: Multiskull designed and sculpted by Charles Marsh (aka Monsterforge), Crawdad Kid designed and sculpted by Daniel Yu (aka Dory), Phantom Outhouse designed by Kyle Thye and sculpted by Ralph Niese, King Castor designed and sculpted by Dominic Campisi (aka The Evil Earwig), and Stroll designed by John "Spanky" Stokes and sculpted by George Gaspar.

The OMFG! Mini Figure Series has truly been a community effort and now is your chance to help out! While the total amount needed to produce this series may seem high, the actual awards are unbelievably cheap! In fact, there are some really cool rewards for as little as $1, but for just $10 you can get the entire five figure OMFG! set in flesh colored vinyl. For $15 you can the Kickstarter Exclusive all black five figure OMFG! vinyl figure set for just $15, or get both sets, flesh and black, for $25. There are 54 days left to donate to the production of OMFG! Mini Figure Series 1, but why wait? Head to Kickstarter now and pledge! Any donation overages will be put towards the creation of OMFG! Series 2, which is already in the works.

Rampage Toys x Tenacious Toys Mini Kaiju Cupcake Blind Box Custom Series

Benny (of Tenacious Toys) and Jon Malmstedt (of Rampage Toys) have teamed up on another of Tenacious Toys’ killer custom blind box series! The Mini Kaiju Cupcake Blind Box Custom Series includes 25 of Jon’s hand cast 2” resin cupcake monsters painted by 5 incredibly talented artists: Jon Malmstedt (of Rampage Toys), Justin Hillgrove (of Imps and Monsters), NREAZON, Nasty Neil (A Wasted Talent), and OsirisOrion. Tenacious Toys’ blind box custom series are always top notch, and this release is no exception. Just look at these crazy Kaiju Cupcakes!!!

The Mini Kaiju Cupcake Blind Box Custom Series goes on sale this Wednesday, June 22nd, at 7pm EDT at the Tenacious Toys online store. Each blind box will retail for $35, and one lucky collector’s blind box will even include a Golden Ticket that can be redeemed for a 5”x7" original painting by Jon Malmstedt! How cool is that!?!

Green Lantern Movie Masters Action Figures by Mattel

DC Comics’ Green Lantern movie debuts in theaters today and The Blot has absolutely nothing to say about it. Why? I’m more than a little bummed by all the negative reviews. I’ve expected the worst for a while now, but was secretly hoping the film would surpass my expectations. That probably won’t happen, but maybe you can create your own Green Lantern movie (and make a more exciting version to boot) with these Green Lantern Movie Masters action figures by Mattel.

Mattel is flooding the market with Green Lantern toys, but the best ones by far are these 6” Movie Masters action figures (basically a spin-off of Mattel’s DC Universe Classics toy line). Green Lantern Movie Masters Wave 1 includes Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, Tomar-Re, Isamot Kol, Naut Ke Loi. Green Lantern Movie Masters Wave 2 includes Sinestro, Rot Lop Fan, a maskless Hal Jordan and Guardian Krona. There’s also the Green Lantern Classics G’Hu, MattyCollector.com Exclusive Green Man, a Toys R Us Exclusive 2-Pack featuring Hal Jordan and Abin Sur, and San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Exclusive Kilowog.

The Green Lantern Movie Masters action figures and the G’Hu Green Lantern Classics action figure can be purchased for $16.99, while the oversized MattyCollector.com Exclusive Green Man and the SDCC 2011 Exclusive Kilowog can be purchased for $25 each. Get one now to celebrate the premiere of Warner Bros' Green Lantern, or wait a few weeks when all of these figures (except the 2 exclusives) will be on sale for deep, deep discounts.

Glow in the Dark Real Fighting Greasebat Vinyl Figure by Jeff Lamm

It’s announcements like this one that really make The Blot regret my current toy buying hiatus! Monster Worship has revealed its fourth painted Real Fighting Greasebat, and it is a beautiful GID colorway. Jeff Lamm’s RFGB has been one of my favorite new toys of the past year, and this is hands down the best painted version released yet! While the gold spray on the Greasebat’s horns and toes are nice, what really completes this version is the subtle pink mouth and simple eyes. To me, these colors really accentuate the Greasebat’s amazing sculpt.

The GID Real Fighting Greasebat vinyl figure by Jeff Lamm features a hot pink mouth, metallic Gold horns and toes, and is finished with subtle green accent sprays on his front and back. Each figure retails for $75 each and can be purchased from the Monster Worship online store on Wednesday, June 22nd, at 6pm EDT.

SDCC 2011 Exclusive Blue O-No Sashimi Vinyl Figure by Andrew Bell

Based on his popular “Never Look Back II” print, Andrew Bell’s O-No Sashimi is scheduled to make its delicious vinyl debut at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 with not 1 but 2 different colorways: the Standard Edition Green O-No Sashimi and the limited edition SDCC 2011 Exclusive Blue O-No Sashimi. Both versions include delicious fish bits, two sets of eyes and a bowl all packaged in a supermarket fresh display tray.

The OG Green colorway is not a SDCC exclusive, retails for $35 each and will be hitting toy and specialty shops worldwide shortly after the convention. On the other hand, the SDCC 2011 Exclusive Blue O-No Sashimi has a limited edition run size of 250 pieces and will retail for $40 each. There is some hope for those of us unable to attend SDCC this year. Since it has become impossible to get into Comic-Con these days, Bell will be holding a number of Blue Sashimis back for online sales through his Dead Zebra webstore.

SDCC 2011 Exclusive Swamp Thing DC Universe Classics Action Figure

As you may or may not know, DC Comics’ Brightest Day ended with the return of Swamp Thing AND John Constantine to the proper DC Universe after decades spent in DC’s Vertigo imprint. Since Swamp Thing and Constantine were marked “for mature readers only,” Mattel had been strictly prohibited from making toys of these popular characters. But now that they’re back in the mainstream (and all ages) DC Universe, Mattel is wasting no time in including Alec Holland’s alter ego into its DC Universe Classics 6” toy line with this exciting San Diego Comic-Con 2011 exclusive!

This fan-demanded character is available for the first time from Mattel, and is the first ever DC Universe character to feature endoskeletal articulation. While many fans have scoffed at their first at Swampy’s endoskeletal articulation (early pictures left much to be desired), The Blot has to commend Mattel on thinking outside the box. After years of playing it safe, they’ve finally tried to do something different. And that is something I can get behind.

The San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Exclusive Swamp Thing action figure will retail for $30 and comes in a paper pulp mold of Swamp Thing’s head. No ordinary packaging can contain Swamp Thing, so he’ll then be packed in a shipper box with the Swamp Thing paper pulp mold head peering out. The Swamp Thing DC Universe Classics action figure will first be available at SDCC, and then later at MattyCollector.com. If purchased at SDCC, he’ll arrive with Comic-Con exclusive mini-figures of Un-Men Ophidian and Cranius. The version of Swamp Thing sold at MattyCollector.com will not include these Un-Men mini-figures.

Previews Exclusive The Walking Dead Black & White Comic Book Edition Zombie Action Figure 2 Pack

If you’re familiar with Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead then you know the comic book series is actually produced in black and white. To recreate their look in the comics, McFarlane Toys has produced black and white variants of its Comic Book Edition Series 1 Zombie action figures. This two figure set is a Previews exclusive and includes a B&W Zombie Lurker and a B&W Zombie Roamer. It’s just too bad we didn’t also get black and white variants of Rick Grimes and Michonne!

The Previews Exclusive The Walking Dead Black & White Comic Book Edition Zombie 6” Action Figure Set is not scheduled to hit stores until October 2011, but you can pre-order these ghoulish figures from Entertainment Earth here for $34.99.

SDCC 2011 Exclusive Batman 20” Mega Mez-Itz Vinyl Figure by Mezco Toyz

Yesterday, MTV Geek! broke the news that Mezco Toyz would be releasing its very first 20 inch Mega Mez-Itz vinyl figure at San Diego Comic-Con 2011, and it’s of none other than the caped crusader himself, Batman! The Blot definitely did not see a 20” Mez-Itz in the works, and I’m really interested in seeing if there’s a market for such a large and expensive Batman toy. Mezco will be releasing two different colorways of its DC Universe Mez-Itz Mega Scale Batman, the standard black and gray Batman and a limited edition variant blue and gray Batman.

The Blot’s a huge Batman fan, and will a real cloth cape the blue and gray version is almost a must buy for me. If only it didn’t carry a price tag of $200! Then again, at 20” tall from the tip of his ears to the soles of his batboots, the DC Universe Mez-Itz Mega Scale Batman is the same price as a Mega Munny and a fraction of the cost of the last few 20” Dunnys. Regardless of the price, I’m pretty excited to see pictures of this bad boy from San Diego in just a few short weeks.

Just like the standard Mez-Itz vinyl figures, the SDCC 2011 Exclusive Batman Mega Scale Mez-Itz features 5 points of articulation and is currently available for pre-order at the Mezco Toyz online store.