{"id":26490,"date":"2014-01-13T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2014-01-13T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26490"},"modified":"2014-01-13T20:57:28","modified_gmt":"2014-01-14T02:57:28","slug":"2014-looking-ahead-to-the-year-that-will-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26490","title":{"rendered":"2014: Looking Ahead
to the Year That Will Be!"},"content":{"rendered":"

With our 2013 Retrospective Week behind us, it\u2019s time to look into the future, to see what toys will empty our wallets, anger our significant others, and bring joy to our hearts for those fleeting five minutes between opening it and putting it on display! It\u2019s time to look ahead!!! <\/p>\n

Well, as far ahead as we can. Toy Fair isn\u2019t even til next month after all. But there are is already a nice mix of toys announced for the first quarter and some hints as to where the awesome will really be next year. <\/p>\n

Both Vault and I have put together a list of five things whether they be toy lines, toy companies, or vague toy categories that we\u2019re most excited for in 2014. Think of like a preview of the end of year articles. Unless, we\u2019re completely wrong. Then it will be no preview at all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Noisy No. 5 – Hot Toys!<\/th>\nVault No. 5 – Movie Inspired Toys!<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I almost didn\u2019t put this one on the list. I\u2019ve only bought six Hot Toys over the last two years… and I didn\u2019t open them right away. I just didn\u2019t feel like I had room to display them properly. With the new house, and the toy room<\/del> office more set up towards the end of last year, I finally bit the bullet and opened five of them (the \u201989 Batmobile still has nowhere to go!). And they\u2019re gorgeous. I crammed them together for the pic above, but they\u2019re normally spread out above my desk where I can lean back and take them in. Four of them evoke great memories of some of my favorite childhood movies. The other one just feels like a great big \u2018ol toy, but I enjoy him too. I still don\u2019t want to own a lot of Hot Toys figures, but I\u2019m eyeing at least 4-5 out of what\u2019s been announced this year and they\u2019re easily some of the toys I\u2019m most looking forward to mortgaging my house for in 2014. <\/td>\nThere are some fantastic looking movies coming out this year, and a nice chunk has something to do with toys in one way or another. I was at Target the other day and picked up an AIM Agent from the new Captain America Legends line, and I know there\u2019s a cool looking Carnage running around on the Spiderman side. We\u2019ve also started seeing toy solicits for the upcoming Godzilla movie. I\u2019m also really looking forward to the merchandise that Guardians of the Galaxy is going to inspire. (There\u2019s no way I could ignore a Hot Toys Rocket Raccoon!). Then there\u2019s the LEGO Movie. The LEGO sets inspired by this movie are insane and amazing, with a good majority of inspirations from long past series like Blacktron, Pirates, Fabuland and other vintage childhood goodness.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Noisy No. 4 – Four Horsemen!<\/th>\nVault No. 4 – Ori-Toy’s Acid Rain!<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
If you know me at all, you know the Four Horsemen are going to make this list! The Horsemen had a huge, HUGE, 2013. Their Kickstarter garnered four times the support asked for and the end result was better than anybody anticipated: the much-requested wings, new accessories, and heck, whole new figures! Gorgeous sculpts & great articulation, but the Ravens aren\u2019t all the Four Horsemen have going on. The Outer Space Men line should soon include Infinity Editions of the last remaining original OSM. The Power Lords line is likely to have some fun releases, including the classic characters. And never mind their Mattel work! 2013 was big for the Horsemen, but 2014 might just be their best year yet! To keep tabs, check out SourceHorsemen<\/a>!<\/td>\nI\u2019ve been keeping my eye on the indie Chinese toy company Ori-Toy for a while now. Over the last few years they\u2019ve been developing a new line called Acid Rain, which is a military line that uses soldiers and mechs and is set in an over-polluted future. (Kind of like a mix of GI Joe and Transformers.) I was entirely blown away with one of the early samples they sent me last year, and I\u2019m equally excited to see that they\u2019ll be soliciting the first wave of vehicles and soldiers soon. This may be a small company, but with the amount of work they put into each figure they\u2019re a definite up and comer in the industry.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Noisy No. 3 – NECA!<\/th>\nVault No. 3 – NECA!<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vault and I always manage to line something up it seems. NECA has been around for years, but they made their strongest their bid yet to overtake my toy shelves in 2013. Clubber Lang & Robocop have been joined by all manner of Predators & Aliens (and not to mention a few Dutches)! I was able to pick them all up at TRU (a rare treat) and have been impressed by just about everything I purchased in 2013. 2014 looks to be even more jampacked with ED-209 & NES Robocop (that still cracks me up), Trix Yogurt Dutch, more Aliens (Kenner versions, anybody?) and their human protagonists, Sgt. Windrix, more great Predators, frggin\u2019 Planet of the Apes, and the one I\u2019m probably most looking forward oo (fingers crossed on the head sculpt!) John Rambo from First Blood II. <\/td>\nJust to give an example of how well NECA has done this year, I\u2019ve purchased thirteen figures from them. I know that doesn\u2019t sound like a lot, but from 2011 to 2012 I bought zero. The quality of their sculpting, painting, and articulation has gone up so high that I could no longer ignore the great products they\u2019re putting out. And let\u2019s not forget the fun factor! Repainting iconic characters like Jason, Freddy, and Robocop in their bizarre NES colors was genius. Then there\u2019s the Kenner Predators, inspired by one of my favorite childhood toy lines. They\u2019ve proven that adult collectibles can be just as crazy and fun as a kid\u2019s toy, without losing the high levels of sculpt and detail that we all want. I can\u2019t wait to see what these folks have in store for 2014.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Noisy No. 2 – Transformers
(Masterpiece & Third Party)!<\/th>\n		Vault No. 2 – Onell Design!<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
When the MP line first (re)kicked into gear with MP-10, I had a particular guy on my MP-wishlist. I decided that if they did make this guy, I\u2019d want the others, so I\u2019d better start buying now. As a result, I have gotten some amazing MP toys like Sideswipe, Prowl, Soundwave, etc., but I\u2019m still most excited about this year\u2019s prospect: Ultra Magnus! There are four of my favorite versions throughout my shelves. I can\u2019t wait for the fifth! The other MPs like Wheeljack & Bumblee will be sweet too! And even though I declared \u201cMP or Bust\u201d when I started buying the big boy toys, third parties still have their clutches into my wallet. The Fan\u2019s Toys MPs like Scoria, of course, but also the Combiners! Intimidator\/M3 & Feral Rex should be completed in 2014. And my all time favorite, Computron, should get his start as MakeToy\u2019s Quantron! It\u2019s a great time to be a Transformers fan! <\/td>\nI\u2019m pretty sure Matt Doughty, founder of Onell Design, is slowly trying to take over our shelves and maybe the entire toy world. He\u2019s been plugging away at his wonderfully inspired Glyos line for years now, slowly assembling a small plastic army that\u2019s fully modular and has a very unique design. But over the last few years he\u2019s brainwashed<\/del> converted other indie toy makers, joining forces to create products that are entirely compatible and expand the creative building system. Now his strange beings can add robots, bugs, weapons, aliens, and Powerful humans to their ranks. At this rate there will be one in every home. Waiting\u2026 Watching\u2026 Making sure you don\u2019t miss the next drop. Can they be stopped!?! I hope not.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Noisy No. 1 – Long Live 6″ Figures!!<\/th>\nVault No. 1 – Gothitropolis Ravens!<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A few years ago, it seemed like everything was all set to get smaller (and in some cases it has), but the 6\u201d scale is still going strong. I may flirt with sixth scale and love my eighteenth scale Joes & other little guys, but I love 6\u201d figures. Most of my collection is in this scale. And it\u2019s looking like 2014 will be another great year to collect it. DCUC has shriveled up but there are four more releases, one amazing Aquaman in particular, still lined up. Star Wars Black has gotten off to a fantastic start and we have Funko promising a SWB-like line called Legacy that will feature properties like Game of Thrones & Firefly among others. That line could be insane, but the real gem in 2014 might just be perennial favorite Marvel Legends. I\u2019ve already<\/em> bought 3 amazing MLs this year (and I\u2019d buy four more if I found \u2018em) and I\u2019ve got a laundry list that I want from what\u2019s been announced (and we\u2019re not even to Toy Fair yet). I\u2019m definitely excited to pick up some Marvel figures with the money not being spent on DC. <\/p>\n<\/td>\nThis year the Four Horsemen pulled off an amazing achievement with their hugely successful Ravens Kickstarter. They\u2019ve been tempting us with pictures of this figure for a few years now, and it was astonishing to see it and all the variants and add-ons get the funding they deserved. Scarabus and his brethren turned out to be some of the best figures of 2011 and a shining example of what a true \u201cadult collector\u201d toy line should be. With all the work being poured into the Ravens, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised the high bar that Scarabus set. Either way, I have a feeling these birds are going to be near the top of everyone\u2019s Best of 2014 list.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to in 2014? Let us know below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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DC Universe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26490"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26490"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26557,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26490\/revisions\/26557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}