Welcome back to Toy Aisle, Gizmodo’s regular roundup of the very pretty plastic things tempting our bank accounts on the internet lately. This week: the Final Fantasy VII lovefest continues with a One Winged Angel, while Hasbro drops a little basket of Baby Groot goodness—but it still can’t compare to the happiest little lad in the galaxy, who returns to dominate our lives once more. Check it out!
Hot Toys The Mandalorian Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike Sixth-Scale Figures
Is there a Star Wars character more instantly hated and reviled than the Scout Trooper in The Mandalorian who scooped up the Child and later physically assaulted him? Probably not, and yet here we are hoping that the new Hot Toys sixth-scale Scout Trooper set, which includes a tiny Baby Yoda and a matching Speeder Bike, don’t completely break the bank. Hot Toys rarely makes vehicles, which is unfortunate because at over 50 centimetres long this Speeder Bike is a masterpiece, with working parts and a desert-themed stand to prop it up. With 30 points of articulation and swappable parts the Scout Trooper is equally detailed, but you’ll have to wait until at least sometime in mid-2021 for delivery on this one.
Play Arts Kai Final Fantasy VII Remake Sephiroth
After Square-Enix revealed it was turning the redesigned main cast of Final Fantasy VII Remake into part of its Play Arts Kai range of action figures, the infamous One Winged Angel himself couldn’t be far behind, could he? Appearing as he’s depicted in the recently released smash hit remake of the Final Fantasy icon, the Play Arts Kai Sephiroth includes a bunch of additional hands to hold and dramatically pose with his comically extra katana, the Masamune, which is unfortunately very effective at stabbing things you care about, as Final Fantasy VII fans are no doubt keenly aware. Aside from that, he’s sparsely accessoried, but does come with an alternate faceplate depciting the villain with his eyes closed.
Probably thinking about stabbing someone, we’d guess. Or his mum. He does that a lot, doesn’t he? Anyhoo, the Play Arts Kai Sephiroth will float into existence with a raucous “Estuans Interius, Ira vehemti!” when he launches in April 2021, for $249. [AnimeWorks]
Lego Technic Ducati Panigale V4 R
Lego’s highly-detailed Technic model sets tend to focus on famous cars and vehicles with more than two wheels, but a new partnership with Ducati Motor Holding is proof the company should be churning out more motorcycles. Available in June for $89.99, the 646-piece Ducati Panigale V4 R features working steering and front suspension, a replica V4-cylinder engine, and a two-speed gearbox that can switch the bike two different speeds—although the motor itself is only powered by imagination, so the bike’s performance is theoretically unlimited.
Build & Play is selling the set for $74.99 right now.
Tamashii Nations S.H. Figuarts The Avengers Loki Figure
If you don’t quite have the budget for Hot Toys’ elaborate 12-inch figures, Tamashii Nations six-inch S.H. Figuarts line continue to be an excellent compromise. Its new Loki figure, based on the character’s appearance in the original Avengers movie, is a great example of why you don’t necessarily have to spend more than $400 on a figure. In addition to a fantastically detailed costume, the $200 figure (available for pre-order and expected to release on October 31) includes two excellent head sculpts of Tom Hiddleston given its scale, a removable helmet, weapons, shackles, and even a tiny Tesseract.
Marvel Legends Evolution of Groot Box Set
Ah, Baby Groot. Remember those heady days when he was the potted star of the internet, before being replaced by an upstart little green elf thing that can do magic hands and sup broth? Innocent times. Innocent times that you can now look back on with this fun little collection from Hasbro.
Teaming together three previously released versions of Groot as he appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies—the 9-inch “adult” from the first film, and then 1-inch figures of the twiglet baby from the end of that film and the “toddler Groot” from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2—this set lets you watch Groot…grow? In reverse? Sort of? No wonder toddler Groot looks like he’s seen some shit. It’s available on Amazon US for $115.09 plus shipping costs.
Hasbro Monopoly: Ghostbusters Edition 2020
It’s not the first time Monopoly has gotten a Ghostbusters-themed facelift (and it probably won’t be the last, with another sequel en route), but the 2020 version of the game, available in the U.S. next week for $US30 ($47), does mix up the gameplay a bit. Instead of buying up properties based on locations in the original film, the new version has players securing ghost-busting contracts and jobs to try and earn a living, while hoping other players all go bankrupt. Special Supernatural Entity spaces on the board let players team up with famous baddies like Slimer or Stay Puft to help save the city, and the game’s tokens have all been replaced with iconic props from the movie, including an EKG reader and a proton pack.
There’s no word yet when this one will be available in Australia but you can grab the older version for $59.99 to tide you over.