Welcome back to Toy Aisle, Gizmodo’s regular round up of the coolest updates in the world of wallet-draining geek merch. This week Bandai attempts to turn Pac-Man into a superarticulated nightmare, Jennifer Walters is at long last green with envy, and Lego celebrates 10 years of Ninjago. Check it out!
Lego Ninjago City Gardens Playset
Lego doesn’t shy away from big elaborate sets with its home-grown Ninjago property, which is celebrating 10 years in 2021. The 4,867-piece Ninjago City from 2017 was a beast, but the new Ninjago City Gardens set is even larger at 5,685 pieces. Listed as “Coming Soon” on the Lego website with a price tag of $499.99, the set includes an elaborate five-story ninja house that disassembles for easier play; 19 minifigs with Young Lloyd, Kai, Zane, Cole, Jay, Nya, Wu, Misako, Ronin, and others; as well as a golden Wu Legacy minifig to commemorate the line’s 10th anniversary.
Hasbro Marvel Legends Series She-Hulk
Although there have been She-Hulks in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line, the most recent and detailed version of Jennifer Walters came as part of her greyed-out iteration from the time she took over the Hulk ongoing after Civil War II. It’s been over a decade since a luminescently green Jen has graced the range, but Hasbro’s finally changing that with a smart release of the most recent, modernly articulated Jen in her more traditionally viridian colour scheme. She includes two heads, a dynamically “angry” one with waving hair and a more stoic neutral, as well as a set of fists and relaxed hands for posing. She’ll set you back $US22 ($29) for a release this August. [Hasbro Pulse]
Tamashii Nations Proplica Rolling Waka Waka Pac-Man Figure
Turning an iconic video game character made up of less than 100 on-screen pixels into a collectible figure is no easy task, but Tamashii Nations has managed to create one of the best retro gaming toys we’ve ever seen. When rolled across the ground the Waka Waka Pac-Man opens and closes his mouth in a desperate search for delicious white dots while making that memorable “waka waka” sound effect from the original ‘80s game. A handful of watch-sized batteries keep it powered, and it’s expected to go on sale in Japan sometime in June.
EXO-6 1:6 Scale Star Trek: First Contact Lieutenant Commander Data
Although there have been a few 1:6-scale Star Trek figures in the past, most notably from QMX, it seems the franchise is ready to boldly go back into that space with a new partnership with EXO-6. Starting off with Data — specifically Data as he appears in Star Trek: First Contact — EXO-6’s take on the character comes with a standard android head and one featuring Data’s half-actual-Brent-Spiner fleshy face from the moments when our robotic friend is under the control of the Borg Queen and had human skin grafted onto him. As well as that, he’ll come with a phaser rifle, pistol, and alternate hands for posing. There’s no details on just when he’ll be available (and for how much), but pre-orders are set to go live soon. [StarTrek.com]
Playmates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Retro Rotocast Villains Mutant Module Figure Set
Playmates has already given us a couple of box sets featuring collections of the classic retro TMNT figures, but if you’ve got enough patience to wait until September, the toymaker’s new $US100 ($130) Mutant Module Set finally gives us a stellar lineup of the animated series’ best baddies. Inside the cardboard subterranean drilling machine packaging you’ll find blister carded figures of Bebop, Rocksteady, Slash, Baxter Stockman, a Foot Soldier, and Krang riding his smaller-scale mech suit. If you don’t feel like store or website-hopping trying to collect all of these individually, you can pre-order the set soon and grab them all in one fell swoop.