Val’s Toy Chest- Valentine’s Week and Black Panther Releases

By the time you read this column, I will have turned another year older. This being Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d take a brief look at famous comic book couples whom have been immortalized in plastic. I will also talk about what Black Panther items we have to get you even more psyched for the movie coming out this weekend.

Green Arrow and Black Canary: Oliver Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance have been an item in the comics since she joined the Justice League of America back in 1969, they’ve also been together in most media adaptations, the notable exceptions being Smallville and Arrow. I won’t harp on Arrow this week, but I will mention that we have both the Oliver Queen and the Laurel Lance Black Canary figures available from the TV show last time I checked.  Feel like the CW dealt you a bad hand with Arrow? Grab these figures and Oliver and Dinah can be together again on your toy shelf.

Daredevil and Elektra: Daredevil and Elektra have a fairly complicated relationship with all the tragedy surrounding their love story. Both have also appeared in live-action adaptations that tell of their romance. Diamond Select Toys has released both Matt Murdock and Elektra as based on their live-action Netflix versions in their Marvel Gallery line of PVC statues. Each statue stands atop a rooftop base, so they will complement each other well.

Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor: Though their romance has been on and off in the comics, Diana and Steve are currently back on, most likely thanks to last year’s Wonder Woman movie. Though these figures, the Bandai Justice League Wonder Woman and the Mattel Multiverse Wonder Woman Steve Trevor aren’t from the same line, they represent the movie versions of these lovebirds fairly well.

Faith and Xander/John Constantine and Sara Lance:  Both of these pairings were brief, but definitely memorable. Faith and Xander hooked up while Buffy and the other Scoobies were trying to halt an apocalypse in the Season 3 episode “The Zeppo” and both characters are now available as Funko POPs, in celebration of 20 years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, while John Constantine and Sara Lance‘s tryst was just on this past Monday’s Legends of Tomorrow episode. Both openly bisexual, John and Sara found themselves susceptible to the other’s charms, and they are both figures from DC Collectibles’ CW DC TV line.   

There are several other couples that have been immortalized in plastic, though many were released years ago and thus no current product is available unfortunately, these include the likes of Superman and Lois, Batwoman and Renee Montoya, Midnighter and Apollo, Cyclops and Jean Grey, Spider-Man and Mary Jane and so many more.

Switching gears, this weekend sees the release of the eagerly anticipated Black Panther film. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B Jordan and Danai Gurira, the advanced ticket sales have been breaking all sorts of records. Early reviews are good too. As far as product goes, we recently received more cases of the Black Panther Marvel Legends wave, though certain characters have been more popular than others. I expect Black Panther and Nakia to sell out from the movie-styled figures and the Namor and Iron Man figures on the comics side of things. I’ve mentioned before that the Nakia figure has impressed me with it’s deep bright colors and intricate sculpting. The Okoye Build-a-Figure is looking really great as well and I am down to needing just one piece to finish her off. Hot Toys also recently announced their movie Black Panther figure which uses revolutionary designs to simulate the Panther’s glowing patterns under a black light. Now featuring a separate sculpt of a Chadwick Boseman unmasked head, the new Black Panther Hot Toys figure is definitely a thing of beauty and is scheduled for release in 2019.

Next week: Toy Fair 2018 news!

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