2010 was a time of change. Still in the throws of recession, many companies changed their approach and we saw the collecting community change considerably. With many collectors opting to spend their money elsewhere, many manufacturers limited their releases and production numbers. At the same time, we saw many companies use the current economy as a wake up call and amped up offerings.
As the economy bounces back we're going to see a lot of the amazing products produced in 2010 become high ticket items in the secondary market as collectors come back to their hobby with renewed passion.
The 2010 In (Cool Toy) Review may well serve as a guide to some of those items that will become the most sought after collectibles as things return to normal.
No matter what scale, the best figure offered to the collecting community in 2010 was Hot toys' 1/6 scale Terminator 2 T-800 Movie Masterpiece Series figure. if you haven't seen this major accomplishment in person you need to check out the images in our Photo Archive. There is simply nothing wrong with this figure. The head sculpt alone is is light years ahead of anything else ever released. The skin tone and eye paint is more lifelike than anything we've ever seen. The costuming was perfectly tailored using fabrics that blurred the scale, allowing the figure to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger perfectly shrunken down. Throw in every accessory you could think of, and you have the undisputed the Figure Of The Year.
There have been plenty of cool statues released in 2010, but none was as character-defining as Sideshow Collectibles' Evil Queen Premium Format Figure. As outstanding as their Disney line of statues has been, this one piece blows the rest away, and in doing so, it blows all Disney animated collectibles released by any company. That said, the Captain Hook Premium Format Figure coming out next year might give her a run for the money. Until then, let the spotlight fall on this beautiful statue!
This year, one line that continued to please collectors was the Marvel Entertainment collection from Hot Toys' Movie Masterpiece Series. In 2010 they upped the ante with their X-Men Origins Wolverine, Blade: Trinity Abigail Whistler, and a pile of new Iron Man & Iron Man 2 figures. If the figures that came out this year weren't amazing enough to warrant being called The Line That Just Won't Quit, the new figures revealed for next year including Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Iron Monger, are sure to keep collectors coming back!
When Sideshow Collectibles revealed their 1/6 scale G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Firefly figure, there were many collectors upset to see that the iconic Cobra Saboteur's balaclava was missing its equally iconic grey camouflage, and they weren't quite about it. And rightfully so. Firefly looks best one way and one way only. Without much fanfare, Sideshow went back to the drawing board and designed a paint scheme that did the figure justice, and implemented the change at the factory. In an effort to give people what they pre-ordered, Sideshow opted to include a second head with the camo deco along with the head they revealed with the figure's pre-order page.
Sideshow Collectibles listened to their customers, and went out of their way to make us happy. And to go one step further, Sideshow absorbed the cost of the additional head so all that ordered the figure got more value at the same price!
Hasbro's G.I. Joe: Pursuit Of Cobra line has given us three waves of figures in 2010, and you'd have to have your head buried in the sand to argue that it is the best designed G.I. Joe 3 3/4" line ever produced. Hasbro has packed the action right back into this line with a strong focus on International/ Environment adventures. The figures come with more accessories than they can carry, giving you unlimited play and display options. The sculpts are lifelike, the articulation is well hidden, and the paint ops are the best we've ever seen in any toy line of that scale.
Standing out over the other figures in the collection is Dusty from wave 2. loaded with two alternate switch out heads, a removable helmet, goggles, dust scarf/cape, roll of barbed wire, two weapons, and a display stand, this figure may very well be the best Joe figure offered in the last twenty-eight years.
For the second year in a row, only one line comes up as the Most Under Appreciated Line. Despite strong offerings going up for solicitation, the corporate toy buyers for the big chain stores have passed on Diamond Select Toys' Star Trek action figure collection. Besides the online and specialty stores, these figures are only available at Toys "R" Us, and if you look around, you'll notice they don't warm too many pegs (if any). If there was one line out there that we, as a community, need to get behind and demand more of its the Star Trek action figure collection. Just looking at the amazing waves Diamond has shown us, including the Borg wave and the original Series 5 line with three must-have figures we've never seen before including "Tholian Web" Dr. McCoy, Nurse Christine Chapel, and Yeoman Janice Rand. This line should be unstoppable, and maybe its time we all call up Toys "R" US and tell them we want more Star Trek figures!