3. Keep Leonard Nimoy Away From the Soundtrack!
Yes, Nimoy’s version of “Bilbo Baggins” is the greatest music video in history (except perhaps for the DaVinyls “I Touch Myself”). But it’s also exactly the wrong note for the new Hobbit movie.

This is exactly the light-hearted silliness that makes The Hobbit fun to read as a child, but hard to sit through in a feature-length film. Unless Nimoy plays Gandalf. No offense to Ian McKellen, but that would be awesome.

Naturally, they include this video as a chilling reminder…

And in other Hobbit news, remember those bones that were found a couple years back? Small and humanoid, they were dubbed ‘hobbits’ and had even archaeologists and their ilk scratching their heads. Well, a little bit of the mystery has been solved: They weren’t humans at all! The Mirror explains…

Hobbit-like creatures who lived 18,000 years ago were a lot less like us than we thought, say scientists.

Researchers have decided the 3ft 6ins tall tribe from the Indonesian island of Flores are an unknown sub-species of modern man. Their remains caused a sensation when unveiled five years ago and they were dubbed Hobbits after the elf-like creatures in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

Some researchers argued they were modern humans with a disorder called microcephaly accounting for their tiny brains.

But analysis of the most complete skeleton, of a female called Flo, suggests she was a different branch of human. Anthropologist Dr Karen Baab said: “Dwarfing syndromes and microcephaly bear no resemblance to the unique anatomy of Homo Floresiensis.”

It is thought the little folk were wiped out 12,000 years ago by a volcano.

And that’s all, it seems, for real-life Hobbit news and the fantasy Hobbit-news we’ll of course be keeping up on–especially when WETA starts sending out the merch! ‘Til then, we do have a wide selection of Lord of the Rings figures and collectibles still available, which of course feature a couple Hobbit/LOTR crossover characters. Look out for ‘em.

The success of September’s Montreal Comic Con means that the organizers aren’t going to waste any time prepping for the next one! And so, on December 6th, expect a one-day Comic Con featuring guests like Kane Hodder, Lloyd Kaufman and Monica Rial, plus a number of other guests soon to be announced! You can check out the official website for more info!

And coming up even sooner is the Montreal Toy Con–it’s a little out of the way for downtown-dwellers, taking place in St. Laurent’s Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, but if you’re looking for the best new and vintage comic, toys and collectibles, this is worth the trip! There’ll be a ton of dealers, plus cosplayers, LEGO and building enthusiasts and more! It goes down October 18th, costs only $4 (Kids 5 and under free) and is sure to be a blast! Click the pic to visit the site and find out more!

We’ve still got some of our exclusive First-Appearance Sabretooth figures left. From the Marvel Select collection, these figures stand about 7 or 8 inches tall and feature amazing sculpting and a great paint job reflecting Sabretooth’s original look from his first appearance in a 1977 issue of Iron Fist (as “Sabre-Tooth”).

We brought him to Fan Expo, but if you weren’t able to make it, you can order him here or by clicking his pic above. This one’s a great find for collectors and you can only get it from us!

Meanwhile, we’ve juuuuuust uploaded our FanExpo pics, so here’s a look at how we spent our weekend!

JOHANN KRAUSS

The newest addition to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, German specialist Johann Krauss (voiced by Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane) also makes a great addition to Mezco’s line. Naturally, his suit doesn’t offer a great deal of articulation, but that’s pretty much in-line with the movement of the character. And he comes with alternate hands so that Krauss, an ectoplasmic man, can exit the suit in puffs of ’smoke’, and also an alternate cracked dome helmet. The sculpting is really impressive–He was the first toy I picked up (for reasons I’ll mention in the next post!) and I think he was a great choice.

PRINCE NUADA SILVERLANCE

Luke Goss’ Prince Nuada is, unfortunately, the weakest of the collection. For reasons unkown, they chose his least appealing outfit from the film, but more importantly, the likeness is way, way off. Admittedly, it’s hard to capture strong features likes Goss’ and make it look perfect, but it’s really off and the thick paint they’ve gone with on this series makes it look a little bulky. The clothing and hair are also pretty bendy and, worst of all, he suffers from the same problem as the Legolas toys from Lord of the Rings: he can barely stand up on his twiddly leggs. It’s a shame, because the character was really visually striking. THe accessories are his weapons, and they’re pretty great, like the rest of the weapons from this collection, and his paint job is very nice, too, especially on the red fabric.

WINK

If size matters, then Wink’s already won. But beyond that, this is one stunning figure. He’s amazingly heavy (much like the first movie toys’ Sammael), stands head and shoulders above the other characters and is perfectly detailed. The hairs on his back, the addition of a retractable iron hand (on real metal chain), the detailing of his crest and outfit and the sculpting of his whole body has to be seen to be believed. He’s a great movie monster and he translates beautifully into the Mezco figure. Even the figure’s one weakness isn’t really a weakness: when the figures were being designed, Wink had a different look in the film and his sculpting reflects that. So what the folks at Mezco have done is made it possible for you to order, free of charge, a new head for the figure that is film-accurate. It’s an awesome way for them to tackle the problem and a pretty classy move. I love this item.

Next time: Hellboy II and more! Including Hellebration (what is it?) and some news about the Batman Movie Masters!

Hope that all your 2009 action figure dreams come true!

To start the year off right, we’re going to take a look at some of the latest work from the action figure wizards at Mezco: The HELLBOY II line!

In a summer of massive movies, it was easy to overlook Hellboy II, which arrived a week before the juggernaut that was The Dark Knight. But the film managed to succeed and really make a mark on the movie-going community, bringing the unique vision of director Guillermo Del Toro to the creations of Mike Mignola in an action packed urban fantasy starring Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair, Luke Goss, Anna Walton and featuring the voice talents of Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane. For anyone who hasn’t checked it out on DVD yet, here’s a trailer:

And with the film came the first series of Mezco’s Hellboy II action figures. The figures from the first film were brilliantly sculpted and painted as well impressively articulated for posing and display and these ones follow in that fine tradition.
HELLBOY

(and Hellboy variant with sword!)
The Hellboy figure is an awesome one, capturing Perlman’s likeness expertly and bringing a ton of emotion into the expression in a way that’s actually rare in most figures–his snarl also shows off some very neatly painted teeth! And the accessories are to die for, each one perfectly film-accurate and with little flourishes that have always made Mezco toys one of the best. The coat isn’t as sturdy as that of the HB figures from the first film, but it’s easily overlooked. This is a great figure.

LIZ SHERMAN

The absence of a Liz Sherman figure was the only problem with the waves of figures from the first film, but Selma Blair’s pyrokinetic BPRD agent has finally been brought to figure form! With alternate hands that allow her to carry a gun and light her blue flames, plus detailed clothing and great articulation (especially for a female figure), she’s definitely a worthy addition–even if the likeness isn’t 100%.

ABE SAPIEN

The new Abe figure comes with new accessories and switchable hands, so he can finally use a gun like the rest of the agents, bringing out more of his comic persona. The figure’s not quite as well painted as the original Abe Sapien was, but it’s a great figure–the colour is simply just a little too bright and the paint a little too thick in some areas. But with the accessories, articulation and boots, it still deserves a place with collectors.

That’s all for now! In part 2, look for reviews of Prince Nuada, Wink and BPRD special agent Johann Krauss!