Hello Junkies! As you may or may not know, our founder Jarrett Kruse passed away at the beginning of the year. We have had some time to focus on a few areas that Jarrett wanted to dive into, YouTube being the biggest. However, one of Jarrett’s monthly columns got put on hold. Today, we are thrilled to bring back "AFJ’s Top 10 Hottest Toys". What makes one particular toy warrant a place on our Top 10 Hottest? You! We monitor the AFJ closed Facebook and take note of what gets you talking and posting. Plus, since this month included Comic-Con we knew we had to touch on a few choice items. As possible, we have also supplied links to purchase some of these (at the very least Pre-Order them). In the case of the highly coveted NECA’s TMNT (1990) set, we suggest, like always, make a friend before you make a sale here on AFJ. Especially if you buying. #AFJ4LIFE
The following items are in no particular order.
Marvel Legends Cinematic Universe 10th Anniversary Ultron 6-Inch Action Figure
Hasbro dropped this bad boy on us during their Marvel Legends Panel at Comic-Con (seen HERE on AFJ). Thankfully, Entertainment Earth placed a Pre-order up for Ultron (HERE) mere moments after it was announced.
Laughing Prince Adam - Super 7
Super7 went above and beyond with their SDCC 2018 exclusive. Once they announced that “Laughing Prince Adam” was going to be a Con exclusive, the response they got was unprecedented. To appease all the fans that wanted Prince Adam, they opened up the Pre-orders so that everyone and anyone (going to or not going to San Diego) could get him. Super7 truly understands fandom!
Commander Wolffe - GameStop and Barnes & Noble Exclusive
This GameStop and Barnes & Noble exclusive has been heavily sought after as he has not been readily available at every location. We, fortunately, pre-ordered ours from GameStop and was even able to pick one up without their horrible price tag on the package. With Star Wars: The Clone Wars coming back (seen HERE), Commander Wolffe and his Clone brothers just became even hotter.
Captain Phasma - Toys R Us - Canadian Exclusive
The battle damaged Captain Phasma, from The Last Jedi, started out as this internet rumor than landed like thud only to later be revealed as real. The catch is that this Toys R Us Exclusive is only available where there are TRUs, in Canada. Now, if you can’t get to the Great White North, Hasbro announced at Comic-Con that Phasma will be Disney Store Exclusive (available late 2018). This alone makes the figure a two-time purchase, one for the TRU Exclusive version and one for the Disney Store.
Gamorean Guard - Target Exclusive
Anyone else remember that Jabba’s guardsmen were supposed to be at Target (says it with a French accent) June 1st? We do because we have been circling Target like a Mynock looking for a juicy power cable. NOW, they are starting to appear and man do they live up to what we saw at Toy Fair (seen HERE) back in February.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) - NECA - SDCC 2018 Exclusive
This one here has been one of our big news features on AFJ. We have covered the hell out of this exclusive box set as well as controversy and backlash that followed. In short, this is one that EVERYONE wanted and those that did not get it are very upset. See our full review of the set HERE on our YouTube page.
Marvel Legends X-MenWave 3 - B-A-F Apocalypse
All right, Junkies, these are starting to hit now. They are fantastic and easily going to be the hot toy right now. Are word of warning is as follows: This month’s hot toy is often the peg warmer three months from now. Certainly, we will all want something different three months from now, but we are 100% certain that the Wolverine in this set will be overproduced and easy to find. Don’t overpay for him. Sermon done. The whole wave is really phenomenal and we are thrilled to see Magneto return to the Legends line. Order the whole set HERE on Entertainment Earth.
Special Ops Punisher One: 12 - Mezco Toyz - Summer Exclusive
If it’s a Punisher, it will sell. Better yet, if it is an exclusive Punisher, it will really sell. Throw into that mix that said Punisher is a One: 12 by Mezco Toy and more than likely you will pay secondary prices for one. Much like the NECA TMNT exclusive, this one sold out damn quick. We covered the news and additional backlash HERE, Junkies. We were not immune either to losing out on this exclusive. Thankfully, we live by the AFJ credo of helping other Junkies out and this one got paid back to us.
NOTE: We know this figure was released at the end of June, but we cannot deny the impact that it had at the beginning of July.
Marvel Legends Series 6-inch Archangel Action Figure - Entertainment Earth Exclusive
Another figure that Hasbro announced at the Marvel Legends panel and another figure/ character that was long overdue in the modern sculpt. The X-Men’s Archangel also has a special Build-A-Figure piece for Apocalypse. With his wings fully extended, he is going to make an epic display. Pre-Order the Archangel HERE.
Metallic Whis - Funko POP! - SDCC 2018 Exclusive
This month is tricky because of all the Con exclusives. Not our personal preference, but aside from what the Freddys handed out at Fundays (see our coverage HERE), probably the biggest craze has been over the SDCC 2018 exclusive Metallic Whis (from Dragonball Z). Funimation had the exclusive for the Metallic Whis and even released extra inventory on their website after the Con. Which then promptly crashed. Pops! are their own craze and they don’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon.