We were able to sit down with McFarlane Toys today and hash some things out. Well, we didn’t sit, we stood and walked and talked and took pics, but seriously, I’m feeling pretty good about the direction the company is heading.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the way things have ran for Todd for the past 25 or so years. There’s a market for it. There are fans of it. I’m just not a fan of limited articulation, no matter how nice the sculpt and paint is. But as we were told several times today, the Fortnite formula really, really opened their eyes. They are hearing so much positive feedback and the sales to back it up that it’s taking future product in a totally different direction.

First up, the 22 points of articulation is going to become the loose standard. And by 22 POA, I mean that’s what they call the Fortnite figure joint scheme, which is fragg’n fantastic. There is some stuff like Game of Thrones, Destiny, and Borderlines that was already in development, therefore missing the new articulation. The Naruto prototype sports it, and while the actual Saitama figure doesn’t at this exact moment, look at the mock-up behind the proto. It’ll have that articulation too.

They said that Game of Thrones may implement it in the next series, possibly, so just because a line has less articulation at the moment, it doesn’t mean it won’t be added to future waves. Check the upcoming Call of Duty figures. Added articulation. Toes. The My Hero Academia line has the new articulation. Mortal Kombat, Fallout, and Doom will have it.

The Fortnite vehicles look awesome. So do the figures. I need them all.

Nothing is being shown for DC, and it’s spotty info at best at the moment. 6 to 12 inches can be done, but like a lot of the other conversations, the 22POA was mentioned several times. Any era, any costume, any size. We’ll see more closer to 2020.

Lastly, the Harry Potter figures are going to blow your mind. Again, the 22POA scheme, 7 inch scale, starting with Deathly Hallows Part 2. Wave 1 will be Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who all include their individual Patronus cast in translucent plastic with an ethereal white mist on them. Also included is Voldemort with cloth robes to maximize movement. The kids don’t have cloth, just plastic and then softer plastic to lessen restriction. Since He Who Shall Not Be Named doesn’t have a Patronus, Nagini is included and I’ll tell ya, it’s a scary looking snake accessory. There is also a Buckbeak like the dragons in the GoT line. A Dementor was shown as part of the same line of beasts as Buckbeak since it wouldn’t be a full-on figure, but scaled accordingly to the figures in the main line.

Series 2 is tentatively scheduled to be Chamber of Secrets related.

All in all, I came out of the meeting feeling amazingly confident about a lot of the lines and McFarlane in general. I really feel like they are giving the new direction a go and we fans of super articulation are only going to benefit. Now I gotta brush up on all of the properties because good toys will get me every time, whether I know what a Fortnite is or not.

RoboKillah https://www.youtube.com/user/therealfwoosh Robo was born a small child, an infant even, who grew up on a steady diet of geek culture. Now as a grown-up kid he gets to re-live those days through new outlets. His interests lie in action figures based on movies and comic books, along with any other shiny thing that may come along. See author's posts

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