Toys

Superman looks good for 75. The Last Son of Krypton’s 75th anniversary coincides with the June 14 release of “Man of Steel,” easily one of the top 13 must-see movies of 2013. Superman arrived on the scene in June of 1938 in “Action Comics” No. 1, one of the most coveted comic books in history. (If you see a dusty copy of the original at a garage sale, snap it up. Only a few dozen copies are believed to be in existence. An original netted $2.1 million for actor and collector Nicolas Cage.) Quiz: How well do you know Superman? In that debut issue, Superman was introduced as a mythic hero and champion of the oppressed. The brainchild of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster proved so popular with readers that he soon landed his very own comic series. In honor of Superman’s 75th anniversary, […]

Superman is turning 75. When Superman first leaped (not flew, mind you) onto the pages of “Action Comics” No. 1 in 1938, the Man of Steel heralded the beginning of the superhero comics genre, paving the way for Batman, Spider-Man and many more spandex-wearing crime fighters. But there is only one Superman. His super-speed, super-strength and a noble devotion to truth, justice and the American way have helped make Superman the most enduring figure in comics, inspiring several landmark portrayals in television, on stage and in film, including the upcoming “Man of Steel,” in theaters June 14. “It’s precisely because we have so many dark heroes (Batman), and fraught ones (Spider-Man), that we’re aching for a big blue Boy Scout who knows right from wrong instinctively, and never wavers from the light or is sidetracked by anxieties,” said Larry Tye, who wrote […]

International Women’s Day is being honored today with that singular cultural touchstone: a Google Doodle. The doodle drawing of faces of women around the world artistically honors the advancement of women’s rights — one of the chief goals of International Women’s Day — and the fact that a woman’s work, it seems, is never done. Hero Complex is celebrating International Women’s Day in the best way it knows how: with a photo gallery of women from film, TV, games and comic books who embody female empowerment and, let’s face it, kick booty. (Yes, we said “booty,” but only because the L.A. Times censors made us.) Beyoncé as Wonder Woman? Now we know there’s a long list of complaints about women in genre. Chiefly, that they are hyper-sexualized sidekicks who do little more than bust out of their curve-hugging costumes. And, […]

Cowabunga! A ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” remake is on the way. But perhaps the bigger news is this: Actress Megan Fox and director Michael Bay are reuniting for the “TMNT” redo. The director took to his website Thursday night to announce the news: “TMNT: We Are Bringing Megan Fox Back Into the Family” Bay and Fox famously clashed while working on the first two “Transformers” movies. At one point during an interview with a British magazine, Fox compared her director to Hitler.  Bay lashed back with some tart words of his own, questioning Fox’s work ethic: “I’m sorry, Megan. … I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time.” Shia LaBeouf wages Twitter war They parted ways for the third installment in the series, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley stepping in to play the part of […]

The 2013 American International Toy Fair may have come to a close, its figures once more locked away and the promotional banners all carted off, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost your chance to get an early peek at some of the figures and games looming on the horizon. Leaked photos of the main cast of “Man of Steel” condensed into action-figure form stole much of the show’s attention, but other prominent 2013 film releases, such as “Iron Man 3″ and “Star Trek Into Darkness” offered a sense of what will be occupying the shelves of toy stores and comic-book shops nationwide. ‘Man of Steel’ first look: Russell Crowe gets Jor-El action figure Featuring an Angry Bird play set (you can fling the birds with your own two hands!) as well as the tallest transformable Transformer on record, the offerings […]

The public has spoken, and the cat boots the iron on the Monopoly game board. As Pop Blend cleverly noted, it’s an Internet vote, so of course the cat won.   In the vote on Facebook, held Jan. 8 to Tuesday, Hasbro asked fans to decide which old token would go and which new one would take its place. Longtime tokens the iron, the wheelbarrow and the shoe competed for least popular in the final hours of voting, according to the Associated Press. But the iron — a granddaddy of a Monopoly token, having been around the board since the 1930s — proved least popular of all. The tokens from which fans could choose were a cat, helicopter, robot, diamond ring and acoustic guitar.  Thirty-one percent of voters opted for the kitty.  An interesting tidbit: The Scottie dog was the most […]

Russell Crowe will be sporting some heavy-duty armor in Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated “Man of Steel” — that is, if a new Jor-El action figure is any indication. The Mattel figure features Superman’s Kryptonian father, but he’s not wearing the ethereal white robes of Marlon Brando’s 1978 portrayal. The toy adopts Crowe’s likeness and appears to be clad in the same alien-meets-steam-punk style shoulder armor we’ve seen in photos from the set. The figure also wears metal boots, leg armor and gauntlets over a blue undersuit. In addition to the Jor-El figure, the photo gallery above also gives Hero Complex readers a first look at figures for Superman, his nemesis Darkseid and another DC character, Vampire Batman. The Vampire Batman figure is based on the Batman vampire trilogy (1991′s “Batman and Dracula: Red Rain,” 1994′s “Batman: Bloodstorm” and 1998′s “Batman: Crimson […]

The culture of cute is having a moment — more than 100 of them. Inside downtown Los Angeles’ Japanese American National Museum, the unofficial U.S. ambassador of Asian pop culture, Giant Robot founder Eric Nakamura, hovers over his empire of little people — some 100 charismatic misfits clustered in Plexiglas cases. There’s the cheery, hot-pink monster head atop an armored tank, the grimacing caramel-colored ogre with horns and the Native American robotic beast in a fuzzy bear hat. Not to mention the bug-eyed, blue octopus skewering its neon-scarlet brain with a fork. That these custom vinyl figures are being showcased so seriously in a museum setting puts an elastic grin on Nakamura’s face. “A figure show, toys, are never presented in a space like this,” he says. “It usually happens in a shop on Melrose, on a shelf. I wanted […]

Call it Christmas, call it Hanukkah, call it Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice or Festivus. The truth is, we here at Hero Complex never need an excuse to indulge our inner geek, but we’ll certainly take one when it’s handed to us on a platter. Whether you’re shopping for yourself or another horror fanatic, Marvel maniac, Tolkien enthusiast, Jedi Padawan, Whovian, Browncoat or Gryffindor, we’ve got the geek-friendly gift guide you need to make the holiday season a magical one. Click through the gallery above. Happy shopping, and happy holidays! UNDER $25 “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” plush toys, $9.99 each Gollum may be one of Middle-earth’s saddest and slimiest characters, but what Tolkien fan wouldn’t give him a hug if they could? These plush toys feature Gollum, hairy-footed Bilbo (and his trusty blade Sting) and Gandalf the Gray wielding his staff. (Funko) […]

At the forefront of video game popularity, the “Street Fighter” series has sold more than 500,000 coin-operated units and more than 24 million console games worldwide — generating more than a billion dollars in revenue. In 1994, “Street Fighter” was made into a feature film starring Jean Claude Van Damme, and though panned by critics, it grossed more than $100 million worldwide. The “Hadouken!” battle cry has become part of the lexicon for a generation of video gamers, and Capcom, the company that introduced the game in stand-up arcades in 1987, will be offering a 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set on Tuesday to mark the occasion. Game-wise, the set will include “Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix,” “Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition,” “Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition” and “Street Fighter X Tekken.” Non-gaming extras include a two-disc […]