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AIC NEWS: Week of April 7, 2025
227 Plays17 days ago
Welcome to AICNN (Adventures in Collecting News Network) where toy news matters! This is your AIC NEWS brief. Give us a few minutes, and we'll give you the goods.
This week the AICNN anchors highlight what you need to know for the week of April 7th, 2025!
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
Proudly part of the Non-Productive Network
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Transcript
Introduction and Recap
00:00:05
Speaker
AICNN, where toy news matters.
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome to AIC News. Give us a few minutes and we'll give you the goods. um We are back with another short episode of ah AIC News ah with what you need headed into the the week ahead with some recaps of all of the amazing toy news that happened over the last seven days.
00:00:33
Speaker
But before we head ah straight into that news, let's talk a little bit about just some housekeeping
Giveaways and Future Guests
00:00:38
Speaker
real quick. Of course, it is April, so our monthly giveaway is live over on Instagram. So this month, as it is WrestleMania month, the month of April, we are giving away last year's San Diego Comic-Con exclusive WWE wwe Ultimate Edition WrestleMania, what is this? WrestleMania 12, I believe. Shawn Michaels.
00:01:01
Speaker
So in order to win this very sold out figure, you can head over to our Instagram account that is at AIC underscore podcast where you will find a pinned post and you can enter to win yourself a ah an Ultimate Edition Michaels.
00:01:18
Speaker
The Boyhood Dream. so celebrate WrestleMania by by entering yourself in to win a Shawn Michaels figure. Dave will be with us shortly talking all about the amazing wwe wwe and other wrestling figure news ah to to end cap this ah this episode.
00:01:37
Speaker
So other piece of housekeeping is our next episode of Adventures in Collecting. So if you are listening to this new on Monday morning, April 7th, next week's episode will feature a friend of the pod and actually It's weird to say friend of the pod, but also first time guest. We have known James Zahn at The Rock Father on Instagram and X for a long time now.
00:02:00
Speaker
um He is the editor in chief of the toy book. He is the senior editor at Toy Insider. And he he knows, as they like to say, the pulse of play.
00:02:11
Speaker
So James will be joining us on the next episode of Adventures in Collecting next Monday, a week from today. We are going to be talking about the the status of the toy industry, especially with all of these a new U.S. mandated tariffs that are ah potentially affecting small businesses, toys, toy companies, buyers, everybody across the board.
00:02:34
Speaker
So James is very much so in touch with all of that. So we are very excited to be able to sit down and finally chat with him on the show. It has been a long time coming and um it should be a really great conversation. So that being said, there is still time if you are listening to this as it is new. There is still time to get some questions in because we are sitting down with him a little bit later this week So with that, ah let's head into the toy news that that you need headed into the new week.
New and Upcoming Toy Releases
00:03:02
Speaker
So first and foremost, our friends from Hasbro on the Marvel Legends team had an April live stream ah with tons of reveals. i We'll just kind of touch on them really quickly here. So...
00:03:15
Speaker
pre-ordering this week, so on the 10th, April 10th, will be the Maximum Series um Marvel Legends Incredible Hulk, something that I'm very, very excited for. This features some kind of new new technique, new technology for the Marvel Legends team, not something that we've never seen before, but something certainly that we've never seen on a Marvel Legends figure.
00:03:38
Speaker
Hulk has a soft...
00:03:41
Speaker
I don't know what the actual material is, but we'll say a soft PVC, almost like a rubber-like upper torso, which allows him to finally do that ah that thunderclap, that that gamma clap.
00:03:53
Speaker
ah He comes with three different head sculpts, comes with a bunch of different hands. He's got a new feet with toe joints. He's got a rocket that he can rip apart, as well as some effect pieces. This will be $59.99, and again, will be available to pre-order on April 4th at 1 p.m. Eastern,
00:04:11
Speaker
on Amazon and Pulse and other fan channels. So definitely Make sure you keep an eye on our Instagram page. We will post as soon as that goes live. um They also showed off i a new Fantastic Four She-Hulk, which will be available um on fan channels ah later on this month.
00:04:33
Speaker
So that'll be ah April 4th, or I'm sorry, April 24th at 1 p.m. Eastern time. And again, this is She-Hulk, Jen Walters in her classic Fantastic Four outfit.
00:04:44
Speaker
We also saw an updated Velocity Suit, Gamerverse Spider-Man, that will be available at Walmart later this year. Weapon X and Mystique on Toy Biz-inspired retro cards will round off the year of retro card at Marvel Legends at Target. They will be available in the second half of the year.
00:05:04
Speaker
ah We saw the next four MCU figures, so we've got two Thunderbolts 2-packs that are going to be available sometime in May. That includes... uh a new red guardian and yelena as well as the first look at century and um and john walker uh again those will be available next month and then uh what went up for pre-order last week and is still available in places like big bad toy store is the spider-man 3 bully mcguire uh black suit spider-man uh that is like i said it went up for pre-order last week and is still available
00:05:40
Speaker
at Big Bad Toy Store if you need it So um definitely head over to AICpodcast.com forward slash links and look for the link for that now. um The other... ah The other piece of kind of teaser slash news that ah the Marvel Legends team put out this week, or last week, excuse me, was our first look at the hands of the um the Fantastic Four First Steps MCU figures. Of course, last week was 4-4, so Fantastic Four Day. They had to do something. So while we don't see the ah the full figures, we do get a a kind of look at um at the the Fantastic Four's hands and arms. So thing... Sue Storm, Reed Richards, and Johnny Storm are all present in the picture.
00:06:25
Speaker
I cannot wait to see those full figures. Very, very excited. Last bit of news before I hand it over to Dave for wrestling figures. There was a sort of reveal, kind of reveal, accidental reveal of an upcoming panel of where he is.
00:06:44
Speaker
uh, Ultimis figure coming from NECA. So, um, on the Friday the 13th, uh, part one, the original one packaging, uh, with the, with the poster on the front and that amazing Chris Ramo, uh, collage on the back, Pamela comes with four heads, uh, and, and an absolute arsenal of weapons, including the ax, the machete, thea the broken off aura, a dagger, as well as by bow and arrows. So um Pamela comes decked out, ready to avenge her son.
00:07:13
Speaker
um and And just on the heels of, or er on the in the wake of, I don't know how we say, briefe preceding Mother's Day. So happy the early Mother's Day. um Now you can...
00:07:26
Speaker
all day. With that, I'm going to hand it over to Dave to cover off on some wrestling news. And ah yeah, Dave, take it away. It was a busy news week over in the wrestling figure world, so let's get to it.
00:07:40
Speaker
First over at Mattel Creations, we had the latest Elite Squad image drop for April 2025. First off was shown the timed exclusive for the WrestleMania Superstore of Elite John Cena,
00:07:55
Speaker
Last Time Is Now figure. So this is in his red Last Time Is Now shirt and red and blue cap. um This will be available starting April 17th at the WrestleMania Superstore in Las Vegas.
00:08:10
Speaker
And that's going to be a timed exclusive for WrestleMania weekend. Presumably it will be available at Mattel Creations following that, but more on that as it comes. um They also showed off a whole bunch of main event figures.
00:08:25
Speaker
Coming soon. So first we have main event showdown series 22. We have Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill Austin Theory and Grayson Waller The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles and those three two packs are coming soon We also had the latest main event top picks. This is going to be wave four includes Jey Uso Randy Orton and John Cena and Last but certainly not least is Main Event Series 157.
00:08:59
Speaker
That includes Alundra Blaze, the first time in the line figure for Nathan Frazier with a chase, Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, Jey Uso will round out that series.
00:09:14
Speaker
Now when those all go up for pre-order, make sure if you pre-order at Ringside Collectibles, to include the code AIC and get yourself 10% off.
00:09:27
Speaker
Our next stop is over at CollectMajor.com because Big Rubber Guys Series 13 is up for pre-order. That four-figure set is available to pre-order now through April 30th.
00:09:41
Speaker
And remember, the pre-order is the order over at CollectMajor.com. This four-figure set includes Haku, the Tonga Kid, Carrie Von Eric, and Bruiser Brody.
00:09:54
Speaker
They can be ordered as a group for $199.95 or individually for $49.99. Remember, you have until April 30th to pre-order those at CollectMajor.com.
Special Announcements and Credits
00:10:09
Speaker
We have a double dose of Zombie Sailor's toys up next. Heading over to Zombiesailor.com, you can pre-order or pre-buy the Zombie Sailor Toys, Wrestling Heels and Faces Pinnacle Collection Series 1.
00:10:27
Speaker
The complete set of four is available for $199, and you can purchase each individual figure for $49.99. Series one includes Double J Jeff Jarrett, Abdullah the Butcher, Brian Pillman from his infamous ECW Arena debut, and King Kong Bundy.
00:10:47
Speaker
Now, Zombie Sailor has gone on record on Instagram saying there are under 500 pieces of each figure left. So if you are going to pre-order, make sure to do that before they run out.
00:11:01
Speaker
Now also, this coming Wednesday, April 8th, Zombie Sailor is going to be putting up the Bloodsport Retro Scale figures. And those are going to be available for pre-order on Wednesday, April 8th at 8pm.
00:11:15
Speaker
And that includes Jean-Claude Van Damme as Frank Dukes and Bolo Young as Chong Li. For more information on Pinnacle Series 1 and the upcoming Bloodsport figures, head on over to Zombiesailor.com.
00:11:31
Speaker
Finally, we head on over to Hastell Toy to check in on the Grapplers and Gimmicks Regium series. This week it was announced and shown off that Gangrel is heading to the line.
00:11:44
Speaker
The elite scale Gangrel figure includes interchangeable heads, interchangeable hands, a goblet accessory, a talisman accessory, and soft goods microfiber shirt.
00:11:57
Speaker
Keep an eye out for more information soon over at Hastell Toy. On behalf of the entire AICNN team, this has been your AIC News
00:12:15
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Frank Hablawi. This program and many others like it on the Non-Productive Network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.