TOY FAIR: Bif Bang Pow!

We had the chance to catch up with Bif Bang Pow! at Toy Fair. The guys who brought MEGO-style back to retail have a lot to offer this year, with new additions to old favorites like Venture Bros, Dexter and Dr. Who and some great new additions including Battlestar Galactica and Six Million Dollar Man! Check out our full coverage…

New properties we can look forward to in 2012 include Battlestar Galactica, based on the original 70’s series, and Six Million Dollar Man. Each series will include 8″ retro figures, tin totes, bags, glassware and more.

There will be three series of Battlestar Galactica figures, released in assortments of two:
Starbuck and Android Sister
Apollo and Cylon
Adama and Lucifer
In addition, BBP! is planning for a Cylon troop-builder pack, with a Gold Cyclon.

Six Million Dollar Man will feature two assortments of two, including Steve, Bigfoot (based on the original Andre the Giant version), plus Oscar Goldman and Fembot.

Dark Shadows will see a new assortment for 2012, including Quentin, Josette and Willie.

Dexter will get some new bobbleheads, an 8″ retro figure and a new 3.75″ “Dark Passenger” Dexter, with a black smock and new accessories.

Bobblehead fans can also be on the lookout for more bobbles based on NCIS and Eastbound and Down

Dr. Who’s retro line will be greatly expanded. New figures include Sutekh, Leela, Scaroth, Morbius, H’Sen Chang, Mr. Sin, Kraal, Magnus Greel, and a great in-scale Dalek who will be the line’s first deluxe figure!

Other Dr. Who merch will include glassware such as pint and shot glasses with Dr. Who deco (jacket with bowtie, scarf and more).

Twilight Zone will also continue, with a re-appearance of the 2011 SDCC exclsuive “Icons of Twilight Zone” set. The new mass-market version will be much more accurate to the icons and their placement in show opening. In addition, there will be six new retro figures this year, along with the full-size Talky Tina, bobbleheads and more.

My personal favorite of BBP’s properties is Venture Bros, and we got some exciting updates on the best retro line on the market…
The previously announced new sets, Billy Quizboy & Molotov and Killinger & Shoreleave have been moved back to July, and should be available right around Comic Con. We will also get a third set later this year, including Pete White and blackula-slaying Jefferson Twilight. There’s no set date yet, but look for these two in later 2012 or early next year.
There will be a new Comic Con exclusive this Summer, and while BBP wasn’t ready to reveal it just yet, they gave us this clue: “think of which main characters you don’t have yet.” Take that for what it’s worth, but I’d be filled with HATRED if my hunch is wrong…

The 3.75″ Venture Bros. series, facing cancellation if pre-orders can’t be met, is not DOA yet– 10,000 is the production number needed, so that is the number of preorders necessary to move forward.
BBP said the 3.75″ figures would cost the same to produce as their 8″ line, but due to the difference in size they cannot charge as much for the 3.75″ line as they do for the retro guys. For me personally, I’d gladly pay a premium to get 3.75″ figures as good as the prototypes on display for this line.. If you agree, CLICK HERE and tell me so, and I’ll pass it along to BBP!

But all hope is not lost for the small-scale Venture line… In 2011, e-stores were only allowed to take preorders for in-store sales, and not to sell in their online stores… this has changed for 2012, so now all e-tailers can begin taking preorders online. This may help drive sales enough to reach the necessary totals.