Sometimes, you never know when a product you've never heard of is going to blow you away. Last month, I saw an unexpected advertisement for a couple of action figures I had never heard of. It's hard to make an untested concept work in action figures, but I believe Kridana has been highly successful with their first effort.

Kridana is a new company that has produced two action figures based on the two thousand year old Indian epic, the Ramayana. The two figures, Rama and Hanuman, are two of the heroes in the epic. Those for whom the Ramayana holds a special place in their hearts will be appreciate the amount of effort to capture these mythological characters in action figure form, and action figure enthusiasts should appreciate the vibrant appearance of Rama, the blue Indian warrior, and Hanuman, the monkey-like warrior, among the rest of their superhero action figures. I've created an image gallery featuring detailed images of both figures.

Right now, your methods of getting these action figures are fairly limited. You can order them directly from Kridana's website. You can also get an exclusive version of Rama at Wizard World Los Angeles, New York Comic Con, and other major conventions this year. Any way you can get a hold of them, these are absolutely a unique addition to your collection!

NECA has announced their exclusive for New York Comic Con next month. It's a boxed set of all four of their upcoming comic-styled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. At a mere 500 pieces, it's sure to go fast!

What's more, on Saturday, April 19, 2008, Peter Laird, the co-creator of the Ninja Turtles, will be at the NECA booth to sign your boxed sets. These kinds of signatures rarely add to the value of the figures, but it certainly makes an incredible experience if you're going to attend!

If you love the Turtles but you can't get to New York next month, don't worry. These are the same figures that will be available individually later this year. They just won't be available boxed together. If you love the boxed set, you can either wait for eBay, or you can try and find a fellow collector through message boards or forums who might be able to pick it up for you.

And be sure to check out the New York Comic Con list of exclusives, because there's even more available for the beginning of the convention season!

Let's face it, everybody's getting a little stir crazy when it comes to the movies out there. For action figure collectors, we're crazing our character-rich summer blockbusters. Why? They usually generate a lot of action figures for us to collect!

There's a lot to get excited about this year, from big superhero movies to the return of popular franchises we'd never thought we'd see again. The action figures for these movies range from kid-friendly (Kung Fu Panda) to collector-oriented (Hellboy II: The Golden Army). Some will get a wave or two, others like Indiana Jones and Star Wars: The Clone Wars will have dozens of individual figures to choose from. So which movie line for this summer has you the most excited?

POLL
1.) Iron Man (5/2)
2.) Speed Racer (5/9)
3. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (5/16)
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (5/22)
5. Kung Fu Panda (6/6)
6. The Incredible Huk (6/13)
7. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (7/11)
8. The Dark Knight (7/18)
9. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (8/15)

See where your favorites are stacking up by checking out the results!

Last month, I reported on the somewhat confusing nature of pricing and availability of the Gentle Giant Obi-Wan Kenobi in Clone Armor Mini-Bust. This is being offered to customers who purchased the corresponding statue at a discounted rate. However, it was originally reported that this would only be for customers who purchased the statue directly from Gentle Giant's website.

Gentle Giant is now reporting that as long as you can provide proof of your purchase of the statue, you get the discounted rate. All you need to do is send clear images of the number of the statue (XXXX/5000) and the matching certificate of authenticity! In other words, if you own this piece already by any means, and you saved the COA, you get the discounted rate. At that price, it's sure to go even faster!

I've posted a new article about vintage Indiana Jones action figures. You might be excited for the new film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones movie in nineteen years! It might be hard for you to believe, but the original Indiana Jones action figures didn't sell too well when they were originally in stores.

I've also added a comprehensive image gallery of vintage Indiana Jones action figures, many in their original packages. There's a lot of important information with the images, included key condition issues and variations. The most important variation I'm posting is one that many collectors don't even know exist. Check it out!

The image gallery is missing a few of the Kenner action figures and the Arabian Horse. If you own these items and want to contribute pictures to the image gallery, be sure to contact me so we can provide as complete a guide to readers as possible!

Now that Toy Fair is over, I'll be getting back to the basics. Today, I've written a new article about the secondary market for action figures. If you're new to the game, you might already be familiar with its more commonly used name - scalping.

The article spells it out in more detail, but if you're familiar with people who scalp tickets, it's basically the same thing but with action figures. If there's profit to be had, there's people who are willing to take advantage of it!

What do you get when you cross designer toys for adult collectors and cartoons aimed at an older audience? You get the kind of great alliance that could only be captured in this week's announcement that Kid Robot will be tackling Adult Swim collectibles.

Kid Robot is known for their urban vinyl collectibles, but they've been getting progressively mainstream, being sold in many comic book shops and retailers like Hot Topic. With the popularity of Adult Swim cartoons, and the fact that action figure collectors only got a small taste of Adult Swim figures through the now defunct Palisades Toys, these are probably going to be a hot sell.

NECA has a really nice relationship with Quentin Tarantino, churning out a number of products based on films like Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs. Last year, there were lofty expectations for Tarantino's latest collaboration with Robert Rodriguez, the double-feature film Grindhouse. Unfortunately, the movie didn't find its audience, and the figures NECA made for the line performed poorly at retail.

But as more people have discovered Grindhouse, there's been a strong desire to do more characters from the movie. And that's why we're getting a Stuntman Mike figure, featuring the best action figure likeness of Kurt Russell to date!

NECA has released images of Stuntman Mike, who will now be available as part of their Cult Classics line-up of figures. Be sure to check out the NECA Toy Fair image gallery for more new NECA stuff for 2008!

While Sideshow Collectibles was not set up at Toy Fair this year, they made two of their biggest product reveals during the week of Toy Fair.

If you couldn't tell from the image galleries I posted, 2008 will be the year of Indiana Jones. Sideshow has the license and is offering up regular and exclusive versions of Indy from Raiders of the Lost Ark. At ninety dollars before shipping, it's a bit pricier than their previous 1:6 scale offerings, but believe me, it's worth it. Sideshow has finally updated their body to be more articulated than ever. Indy will be one of the first figures to sport this new body, as well as a ton of accessories. While they've gotten pricier, they're now in direct competition with popular 1:6 scale imports from companies like Hot Toys and Medicom, and when you consider that, it's not a bad price at all.

The other figure to sport this new body is, of course, a Star Wars figure. It's Obi-Wan Kenobi in Clone Armor, inspired by his appearance in the Clone Wars cartoons of 2003. The new body will allow Sideshow to finally tackle armored figures, and there's a lot of characters who wear armor in Star Wars (any heavy-breathing Sith Lords or nearly silent bounty hunters coming to mind?). He also has the new price tag of ninety bucks.

The Mattel image gallery is finally up! Mattel had a lot to show this year. Their DC Superheroes figures are going to be a tremendous hit this year. But other lines, like Cars, Kung-Fu Panda, and Speed Racer, look equally. Check it out!