Sep 3, 2007

James Bond Action Figures On The Way At Last?

Last month it was announced (and widely reported) that toymaker Corgi had renewed their license to produce toys based on the James Bond films. I paid little attention to these reports, because it was pretty much old news. I mean, Corgi is one of the very oldest Bond licensees out there; the relationship between 007 and the toymaker goes all the way back to Goldfinger! It would be terrible news if the license weren't being renewed, but it was hardly worth mentioning that it was, right? Apparently not.

Luckily, the folks at action-figure.com were reading the press release a lot more carefully than I was, and it contains some potentially exciting information. I'd assumed the agreement simply extended the company's deal to manufacture die-cast cars based on the series, as they've been doing such a good job of that for forty years. But it goes further:

This worldwide agreement will allow Corgi International to release both mass market product ranges as well as core collectibles on innovative product lines that include, Action Figures, Vehicles, Electronic Roleplay, Die Cast, High Specification Remote Control released under the Popco brand and High end Replicas released under the world renowned Master Replicas branding, amongst other items in varying scales and formats.

Action figures, huh? That's very exciting! The editors of action-figure.com points out that it's Corgi who will release the line of Golden Compass action figures this fall, to tie in with that movie, and their Daniel Craig sculpt (pictured) is very impressive! I'll second their thoughts and also hope that this is indicative of a line of 3.75 inch James Bond figures to come. After all, we've (for some unfathomable reason!) never had a line of true Bond action figures. Various companies from Mego to Sideshow have produced dolls in the 12-inch range of varying quality, and there have been lots of molded figurines over the years, from Gilbert in the Sixties (whose toys were actually billed as "action figures") to Little Lead Soldiers in the Eighties to Corgi's own stunning "Icons" line. But none of those were articulated or poseable. I don't care if they just put that Golden Compass figure in a tux (or even a tiny blue bathing suit if that's their prerogative!); it would be great to have an actual James Bond action figure!

Of course, the term in the press release is somewhat unclear. It could refer to another Icons-like line of figurines, or even just to the tiny figurines that come with some of the cars, but here's hoping not!

1 comment:

Rogue Spy 007 said...

This does sound great after all. I would love to get these when they start coming out.