Important Toy News: DC's Hot Properties Village is the best fictional real estate

For many of us, visiting fictional locales from our favorite pop culture stories boils down to maybe visiting the real world stand-in used in film or TV. There's no real way to visit the Daily Planet or Wayne Manor outside the pages of DC Comics. Several collectible companies have done their best to let us bring these famous landmarks home, and now Enesco is giving it a go with the DC Hot Properties Village. It's not quite the same as being there, but it's pretty darn close.

It Takes a (DC) Village

Up for pre-order starting this week, Enesco's Hot Properties Village follows in line with the well-known Department 56 "Village" brand. Instead of Swiss chalets and winter-themed Americana, Enesco is turning its attention to the major landmarks of the DC Universe. The company has already been putting out Christmas ornaments featuring some DC characters, but this new direction for the license opens up all kinds of possibilities, beginning with Wayne Manor, the Daily Planet, and the Batcave.

Credit: Enesco

All three ceramic replicas include light-up elements, a key feature for display purposes. The scales are a little off between the various buildings, but that helps to keep all the various entries shelf-sized. Still, the Superman flying around the Daily Planet is comically oversized compared to the building, and the same could be said for the Bruce and Alfred that accompany Wayne Manor. At least the Batmobile looks like it could actually fit through the Batcave entrance. Sadly, the '66 Batman and Robin to go with that cave entrance are sold separately.

The four pieces are available for pre-order now, though none of them have firm release dates as of yet. Wayne Manor will set you back $240, the Daily Planet retails for $280, the Batcave $125, and the Batman and Robin set will be $32.50. Fingers crossed we get a Hall of Justice and Invisible Plane/Wonder Woman combo set down the line too.

Credit: Sideshow Collectibles

A Figure on the Verge of Greatness

Any Hot Toys collectors out there worried that all the villains the company was planning on releasing were going to be clad in armor can breathe easy knowing that sharp-dressing Imperial bureaucrat Orson Krennic is getting his own figure. As the antagonist of Rogue One, Ben Mendelsohn's Director Krennic wasn't exactly a revelation, but he was a strong embodiment of the Empire's style of galactic control. He was also a man who thought he deserved a lot more credit than he earned. Perhaps if he had less hubris, he may have lived.

The figure is a great representation of Mendelsohn, and captures his self-importance quite well. The costuming is top notch, too, and is another strong example of what Hot Toys' tailors can do when bringing movie costumes to life at sixth-scale. You can never go wrong with a spectacular cape. There's not much else to the figure beyond some minor Imperial accessories, but it should make a solid entry in any collection of space fascists. You can pre-order Krennic from Sideshow now for $239, and expect him to arrive in time for the holidays.

Credit: McFarlane Toys

GOT McFarlane?

After teasing the new figures in its Game of Thrones line late last year, McFarlane Toys has finally updated its brand page to feature more images and details about the first wave. Due to start shipping in April 2019, the first batch of characters will include Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Daenerys Targaryen, the Night King, and a (not-to-scale) Viserion in ice dragon form. The standard figures will run $22, with Viserion retailing for $28.

The final production sculpts all look fairly strong, with Jon and Daenerys having the best human likenesses. Arya looks like Arya, but the figure is just a bit off from Maisie Williams. Each of the figures has 12+ points of articulation (Viserion has 10), which means you'll be able to pose them just enough for display. They won't be getting too acrobatic though, so dramatic battle stances might not be in the cards. Even with that in mind, these look miles above previous efforts for the brand, and should make Thrones fans happy.

Mera Can Dream

Coming this March from DC Collectibles is a new DC Cover Girls statue from Joëlle Jones spotlighting the queen of Atlantis, Mera. The piece was announced last year, but this new Instagram post gives us a great 360-degree look at Mera in all her empowered glory.

There's a lot to like about this statue, but it all starts with that gorgeous rendering of Mera's vivid red hair. It's full of life, giving the statue an imposing silhouette that's balanced out by the delicate rendering of water splashing at Mera's feet. Mera's gaze staring upward is a bit aspirational too, adding to the regal stance she offers.

The Mera statue is still available for pre-order for $125 at most hobby shops.