Disney Infinity is no more; the whole toys-to-life video game fad seems to have sputtered, in fact, with Lego Dimensions recently closing up shop and Skylanders — the line that started it all — eerily quiet these days. (Although Nintendo’s amiibo don’t seem to be going anywhere — if you can find the ones you want.)
But elements of Disney’s entry in this arena live on in new line of action figures coming to Disney Stores is based on Infinity designs. These “Toybox” products will look very familiar to Infinity collectors. (The non-storyline, creative building area of Disney Infinity was called the Toy Box; the concept grew out of elements of the Toy Story 3 video game.)
These new releases differ in that there is no in-game interactivity, and points of articulation (aka, joints) have been added to make them truly action figures rather than just statuesque figurines.
John Vignocchi, who headed up Disney Infinity production, confirmed the connection on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JohnVignocchi/status/923277775657725952
So far, releases appear to include a Pixar line with Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jessie, Marvel with Thor, Hulk, Spider-Man and an updated version of Iron Man, and Star Wars with Kylo Ren, Rey and a First Order Stormtrooper — the latter character being one that didn’t get released as an Infinity figure.
These three sets appear to exist as separate lines aimed at different audiences (Pixar Toybox, Marvel Toybox, Star Wars Toybox) and don’t even mention each other on the packaging, as you can see here. (Ironically, the Toy Box was the Disney Infinity zone where “anything goes” and characters from different franchises could mix.)
This first Toybox wave is releasing at brick-and-mortar and online Disney Store Friday, Nov. 3., retailing for $12.95 each; at the time of Disney Infinity’s cancellation, individual interactive figures cost $13.99. So, the price has come down a bit to reflect the fact they don’t actually do anything, but the articulation at least allows for custom posing as well as more traditional rough-and-tumble toy play.
Among collectors, the Infinity designs were acclaimed for their distinctive and polished look — and there were many more in the pipeline when the game’s life was ended. Wouldn’t it be cool if this Toybox concept was a pathway to seeing some of those unreleased figure designs realized at last?
