SOTA (State of the Art Toys) is a new company that has snagged some impressive licenses.  SOTA's first series of figures based on the popular Charmed TV series on the WB (it was recently renewed) will hit retail in April, but in June SOTA's releases really heat up with the first series of six action figures based on the Chronicles of Riddick science fiction blockbuster, which opens on June 11.  The Chronicles of Riddick is a sequel of sorts to David Touhy's Pitch Black, but unlike Pitch Black, Chronicles has a huge budget, reportedly $200 million, making it the most expensive film ever produced by Universal.  Chronicles is the big Vin Diesel summer action movie and SOTA has a second series of six figures, as well as vehicles set to release in August.  The seven-inch Chronicles of Riddick figures will retail for $12.99.

In July, SOTA will launch its other major action figure release of the year -- Street Fighter.  2004 marks the fifteenth anniversary of Street Fighter, which is the most popular fighting game (both arcade and console) in history.  Image's new Street Fighter comic book (produced by Udon) has done very well and there will be all sorts of additional Street Fighter merchandise available this year to mark the anniversary.  SOTA's Jess Bonsal claims that SOTA's Street Fighter figures are the first high-end, fully-articulated action figures, which can actually duplicate the fighting poses from the Street Fighter game and anime.  SOTA plans to produce three Street Fighter series this year for a total of fifteen action figures.  The figures themselves will range from six to eight inches in height and will retail for $12.99 each.  There is no chance SOTA will be running out of Street Fighter characters any time soon, since the game itself has featured more than 70 different characters through the years.

In addition to its Street Fighter and Chronicles of Riddick figures, SOTA will also produce figures based on the cult music act, Insane Clown Posse, as well as an Alien vs. Predator Chess Set, which will feature high-end resin figures and will retail in the vicinity of $249.