While Preview Night has become somewhat of a superstar event with new toys being carelessly displayed to whet our appetites for panels scheduled later in the convention. In the middle, is Day One, a day with a couple panels, some interesting news, and needed to build the anticipation for tomorrow.
It’s way too early, but we’re going to shoot for a thousands word and to be done by 5am. There were 52 in the openning, and this makes eighty. Don’t worry, you don’t have to count along, geez.
Anyway, there were a few key panels today, Mattel held them for WWE & Voltron while Hasbro had theirs for Transformers. First up, let’s talk about the GI Joe news that we didn’t get.
If you hit up HissTank, you’ll see some sad news about how there may not be any new product to show at SDCC and that there is no Joe Panel. That said, there is a Joe display case and if you’re not as up to the date on the upcoming product, there are still some cool things to see.
Michael Crawford spent some time lovingly photographing the Joes on display. It looks like there are plenty of cool figures in the pike, but I’m most excited for Lifeline & Law & Order. Those figures look great and have great accessories, Lifeline in particular (IV line, paddles, the stretcher, etc.). For even more shots of the Joes, check out this HissTank Gallery.
I did find myself with one Joe annoyance though. There was an insane Joe vs Cobra battle going on aboard the USS Flagg on display at SDCC. That’s seven feet of vintage toy aircraft carrier serving as a playset for a slew of Modern Joes (via HissTank). What’s wrong with that you ask? The skipper. If you check out the third to last picture in that gallery, you’ll find the ever capable vintage Keel-Haul steering his ship. I’m always happy to see him, but he’s the only vintage Joe I see in that display and it just reminds me that he desperately needs a modern figure. C’mon Hasbro! The Admiral is due!
On the Hasbro front, they did hold the Transformers and Transformers Prime Panels. ASMZine livetweeted both panels and have summaries at those two above links. Judging from these pics at MWCToys, it’s sound like I’ll be again having to exercise a little self-contrl in the TF aisle.
While I love Transformers, I do get confounded at the seemingly endless robot parade big events, especially when it’s movie-related. Luckily for me, I’ve got a wonderful forum member (Hi ,Mose!) that’s been posting links about Transformers Prime on our forum. Prime is more Vault’s thing, but I’m really liking Cliffjumper and that Bulkhead. Mose also let me know that two more Generations toys are on tap for Fall. That I can get behind!
Another property that I’m not too up to speed on is Thundercats. If you’re looking for some news on that line, there’s always Thundercats.ws, but I also spied a nice gallery at TNI. Seriously, that’s all I know.
Meanwhile, Mattel held their WWE Panel and there’s a quick rundown and images over at TNI. It’s all Greek to me, but I think it’s pretty cool that CM Punk crashed the panel still. Also, a quick check of Mattycollector reveals that the Legends line will be moving to Mattycollector. Mattel will be including the Legends wrestlers in other lines, but that particular part of the brand is now exclusive to the site with six figures planned for 2012. Andre the Giant is confirmed as the first figure while fans can vote on the other five (vote for Junkyard Dog!!). Also check out TNI for booth images.
In MOTU news, any excitement for Battle Armor Faker being available on TRU.com was quickly dashed as he ended up not being available online or at the Con. Some folks at He-Man.org said that customer service at TRU told them it would be a few weeks until they were in stock. Ouch.
There was an interesting tidbit today – some MOTU squashdowns were placed in the MOTU cases. These could just be to test them out (similar to the Attitubes from year before last), but they do look cool and I could see picking them up should they ever get released. Hopefully, we’ll learn more tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, we’ve got an interesting DC Classics tidbit unfolding. When pics of Batman Legacy Wave 2 leaked a few weeks back, collectors saw a pack-in Bat-Mite. We would later see him in package with the GA Batman and a “K-Mart Exclusive” sticker. If you check this gallery at AFP, you’ll see no Bat-Mite and no sticker. Could it be that K-Mart is getting an exclusive pack-in? Ewww.
In other DC news, the DC Direct Panel gave out a little information, but seemed mostly designed to showcase the Relaunched JLA figures. The sad thing, I kinda like how they look as figures. That said, prolly not buying ’em because I don’t like how they look in the comics. And what’s up with Wonder Woman’s pants? I can’t keep track of her costume changes and the relaunch hasn’t started yet…
At MWC, BifBangPow features a litany of Mego dolls. They’re not something I personalyl enjoy, but I did have to laugh at the Twilight Zone Harry Bemis doll. He’s the man who survives the end of the world and is happy to have the opportunity to catch up on his reading in “Time Enough at Last”. But, by episode’s end, he breaks his glasses and can’t read a thing. I don’t know if that needed a toy, but it is a Burgess Meredith figure so maybe we can pretend he’s the Penguin? There are some other fun Megos too, including some that might be actual size if I’m remembering my doll episodes correctly. Kinda cool. Plus, there’s one shot of those 3 3/4″ Venture Bros figures if you’re into that sort of thing.
Mezco Images can also be found at MWCToys and TNI. The Earthworm Jim is still the Mezco highlight for me, but I did have to laugh at some of those lil’ DC Mez-Its. There’s a two-pack of Batman Beyond & Cyborg! Why are those together? I’m having pegwarming flashbacks to when two shared a case at Wal-Mart in 2009…
MWC also had plenty of great shots from the Neca booth for all your bobbleheads, Gremlins, Terminator, Evil Dead, Walking Dead… man, Neca really loves licenses, don’t they? I’m not complaining though as there are some great looking figures in those pics.
I’m too poor for Sideshow, so I try not to look, but if you must MWCToys has an extensive gallery with subsections for Hot Toys, Marvel, DC, GI Joe, Star Wars, LotR, Predators/Aliens, & More. Thousands of dollars of cool stuff, no doubt !
Finally, I’m going to say MWCToys one more time for his Toynami Gallery. I don’t pick up anything from the company, but I think I’d be a happy camper if I were really into Futurama. There be some cool figures there.
Okay, so a thousand words came and went… just like 5am came and went… sigh. Oh well, it’s the biggest nerd weekend on Earth. Whatcha gonna do? I’m off my SDCC morning nap before the big panels, but here’s my list of links to the sites I either pulled from or intended to! A big thanks to each and every one of them for attending and/or spreading the love back to us: ActionFigureInsider, ActionFigurePics, ASMZine, Cool Toy Review, Critical Mess, Hiss Tank, OAFE, Michael Crawford, Pixel Dan, Raving Toy Maniac, TFW2005, Toynewsi, & ToyArk.
Kmart exclusive Bat-mite?!? Say it ain’t so, Noisy! Say it ain’t so! With the lack of dcuc figs at my local bigK, I don’t expect to ever see that one!
I’m loving those Futurama toys! Flexo! The complete Robot Mafia! “The Clamps!” Love it! If only i had a little more space for some of those…
btw, much thanks for your ongoing, and wonderfully done, sdcc armchair coverage. It’s great to have such a convenient rundown, w/links, to this news. Please keep it up!
Hey, what’s with the word counting? You say “1000 words already” like it’s a bad thing. I say “-only- 1000 words?” =) Write as much as you want or need, to (while still getting your rest, of couse); I’ll read it. It’s like Headline News for me, summarizing everything important, sprinkled with your thoughts. Really enjoy these writeups. And thanks for the links as well. These articles are my one-stop jumping off point to all the SDCC news and photos.
I didn’t catch Batmite’s no-show, thanks for pointing that out. I sure hope he’s not an exclusive. [Didn’t they learn anything from GleekGate?]
My first shoutout ever! Woohoo!
Found some more stuff, by the way. I’ll post it as soon as I can.
that’s crap that the legends WWE line is moving to mattycollector. there’s no reason for it. my local TRU has been terrible about stocking the WWE stuff, and really, a lot of places got burnt on those flexforce figs which sold about as well as the “2 girls 1 cup” ice cream from blue bunny. (that’s not real, don’t google) and so, they’re pegs are clogged w/ crap that won’t move… thus, no new product can be shelved. but i will say, of the 6 or so TRUs i get to visit a year, the pegs for legends are always the emptiest of the WWE space allotted.
now, that said… I’M GETTIN’ ANDRE MOTHERFLUCKER!!!!!! i’m so incredibly happy about that, that i’ll forgive having to hit mc to get him.
and yes, while cm punk is “off duty” from the WWE, it’s funny to see he made an appearance at comic con, during the WWE panel… what a strange coincidence… they haven’t done this well w/ kayfabe since andy kaufman ate a pile driver.
i think myself and ebon are the only two passingly interested wrestling fans in the IAT hood, but any time you want more wrestling talk or info, feel free to ask. 🙂
My brother and I got back into wrestling a few months ago (sadly with the first episode back being Edge’s retirement episode) because of the WWE All Stars game(a lot of fun).
If I like the look of Andre, I’ll definitely get him.
i haven’t seen hi-res images yet, but i did spot a photo of the panel slide, and he looked good… i’ll keep my eyes peeled for a better andre pic though, cuz i have to tell you… i’m a HUGE andre fan. that guy was my favorite, even when he was a heel, i loved him. still do. my wife snagged me two of the andre hand/foot print shirts off wwe.com earlier this year, and they’re my favorite shirts… the hand print is just awe striking, there’s no way to describe it’s enormity to someone who hasn’t put their hand in the print and seen it for themselves.