SDCC is upon us yet again and with the IAT folk staying home this year, it’s time for our Armchair Coverage. We’ll be up late scouring the very best links with the best news and images and compiling them here for our readers. This article is stickied and will be updated with new links Friday & Saturday, so check back often!
| Saturday Coverage is below | Friday Coverage is now on Page 2 | Preview Night & Day One Coverage
Marvel: Hasbro held it’s Marvel panel today and while it was filled with tons of Marvel Universe and Iron Man news, the real announcement was Hasbro’s commitment to the return of Marvel Legends by 2012. Yeah, it’s a long way off, but, good news is good news, right? At the link above, AFP is reporting that the 6″ Iron Man line will expand into a Legends line and include Titanium Man & Crimson Dynamo among others. That line is intended to help pave the way for the return of full Marvel Legends in 2012.
In the meantime, Marvel Universe will reign supreme and there’s plenty of figures coming out in that line. Marvelous News has images from the panel and ToyArk has updated their booth coverage with pics of the items that were added to the display including Gigantic Battle figures of Goliath & an Ice Giant as well as repaints of the Masterworks Galactus and two versions of the new Mastersworks Sentinel. For the regular size 3 3/4″ figures, I’d recommend the panel coverage whichs shows product too far out to be in the cases (though more should be added to the displays tomorrow) including a Jim Lee Cyclops, Gladiator, Apocalypse, and the first Thor movie figure. One figure of note is the FA Iron Man in gold armor. I’ve been waiting for this figure in the IM2 movie line, but it turns out it will be a MU 3pk (well 5pk, kinda) that includes Hulk, Thor, and a tiny Ant-Man and Wasp to round it out. That’s cool, but I just want the Iron Man!
For a ton of close ups on the Hasbro/Marvel product hit up MWCToys.com.
Mattel teasers for MOTUC & DCUC: I’d been looking for a couple sharp pictures of the two teaser images Mattel used to cap their panels and ActionFigurePics has delivered. Presumably for the DCUC offshoot GL Classics, Mattel shows us the back of Ch’p – the squirrel/chipmunk Green Lantern that met his fate at the hands of a yellow semi on Mosaic World. I love DC Comics.
For MOTU the teaser was a fully loaded Grayskull weapons rack. Obviously, we don’t have all the info on this but I have a suspicion that it could be “diorama piece” scheduled for Q2 2011. I’m a huge fan of weapons paks, so I’m looking forward to picking this up.
Mattel / DC Universe: Okay, so all around the internet, a TRU listing made us believe that Nightwing, possibly Renegade, would be the 4th & final TRU DCUC figure. I thought that one was solved. Heck, I even forgot about it until today. Then I ran across a picture of a Tuxedo Joker in Articulated Discussion’s DC Coverage. I don’t know for sure that he’s the 4th figure, but he’s with MetallaHal & CherryBarry so… I’m thinking that’s the case. If black Joker doesn’t do it far ya, there’s plenty of good DC pics in their coverage and the article closes with a poor booth babe clad in a Flash costume being taken over by Starro. Sad day.
G.I. Joe: I haven’t seen a that much Joe coverage that actually focuses on the figures – the Joe panel seemed to be solely about pushing the new cartoon – and when I do see pics I go “oh yeah, I saw that at Joe Con last year…” Still, Articulated Discussion has some pics of Sgt. Slaughter (the real deal) and then some images from the Joe display cases if you need your Joe fix.
CARS: Cars is a line that I love, but simply can’t fit into the budget. There’s too many and I could see myself getting obessive rather easily. Even now, when I look at when I look at Michael Crawford’s coverage, I see plenty of cool stuff. The baby UFO, a Referee pitty, Mater as a German doctor (his disguise is a Volkswagen hood!), and an assortment of cool Semi trucks.
My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, & Littlest Pet Shop: The good folks at ToyArk don’t want to forget the ladies! They stopped by the Hasbro Girls Display and snapped a few pics!
Dark Horse: Dark Horse always seems to have some cool stuff in their booth and this year is no exception. Check out the galleries at MWCToys and ToyArk for the latest.
File this Under Cool…: As I’m descending into an obsession with Glyos, I find myself paying more and more attention to that particular genre of the toy collecting world. It’s really different and fascinating. Philip Reed over at BattleGrip.Com picked up an SDCC exclusive Future Nibbler from The Tarantulas (I think). First, hats off to Philip for reviewing an exclusive during the con – that’s dedication – and second don’t make me want stuff, Philip. I don’t know the first thing about this Nibbler guy yet, but he’s like a little glyos dalek with a skull head. Let me say that again… glyos + dalek-like + skull head. That’s a formula for win if you ask me.
Around the Convention: Yesterday, I cited Articulated Discussion for their special perspective on the Con and I’m going to send you back over there today. They have some tips for anyone planning to attend future SDCCs (and some great pics)and an introspective on waiting in line.
Special thanks go out to the great sites beaming back or providing coverage from SDCC: ActionFigureInsider, ActionFigurePics, Articulated Discussion, BattleGrip, Cool Toy Review, CriticalMess.Net, Hiss Tank, Izdawiz from the Fantastic Exclusive Boards, Jedi Temple Archives, Marvelous News, Mattel on Facebook, MWCToys, Open Your Toys, Pixel Dan, Poe Ghostal, Raving Toy Maniac, TFW2005, Toynewsi, & ToyArk.
MOTUClassics.Com is now updated with all the new information and dates. Updates to DCClassics.Com and the other checklists will be forthcoming…
I’m gonna say it: in general this Comic Con has been very, very disappointing overall.
Last year I was kinda pissed that I couldn’t afford the cool stuff at the time.
This year..I know it’s coming, and I’ll pick stuff up, but the reveals were generally pathetic.
What’s worse is that I think the Four Horsemen dropped the ball a bit on the MOTUC, and I expect to say that about Mattel, not the 4H, which I find massively unfortunate.
That’s sad to hear, Russ. What bothered you on the MOTUCs?
well, first off all, I was really excited to see the MOTUC reveals after hearing the leaked list.
Roboto…looked pretty much exactly like the vintage toy. We couldn’t at least have the awesome back harness and removable chest armor that the 2002 figure had? Instead we get…an extra hand? Really?
Buzz Off….also did….and in his case, it really doesn’t help. The scary thing is that the night the reveals were leaked, someone did a quick Photoshop job of Buzz off to suggest what he might look like. The revealed figure looked EXACTLY like the rush Photoshop job. C’mon, the Horsemen can do better than that. The vintage head just looks ridiculous on him, and with the goggles on he looks like Willy Wonka.
Finally, King Hiss. Oh lord…
In the very least, I was hoping the Four Horsemen would put some 2002 influence into him; as little as an extra head, something regarding the head dress, or even just the Eye of Serpos would’ve been fine. Nothing of the sort. And then that alternate torso; it really looks like a rush job…that snake torso could’ve been so much more menacing than it turned out.
I’ve come to expect a lot more from the Horsemen than this.
They…couldn’t even give me a reason to buy the King Grayskull reissue. If there were some Snake Armor, totally sold! But…the orb? Really?
My first impressions:
Bow – I don’t get the lack of interest in this figure. He looks great. I think opinions OF Bow are more of a factor than the figure itself.
Buzz-Off – I’m surprised he’s so vintage. I like it, but I thought we’d see some 200x.
Roboto – The working gears are excellent. I think he might be the breakout MOTU figure for 2010.
Vikor – Tons cooler than I imagined. I thought he was a dud for sure and I was completely offbase.
King Hiss – Really happy with the straight up vintage look on the head Snakeman. I wish the snake arms moved, but I prolly won’t ever use them anyway.
I think Bow looks great too.
I didn’t know what the hell a Proty was. I don’t think Mattels ever going to stump you guys though.
I’ve said it many times, I would love for Mattel to include a character I didn’t know in DCUC!
Amber Butane? Brown-Outo?
So is the Shadow Beast the moved up item? We were all thinking Panthor, but Shadow beast is all abotu shared tooling too.
It’s entirely possible, but that conversation sounded recent so it could still be Panthor. Who knows?
I hope so, chief; I honestly hope we don’t get Panthor this soon; people complained showing Hiss so soon was getting too many heavy hitters out of the way.
Well geez…we’re already getting Swift Wind and King Hiss this year; ya really wanna throw PANTHOR into that, too?
DC has great stuff all over. Love the little Action League guys and am glad to see new ones for them too.
Ghostbusters: Meh, too many reruns of the same four characters and not enough ghosts. Tully is the best they’ve got. No sub for me.
MOTUC: I don’t like the all-in sub so I’ll pass on that too. I’m sticking mainly to nostalgic characters so I’m just going to go with King Hsss and Vikor so far for next year (Vikor not so much as a MOTUC character but rather as a kick-ass barbarian). I won’t be picking up any of the extras for the rest of this year either and will trade Chief Carnivus if I can find any takers.
Less GBs and MOTUC means more to spend on the DC stuff.
I can’t get addicted to Action League… And what’s up with Prometheus? I need him in DCUC!!
I don’t mind the all-in sub, but I really like being able to have two subs and picking the better figure. That’s a whole different ball game when that means a month like January when I’d have to buy 2 Bows and 2 Shadow Beasts – $100 without shipping. But 2 Shadow Beasts would be cool… (I’m a sucker).
Retro Heroes Captain Cold? Now he can pegwarm in a whole new scale!
OUCH!
So true though… 😉
DUDES!!!! long live motuc!!!
“Carry on, dudes!!”
I can’t believe that the Ghostbuster lineup will continue to be that weak. One non-ghostbuster and he’s so far from now that he’s not even painted.
I’m happy about the proton stream coming with Peter, but I need three more. Can’t Mattel pack him with 4? All he comes with is a lousy stand.
I liked the proton streams and the stands, but that doesn’t do me a lot of good.
For GB, I’ll likely get the 4pk at TRU and the movie 2 Winston with the slimeblower.
I’m Batman.
And ironically, you’re not spam. How odd…
That Vikor figure is a thing of beauty. I can’t believe how awesome it looks. I don’t know if I want Vikor to have a cool bio or if I just want to pretend he’s Conan in the MOTU world. What’s up with the blue sword in front of him though?
It’s MOTU. We’re supposed to make up whatever we want… right?
Man, the bad guys get the best figures!
Who are you liking best? I love that King Hsss and I’m not even a big fan of the character!
I really like Bow. I think it’s either his mustache, or that I love Archery themed heroes, or maybe it’s that his arrows are spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds.
SDCC has just been boring so far. Are all the major panels over or are there any left?
I should prolly know the answer to that. There’s probably some stuff to be had today, but Sunday is usually uneventful.
You win, Mattel. You win.
They show a few cool figures and you admit defeat??
I know how you feel…
Great reporting, Noisy! I can’t wait to see the updated checklists. So much MOTU goodness!
Thanks! I’m working on the lists… I might have to re-arrange the Ghostbusters one. Though I’m not sure much demand there even is for that one…
I find all your checklists extremely helpful, including the Ghostbusters one. =)
Not mentioned in the DCUC coverage above, but I noticed a lot of double knees and elbows beginning to appear in that line. (Check out Robin, Creeper, and Kyle.)
I wonder how this jibes with “not cutting up those beautiful Horsemen sculpts.” Personally, I’m glad to see them adding SOMETHING to try and justify the price tag they’ve slapped on the line, but I wonder how the long term collectors feel about losing the consistency they’ve championed.
Also, I have a hard time believing that $180 Legion boxed set is going to be a hot seller, but I suppose there are people out there with a lot more cash than me.
I am also happy to see my decision to stay away from Ghostbusters Classics justified yet again. That Venkman with proton stream is horrible.
I thought the same thing when I noticed the extra joints on Robin and Creeper too. I think these figures will survive the process because they’re generally thicker and bigger than Marvel Legends; put too many joints on a Spider-Man and he ain’t never standing on his own.
The consistency thing bothers me also, but in a way I’m out of the DCUC game and into MOTUC. The only DC I’m waiting for are the Secret Six, Catman in particular.
hey noisy…..so i may have missed it but where are all the release dates for the dcuc classics? i know 14 is shipping now and 15 in early fall but when is 16 scheduled and the new green lantern classics. and will they be at retail? im sorry to be a pest but i have looked all over the matty page and facebook but i havent seen any dates posted? buy the way i love the robin and riddler…..but we still need a jason todd =)
What kinda makes me sad is how DST just can’t figure out what to do with their Star Trek line. So much potential wasted as they dick around, hoping for ‘mainstream’ acceptance (i.e. TRU, the last national toy store in the US) and giving us the Wrath of Kahn ‘throw it together’ communicator while making a decent, real sized TNG Tricorder a ‘we’ll consider it’ item….
Mind, I’m just as nuts about Star Trek role play toys as many other lines and a TWOK communicator would be nice to have, but come on, it’s a electrical switch box with some lights. a nice TNG Tricorder, as nice as the classic Tricorder (but no voices, PLEASE) would be awesome. And not $500. 🙂
(sue me, I like prop-quality role play toys. )
First I have to say that Im pretty disapointment to Ghostbusters why only 1 new ghost???and secondly I need full GB team of course.GB Club bonus figure is lame I thought we gonna get Gozer or something else.New Motuc figures expecially Roboto,Vikor and King HSSS looks so amazing!!!I got 200x Roboto.I dont also like Motuc Club bonus figure it looks lamier than GB bonus figure.
Battle Ram isn’t officially confirmed for release yet, just a proto. Why make a proto then? The name was recently trademarked. More or less a dead giveway its coming Q4 2011 or 2012 if thins don’t “work out”, which past experience seems to dictate happens a lot.
Battle Bones was trademarked way back but its not really a vehicle.
Sentinels!!!!
http://www.toyark.com/news/san-diego-comic-con-58/marvel-booth-update-satcomic-con-2010-sentinels-3097/
and it appears a ben foster goliath and an ice giant… mu is driving me into the poorhouse next year, aren’t they?
sorry, bill foster, not ben…
in general i can’t believe the cool stuff i’ve seen thusfar from the big two… they’re weighing back in w/ cool toys again… hope NECA’s ready for the ride.
“…he knows something you don’t – that his torso can be swapped out with deadly snakes!” Sounds like his slogan.
I’m so glad that Hasbro is finally going to bring back Marvel Legends! The newest 2-packs and the NEw new exclusives have shown me that they can pull of sweet six inch scale figures. The Movie six inch wear machine is one of my most favorite action figures now!
My guess is that they have seen how well DCUC has been doing at retail, and they want a piece of that pie. Another inkling of mine is that we may see the re-use like Mattel does with DCUC. Which can possibly be a bad thing, but it may turn out awesome as well. 90% of the new TRU exclusives they showed are re-using the elektra body, Crossbones’s body, Nick fury’s body, and I assume that deadpool is built off of the “bullseye body”. I also read that they are going to re-do some characters…EMMA FROST! is all i have to say on that one. 🙂
Thanks for the link to the Future Nibbler review. The show was a lot of fun, and I’ve got more pics and toys to break out and share.
On the MOTUC:
Bow kicks ass in so many levels. Unfortunately Adora and She-Ra will look kinda plain next to him.
Roboto and Buzz-Off are WAAY TOO Vintage style for my taste. I can understand Roboto not getting Extra heads… Hopefully Action features will not be added into MOTUC… Aside Roboto’s) I WILL drop the line if spring loaded figs start appearing (I’m too old for action features Articulation all the way baby!) Buzz-Off Needed the Alternate 200X head (There are more differences in Buzz-off’s looks than there are on Whiplash.)
Vikor: OMG! I never expected him to be so awesome! I was going to skip him, but now I am not!
Hssssssss: Human form = Awesome. Worm Form… I mean Snake form: Absolute crap.
Weapons Pak: Meh… Roboto Parts look like they aren’t compatible with TJ’s…
Guard 2 pack: Only going to use the human heads. Non-Human Guards should’ve had a non-human body. (Might Steal Toyguru’s right limb armor for MAA and strip the guards off the Arm Armor so they look even)
ShadowBeast: Looks very filmationy. What’s going on?
BA Skeletor: Cool! but why does he get a Power Sword?
Santa Grayskull: Ok looking… Might give the cape a wash…
Not gonna subscribe so I won’t deal with Criminal Monk He-Man… Though That Cosmic Key should be available for everyone… (either with Gwildor or with the Weapons Pak#3)
Weapons Rack: Cool
4H: I so want the Battle Ram… or at least the Sky Sled… Toyguru better make it so!
Hasbro:
Marvel Legends: Too little too late… Hasbro dropped the ball a long time ago and I dropped teh lien… mostly because there was no lien so to speak. Now I have no interest on these figs. Last year I would’ve been all over them.
Marvel Universe: While in principle I hate this line, the little guys are looking awesome… might pick a few… (To boost my Joes and Cobra) Now I need a Decent Doc Ock to be made!
GI JOE:
Sarge… The biggest tease in Joe history… at least for me. I was never able to get the ARAH one, or the BNB one… Now I won’t have this one either… Mattel better make a WWE Legend Sarge so I can use him in my JOE Display. (If anyone asks he was hit with a Growing Ray… Some Crazy CC scheme to take over the world using Giant insects…)