ECCC Funko exclusives are very green

23 MARCH 2016

If you're looking forward to scooping up some of Funko's Emerald City exclusives, you won't be disappointed - they're pretty cute. They're also very, very green.

The rules: one of each item per customer, which you shall obtain by completing an order sheet in line. Stock will be replenished each morning, but there's no guarantee you'll get the item you want, obviously.

I'm partial to Deep Sea Godzilla and Adventure Time's The Lich, myself. Which ones do you want?

The SDCC Daily

25 JUNE 2015



In a few hours, we'll have Thursday programming to read obsessively over and over. In the meantime, what did we find out today?


The new Muppets series will be in 6A on Saturday at 3 pm; Once Upon a Time will be in Ballroom 20 at 10 on Saturday. We'll also have Muppets-themed trolleys and Muppets and Once Upon A Time pedicabs.

Another panel that should be very popular: Mobilizing Fandoms for Charity on Saturday at 11 in 14C. This will be a discussion on how various fandoms can contribute to charities, on local, individual and global levels.

Funko dropped its 8th wave. We also got this Legend of Zelda figure. And it looks like you can take home a Stan Lee action figure after all, if you have 300 burning a hole in your pocket.

Do you want a free Star Wars button? Stop by The Ninjabot at Small Press table L-08.

The Nerdist podcast guests were announced: Peter Capaldi and Ben Kingsley. And speaking of Nerdist, they're bringing their horror film The Hive to SDCC.

DC is bringing 10 variants and a whole lot of Convergence panels, as well as spotlight panels for Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Grant Morrison. First-timers, this will give you an idea of the scale of the Exhibit Hall: the DC booth alone is 4,500 square feet. That's bigger than the average house.

Also doing SDCC in a big way is VIZ Media, with tons of exclusives and swag, and Sailor Moon and Shonen Jump panels in addition to the previously mentioned Ultraman.

Sideshow Collectibles is throwing a party Friday night at SDCC; tickets are on sale now. Only after you buy tickets will you find out where the party is. I don't know if they just haven't booked a venue yet or if they're that afraid of crazed collectors.

Treyarch hints at Black Ops III Zombies coming to SDCC.

Scream Factory and Shout! Factory will be dazzling you again at booth #4118 with free photo ops with a range of backdrops, including My Little Pony and Power Rangers; a Kaiju Scavenger Hunt; a My Little Pony Costume Contest with Amex gift cards as prizes, appearances by the Power Rangers and Samantha Newark, who voiced Jem and Jerrica in Jem and the Holograms.

We have dates for San Diego Comic-Con 2016: 20-24 July.

And finally, a Nerd HQ reminder: tickets will go up for sale very soon and they will go immediately. If this is important to you - and there are a lot of great conversations to attend this year - you'll want to stay on top of this.


As for tomorrow - those of you who landed in the Thursday/Sunday split might be feeling morose over all the great Friday and Saturday panels that have been announced. But I think tomorrow's programming announcement will completely turn that around. Stay tuned.

The SDCC Daily

15 JUNE 2015






First, a grim reminder: today is the last day to turn in your badge for a refund. Hopefully this doesn't apply to any of you.

Now onto something more fun: a "Roughed-Up" Penguin from Diamond's Gothic line. That is his official name as the action figure captures Oswald in the bloody, disheveled yet defiant look we know so well. He's cheap at $20 -  but there's only 150 of him.

Nothing highlights the absurdity of the term "exclusive" as seeing Amazon offering this Ant-Man Minimates Box Set.

We got some information on the Supernatural panel: the first footage of the Winchester boys "battling Darkness" might be shown - and they will reportedly give a video presentation on series highlights, then showcase some special DVD features. In other words, this panel just became even more un-missable for Supernatural fans.

Much as I love both Factory Entertainment and the 1966 Batman show, I would not even sleep in the same room as this creepy staring Batman and Robin monolith that looks like an effigy made by a serial killer in Arkham Asylum. Your mileage may vary.

 On the business-y side of things, the New York Times is interested in how big studios "find commerce in the chaos" at SDCC. (They also referred to us as "sweaty.") Specifically they focused on a small business started by 2 superfans who are figuring out how to take that audience excitement in Hall H and turn it into momentum in what can be a long stretch between SDCC and an actual movie release date. Strategies including offering tickets months before an opening, bundled with other content and merchandise, and of course collecting fan data.

What does that mean practically? It means that studios that might normally see SDCC as too early to effectively market their movie/show may shift into viewing SDCC - or any Con - as just a powerful launch pad that's only step 1 in a sustained campaign for attendee interest.


I have a feeling that this week will bring more of the same type of announcements we've been getting, and then the following week will start shaking the ground under our feet. Stay tuned.

Hello, Stormtroopers

11 JUNE 2015



Remember a few weeks back when photos of a Stormtrooper from China appeared and everyone debated whether it was real or not? Now we have definitively real images of real toys - which Entertainment Weekly misguidedly calls "playthings" - and while they're not offering the A-list toys yet, these are more than enough to get us riled up.

                                                          All images courtesy of Entertainment Weekly

 

An 81-pieced Lego's First Order Stormtrooper. Bad news: this is for display only at SDCC. You can't buy it until the first day of 2016. But the Lego booth will have a life-sized version, so there's one good Star Wars photo op.

Then we have a Stormtrooper-inspired Hot Wheels toy. And no, you're not too old to race this around the floor of your hotel room.

Then we have this pretty thing: a First Order Stormtrooper in SDCC-exclusive packaging, which of course makes it five times as cool as the regular packaging it'll have in stores.


I think we can all tell that the Star Wars collectibles alone are going to empty our wallets next month.

Want to win an autographed Star Wars photo?

2 JUNE 2015

Of course you do. It was signed by the original 1977 stars - that would be Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew - and it's worth 1,000. But of course the coolness of it is what matters. It's a Star Wars photo signed by Chewbacca's hairy paw! And the signatures have been certified authentic by PSA - which, if you didn't know, is the world's largest trading card, autograph and memorabilia authentication, grading and certification service.

You can enter the contest online now. The drawing will happen at PSA booth #5617 at San Diego Comic-Con. You don't have to be present for the drawing, but you'll want to swing by the booth anyhow since you'll get a free PSA-certified Star Wars trading card and a complimentary special edition of SMR magazine with stories about Star Wars collectibles. Authentication experts will also be at the show every day to provide autograph certification services.

 

 

Pro-tip - while the official programming will start being published in late June, now is a good time to start making a list of all the booths & vendors you want to visit. Sometimes you see a collectible or gizmo that is so up your alley you're convinced you'll remember it once you're there - but in fact the Exhibit Hall tends to blow all months-old information right out of your mind with its bombast and glory. Even if you're not a list person, it's a good idea to track somehow the announcements and products that matter to you.

Get ready for your annual exclusives combat

8 MAY 2015




In another Comic-Con mile marker, Mattel has announced their first toys for SDCC. You can see them here: Ghostbusters Egon Spengler, Masters of the Universe Rotar vs. Twistoid and Hover Robots 3-Pack. And they've announced the voucher sale launches 28 May, which means we should see an incredible rollout of toys over the next 3 weeks. May just got exciting!

                                                        courtesy of MattyCollector.com


If you're new to SDCC, you should be aware of 2 things:

1) Some of the SDCC items you'll see announced are exclusives and some are just collectibles. The term "exclusive" has become somewhat elastic, to the point where people use it to mean "launching at SDCC," "sold only at conventions," "sold for now only at SDCC but we could change our minds" and other conceptual possibilities. Sometimes companies will imply a product is exclusive to drum up interest when really it's just new. So if you're planning on buying something to sell it for a huge profit on Ebay, be warned that your item may not be as rare as you think.

2) Getting exclusives is so competitive that you pretty much have to train for months in the Himalayas in an elite school for assassins just to get your hands on one. There was a time when a Preview Night badge (and being fleet of foot) pretty much guaranteed you'd get what you wanted; you'd hotfoot it to the right booth, which you'd already memorized on CCI's Exhibit Hall map, and get in line. Or you'd play dirty and find a way to already be in the Exhibit Hall through some vendor-ish trick and beat out the attendees waiting outside.

That's all changed. Lots of manufacturers use a voucher system now in the interests of crowd control. My best advice for you is to pay attention to what's coming out and follow whatever instructions are given. There are so many exclusives rolling out that it can be hard to stay on top of them; CCI will publish a fairly exhaustive list as we get closer. Whether you're trying for something from Hasbro, Funko, Dark Horse, Mattel or some other company, be aware they'll use slightly different processes. Some companies sell pre-sale vouchers online, some hand out vouchers physically at the Con, some still sell product right from the booth. Be aware that you're competing with people who want to get the exclusives just so they can resell them, and that these people tend to find sketchy ways of trumping the competition.

I'm not trying to sour you on getting the collectible of your dreams - just warning you that you really have to be on point for this. You can't just roll up to the booth, point and say, "I'll take that."

Anyhow, let's look at Mattel's game plan. You're going to buy a purchase voucher at MattyCollector.com on 28 May 8 am PST if you're a member of Club Eternia. That's not some weird comet-worshiping euthanasia cult, but a special club for collectors.

If you're not in Club Eternia, you can buy a voucher from 1 June at 9 am PST to 8 June at 11:59 PT.
You may or may not get one, depending on how popular your item is. If you do get one, you'll pick up your toy at SDCC Thursday-Saturday. Sometimes vendors have you come to their booth for this but Mattel and many other places usually have you report to a room in the labyrinth halls of the Marriott. Some of those items will also go up for sale on Mattel's site during their SDCC After-Party Sale on 27 July.

San Diego Comic-Con is two months from today, people. Two months.

Is this our first shiny new SDCC toy?

5 MARCH 2015

                                                            From Figures.com

A booth number. A life-size statue of a Xenomorph Warrior from Aliens. San Diego Comic-Con is on its way.

More exclusives

8 JUNE 2013


More collectible announcements:


Marvel Minimates Wolverine Saga SDCC 2013 Exclusive Set

Hasbro, including Jem, My Little Pony and GI Joe

Underworld collectibles from Hollywood Collectibles

Deadpool Taco Shell Set

From Mezco, assorted collectibles from Breaking Bad to Cheetara

Pacific Rim

NECA's The Albino Predator and Friday the 13th Jason

Vampirella

Star Trek Props

The glowering Dixon brothers from The Walking Dead

Updated: first Comic-Con collectibles

1 MAY 2013

Happy May Day. 'Tis the season for vendors to start unveiling their Comic-Con collectibles, such as...


The Albino Predator

The non-photographed but still obviously cool Powers collectibles

An entire line-up of Mattel exclusives including BSG Vipers and Raiders and a Batman Classic with sound chip and television box

A Game of Thrones Shield Pillow (not only will this sell out in backwards time, it's also practical for weary Con attendees sitting in halls, sleeping on hotel floors, etc.)

A Beatles Yellow Submarine Plush Toy

A Boba Fett with Hans Solo in Carbonite and a Transformers Metroplex from Hasbro

The Superman Movie Masters 2-pack

An 8-bit Jason from the old Friday the 13th video game

... and Bif Bang Pow! is coming out with a tiny 3-3/4" Dexter with not just one but six blood slides.


I've heard collectible rumors that I hope are true, but I'm going to wait until the companies officially come out with the news before posting. So far it's shaping up to be a good Con for collectors.