I
didn’t make it out to San Diego for SDCC and I probably never will,
but thanks to the magic of the internet and a number of excellent
websites that do
have a presence there, I can follow along from here and supply you
good people with my thoughts.
Before
I get any further I want to mention those sites:
Action Figure Attack, who
is providing most of the pictures for this post and has TONS more on
Instagram and
Facebook. For any sections with no pictures, go and check out one of these sites to see what I'm talking about. I don't want to jack anybody's stuff without permission.
Those
guys all provide great pictures and without them I wouldn’t have
any idea what was going on.
Action
Figure Attack was nice enough to let me use some pictures, but I
don’t want to abuse the offer. I’ll have some photos here and
there, but I highly recommend you head over to the Action Figure Attack Facebook Page
to follow along.
For
all the claims that San Diego Comic Con is collapsing under its own
weight and that movie studios are pulling away from it in favor of
proprietary events, 2015 was a massive year full of exciting
occurrences. I felt more satisfied by the movie, comic book, and toy
presentations than I have in a while; possibly since I started
following the goings-on out there.
While
a little bit of everything goes on in San Diego, the main reason I’m
here today is to talk about the toys. Also, be sure to listen to the next two episodes of the
Needless
Things Podcast
for more coverage from myself and the Needless Things Irregulars.
Also also, join the Needless Things Facebook Group
to join in on the conversation yourself!
DC
Collectibles
I
am absolutely in love with that commercial.
About
as much as I’m at odds with the toy line that it’s promoting.
The
DC Animated Universe is my favorite representation of DC Comics.
Everything and everybody is streamlined and easy to understand and
reconcile within the shared universe. I have said several times that
if I knew for sure that DC Collectibles was going to forge ahead and
create a DCAU version of every character, I’d be more than happy to
sell off my Mattel DC Universe Classics collection and start over
again. If and only if DCC can get their quality control under, well,
control.
I
can’t call the line a disaster, but they are having big problems
that need to be addressed and stopped immediately.
I don’t understand how the company that has gotten its shit
together and is producing the excellent Arkhamverse and Designer
Series lines is having the problems that the Batman Animated line is
experiencing, but I want them to figure it out. I love
this line (aside from the fugly hip joints), but one or two more
major issues is all it will take for me to call it quits. Man-Bat’s
arms falling off
was the third-to-last straw (probably).
QC
issues aside, the figures are gorgeous and, quite frankly, an
excellent value for what you get. DC Collectibles had some awesome
new stuff to show at SDCC.
Batman
Animated Line
Etrigan
& Klarion – Must-haves, and further proof that DCC is
interested in expanding beyond New
Adventures
and Animated
Series.
Yes, they both appeared on New
Adventures,
but these are decidedly different characters from what you would
expect from a Batman line. I love that we’re straying so far from
what might be considered the core cast of a Batman production.
Etrigan’s size is fantastic and Klarion comes with Teekl!
Commissioner
Gordon – Another must. And I’m thrilled that he has his trademark
coat. I can’t wait to have Bullock and Montoya, as well.
Zatanna
– Noteworthy because she is the first member of the Justice League
other than Batman himself to appear in the line. Yes, she was in one
episode of The
Animated Series
(where she was the first character from outside of the standard
Batman cast to appear), but Zatanna’s appearance in the line is
significant. The figure looks great. Or at least, it will until you
utilize those hip joints.
Ra’s
al Ghul – In my opinion Ra’s al Ghul is Batman’s greatest foe
and The
Animated Series
was careful to depict him as such. While Bane has gotten short shrift
in every media iteration, Ra’s had always been a respectable
threat, especially in the world of the DCAU. This version looks
fantastic and I can’t wait to have it on my shelf.
Batman:
Arkham Knight
Professor
Pyg – This is a spoiler, but the figure has been officially
announced, so it’s out of my hands. I was delighted to see
Professor Pyg in all of his disgusting, speech impaired glory at the
end of the serial killer Most Wanted mission. As with all of DCC’s
Arkhamverse figures, this is a perfect representation of Pyg.
Man-Bat
– I’m still a little torn on how Arkhamverse Man-Bat looks. He
fits within the aesthetics of Rocksteady’s world, but he’s almost
too gruesome. This is probably what a real-world Man-Bat would look
like, though, so I can’t complain. The joints from the waist down
are a little ugly, but they’ll probably look better on the final
production figure.
Azrael
– I’m not so sure I need another Azrael. His design has been
updated, but not so much that I want an upgrade. The big selling
point here is what will almost certainly be improved articulation.
Catwoman
– A massive improvement over the Arkham
City
Catwoman. The face sculpt is a million times better and this one has
tons of articulation. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to use her
more in the game.
Nightwing
– Ditto. Actually, the original Arkhamverse Nightwing was the first
figure in the line to have anything resembling enhanced articulation
and is still quite a nice figure, but the design and articulation on
this one blows it away.
Commissioner
Gordon – As much as I love tons of articulation, I think when
trousers are involved it might be best to limit it. There’s just no
way to work the joints into the sculpt and they always look ugly.
Like Man-Bat, I have faith that this figure will look better when
it’s released, though. And I’m thrilled that we’re getting a
Gordon. Not just because he’s an essential Batman character, but
because he plays such a large and critical role in Arkahm
Knight.
Robin
– Also a massive upgrade over the last version. And he includes his
neat-o shield!
Darwyn
Cooke Designer Series
Batman
– I’ll take a Darwyn Cooke-designed Batman anytime.
Harley
Quinn – This Harley is fantastic
and might have the best face of any Harley Quinn figure yet. It’s a
little odd seeing the New 52 look in Cooke’s style, but I think she
looks great.
Supergirl
– Possibly the sweetest-looking action figure of all time, and I
mean that in the traditional sense of the word, not in bro-speak. Her
facial expression is pure sunshine and everything about her is just
adorable. And she comes with Streaky and Krypto!
Adam
Strange – I’m not a big Adam Strange guy, so this one doesn’t
do much for me. It seems to look significantly different from what I
think of him looking like, as well.
Lee
Bermejo Designer Series
Batman
– It’s a weird and different take on the Batsuit, but I love
Bermejo’s textures and it is very cool to see it in three
dimensions. This is a Batman I’ll buy.
Hal
Jordan – Purists may not dig this design, but I like it. Granted,
it looks more like something John Stewart or even Kyle Rayner might
have made for themselves.
Superman
– I’m not sure the Supersuit needs to be quite so wrinkly, but
otherwise this design looks great.
Lex
Luthor – just a solid, straightforward Lex.
DC
TV
These
all looked great. I love that DCC is producing these and giving
collectors such a wide range of characters. I’d love to get them,
especially since the aesthetics and scale could work with the
Arkhamverse figures, but I just can’t commit to another line.
DC
Icons
Joker,
Firestorm, Jon Stewart – These all look just as solid as the rest
of the new Icons line, but Joker was definitely the standout for me.
As a matter of fact, This Joker is one of the best figures of the
show. I think because even though I own many Joker figures, not a
single one is just right. They all have some detail that doesn’t
work for me. This one is a near perfect Jim Aparo Joker, which makes
me very happy. The abdominal joint is pretty heinous, though.
Static
Shock – He was added to the display on Sunday afternoon. The figure
looks great and had to be a great surprise for fans of the character.
This was done in conjunction with the announcement that DC is
bringing back Milestone.
Mattel
DC
Multiverse 6”
Green
Arrow
Flash
Reverse
Flash
Super
Obama
Zero
Year Batman
Joker
Weird
Bat Robot
Dawn
of Justice figures
These
were a huge surprise, but I don’t feel the need to comment on them
individually. It’s good to see Mattel getting back into the 6” DC
figure business, but I have to wonder how this line will fare,
particularly with DC Collectibles producing higher-end figures with
plenty of accessories. Right now Mattel’s 4” scale DC Multiverse
figures are retailing for about fourteen bucks. That is obviously
bugfuck insane, but it suggests that Mattel is going to think the 6”
figures should retail for around twenty-five. Which is what the far
superior DCC figures go for. It’s laughable to think that I am
going to choose Mattel’s TV show Green Arrow over Dc Collectibles’.
I’m curious to see how this is going to turn out.
I’m
also curious to see if the movie and television figures are DCUC
scale or Movie Masters scale. If they’re scaled to the Movie
Masters, I will be tempted by them.
MOTUC
Most
of this is taken directly from Mattycollector.com. As much crap as I
give them, they are the most communicative of all of the toy
companies.
2015
Updates
Mara
of Primus™ arrives with her extendable mace ponytail, shield, and
staff. (August Club Eternia® figure.)
“Buzz
Saw” Hordak® arrives with cross bow and a buzz saw that he can
either hold or place in his chest. (Club Eternia® quarterly figure.)
– He just looks like Hordak. At first glance, not much was done to
make this one special or different. His chest opens up to hold the
buzz saw, but other than that he’s not very exciting.
Evil
Seed arrives with a staff wrapped in vines. (August Club 200X™
figure.)
Saurod™
arrives with a laser gun. (September Club Eternia® figure.) – I
don’t know why, but Saurod isn’t doing much for me. Maybe he’ll
be better in person.
King
Chooblah™, the Kulatak Elder, arrives with his oversized walking
staff. (September Club 200X™ figure.)
The
scented Perfuma™ arrives with her flower gun and shield. (October
Club Eternia® figure.) – Not a fan. She had to be made, but she
sure as heck isn’t going on my shelves.
The
2015 Club Eternia® third quarterly item is Flying Fist He-Man® vs
Terror Claw Skeletor®, arriving with a shield and flying fist
accessory for He-Man® and oversized claws for Skeletor®. (October)
– For whatever reason, I like Flying Fists He-Man. His chest armor
is cool and he has an interesting new head sculpt. Terror Claws
Skeletor is not great.
Ceratus™
arrives in a leather kilt with bone pickaxe. (October Club 200X™
figure.)
Dragstor™
arrives with a cross box (I think they meant “crossbow”) with a
hook attachment. (November Club Eternia® figure.) I’m surprised at
how much I like this guy. I’m not crazy about the original, but the
Classics version looks pretty good. His wheel doesn’t spin, but as
Beau and I discussed, I wasn’t expecting it to.
Queen
Grayskull™ arrives with a 200X-inspired staff and a wrap. (November
Club 200X™ figure.)
He-Ro®
II (Dare) arrives with sword and laser gun. (December Club Eternia®
figure.) Dare looks great sculpt-wise, but that’s a lot of blue.
I’m not sure how I feel about the blue harness. I think silver and
gold would look a lot better. I do like the gem in the middle. And
his head sculpt is very good.
Prahvus
arrives with a staff and magic lamp. (December Club 200X™ figure.)
I
saw no mention of Laser Light Skeletor and Laser Power He-Man, but
they were in the case and are part of this year’s sub. Skeletor
looks like a dingus and He-Man looks like he might be a dancer at the
Manhole. His head sculpt looks great, though. The sword on the
display version is all bent up, so it’s probably made of rubber.
Great.
A
closer inspection reveals that Laser Light Skeletor has chain mail
underpants, so at least there’s that.
2016
Collector's Choice
Subscription-Only
Despara – Amazing. The rightest of right calls.
Subscription
Releases: Characters include: Lord Masque, Vultak, Darius™,
Tuskador™ (semi-annual figure), Despara™ (Subscription-only
figure), Crita, General Sunder, Horde Wraith, Night Stalker
(semi-annual figure). (Names and release dates are subject to
change.) – All of these look great and are exciting for one reason
or another. For more about them, be sure to check out this Friday’s
Needless
Things Podcast.
Power
Con Exclusives – Green Granamyr, Red Beast, Camo Kobra Khan –
These are all very good exclusives. They’re character variations
that aren’t essential. I’d like to have all three, but I wouldn’t
buy another Granamyr. And I doubt I’ll be able to find these for a
reasonable price anyway.
Filmation
Sub
This
was a big surprise. Filmation versions of He-Man, Skeletor, Beast
Man, were on display and they looked amazing. I previously had no
interest in Filmation repaints, and quite frankly could never
understand the folks on the Matty boards that wanted them so badly. I
thought they would just be dumbed-down versions of the regular
figures. And while they kind of are, they look wonderful. And they’re
more than just repaints – they feature new heads, new armor, and
new accessories. Trap-Jaw was shown during the Mattypalooza panel
with entirely different, cartoon-appropriate arm attachments,
including his wacky fly swatter thing!
I
am surprised, but I think I’m probably all-in for these. I can see
them all on their own shelf together.
Shown
Without Details
Mega
Blocks Castle Grayskull
Anti-He-Man
I
didn’t see any specifics about these. Grayskull looked great and
was accompanied by minifigures of He-Man and Battle Cat. Anti-He-Man
is some German thing. It looks mildly racist.
Thundercats
Classics(!)
Lion-O
in July, Jackalman in August, non-beefy shriveled Mumm-Ra as Sub
Exclusive – A tremendous surprise that I don’t think anybody saw
coming. Lion-O and Jackalman were on displauy and they looked
fantastic, particularly Jackalman. They are in the scale and style of
Masters of the Universe Classics, so I can’t resist.
According
to my quick and lazy internet research, this is what the original LJN
line consisted of (not including variants, and I’m sure that some
of the companions figures will be full-on figures, like Wilykit and
Wilykat and the Robear Burbles):
29
Regular figures (not including variations)
8
Companion figures
2
Creatures
7
Vehicles
7
Accessory Packs
2
Playsets
That
has the potential
to be six years’ worth of a line depending on how Mattel does
things.
NECA
Terminator
Ultimate
T-1000 – I didn’t know this was coming. I much prefer this new
“Ultimate” style of figure over having to buy three variations of
the same character. The figure includes all kinds of interchangeable
parts that represent the T-1000’s various forms.
Ultimate
Sarah Connor – She looks amazing. The likeness and physique are
incredible – some of NECA’s best work. Oh, and this is Linda
Hamilton.
Genisys
T-1000 - This is another example of NECA continuing to innovate and
anticipate collectors’ wants, as it comes with a whole torso/head
piece with damage that can be switched out.
Gremlins
Bat
Gremlin w/flexible wings – Beautiful.
Pacific
Rim
Mutavore
– The Category IV Kaiju that proved how ineffective the Wall was
during its attack on Sydney. Another gorgeous monster from NECA.
Home
Alone
Kevin,
Harry, and Marv – Confused. I love Home
Alone
and I showed it to my son for the first time last year at Christmas.
But is there a call for action figures? I could see these being
appropriate for Funko’s ReAction line, but these high-quality Retro
Cloth figures seem like a bit much. They look amazing, though. The
best part is that Kevin McCallister undoubtedly shares a body with
the SDCC Exclusive young Jason Voorhees.
ALIENS
Amanda
Ripley – Ripley’s daughter from the Alien:
Isolation
video game.
Amanda
Ripley in space suit – I was hoping that this was Lambert when I
first saw this one. I need the rest of the Nostromo crew, dammit!
Hive
Wars Queen – No way am I spending another hundred bucks on a
repainted Queen, but she does look awesome. I guess I’m glad I
didn’t buy the Hive Wars 2-pack – it gives me less reason to want
this.
Mezco
One:12
Flash
One:12
Space Ghost
One:12
Superman
One:12
Frankenstein’s Monster
I
wish it were practical for me to collect Mezco’s One:12 figures
because they are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best action figures
ever. The Dark
Knight Returns Batman
is, hands-down, the best figure I have ever owned. I don’t know
that I’d buy Flash or Superman, but Space Ghost and Frankenstein’s
Monster would be must-haves.
Diamond
Select Toys
Mego-Style
Deadpool – This is another one of those “ultimate Mego-style”
sets that comes with several costumes and different heads to
represent different looks or eras of the character. They’re eighty
bucks, which is ridiculous, but I am definitely going to be tempted
by this one when it’s offered in Previews.
DC
TV
Alfred,
Bullock, Nygma, Liv Moore – It’s so weird that DST is doing
figures of DC characters. Licensing, folks.
These
figures look great, but they’re not going to be in scale with your
Arrow
and
Flash
figures from DC Collectibles. I think Liv from iZombie
looks the best and I’ll probably pick her up. She can hang out with
DST’s Universal Monsters.
Ghostbusters
Gozor,
Zuul, Janene, Peck, Venkman, Hound – WOW. DST is putting Matty’s
Ghostbusters to shame.
They’ve already displayed a wider variety of characters and the
figures simply look incredible.
Mondo
Sixth
Scale TMNT – The figures will retail for $150 and come with extra
heads and accessories. I think the ones they had on display look
amazing. If you have six hundred dollars and nothing better to do
with it, you should totally plan on buying Mondo’s Ninja Turtles.
Hasbro
Star
Wars Black
TIE
Fighter – One hundred and seventy dollars for a TIE Fighter – the
most disposable ship in the entire Star Wars mythology. The cockpit
section is as large as a human head. It’s impressive, but come on –
who’s buying this and where are they putting it? And how big and
expensive is an X-Wing going to be? This is crazy.
Ahsoka,
Kanan, ANH Luke, Jango Fett – The Rebels
translations look great, though Kanan’s face is a bit cartoony
(from a guy that has Clone
Wars
figures mixed in with his other 3.75” stuff). I’ll buy Jango
because I have to have all of the Mandos.
Aside
from some slides of upcoming Rebels
figures, there was no 3.75” presence at SDCC, which concerns me
greatly. However, there wasn’t really much in the way of Episode
VII
product, so they may just be holding back.
On
the other hand, if Hasbro were to stop producing collector-friendly
toys in that scale, I’d be done. I have hundreds of 3.75” figures
and vehicles and I’m not switching to a more expensive scale. I
don’t want
to not collect Star Wars toys, but it sure would save me some money.
Side
Note: I don’t think there’s a chance in heck this is going to
happen.
Marvel
Legends
Classic
Cap, Mockingbird, Taskmaster, Cap Wolf
Spider-Gwen,
Jack O’Lantern, Classic Venom, Morbius, Modern Beetle, Clone Spidey
(right?), Speed Demon(?), Absorbing Man BAF
Ant-Man,
First Appearance Daredevil
I’m
pretty sure there were even more Marvel Legends than this, but we’ll
talk about them at length on the Podcast this Friday.
That's
all I've got for today because once again, I am literally out of time! Check back in with Needless Things throughout
the week for more geeky content, and be sure to join the new Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group
to get in on the conversation!
And of course, be sure to stop by and visit our pal, Action Figure Attack!
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