NYCC

It takes a little while to process the sensory overload of something like NYCC. The lights, sounds, and crowds are nothing like the ol’ antique fair or leisurely July driveway tag sale stroll. The whole mess is kinda like nothing else I’ve ever attended, and that’s a good thing; it’s both a lot to deal with, and it qualifies NYCC as a unique experience. Some of us collectors can be very solitary people, so it’s both reassuring and jarring to attend an event where there are thousands upon thousands of likeminded people who speak your particular dialect of the ‘collecting’ language.

And honestly, every section of collecting has its own lexicon – offhanded references to notable collectors, events, abbreviations of rare pieces, and narrative pieces of history all make for the rich, though sometimes insular,  world of collecting. You know those weirdos who speak Klingon? Yeah, we’re just as bad. It’s a weekend of total immersion, but as I learned after an enlightening weekend with the Pez people, you pick up on things pretty quickly – and if you don’t know what someone’s talking about, they’ll usually be more than happy to fill you in. Enthusiasm is everywhere – all over the floor, a little in your eye, and somehow, inside your shoes. It’s inevitable.

So, what’s left over from NYCC? Here’s a quick list of my favorite, not-previously-mentioned things from the Con, with apologies for any omissions.

- While we’re a ways off from getting any action figures from The Office, perhaps for the best (since I fear Meredith’s inevitable action feature), Tonner will be releasing a large format doll of Steve Carell as he appeared in Get Smart, complete with shoe phone. Of course, Anne Hathaway’s doll isn’t far behind that, but perhaps it says something unsettling that I’m more into the Steve Carell. Mr. Carell in a suit is pretty much a universal stand-in for a good portion of the memorable roles he’s played anyhow : Daily Show correspondent, Michael Scott, Brick Tamland. I don’t think that we have many sculpted likenesses of him beyond an NBC bobblehead, and this one is sculpted with just enough of a confused smirk to make it great.

- Though not yet on display, Tonner deserves a second mention because of the announcement that they’ll be making dolls of both Doctor Who’s David Tennant and Torchwood’s John Barrowman and Eve Myles. Which is amazing, and I can’t wait to see. I’m beginning to appreciate the freedom that Tonner has in doing such a wide variety of properties because of the unique opportunities of making things classified as ‘dolls’ affords. I made my vocal push for a Tom Baker Doctor Who, and perhaps a whole line of the many notable Doctors, because I’m a gigantic nerd. Who apparently likes dolls. I’m such a winner.

- As someone who grew up watching He-Man after school, I have some interest in Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics figures, which focus on updated sculpts and details revamping the original line, which is heavily referenced in both content and form. The modern line, just like the classic line, uses a few stock parts to create all of the figures, with a handful of new accessories and facial sculpts to set each figure apart. The NYCC Faker figure included a robot decal on its chest, not unlike the original, and the upcoming Mer-Man figure will come with two different heads – one mirroring the original figural head, and one that more directly references the artwork on the figure’s original package. The whole line is collector-centric and sold exclusively through Mattel’s online shop, one new figure each month for about $20. ALSO : Mattel showed off sculpts of movie-accurate Ghostbusters, which were unfortunately off-limits for photography. They’re awesome, so stay here for images coming out of Toy Fair. Harold Ramis can finally watch me while I sleep.

- And of course, the people in costumes. Sure, they’re not technically collectible, but it’s an important part of the experience – whether you like it or not. Often not. It becomes pretty apparent that a lot of the people who visit the Con in costume are actually a lot more comfortable playing characters than they might feel about being themselves, so the everyday-is-Halloween thing is another element to contend with. The anime guy with the 6-foot-long sword who oft loses track of where he’s poking, or the Hulk on stilts who can’t completely see where he’s going, or the schoolgirls haphazardly fleeing from tentacled monsters – you give a wide berth.

My unofficial ‘Best Group Costume’ award goes to the Super Mario Brothers – two guys who took their body types and made it the most genuine, hilarious and fun costume at the show. Runner-up goes to the set of five Watchmen, who were one of many, many Watchmen group costumes running around. While they don’t win for pure quality, they won me over for being the largest Watchmen group, and walking around as a group of six all day – as well as showing up at the giant Watchmen chalk drawing when I did.

The ‘What The Hell Did You Expect?’ award goes to Waldo, who showed up in a huge crowd in a Waldo costume, and later had the gall to complain at the Venture Brothers panel about people saying ‘I FOUND WALDO!’ all day. Seriously, buddy, what the hell did you expect?

The ‘Total Dedication’ award goes to Captain America, whose hand-made costume was both really, really slick, but a moving homage to his father, who passed away before this year’s Comic Con. Runner-up goes to Thor, whose costume was also stellar. That guy’s costume either included some really, really light blue contact lenses, or he was looking into my soul.

So, by the end of it all, the two artists that I expected to encounter and get my Bizarro book signed by were too difficult to locate, I didn’t have the patience to wait on lines to buy any original artwork, but I did have a pretty awesome time overall. I’ll save the original art buying for this summer’s show at MOCCA, where I’ll be both visiting and exhibiting.

Next year’s New York Comic Con is happening in October and on my birthday, allowing me 18 months to recover and regroup. It might just be enough.

It was hard not to notice an emerging theme among this year’s NYCC toy offerings. No, not ‘living with your parents’, or ‘never touched a girl’, but SPACE. More than a few booths were showing off wares that dealt, in one way or another, with things from space.

I’ve been watching the Space Vixens line for years. What began as a 12” action figure line from Product Enterprise has finally found a solid home with company Sixteen 12 as a series of high-end statues. While I would have loved a poseable spacegirl in such an awesome, ridiculous costume, a 12” statue still kinda fits in with the whole display, and the fact that the original pieces from the figure were cannibalized for use in the statue means that not even the original prototype figure remains. Alas.

I’m a big fan of the science fictional woman, and the whole anatomically-correct spacesuit makes for a very interesting, over-the-top display piece. After years of waiting, Captain Felicity Bliss has finally been released in an edition of 500. The fully-costumed Space Vixen at the show certainly didn’t hurt promotion.

Also on display, for the first time, was a fully-painted model of the next Space Vixens statue, Tatiana Rockettov. Instead of pulling on space imagery, Rockettov plays from a Soviet / rocketmen / art nouveau aesthetic, and it’s another exciting, awesome piece. In a strange way, she goes perfectly with GoHero’s upcoming 12” figures of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Commando Cody. Sixteen 12 also has a really neat raygun on display, and as a collector of fantasy guns, I’m impressed.

Another booth that had a few space-things was Executive Replicas – most notably, a 12” figure of Kier Dullea as Dave Bowman from 2001, which included a gigantic, light-up scaled spacepod for him to ride around in. ER also had all kinds of great non-space 12” figures, including a Boris Karloff as… well, himself, a Bettie Page, and a couple of Frankenstein and Space Monster figures from the titular Frankenstein Vs. The Space Monster – which are, of course, from space. After seeing ER’s stuff in person, and in the middle of this sudden boom in 12” toys, I’m a fan. They have to compete with Hot Toys, Sideshow Collectibles, Triad Toys and a bunch of other formidable companies, but they hold their own.

I was most surprised that I’d never heard of The Outer Space Men – a line of toys that was produced by Colorforms back in 1968. With bendy arms and alien appearances, the series of nine alien figures represented aliens from all nine planets (you know, back when Pluto was still a planet). Their presence at NYCC was mostly to promote an upcoming comic book featuring their likenesses, though the owner of the world’s largest collection of Space Men was also present, and selling off a few extras. The rarity and collectibility of the line fetches some unusually high prices, but there’s an interest in re-releasing the original line to coincide with the comic. The details are still sketchy, and I personally suggested that they team up with one of the many kaiju-friendly designer toys manufacturers, but I really hope to see these awesome designs find life again somehow.

Before the end of the show, I purchased a vinyl Astronaut Jesus ($20) and a Bob Conge Skulloctopus From Outer Space ($120), so I think I’m finding a new theme to actively collect. Especially with this many amazing things to collect on display at NYCC, I think I’m officially a space man.

Collectors have definitely noted the shift in toys based on Marvel Comics since ToyBiz collapsed and Hasbro took over the creation and production of the once-popular Marvel Legends line. Hasbro has different ideas about what makes an action figure great, and those ideas don’t always sit well with collectors who’ve dedicated a whole bunch of money and time towards building a consistent collection. You want a Beast that will look right next to an Iceman and a Gambit on your X-Men shelf, and that’s all there is to it. Two She-Hulks in completely different sizes is just a little strange.

Hasbro, showing off their stuff at the Marvel booth, showed off their three main toy lines based on Marvel characters. The continuation of the 6” scale Marvel Legends line seems to be tapering away, with almost no new figures shown, and most future figures being distributed in 2-packs containing re-re-releases of characters that most collectors already have. Most of the future Marvel Legends are eschewing the classic Marvel characters that comic fans would genuinely appreciate (Inhumans, please!) and instead making figures from very current characters and comic situations. This is great if you’re into the strange synergy between seeing your favorite new character in plastic and perched on your desk, and it also sells well to newer collectors who actively read comics, but it lacks the history and endurance that Mattel’s DC Universe Classics hold.

I know that as a collector of goofy little plastic figures based on imaginary people, I enjoy ‘iconic’, not ‘popular’ – but I’m also an adult collector, not the kid who these are probably being sold to because he thinks they look neat. I understand my place in the collecting chain.

The common sentiment among many figure collectors is that Mattel spends a lot of time existing for the fans, and Hasbro is more about the profit. Anyone who’s witnessed the quality decline between past and current Marvel Legends will probably express the same idea. Hasbro’s fourth wave of Marvel Legends, a set of five with a giant ‘Nemesis’ buildable figure, is already months late and has dropped a figure from the lineup for unknown reasons. Stuff on display at last year’s NYCC has still not seen release.

Instead, Hasbro is focusing their energy on their new 3 3/4” scaled line, which is designed to fit right in with your GI Joes and Star Wars figures. While it’s awesome to be able to pit a properly-scaled Dr. Doom against Darth Vader, I’d almost prefer that we finally, at long last, get a 6” scaled Darth Vader. If you go back into toy history, the arbitrary 3 3/4” scale was created for the express purpose of saving money in the production process, and it’s hard to not see that happening here. On the positive side, Hasbro displayed a whole ton of characters, the look great, and variety is the key to any successful toy line. No one wants to collect the same character over and over again (unless said character is Batman or Iron Man, and your name is me), so the vast variety of characters that will soon be available will push the line forward. And there’s at least one Iron Man in there, so count me in… partially. It’ll be hard to beat the amazing Marvel Legends Showdown figures that ToyBiz made, though.

Finally, Marvel and Hasbro love their Mighty Muggs, and for good reason – they tap the urban vinyl toy craze at a much, much cheaper price that your average urban vinyl piece. They’re cheap to produce, as many figures are simply repainted decos of the same body. They’re cute and accessible, even if you’re not completely into every character. And somehow, despite the dark history of toy distribution and availability, they’re not hard to find. No one’s going online to rant about how they can’t find Iron Man at Target and why every Target should subsequently burn down and how Hasbro executive should walk in front of trains (which are common things said by some toy collectors when they can’t find what they want – spend some time on toy collecting forums!) Hasbro’s been spot on with creative, cartoonish and effective interpretations of classic characters onto the round, chunky canvas of the Mugg – and the only miss seems to be with the upcoming Phoenix figure.

Perhaps the Mugg form only can aesthetically coexist with the male form, but Hasbro cranked out a Princess Leia Mugg without such a negative reaction. Maybe it’s the hair, but something is funky. Hasbro had one big Marvel reveal at the Con, and that was the Target-exclusive Iceman and Magneto Muggs, which should hit sometime in the first half of this year. I’ve always like Iceman.

Marvel also has toys produced through Sideshow Collectibles, but unfortunately, Sideshow has begun to decline attending any conventions on the East Coast, as their home base is over in California, and the cost of safely shipping their museum quality (and very heavy) products is prohibitive. The stuff that Sideshow makes is exceptionally beautiful, but the company makes periodic reveals throughout the year on an irregular schedule, so NYCC wasn’t a time of anything new and spectacular.

Marvel and Hasbro, just give me some Inhumans figures, and I might come back on board. I have to say that as a collector, I’m a little out in the cold over here. I’m not feeling the collecting buzz after seeing the NYCC display, but maybe that’ll change after Toy Fair.

More NYCC awesomeness still on the way, including space vixens, space aliens and barely enough space to walk around.

I’m home from New York Comic Con 2009, with only minor injury. Mostly in the feet area, a little bit in the dignity area.

NYCC has definitely attained the status as being the East Coast’s San Diego Comic Con – a Con which is legendary in its scope as a mecca of pure awesome and geekiness. NYC has begun to attract suffocating crowds, celebrities, and all manner of the entertainment industry. As it turns out, ‘comic con’ has evolved into a vile misnomer, as comics comprise a minority of the convention floor, with movies, video games, artists and costumed folks taking up the rest of the space. A long talk with creator Evan Dorkin revealed his utter disdain for this transformation away from the art of comics, but truly – you know what it is what you walk in there, and there are a whole bunch of other very pleasant conventions that focus only on the art of comics. So, I think everyone is catered to appropriately.

The crowds still really, really suck though.

If anyone dominated those minor comic aspects of the Convention floor with their stuff, it was DC Comics, who had toys and properties represented by three different companies at three different locations : DC Direct (owned directly by DC Comics and Time / Warner), Mattel, and Tonner.

Dominating the DC action figure scene is definitely Mattel, whose DC Universe Classics line is at the very top of the most sought-after collector lines. It was at NYCC that they revealed the never-before-seen ninth wave of their DCUC line, which is scheduled to include Black Canary, Green Arrow, Wildcat, Deadshot, Guardian, Black Adam, and most interestingly, Mantis in both classic and robotic forms. We’ve just seen Wave 6 come out, so Wave 9 is at least 6 months away – which only gets collectors buzzing more intensely.

As a collector of figures based on Jack Kirby’s New Gods universe, I’m a little in love with Mantis (as well as the Parademons that’ll be coming out before this wave). Mantis joins Lightray, Orion, Big Barda, Kalibak, Darkseid, and Mr. Miracle from Jack Kirby’s artworks – all of whom have received a lot of respect from Mattel and The Four Horsemen, who sculpt the line.

Collecting all 6 will allow you to build the gigantic Chemo, who is a giant, translucent green blob of a creature. Which is weirdly awesome in that whole ‘Silver Age comics were wacky’ way. Wacky as hell, and still infiltrating my toy collection.

Mattel also had a classic Brainiac figure on display, slated to be released in a 2-pack with a red-eyed Superman, and some large, original sculptures of future figures that had been previously revealed.

In addition to holding the license to make 6” DC figures, Mattel makes action figures for the new cartoon ‘The Brave and the Bold’, which features Batman and a hero-of-the-week team-up. While I didn’t see any unrevealed figures at NYCC, I was surprised to see a whole bunch of miniature Brave and the Bold figures, done in the ever-more-popular ‘Superhero Squad’ style. Sure, Hasbro owns the rights to ‘Superhero Squad’, but that hasn’t stopped Mezco from doing Hellboy, and Character Options from doing Dr. Who in a very, very similar style. Dare I say that these Mattel prototypes, which are based firmly in the blocky animation style of the cartoon, are the most aesthetically pleasing? Plus, Batman.

Finally, Mattel will be continuing their Target-exclusive Justice League Unlimited (or JLU) line, which has been running for many, many years and now exists solely on the support of fans and enthusiasts of the excellent cartoon. Future offerings will include show favorites (as well as other DCU characters that never actually appeared in the show) Lex Luthor in his prison orange, Ultraman, the feral version of Cheetah, Amanda Waller, General Eiling, old Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond, and Psycho Pirate. If it says anything about the visual appeal of the JLU line, my mom really loves them, and she’s the most practical person I know.

DC Direct has a much more direct grasp on their properties, and can anticipate turning characters into action figures from the moment of their conception. So, while Mattel focuses on ‘classic’ figures that hold a certain amount of weight and endurance in the DC universe, DC Direct spends a lot of time creating figures of things that are happening right now in the comics – which often involves characters that are relatively new, or new interpretations of old characters, or figures that are very specific to one artist’s stylings.

DC Direct’s newest offerings will include at the beginnings of a series of statues based on the artwork of Adam Hughes, encompassing the women of the DC Universe, each standing roughly 10” tall, and including Catwoman, Zatanna, Black Canary and Wonder Woman. Yes, we already have busts of these fine ladies done by the same artist, which is the only thing preventing me from throwing myself headfirst into yet another collection. And by ‘bust’, let’s just confirm that Adam Hughes really loved drawing his women amply.

Those Women of the DC Universe busts (some of which have exploded in value) will be joined by Aquaman’s wife, Mera, sometime this year. The entire ‘Women’ line will be complemented by the ‘Heroes of the DC Universe’ bust line, which has revealed Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and the villainous Darkseid to be among the ranks.

The DC Direct 13” line will finally be joined by Wonder Woman, who was on display here for the first time, after being announced and profiled in a recent issue of Toyfare magazine.

The DC Direct action figures of note were the eight figures from the next two waves of Green Lantern figures – each of which will feature Lanterns in colors Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Black. As someone who’s into the visual effects of colors, as well as strange fictional parallels, I’m pretty excited to see a whole mess of variously colored Lanterns. The two Black Lanterns were only represented by placards with blank silhouettes, as their appearances have not yet been revealed in the comics, so that’s a demonstration of just how far ahead of the curve DC Direct places themselves.

Finally, Tonner had the whole collection of DC Stars dolls on display, which I really enjoy. Newly created figures include a Green Lantern (based on Hal Jordan), which includes a fancy – though wholly untraditional – Power Ring. I was also excited to see a Hawkgirl with huge, feathered wings, and a classic Silver Age Catwoman. If I were to want a Catwoman doll, the chick in the purple cape was top on my list. They can hit the skin-tight spandex later.

They’ll also be re-envisioning their earliest DC Stars females, using altered costumes and an updated, most busty body to more accurately represent comic book attitudes towards the female form.

Something’s definitely changing about the way that companies reveal their upcoming stuff. With the internet being so immediate and widespread, it’s rare to see something at a convention that you didn’t already see leaked online somewhere. The pleasure and anticipation of seeing a new toy in person isn’t what it used to be, and many companies have indicated that they’re going to reveal even less at Toy Fair next weekend.

This doesn’t spell doom for toys – just how the companies interact with their loyal collectors, who are both their most vocal critics and most rabid supporters. The convention scene is definitely taking over where Toy Fair once dominated, with its direct connection to the buying audience and instantaneous feedback about the products on display. All of this is a demonstration of how the collectors are having an increased sway with the companies they financially contribute to. And that can’t be a bad thing – even if it means that I’m a lot less surprised during conventions.

Much more NYCC 2009 fun to come! For now, check out the highly disorganized NYCC 2009 photos in the Community, while I try desperately to sort them out.

As an added bonus, I include this panorama of the Con floor. And believe it or not, against all odds, look closely and you can actually find a Waldo. Click to enlarge!

By the time you’re reading this, New York Comic Con 2009 has started. A few million billion socially askew nerds have converged upon the Javits Center on the west side of Manhattan, altering the shoreline and elevation of the island itself with their sheer geekpowers, and I will be among them.

I’ve been doing the Con thing for years upon years, and it’s afforded me some perspective on what Cons mean to a collector, as a fan of entertainment, and as a sane human being.

As a collector, NYCC has begun to offer an amazing range of exclusive collectibles that were previously only available at conventions like Wizard World and San Diego Comic Con. This year, there are countless exclusive items being made available by the urban vinyl toy vendors and artists that will be available nowhere else, from Brent Nolasco’s hand-painted customs, to production pieces painted up in colors that have never been released previously. Because of the nature of these artist toys, the likelihood is that even at their high prices, their editions are so severely limited that they’ll sell out very quickly. This isn’t to say that the high prices aren’t justifiable – just think of it as buying original art, because that’s what many of them are,

Mattel will be offering their exclusive Masters of the Universe Classics ‘Faker’ figure – essentially, a He-Man painted blue, and an actual character from the classic cartoon. He’ll be the fifth released figure in the series, which began at last year’s San Diego Con with a limited ‘King Grayskull’ figure (with light & sound packaging), and has recently bee accompanied by figures of He-Man, Beast Man and Skeletor, respectively. At $20 – $25 per figure, available only at cons and via mail order from MattyCollector.com, it’s a slow, but attractive, collection.

And though the NYCC website would have you believe otherwise, Hasbro’s ‘Extreme Conditions’ GI Joe sets, featuring the Joes in both desert and snow gear, are NOT this year’s exclusive. NYCC needs to get on updating their info, as they’ve created a large mix of exclusives from all previous years without distinguishing which is which. I’m not a Joe collector (except for the silly looking ones), and it’s no SDCC Fin Fang Foom, but they’re neat sets.

Last year, I purchased a Con-only Iron Man glass from PopFun, which I’m still a little in love with and have big plans for. This year’s glass from PopFun features a classic Wolverine, no doubt to coincide with the new Wolverine movie and cartoon coming out.

Tonner will also be at NYCC, offering an exclusive Lara Croft : Tomb Raider figure in a coat and brandishing a sword. Twilight fans will also be able to pick up 1 of 100 Twilight sets of the film’s two main characters. regular readers will know that despite my undeniable manliness, I loves me some Tonner.

And of course, there will be comics abound. More than can be sensibly counted. The real merit of going to a Con and enduring the best and worst of humanity all at once is meeting the creators. I’ve yet to match up the list of guests with the list of creators in comics I might want signed, but there’s no eBaying that experience.

And speaking of eBay – there’ll be plenty of people there who are buying up these exclusives to resell them for a profit on eBay, so unfortunately, a bit of speed in getting to the things that you really want first is usually required, so map and prioritize.

Bring water. Bring comfortable shoes. Bring a lot of patience for the family-sized guy standing in front of the creator you want to meet / action figure you want to buy / space you want to walk through. Don’t bring a huge backpack to stuff full of junk – if anything, bring a rolling case, and have some kind of off-location home base to store things in when you’re becoming overburdened, such as a car or a hotel.

And remember : it’s there for entertainment. It might be crowded and frustrating, but take a breath and remember to have fun.