This past week AFI had the opportunity to track down and talk to Chuck Terceira and Mike Leavey from Diamond Select Toys. Anyone that reads the front news page of this site knows that DST is going gangbusters with great product and announce something cool almost every other day. They continue to pick up great licenses and make great product around them. Their products have spawned so much discussion on our forums that last week we added a specific board just to talk about DST product.

For anyone that has ever been to Comic Con or several of the big Wizard World cons you have met Mike and Chuck. They are always on the front lines of the DST booth, answering questions, interacting with fans and selling great convention exclusives. Chuck has been a panelist on my Comic Con panels several years running, and Mike has been a great friend to this site since our opening keeping us up to date on all DST news.

So, I thought it was high time to find out a little more about the men and women that make up Diamond Select and what they have in store for some of my favorite properties. And.. if you are paying attention in the course of the interview you will find some first ever reveals.. such as the next Marvel Select figure…

AFI: I don’t think a lot of the fans know a lot about the gang at Diamond Select Toys.
DSTChuck: Can one man ever truly know what is in another mans heart.

AFI: Let’s get a few details from you guys:

Name and title?

Mike Leavey – Marketing and Sales Supervisor

Chuck Terceira – Director

AFI: How long have you been with Diamond Select?

Mike: About 2.5 years

DSTChuck: 6 years

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AFi 2nd Anniversary Celebration

A Closer look at NEW Batman DC Super Heroes Wave from Mattel

A few weeks back some images from overseas leaked out from someone finding a carded sample of the latest Mattel 6" DC Super Heroes line. The card back and side chips were shown and there has been a lot of speculation about a few of the figures. This next wave should be hitting stores around the end of the month. We’re pleased to be able to bring you a closer look of the new wave as part of our 2nd Anniversary.

Below- Group shot of the Batman family, and Batman heroes and villains (I have no idea where my Scarecrow figure went)

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AN INTERVIEW WITH JESSE FALCON

We caught up with Marvel Toys’ Jesse Falcon to ask a few questions about one of the most anticipated lines of this year. We were excited about this line when most of the information was just rumor and speculation, but now that we have seen the sculpts for the first two waves we can’t wait to get our hands on these Legendary Comic Book Heroes, brought to us by the team that revolutionized the 6" Super Hero action figure market.

AFI- Jesse, this line seems to have been the toy industry’s "worst kept secret" since Top Cow mentioned at last summer’s Comic Con that they were in talks with Toy Biz for action figures. Speculation has been running rampant ever since. Has
it been tough to keep a lid on this line leading up to the official reveal in Toy Fare?

Jesse Falcon- Well the on-line speculation has certainly been fun to watch! Seriously, I don’t think that we could have planned this line being promoted on-line any better. There was a great deal of buzz and a lot of people had questions for a long time. All in all, looking back there was this steady trickle of information that came out and that started at SDCC built with the sneak peak of the Pitt figure in Toy Fare magazine, the full article in the last Toy Fare issue and the great response we received form the Feb toy fair. It really worked out very well from a buzz standpoint.

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www.TIMBRUCKNER.com

A look at one of Tim Bruckner’s "lost" pieces

DC Xtreme Joker Bust

About five years ago sculptor Tim Bruckner pitched an idea to DC Direct for a line a small scale busts called "DC Xtreme". The concept was to push well outside the box to create versions of well known characters with a decided twist.  This would have been an interesting alternative to the standard "heroic" and or iconic busts being done by many companies including DCD. "DC Xtreme" was about pushing the envelope and giving fans a new interpretation on some classics.

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This year we’re trying a little something new: blogging about Toy Fair 2007 while we’re at the con!

Julius Marx and ToyOtter will be braving the winter cold in NY for the next week and we’ll be sending back reports as we’re able. Holding down the fort at home will be our crack team of bloggers: Dare, Jeff Cope, Peter Fires, Superfly, SD Comics, JJJason, and Vader! These guys will be making sure that you know where and when any toy fair news hits the web so you don’t have to search for it.

And once we get the pics formatted, they’ll show up on the right in the "Galleries" sidebar.

Enjoy!

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Holy Hot Wheels Batman!!!

One of the most anticipated Batman collectibles of all times is just a few weeks from release.

People have been waiting for a lot when it comes to the classic Batman TV show from 1966. Some fans want replicas of the Batmobiles. Some fans want action figures of the cast. MOST fans just want the show released on DVD! All of these things have been tied up in rights disputes (from studios, actors, etc) since the 1970s.. But Mattel has cut through some of that red tape and has found a way to bring us a piece of that gem from our childhoods. The Batmobile!

Word started leaking out around August of last year that Mattel was close to a deal with George Barris, the designer of the 1966 Batmobile, so that they could make different scales of Hot Wheels based on that classic TV car. When asked about it the answers were vague. Lots of "maybes" and "we’ll see" with some "nothing yet" and "no comments" thrown in for good measure. Then at 2006 Comic Con International there was a BIG teaser at the Hot Wheels booth, in the form of a red phone under glass along with the words "coming soon"

This news was mind blowing and the excitement crossed over from comic fans, action figure collectors, TV memorabilia collectors, die-cast collectors, and just plane ole’ folks that were fans of the classic show that have been waiting twenty-odd years for some officially licensed product.

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Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Hawkman

A closer look at Tim Bruckner’s last figure under exclusive contract

While Tim Bruckner has continued to sculpt some projects for DC Direct (like the AWSOME Linda Carter Wonder Woman statue) the last figure he sculpted under his 3 year exclusive contract for DC Direct is the upcoming second assortment Superman/Batman Series III Hawkman from the Public Enemies storyline,. Tim has sculpted all of the first two waves of figures based on the art of Ed McGuinness. Becasue of the style of McGuinness’ art many of the figures have been variations of the same "buck" body. In this feature we get to see some rare work in progress shots and how the details are added until we have one kick ass figure.

Hawkman was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville. The original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940) and was also immortalized as an action figure in DC Direct’s "First Appearance" line,

Several incarnations of Hawkman have appeared in DC Comics, all of them characterized by the use of archaic weaponry and by large, artificial wings, attached to a harness made from a special metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman.

The Hawkman uses the larger body that the McGuinness Martian Manhunter used. Above we see a castaline casting of the base body with the new head and costume details starting to be added on top of that with pins holding the figure together.

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By Daniel "Julius Marx" Pickett

Mattel has just released the three Target Exclusive DC SuperHero 6" 2-packs now arriving on store shelves and are priced at about $15.

The three sets are:

Superman vs. Bizarro

Batman and Batgirl

Superman and Clark Kent

I just picked these up so I haven’t had time to open them yet, but I’ll get them open, take some shots and update this page as soon as possible.

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An Exclusive "Q and AA" with Art Asylum’s Vice President Adam Unger

By Jeff Cope

Q. So, why Speed Racer and why now? It’s been some years since Speed Racer has had an impact upon pop culture. What’s the appeal?

Like you, I grew up with Speed Racer. It just had an amazing appeal to me with all the drama that was involved. There were some real tense situations in the old series. We wanted to bring some “oompf” to Speed Racer, doing something new while, at the same time showing total respect to the classic. We wanted to do something that had more of a team effort to it, so we created these new characters that are on the racing team with Speed Racer Jr and his sister Velocity.

Q. Did Art Asylum pursue the license, or did Speed Racer Enterprises seek you out?

A little of both. We’ve had a pre-existing relationship because of some other projects. We thought the time was ripe for Speed Racer to make a comeback. There wasn’t much going on with the property. But, with it being the 40th anniversary and with the popularity of racing, we thought Speed Racer would make a great oportunity for Art Asylum.

Q. You’re taking a new approach with Speed Racer. How did the decision to produce a new online animated series come about?

It’s all about driving the sales of the toys. We looked at different ways to market and promote Speed Racer. TV Commercials and print ads are expensive, so we thought maybe there was another way to go about it. We felt creating a more organic experience using the web was the way forward.

Q. What’s your target demographic with the new series?

It’s for fans of the classic series, and through them we hope to reach kids as well. One of the niches out there is Dad’s who are trying to connect with their kids, but they don’t get Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh…but they get Speed Racer. It’s something they can share with their kids and enjoy the new stuff together.

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The Exclusive and Elusive JLU

SOLOMON GRUNDY

By Daniel "Julius Marx" Pickett

One of the most requested and anticipated figures in the Justice League line is Solomon Grundy. First rumored to be coming in a second wave of 2-packs at the beginning of the line, it has been a long journey for Grundy to finally see plastic.

The figure comes blind boxed so fans won’t know if they are getting the regular version or the rare variant. According to Mattel there were fewer Grundys made than last years Catwoman exclusive. The quantities were split between Comic Con in San Diego and Wizard World Chicago. There was some early talk that this figure might be available later, perhaps as a redecoed or repackaged store exclusive, but when the budget came back on what it would take to make the figure the decision was made to use cheaper copper tooling which breakdown faster so smaller runs are required. This has been upsetting to many fans not able to make the cons, but it was either use copper tools or we wouldn’t get Grundy in the line at all.

Outer box

Grundy has been a long time coming. I was told by a former Mattel employee that there was an older sculpt of him, that never made it to the prototype phase because he was lost by the engineering department.When Boy Wonder took over the line he made it his mission to get two large, fan favorite, villains into the line: Grundy and Doomsday. The original plan is that they would both be Comic Con exclusives with packaging that would fit together to form a scene.

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