By Mike "SDComics" Walker and Jason "ToyOtter" Geyer.
In the theory of better late than never, here are a good portion of the pics taken by AFI of the stuff shown at Wizard World Los Angeles, along with commentary on what was revealed by the always comprehensive SDComics! For SD’s full report including more pics and some of the local talent, check out this thread in our forum.
Mattel Toys
As it’s already been stated, Mattel is restricted to just the Superman and Batman family of characters for the comic based line for 2007. They’re still talking to WB though, and they have hopes for 2008 so all is not lost.
I asked about the possibility of Silver Age characters like Composite Superman showing up in the 6" line, and Boy Wonder said the sky’s the limit. They won’t restrict themselves to one particular era.
Catwoman is a go for the 6" line.
I asked about the comic book pack-ins, and yes, that’s going to be ending soon. Because Mattel is on the opposite coast from DC, the logistics were a nightmare. It’s too difficult and costly to add them in.
The dioramas that will be included will be made of cardboard.
Justice Lords Hawkgirl will be showing up in the JLU line.
I mentioned those clear plastic stands that ToyBiz sometimes uses with Marvel Legends to Boy Wonder and asked him if Mattel might do something similar with the 6" line, and he said no.
It’s too soon to say if Mattel will be making toys based on the upcoming Wonder Woman and Flash movies, but Boy Wonder did confirm that yes, Mattel will indeed make action figures based on the new Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon. They haven’t started yet, but the designers are excited.
Boy Wonder introduced me to one of Mattel’s top designers, Mr. Ruben Martinez. Ruben was great fun to talk to. I could tell that he really, really loves his job and he’s having a blast. A few quick items:
We’re going to get another Huntress figure in the JLU line in addition to the one they had on display, and this time she’ll be wearing the Jim Lee inspired costume, the one with the white cross. Ruben worked very closely with Bruce Timm on this.
Ruben says one of his goals for JLU is to make every character that appreared in the old Super Powers line that they’re contractually able to do. Kalibak will be a challenge, but he wants it to happen.
We talked about articulation and tooling, and how cool the 6" line was for posing. I mentioned how cool it would be to have a Creeper figure to put in weird Steve Ditko style poses, and Ruben laughed. He said that Creeper is on their approved list of characters and they’re looking at him for ’07 or ’08.
Justice League Unlimited/ DC Super Heroes/ Superman Returns
YuGiOh/ Cars/ Naruto/ The Batman
Diamond Select Toys
Diamond Select Toys was there, showing a lot of the same stuff they showed at Toy Fair. Here it is!
That’s it, suckas! See you at SDCC 2006 in a few days!
