Day Four is up, along with our entire SDCC 2007 coverage! 

Go check it all out now! 

Now Day Three is online, including Hasbro, Mattel, Marvel Toys, DC Direct, Gentle Giant, and Bandai.

We still have tons of pictures to get formatted and labeled over the next few days, including the ever popular CosPlay galleries, looks at all the con booths, and just lots of pictures of the con itself to say nothing of the small manufacturers and urban vinyl booths!

So keep checking back! Day Four coverage will be up tomorrow!

 Madman Mike "Sdcomics" Walker has done it again, coming at you with his Day Three report from the floor of the con. Yesterday he got a chance to talk with DC Direct’s big Kahuna, Georg Brewer, among other things. Let’s listen in:

So today I had an opportunity to talk with Georg Brewer, Vice-President of Design and Retail Product Development with DC Direct. I genuinely enjoy my annual SDCC chats with Georg. He’s a great guy and usually he’s very forthcoming with information. This year was certainly no exception. I asked questions, Vice President Brewer provided answers.

I asked about the Killing Joke boxed set. It’s interesting to me because Batman and the Joker are new scuplts. Previously, when DC Direct has released two figures in a set with a paperback, it’s been repaints (Superman/Doomsday and Hush Batman/Scarecrow being two examples). Georg said he saw an opportunity because of next year’s Dark Knight movie. He wanted this set in bookstores next summer because it’s the ultimate Batman/Joker story and interest will be high because of the film. He also mentioned that these two figures will be released in a later assortment if all goes according to plan. I asked which assortment and he said "It’ll make sense". It’s not a Killing Joke wave, he said, but something else. He declined to elaborate any further. I’m thinking maybe an Alan Moore DCU wave?

Next year is DC Direct’s 10 anniversary. DCD will be introducing two new lines of action figures. I asked what, and he said the fans will love it. They’re 6" scale and "very classic". One of the two lines will make it’s debut at Wizard World Chicago next month.

I asked the Neal Adams Batman question. I got the "It’ll find it’s time" answer. I’m wondering if that’s one of the classic lines that’ll be out next year. But really, I don’t know. I’m just speculating.

DCD Minimates are doing well. In fact, sales are going up. Wave nine is being worked on now.

The Orion figure in the New Gods wave will "probably" have an astro harness assembly.

A 13" scale Joker is on the way.

The regular 13" Batgirl will have sculpted hair. The variant will be rooted. They haven’t decided if Wonder Woman’s hair will be sculpted or rooted. Sculpted looks nicer but it limits the range of motion. They’re debating it now.

The Dr. Fate helmet prop is being held up because of quality concerns. Georg wants a gold finish that will look nice but at a reasonable cost for fans. It’s still on the agenda.

I asked about more Crisis On Infinite Earths assortments and Georg said that there are none on the schedule currently. He said that they’ll get back to it, though. The Crisis trade paperback continues to be a strong seller.

More First Appearance: Same as Crisis. None currently scheduled, but something they’ll get back to at some point. DCD likes the idea of First Appearance in general. Like Crisis, it’s a good umbrella line to produce different characters.

Here’s something you guys will like: I asked about a Kevin Maguire artist inspired JLI wave, and yes, that’s in the works! They’re talking about different things they can do, like maybe giving each figure in the assortment multiple heads with different facial expressions (For those that don’t know, Maguire’s JLI art was famous for the character’s facial expressions).

The Alex Ross Justice line will continue. Probably with fewer armored figures, though. Georg knows the fans don’t seem to care for ‘em. He would like to see the line branch out beyond the JLA.

I asked about Image era Jim Lee WildC.A.T.S. figures. Georg is not opposed to the idea, but in the past the Wildstorm stuff has not preformed well at retail. If this is something you guys would like to see, you might want to tell your local comic shop owner so he can let DC and Diamond know.

In the future, Mattel will probably be handling any figures based on DC’s direct to DVD animated movies. Superman/Doomsday will more than likely be the last movie line handled by DCD. So if we want to see figures based on, say, the animated version of New Frontier, we’ll have to ask Mattel.

Classic Metal Men? Georg just isn’t sure it would sell.

For my own edification, I asked how well the Showcase volumes are selling, since Georg is also in charge of collected editions. He said they’re doing very well. He loves that format. So do I.

Assortments based on the weekly Countdown series are possible. But because of the long lead time that figures have in production, the assortments would come out right around the time that Countdown ends.

I asked about Morrison era JLA figures and Georg says that it’s possible. Howard Porters art would make interesting figure designs.

Mike
(That’s it for tonight. One more report from SDCC tomorrow. Stay Tuned.)

We have nearly all of our Day Two pictures now online. Lots of good stuff every where, including Hasbro, Mattel, Marvel Toys, Diamond, DC Direct, NECA, Mezco, SOTA, Corgi/Master Replicas, Toy2R, Underground Toys, and Shocker (see below).

Whew! One or two more might go up tonight, with Day Three galleries online tomorrow.

 Enjoy!

We’re not sure if they had any merchandise, or what they talked about, and most of the crowd left the panel only a few minutes into it, but we do know that GWAR showed up to make everyone uncomfortable and stage some kind of crazy mock battle in the empty aisle.

Now this is toy making folks! This is the very essence of what SDCC means! Enjoy a (mercifully) brief taste of video below, and then head over to our Shocker Toys Gallery for more fun!

Once again, Mike "Sdcomics" Walker has braved the crowds, attended the panels, and stood in line for 4 hours to get a bad hotdog just to bring you his amazing reportage directly from the floor of the San Diego Convention Center! Take it away, Mike! 

Okay, as we all know, Mattel and DC held their panel today. The panelists included the DC Brand managers at Mattel, a few of the designers, sculptor Eric "Cornboy" Mayse of the Four Horsemen and DC’s Senior Vice-President in charge of Brand Management, Cheryl Rubin.

I honestly thought it was a great panel. It was very infomative and entertaining. Mattel reiterated several times throughout the discussion that they’re committed to the fans. They know that it’s collectors that drive the sales of DCSH (And to a lesser extent JLU) and that’s why they’ve been reading the boards. They’ve read our tales of woe when it comes to finding new figures. They know that case packouts are a big issue with us. They’re aware of it and they’re going to fix the problem. With DCSH, BAF’s should help even out the case assortments.

Mattel has the DC license until 2012. They have access to over 3,000 characters now.

So, with the 6" DCSH line, they’re planning five assortments a year. Each assortment will contain a BAF. By my count, that’s 30 characters a year. In four years that’s 120 figures. Guess what, folks. DC fans finally have their version of Marvel Legends. A dedicated, comic accurate line with the same sculptors, all in the same scale and all in the same style.

No new JLU was shown with the exception of the Red Hood, but I certainly never got the impression that the line was going to end anytime soon. In fact, during the Q & A, a fan asked how long the line would continue now that the show is off the air. The reply was "How long do you want to continue buying it?". Another fan asked about the Teen Titans appearing in the JLU line, and a Mattel rep said that’s a good idea and it’s under consideration. During the slide show, Mattel put up a slide that pictured Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, Giganta, Cheetah, Blackhawk and a few others. They said that they read the boards, they know who we’d like to see and that they’re going to try and get as many fan favorite characters in the line as they possibly can.

I dunno. To me, that sounds like the line’s going to continue. Of course, Your mileage may vary.

One of the most exciting tidbits to come out of the panel was the news that the FH will sculpt some hyper-articulated 6" figures for the Dark Knight movie. It was made even more interesting when they said that there’ll be six characters in the line. Three heroes and three villains. Batman, Scarecrow, Joker and … ? Who’s Michael Anthony Hall going to be playing again?

I got to talk to DC Direct a little today. The Killing Joke two-pack will go on sale in April or May of 2008 and it will include a copy of the Graphic Novel.

Since we have a "finhead" Atom now and will soon have a cowled Hawkman, I asked Georg if we might see more Silver Age versions of the Golden Age JSA like maybe the Earth 2 Robin in his grey Batman inspired costume or the Star Spangled Kid. He said that they’re both on the radar. The First Appearance Earth Two Robin would be an easy repaint of the Silver Age Batman body.

I spent a little more time in the Hasbro booth today and made some new friends. I spoke with senior product designer David Vonner and lemme tell ya, he is a really, really cool cat. He’d love to do the Master of Kung-Fu in the Legends line. I asked if it would be classic or contemporary if it ever happens, and he said classic red PJ’s all the way. He said he envisioned Shang-Chi as being more Jackie Chan than Bruce Lee, and I thought that was an interesting take on the character. He said that to him, a character like Shang-Chi represents what a line like Marvel Legends should be all about. Classic characters that have been around for years and are iconic to Marvel fans.

Mike
(That’s it for tonight. For tomorrow, I’m hoping I’ll be able to conduct a sit-down type interview with Georg Brewer (Maybe 20 questions or so) and then later another one with Mattel’s Toy Guru. Stay Tuned.) 

The lack of new product showing for Mattel’s JLU line has raised some heated conversation on the AFI’s forums, and this morning Mattel’s JLU brand manager, "ToyGuru", wrote in from the con to allay some fans’ fears:

He also addressed some of the arguments in more detail in this thread. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page).

So there you have it, straight from the horses’ mouth, so to speak!  Thanks, ToyGuru!

More to come!

 It’s almost like being there! Check it out!

Update!!! All slides from panel now in our Mattel Gallery! 

The big Mattel/ DC Universe panel is going on right now, and we’re giving you the highlights as if you were there (except we’re probably leaving out a bunch of stuff that we’ll get to later, plus the whole no pictures thing). Pictures soon to follow!

JLU:
The other villain in the Gorilla Grodd 6 pack is Joker as the Red Hood. Rest of figures are Superman, Batman, Grey/Black Luthor, and Flash. They wanted every hero in pack to have a villain counterpart. Why Red Hood? Because every DC Universe character can now be made in animated style! Legion of Superheroes and Teen Titans animated shows can also be folded into the line. Line name will change in 2008.

SDCC 3-Pack (Ray/Shayera) will not be singles down the road. Line restructuring in 2008- want to make it the final word in collector driven lines. Want line to have as many characters as possible; line will last as long as it continues to sell. Working on case packs, they understand frustrations, and may re-release previously hard to find figures. No plans for JLU Hal Jordan, but looking into it. Charleton heroes (Captain Atom, Question) are possible. Line format will change in 2008. 10" "giant" figures such as Giganta and Atom Smasher possible.

Said they were listening to fans while showing slide of Cheetah, Giganta, Blackhawk, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel. Those are not guaranteed coming, but they know what fans want and are listening. Asked fans to be patient, but big things are coming and getting the master license changed their plans in mid-stream. New JLU to be shown maybe at WW Chicago, but probably later.
 

DC SuperHeroes:
Name changing to DC Universe Classics. First wave will hit shelves in January 2008. Initial heroes to include Red Tornado, Penguin, Etrigan the Demon, Orion, 70′s Batman (new body) with a Build-A-Figure Metamorpho. (Classic) Red Tornado & Penguin (with Penguins) are the chase variant figures. Series 2 will have Firestorm, Harley Quinn, Black Manta, Electric (blue) Superman, Classic Aquaman- Will be shown at WW Chicago. Series 2 BAF not announced. 2008 will see 5 waves of 5 figures, all waves will have BAF. BAF will be 25% larger than regular figure. Variants will have same BAF piece as regular figure, so not needed to complete BAF. Each wave character mix will go together in some way. Themed waves (JSA, all villains, etc.) are being looked at. 6" Wonder Woman and 4H sculpted Robin are coming. Vertigo & Wildstorm characters are off limits.

Wave 2 Teaser Slide!

Cyborg Superman coming, Batman Series 4: Clayface, Transforming Bruce Wayne, Nightwing (new deco/accessories), Catwoman, Gas Mask Joker (prior overseas release). 

6" Four Horsemen The Dark Knight line in 2008 to go with 5" regular movie figures. 6" line will have 3 heroes and 3 villains from TDK movie.

The Batman:
Will have Hawkman, Superman, Hal Jordan GL, Martian Manhunter, Flash are all coming.
 

There will be a Black Canary Barbie! 

More to come! 

DC Direct will be making a Killing Joke 2-pack based on the comic by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland!
The two figures will be Bolland Batman and Joker in Hawaiian shirt.