MATTEL - JLU, Superman

Arguably one of the most anticipated showings among fans were this years' superhero offerings from Mattel. Which might account for the slight let down fans were feeling after seeing what was revealed in the JLU line at SDCC, namely less items that had been leaked the week earlier! Happily, many fans were excited by what was shown- Volcana, Deadshot, Stargirl, Winged Amazo, Shade, Justice Lords Hawkgirl, and Parasite along with the announced Jim Lee style Huntress and new 10" figures. Rest assured, Mattel has a lot in store for the line and just might not have been ready to reveal all of their plans quite yet.

Also shown was the relaunch of the Superman Returns movie line, now renamed Superman: Man of Steel and including characters form the SR video game from EA such as Mongul and Metallo in addition to new treatments of movie figures. Whew! It will remain to be seen if this line can last a few years until the inevitable sequel, or at least until the next Batman movie line can take over.

TOY BIZ

While it's unknown as of yet if Toy Biz's upgraded presence at the convention will continue next year, fans are grateful that the showing for 2006 was far beyond what it has been in the most recent years past.

And what a showing it is! For their last year shepherding the Marvel license through fan-encrusted waters Toy Biz not only brought all of their upcoming product to display, but also a nice chunk of stuff that was sculpted but now will most likely never see mass production.

Due to rising oil costs last year (after all, plastic is made from oil, plus the cost of shipping from the Orient) some items made specifically to please the fans were not to be. First, a suggested Avenger Quinjet build-a-figure was unable to get off the ground (it's unknown how far this made it into reality, or if any actual sculpting was started). Next, the planned "accessories" for the all-villain ML 13 were going to be classic Marvel comics henchmen with limited articulation- AIM Scientist, Hellfire Club goon, Hydra Agent, Doombot, Hand Ninja, and Brood Drone (not shown). We're not sure where Forbush Man was going to fall in the mix, but he does have a nifty Thor Frog to keep him company. Even smaller pieces, like the non-articulated PVC X-Babies that were to come with the ML 14 Mojo assortment couldn't be saved. Maybe one day Hasbro will include these in some fashion to their line.

The remainder of 2006 will bring us two more ML assortments, a second series of the "Face-Off" Two-packs, more large size ICONS figures, and a "House of 'M'" box set featuring alternate universe version of favorite characters. Most of these figures will also have variants, which have become increasingly easy to find to the point of sometimes being entirely evenly distributed, so that neither version is more rare than the other. Here is what each new wave will contain:

ML 14- Mojo Build-a-Figure: First Appearance Iron Man (gold variant), Longshot, Luke Cage (silver shirt variant), Falcon (modern variant), Baron Zemo (melted face variant), and Psylocke (face tattoo variant).
ML 15- Modok Build-a-Figure: Beta Ray Bill, Moon Knight (black variant), Thor-Buster Armor Iron Man (Destroyer variant), Spider-Woman (black variant), Wasp (2 variants!), and Captain Marvel (Genis variant).
Face-Off- FA Wolverine vs FA Sabretooth (open mouth variants), FA Punisher vs Jigsaw ( Bradstreet Punisher/White Suit Jigsaw variants), and Modular Iron Man vs Mandarin (War Machine/Green Helmet variants)

The ML sized X-Men line designed to parallel the X3 movie will be releasing a third assortment soon that includes a repaint Colossus, all new Avalanche, X-Treme Rogue, Ultimate Iceman, Ultimate Nightcrawler, and Ultimate Sabretooth. Shown with them is the Hulk vs Thing Masterworks diorama and the Spider-Man villain Toxin.

Superhero Showdown keeps going strong (although there is no indication yet if Hasbro plans to continue the line or not) with all new figures of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman (with both blue/black and blue/white outfit variations), Colossus, Magneto, Mole Man, Juggernaut, Green Goblin, Cyclops, Venom, Elektra, Silver Surfer, Beast, Daredevil, and Deluxe Namor w/Shark and Ghost Rider w/bike.

ICONS continue with Venom, Hulk, and Beast. And rounding it out are some TNA Wrestlers. You boys are going to be lonely in that case next year!

HASBRO MARVEL

Hasbro really started off like a shot with the Marvel license this year, having only acquired it in January 2006. The first two waves shown of Marvel Legends were heavily influenced by the Toy Biz design team, but subsequent waves will be more indicative of what direction Hasbro will take the line for the rest of 2007 and beyond. To keep these separate from the Toy Biz Marvel Legends shown at SDCC (ML 14 & 15) we're going to refer to the Hasbro waves as MLH 1 & 2.

MLH 1 includes Banshee, Emma Frost, Planet Hulk, Hercules, X3 Beast, and Ultimate Iron Man with build-a-figure Annihilus. MLH 2 consists of Ultimate Wolverine, Yellowjacket, X3 Movie Jean Grey (Phoenix), Xorn (Magneto head included), Quicksilver, She-Hulk, and "Lord of Asgard" Thor, with a build-a-figure Blob. The Xorn figure shown is the two-up sculpt and will be 6" in production.

MLH 3 (not shown) will have Astonishing X-Men Cyclops, Danger (Room), Comic Marvel Girl (Rachel), Storm (first appearance) and Ord.

Hasbro will extend the 12" ICONS series with a repaint Wolverine, Thor, Dr. Doom and Punisher (Tim Bradstreet version). The X3 Juggernaut pictured is not an ICONS figure, but rather a two-up prototype for the upcoming 6" X3 3-pack with movie versions of Angel, Colossus, and Juggernaut.

Lots more Hasbro Marvel to come!

DC DIRECT

Here are the offerings so far in the DC Direct display. More will show up on Saturday (Batman/Superman 3- Batzarro, Bizarro, Batman Beyond(!), Kryptonite Batman, Superwoman, Batwoman) and Sunday (First Appearances 4- Blue Beetle, The Atom, Warlord, modern Martian Manhunter, Aquaman). We'll have those pictures as their unveiled. The big reveal so far has been the Elseworlds 3 line-up (Red Son Green Lantern, Kingdom Come Nightstar, Kingdom Come Aquaman, Batwoman and Superwoman) and the Infinite Crisis 2 assortment (angry Superman, beaten Batman, regal Wonder Woman, Jason Rusch Firestorm, and two Donna Troy variations (classic and current incarnations).

There has been a lot of mixed reaction to the new "pre-posed" look of the IC figures, but it seems that with better pictures of the articulation that tide is turning in favor of them. Personally I don't think I've seen a better "battle damaged" Batman than this one, and I know that there has never been a nicer Wonder Woman, period. These have hewn very closely to the Phil Jimenez control art and if this is DCD's new direction I think they may have really hit upon a nice solution to refreshing many of the older, dated sculpts. Hopefully the Donna Troy also is a good sign that maybe we'll finally get a good college age Robin and redone Kid Flash to round out the classic Teen Titans. And where's that Doom Patrol, DC? Or maybe a Spirit line to go with the new Darwyn Cooke series and Frank Miller film? Hmmm?

The Alex Ross JUSTICE figures get a 5th assortment with Lex Luthor, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, and Brainiac (plus li'l monkey friend). Hot on the heels of the Superman: through the ages box set is one for Batman. The 40s "Dick Sprang" Batman shown will have a new head sculpt when it goes into production.

Also on display were the latest offerings to the 13" cloth outfit figures: Flash, Batman, Aquaman, and Captain Marvel (Shazam!). Along with the Superman resolit with a new head, these are getter better with each one. DC has been learning some lesson and putting that knowledge to use as the line goes on. I still wish they were 12" scale, though, but I think I'm the only one.

More coverage later with DCD's statues and busts. There is a small taste at the bottom with Ruben Procopio's snazzy Shazam! statue, the Matt Wagner B&W Batman, and some of the upcoming Looney Tunes offerings.