We were feeling a little better so we hit up the Diamond Select booth over at what’s left of the Toy District. We could only snap a few pics because we didn’t have time to get full tours, but there were lots of great looking toys. Above, some alternate world Flash from the DC Direct showroom.
The controversial Ame-Comi figures. In person they do not look so bad. And in fact they are NOT action figures.
Superman and Wonder Woman seem to be locked into some kind of eternal struggle.
Batman Black & White figures.
One of several Charles Vess-designed Stardust figures.
Another one from the Vertigo line.
Sadly, our World of Warcraft shots did not come out well. This was the best of the lot. We’ll find some online for you. These DC Unlimited licensed figure lines give DC’s talented design crew a chance to stretch their wings, we’re told.
One of the neat greyscale AFRO SAMURAI figures from DC Unlimited.
Over at Dark Horse, we got to see the Jimbo vinyl figure in the flesh and it was awesome! We hear it will come in a lavishly designed package. Jimbo creator Gary Panter has been very involved with the design.
We were also told that if you lifted up JImbo’s plaid breech-clout you’d see that he had “everything he needs to have.”
Another Charles Vess-designed figure, this time from the Dark Horse showroom.
To be honest we plum forgot what line this is from, but it looked cool.
Animated Hellboy busts.
Betty Page!
Tarzan and Jadbalja, the Golden Lion! This piece was not sculpted by Dark Horse, but we missed the name of what line it was from. (Yes we really did miss a lot — if anyone knows, we’ll fix the credit.)
Over at Gentle Giant, everyone was wacky for this toy based on CLASH OF THE TITANS.
Whoa! Between the weird photo and the lifelike figure, this almost seems REAL.
Gentle Giant is of course known for their life scanning actors, in and out of make-up to make incredibly accurate looking figures. Sadly we messed up this photo of Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett.
Disney’s new Dragonkind line is a new way of packaging Mushu from MULAN, Pete’s Dragon and Maleficent from SLEEPING BEAUTY. Gentle Giant is making the figures. Of course, we like Malificent the best!
Mouse Guard! You heard about and here it is.
Another angle. Will kids like this plush?
And the PVCs.
People were wild about 70s style Mego Star Trek figures, made from the original molds! Older people remembered playing with them; hipster kids WANTED to play with them.
Back at Gentle Giant, Harry Potter bust.
Smokin’ Aragorn!
Assorted mini-Simpsons’s figure sets from Gentle Giant. Suitable for a New York sized apartment!
And more.
Little Draco Malfoy from ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.
Zombie Spider-man and Mary Jane from the Marvel Zombie Line. LOOK DON’T SAY IT!
Classic marvel characters in black and white.
Ghost Rider rides a wave!
A figure from the Bandai line. DC looks pretty good about now, right? We’ll have more to say about the state of women in comics as revealed by toys of them crawling around on all fours as soon as our head clears up.
In regards to your last item in this post, I’m sure that there will be plenty to comment on from what you have seen there. Those DC manga influenced superhero statues aside, there are other ones that are somewhat sexually gratuitous. I remember seeing the Catwoman statue and wondering why it was necessary to have her costume zipped down showing so much of her …uh…kittens…hanging out.
It doesn’t make sense in an industry that is not doing as well as it should be to continually ostracize a large group of people that is virtually untapped. You can grow that market if you continually degrade or insult them.
Don’t get me wrong, I like boobies as much as the next heterosexual male, but I prefer them to be on actual existing women and not statues or drawings (which is why I will never get Hentai).
While I normally agree with Conundrum, I must admit begrudingly that the Carrie Fisher statue looks awesome.
That could be a bi producer of my generation though, i’ve had a crush on her wearing that costume since 1983. And I was born in 1982 so that’s whacky.
The Mouse guard plushes look amazing.
I can see the point of the neato Batman B&W figures, but what’s up with the B&W Marvel Figures? It doesn’t seem to fit any recognizable art of those characters unless they’re going for the “buys marvel cheapo black and white essential trades” market.
And I do have a few of those.
Midtown Comics had Howard the Duck for only 5 bucks! Huzzah!
Heidi’s artys/grainy photography of the final image also looks sort of real, like the Carrie Fisher image. For a second I thought I must’ve accidentally clicked on a MySpace banner ad…
I have to agree with you, Michael. The Leia statue is great, but I don’t really view it the same was as I do those others.
I can’t really say why it doesn’t make me roll my eyes like the toys. Maybe it is because it is what she wore and it was a pose that she had in the movie. So perhaps it is the “recreation” aspect of it.
On those two statues that are identfied as designed by myself, I sculpted them also. Interesting new process to learn and apply to another project of mine, a 16 ft. bronze based on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ , currently in production.
Also I can’t wait to get my hands on those Mouse Guard PVS figure. Perfect!
Charles
PLEASE get more info, if possible, on that Tarzan sculpture. Any signs of new John Carter toys?
Think those figures are gratuitous? Check out Attakus America’s offerings! Beautifully crafted sculptures from France, including a great super deluxe Star Wars diorama (of the scene where Obi Wan battles Darth Vader while our heroes run towards the Millenium Falcon). However, many of their display figures were sporting post-it notes (to cover the naughty bits), and some figures were, well, um… nice to look at.
Regarding Diamond, I loved the boxed, 12-inch figures (Aquaman was especially well done, if a little angry), as well as the “famous moments” sculptures of Marvel origin scenes with an oversized black and white figure behind the full-color scene.
Lots of cool stuff here (been here all four days helping out my father), but worn out. My favorite use of merchandising: a 300 lunchbox with the phrase “Today we dine in Hell” writ large across the front! From the same guys who are making the “Christmas Story” lamps. (sorry, brain is fried.)