New York Comic Con seems to have less and less toy presence every year. Hasbro and Mattel were always staples on the showroom floor and all the smaller toy companies would really step up to compete. But in the last few years things have changed. Hasbro has only been holding pre-show press events outside the con (and hosting a few panels) and Mattel has been either a no-show, or had a small presence in the lobby. When I saw that Funko had a huge block reserved on the floor map this year, I was excited that this would maybe usher in a new resurgence of impressive toy displays. But alas, their area was essentially a giant waiting queue to buy their exclusives, with no other products on display. Someday I think NYCC will regain its position as a venue for introducing lots of new toy product. The wait between SDCC and Toy Fair seems longer and longer each year. But in the meantime, we still have a great handful of products to look at. Let's check them out below!
DC SuperHero Girls
Mattel
Although Mattel didn't have a big showroom presence as in previous years, they did have a small setup in the lobby showing off some of their new SuperHero Girls products. I'm predicting these 6" action figures will be my favorite product of 2016.
The only figure they had on display at NYCC was Supergirl, but in the days leading up to the convention, images of several others were released. Here are Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and Bumblebee.
I'm not a doll fan myself, but these 12" figures look pretty amazing.
I Am Elemental
Rebel Elements
I was a big fan of the I Am Elemental Kickstarter campaign from last year. My one wish, though, was that they would create figures in a larger scale. Well, this 6.5" Courage figure answers all those wishes in spades. She looks great and I just preordered her on www.iamelemental.com so hopefully I'll be reviewing her soon. The concept of this figure being a combination of the original seven figures is pretty cool, too. Think of her like a Megazord! (and go preorder her! Because I definitely want to see future waves of toys).
METALS Die Cast - Wonder Woman
Jada Toys / BlueFin
DCAU Femme Fatates
DST
DCAU Busts
DST
Plus Bust Banks
iZombie Gwen Action Figure
DST
Gotham Action Figures & Mini-Mates
DST
Batman '66 Busts and Statues
DST
Every time I see this bust it looks better and better. I can't wait to get her.
But I can't say the same for the full-bodied statues. Which is actually good because I can't afford them.
Misc. DST
Universal Monsters Lucy Westros
X-Files Mini-Mates
Tarot and Raven Hex Femme Fatales
Evil Lyn Statue
Pop Culture Shock
Speaking of things I can't afford... These PCS MOTU statues are perfection, but way above my budget.
Unmasked Batman '66 Catwoman Mez-Itz
Mezco
This unmasked version was shown previously as part of a blind box Batman '66 assortment. That assortment had facepaint variants for '66 Batman, Joker, and Catwoman - and also included a Burgess Meredith Penguin. I thought with the boxset release of all the major characters (besides Penguin) that these variants would be lost. But then This unmasked Catwoman showed up in their display. They didn't have the Batman Returns Mini Mez-itz on display at all. Last I heard, their release time was moved to January 2016.
HMF Mini Figures
HeroCross / BlueFin
These Hybrid Metal Figurations seem to be about 3.75-4" tall. I'm assuming they are metal like their larger counterparts.
Bishoujo and ArtFx Statues
Kotobukiya
Keepsake Ornaments and Itty Bittys
Hallmark
I was hoping to see a lot more of the pop culture keepsake ornaments set for 2016: Batman '66 Joker, He-Man, Jem, Movie Wonder Woman, etc. But all they really had in that department was the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman.
These Itty Bittys are pretty great. They already have such an interesting variety of characters: DC, Marvel, Disney, Peanuts, Rainbow Brite, Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, etc. I'll bet they become super popular like Beanie Babies or Pops. At SDCC they also showed a Supergirl, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, and Movie Wonder Woman.
Plus they appear to be making this style into solid ornaments. If they made them into little vinyl figures I'd be hooked.
Camouflage Carol - The Walking Dead
McFarlane Toys
Power Ranger Dino Charge
Bandai
Okay, so none of these were shown at NYCC, but these figures are what I was hoping to see there. There are at least two females rangers coming in the 5" line. They look to be Purple and Dark Blue (Talon). I know there's a female Aqua in the Japanese version of the show, so maybe she'll be released eventually as well. Plus, with all the villains being released lately (which is amazing) I'm surprised there have been no females. Where's Poisandra? Where was Levira?
Marvel Mini-Mates
DST
This coming year is going to be pretty cool for me Minimate-wise. We know we're already getting Disco Dazzler, Captain Marvel, and Lady Thor shortly...
But now we have confirmation that the Rumored Spider-Gwen TRU set will be released later this year as well. Aside from the popularity of Spider-Gwen in costume, the alternate Gwen Stacy torso is going to make this set fly off the shelves.
I didn't think the Deadpool movie was going to stir much interest in me toy-wise, but this Deadpool wave thrilled me. I kind of forgot his X-Force origins but I'm happy DST didn't. We see here a Copycat figure with an alternate Domino torso. And then a Siryn! (I'm so annoyed that my Siryn pic is blurred btw). And here I thought my X-Force collection was complete.
Princess Sapphire POP! Asia
Funko
Although the Funko booth didn't show any new products, the Toy Tokyo booth did surprise me with this exclusive Princess Sapphire Pop. I only started getting into the manga of Osamu Tesuka in the past five years or so. If you don't know anything about him, he is known as the Walt Disney of Japan and the Father of Manga. His most popular work to American audiences is Astroboy, but he was extremely prolific and created over 700 titles in his life (1928-1989). I've read a lot of his work in recent years and I love it all. My favorite by a longshot though was Princess Knight from 1953. It was entertaining, sweet, funny, and culturally relevant 60+ years later. The basic premise is about Princess Sapphire who is accidentally given both a boy-heart and a girl-heart at birth. She lives her life with conflicting desires... to marry a handsome prince or to take up a sword and ride into battle. She spends most of her time dressed as a knight and going on adventures. The story really challenges conventional gender roles and identity. It's a classic.
There is apparently a whole like of "Osamu Tesuka Originals" Pops I didn't know about. This could be a slippery slope.
Marvel Legends
Hasbro
Just to confuse things, Hasbro renamed their 3.75" figures "Marvel Legends" now. Here is the unmasked Captain Marvel 3.75" figure. There will be a masked version released in a two-pack set later.
Sharon Carter 6"
Rogue 6"
This figure is so much better than the cancelled one (although I like the Green and White outfit better). The wave in which this figure will be included has not been revealed yet. Hopefully it's not super exclusive like the Jubilee wave.
Here is a large model of the Gal Gadot Wonder Woman costume from the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie.
DC Collectibles
There wasn't anything new ore exciting shown from DCC. But this was the first time I've seen the Arrow Felicity figure in person.
Lego DC Superheros
While these aren't exactly new, it was the first time I saw the new Starfire and Harley Quinn mini-figures. The Harley figure has a screwed up eye, but it's a pretty cool redesign overall.
Cheers!
Thanks for taking the time to take pics and post them. There are actually some things in here that I didn't get to see in other toy sites.
ReplyDeleteThe DC Gals 6" line are actually not bad, but still a little two stylized for my tastes. Definitely excited for that Harley V2 Koto, and the Felicity figure in person looks alarmingly dull. I mean really really dull. I was looking to get the figure but I'm not so sure now.
I totally agree about Felicity. I posted the pictures of her because I was expecting her to look great after the Harleen Quinzel figure turned out so great.
DeleteI love the DC girls... their animated look is toned down enough for me to still like them. It's funny because I think the opposite about the Bishoujo figures. It's mostly their faces that bother me though because I really liked Batwoman and Gwen looks like she'll be great.
Spider-Gwen and Harley 52 Bishoujo. Down! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them!
DeleteThat DC Girls stuff is amazing - I can't wait to see the new and exciting ways Mattel finds to screw it all up for us!
ReplyDeleteDid you hear they're making LEGOs of them too? Now we'll have to wait and see if it will be regular or Friends style.
DeleteYou had me at Siryn! One of the most underused characters (toy wise) in the X-Universe!
ReplyDeleteI know! I was actually thinking what other Siryn items we've seen.. i could only come up with an Eaglemoss figurine (in her modern outfit unfortunately) and a couple Heroclix. I've very excited for her minimate!
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