SDCC 2013: Day 2 News

Friday at SDCC kicks off at 10am with more panels and comic-con exclusive content. You’ll find the whole line-up HERE! As the day progresses, we’ll update and add news as we have it. But, for now, I’ll recap Day 1 and give you my thoughts on some things as they stand thus far.

As previously said, a lot of the first(or second, or third, ad nauseum) looks we got at some toylines this year was pretty disappointing. Starting off with Hasbro and GI Joe, there was nothing new that we haven’t seen before, though member Duffmann did catch a picture of the elusive Night Landing Raft with Cobra Eel, on card. (You can check out the Night Landing Raft and other items in the GI Joe display HERE in the gallery!) This is supposed to come in two variations, with and without cobra symbol. The confusing part is the tag said it was available now. Well, that’s great! But what now are you referring to? Because we sure haven’t seen it yet, and it isn’t up for any preorders. So what’s the deal?

Along with that and the lack of new product, our fearless leader NSA heard from Daryl DePriest that there’d be no more Joes coming in 2013 other than those announced. They are not discussing the 50th anniversary line until 2014. So that may put a damper on Wave 4 with Night Viper, Blind Master, etc. Maybe it won’t, but the statement was just vague enough to cover themselves and not release too much information. But that leaves us wondering about the fate of the line, the fate of rumored exclusives like the Amazon Gift Set with Nunchuck and Slice, and what may be in store in the foreseeable future. Are they going to take this opportunity to fix things, or are they going to just go on hiatus and leave us with scant few offerings till GI Joe 3 comes out?

Moving on to Star Wars, they made a decent showing(and you can find our gallery HERE), though as usual there seems to be some repetition with what they had on display. I can only take so many Anakins and Lukes and Vaders. It’s too much like Duke, Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander. They take the same formula and apply it to every line. The “Black” series was displayed and showing at $9.99 for the 3.75″ versions, and $19.99 for the 6″ versions. Between those and the “Exclusive” mission series stuff, they were looking pretty good.

Then, however, you get to the Saga Legends. Figures that harken back to my days as a child in the early 80’s. I’m not being nostalgic as I am being terribly disappointed. They harken back to the 80’s because they have the same articulation as the figures in the 80’s! Woo hoo! 5 PoA! Way to go, Hasbro. We’ve given you love and support all these years, and it turns out you really do hate our money.

I’m hoping to get some images from the Marvel display as well. All I know right now is that they’ve got one more Marvel Universe lineup(Northstar/Aurora, Black Knight, Omega Red, and Nightcrawler) planned before rebranding it to the Avengers line. I’m not sure what this will all entail, as information has been limited. Some feel they’ll stick primarily to Avengers characters, and others have said that the change is simply to grab more support at retail by giving it some connection to the movie. Whatever the case, I hope they keep the line going, because I’ve always found some use for these Marvel figures.

Departing from that which we have known and loved for many years, we get to some of the surprises. The NECA booth was an awesome display, and though none of it at the time was in 1:18th scale, they prove that they know what they’re doing as far as aesthetics and articulation on a larger scale. They do an excellent job and really bring the characters to life. I do wish they would bring some more focus back to the 1:18th scale, and really make a go at perfecting things, because they could really give Hasbro a run for their money if they got articulation down to a science. As it stands, though, I just have no room for what they’ve got, though that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it anyway. You can find that gallery HERE!

I’m still hoping that our boots on the ground will get some great images of the Sideshow and Hot Toys displays, but from what I’ve already seen, what they’re offering has me thinking about getting a sixth scale figure or two. I couldn’t see myself as a serious collector, but they’re certainly going above and beyond to bridge the gap between modern and classic style.

A surprising bit of extra news that was uncovered today comes from NSA questioning The Bridge Direct, makers of the Hobbit figures. Their Wave 2 is happening. They can’t show much because of Warner Brothers. They also are planning for a 1:18 Smaug but they haven’t even seen any pictures because WB is keeping it under wraps. They love the 1:18 scale since it allows them to do a lot more than 6 inch. They just need people to buy them. The new wave should be on store shelves in October. This is interesting news, and I’m anxious to see what they have in store for the second wave. The first wave, while not spectacular, was by comparison, far above and beyond, let’s say, Retaliation wave 1.

And now, the cream of the crop. Merit International, and their AV-8B Harrier. Yesterday, all we saw was it’s guts and the cockpit. Today, NSA is getting us some prime photos and video of this bad boy being assembled!

Besides Merit, it’s really been a sad showing, all in all. We all had some hope, even though at the same time we knew it was more likely we wouldn’t see much. Unfortunately, we were proven right on many levels. I hope 2014 sees a rise in the lines that were so disappointing this year, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not of the Fighting 1:18th.