San Diego Comic-Con 2003 Report
What is there to say about San Diego Comic-Con, other than that it really is the biggest geek-fest in America?
Of course, I felt right at home. The exhibitors’ room wasn’t as good this year as it was last year if you were looking for Japanese super robot or mecha toys, but there was a very strong presence of kaiju toy dealers, with a good selection of both vintage and new items.
The Super7 Magazine crew was there in force, with a show-exclusive variant of Bear Model’s Godzilla ’74 figure for sale. I finally got to meet editors Mark Nagata and Brian Flynn face to face, after trading and corresponding with them for years. StrangeCo was also there, showing off their Cosmouse vinyl as well as all three versions of the Dorbel vinyl I reported on last week. Kaiju lovers, take note: Dorbel is solid vinyl, and truly impressive in person.
As for the toy news, let’s break it down by license…
Robotech: The big news from Toynami was the Masterpiece Alpha, which features an excellent sculpt, die-cast content spread throughout, and a little fold-up Cyclone that fits in a hatch behind the cockpit. Scale is 1/55 (about 6″), price is $80, release dates start at the end of this year, and if sales are good they will make a Beta for it, so use your dollar votes if you want to see this happen. And it has a waist joint! The Robotech panel also told us that an SDF-1 toy was considered by Toynami, but not deemed worth the effort since the molds could only be used once, unlike the VF-1 and Alpha ones. Aside from the new Super-Poseables, no other toys were annoucned.
Gundam: Bandai showed us the first episode of Zeta Gundam in English, which filled my heart with blood. Although they weren’t displayed at the show, the Arch Enemy Gundam and Gelgoog are still scheduled for release. I asked if a green Gelgoog exclusive was in the cards. Since the average Zeon grunt really doesn’t fit into the category of an “arch enemy”, they said they didn’t plan on doing this.
Maschinen Krieger: Diamond had a huge display of these little Yellow Submarine 1/35 guys, including prototypes for a new set of Working SAFS, and two versions of the Fireball SG. Pooyan’s Halloween suits have also been confirmed for production. All of these look great.
Five Star Stories: Kinokuniya Books had what was probably the most impressive display of the show, dozens of completed Five Star Stories models being shown off to promote their translation of the manga. The centerpiece was the huge Jagd Mirage kit, which was probably about three or four feet tall. No toys announced, though.
Transformers: Hasbro showed off a Unicorn toy. It was weird, it didn’t look like a unicorn, because it had not one horn but two.
Star Wars: Why am I writing about Star Wars on Toybox DX, you ask? Because if you haven’t heard already, a 13″, six pound die-cast Millenium Falcon is coming down the price for the not-so-low price of $300 from Code 3. It looks very impressive, and will probably appeal to die-cast addicts. An X-Wing is also being released, but it isn’t to scale with the Falcon. Why? I have no idea.
So there you have it. Not a complete report on everything that was at the show, just the stuff I care about. And in the end, isn’t that what’s important?
And now, the pictures:
Die-Cast Code 3 Millenium Falcon
Toynami Herculoids toys
That Transformers Unicorn thing
A Star Wars toy I’m sure none of you care about
Mark Nagata of Super 7, with Antoinette and Jim of StrangeCo
The sleeper hit of the show: Playwell’s Titanium figures
Ugly Dolls in garbage cans
Die-Cast Code 3 X-Wing
Maschinen Krieger display at Diamond
More Maschinen Krieger
Even more Maschinen Krieger
Gigantic Jagd Mirage kit at Kinokuniya display
Killer Tomato schmoozes with booth babes
Brian Flynn of Super 7 poses with vinyl booty
Ken stands up to the Victory
Roger stands up to the Victory
Harvey stands up to the Victory
Corey’s new fixation: Junkyard Dom
My sole toy purchase: an M-1 Go glow mini Greenmons, complete with waist joint!
