News from SDCC 2010

[drgnrbrn316]

quick question...where the hell are the battle beast updates??? How many promos have they released??

3 that I'm aware of, all of basically the same figure, though it comes with a new paint scheme, weapon, and angle of mouth.

[bilbofett]

Thanks to everyone @ the con. the pics and updates were greatly appreciated. overall i'm stoked for all the marvel stuff. sadly i'm thinking of scaling back. everything else looks great, it's just that i'm not the completist i used to be.

[drgnrbrn316]

Yeah, thanks to all the folks on the floor for the updates.

[TM2 Dinobot]

Back. Why do I always leave during SDCC? Skimmed the thread. I love you guys.

First reaction: WOW! I'm totally buying all of this. I couldn't be happier. The Halo Mates look like trash though. I think I'm passing on them entirely. Also, when did Firefly leave Cobra and join X-Force?

[stack32]

Did anyone else read about the Spider-Man panel? There's a few pictures and this tidbit: "Slott teased to the audience that the black-and-neon-green suit is not the new Spider-Man suit, but one of potentially several new suits." Guess we won't be running out of Spidey variants any time soon.

[drgnrbrn316]

Did anyone else read about the Spider-Man panel? There's a few pictures and this tidbit: "Slott teased to the audience that the black-and-neon-green suit is not the new Spider-Man suit, but one of potentially several new suits." Guess we won't be running out of Spidey variants any time soon.

This just in, the next 5 Spider-Man figures will all be wearing red and blue.

There's plenty of Spidey variants, but for some reason they gravitate around the same one. I can understand keeping the line approachable to newcomers, but surely one red/blue suit a year should be enough, right?

[battlecat]

There's plenty of Spidey variants, but for some reason they gravitate around the same one. I can understand keeping the line approachable to newcomers, but surely one red/blue suit a year should be enough, right?

I agree in theory, but then I also think both of the red/blue Spideys on display at the con looked awesome, especially the light blue classic look they picked for six-arm Spidey...

Just saw this Minimate panel report where the writer says DST confirmed there will be a couple of AoA 2-packs to go with the box sets.

[Nessex]

Just saw this Minimate panel report where the writer says DST confirmed there will be a couple of AoA 2-packs to go with the box sets.

You Sir, have just made my freaking week. After the weekend excitement of finding out we are getting 2 AoA box-sets, finding out we can expect even more characters has made my Monday!

Here's hoping we see Holocaust, X-Man, Blink, Morph, Sabretooth or Wildchild in the 2-packs.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Nessex

[boyd]

AoA 2-packs just make me think they'll be TRU exclusives, and therefore frustrating to find.

[eclipse]

indeed

AoA 2-packs just make me think they'll be TRU exclusives, and therefore frustrating to find.

[link 46]

The panel sounded kinda like they were describing the booth from what i've heard. I got the feeling wave 38 will be daredevil though. The M.A.X mates getting villians is kinda scary( i hope they dont spark controversy). But i can't help but feel like they held back. Its kind of weird they hadn't planned past wave 37( what a weird number) but i guess we'll have to wait and see... Somthing im sure we're getting used to.

On a separate note, did anyone check out the Rooster Teeth panel?

[J.P.]

... The M.A.X mates getting villians is kinda scary( i hope they dont spark controversy)...

I hadn't even thought of that. Good observation. On the real-world side of the M.A.X. line, you know that there will be terrorists mates, and someone will raise a ruckus about it. Still, the announcement of villains brings to mind some really cool possibilities (some of those despicable me vehicles would be fun even - too late for that one though.. custom?), and there will always be someone wanting to complain. Ha, I remember hearing someone comment, saying the Power Man mate released is racist because of his fat lip (true stuff. my cousin knew a guy who knew a guy)... Can't please everybody either (as we've seen with the responses from board members over the sdcc announcements - everyone has good points though). And it's most likely that the # of those whose feathers do get ruffled will be a small enough minority that those feathers will just disappear on the wind... I can see there also being a response of respect for depicting "real world" conflict too...

...and about the comic con stabbing

I've heard from some of you multiversers before about how ridiculous the space issue is at sdcc (i've never been myself), and this CNN video about the stabbing brings that into question, concerning the excitement of all the attendees and not enough room for everyone to enjoy what they may have paid for. I guess it can be argued that if one was dedicated enough, they'd get to the panel super early, but still if there are 400 people camping out for a seat in a 300 capacity room (this is an example, i know it's not exact), would the next level of dedication become physically fighting for seats? Seriously! If I ever attend, maybe I'll have to prepare kaiju big battle style I dont know what really happened, and apparently neither does anyone yet, but this vid raises good question: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/25/comic....bing/index.html

...for all the reporting, guys (what, i'm on a roll)

[Nessex]

Its kind of weird they hadn't planned past wave 37( what a weird number) but i guess we'll have to wait and see... Somthing im sure we're getting used to.

I'm sure they have made plans for Waves 38 & beyond, the figure world is usually planning at least 6 months to a year in advance. Sometimes more.

They probably just didn't have all the Prototypes to show yet, or perhaps there was a hiccup in production sparking a last minute roster rearrangement that has yet to be settled.

Whatever the issue was, i'm pretty sure that Wave 38 will have been designed at least on paper - if not further.

[drgnrbrn316]

Just saw this Minimate panel report where the writer says DST confirmed there will be a couple of AoA 2-packs to go with the box sets.

In regards to that report, is anyone really surprised that Ghost Busters outperformed Marvel at Toys R Us stores?

With the Ghost Busters stuff, you could preorder them or buy them from the website, and find them in stores, regardless of how the previous series did. (there was a restock of series 3 sitting on a shelf in my store, so they just dumped series 4 on top of it when it came out)

With Marvel, no preordering, they may put a grand total of a couple cases online, though that's not guaranteed, and finding them boils down to a store by store search, where they'll restock the previous series rather than put out the next one, regardless of how long the previous one has sat on a peg. On top of that, over half the case is made up of retreads to sets hitting comic shops and online retailers (places that take preorders), so people are skipping these sets since they've already reserved them elsewhere.

Edited July 26, 2010 by drgnrbrn316

[HRGMann]

So it's basically 2 different business models competing. GB is mostly TRU... there are no 2-packs hitting the LCS's, so if you want them, you HAVE to get them at TRU. Marvel, you get a choice, at least on the LCS packs with the major characters. (can't picture a kid in TRU saying "Look, mommy! It's from the Iron Man movie! I want the secretary and the driver!")

With Marvel, DST has an opportunity to dip into the potential market of those who may never go to comic shops. The packs that fill up most of the cases at TRU have the "potential" to attract casual or new buyers (Wolverine, Thor, Cap, Iron Man, Spidey). Even in the IM2 TRU cases, the LCS packs are the ones with the major characters from the movie.

While the search for the Marvel exclusives have been a pain at times, GB has always been more readily available. If TRU became the SOLE distributor of Marvel 2-packs (everything is an exclusive), then I believe we'd get less product overall, and the figures would be even harder to find.

[drgnrbrn316]

I think the whole Marvel/TRU deal could work a lot better if they balanced the case ratio (4 unique sets, 12 fit in a case, the math isn't hard) and made the 2 non-exclusive sets a little more desirable. As it stands, since the non-exclusives dominate the case and can be found more easily elsewhere, when the cases can be bothered to make it to the TRU website, you end up with a ton of extra sets that keep them from putting new exclusives back up. If there were 3 of each per case, and instead of Iron Man/Crimson Dynamo you had Wolverine/Deadpool, then the sets would probably move a little faster, for all those who missed that boat last time.

Basically, put 2 exclusive sets, 1 set from the past, and 1 modern set, or better yet 1 army builder set, and you'd have something for everyone.

Even if you don't adjust the case ratio or the line-up, just making them accessible online and easier to find in stores would go a long way in keeping sales up. Assuming they show up in your local store, how many aisles do you have to go down to find them. Minimates have 4 separate locations in my store and the employees don't really bother keeping up with any sort of logic on what goes where.

[groundhog7s]

Chuck explained why there aren't any army builder packs in the TRU waves and it doesn't make any sense to me really. Most retaielrs/LCSs are stuck with the non-builder packs long after the army builder packs are gone-why would you then want to add huge amounts more to the amount of those packs into circulation? At least having an army buider would guarentee more sales with less stock sitting on shelfs.

[boyd]

My personal theory is that the army builders have become exclusive to LCSs/retailers as a trade-off to TRU sharing the wave & having their own exclusives. So TRU & the LCSs are happy because they have something unique, DST is happy to sell to both, and we end up visiting both to track down our 2" plastic crack.

[groundhog7s]

Yes, but the way TRU waves are, both groups are stuck with the normal packs. It's lose/lose and a lose for fans who can't get the exclusive TRU stuff.

[drgnrbrn316]

On the bright side, Target might be back in the picture, so we can start peg warming in three locations instead of two.

[TENIME_art]

I agree with the sentiment that it makes no sense to keep the troop builders (minus the one with the variant) out of TRUs.

For nutcases like me, I'd be able to complete my goal of 10 troops, instead of being stuck with 4 Multiple Men (thank FSM Cappy hooked me up with a few more), and 6 Hellfire Club soldiers, because that's all my LCS got in (or was able to steal from the other stores in their chain). Heck, if I wanted to, I could even go beyond my self-imposed rule of 10, if they were more easily acquired.

For TRU, there'd be less peg-warming, and more sales (not just for TRU, but DST, too).

It's sales-prohibitive to not have the troop builders at TRU. Keep the variants to the comic shops. Make the TRU exclusives more per case, and cut out one of the other 2-packs (giving LCS more exclusivity).

EXAMPLE:

This latest wave could have been --

Betsy Braddock/Lockjaw x3

Hulkbuster Iron Man/Gamma Hulk x3

Classic Iron Man/Stilt Man x3

Modern Mandarin/Dreadnought x3

That way, LCS could have Crimson Dynamo & Classic Mandarin to themselves, instead of both Mandarins, and people would be able to find the TRU exclusives easier (I still haven't seen a HB/GH in stores yet, and the only BB/LJ I found, I got).

Edited July 26, 2010 by TENIME_art

[Nessex]

If they're worried about the army builder packs not having enough commercial appeal at TRU (some of the characters are kind of b-listers - Rachel Grey, Black Queen, Happy Hogan, Yellow Jacket, etc. . . ), then they could mix 'em in with more 'sellable' characters like they did with the Bucky Cap / AIM agent 2-pack.

They wouldn't necessarily have to be a TRU exclusive either, as the characters would already exist in the LCS waves.

[groundhog7s]

And by mixing in with old characters like the other TRU troop builders, you also get the business of MOC collectors who'd want the different set-up. I say change Tenime's list to the Dreadnought with the Iron Man from the Crimson Dynamo pack and you've got the perfect set-up for a sellout wave that makes everybody happy.

And to echo Tenime's post, it'd make it easier for even bigger nutcases like me that get 20 of each somehow (I just don't pick mine up at any LCSs).

Edited July 26, 2010 by groundhog7s

[karamazov80]

I gotta disagree with you guys. The peg warmer packs really tie the aisle together.

[TENIME_art]