Greetings, readers! This past weekend saw the conclusion of San Diego Comic Con and while I wasn’t there, I’ve been keeping tabs on the mountain of new announcements that have been made in toyland. There is far too much to run down in one column, so I will be sharing news with you for the next few weeks. This week, we’ll discuss the comics company nearest and dearest to my heart- DC Comics.
DC Collectibles showed off a bunch of new collectibles slated to hit sometime in 2016. I discussed the ICONS line before and DC has shown off four new additions to the line: The Joker, John Stewart Green Lantern, Firestorm and with Milestone characters returning to the DC stable, Static Shock. In their Batman: The Animated Series/New Batman Adventures line we will be treated to BTAS versions of Commissioner Gordon, Ra’s Al Ghul and my most anticipated- ZATANNA as well as a TNBA version of Etrigan the Demon who comes packed out with Klarion the Witchboy and Teekl the cat. Arrow and The Flash releases continue with the previously announced Laurel Lance/Black Canary figure that will be joined by a new season 3 Arrow figure, a Malcolm Merlyn figure that bears the visage of the handsome John Barrowman, the Reverse Flash and Heat Wave. The TV show figures are slated for a March 2016 release. DCC will continue their Designer Series with two additional Greg Capullo inspired figures of the Joker and Wonder Woman, a new Darwyn Cooke line featuring Supergirl, Batman, Harley Quinn in her roller derby look and Adam Strange as well as a Lee Bermejo line that will include Superman, Luthor, Batman and Green Lantern. DC had even more figures up their sleeve including animated Clayface, Firefly and Harley Quinn(presumably a TNBA version) as well as a Batgirl/Oracle two pack based on her appearance in “Arkham Knight.” No pictures were available of those items.
Mattel is rebranding their Multiverse line by shifting gears from 3 and 3/4″ figures into a refreshed 6″ line which features the return of the Collect and Connect figure. The first wave draws from both the comic books and TV shows and will include “Zero Year” Batman, The Joker from the recent “Endgame” storyline, the Superman of Earth 23, TV-inspired figures of The Flash, Reverse Flash and Arrow with the CNC figure being the Batman Justice Buster Armor also taken from the “Endgame” storyline. Mattel’s display featured toys from the forthcoming live-action Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie as well, including 6″ figures of Ben Affleck’s Batman, Henry Cavill’s Superman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Not much news was shared about the female-focused “DC Super Hero Girls,” though a website was set up with brief bios of the main players.What I’ve seen thus far makes it sound like they’ve crossed the DC women with “Monster High.”
Mezco will continue their popular 1:12 line of cloth-covered 6 inch figures with a Flash and Superman figure that join the previously available Dark Knight Returns Batman. Non-DC characters slated for the line include Space Ghost and Judge Dredd. Hot Toys announced a new version of the Adam West Batman which will come with the iconic red Batphone, and showed their Batman Returns Batman and Bruce Wayne figures. A whole bevy of statues based on various DC characters from DC Collectibles, Tweeterhead and Sideshow made their first public appearance including the Yvonne Craig Batgirl and a Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman.
As far as this week goes, we will be getting one of the last two New 52-branded figures in this week with the release of the John Stewart Green Lantern figure. This leaves the Joker as the last figure for this line before DC gears up and starts pumping out the ICONS line. We should also be getting a restock on the Green Arrow figure from this same set. In non-DC news, Funko’s Garbage Pail Kids finally hit and we have a nice display set up in our glass case with the entire set of 12 and the Adam Bomb vinyl figure. We should also be getting a couple of the Harry Potter POPs in, including Harry himself and my favorite; Hermione Granger. Dr. Who POPs have also started to show up in-store but have been selling briskly. Recently arrived POPs still available from these series as of this writing include Severus Snape, the Adipose and the Eleventh Doctor.
On a last note, issue #2 of Black Canary is out today and I look forward to seeing where Dinah’s tour will take us and her band next.
Next week: Marvel Toy News!