NY Comic-Con gets it on

By Tina Benitez & Karyn M. Peterson -- Playthings, 2/26/2007 8:31:00 AM

NEW YORK—As the NY Comic-Con came to a close on Sunday, exhibitors, fans and members of the trade all seemed to get something positive out of the second annual show, according to those who spoke to Playthings at the Jacob Javits center in Manhattan.

Most exhibitors were initially not sure how Saturday would pan out being the first full day for the public. Costumed anime and comic-book fans, Jedi-knights-in-training, families and an after-work crowd of adults started filled the halls on Friday night, when after a trade-only afternoon the Javits opened to the public at 4:00 p.m. Early attendees crowded the booths, eager to be the first to play the newest video and trading card games and to see first-hand what new collectibles would be available at retail later in the year.

Storied booths
“It’s going to be like last year’s [show]. It’s sold out. I hope the fire marshals don’t come,” Perry Sharpe, a delegate from Wizards of the Coast, told Playthings on the show’s inaugural day. And once Saturday came, the aisles were indeed full—but not overcrowded like last year’s show—and exhibitors and attendees were genuinely happy. Sharpe travels around to different retailers throughout North America to demo Wizards games in-store. “It’s wonderful,” he said. “There are giveaways, contests for free product, and the stores increase sales for the games.”

Reaching out to retailers in similar ways was the plan for Marvel at the show, but the fans got something special too, with a number of sponsored events planned, including author and artist Q & As. The highlight of these was a panel with master horror writer Stephen King for his new Dark Tower—The Gunslinger Born; King, artist Joe Quesada, actor Ralph Macchio and other guests were all on hand to discuss the project.

Mike Pasciullo, vice president of business development for Marvel, told Playthings that the new Dark Tower is something big for the company, because it is bringing in more non-comic readers. Pasciullo, who was on hand to answer fan questions and get feedback on the new Marvel Legends series 2 and series 3, which was shown exclusively on Saturday, added that developing seminars at the show helps Marvel reach out directly to die-hard comic fans, non-comic fans and retailers alike. “The show is good mostly for the fan set-ups—panel interviews with editors and creators of the comics,” he said. “In any industry, it helps to go to these seminars. The learning curve becomes slimmer.”

Online and local retailer My Plastic Heart, a first-time exhibitor, told Playthings that the show was good exposure for its online vinyl and collectibles store as well as its new bricks-and-mortar store, which just opened in the city last November. Some new products on display were the black and white Wink Lad Lond on Police vinyl set and a Ron English-designed Cathy Cowgirl figure; a full lineup of booth signings for fans was also being offered at the show. According to My Plastic heart owner Vincent Yu, the con is a good opportunity for the artists to get their name out to the public. “We bring new artists in all the time,” he said. “Here, we can also give them more exposure.”

Signings were also the order of the day at the booth for Toy Tokyo, a New-York based retailer and distributor of collectibles, including Medicom products. Tim Biskup-designed Bearbricks were being signed by the artist in the booth when we stopped in. “I like the shape, the different artists,” Alfred, a fan of the Bearbricks line, told Playthings. “I enjoy the creativity—it makes everything—and it’s even clearer on display,” he said, as he put away his freshly signed vinyl bear. Alfred admitted he was a unique Comic-Con attendee in that he was an “older” fan, plus he was at the show specifically seeking out vinyl figures and other quirky collectibles to display in his home.

Exclusives and more
Toy Tokyo also hosted the exclusive debut of Portland-based Unkl’s new 12-inch Kow HazMaPo vinyl, a camouflage-printed figure of which only 250 are available, according to the brand’s Leah Preston. “They are sure to fly fast,” she noted ahead of the show.

At the Mindstyle/Kaching Brands booth, fans were buzzing about the new Dark Crystal prototype statues licensed from The Jim Henson Co., which will be available in extremely limited editions later in the year, according to Mindstyle membership coordinator Denise Serrano. The company—who holds a license to create high-end collectible statues from the Dark Crystal as well as other Jim Henson properties, such as Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, and Mirrormask—will also debut a line of colorful mini vinyls based on a group of little-known characters known as The Critters.

The company also produces collectibles designed by artists Michael Lau, Viktor Schreckengost and Frank Cho, which were popular with the Comic-Con crowd. “Artists have their own take, so we mostly try to stay faithful to what they want and bring out their vision without tying them down,” Serrano said.

Fans at the combined booth were also lining up for an exclusive Monkey Boy vinyl figure from Frank Cho, who was on hand during the show for autographs. Creating an exclusive for NY Comic-Con was important to the company, according to Kaching Brand’s Paul Holbrook, who predicted that the NY Comic-Con would slowly grow in importance once its date was settled for future years (in April staring in '08, as opposed to February) and it grew past its infancy stage. “It’s definitely going to be a powerful show,” he said.

More Comic-Con exclusives were on view in DC Comics’ booth, including the 1:6 Batgirl in black costume statue, a Powergirl Huntress Statue, the Alex Ross series 7 figures and the latest World of Warcraft figure, Undead Warlock. Jim Fletcher, vice president of design for DC Direct, said he enjoys hearing what fans don’t like about the company’s products as much as he hopes to hear their compliments, and Comic-Con is the perfect opportunity for that, particularly for hometown fans. “We’re dedicated to the fans,” he told Playthings. “That’s our existence. We do what we do because of the fans. These shows are more important, because you’re talking to the fans and you hear what they don’t like, you gauge what people really think.”

Over at Pokémon USA’s booth, hard-to-find products and exclusives were the norm, according to Andrew Triana, product development manager for the brand. Small and large character plush as well as hats and new plush pillows debuted at the show this year and will be available exclusively at www.Pokemoncenter.com and a few collectible outlets. Meanwhile, collectible vinyl figures will premiere at the San Diego Comic-Con this summer, but will be distinctive from the new line of mass-market Pokémon figures planned from Jakks Pacific. “We’re really tight on the brand,” Triana told Playthings, noting that the company’s products were primarily geared to adult collectors.

At Tokyo Pop, costumed fans dropped in on Friday and Saturday to participate in the company’s My Dead Girlfriend cosplay contest, in which fans dressed up as the characters (mostly Jenny Wraith) from the new graphic novel by Eric Wight that the company describes as “the Nightmare Before Christmas meets The O.C.” Participating fans who posed for pictures in their costumes at the booth’s graveyard installation each received a signed copy of the book; winners will received Tokyo Pop manga and original art from Wight, and while the grand prize winner will receive a coffin full of Tokyo Pop manga (over 150 books), Marco Pavia, director of marketing, told Playthings.

Kinetic Underground, Richmond Hill, N.Y., was exhibiting its line of Tekken figures and concept designs based on the Capcom video game, as well as Micronauts mini robot figures, including one exclusive, Paranoid Angel. “We’re getting a good response. It’s good to hear what people think,” said David Forrest, president of the company. He told Playthings that he would like to focus more on design, and is working on more fighting games with Capcom and other developers as well as another side project with his wife, Emily: a new line of Pillowheads characters, a preschool line of plush and other toys, which should be completed later this year.

A glimpse ahead
Teddy Scares, designed by Applehead Studios in Morton, Pa., gave fans a glimpse at its upcoming series 2 line of teddy bears and new comics, based on the plush characters, that will be illustrated by several different artists throughout the year, beginning this April. The first will include an intro with heavy metal band Twisted Sister’s lead singer, Dee Snider. An Adorables line, a more kid-friendly line of Teddy Scares for younger fans, will also be available later this year sans the murderous plastic hatchets and blood.

Another first-time exhibitor, Tonner Doll Company, displayed its upcoming Spider-Man prototype and Peter Parker dolls—a Spider-Man in all black is on the agenda as well as a possible Venom figure this year. Robert Tonner, the company’s designer and founder, told Playthings that the response to the dolls was incredible. Fans at the show were also excited about the company’s Wonder Woman and Super Girl dolls, which were released recently, as well as its Harry Potter Quidditch accessories set sculpted from resin. Tonner also gave away autographed cast pictures from the Harry Potter films to younger fans of the collectible dolls and the accessories in the line who were at the show this year.

The company is slowly trying to add more edge to its doll lines with more characters that you wouldn’t normally expect to see, according to Tonner, who said he wants to attract more comic and pop culture fans but continue to stay true to the traditional doll category. “Last year at Toy Fair, it was pretty interesting, because we had Harry Potter [dolls], and suddenly we were getting all these “cool” guys in the booth who never have come in the booth before,” Tonner says. “I was always a big comic fan. At San Diego, I was blown away. Doll collectors are older, but this was a younger group, 20 to 40 years old. Currently, we’re working on a video game license, more movie licenses, something darker. We can always do a cute little girl in a dress, but this is fun too.”

Over at WizKids, the company was also excited about its newest releases, the latest figures in its HeroClix and HorrorClix lines, compatible collections of miniature figures that include a complex strategy game component. The hot tickets at NY Comic-Con were the upcoming AVP Predator and AVP Aliens sets, which debuted at the show this week and will be available later this spring. “AVP is doing really well here,” WizKids’ Rae Cirricione told Playthings. An interesting feature of the line is that it includes the AVP Alien Queen character in her entirety, something of a first for the company, since artist images from the film typically include only a portion of the character. “We got to create canon,” Cirricione said. “I hope we get to do more with it because it’s just really fun.”

Other new Clix items that attracted attention at the show were new DC Origins and Hellboy figures, which will be out in a about a month, and the new Star Wars Pocket Model TCG, a trading card game debuting this summer that features a unique, 3-D building component of ships from all six films. Pirates at Ocean’s Edge, a Pocket Model TCG featuring assorted sea monsters and classic sailing ships, debuts in the spring.

Schleich was also experiencing a positive reception for its new World of Elves line, which was expected to attract fans of sci-fi and fantasy themes, according to sales and marketing coordinator Katherine Maclean. The series includes eight winged characters, four of which are on horseback, styled in either “light” themes (featuring pastel clothing, wings, and flowers) and “dark” themes (featuring paler skin-tones plus dark, more gothic-styled clothing, wings and flowers.) Most retailers who stopped in are taking the full line, Maclean noted. Fans were extremely excited about elves, she said, though there was also strong interest in the company’s Smurf collectible figures and its knights, the latter of which is one of the company’s all-time bestselling categories across all channels.

Over at Mezco, fans were clamoring to get a closer look at its line of prototype figures for The Goonies, the 1985 flick that has reached cult status among some fans, according to product manager John Santagada; the completed figures will be out in November. The company’s brand-new Cinema of Fear series of classic horror-movie villains, available this October and November, was also a big hit with fans, Santagada said, as well as the latest character releases in its South Park series 5 available in May—which includes Tweak with coffee and underpants gnomes, Hippie Exterminator Cartman, Mephesto with Kevin, and Damien with fireball and demon—available in May. A Slave prototype figure with Lemmywinks and friends as well as a larger talking Satan, Jimmy and Towlie figures were also display in the South Park line; series 6 will be out in September, while additional deluxe talking figures will debut in November. Additional hot items for the company on display at the show were new Underdog series 1 figures, available in late summer; series 15 of the Living Dead Dolls, available in May; Family Guy series 7, available in April; and the new Attack of the Living Dead series 2. Mezco will also be releasing its Family Guy series 8 figures in August; look for them in San Diego!

With additional reporting and photography by Patrick Eves and Dan Platt.

Some additional images from NY Comic-Con:

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