DC Direct was the first toy company to hold a panel at SDCC and was a major fixture for its several years of recurrence. Actually, yo go re and I first unknowingly encountered one-another at the DCD panel (when he ROBBED me of a Jim Lee-signed mini Batman Statue which he "won" for suggesting an Elseworlds toyline before I could... grumble grumble). Well, now that DC "ain't your father's" DC (i.e. it's now DC Entertainment, not DC Comics) DCD is now DCC (DC Collectibles) and they are relaunching themselves as the sort of fan-driven entity DCD was back when it originally started. Plus it promised to have Jean St.Jean AND Phil Ramirez on stage!
The panel was, left to right,
John Cunningham, DCE, moderator
Brian Walters, associate art director at DCC
Geoff Johns
Jim Lee
Amanda Connor, Comic Artist
Phil Ramirez, Sculptor-God
Jim Fletcher, DCE Creative Services, oversees all design for DCC
Kevin Kiniry, works w/ Jim (I think he said he focuses more on handling licensors while Jim handles DCC)
First up was a Powerpoint Presentation, so here are some notes from it:
-Jim Lee was asked how tall the new Darkseid is, he responded "two Aquamans high," the figure is sculpted by Phil and is indeed two Aquamans tall
-"we can be heroes" 7 pack of the new JLA has a slightly different Superman and Cyborg, some portions go to famine relief
-"it took Jim (Lee) 2 hours to tell Jim (Fletcher) how Superman's head should be different" said Geoff
-Dave Cortez did all of the Dark Knight Rises pieces based off of digital media and scans provided from the film
-Geoff: "only two rooms at DC don't have glass doors" - Dan Didio's office and the "war room" which has the next 1.5-2 years worth of DCC scheduled product written up on white boards covering each wall
-Batman Black & White is now the longest-running DC statue line
-Geoff keeps fishing for applause on brands and characters
-Ame-Comi now has a comic and $0.99 digital download (for 8 pages)
-Just-Us League has designs for Cyborg and Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman was actually designed for the original line but not sculpted then
-Jim F. and Geoff really, really urge the use of the Facebook page - they want a lot more fan interaction and feedback
-Print on demand poster program on the DCC web page, new designs every month
-Geoff points out Ryan the Business manager so he says to pressure him for 3¾" playsets, vehicles, etc.
-Doing Arrow product for 2013
-Doing Man of Steel for 2013
-Teased a new line like Ame-Comi but with a different "flavor"
Next was the Q&A, I present to thee yet more highlights:
-They actually have talked about doing Joker's face for the JLA trophy room prop line
-Jim Fletcher has no plans for DC Minimates but have a lot designed, Geoff suggests putting pictures of unproduced figures up on Facebook
-"They" are giving away Lego Shazam and Bizarro at WB booth, figures given at random when a "voucher card" is presented
- 3¾" : a lot of figures were made to get fan response, no release date beyond the next set shown on the Kyle/Kilowog set (John Stewart & Atrocitus)
-They are trying to incorporate more articulation as technology to improves and they can retain the artists form/design
-A fan tells Geoff he "is the reason I got back in to comics," Jim Lee responds, "am I the reason you left?"
-Any plans for Young Justice tv show stuff? No, that's Mattel's territory
- 3¾" "if they sell out this weekend, they'll go forward" says Ryan
-Jim Lee likes the 52 Superman figure cause he can use it as a model so he can remember where all the seams are
-Dan Pickett commends them for keeping Phil at SDCC for more than a couple more years (here, here - we miss you, Phil!)
-Dan Pickett asks about Watchmen figures... TBD/In the graveyard
-"don't be surprised" if DCC supports the Injustice video game in a big way next year, says Kevin
-Asked if they'll do an angry, action pose Superman with eyes shooting heat rays statue and Geoff immediately responds that they already are developing one
There was also a big group of Ame-Comi cosplayers which Jim Fletcher proudly had take center stage:
Am I the only one completely uninterested in game and movie tie-in products? Other than introducing the promising 3¾" line, and that bodacious Dark Seid (...) there wasn't much talk in the way of new figures (from an actual comic BOOK besides Justice League).
I wanted to hear exciting rumors about lines for:
"Nicola Scott's Earth 2" featuring Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Atom, and Hawkgirl
"DC Dark" featuring deluxe winged/horned Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Etrigan, and Phantom Stranger.
"Batman inc" Talia, Talon 1, Batgirl, Prof. Pyg, Doctor Dedalus
"Green Lantern series 6" Hannu, 3rd Army, Carol Ferris (new SS costume), Isamot
Bring back the waves!
I have to say I agree, not so much about the tie-in product but about the reveals at the con and panel. Aka "what reveals"? Darkseid went out at the beginning of the week with the Previews solicitations and with a pricetag of $90 is pretty... not buy-able (though I will confess he is much more impressive in person than in photos [but $90 impressive...?]).
I wouldn't mind the near obscene markup for an average $25 per DCC figure if they were doing not-mainstream stuff like back in their heyday, but this whole "same five characters over and over and over and over" thing got pretty old three years ago.
yeah, i'll admit i bit on the DCD killer croc despite his ridiculous price tag, but darkseid is a full $30-$40 more and that'd kinda ridiculous. other than that i haven't bought a DCD figure in years...they're just too bland, and getting pricier by the month it seems.
I'm not to worried about the scrapped watchmen figures, now that Mattel is doing them. I'm more interested in the Hasbro panel. I wish they could do marvel legends based on the alternate universes (Earth X, 1602, etc.)
Who says they can't?
Well, other than economics, of course...
True, but their ultimate figures like Iron Man and the new Captain america on display just get me wondering. At least, I think the ultimate universe is in the same category as Earth X...
Wait....nothing about more Arkham City stuff? What the heck??