San Diego Comic Con was over this past weekend and there was plenty of awesome toy news. This week I will look at the DC figures and notable items that were announced at the show from DC Collectibles, Diamond Select Toys, Mattel, Hot Toys and whatever else I can fit in the column. Also a couple of brief thoughts on DCTV and the Wonder Woman trailer.
DC Collectibles has even more characters joining their ICONS line including figures for Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, a Jim Balent styled ’90’s Catwoman, The Demon, Deadshot, Shazam, Sinestro and Nightwing. Each figure comes with several accessories and full articulation. I mentioned the DCTV line in the last column and there were no additions there. The Batman The Animated Series line will be joined by a Superman The Animated Series two-pack featuring Superman and Lois Lane, plus New Batman Adventures versions of Catwoman and the Riddler. Announced but not allowed to be photographed were TAS versions of Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze. DC continues their Designer Series with a line by Ant Lucia, featuring everyone’s favorite DC Bombshells. Articulated versions of Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy make up the initial assortment. All figures mentioned above should start appearing in stores sometime in 2017.
Diamond Select Toys is continuing their line of DC Vinyl figures and Busts based on the classic Batman, Superman and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Characters announced for the vinyl figure line include JLU’s Power Girl analogue Galatea, this author’s favorite, Black Canary, plus the Huntress and many more. Shazam, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Aquaman and John Stewart will all get the animated bust treatment.
Mattel is really stepping up their game with the multitude of reveals at San Diego this year, including a few retailer exclusives announced as well as the normal series. Figures announced include TV versions of Jay Garrick, King Shark, Zoom and Hawkman, Comic versions of Batgirl, Jim Gordon Batman, Batman Year 2 villain, The Reaper, Rebirth Batman, The Finch Wonder Woman from the end of her New 52 run, Damian Wayne, Cassie Wonder Girl and Dr. Psycho. Some will be exclusive to specific retailers, while others will be widely distributed. Again, these should be out starting sometime in 2017.
Hot Toys announced and displayed several figures from the forthcoming Suicide Squad film. Characters shown include Harley Quinn, The Joker and Deadshot. These will come with the usual cloth costuming and character specific accessories related to the film. Harley looks pretty darn awesome. Notable other DC products include Cryptozoic’s Bombshells blind box toys, Mezco’s newly announced comic-style Red Arrow, Deathstroke, Darkseid and Joker One:12 figures, plus the debut of their first announced female One:12, Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie.
Finally- DC Live-Action Media made some interesting announcements over the weekend, including the line-up for the Justice Society of America and Legion of Doom debuting on Legends of Tomorrow, the effects of Flashpoint on the Flash, Superman’s arrival on Supergirl, as well as the return of Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance(not necessarily resurrected, BTW) across all of the CW series. That last bit got me excited as that means we’ll continue to see some iteration of Black Canary in the larger DC TV Universe. If you’re a fan of the DC Extended Universe, the trailer for Wonder Woman dropped and it is GLORIOUS. Gal Gadot proved she has what it takes to play the Amazing Amazon in Batman V Superman and this solo movie should solidify her status as an action star. Can’t wait!
Next week: Marvel Toy Announcements from San Diego Comic-Con- see you then!