2009 SDCC Comic Con Exclusive Disney Pixar Cars Rescue Squad Mater Fire Truck

So I’m all geeked up that the Comic Con is only about a week away. There’s a bunch of exclusives that I’ve already targeted to get and near the top of the list is the Rescue Squad Mater from Mattel and Disney/Pixar.

For those of you with kids you’ve probably seen some of the Disney Car short episodes on the Disney Channel. One of those episodes has the loveable Mater telling Lightning McQueen of a time when he was a fire truck. This year’s exclusive is a 1:55th scale diecast carof Mater as that fire truck. I believe he will also come with the twins Mia and Tia skinned in dalmatian deco.

Rumor has it the set will run about $30 dollars. In comparison, last year’s Lightning Storm McQueen cost $15 dollars and came in an acrylic display case.

For those that haven’t seen the short episodes you can probably find them on YouTube. Oh, and while you’re there check out the short episode where Mater is an Import Drift Racer in Tokyo. It’s hilarious even for adults.

Logan turns 3. A boy that loves Cars.

My son Logan turns 3 today. We already threw a birthday party for him and his sister a couple weeks ago so nothing too special planned this weekend. I’m gonna cook a nice dinner tomorrow and on Sunday I’m taking the kids to Wild Rivers with their cousins.

For his birthday party Logan recieved a ton of toy cars as gifts. He’s nuts about cars. He got all kinds of cars… even ones that transform into robots. His favorite car is Lightning McQueen from the Disney Pixar movie Cars.

It’s no surprise that Logan’s favorite booth at Comic Con last year was the Mattel booth. They had a display of every car from the movie. They even had a large “Darth Mater” custom. It was his chance to see some of the more rare diecast cars toys such as the “Apple” Racecar and the Walmart big rig. The pictures below were taken at the booth. These are only a few of the large collection on display.

Darth Mater custom. Not sold in retail. I think it’s one of a kind.

I have yet to see the Apple car in stores. I’ll see if I can get one on ebay.

Here we see Logan trying to find a way to open the case. If you look close enough you can almost see the drool on his face.

Another toy you’d be lucky to find on the shelves. The Cars Walmart Truck, not surprisingly, is sold only at Walmart.

With the 2009 Comic Con just a couple weeks away I’m looking forward to see what Mattel has instore for us this year. I’m sure Logan will be even more excited.

2008 SDCC San Diego Comic Con – Hayden Panettieri, Neil Patrick Harris, and Natalie Morales

From Star Wars to Hollywood Stars the San Diego Comic Con isn’t just about comic books. It’s all things pop culture and it’s the biggest event each year for fans to catch glimpses of their favorite stars, artists, writers, producers, and upcoming releases.

For a reseller and avid collector like me my highest priority is getting my hands on exclusives and to research what’s happening in the toy industry.  Looking back, if I got to do the Con over again I’d probably attend some of the panels they had going in the upper level conference halls. While waiting in line for toys I missed panels from my two favorite TV shows… Heroes and The Office. Both had cast members from the shows as speakers.

Anyway, Some of the cast members and stars made it to the main exhibit hall (where I mostly stayed) and I was able to get a few quick photos.

Hayden Panettiere was signing autographs and drew quite a crowd. My daughter Taylor waited in line for an autograph (We’re both “Heroes” fans). That is until she found out that they costed 30 bucks. A side shot with my Nikon would have to do.

Natalie Morales, star of the new TV show “The Middleman” was giving out free autographs so I got to meet her and take this cool photo with her. She was really nice and friendly. I’m definately going to try and watch a few episodes.

Neil Patrick Harris was on the scene promoting the latest Harold and Kumar movie. He had a big crowd around him so Vee didn’t get a good photo.

There were a lot of stars at the Con. There are a lot every year. I think next year I’ll make an effort to try and see more of them.

2008 SDCC San Diego Comic Con Review

My family needed a full day to recover from 4 straight days of the San Diego Comic Con. It was a good trip despite my work needing me to do some shet even though I was on vacation. Anyway, the con was pretty good. I felt the lines were longer, more unorganized, and moved a lot slower than last year though.

The good news is I got most of the exclusives that I wanted to get and then some. This includes the G.I.Joe Cobra Commanders, the Lightning Storm McQueen, and the Lego Indiana Jones exclusive (only 500 made). We also brought home the Batman exclusive from Hot Wheels, the He-Man “King Greyskull” from Mattel (both the normal and bronze color variant), Lobo (also from Mattel) and a gripload of free swag.

My family was so exhaused after Saturday that we decided to skip the con on Sunday and head home. As soon as we got home we unloaded all our loot and organized them. Going through all the stuff you got from the con is one of my favorite things. The con had less swag this year but some of the stuff they gave away was much better than years past. This year Mattel was giving away inflatable He-man swords, Disney gave away Tinkerbell Fairy wings which my daughters got a kick out of, Hasbro gave out Stormtrooper masks and Lego had this cool scavenger type of game where you had to go find 3 pieces of a lego “Joker” from the Lego, DC, and WB booths. At each booth you had to try a demo of the upcoming Batman Lego Video Game. Once you have all the pieces you turn them in and you get a Lego Batman, the completed Joker, and a collector box.

The lines to buy the exclusives were incredibly long. The Hasbro line was probably the worst. It was about a 2-3 hour wait. For those that complain about paying 2 to 3 times the retail price of an exclusive on ebay let me tell you this… YOU ARE GETTING AN ABSOLUTE BARGAIN! If you wanted to pay retail, be my guest to take a day off from work, buy convention tickets, wait 1-2 hours before the convention opens. Once it opens run to the booth where you want to buy, and then wait in another line for 3 hours to purchase. That was our experience on preview night.

For me, going to the con isn’t just about getting all the convention exclusives. I also enjoy seeing all the new and upcoming things in the toy industry. I’ll write more about that later. What I also love doing at the con is checking out all the people in various costumes. Some of the famous people I saw at the con this year was Hayden Panettieri (from one of my favorite shows, Heroes) and Neil Patrick Harris who was promoting the latest Harold and Kumar movie. I also got an autograph from Natalie Morales from that new TV show The Middleman. I took a bunch of pictures this year and I hope to share them here on the site in future posts.

My family and I have been going to the con every year for the past several years now. This year we significantly reduced our expenses. Thanks to my buddy Jay who let us camp in his vacant studio condo we saved a ton on hotel costs. We also packed our own sandwiches for lunch at the con. Not only are the food lines long but the prices are ridiculous. I’m talking airport restaurant ridiculous like. This year I was also pretty choosy about the items we bought at the Con. My wife and I are getting pretty good and knowing what will sell and what will sit on our storage shelves for a very long time.

Anyway, I’ll have more on the con in future posts. I’m exhausted and I gotta finish listing stuff on ebay and amazon.

2008 SDCC – G.I.Joe Combat Heroes Snake Eyes and Timber

One more week until the San Diego Comic Con!

I was one of those boys that collected G.I.Joes when I was a kid even though my favorite grade school teacher once called them “dolls”. They are action figures! Of all the G.I.Joes my favorite was Snake Eyes. I think everyone’s favorite was Snake Eyes. He was all dressed in black and always looked like a mysterious butt-kicking bad-ass.

Hasbro came out with a line of toys a few years ago made for the 3-5 age range bracket. They are called “Heroes”. For the most part they are cute versions of various pop-culture icons. The Star Wars versions are called “Galactic Heroes”, the Marvel Super hero versions are called “Super Hero Squad”, and there are other versions such as Transformers and even Indiana Jones versions.

For kids they are fun to play with. They don’t have the articulation of your typical action figures but they are the perfect size for toddlers and there’s no pieces such as guns and swords to easily lose. They are cute looking and very cartoonish. These figures are easy to store and are quite durable.

Hasbro will introduce the G.I.Joe version of the “Heroes” line with an exclusive “Snake Eyes and Timber” at this year’s Comic Con. These will be called “Combat Heroes”. This will be extremely hard to get I’m guessing. The Hasbro line is usually one of the longest and busiest at the comic con. I’m making this a target when I arrive on Preview Night.

It’s hard to believe that some of the first versions of the Star Wars lines fetch a hefty price on the secondary market. After all, aren’t these made for toddlers? For this reason, I think people will make a b-line to this exclusive. I’m hoping to get several next week if I’m lucky, two of which will be reserved for my son Logan.

Logan isn’t into action figures yet. He’s more of a car guy right now. But I’ve got a bunch of “Heroes” waiting for him when he’s ready. I think my daughter Leia already has every Galactic Princess Leia Hero out there.

2008 SDCC Disney Cars Lightning Storm McQueen by Mattel

There are a good handful of 2008 San Diego Comic Con exclusives I’m targeting to get this year and at the top of my list is the Disney Pixar Cars Lightning Storm McQueen by Mattel. Mattel and Hasbro are putting out some awesome exclusives this year and this is one I will HAVE TO HAVE.

Ever since my son was born and the movie “Cars” came out I’ve been buying every unique one I see. We even have many of the hard to find ones (the ones that come like one per store case). I just wish my son wouldn’t beat them up so much. They kind of scratch easily which is bad because he crashes them into things like walls and other cars.

Aside from the cars being scratched easily (which probably annoys me more than my kids), I think Mattel did an excellent job on these toys. The are just the right size and the detail on the cars look just like they popped out of the movie. They are the perfect size for my 2 and 5 year old to play with as they fit comfortably in either of their hands.

It is only natural that I fork out the 15 bucks for the Lightning Storm exclusive (The regular cars found in stores cost around 3-4 bucks each). I imagine this will be one of the harder items to get at the con and I expect long lines and rude people in those lines. I think collectors that buy for their kids can get a lot more nastier than those just shopping for themselves. Luckily, I’ve got passes for preview night and I will have a good chance at getting this item.

The rockets attached to the car look like they might break off easily especially after a few hours with Logan. I may need to buy a few.

2008 SDCC San Diego Comic Con

I’ve been taking my family to the San Diego Comic Con every year for the past several years. This year’s comic con is only a few weeks away and we are looking forward to it.

In previous years it was very easy to go to the con. When we lived in downtown San Diego we would just walk to the convention center but now we need to make travel arrangements. My good friend Jay is allowing us to stay at his vacant studio condo. We’ll be there all five days of the con including “preview night”.

As an online seller of toys and collectibles, the con allows us to see some of the latest and greatest toys in pop culture. Last year had some of the best exclusives since we’ve been going to the con. This includes the 1966 Batmobile from Hot Wheels and the “Pimp Daddy” Destro from G.I.Joe. I’ll be buying a bunch of toys to resell but as a father of three kids and an avid toy collector myself I’ll be on the lookout for some cool toys to keep.

In the days leading to this year’s con I’ll try and research some of the exclusives that will be available. I’ll share my favorites here on the site.
 

San Diego Comic Con Hot Wheels 1966 Batmobile George Barris

I wanted to follow up my first review with a photo of one of my son’s most prized Batmobiles. This is one Batmobile my son doesn’t get to play with. Not yet anyway. It’s a 1/64th scale version of the 1966 Batmobile made popular by the television series of the same year.

The diecast was made by Hot Wheels and sold only at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con. George Barris, the original designer of that Batmobile attended the Comic Con on one of the days and I was fortunate to get his autograph on the case of the Batmobile.

The car is incredibly detailed for being so small. Hot Wheels released a much less detailed version into their main line which most collectors snagged for less than a buck.

This piece was definately my favorite item from the convention last year. I can’t wait to see what Hot Wheels has instore for us at this year’s comic con.