New York Comic Con 2018 has come and gone, and we were extremely lucky to be able to attend on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Having tons to do and see is an understatement for this event. We waked from one end to the other of the exhibit hall on the setup day and thought, “Damn, this is a huge event!”…then we realized there was another level (the artist’s alley and celebrity areas were down below the main floor). You could find yourself everything from comics, watches, to underwear, socks, t-shirts (some with an interactive app that made them come to life!), costumes, collectibles, and yes, Deadpool F*$ck Flakes!
We wish we could cover the entire event for you, but we were busy enough with the statues…speaking of which, check out our summary of displays put on by XM Studios, Sideshow Collectibles, PCS Collectibles and more! We have TONS of photo and video content for you, so sit back, relax, and enjoy!
At NYCC 2018, XM Studios was making only their second stateside convention appearance, and their first major North American convention appearance ever! So, this booth was kind of a big deal. All of the items on display this year are featured from their worldwide licenses, including the 1/6 Rebirth line and the Samurai Batman line. We take a an up close and personal look at their display below.
SAMURAI BATMAN LINE
XM Studios launched their incredibly original and creative Samurai Batman line a couple years back with the titular, Samurai Batman statue. They have since followed that success up with a stellar lineup of Japanese-infused Bat-characters, such as Bane, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. We take a look at two of the newer reveals from the line below, Shogun Batman and Deathstroke!
SHOGUN BATMAN 1/4 SCALE STATUE
SAMURAI DEATHSTROKE 1/4 SCALE STATUE
DC REBIRTH 1/6 SCALE LINE
The entire line up (so far) of XM’s brand new 1/6 scale DC Rebirth statues was featured at the heart of XM’s display booth. Make no mistake, even though these are smaller than the majority of the statues they make, they have not skimped on the detail or design for these incredible works of art. Each piece features a base that tells you a little story, a little bit on the character’s background. The Flash is shown on his cosmic treadmill, gearing up to travel through time. Wonder Woman stands atop a fallen statue of one of her greatest enemies, Ares, ready to do battle. Aquaman is saddled on a royal seahorse steed, trident in hand and ready to strike. Superman is levitating among the crystals of his Fortress of Solitude, so powerfully and yet effortlessly, as only he can do. And then, the Joker, equipped with an arsenal of gag weapons that only he can make look so deadly. This line marks the start of something new for XM, and it is available WORLDWIDE. We hope to see more in the future (especially the upcoming Green Lantern!).
WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH 1/6 STATUE
SUPERMAN REBIRTH 1/6 STATUE
THE JOKER REBIRTH 1/6 STATUE
THE FLASH REBIRTH 1/6 STATUE
AQUAMAN REBIRTH 1/6 STATUE
BATMAN SANITY 1/6 DIORAMA
The Batman Sanity diorama made its official debut a month before at the Singapore event, but it made it’s fully painted debut in New York! Wow, what a stunner! This piece features twelve…yes, twelve!…1/6 scale characters, including Batman surrounded by most of his greatest villains. You can choose from either a full coloured version or the “smoke” version, where all of the villains are made to look like elements of Batman’s psyche. This statue had people stop and take notice throughout all four days of the event. XM really went the extra mile with this one.
INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN TAN
Bryan Tan, one of the founding members of XM Studios and the face of their marketing and social media departments, took some of his valuable time on the show floor to answer some of our questions. Special guest interviewer, Charles Cecilia, is the man in charge of digging deep into some of the brand new reveals at NYCC 2018. Please enjoy the three-part interview below.
Sideshow Collectibles has attended New York Comic Con for several years now, but in the past, this show has largely shown items that debuted a few months earlier at their flagship event, San Diego Comic Con. Not this year, though! They came out with guns ablaze (literally…look at that Punisher!), and featured several never-before-seen new statues. We take a close look at some of the feature items, including the Punisher, Spider-Man, Aquaman, Venom, and She-Hulk. We hope this is the start of a new trend, and Sidehsow continues to debut new, exciting items at both major North American comic conventions.
MARVEL COMICS STATUES
THE PUNISHER PREMIUM FORMAT FIGURE
Sideshow has visited this character several times previously, but they’ve never given us anything quite as intimidating as this! With a baseball bat resting on his shoulder, Frank looks like he’s about to get up close and personal with his enemies…or, maybe he already has! The brutality of the scene almost smacks you in the face! This statue is definitely one to watch out for.
SPIDER-MAN PREMIUM FORMAT FIGURE
Another character that Sideshow is revisiting, but who can complain about more Spider-Man? This new Premium Format Figure ups the dynamism and shows the Wall Crawler at his agile best: stepping up onto a Doc Ock tentacle while simultaneously webbing another tentacle with one hand and ‘thwipping’ with his other…yep, sounds like classic Spidey, all right.
Several more Marvel statues were shown at this year’s New York Comic-Con, including a brand new Adi Granov designed She-Hulk, a newly revealed exclusive masked X-23 portrait, the revised Psylocke portrait, and the absolutely beastly Venom life size bust! We take a look at some of these statues in the video and photos below.
VENOM LIFE SIZE BUST
Wow…this bust was a stunner! Speaking as someone that doesn’t really collect life size busts (I have the Daredevil bust, though, of course), I would be happy to display this one in my collection. This statue is sculpted by Ryan Peterson, who also did the recent Deadpool (2017 Best Bust Award winner), Hulk, and Wolverine life size busts, and this Venom may be the best of the bunch! This symbiote is oozing with texture and style, incredibly weathered teeth dripping with saliva, and a tongue that looks like it is reaching out to touch you!
OTHER MARVEL STATUES
DC COMICS STATUES
Don’t worry, DC fans, Sideshow did not forget about you! A brand new Aquaman movie statue was revealed, and the likeness to lead actor, Jason Momoa, was quite well done. We’re loving the change in suit compared to the Justice League movie! The new John Stewart Green Lantern was also on hand, as was the entire animated series Trinity. Not to mention the epic battle diorama, featuring Superman and Batman!
OTHER LICENSES
It’s not all about super heroes, as Sideshow also showed off some fairy tale characters in the signature sexy J Scott Campbell style, a Sith lord, a dog loving Hot Toy, and a couple classic characters from Aspen Comics.
MORE VENDORS
There were several other statue vendors with very impressive displays, including PCS Collectibles, Chronicle Collectibles, and Diamond Select. The Ultimate Warrior was a childhood hero, and we were super excited to lay out eyes on this wrestling icon at the PCS booth…not to mention the incredible Klauth the Red Dragon, straight from the pages of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (yes, we were big time D&D nerds!).
Chronicle Collectibles was showing off some of their new Jurassic Park statues, including the beastly Rotunda Rex, Dr. Ian Malcom with his bare chest and looking deeply entranced by chaos theory, and a newly revealed David Bowie statue from the beloved Labyrinth movie (with real hair)!
Diamond Select also had a vast display of smaller scale Marvel and DC statues. Of particular interest was the new 1/2 scale bust line, featuring Venom, Spider-Man, Captain America, Spider Gwen, and our favourite, Rorschach! Diamond Select definitely had a great showing this year.
OTHER VENDORS – PCS, DIAMOND SELECT, CHRONICLE COLLECTIBLES
COMICS!
Of, course, we had to make time to check out some of the amazing comic books on display throughout the convention floor…these are pieces of history after all! First appearances of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Fantastic Four, and the Flash littered the hall…it was really a feast for the eyes! Here is a mere sampling of the graily goodness that we saw!
