Toys and the Good Guys

Toys were around the con. I talked with Phil Nannay at Applehead Factory, who produces the Teddy Scares line of dolls, a toy line that I think it pretty neat.

One of the Applehead guys and I talked at NYCC two years ago and I like keeping up with what’s going on with the company. They’re pursuing a new zombie license to go with their new Vegan Zombie line (which looks hella cool, but was not in attendance for me to snap a photo). They did, however, have the 8″ Ned Kelly bear, which was an exclusive sold on a historic Pennsylvania prison’s Halloween tour.

Teddy Scares!

Sadly, there were other toys.

Belt buckles! Not the most conspicuous of items, at all. And I’m sure that when you’re getting down to it with a lady and she sees your 3-inch, blocky Darth Maul buckle, you’re in for a night of fun and games. Alone, with your XBox.

Oh, and there was this thing. I have no idea what it is, but it’s Star Wars, so it’s attractive to the aforementioned large guys with fanny packs. It might be a laundry hamper, but I’ll be damned if I can say that positively. But it’s Star Wars! Buy buy buy!

On the other side of the fence, there was this display of Heath Ledger shirts. The best Dark Knight shirt I’ve seen so far, and there was a wall of them!

The folks from The Comicbook Artist’s Guild were at the con.

Pictured are Lindsay Kraemer and Stephanie O’Donnell who were both panelists at the “Women in Comics” panel. The CAG hooks artists up with writers, editors with writers, artists with publishers, and all manner of combinations thereof. Good deal, I think I might be joining them for the $25 fee! Go CAG!

New York Comic Con, heroes and villains

Lotsa toys ’round these parts. Toys and comics go hand in hand, like Sonny and Cher, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and a fat woman and cake.

Here are some good toys:

These are the Rama and Hanuman figures from Kridana. They’re characters from Indian mythology, which I always have loved (and have partially decorated my living room with), and they’re being spun off into a line of figures and comics. Check out the latest issue of ToyFare to get a close-up of Rama. Each comes with a comic book, with a cover by Michael Turner. Pretty hip. There’s a graphic novel in the works and a series of plush toys:

The bear is hella cute, and somehow they did the same to vultures. Very ballsy. Oh, and it turns out that the sculptor of the figures went to the school I dropped out of, University of the Arts. Thumbs up Kridana!

Here are some not-so-good toys:

Swear Bears. They’re plush toys that curse you out when you squeeze them. Perfect for your local neighborhood truck stop. They curse at you in a tinny voice so you can’t understand most of what you’re saying (being shown in a convention hall doesn’t help), and are kinda long-winded. It’s like…someone had the idea of taking those little curse generator keychains and the talking doll and said, “well, no one has a patent on this yet,” and slapped them together. I’ll pass, thanks.

New York Comic Con, poostache

Anything can be made into a plush toy. For example, here is a company that has made stuffed versions of a moustache and excrement.

Part of me hopes that someone comments and says “oh, that’s ok, in Japan the poop and the moustache are an integral part of Japanese culture.” Another part of me wants someone to comment and say, “I am the designer of these items, and they exist only because I really love moustaches and poo.”

I’d like to see someone get this for their kid. Not so much for the poo, anyone can understand poo, but trying to explain to them why they now can sleep with a moustache with eyes.

New York Comic Con, rockin’ in the free bin

I’ve only been here a few hours and I’ve realized that the New York Comic Con is significantly larger than the Easton, PA, comic con, which was held in the atrium of a mall. While the mall did have a very nice Orange Julius at one time, it did not host a comic con of equivalent size. Or with enough oddities to keep me interested (although the Easton, PA, comic con did boast the rare DC Universe trading card misprint with no text on the back. It was the star of the show.)

In case you don’t believe I’m really here, I’ve taken a photo of me working in the actual Javits Center in NY.

Fans of the Javits Center might recognize the Coke machine in the back, a Coke machine that may have, at one point in history, sold a bottle of Coke to Jim Valentino.

The con’s huge, in case you haven’t been to the con. I’ve been walking around for about 4 hours now and I still haven’t gotten to the back of the room. I don’t know what’s back there, but it might be worth it to see what dark mysteries emerge over by the bathrooms.

The first point of interest is the War of the Ramones. It’s not an actual war, or even marketed as such, but it’s something that a blogger with a keen eye might stumble upon. Here’s Joey’s side:

It’s a statue from NECA, really nice, really well-done. It’s saying, “We love you, Joey Ramone. We are on your side. We will stand by Joey Ramone through the future.”

But then there’s the Johnny Ramone contingent! It’s represented by the Johnny Ramone Army standee at the Misfits booth:

Conflict! I have no idea what the Johnny Ramone Army is, but I suspect, if it’s anything like the real Johnny Ramone, is right-wing conservative and kind of a tool. It’s practically challenging the NECA statue saying, “No statue for Johnny Ramone? WE WILL MAKE JOHNNY RAMONE HUGE. You shall pay for your oversight.”

So it’s a war of visibility. Joey vs Johnny, just like in real life (the two of them didn’t speak for years, while they were still touring with the Ramones). So far, I think the Joey Ramone Army wins for creativity, although I don’t see them doing much recruiting at the con.