Custom Con 23 is on this week, hosted graciously by Joe Acevedo after the Fwoosh requested a switch to the winter slot. Since we switched to three Custom Cons a year, the summer slot seems to be the lightest, but there’s still a bunch of great entries to look at.
I stopped by the DC booth today to see what was new with DC Direct. I got a chuckle out of an irate fan who was demanding to see Jim Fletcher, DC Direct’s Design Director. I guess he didn’t know he was ranting at Georg Brewer, VP Design, and the guy who ultimately calls the shots.
Hal Jordan Exclusive – DCD had 2 of these sets on display, but the figures were on sale at Grafitti Design’s booth. I didn’t even try to pick these up, because it would require hitting them up each day of the Con. I’m not sure if Hal’s been in all these colors yet in the comics, but each figure sports both a Green ring on his right hand, and the respective other color ring on his left. I must have been too afraid to take a close-up of the Yellow Lantern version.
A couple of weeks ago, IGN.com revealed the DC Direct exclusive for San Diego Comic-Con – a set of five Hal Jordan action figures, in not just his own Green Lantern costume, but in the costumes of four other Lantern Corps (Red, Orange, Yellow, and Blue) as well.
Yesterday IGN.com got another scoop as they published an interview with Georg Brewer, the VP of Creative for DC Direct. In it, George reveals four upcoming waves of DCD’s Blackest Night figure line. Excerpt below.
IGN Comics: How far in advance did you plan, design and sculpt these figures to make it out during the event? Is it a major challenge to coordinate something like this between the comics division and DC Direct, particularly given that toys/statues need more lead time and comics have a much shorter turnaround?
Brewer: Yes and yes! Everyone saw early on that Blackest Night was going to be huge, and as I mentioned getting everyone on board and excited to have the toy line up and running during the event was a real opportunity for us all. Given the time needed for figures this is no easy feat. When we can actually pull it off it is a great bit of synergy that adds even more to the overall comic event experience. However, to do so means we all have to work closely together, and really push each of our development schedules so product can be ready when needed, and in some cases (like with the Black Lanterns) we even hold back or tease some of the visuals so as not to hinder the excitement of finding them in the story as it unfolds.
IGN Comics: Can you give us the technical specs for these figures – size, articulation, MSRP and any other noteworthy features?
Brewer: Sure!
DC Direct Blackest Night (credit: IGN.com)
Wave #1
Black Lantern Earth-2 Superman 6.5″
Alpha Lantern Boodika with removable face plate 6.75″
Blue Lantern Saint Walker with power battery 7.5″
Atrocitus with power battery 7.25″
Wave #2
Black Lantern Martian Manhunter 7″
Green Lantern John Stewart with power battery 6.75″
Indigo with Power battery 7″
Kryb with removable back cage that stores 2 alien children 7″
Wave #3
Black Lantern Aquaman 6.75″
Green Lantern Arisia with power battery 6.5″
Star Sapphire with power battery 6.625″
Larfleeze The Orange Lantern with Glomulus and power battery 7″ GLOMULUS is 2.375″
Wave #4
Black Lantern Firestorm 6.75″ to top of head (helmet increases height)
Green Lantern Kyle Raynor with power battery 6.75″
Black Hand with Batman skull 6.75″
Wonder Woman 6.625″ to top of head (hair increases height)
From IGN.com we get news of a collection of Hal Jordan exclusives from DC Direct and Graphitti Designs for San Diego Comic-Con. For those who are uninitiated, DC Comics has expanded the Green Lantern mythos in the past couple of years, adding Red, Orange, Blue, Indigo, Violet and Black Corps, completing the spectrum started with Green and Yellow. All of these different colored Lantern Corps are clashing (no pun intended) this summer in DC’s crossover event, Blackest Night.
It’s unclear at this point whether Hal in the different Corps uniforms is something that we’re going to see in Blackest Night, or if this is just a set of figures aimed at Hal Jordan fanboys – in the lead-ups to Blackest Night, Hal has been taken over temporarily by a Red Lantern ring, and dual-wielded Green and Blue rings.
DCD and Graphitti have also not revealed the cost of each figure, but with the limited production runs and requirement to be at every day of the convention, I can see this being a highly coveted, if not costly convention exclusive.
DC Direct reveals exclusive figure set for blockbuster summer storyline.
Green Lantern fans listen up – DC is going to be offering a very limited item this July at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. For the first time, fans will be able to collect Hal Jordan not only as a Green Lantern, but as a member of the Red, Orange, Blue and Yellow Corps as well. Interested? We thought you might be. Read on for the details, including which colors will be available on which days.
The most important details are these: you can only get these items during the San Diego Comic-Con and supplies are extremely limited. Fans will be able to line up at the Graphitti Designs booth (#2315) for these rare collectibles starting on Wednesday, July 22. But here’s the catch – you’ll have to visit the booth each and every day for the latest color. Each customer can only buy 2 of each figure.
Here’s the breakdown of availability:
Wednesday (Preview Night) – July 22 – 6:00 pm Hal Jordan: Green Lantern – 3,000 pieces available
Thursday, July 23 – 10:00 am Hal Jordan: Yellow Lantern – 1,500 pieces available
Friday, July 24 – 10:00 am Hal Jordan: Blue Lantern – 1,500 pieces available
Saturday, July 25 – 10:00 am Hal Jordan: Orange Lantern – 1,500 pieces available
Sunday, July 26 – 10:00 am Hal Jordan: Red Lantern – 1,500 pieces available
Each figure comes with its own lantern and a wearable power ring customized to each Corps. Each figure is available starting its respective day, and will continue to be on sale until it is sold out. As of press time, pricing information was unavailable. Each figure comes in its own four-color box. Be sure to check out the photos in this article for a better glimpse of each Hal Jordan figure.
Happy hunting, Green Lantern fans. And enjoy your convention travels.
Things From Another World is in its final week of its progressive Spring Cleaning sale. Now through the end of May, you’ll find selected items at 80% off, including action figures.
