YodasNews.com Invades San Diego Comic Con

This year was the 36^th annual San Diego Comic Con. This would be my second year in attending it. And my first year representing Yodasnews.com. As far as Star Wars stuff, this year paled in comparison to the massive Lucas Pavilion that was in attendance last year. The booths for Star Wars this year were scattered around the exhibit hall, so seeing (and most importantly grabbing the freebies) was a more time consuming process.

I had missed preview night, so my friend and I had planned on going on Thursday. We left LA around 10 a.m. and after driving through the congestion, we made it to San Diego and finding a hotel that wasn’t filled with convention goers proved difficult. After 7 or 8 “No vacancies,” we found one that wasn’t near a freeway. For $100 bucks a night, we got two large beds and a fridge.

After dropping our stuff at the hotel, it was time to go to Con! We got there around 4 p.m. and parked in the newly built Hilton parking structure. This wasn’t here last year and parking was hell. This alleviated the stress of finding parking with its gigantic seventh story area. And the price wasn’t bad at $10 a day.

I checked in with Press and they forgot to give me my driver license back, so I had to go back across to the hall to retrieve it. Finally, I was able to enter the exhibit hall, press badge shining majestically; I immediately hit the Star wars booth to get all the “crap” for me and some forum members. I spent about $500 in that one hour.

I pretty much got done with the buying, except for a few items that I didn’t know where it was located. I picked up some freebies that I wanted that included the Hasbro GH Yoda/R2-D2 figures. I liked this year system where you could get more then one if you waited in line. Last year, the GH Scout Trooper was limited to one per person. I snagged quite a few Topps promo cards for the new ROTS Widevision set. It was nearing closing time, so we left.

Friday Morning came off as a late start. We got to the parking structure late, but did manage to get a parking spot on the fifth floor. Inside the convention hall, it wasn’t as crowded. Saturday is the day that everyone shows up and navigability throughout the hall was pretty much impossible. A note: To determine which first year con attendees are, you watch for them grabbing as many freebies as they can and stuffing them in their bags. It’s pretty funny when the stuff bogs them down and they find it hard to carry all the stuff for the hours that con is open.

I walked around the Star wars areas, checking out new product for the 2005/2006 year. The Hasbro 3 ľ line past #56 are shaping up to be a fine last line of ROTS figures. I’m excited that Hasbro is making more Clonetroopers. The larger scale Titanium ships (shown were the Republic Gunship, Tri-Droid Fighter, and X-Wing) is another line that is full of potential for Hasbro. It maybe even better then the Micromachine ships Hasbro produced years earlier.

The biggest disappointment were the new line of Unleashed that Hasbro decided to produce. The whole line was not “Unleashed” at all, but rather just scaled down Star Wars Miniature-esque figures. Hasbro, I think it was best for WizKids to produce the line of minis. Although I already am a fan of the current unleashed and have a full set of it, my opinion towards the new line of unleashed is some-what biased. I was waiting to see if the new unleashed was worthy of collecting; but now, it isn’t worth the money. The line is disappointing, but that’s my opinion. (No hate mail please)

This year for Star Wars toys is going to end up with a bang with all those pain in the butt store exclusives. I thought that the exclusives released for the movie was bad in tracking down, now there is going to be a slew of them being sold by many different retailers. I’ve had luck in getting all the exclusives for non-eBay prices, so here’s to hoping my luck continues and I find them all. Thanks Hasbro, making a good and difficult year for your collectors.

My favorite part of being a Press member was my scheduled interview with Master Replicas. The interview went smoothly and was pretty short. I was embarrassed

since earlier I had eaten some food that left some stains on my shirt. I hope they didn’t notice, but I think they might have. But I would like to thank Steve Dymszo

and Anastasia Marin for taking time out of their schedule and answering a few questions for Yodasnews.com. Here’s what we can expect from Master Replicas:

 “The new generic Star Wars three-tier case will go on sale around early fall and is expected to ship mid-fall. The expected release dates for the 2005 minis is as

follows: Yoda – Around August. Dooku – Around September. Vader Rots – Around fall, to coincide with the DVD release. The biggest rumor for 2006 is the Maul FX

and it is CONFIRMED! Maul will see a March 2006 release date. Fans will be able to buy the single bladed version with the potential to connect with another Maul FX

and form the infamous double lightsaber. Price point for one FX is $119.99. for 2006, Collector Society members will have 2 more exclusive, lightsaber TBA.

THe one question that stumped Steve was the availability of the European exclusive Chrome Yoda and Sidious in the United States. He didn’t have

an answer for it. The 2006 line of Mini sabers is Qui-Gon Jinn, Luke ANH, and Vader ESB. I believe that Steve also said that the Jedi Council sabers may

be made. The line of .45 blasters will be made! But the line won’t be .45 scales, rather a .33 scale with a display-like case seen in the lightsabers. Steve

said that the blasters will be displayed in a wall-like display case that has many shelves to hold more blasters. So we can expect this line to continue.

Blasters expected for 2006 will be a Boba Fett, Han Solo, and another I don’t remember. As for other obscure props seen on the big screen, Steve said

that some made be made; but will be fewer then its lightsaber counterparts. The reasoning for this that only a few select few will wish to add the items

to their collection, so less will be made. The next line of Studio Scale Vehicles being produced by MR are a Signature Edition At-At, 20’’ Y-Wing, and

SE Millennium Falcon. As for future product lines, Steve has stated that there are currently in the works to acquire the Indiana Jones license from

 LucasFilms. Once the license is finalized, we can expect great authentic replicas fro the people of Master

Replicas.”

Saturday was the busiest day, resulting in us parking about five or six blocks away. By the time we got the Con, we had to sit down. The day started

with just walking around the main areas and then going towards aisle 100 to find some decent prices on Star wars stuff. As with many dealers, the prices

 were ridiculous high. Target Clones were $30+, ROTS figures $15+, and C3 Vaders $60+. Needless to say, I actually did not buy any figures from the

dealers. Some opinions of what I’ve seen around the Star Wars Both. Hasbro is going to end the ROTS line with a bang with the last 12 figures.

The last wave of unleashed will be sad, even sadder that they are all just re-hashed sculpts. I’m hoping that the larger scale Titanium Ships will be die-cast

 and not some plastic type model.  Gentle Giants, what I can say but “WOW.” The new Vader is just huge! I thought that it was just going to be about

the same size as the older Vader, but the lightsaber that is included just towers over everything. The new line of statues being produced which were the

Darth Maul and Boba Fett made me just gaze in awe at the piece. These two pieces are making me consider buying the Boba Fett. For one, I can’t afford

the price tag of $800+ for the Attakus Boba Fett and second, I’m a fan of Boba Fett. If I have some money leftover, I’ll get the Maul in a more non-traditional

 pose. I’m sure everyone has seen the pictures of the two “forbidden” items.  I respected the request of GG to not take any pictures, but some people

outright just took them. Good for them though, share the pictures with the rest of the collecting community. Master Replica’s showcase of up and

coming attractions for Star Wars stuff was pretty much stuff we’ve seen already.

As for non-Star Wars stuff, there is many new products  MR is releasing this year that includes various items from The Chronicles of Narnia, The Pirates

of the Caribbean, and more Disney replicas. I didnt take any pictures (Doh!), but the line  shan’t disappoint. They did showcase an Anakin costume

near the Star Wars Shp and this line has potential. If the masses receives it positively (which they will), I’m hoping that MR will go into more heavily

costumed characters such as Boba Fett or maybe even the most accurate Stormtrooper costume to date. Around the Exhibit hall are dozens upon

dozens of costumed fans in multiple varieties. Some costume look cheap, but most are done in such high detail, they almost look professional.

If you were to attend one day at con, Saturday  would be it. It is the busiest and allows the most interaction for you to meet fans with which you have

commonality with. If you don’t likethe crowds, any other day will suffice. Sunday being the least packed of the days. Sundays is also a good day to

get some good deals from dealers, seeing as most of them want to take less stuff back to their stores.  Well, another year filled with fun at San Diego.

The perfect weather at a brisk 80 degrees (compared to this Staff members 100+ area) made con a perfect weekend to attend.  If anyone were ever to

attend a convention, Comic-Con would be it. With over 100,000 plus people in attendance this year, it is the perfect atmosphere for fans of anything.

I’m back home now and frantically getting this write up ready for Yoda and dead tired from the experience. It was even better this year since I went

as press and every 20 minutes,I would flash the badge to my friend and laugh at his badge. Thanks for helping me get it Yoda.

Some highlights of my Con experience:

-          Seeing Ray Park (Darth Maul) storming out of the bathroom.

-          Seeing ray Park (Darth Maul) teaching a child to wield a MR FX Lightsaber and doing various poses with him.

-          Seeing Steve Sansweet (Basically the number 1 collector god)

-          Seeing the DJ Boba Fett (He can briefly be seen in Triumph’s AOTC Preview Night skit)

-          My friend grabbing me the plush thermal Detonator given out for preordering Republic Commando)

-          Grabbing a crap load of Topps Promo cards on the last day.

-          Getting the #50/1000 Acme general Grevious Key Cell

(I have more, just forgot them now)

And with the end of my highlights, comes the end of this little con experience. I’d like to thank you for reading this and

hope to see you next year at Con.