While I am still waiting for a few more surprises from this year's SDCC despite not being there personally, I have to admit that in some areas I have been underwhelmed if not disappointed by what was exhibited and in other areas I was pleasantly surprised. I know some who read this will be in extreme disagreement with me, but I am just one guy and I am not criticizing the pieces, I just was expecting more. It is no secret that Sideshow Collectibles are the big draw for me because they always have these magnificent displays at SDCC and this year was no different. I am not a sixth scale figure collector so my feelings do not apply to them.
In the quarter scale premium format figure and statue department I was disappointed that the only non Ralph McQuarrie item on display for Star Wars was Darth Vader if only because he has been available for preorder on and offline for awhile now. I figured that the majority of the Star Wars reveals will come next year after The Force Awakens opens theatrically, but still hoped for more than what I saw. In terms of Marvel, I hoped to see premium format figures of characters from Guardians of the Galaxy like StarLord and Gamora because I think if quarter scale statues were made in the likeness of the Actors and Actresses from the movie, they would look cool. I think one of the best if not the best statues revealed was Red Sonja. They really hit the ball out of the park on that one. Aqua-man looked like it is going to be one of those statues where perhaps seeing it up close personally will make a big difference, but as is I liked the fact that it resembled the Saturday morning cartoons I grew up watching as a kid. So I might get him next year. Supergirl looked nice as well although the way her body was arching in the lower back reminded me a little too much of Sideshow's lackluster Christopher Reeve Superman Premium Format Figure. The Masters of the Universe statues by Sideshow were a real treat to behold and I am not even a fan of that franchise. However I think Sideshow's Skeletor was for me the best incarnation of the character I had ever seen in a statue form and he impressed me so much that he made my maybe list too.
Other statues revealed at Comic Con were either already previously revealed on the Sideshow website or were exhibited again from last year at SDCC as filler. Overall I personally expected more variety and hope next year's SDCC will be extraordinary as far as Sideshow pieces in the Quarter Scale department go. Elite Creature Collectibles had some amazing busts while Chronicle certainly caught my eye with their Starfighter replica from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
I truly loved and thoroughly enjoyed the behind the scenes footage revealed at Comic Con for Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. I felt short of a full trailer, they gave us more to be excited and happy about than has been revealed so far and it was brilliant. Thank you JJ Abrams and Lucasfilm. The trailer for Ash vs The Evil Dead looked fantastic and funny. Better than I expected or hoped for. Ironically both trailers for AMC's The Walking Dead Season Six and AMC's Fear The Walking Dead felt lackluster to me. I am sure the seasons will be great. I have already purchased my season pass for Fear The Walking Dead and am looking forward to seeing how society fell into the world we were introduced to in the original pilot for The Walking Dead five years ago.
At this time there are still two days left of SDCC going on and I am sure there will be more revealed as far as movies and television are concerned, but for now those are my thoughts on SDCC 2015. Thank you.
(C) Copyright 2015 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
