Toy news out of Wizard World Philly!

June 23, 2009 on 2:09 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

If you missed Wizard World Philadelphia this weekend, you missed…well, this:

• The ToyFare Hall of Fame welcomed its second class of inductees! Randy Bowen delivered a video message (and some Ozzy), while inductees Tim Bruckner, Jesse Falcon and Aaron Archer (on behalf of Transformers) were on-hand to pick up their trophies. Speaking of trophies…check out that $#%!! On the left you’ll see last year’s original trophy, sculpted by the inimitable Tim Bruckner. On the right, this year’s trophy, sculpted in tribute to last year’s by the dream team of The Four Horsemen and Clayburn Moore!

• Speaking of Jesse, he and David Vonner and Scott George from Hasbro world-debuted three new Marvel Legends: modern Madrox, X-Force Warpath and Lady Bullseye! All three will be part of upcoming two-packs.

• Speaking of The Horsemen, they were on hand to show off some new prototypes, including the world’s first look at fully-painted Teela from Masters of the Universe Classics.

•Speaking of Hall of Fame inductees, one of last year’s honorees, Randy Falk, ran down some exciting new license announcements for NECA, including one video game line that’s sure to get everyone talking: Bioshock! Big Daddy toys, y’all!

• Speaking of (last time I’m using that gag) just about ALL those guys, they were on the Big Toy Industry panel on Friday night, which is a totally unique opportunity to hear legends from all corners of the industry rap about what’s going on in the toy biz right now. If you want to hear how the economy is affecting your favorite lines, or where guys like Jesse and the Horsemen think innovation will take the toy industry in the next 25 years, you can head to this dude’s blog and download an audio file of the entire panel. I highly suggest you do.

• Fans also got a look at some upcoming MiniMates art courtesy of Diamond Select Toys, a sneak-peek at the second and third series of Indie Spotlight toys courtesy of Shocker Toys, and the huge announcement that Tonner Doll got the license they were born for: Lord of the Rings! Budding artists also got master classes in sculpting from Robert Tonner and Tim Bruckner, and budding customizers got a schooling on our very first Customizing 101 panel with Matt “Iron-Cow” Cauley, Pierre “Airmax” Kalenzaga and Bobby “Bobby T” Torres. Seriously, it was so friggin’ educational I think I earned a new degree just moderating it.

Big thanks to all the fans who came out, all the toy industry pros who made it great, and DJ Skeletor, who put on the single most evil karaoke night I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting gonged offstage during. Thanks, guys!