Click on pic or here for sidesplitting video.

Artist Tara McPherson has designed a limited edition Hellboy for Dark Horse :
We began our Qee line with the classic 2.5 inch Hellboy Qee. Next up, the much-coveted large size 8″ Qee. Hellboy and Qee fans can rejoice and unite in toy heaven!

We asked Mike Mignola to pick an artist to design an 8″ Hellboy variant and he chose one of our favorite people: the talented Miss Tara McPherson! Tara was happy to comply, and has designed a magnificent Hellboy, turning it into a unique creation all her own! This piece is limited to 450, worldwide, so place your orders now!

We’ve been doing this google keyword searching thing for like five years now, and there’s one thing we’ve learned: Stan Lee could open a can and the media would be all over it. That dude will never stop making news! Now he’s getting his own action figure:

The company will pay plastic tribute to the 84-year-old creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four and other comic-book heroes by interpreting him as a 6-inch tall Marvel Legends action figure. The toy shows Lee’s likeness wearing khaki pants, a blue windbreaker and eyeglasses.

“We feel it’s long overdue that Stan Lee be immortalized as an action figure, much like the dozens of marvelous characters that he has created for years and years,” said Eric Nyman, Hasbro’s vice president of marketing. “And it couldn’t be more fitting than to create him as a `Marvel Legends’ figure.”

The limited-edition, $14.99 toy will be introduced next month in San Diego at Comic-Con International, the annual comic-book convention.

It’s a little hard to tell from the photo, but it doesn’t appear to be a Members Only windbreaker, and thats makes us sad. Personally we’d like our own Jack Kirby action figure, or Steve Ditko mystery variant. Or how about a Don Heck action figure? Or Robert Kanigher? Jeff Jones with gender-changing costume. Combat Larry Hama. Jim Lee with poker playing action. Make your own list.

Over at CNN, Herb Greenberg speculates that the sales of Hasbro’s Spidey 3 toys may not be living up to expectations:

Johnson is one of several analysts warning clients of possibly disappointing ” Spider-Man 3″ toy sales. His first clue: seeing neat shelves of Spider-Man toys at Wal-Mart stores. If the toys were selling well, he figures, the shelves would be a mess. Then Michael Savner of Banc of America Securities wrote in a recent report to clients that he had heard of lower-than-expected sales from “contacts” at several unnamed “major big-box retailers.” The information, he says, was corroborated by NPD Group, the market-research firm. Dean Gianoukos of J.P. Morgan Chase took it a step further, telling his clients that discussions with 40 toy-department managers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) showed that “Spider-Man 3″ toy sales were “OK,” but that only 20% of the managers said they planned to reorder. Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the U.S. It declined to comment. Target Corp. (TGT) , the No. 2 retailer, said “Spider-Man 3″ toys are “meeting our expectations.”

In a tough and competitive retail environment where a lot of summer toys are hitting, a slump could have ramifications for both Hasbro and Marvel.

The risk for Hasbro, Johnson says, is the deal it struck with Marvel: That is because Hasbro agreed to pay a minimum royalty guarantee of $215 million over five years, including an initial payment of $100 million. Sales that don’t reach levels to justify that minimum payment, he says, could cut into earnings.

While the money paid to Marvel is viewed as nonrefundable, Marvel isn’t entirely off the hook. According to Savner, Marvel’s earnings forecasts assume the company will receive far more than it has received in guarantees. “By getting such big guarantees, it has a high hurdle going forward,” Savner says.

Even as the friends of Rick Olney emerge from the woods to frolic among the hot wheels, Tony Isabella has written to make a clarification on our last Rick Olney post:

“To clarify…

Whiz-Bang Toys of Florida [www.whizbangtoys.com] is a respected seller with an outstanding eBay record. Its owner has asked me to spread the word that his company is in no way, shape, or form affiliated with the likes of Olney. I will be sending out a news release on this in a day or so.

What Olney’s “ORCA” organization - which has never been granted non-profit status - is affiliated with is something called Whizz-Bang Comics and Toys, a new “venture” allegedly run by a woman no one has ever heard of. Though someone with her name did attempt to sign up for MySpace page.

The real Whiz-Bang Toys is a solid operation.

The Olney-affiliated venture is…like all Olney ventures…to be considered with extreme suspicion.

My standard warning is that if something involves Rick Olney, ORCA, the Mighty Mini-Con, Mohawk Valley Comics Newsletter, TightLip Entertainment or any other Olney ventures, you should avoid it.

Tony Isabella”

The LA Times looks at the battle for the top boy toy among all the licensed items this summer. :

Toy industry analysts expect this year to be strong in action figure sales because of the number of summer movies featuring swashbuckling heroes or crime fighting characters including “Spider-Man 3,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” The biggest seller of the season, however, could be Transformers, the popular toy series that will be brought to life by Michael Bay’s upcoming action film. “Transformers,” which features the heroic robot Optimus Prime and the villainous Megatron, will be released July 3 by Paramount Pictures. The toys have been out since early June.

Sheliah Gilliland of the Internet toy retailer EToys.com is betting on Transformers.

“Transformers will be the biggest seller—it’s a movie based on a line of toys that has been popular since the ’80s,” she said. “They have always been strong sellers but, because of the movie, they are coming back in a huge way.”

Although last year’s box office attendance was up by about 5%, action figure sales fell by 9% in 2006, generating close to $1.25 billion of the $22.6 billion in overall toy revenue, according to NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. Action figure sales fell partly because of a robust 2005, which benefited from the release of “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” and its related toys.

Die-cast die-hards will be amused by the following typo, however:

Transformers are considered the ultimate boy toys that could also be a hit with dads who played with them when they were young. Hasbro has come out with an updated line, including the Optimist Prime 18-wheel truck that transforms into a blaster with one pull of a handle.

Artist Bernard Chang writes us with a few news items:

§ theBlvd art collective will be hosting a book launch party Friday night at Heroes Con, to celebrate the debut of theBLVD sketchbook 3.0, which features guest artist Walter Simonson.

§ Chang supplied the design work on the line of urban vinyl toys that are in the Burger King/Fantastic Four 2 giveaways for their kids meals. The line features Silver Surfer (above), Doctor Doom and the FF. You can see them here. “These are the ‘first of their kind’ for the industry in terms of introducing urban vinyl into the promo/premium market,” says Chang.

§ Finally, in regards to the ruckus over Chang’s HOW TO MAKE MONEY LIKE A PORN STAR, we mentioned yesterday, he says it is now officially banned by the government of Singapore and “I could face a fine of $5000 and up to a year of jail if i step foot in that country (not that I plan to in the near future, but coincidentally I was just on an episode of TAKE HOME CHEF on TLC where we were served Singapore crabs.)”

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntingwon, WV, looks at SVA grad Teylor Smirl whose spunk and can-do attitude have led her all the way to an internship at DC Comics, and beyond, to hopes of graphic novels. She thinks the world is her oyster, and who are we to dissuade her?

From the age of six, Huntington native Teylor Smirl has always shown a talent for drawing.

While attending Huntington High, her talents caught the attention of teacher Marlalie Boyd, who encouraged her to explore multiple directions of art. Now a graduate of the School for Visual Arts in New York City, Smirl is hoping to make an impression next year by collaborating with another artist, Luigi Cicala, on a graphic novel.

Smirl remains tight lipped about the exact nature of the upcoming book, but she describes it as “a sort of ‘The West Wing’ meets ‘The Matrix.’ Only it’s not like ‘Ex Machina.’ (A popular political driven bent science fiction comic.)”

MEANWHILE…Detroit’s Matro Times profiles the woman with the world’s largest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles memorabilia collection:

Michelle Ivey, 29, inherited her pack-rat behavior. She’s a passionate woman, hence a bit obsessive-compulsive. See, Ivey owns the world’s largest collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles memorabilia. That’s right, the largest. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! confirms the fact; VH-1 glorified it.

“One day I was at a [comic] convention, down in New York at the Big Apple Con,” Ivey says, sitting on her bed, which is outfitted with Ninja Turtle sheets. “I get a phone call from my mom. She tells me that I’m in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Someone at church told my mom I was in it. She went out and picked the book up, and sure enough … page 119.”

Ivey, who resembles Velma from Scooby Doo, could be every comic-book reader cliché brought to life, if she were a dude. She’s has no job — a freak electrical accident at a local factory left her unable to work — and lives at home with her parents. Her father is a factory worker and an amateur B-movie costumer of monsters. Mom is a housewife.

These things are so important that clicking on them may very well save your life! It’s that serious!

§ First, customized Legos of Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and Alan Moore. If this isn’t important, nothing is. Created by David Oakes. LInk via The Ephemerist, via Brett Warnock

§ Do you think you can ink better than Vinnie Colletta — or, as Flo Steinberg called him, Vinnie Colleter? NOW YOU CAN FIND OUT.

§ Hope Larson explains how to add spot color in a very, very basic way. Of course, you still have to have talent.

§ This nice lady is looking for an artist to illustrate a graphic novel about peregrine falcons.

I’ll warn right now that I’m a stickler for bird accuracy. The illustrations can be stylized, but the bird must have basic peregrine structure (ie malar stripes under the eyes and pointed wing tips). If you are interested and up to the challenge, send me some renderings of peregrines. Feel free to throw in other species as well, like red-tailed hawk, grackle, and blue-winged teal. Send queries and or images to sharon at birdchick dot com.

Hm, we’ve seen both Lauren Weinstein and R. Kikuo Johnson draw nice birds, but they are probably too busy on their own projects.

§ You know we could just post his news every day, but if you are interested in The One True Bruce, we suggest you just point your RSS feed at Bruce Campbell News Central, an informative blog that tracks the Master’s every media appearance…it seems Bruce is now entering the “Leslie Neilsen” phase of his career, and we couldn’t be happier!

§ HAWAIIAN DICK: SCREAMING BLACK THUNDER We really just wanted to say that.

To the many kind folks who have been sending us news items in the mail…we will be playing catch up next week, if we’re still alive.

Speaking of the latest in latex protection, Peter Kuper has designed “Lucha Libre: condom wrappers:

Peter Kuper Lucha Libre Condoms feature the Manhattan-based illustrator’s unique Mexican wrestler design….Available in assorted handpacked bags of 12, 60, and 144.

Beasts is a collection of fantastical creatures in the cryptozoological tradition. Edited/Art Directed by Jacob Covey, it’s a portfolio of today’s hottest alt/indie artists from Jeff Soto to Souther Salazar to K. Kikuo Johnson. This piece in New City Chicago has pointed out that it has  also sold very briskly, and has gone into a second printing. In fact, we were researching something else and were surprised to see Beasts continuously hovering in the #5,000-#10,000 spot on Amazon, a sign of steady sales. We asked Fantagraphics Marketing Czar Eric Reynolds about the book’s success and he said, “The book sold out almost immediately. We had to hold back copies for the last two signings we did in NYC and Chicago. We frankly could have sold a lot more at this point. We’re going back to press and Jacob’s tweaking some of it just for fun and we’ll have them this summer. It’s a classic example of no one anticipating just how gorgeous it was going to be. Once I saw it, I immediately told Jacob I knew we printed too few.”

It is, indeed, a handsome volume, with an antique look, cloth binding, gold-tipped pages and an embossed cover.

While we’re as surprised at Beasts sales success as anyone, maybe we shouldn’t have been because its aimed squarely at the alternative retail market emerging at a few trend-setting shops in hipster towns. It could be called the Designer Toy/Giant Robot/Juxtapoz Axis, for want of a better term. It strikes us as being sort of a West Coast-born thing, because they have more room for paintings and toys than we do in New York, but it’s also a Tokyo Thing. And it’s certainly a crossover market for publishers like Buenaventura, PictureBox, Fantagraphics, D&Q and other “beautiful object” publishers. It seems like many of the artists also have comics cross-over connections. It isn’t anything new, but it has definitely been gathering momentum in the last few years with the ascendence of Nerd Culture thanks to the internet. We expect to see even more comics-based crossovers in the future, as well.

As long rumored, Lego is following up its highly successful Star Wars Lego video game franchise with the Caped LegoBrick Crusader himself!

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games will bring LEGO® BATMAN™: THE VIDEOGAME to next-generation and current generation platforms and the PC in 2008 with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment serving as the game’s North American publisher, including all sales and distribution functions.

In LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME, TT Games brings the world of DC Comics’ Caped Crusader to life in an entirely new way. Players can explore a richly interactive LEGO Gotham City as Batman and Robin, capturing infamous villains – and even take control of the villains themselves.

“Batman spans several generations as one of the most popular DC Super Heroes, and LEGO BATMAN will appeal to several generations of gamers who grew up idolizing the Dark Knight and playing with LEGO toys,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Development and Production, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Working with TT Games, we are confident they will continue their LEGO games’ success with this title, and we will expand our publishing endeavors with the introduction of the LEGO BATMAN franchise.”

“We’re sure our fans will be excited to know that we have the same fantastic team at Traveller’s Tales responsible for LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars II working on LEGO BATMAN,” said Tom Stone, Director of TT Games Publishing.

“There’s a special magic to the LEGO incarnation of Batman that makes him accessible to a younger generation of his fans,” said Paul Levitz, President, DC Comics. “We look forward to the videogame version extending this fantasy.”

The LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME story unfolds with Batman’s greatest foes escaping from Arkham Asylum and creating mayhem throughout Gotham City. Tracking criminals, including The Joker and The Penguin, players will utilize Batman’s gadgets as well as build and operate fantastic vehicles in one or two player cooperative gameplay.

Ew! Venom!

§ Will Marvel have to move office again? According to this piece in the New York Observer, their office building has just been purchased by a new buyer who could be well advised to raise the well-below-market rents.

417 Fifth Avenue is an 11-story, 392,000- square-foot building at the corner of 38th Street and across the street from the Lord & Taylor. It’s a building that was constructed in 1912, and includes Atari and Marvel Entertainment as its main tenants.

The building also has 80,000 square feet of air rights available, which was included in the deal, a source said.

One of the first things that Mr. Moinian may want to do is push up rents, since they’re far below market now. The asking rent for the only available floor is $32 per square foot, according to CoStar (whereas average rents for class-B midtown south buildings are $40 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield).

§ The American Psychological Association warns that suggestive toys and cartoons are creating an aura of early sexualization for girls which could be very psychologically damaging. Even Disney could be to blame!

The APA report also looked at toys, music and other media, such as films and magazines. One particular target was the Bratz dolls - which outsell Barbie in the UK - who wear raunchy gear such as hot pants, fishnet stockings and feather boas. Even the Disney Corporation, which promotes family values, was criticised. The study singled out cartoons including The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas for featuring characters “which have more cleavage, fewer clothes, and are depicted as ’sexier’ than those of yesteryear”. Eileen Zurbriggen, one of the APA report’s main authors, said: “The consequences of the sexualisation of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls’ healthy development.

§ SHOCKER: GERRY FEARED HE WAS FAT! :

§ Audrey Niffenegger, an UNUSUAL graphic novelist, is profiled:

One day, she was scraping together a living as a Chicago artist. The next, she had Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and “The Today Show” knocking at her door. For Audrey Niffenegger, the author of the best-selling “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” the past four years have been as surreal as the plots of her books.

§ An exhibit of art by Osamu Tezuka has opened in Sydney, Australia:

Tezuka: the Marvel of Manga
23 February to 29 April 2007
Art Gallery of New South Wales

2 June to 9 September 2007
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

McFarlane is giving things away, hosting signings, hiring people and god knows what all.

Will you be one of the multitudes attending the New York Comic-Con, Feb. 23-25 at the Jacob Javitz Center We invite you to stop by our booth - #771 - to chat with the clean and courteous McFarlane Toys employees, AND to take advantage of the overabundance of special goings-on we’ve got planned. Get a load of this!

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We were feeling a little better so we hit up the Diamond Select booth over at what’s left of the Toy District. We could only snap a few pics because we didn’t have time to get full tours, but there were lots of great looking toys. Above, some alternate world Flash from the DC Direct showroom.

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Did you ever want to work for McFarlane Toys? It seems they are looking to fill a few spots and you can apply in person at New York Comic-con:

McFarlane Toys has a number of job openings in our Bloomingdale, N.J. office. We are currently looking to fill these positions:

Sculptor
Rapid Prototyper/3-D Modeler
Graphics Technician
Prototype Painter
If you’ve got the skills we need, want to work for a fun and creative company and would like to be considered for any of these positions, we encourage you to apply online at SPAWN.com.

AND, if you will be attending the New York Comic-Con, Feb. 23-25 at the Jacob Javitz Center, McFarlane Toys employees will be collecting resumes and portfolios at our booth - #771. Please note that unlike previous Cons, there will NOT be a portfolio review at our booth.

We will be accepting submissions for New Jersey job openings ONLY. You may drop off your resume and non-returnable portfolio on DVD/CDRom for consideration for any of these positions, but HR representatives will not be present in the booth for interviews or portfolio reviews. (Portfolios accompanied by self-addressed stamped return envelopes can be returned, but McFarlane Toys is not responsible for any lost or damaged materials.)

We’ve got just the place for this in our post-Tokyo urban wasteland home:

Possibly the most influential graphic artist of his generation, Gary Panter is the creator of Jimbo, a post-nuclear cartoon character whose adventures were first chronicled as a comic strip in the ’70s LA hardcore-punk paper Slash and later in RAW magazine. Panter was among the artists honored in the 2006-2007 exhibition “Masters of American Comics.”

This is the first-ever officially licensed figure of Jimbo. Working directly with Gary Panter, Yoe! Studio have crafted a very detailed (in every sense even anatomically!) rendition of this iconic character.

Toy Fair is still raging — and it’s raging on without us and our bronchitis — but the manga-stylee line of DC heroines known as Ame-Comi Super Heroines has caused some…comment via Johanna:

Obviously, they no longer care about the complaints of many of their female readers, because this line sums up most of the problems with their characters, presenting them in an overly sexualized fashion aimed at male fans.

and Progressive Ruin. (Check comments.)

It is the start of another Toy Fair, the venerable institution in which toy companies trot out their wares for buyers and media. Only this time no one is quite sure where to go or what to do. The Toy Building, where most companies had showrooms for decades and decades, is closed for the most part; the action has moved to Javits and a smattering of other showrooms around the city. However, just to make it more fun, some companies still have their showrooms in the Toy Building, and others haven’t really moved.

With that in mind, here’s what we saw Saturday:

Spider Spud waddled out to meet us over at the Hasbro showroom (housed in a giant studio across the road from the Javits.) We would have called it “Spuder-man” but maybe that name wasn’t approved or something.
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Toy Fair is almost upon us, and we will be out hitting the streets to bring you all the PVC and animatronic chimpnewws that you need, but in the meantime, EW.com has a groovy slideshow preview, including Marvel’s (?) Madman figure.

Continuing its roll-out of a series of licensed products, Dc Unlimited, DC’s new brand, has annoucned a line of AFRO SAMURAI action figures:

DC Unlimited, the new brand launched by DC Comics to license and promote the world’s greatest pop culture characters and stories, is proud to announce the acquisition of a license to release a line of action figures and collectibles based on the Studio Gonzo produced “Afro Samurai” animated series. The series debuted on Spike TV January 4th and will be released on DVD in May by FUNimation Entertainment. The collectibles will be offered in the U.S. and Canada by DC Unlimited, with the first series of products debuting at the American International Toy Fair, held in New York in February 2007.

Adapted from Takashi Okazaki’s manga, the series chronicles Afro Samurai’s relentless quest to avenge his father’s brutal murder. Featuring music by renowned hip-hop artist The RZA and starring Academy Award-nominated actor and executive producer Samuel L. Jackson as the Afro Samurai, the series is a groundbreaking fusion of American hip-hop and classic samurai story. Other voice talents working on the series include Ron Perlman (”Hellboy”) and Kelly Hu (”X2″).

“The opportunity to bring Afro Samurai to action figure and collectible fans was something we couldn’t pass up,” said Cheryl Rubin, Senior Vice President Brand Management at DC Comics. “The combination of Afro Samurai’s hip, cutting-edge animation with the quality and attention to detail that DC Unlimited is known for is a perfect match.”

DC Direct, best known for their authentic collectibles generated directly from the source material, will launch a line of Afro Samurai collectibles that will include fully articulated 6.75″ and 14″ action figures, resin busts and statues - all spotlighting the characters from the popular anime. The first wave of figures will include Afro Samurai, his sidekick Ninja Ninja and his deadly adversaries Kuma and Justice. The first wave of figures is slated to hit comic book and pop culture specialty retailers Fall 2007.

“With its innovative fusion of hip-hop and anime, Afro Samurai is such a unique title we knew we needed an exceptional partner to create figures befitting the animation,” said Bob Brennan, Director of Licensing at FUNimation Entertainment. “DC Unlimited’s reputation, superior design and attention to detail combined with their passion for this property made them the natural choice for this line.”

As many suspected yesterday, DC Unlimited will be the new brand for DC’s launch of a line of WoW collectibles:

DC Unlimited, the new brand launched by DC Comics to license and promote the world ‘ s greatest pop culture characters and stories, is proud to announce the release of a line of action figures based on World of Warcraft, the popular Blizzard Entertainment Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG). The collectibles will be unveiled this month at New York ‘ s American International Toy Fair and will be distributed worldwide in both mass market and specialty channels.

The Warcraft franchise has been a pillar of gaming culture for over a decade and remains the world ‘ s largest-selling strategy video game with over 19 million copies sold. With over 7.5 million subscribers worldwide, the game creates a unique and interactive environment, allowing for thousands of simultaneous player adventures. World of Warcraft has also been America ‘ s top-selling PC game since its release in November of 2004.

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DC Comics announced plans today to license and distribute collectibles based on the world’s greatest pop culture characters and stories under a new brand name, DC Unlimited. The first series of DC Unlimited products will be unveiled at New York’s American International Toy Fair, and will be distributed to all retail outlets, including mass market and specialty channels.

COWBOY CURTIS!!!!