San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) wrapped up yesterday, and as always there’s plenty of information to digest. There were lots of exciting reveals for all manner of movies, TV shows, and comics, and Star Wars certainly got in on the excitement. I’ll be going over pretty much all of the big SW reveals out of this SDCC, from toys to collectibles to comics to The Force Awakens itself.
THE MAIN PANEL
No new footage was shown of The Force Awakens, but fans were treated to a behind the scenes look at the film. The footage was undoubtedly cool, and some of the shots lined up with earlier pictures leaked of some of the characters. The panel itself featured appearances by almost all major members of the cast, including Harrison Ford. Not much was learned about the plot of the film, but it was still nifty to see all those stars up on stage. We got a name for Domhnall Gleeson’s character, General Hux, and it was revealed that he’ll bee commanding “Starkiller Base,” a cool callback to early drafts of A New Hope. Much like the appearance of BB-8 at the panel for the movie at Celebration, a highlight of this one was when “Bobbajo,” a character seen in one of the “Force for Change” videos, took the stage. At the end of the panel, Abrams led the crowd to a surprise Star Wars concert, which is pretty much the coolest thing.
COMICS
Announced at SDCC was Star Wars: Chewbacca, a five part miniseries starring, of course, Chewbacca. Taking place shortly after A New Hope, the story will feature Chewie separated from Han. He’ll take on a sidekick of his own as he comes into conflict with the Empire. With the creative team of Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto, the series will debut in October. Also announced was the first official crossover between Darth Vader and Star Wars, Vader Down. It will begin with the oversized Vader Down #1, and continue in the two other series. It’ll feature Vader squaring off against an entire Rebel army. It should be a lot of fun.
BOOKS
As I understand it, no new books were announced at SDCC. There were, however, a good deal of cover and plot reveals, many of them collected over at this starwars.com article. Many of these books will be dropping on September 4th, along with the first batch of The Force Awakens merchandise. Pictured above is the first novel in the “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens” project, Star Wars: Aftermath, which will feature Wedge Antilles and Norra Wexley, a Rebel freedom fighter new to the Star Wars universe. Like I said, many more details were revealed, but it’ll be better for both of us if you don’t expect me to write it all out and you just click on that link.
APP
The official Star Wars app came out right at the start of the convention, and it’s been a good bit of fun. It has a GIF library, enhanced reality functions, a countdown to The Force Awakens and Episode VIII, and tools to take your own Star Wars selfie. I’ve been fooling around with it, it’s been pretty enjoyable.
HASBRO
As with many presentations at this SDCC, Hasbro’s presentation was fairly light on reveals. Most companies showed little to no merchandise for The Force Awakens, and Hasbro was no exception. It leaves collectors in a somewhat unfortunate position; we know more merchandise is coming than being shown, but we have little idea what. Hasbro did show the next 6-inch figures for The Black Series: Jango Fett, Ahsoka Tano (based on her appearance in Rebels), Kanan from Rebels, and Farmboy Luke Skywalker. Also announced was the winner of the latest Fan’s Choice Poll, Darth Revan. He, along with runner up Sabine Wren, will be produced in the 6-inch scale. Only two new 3 3/4 inch figures were shown, both from Rebels: Captain Rex and this season’s new Inquisitor.
The most impressive new reveal from Hasbro was their sole product from The Force Awakens. It’s a TIE Fighter and pilot set from the new film, produced in the 6-inch scale. While undoubtedly cool, the item is apparently carrying a hefty $170 price tag with it. Ouch.
GENTLE GIANT
Gentle Giant is one of my favorite collectible companies, which is why it’s always disappointing when we get less than stellar reveals. While some of the stuff they showed looked good, there was too little new stuff to get excited about. As a fan of their mini-bust line, I was particularly disappointed. They showed a nice looking Sandtrooper statue, a Jabba the Hutt for their Jumbo line, some new bookends, a Celebration Luke Skywalker bust of dubious quality, and the first in a new line of busts. The first, Darth Vader, will be a GameStop exclusive, for reasons I still don’t quite comprehend. On the plus side, a lot of their previously revealed products are looking pretty good.
ANOVOS
ANOVOS is a relatively recent entrant to the Star Wars game, but they had some really nice pieces on display. One of the highlights was the first official high end Y-Wing Pilot helmet from Return of the Jedi. In addition, they had their recently revealed X-Wing flightsuit and helmet and Shadow Trooper kit on display.
EFX
I’ll be using slides from the collector panel for EFX; while many of these items could be seen in their booth, the slides have them a little more condensed for easy viewing. Anyway, lots of cool items to be seen here. Some new style stands for helmets that I think look really cool, and some awesome Studio Scale models.
SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES
Sideshow is quickly becoming one of my favorite Star Wars licencees, thanks to the sort of product they showed at SDCC. Sideshow had some great products on display, including some nice looking 1:6 scale figures and a first look at the statues in their McQuarrie Artist Concept Series. Beyond the items shown in their booth, they offered first looks at other upcoming items in the Collector Panel. Here are just some of Sideshow’s exciting reveals.
HOT TOYS
Hot Toys had a fairly spectacular showing at this SDCC. While the new 1:6 Luke, 1:6 Leia, and 1:4 scale Stormtrooper were all very nice, it was undoubtedly their 1:6 scale Millennium Falcon cockpit display and 1:6 scale TIE Fighter that stole the show. Really cool, really impressive stuff.
Tidbits
– If you didn’t notice the watermarks, I took most of these images from the galleries over on Rebelscum. They actually had boots on the ground over at SDCC, and have a much more comprehensive gallery than I. Give them a look.
– I was at Connecticon this weekend, and despite a pretty heavy slant toward anime, I had a good time. I was able to find several books signed by Kevin J. Anderson, an author who did a lot of books back in the 1990s, which was a pleasant surprise.
– I finished Dark Disciple a few days ago. I quite liked it, I’ll try to get a post up on it tomorrow. One of the revelations out of the Star Wars publishing panel was that Han Solo’s backstory couldn’t be mentioned in new books, which made me think a post on the possible EU sources for the upcoming film was probably not needed.
galacticacademy 