San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog

We’ve been waiting for this for a couple of weeks, and it’s finally arrived. CCI has published their annual Comic-Con Exclusives guide on the official website.

The guide has been a great resource in year’s past, and this year is no different. You can select a specific company from a drop down and get the lowdown on all of their exclusive merchandise, including price and limited run.

It doesn’t look like it’s complete yet – for example, no HasbroToyShop or MattyCollector as selectable companies – which means they’re probably holding back until as more exclusives are announced. Keep this bookmarked, and make your checklists now!

There’s been lots of fanfare but little actual art of the new Justice League, relaunching in September. Well, Comic-Con International kindly reminds us that it’s the comics that made the con, by giving us an exclusive of the JL on the cover of this year’s official souvenir book, courtesy of Jim Lee himself. And remember, all attendees get one of these beauties free with their registration. We’re telling ya, that registration fee goes a looooooong way, doesn’t it?
Without further ado, here’s a pic of the cover by Jim Lee:

Okay, let us get all sentimental for a second. Comic-Con isn’t just big Hollywood events. it’s about comics, too – let’s not forget that. And Comic-Con has lots of comic publishers and creators, from the mega-popular to the ultra-obscure. Somewhere in the middle is one of my favorite comic book companies, BOOM! Studios. Being a father, BOOM!’s kids line of books, now under the KABOOM! label, has the perfect lineup to start my children reading comics at an early age. And their classic Disney licenses, like Darkwing Duck, Ducktales, and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, to the recently acquired Peanuts comics, speak to the kid in me as I’m able to share my childhood delights with my children.

So last year, the first booth I visited was BOOM!’s, and had Travis Hill sketch me a custom Toy Story cover. I have this framed in my son’s bedroom. And everytime I see it, I get such joy out of being able to share something I love with my kids.

BOOM! Studios announced their booth schedule for Comic-Con 2011, and I couldn’t be more excited. Again, they have a signing and panel schedule that speaks to both the adult and kid in me. Personally, I couldn’t be more excited to see that Warren Spector, the famed video game designer who brought us such games as Deus Ex and Epic Mickey, at the booth supporting his Ducktales comics for the publisher. They also have a great lineup of Comic-Con exclusive variants, such as the aforementioned Ducktales, Planet of the Apes, and a Definitive Irredeemable Vol. 1 exclusive, signed and numbered by Mark Waid.

Thank you, BOOM! Click past the jump to see the entire line-up.

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After a cross-country or intercontinental trip that would make the Griswolds blush, there’s no better way to get your Comic-Con weekend kicked off than to check into your hotel and get handed one of these as your room key:

Let me tell you, it’s kinda like how Hal Jordan felt when Abin Sur handed him his ring. Or when Optimus Prime held the Matrix of Leadership in his steel hands for the first time. Or countless other geeky clichés I could bore you with.

Instead, let me get right to the good stuff: Warner Bros. is once again providing area hotels with five different collectible, limited-edition key cards to celebrate Comic-Con. Nearly 40,000 of these will be produced to promote popular Warner Bros. properties across television, video games and new media.

And of course, this will be one key card you won’t want to turn in when you check out. Click past the jump to read the press release and see the other four key-card designs for this year’s Comic-Con.

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If you’ve ever been to Comic-Con before, you’ve undoubtedly spent too much energy A) rushing to and/or waiting in line for the HasbroToyShop booth; B) ogling others walking around the show with all of those cool toys from said booth; or C) all of the above.

Well, if you are lucky enough to be attending this year’s con, and if you’re reading this blog it’s most likely you are, then prepare your drool cups because Hasbro is starting to trickle out news on their 2011 SDCC exclusives.

USA Today’s Popcandy blog posted details on Hasbro’s Special Edition My Little Pony for all the little girls in your household, unless you are a little girl at heart, which means this is for you. This cutie will set you back $14.99.

And for the little boys in attendance, of which I am firmly in that camp, Marvel unveiled the Avengers Special Edition Mini Muggs Collector’s Pack. The set includes Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Captain America Mini Muggs and a “giant-sized” Giant Man in Mighty Muggs form, all in awesome collectible packaging (check out Giant Man’s head sticking out of the Mini Muggs box!). The set will run $34.99.

As usual, availability of these exclusives are limited and could sell out early, but most likely Hasbro will have enough on hand to sell to everyone who wants one. They’ll also make limited quantities available after the con via the HasbroToyShop.com online store.

Marvel also said the rest of the exclusives will be announced closer to the July 20 start of SDCC, so I would imagine that also pertains to Hasbro’s other licenses as well, such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars and Littlest Pet Shop. Stay tuned for more info as it is announced!

As I mentioned in my newbie guide, one of the best ways to score your exclusive SDCC merchandise is to pre-order your merchandise and pick it up at the show. This way you’ll be able to avoid the lines, remove chance from the equation, and leave Comic-Con with all the stuff you swore you wouldn’t without.

MattyCollector.com was the biggest exhibitor to offer pre-sell vouchers last year, and they’re doing it again this year, too. Starting Monday July 11th at 9AM PT/12 Noon ET, you’ll be able to guarantee yourself one of those awesome two-foot tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Men, The Hot Wheels Franken Berry car and many more SDCC-exclusive products that you simply won’t be able to resist. Just place your order online starting July 11th and pick it up during the pre-determined dates and times (to be announced) at the show. That’s it.

Oh, and you’ll have to figure out how you’re going to get all this stuff home, but I have you covered there as well.

Read the announcement from MattyCollector.com after the jump.

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Even though we’re still three months away from the con, this is about the time that collectors are likely to start saving up. A few dollars here, a couple quarters there, then when SDCC finally rolls around they have a big stack of change to spend on some of the coolest and most collectible items around. Today Mattel announced a lot of their slate for SDCC and as one would expect from a huge comic-themed retailer, they’re pretty great. Read on for the details!

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I’m not a Comic-Con shopper. Outside of a few shirts and posters I don’t go around the con hunting for exclusives and collectibles. Still, I love free stuff and getting to try out video games and the chance to get my picture taken with awesome stuff makes Preview Night a must for me. So this year I braved the exhibit hall for a full hour and fought babies, wheelchairs, and annoying booth employees to bring you my thoughts.

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Having been away for the last week, I was unable to post a majority of Comic-Con news to the site. Now I’m back though, and ready to catch you guys up on everything that happened this week. I’m providing a brief wrap-up for each bit of news and if you want more, all you have to do is click on the description. First I’ll go through everything I haven’t been able to talk about at all, then I’ll re-post all of my news tweets for those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter. Read on and enjoy!

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Universal is going all out for Scott Pilgrim’s con appearance this year and they just announced some awesome new stuff they have planned!

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