When it comes to San Diego Comic-Con exclusives, the cornerstones of the con have consistently been Hasbro and Mattel. With license to manufacture toys that are consistently at the top of the pop culture want list, both booths have been the craziest for many of Comic-Con’s years. To address the frenzied crowds, Mattel introduced a pre-sale system a few years ago.
Mattel’s first San Diego Comic-Con exclusives pre-sales will begin on Tuesday, June 26 at 10AM PT on MattelShop.com. There is a limit of four per item per customer, and pre-orders will only be available to those in the 48 contiguous states. In order to receive your presale purchase, during regular convention center hours, you will need to stop by Mattel Booth #2945 to “check in” and confirm your presale purchase. You will need to show your Comic-Con badge, your ID, and order confirmation — and the name must match on all. Then, Mattel will ship your order to you after the event ends. The good news is, you don’t have to carry the exclusive home with you!
Here’s a look at this year’s exclusives:
[UPDATE June 23] Mattel has a few more exclusives for Masters of the Universe, including a Masters of the Universe He-Man Belt of Power. It comes with a build-in “fur” loincloth, a fully adjustable strap “for all day comfort wear”, and a special zippered compartment. It will retail for $25, and will be part of the Tuesday, June 26 presale.
Also part of Tuesday’s presale, you’ll be able to grab a WWE M.U.S.C.L.E. 4-Pack. Each pack contains three mini WWE M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, with classic styling and retro figuring. In this 4-pack, you’ll receive Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mean Gene Okerlund, Iron Sheik, Ric Flair, Jake the Snake Roberts, Junkyard Dog, Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Million Dollar Man. It will retail for $20, and likely be part of Tuesday’s presale.
[UPDATE June 22] Who needs Infinity Stones? Today, Yahoo gives us a Mattel exclusive that’s a throwback to a 1979 Marvel comic featuring Thanos tooling around in a helicopter. This limited edition, die-cast Hot Wheels Thanos Copter will be packaged in a Cosmic Cube, AKA Tesseract, and available in the Tuesday, June 26, pre-sale for $15.
[UPDATE June 21 – #3] IGN has the details on another Mattel San Diego Comic-Con exclusive, from their brand Mega Construx. This year, we’ll be getting a Limited Edition Mega Construx Pokemon Gengar Set, which features Gengar with glowing eyes. He’s fully pose-able, and the set also includes a stand and pop-up art of Gastly and Haunter – Gengar’s previous evolutions. It will retail for $40. No word yet on if it will be part of Tuesday’s pre-sale, but we would guess “yes”.
[UPDATE June 21 – #2] Mattel has the power! And by that, we mean that they’re bringing some awesome He-Man and the Masters of the Universe San Diego Comic-Con exclusives this year. Nerdist has your first look at the exclusives, which will also be part of Tuesday morning’s 10AM presale. First up, there’s a Masters of the Universe / Princess of Power She-Ra Tiara. The 10.75″ tiara is easily held on with an adjustable elastic band, and retails for just $10.
Then, they have a Skeletor Tote Bag, which measures 15″ high x 18″ wide. It retails for $20.
They’ll also have a new Masters of the Universe T-Shirt, with original artwork by Chris Faccone. On the shirt, He-Man, warrior goddess Tela, and Man-At-Arms have escaped the evil pit of gruesome ooze, but are now under the control of Hordak. It will retail for $30.
And finally, you can put yourself in the battle with a set of four He-Man character masks, including He-Man, Anti-Eternia He-Man, Faker, and Horde Zombie He-Man. They retail for $13 each, or $40 for the 4-pack.
[UPDATE June 21] Mattel is seriously making a run for some of the best San Diego Comic-Con exclusives this year, with a new Hot Wheels Porg Millennium Falcon Battle Rollers set. In the exclusive, a Porg has commandeered the Millennium Falcon and taken it for a joy-ride. According to io9, who gave the first look at the set, each vehicle has a large metal ball bearing underneath to allow it to roll freely in any direction. It will retail for just $10, and will be available for pre-order on MattelShop.com at 10AM PT on Tuesday, June 26 with the other previously announced exclusives.
From io9, here’s a look:
[UPDATE June 19] The Hollywood Reporter has your first look at Mattel’s first two San Diego Comic-Con exclusives, which are cool takes on some classic DC covers. Up first we have a Hot Wheels DC Superman Action Comics #1, based on the 1938 comic. It will retail for $20.
Then, we have a DC Comics Multiverse Aquaman Between Two Dooms Figures 3-Pack, based on the 1962 comic cover. The premium 3-pack will include 6″ figures of Aquaman, Ocean Master, and Black Manta – who have 23 points of articulation each, as well as retro styling, and interchangeable hands. Aquaman comes with his signature cape, mask, and a spear weapon – and Black Manta comes with friction-fit eyepieces, a backpack, and harpoon. It will retail for $60.
