It’s time once again for a contest at OldManMusings! Enter to win a swag bag from the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con! I’ve got tons of swag, including t-shirts (Watchmen and others), cards, stickers, comics, posters, buttons, bobble heads and more - enough to make three (3) bags to give away and one lucky winner will also win an official Star Wars Clone Wars mask, a Comic-Con exclusive! Good luck party people!

Contest rules:
1. Enter by using the contact form with your real name and mailing address.
2. One entry per person, multiple entries will disqualify you.
3. Deadline to enter is Friday August 8th, 2008 @ 8 PM Pacific.
4. Free shipping within the continental USA. Shipping elsewhere is paid by winner.
5. The winners will be chosen randomly and will receive one (1) bag of swag.
6. Winners will be notified by email and must respond within 72 hours of notification.

Thanks for keeping up with OldManMusings!

Wed preview night: The exhibit floor reminded me of a busy Saturday of years past. It was just as crowded and as lively. People really wanted their exclusives and let nothing get in their way on their mission. I think it’s all well and good that people bring their kids and strollers to the show, but I worry and wonder how many of them get trampled by the crowds. (Not to mention the eye level of the kids to the scantily clad heroines. Your kids will have lots of questions for you when you get home.)

Thursday:

• Spore - Wil Wright educated us on “Russian space minutes” and showed us a preview of the upcoming game. Wright also mentioned that “2001: A Space Odyssey” is his favorite movie. He believes video games are an art form. I say Spore is a masterpiece. The release date of this game is in September.
• Dr Who - They showed a sneak preview of the Christmas 2008 special with the Dr. on Christmas Eve 1851 and Cybermen marching through a cemetery. They’re in for some trouble!
• Dumbrella - Entertaining and interesting look into their world of comics. A neat quote by Rstevens: “A job is the worst thing you can do for your career.”

Friday:

• Watchmen - The cast entertained us and we saw an extended, darker trailer amazed the already buzzing crowd. March 6, 2009 can’t come soon enough.
• American Dad - Previewed an upcoming episode. Seeing double (2 “Steve Smiths”) is a little freaky. Ok, it was a lot freaky, but it was funny.
• Family Guy - The Seths made us laugh and we previewed an upcoming episode. (Be prepared to get the song stuck in your head.) Peter: Oh, you don’t know the word? Because I was under the impression that everyone had heard about the bird. The birds the word.

Saturday:

• Futurama - “Bender’s Game” DVD is a must buy!
• Simpsons - Q: How do they keep the show fresh and funny. A: They’ve got talent and great writers! Here’s to another 20 wonderful years!
• I saw artist Greg “Craola” Simkins and Jensen Karp of Gallery 1988, at the Hot Wheels booth. There was a long line to see the talents of Greg.
• I was lucky to see the Pushing Daisies sitcom stars at a packed WB booth.
• I ran into Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman signing autographs for fans. I do enjoy MythBusters!
• Marvel The Ultimate Universe - Starting the panel a little off-topic with a promo for a Marvel version of Stephen King’s “The Stand” doesn’t help. Good news - Frank Cho is joining them!
• The Sarah Silverman Program - Humorous and rated NC-17. I wonder about the parents who brought their kids to the panel. F-bombs were the least of their worries, but it was a merry romp with the cast. Next season will be silly!
• Dumm Comics - Got together for drinks after the day’s activities. They’ve got great comics and neat t-shirts. (Too bad they don’t come in brown.)

Sunday: I “slept in”. I needed a day to decompress properly before I returned to the regular, less comic-filled world.

Enjoy the slideshow of all pictures I took from the show!

San Diego Comic Con 2008 comes to a close. It was the 39th Comic-Con International, which ran Thursday, July 24, through Sunday, July 27, 2008 (with a Preview night on Wednesday, July 23). Because of the popularity of Comic-Con all memberships for Comic-Con were sold out before the show started. If you’d like to go to it in 2009 (the show will be July 26-29) perhaps you should be prepare early.

Stayed tuned for a recap of the convention and a swag contest!

It’s time for me to once again enter the splendiferous sights, sounds and sensory overload of the SDCC. Be sure to check back later with Old Man Musings for tons of news and pictures. So even if you can’t go to the show, you can still enjoy it here.

* Update 07/27: Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat pictures I took from Comic-Con on flickr.

The Mousers, vicious robots with jaws strong enough to crush steel and concrete, are some of the Turtles deadliest and most popular enemies. The 3-Pack comes with a detailed display base, including an exclusive San Diego Manhole Cover! This new set is in addition to the previously announced San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Edition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Black & White Box Set! You can pick up both exclusive sets at the NECA booth (#4345), while supplies last.

This cool little creature is the Giver of War: Dead Zebra edition, by Andrew Bell. It’ll be available at the Dumbrella booth (#1335/1337). There’ll be about 40 of these creatures available at SDCC for $90 and then you’ll be able to buy them directly from Andrew at deadzebra.com. The grimacing little F-bomb is included. You might recall his Burning Desire solo show from earlier this year, where I got a lot of great photos.

On Sunday, 7/27 at Comic-Con San Diego 2008 get ready to “Dance Your Cares Away, Worry’s for Another Day, Let the Music Play, Down at Fraggle Rock!” Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of Fraggle Rock and the upcoming release of the Complete Fraggle Rock Box Set on DVD with a special event! The panel includes a live Fraggle-Rock sing-a-long featuring “Red Fraggle” with a special appearances by Dave Goelz (Muppet character Gonzo) and Karen Prell (performer of Red Fraggle).

Sunday @ 2:45-4:15 Fraggle Rock (Room 6B) - Help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Fraggle Rock and learn more about this fall’s newest DVD release! Join Red - making a personal appearance - as she sneak peeks the DVD special features and some other DVD surprises!

You’ll find a variety of special SDCC exclusives and product premieres, including the products above at the STRANGEco booth (#4629). I especially like tokidoki’s Bulleto. (He’s the male counterpart to Mozzarella, who I got at the show 2 years ago.) There’s also special signings and artist appearances:

• Thursday, July 24 - Simone Legno, 11 am to 1 pm
• Friday, July 25 - Greg Craola Simkins, 2 pm to 4 pm

Be sure to get your ultra-rare vinyl figures that will only be available during the show.

If you can’t get enough of tokidoki, Simone will also be greeting and signing at his booth (#4731,4733,4735) throughout the San Diego Comic-Con International.

The San Diego Comic-Con International is less than a week away. Whether it’s art, comics, games, toys or whatever, before you go, make a list of all the stuff you want to get and see. The Convention Center is really massive and even though you’ll want to visit every booth, just make sure you know where everyone is located*. Wear comfy shoes and pack snacks, lunch and drinks, along with some spending $$$.

Check back here later for more posts and pictures from the show floor.

* The Exhibit Hall Map (pdf) and Comic-Con’s Convention Center Maps (pdf)

When I’m not looking around the main exhibit floor at toys and old comic books, I’ll try to check out the following panels:

(Read on …)

Hey, it’s the totally awesome new game with Strong Bad in it by Telltale, Inc. Yeah, I heard about it before and it sounds like more fun than a pony ride. Well it comes out soon on WiiWare, so you best watch out. At the Telltale booth (#5365) they’ll have merchandise and playable versions of Sam & Max for the Wii, which is scheduled for a retail release this fall, and the first episode of Strong Bad’s Cool Game. Plus I’m sure we’ll hear more news about both games at their San Diego Comic-Con panel. Panel Info below:

(Read on …)

Comic-con 2008 is just around the corner and Warner Home Video has just released some great news about Peanuts, Tiny Toon and Freakazoid!

Members from the original Peanuts cast including such favorites as Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Pigpen and others, as well as Jeannie Schulz, wife of Charles M. Schulz. All will appear together for the first time ever at Comic-Con for a voice cast reunion in support of the deluxe edition of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” out on DVD Sept 2.

Also on hand we’ll have the behind-the-scenes talent from the hit animated series Freakazoid! and Tiny Toon Adventures including writer Paul Dini and executive producer, Jean MacCurdy, among others. Both Tiny Toon Adventures and Freakazoid! will be available on DVD for the first time July 29.

I’m a fan of all three! It’s been a long time since watched any Tiny Toons and even longer since I saw Freakazoid. Related panel info below:

(Read on …)

Just like Santa Bender, I’ve got toys - at very reasonable prices! Let me tell you A Tale of Two Santas. Since Robot Santa judges everyone to be naughty, the toy factory is out of service. But because of a logical paradox, Toynami (Booth #3229) has got the Futurama: Robot Santa/Santa Bender Two-Pack action figures- head explosions averted! These exclusive toys are limited to 2,000 pieces and will go for $50, which will make Santa Bender very happy. So be sure to gets yours at the Toynami booth.

You know I’m a big fan of The Maxx. I even did one of my earliest posts about The Maxx, so this is some great news!

Shocker Toys does it again! Be sure to get your very own MTV’s The Maxx exclusive San Diego Comic-Con vinyl action figure. It’ll be limited to 500 pieces, selling for $30 and available at Shocker Toys (Booth #3849).

Sculpted by Ricky K.Y. Lam with 4poa, the tiny but larger than life mini Maxx vinyl action figure will come to life when taken out of its full colored box! It will also be available to non-attendees through the Shocker Toys Online Store. Be sure you grab one before it’s harder to find than a Great Northern Crabbit in the Outback!

I know I can’t get enough of the Maxx toy action. All I need now is a Maxx plush.

Hey, it’s another Batman post!

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - In order to provide fans with even more exclusive information on the title, Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon and renowned comic book writer Jimmy Palmiotti will be hosting a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. This panel is set to answer many questions and provide previously confidential information on the latest entry in the billion-dollar selling Mortal Kombat franchise. Here is what you can expect at this ground breaking panel:

• Exclusive look at never-before-seen gameplay;
• The unveiling of key MK and DC Universe characters on the game’s roster;
• Insight into the game’s story where these iconic characters are thrown into Konflict;
• Q&A session for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe with Ed Boon and Jimmy Palmiotti.

Additionally, all panel attendees will receive an exclusive, limited edition Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Comic-Con 2008 poster. This event is scheduled for Friday, July 25th 11:15AM - 12:15PM in Room 6B of the San Diego Convention Center

This cool fighting game is scheduled to be launched in the fall season of 2008 and not a moment too soon. It’s great a whole new generation can enjoy mixed media fighting games, like us old folk enjoyed some 20 years ago 10 years ago.

Be sure to check out the amazingly cool collection of San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives for 2008. I know I mentioned this before, but now they’ve expanded the list of exclusives and also included some great pictures! You better pre-order now or be first in line when you arrive at the show because a lot of these are on very limited production runs! I mean just look at this super neat Vampire Toast Plush that comes with his very own red and black cape. Dan Goodsell has some really swell ideas.