New York Comic Con (NYCC) is in the books and though the show is over that doesn’t mean the fun has to end. With four full days of programming and events NYCC brings hundreds of thousands of fans each year to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan to celebrate all things pop culture from comics, anime, video games, TV, movies, collectibles, art, and of course the best artist alley there is. Additionally, with the writers’ strike over NYCC was able to finally feel like a fully formed show with a full slate of programming, top tier booths, and a tremendous amount of content over the course of the show.
Now that the dust has settled and I get to cover all the sights from the four day convention which means covering everything including the show floor, panels, offsites, and after hour events. As my coverage over the years is always expanding and I try to cover a bit of everything going on at the convention it sometimes means that I stretch myself in many different directions.
Continuing my coverage of the show floor I’ll be focusing on some of the cooler booths I saw while roaming the show floor. While for recent conventions I’ve dedicated articles specifically on clothing brands catering to the convention going fan this convention I have included them as part of this article.
The breadth of available collectibles and art at NYCC is astounding with products for nearly almost every property. So let’s look at a few of these companies.
As always while I encourage you to check out every company I covered since there are so many I’ve included a list of companies covered in this article; a quick ctrl+f will shoot you over to the relevant company:
Hasbro, The Noble Collection, Lionel Trains, Swavorski, Citizen Watches, RSVLTS, Seventh Ink, eBay Live
Hasbro
https://shop.hasbro.com/
So while Hasbro didn’t have a booth on the show floor that didn’t stop them from participating in other ways including hosting an action figures panel as well as a Marvel x Magic The Gathering panel (which had a large amount of buzz over the convention) and hosting a Saturday morning breakfast which showed off products revealed during the panels. The breakfast was also a great place to chat with the team members and discuss the product reveals. Unfortunately not having a booth also meant there weren’t any exclusives during the show; something I hope may change in the coming years. Check out our internal servers for all the Hasbro releases as I regularly update various Hasbro brands.
Star Wars
The Star Wars brand were showing off new figures in the Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew lines
Marvel
Marvel was mainly focused on their Secret Wars figure line. The Black Suit Spider-Man is an instant classic.
Transformers
For me the only thing that mattered was the leader class Galvatron. While it is a retool of the Generations Legacy figure I am happy it is now part of the Studio Series line.
Ghostbusters
The main showcase from the event however were the two new Haslab Plasma Series Ectomobiles which are still being funded. Details can be found here.
G.I. Joe
The classified line features figures from the new wave including a Retro Rock N Roll, Viper, and Mindbender
The Noble Collection
https://www.noblecollection.com/
The Noble Collection produces very intricate and detailed collectibles across a wide array of properties including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC, Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, Universal Monsters and more. Their products range from prop replicas, toys, stationary, jewelry, chess sets, plush, and more. At NYCC their Wicked products were front and center with the Wicked Witches hat and broom and Glinda’s wand and tiara. Another amazing callout was Gandalf’s smoking pipe from Lord of the Rings.
Lionel Trains
http://www.lionel.com/
When you think of comic con Lionel Trains probably isn’t in the top of your list but this 125 year old company has fit in nicely over the last two years meshing fans love of trains with pop culture. The company had a nice display of products but even went into the collectible side of things with a set of exclusives which included a very limited NYCC branded locomotive and a few exclusive boxcars.
Swarvoski
https://www.swarovski.com/en-US/
Certainly another brand you would think of for the comic con show floor would be Swavorski. These master crystal makers are the world’s premier jewelry and accessory brand. On top of some very amazing Disney jewelry pieces they had some truly astounding Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter themed crystal figures. Unfortunately a limited edition Black Panther crystal statue at $230,000 is a tad out of my budget.
Citizen Watches
https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/
Though Citizen Watches hasn’t always had a large presence at various conventions but they have attended a fair number of them including SDCC, Star Wars Celebration, and NYCC to name a few. Aside from being quality products they also have a line of licensed products including Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel making their timepieces perfect for fans of pop culture who want a classic watch for their day to day lives.
RSVLTS
https://www.rsvlts.com/
RSVLTS [rose-uh-velts] are an apparel brand bringing officially licensed unique and daring designs from a span of movies, shows, artists, and sports. Their signature KUNUFLEX™ button down shirts are lightweight, soft, and stretchy; the shirts rarely wrinkle and don’t shrink in the wash. RSVLTS has been expanding rapidly and if you’ve gone to a convention in recent years are likely familiar with the brand and their exclusive products. They have embraced the collectors market by attending many conventions, offering exclusives, engaging heavily with their fans, and hosting insider events. For NYCC there on top of the announced exclusives which included an orange and blue floral, a Halloween themed shirt (which I bought), a Nightmare Before Christmas shirt, and a Marvel Morbius shirt there were two surprise drops that got the NSDERS crew up in a tizzy a Stranger Things themed floral and a very limited to 100 Spooky floral which required you to win the chance to buy and which I was lucky enough to get!
Seventh Ink
https://seventhink.com/
Seventh Ink is another clothing brand I’ve paid attention to in the past when doing clothing themed coverage. Seventh Ink doesn’t really play in the licensed product area but rather the one-man company run by designer/artist Matthew Johnson focuses mostly on spooky and horror themes with skeletons, bats, ghosts, and pumpkins with a lot of black and orange for that Halloween feel. The company does have a range of apparel from tees and button up shirts to leggings and dresses. The care Matthew has put in is noticed such as with the use of water-based inks to keep the screen printed shirts soft and vibrant. The company also produces screen prints, pins, and patches.
eBay
https://www.ebay.com/
eBay has fully embraced NYCC with a host of activities throughout the convention. This year they changed things up a drop and instead of having one large booth they split up their presence across two areas of the show floor. Unfortunately this year they skipped the scavenger hunt but there were still plenty of things going on including a kiosk where you entered your dream lineup of products and were printed a card, once you collected three stickers from the eBay live booth, PSA, and Goldin you could redeem the card for a prize pack which included Funko Pops, PSA graded cards, and comics. It also entered you in a contest to win some more rare items.
The eBay live booth was set up with a row of benches where you could watch various eBay streams which included Big Clutch, Den of Geek, and plenty of other special hosts selling off items live and even bid in person. Overall eBay seems to have a good thing going on at NYCC and I hope they continue to embrace the convention in years to come.
