There will be more images and information in the coming days, as the convention lasts for another four days. But to help tide you over, SDComics has also filed this initial report from Preview Night:

2003 San Diego Comic-Con: The Night Before!

Okay, let's start with Diamond Select Toys: I spoke to man named Andy Livingston who was very nice. He said that tomorrow they'll have an Ultimate Wolverine figure for the Marvel Select 7" line on display. Also, they'll be doing their first *classic* Marvel character: The original Green Goblin! He'll be based on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man number 39 from back in the Silver Age! He'll even come with a Peter Parker PVC figure tied to his glider.

You've seen the pictures from the Mattel booth. Mr. Freeze was cool, and Killer Croc was a wonderful surprise, as was Darkseid and the more articulated Justice League figures. I'll try and get more details tomorrow.

The biggest surprise from Toybiz: A third series of X-Men 2 movie figures! Logan, Nightcrawler (in his X-Men costume), Lady Deathstrike (woo-hoo!) and Colossus.

At the DCD booth, I spoke to Georg Brewer and Syndee Barwick. Here's a little of what they said:

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents figures: No, probably not. The statues didn't do that well.

Elfquest figures and merchandise: Maybe. Depends on the sales of the trade paperbacks and reprints. If there's enthusiasm for it, we'll see'em.

"Mego" style cloth figures: They don't like to use the word "Mego". ;-). When they do'em, they'll likely be an 8" inch scale.

Archives released in conjunction with action figures: None in 2003, but Mr. Brewer stressed that he's *also* the one in charge of collected editions as well as DCD, so when it makes sense, they'll do 'em. I suggested Kamandi or Adam Strange and he said that's possible.

I asked about more Golden Age JSA and Bronze Age JLA. Georg said that he talked to Paul Levitz about that just the other day. Georg said he told Paul that they're only a few characters away from finishing up those teams, and Paul agreed. I think Georg is trying to push the issue. We'll see what the future brings.

Modern JSA and more Modern JLA: Sure.

Boxed Sets that have repaints mixed-in with new figures: Yes, they're discussing that. There are two sets they want to do, and most of the repaints would have new head sculpts. I asked what teams, and he said wait and see. So, we'll wait and see.

Re-sealable packaging: Gone for now.

Ambush Bug and Blue Devil: Georg says sure, right after Ma Hunkle. In other words, it *ain't* happening. I'm sorry, guys. He's read your threads and he feels your pain, but it's just not feasible for DC to produce those characters.

Here's a thought: How would you feel about plastic statues in that scale? No playability, but you could display them with your other figures. In my opinion, if that were the only way we could get a Ma Hunkle to display with the JSA, I'd take it. Georg has actually been considering this. What say the rest of you?

Pocket Heroes: Not dead. Boxed sets are still coming.

More Super Friends are still possible. The Hanna-Barbara characters, though, will probably never happen.

Anymore Toyfare Exclusives? Depends on how well Red Arrow does.

I asked Georg if he reads the "Survivor Threads" on the DCD board, and he said "yes". I asked if those threads influenced DCD's decision making, and he said that they've always discussed doing the characters that win, so no, not really.

I asked about Firestorm: Georg said that's a very popular character. He'll get done, no worries.

Atom(s): Yep. Something they've wanted to do for a long time. They may happen on a single card or they may do the deluxe set, but they'll happen.

DCD Stands: Yes, they want to sell those, but they're trying to figure out how to do that and make it economically feasible. They don't want to charge us an arm and a leg for a bag with three or four stands.

I asked about a Super Powers revival, and Georg said they looked into the possibility of getting those old molds. They can't do that, but a smaller scaled DCD line is a possibility.

I asked why they took December and January off from action figures, and they said there were a bunch of reasons that had to do with timing. No worries. They're going to keep producing action figures for a long, long time.

- Mike