Among the comic book publishers and Klingon legions, a growing number of art-oriented producers, retailers and designers will be showcasing their products and meeting the public. This year, the Independent Toy Growers of America have organized the CULTYARD, a spectacle of twenty like-minded artists and producers that have created a special pavilion in the 4500 and 4600 aisles of the convention hall. The 'Con is definitely shaping up to be worth the trip.

STRANGEco presents a guide to the Comic Con show, and recommends visiting these fine booths to see the best of what's happening in the world of Designer Toys and contemporary art production.

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Your humble narrators will be showcasing a variety of product lines from their catalog, including distributed toys and STRANGEco's own productions. Look for MARS-1 in Green, Blue and special Gray artist's edition, the debut of In-Crowd Series 6: The Old Guard and King Ken 2 by James Jarvis and the magical products by FriendsWithYou (including an advance release of the new co-branded Mr. Wizard Micro Plush).

In addition, McCarty Photoworks, STRANGEco and Friends With You have teamed up to present “Your Strange Friends with Photos” giveaway. Come by the STRANGEco booth for a chance to win a signed high quality print of one of two photos: MARS-1 or Flock of Malfi.

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Mullethead masters and 4-time Comic Con veterans Achy Breaky Toys return this year, with toys, apparel, and other promised surprises. This time around, the ABT crew will be presenting four new figures: Mad World plushies, Spazz's Scuba Booty, Gutter Punx and The Fooies (with Warning Label Design & Hazbro Spacelee).

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Hong Kong designer toys are in the house with AdFunture, who've brought their Monkey Show East across the Pacific and straight to San Diego. Also look for a series of new products, including figures by Dave Kinsey, Flying Fortress and Jim Koch. Other surprises abound, to be sure.

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Cap-wearin' toy maverick Attaboy is showcasing a plethera of designer toys, prints, books, and goodies throughout the Cultyard. In addition to toys with Rock America and STRANGEco, his own Yumfactory booth will be showing off the new Sweet-Talking Gooberry plush doll, The Pound! and a new heat-seeking glow-in the-dark Axtrx. You can also check out Embryo (coming soon from STRANGEco), plus Johnny Voodoo and Kiki the Fashion Tiki from Gobler Toys and Drastic Plastic. Look for signings by Attaboy and Gobler co-creator Steve Casino, too.

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Roy Miles, Jr.'s Warning Label Design will be on hand with more of his Biddies old school hip hop mini figures, including an army of O’Shays and a special not-for-sale Methodman Biddie, licensed by Universal Music for the European release of Tikal 0-The Prequel.

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Portland-based artist and STRANGEco pal Bwana Spoons will be with friends Kiyoshi & Maja and Cecil in the artist tables. Bwana will be featuring a limited edition Bearded Fairy Lego mini figure kid, that comes with a set of 5 silk-screened trading cards. He will also be debuting The Learning Project #1, a coloring and activity book of guerilla movements and militia groups by Maja D'oust, Kiyoshi Nakazawa and himself. Look for other Grass Hut merch, like Pencil Fight Tees, Hot Yoga shirts and more.

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Supreme quality and great packaging are the trademark of Critterbox productions, and this Comic Con will surely be no exception. No information to speak of yet, but the lads sent over a first look the newest Gary Baseman figure: Hot Cha Cha Cha.

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Emily's Strange World makes its first Comic Con appearance in the Toy Growers Cultyard, where the internationally recognized anti-hero will surely inspire the troublemaker in many attendees and exhibitors. Emily’s godfather Rob Reger will on hand to meet and greet, as will other Emily artists Buzz Parker, Brian Brooks and Grace Fontaine. In addition to her continuing line of thoughtful t-shirts, rock and roll apparel, books, stationary, bags, accessories and the adorably mutated Zonsters, Emily the Strange will be debuting a new PVC figurine by Toynami (Booth #3245). Stay tuned for pictures and more information.

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Tim Biskup's retail joint Flopdoodle will be presenting a host of toys, print media, design objects and original art. Tim will be featuring a working Japanese capsule toy machine dispensing his Stack Pack capsule toys and mystery prizes, plus a selection of his previously sold-out items. Tim will also be featuring a limited number of the blue Flopdoodle edition Helper figures by Critterbox Toys, and will be premiering the new Calli soft vinyl toy (available in a limited edition black edition and an extremely limited Comic-Con exclusive that will be kept secret until the show opens). Also look for a number of future projects, including a 2-foot tall vinyl sculpture and promotional materials for the upcoming Bispop Gallery store in Pasadena.

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SubUrban Vinyl rules at the FunKo Supermarket, with over 80 styles to choose from and 27 special treats for all the FunKo fanatics in the house. Stop by for old fashion values and good clean fun, smack dab in the middle of the Cultyard degenerates.

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Located next to Flopdoodle, San Francisco-based Gama-Go have entered the Comic Con fray for the first time. The unique apparel company will be selling and showcasing gama-goods of all kinds, and promise to show a few new things as well.

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We’ll definitely be stopping by their booth to check out what they’ve brought down and to renew our subscription to their always amazing magazine. We recommend you do so as well.

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Go Hero is set to debut at Comic Con with their first original offering, Mechabot: A Hero Reforged. Go Hero will be featuring two products, including a Metallic Mechabot packaged in an old school polybag and header card, plus an deluxe exclusive Mechabot figure in matte finish, packaged in a silver gift box with a 12x17 poster (by illustrator Mark Nagata), an original Mechabot music CD, Shokunin Schematics mini comic, and a new Zing Takemitsu mini figurine. Box sets are limited to 100 pieces, and each comes with a certificate of authenticity. Go Hero will also debut new Stargoyle monster figures, plus the Spaceberg & the Zing Takemitsu Prototypes and will have a full-size Mechabot costume on display.

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All the way from Nagoya Japan, Headlock Studio is making their first appearance at Comic Con in the STRANGEco booth. The designer toy company will be introducing their off-center brand of vinyls to a larger US audience, including 2 versions of the popular Wonderfulman figure, the low-brow styled Cherry and Mash and a special gray version of their Mini Spanky figure.

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After a 2004 campaign of sold-out live shows, a network TV debut (MTV2's Kaiju Big Battel Super Special) and the release of their debut book and DVD, Kaiju Big Battel will bring their unique brand of city-crushing monster mayhem to the assembled geekdom in San Diego. While the Kaiju Commissioner has issued an edict banning monster fighting at the show, a host of Kaiju Big Battel favorites, including Dr. Cube, Los Plantanos, Vegetius, and others will be on hand to meet, mingle and sign autographs. Also look for a sneak peak of the upcoming Kaiju Big Battel DVD release, Shocking Truth.

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Kidrobot makes its second appearance at Comic Con, with a corner booth filled with a ton of their own branded products. Look for nine premieres, including new Dunnys, Kozik-designed Smorkin’ Labbit mini figures and three new creations by NYC artist DALEK. They will also be selling Cheech Wizard vinyl figures, artist-designed mouse pads, T-shirts, and store exclusives. In-house designer Tristan Eaton will also be signing at the Kidrobot booth on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 3-5pm.

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New York-based Mezco Toyz have announced several convention exclusives, including special Living Dead Dolls and Hellboy figures. We're also hoping that their new Scarface figure will be in the house.

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LA-based Munky King makes its first appearance at Comic Con, and will be featuring six exclusives and premieres. Artist Sano will be painting to order 2-inch subway train replicas at the booth, painted to order throughout the entire show. Munky King will also be hosting Mad (aka Jeremy Madl), who will be singing exclusives of his new Mad.L vinyl figure produced by Wheaty Wheat. Spencer Davis will also be on hand showcasing exclusive versions of his curvaceous Booty Babes sculptures, as will Doug Murphy who will be have his 4x4 heads and lego kits of everyone from Bruce Lee to Martha Stewart. Look for artists Dave Pressler and B.B. birdy, all the way from Taiwan as well!

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Pinup artist/cartoonist extraordinaire Lynne Naylor returns to the Comic Con! An award-winning cartoonist (Ren & Stimpy, Samurai Jack) Lynne's legendary pinup paintings are being snapped up at an alarming rate. Her new limited edition Scrapbook is hot off the press, chock-full of lovely ladies and wacky doodles as only Lynne can do 'em. She will also be offering limited edition prints, original paintings and her fabulous "Lynive" T-shirts.

Joining Lynne will be cartoonist/musician/fine artist Chris Reccardi. His new limited edition sketchbook Board #@!*!less features original art, plus out-takes from his many years work on TV classics Ren & Stimpy, Samurai Jack, Powerpuff Girls and more. He will also have limited edition prints of his paintings, T-shirts, original paintings and a sampler CD of music from his upcoming album Psy-Fi Faery Tales.

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Rock America's endcap booth will be showcasing the original designs from the company's premiere designers, Attaboy and Alex Pardee. Attaboy's side will feature the new Heat-seeking Axtryx, in limited editions of blue and green, and Alex will be presenting 3 new Bunnywith plush dolls— Bunnywith Baby, Siamese Twin and Tentacles. In addition, Rock America will be presenting its own Comic Con exclusive: Bunnywith Tentacles (Goth Edition). Limited to 450 pieces, plus 50 with a pink nose.

Rock America will aslo be selling the Beezle and Bub, the Odd Squad Imps, and Sam Kieth's Legs resin figure.

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Oakland-based Rocket World expands its I.nsurgents W.ilderness G.ruppo line this year with the debut of 2 new figures from the 9-character series: Affonso the Rhino and Hannibal the Gorilla. These new mutated animals join Titus the Bear, who is currently stalking human poachers at boutique toy stores worldwide. Rocket World will also be giving away free IWG T-shirts to all those that join the mailing list.

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Comic Con regulars Spike and Mike join the Cultyard with a corner booth, featuring videos, DVDs and other items of interest from their expansive catalog of yearly festivals. Located next to Achy Breaky Toys and Superfun, STRANGEco predicts shenanigans galore.

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Another traveling designer toy carnival, Miami-based SubCultures has organized itself in three locations: take a look at the Create-a-Mate competition at the Art Asylum booth (#4429), then walk a few aisles over to check out his Rex Ganon Convention Exclusive Rip-Off at the Plan B Booth (#4129)-- one of the more creative ways to advertise products. The centerpiece of the SubCulture experience will be a panel discussion on Saturday about Toys as Art, featuring Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow, Digger from Art Asylum, Tristan Eaton from Kidrobot, the Achy Breaky Crew and more.

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Holding down a corner booth in the Cultyard, Super7 Magazine will be debuting the new Issue 6, featuring Battle of the Planets toys and an interview with Alex Ross. The magazine will also be featuring two Comic Con exclusives: a super-limited 2-pack set of Marmit Parababies Hedorah vinyls and a special version of Go Hero's new Mechabot figure.

Super7 will also host the first mainland signing by Ban Daisuke of Kikaida and Inazuman fame. Ban will be on hand Saturday, July 24 at 11:30 am and 3:30 pm, and a free special edition postcard will be available for the occasion. Kikaida DVDs, Tshirts and other merchandise will be available for sale, too.

And finally on Saturday at 2pm, Super7 and booth neighbors STRANGEco will be co-hosting a group signing by all of the artists participating in The Neo Kaiju Project-- including Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Seonna Hong, Todd Schorr and Kathy Staico Schorr. A limited number of special glow in the dark Neo Kaiju Project figures will be given away, plus ultra limted set of lucky draw gold versions.

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Staten Island's brightest returns to Comic Con with more to make it nice for ya'. New for Comic Con is the The Sportsman, the latest addition to the Toxic Teddies family and a special downtown bear by graffiti legend SEEN. Superfun has their own Comic Con Exclusive as well-- showing their abundant generosity, Hazbro and Joe didn't want George Lucas's Silver Sandtrooper to be the stupidest exclusive at the 'Con. So they present The Silver Smackie. Lines are not allowed to form until 5 minutes after the show opens, to avoid riots on this one.

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Hong Kong mini figure powerhouse Toy2R has a proper booth at the show, featuring Qees, Qees and more Qees. Several exclusives have been announced, including a few 2-inch Qees and a new 12-inch Waif doll by Angel/Devil.

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NYC's expansive collectible toy store will be on hand with a booth against the North wall and featuring a series of impressive signings. First, graffiti legend SEEN will be on hand each day at 4 pm to sign a special 20-inch vinyl subway car, limited to 250 pieces, as well as the Toy Tokyo-produced vinyl SEEN Tag. Toy Tokyo will also be hosting Monsterist Pete Fowler every day from noon to 2 pm, and will be offering 50 master tooling figures for Monsterism Series 3 at every signing. Finally, Scarygirl creator Nathan Jurevicius will be appearing each day from 2 to 4 pm to sign an exclusive grayscale Mini Scarygirl figure. Toy Tokyo will also be presenting an exclusive version of Funko's Red Baron figure from the new Drastik Plastik collection, plus new Medicom and Secret Base figures.

Copyright 2004. STRANGEco. All Rights Reserved