My booth chats -
I was only there yesterday and I only got to chat with Dan and Dwight once. It was very busy during both chats but both guys tried as best they could to give me some undivided attention.
About 45 minutes after the panel I headed down to the booth. Dan, Dwight and Steve were trying to put the new figures in the cases, but they were swarmed with people, like ants. I don't know how they do it.
Dan-
-We chatted the AT cards, which he loved. I told him we were able to get a set to Ryan.
-I thanked him for Feral and Rachel, which led to asking about finishing more teams. I brought up my usual suspects - GOTG, Starjammers, Frightful Four. Then asked directly about the rumored/leaked Inhumans. He said he doesn't look a rumor/leak lists.
-Made my usual pitch for a Mantis/Swordsman 2-pack. He responded, "I know I know". I reminded him that the Giant-Man/Wasp 2-pack sold out and Mantis both have name appeal due to their MCU appearances. I told him I'm gonna keep including them in my responses to his posts on X/Twitter which made him chuckle.
-The BAF concept isn't going away, but he didn't say if it is strictly gonna be Fan Channel only.
-He asked what I honestly thought of the reveals. I said I thought they we're all really well done, but maybe a little X-Men heavy and although I collect X-Men, I'm more of an Avengers guy. He stated something along the lines of (totally paraphrasing here) in today's world, you have to focus on what does well and capitalize on that.
My takeaway - even more focus on X-Men to come, and Avengers as a comic stand-alone wave is still in limbo from the aftereffects of the Avengers Anniversary.
Dwight-
-He loved the AT cards.
-I finally asked him the question I forgot to ask last year about him name dropping Zzzax, Hepzibah and Gargoyle "and others" in an Instagram post in 2021 regarding SHS characters that don't have a ML equivalent, and he immediately responded "and we still don't have them" which made us both laugh. I asked if he saw the Gargoyle card in the AT card set. He stated that Gargoyle would be incredible, but there's just too much new tooling for a one-off character.
-I re-focused on Hepzibah who's also in the card pack. He said we had to finish the Starjammers with her and Raza and I agreed. I brought up the rumored Inhumans is a team to complete and he agreed, but if they are on their way, he didn't bite. Usually Dwight gives me just a possible hint, but nothing this year. I've lost my touch.
-Still with the team theme I pitched Frightful Four and GOTG. Dwight said the GOTG would be difficult. I immediately responded with Martinex is Crystar, Nikki is the just shown Jean Grey with a modified skirt, Charlie-27 is any number of large bodies and Starhark is a Cap buck. The only hard part is Starhawk's wing/thing/whatever they are. He agreed.
-Went back to team completers and his SHS figures and I brought up Volcana as she finishes that cast. He pointed out that she was a major player in Secret Wars II as well. I took that as a good sign.
-I asked if there was any pushback to making Starfox, since he's controversial. I also thanked him for completing that roster (The Roger Stern 80s roster), but it would be great to finally finish some classic Avengers rosters like they finish X rosters. I brought up Mantis/Swordsman 2-pack.
-I brought up horses and everybody that could ride them, wings or wingless. Dwight brought up the rumored Phantom Rider specifically. I jumped right on that and said "well, if you start the Rangers, then you have to do Firebird and Red Wolf at least..."
-My final question was "in livestreams, etc. it's usually stated to 'let us know what you want to see'". What's the best way to reach out? He said Dan's X/Twitter and that he (Dwight) posts on his Insta.
My takeaway? Phantom Rider is coming. Maybe Volcana. GOTG are not.
