So you went all the way out to San Diego Comic-Con 2009 and didn't come back with the usual coverage of toys. What did I do the entire time out there, Atom? My response, plenty. Read on for the full story.

So before thoughts of Summer slip away and SDCC09 is nothing but a distant memory I did have a few more stories to share with our readers about my trip out to the west coast. We had initially shot down the idea of going out to SDCC09 to cover it for the site. The money spent to go and cover it when so many other media outlets are doing the same just wasn't the best use of our time and money. Everyone agreed it was probably best this year to skip it, and that was that.

Then, the very next day the CDX hotline rang...

We got a call from our friends over at Kotobukiya the very next day asking if we would be interested in working with them to host a series of events in their booth during San Diego Comic-Con 2009. This was a chance to promote the site and partner with a manufacturer we really like and respect in a high-profile way.

Kotobukiya's booth was literally smack-dab in the middle of the entire convention center, direct opposite a main entrance and surrounded by the likes of Lucasfilm, Diamond Comics and Marvel. I was not only juggling a three ring circus in our booth, I was surrounded by 200 three-ring circuses. Even seeing that on paper would not prepare me for what lay in store...

I arrived Wednesday afternoon in San Diego with a pretty packed schedule, hosting events every hour on the hour on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Preview Night was that Wednesday evening and would be my only real free chance to check out the floor and it was so packed it made it pretty impossible to get to much. But I did squeeze in some stuff here and there over the next few days (Tron Legacy Press Conference, Tamashii Nation as well as meeting some childhood heroes and totally rad guys.) That's not to say my time at the Koto booth would be “work”, quite frankly it was anything but.

We started everyday on stage of the “Kotobukia Event Center” with the Trivia Challenge. I would randomly pick 2 people out of the crowd and give them a random trivia question based on a license Kotobukiya made product for (i.e Star Wars, Marvel, Indiana Jones, Neon Genesis ect. Ect.). Winners walked away with great prizes.

These where a lot of fun and the crowds got bigger every day as the con went on.

Speaking of crowds, another daily event that got folks buzzing was the Star Wars Chop Saber Duels. Yep you read that correctly.

You would compete against members of the 501st using lightsaber styled chopsticks. The object of the game was to move items of all sizes from one bowl into the other using only these chopsticks. Did I mention you where competing against fully outfitted members of the Empire?

Kudos to the many individual's of the 501st that volunteered their time to come up on stage and play the bad guys in our little game. They are bunch of great folks who do some fantastic work for charities and promotional events and have personally provided me with numerous and fantastic photo opportunities over the years.

Young and old alike frantically threw their hands up in the air hopping to get picked for the next round. What impressed me the most was how dexterous the 501 folks where in their costumes. It was a lot of fun and I am sure Kotobukiya will sell many of the lightsaber-styled chop sticks (Due in time for the holidays.)

Numerous presentations where given with Lucas Licensing, Super 7, Marvel, Funimation as well as podcasts by our very own Destroy All Podcasts DX and the stand up comic styling of Tom Franck and his Comics and Comics crew.

At the end of each day we gave away a one-of-a-kind artist proof of a production piece. Not to mention the thousands of dollars of finished product given away daily...

To help with the fun Kotobukiya enlisted the aid of several talented cos-players to help giveaway the prizes and unveil the latest Bushijo girl statues in their marvel ArtFX line.

Over the course of the few days we had several different folks by in costume to help out but Miracole (Phoenix, Rogue and Black Widow) and Chris Burns (Cyclops and Tony Stark) both jumped in on several occasions,were fun, the consummate professionals and had excellent custom-made costumes. Nothing draws in a crowd like an attractive and stunningly costumed woman screaming at the top of her lungs, “Cute chick giving away free stuff!”

While all this craziness is going on in the booth, Kotobukiya flew in their very own Master Sculptor, Junnosuke Abe to sculpt from scratch a brand new Wolverine piece.

Crowds where constantly forming to watch as he started with a wire-frame and over the course of four days turned it into a very striking looking Wolverine.

It does beg the question though. If they can turn a fantastic piece in such short time, why does it take so long for finished product to hit the market?

The pictures here really can't tell the whole story. Nothing anyone tells you, will prepare you for the insanity that is Comic-Con. While in the booth in-between events you just never knew who you would end up talking with. I had a chance to tell Seth Green what big fans we here at CDX are of his Robot Chicken and I even had James Arnold Taylor (the voice of Obi-Wan from the animated Clone Wars series) stop and chat me up.

I want to thank Kotobukiya and Frank Supiot for having me there as it was more fun than I could have anticipated that afforded me more than a few amazing “geek” moments. Special thanks goes to Shingo Nakagawa (pictured below)for letting me use some of his photos to finish up this article.

Thank you Frank, it was an amazing time and I genuinely appreciated the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was more fun than I can put into words. Thank you man.

Be sure to visit the Event Center Gallery and Sculpting Gallery for even more photos.

A Jumbo Machinder Stormtrooper! Need I say more? Brian Flynn walks us thru the history and development of the officially licensed Stormtrooper Jumbo Machinder. With HD VIDEO.

So in a nutshell I really know nothing about the whole designer toy thing but I know cool when I see it and what Super 7 has coming at years end is pretty wicked. A Jumbo Machinder Stormtrooper, officially licensed by Lucasfilm.

Here are the facts...

• Firing Fist.
• Wheels on the bottom of the feet.
• Foil stickers will be included in the box for die-hard Jumbo fans
• Run quantity is still undecided
• As of this article pricing is still to be determined but will probably be between $300 and $350
• If this does well enough there will be a Darth Vader and Boba Fett at some point in the future. :)

Embedded below is Brian's entire presentation at the Kotobukiya booth. He wants me to preface this by saying he was A) Very nervous and B) Not used to speaking in front of people. For the record I thought he did fine. The presentation was informative AND entertaining. But enough of me, here's the man himself in his own words.

So there you have it. I think Super 7 may want to consider another one of these bad boys sold. I'm in, in a big way. I think they may very well be cooking up one of the most unique SW collectibles to ever come down the pipeline.

Like I said I don't know a thing about the designer toy scene but Super 7 had lot's on display.

Be sure to head over to the Gallery and take a peek at all Super 7 had to offer at this years Comic Con.

For the record, Brian won all sorts of cool-kid points with me for having his very own Condorman on display in their case. A Japanese Super Hero character I watched back in the day with my Dad in Hawaii.

We here at CDX will be keeping on eye on the Stormtrooper Jumbo Machinder and you can always check Super 7's own website for the latest news.

At this years San Diego Comic Con we saw the official team up of Bandai Tamashii Nations and Toynami. While we were busy checking out all the mouth watering offerings, Adam Newman of Bandai was nice enough to let us shoot some video discussing the different items Bandai is offering in the US with the help from Toynami

At this years San Diego Comic Con we saw the official team up of Bandai Tamashii Nations and Toynami. While we were busy shooting pics of all the mouth watering offerings, Adam Newman of Bandai was nice enough to let us shoot some video discussing all the different items Bandai is offering in the US with the help from Toynami.

With all that being said....check out the photos and please don't miss the video with your truly hosting and CollectionDX's very own Atom manning the camera and also discussing his favorite toy line, Saint Seiya.

Tron in 3D, in IMAX theaters! Need I say more? The complete press conference footage inside (A CollectionDX exclusive.)

I was pretty busy with hosting events at the Koto booth this convention so I was not able to spare the several hours needed to wait in line to attend the public Disney 3D panel for the convention goers. Being press however, I was able to get in on the press conference for the Tron sequel. Josh and I, in case you didn't know, consider Tron to be one of those influential films of our lives and an essential part of the DNA that makes up CollectionDX. So how could I pass up covering this?

The new film is called Tron Legacy and they literally just wrapped principle photography. Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner return. Daft Punk is doing the score. The Tron world has remained on a private server and is not connected to the internet. The general premise is that it's some 30 years after the first film and Flynn has been missing for 25. Flynn's son goes back into the Tron world to find his father. It's all a bit "Heart of Darkness"/"Apocalypse Now". So here is the press confrence in it's entirety. I am sorry for the shaky camera and sound quality. The room was pretty packed by the time I got there, so I got the best spot I could. Enjoy Tron heads!

But that wasn't all Disney was up too, to promote this upcoming film. They turned a nightclub in the Gaslight District into a replica of Flynn's for 2 nights. Sadly I did not get myself this venue while it was running but thanks to my friends @scoobydiesel, @seandps, @Taozoo4u and @ethernz I do have some photos to share with you. Thanks guys and gals you are all real life savers. :)

A full size mock-up of the new Lightcycle was on display

From what I can tell, the Tron arcade game IS NOT the classic 80's game we played when we where kids. It was more in line with the game Flynn played from the movie... really wish I had gone... grrr.

They also brought me back an arcade token from Flynn's.

So very looking forward to seeing this sometime next year...

Here is some more awesome Cos-Play!

Since the first installment of Cos-Play wasn't quite enough, I spent a latter of yesterday taking some MORE pictures of some of the GOOD the BAD and the UGLY part two.

Hope you all enjoy!

Hasbro spills the goods about upcoming releases for 2009 and beyond...

Hasbro held a panel for collectors at Comic-Con this year, and have graciously provided us with stills from the event. You Can view the first 10 on this page, but there are over 70 images, so why not click over to the gallery to view them all