Sideshow Pits Familiar Heroes Against the Court of the Dead at NYCC

Since 2006, fans have flooded the Javitz Center year after year for New York Comic Con, but until this year, they've never been witness to magnificent pieces Sideshow Collectibles offered. Sideshow does its fair share of shows, but 2015 marked the first time the company made an appearance at NYCC. Though the booth may not have had the same square footage as Sideshow's SDCC presence, it was still packed with loads of incredible sculptures featuring many fan favorites and some of the company's own creations.

Most of what was on display at NYCC had been seen before at other conventions, but the more diminutive booth allowed for a more focused presentation. Where the SDCC collection was three or four times larger, that also meant there were that many more products vying for your attention. While it was definitely cool to see so many new things a few months ago, there was definitely some "cool stuff" overload happening. Notably missing from the NYCC booth was a great deal of Hot Toys, which was represented at New York with a handful of First Order Stormtroopers, and that's it. Sideshow put the spotlight on its own goods, including the DC and Marvel premium format figures due to arrive over the course of the next year, and its outstandingly creepy Court of the Dead line.

I'll admit, at San Diego my attention was firmly cemented on the superheroic pieces and all the Hot Toys goodness. That's primarily what I collect, so while I did check out the Court of the Dead collection, I didn't really look at it all that intensely. With a display firmly centered in Sideshow's booth this past weekend, it was hard to look at anything else. Part of that came from seeing things like the Supergirl (who looks suspiciously like Cameron Diaz up close), Red Sonja and Dark Knight pieces just a few months ago. Mostly though, Court of the Dead commanded your attention. The designs are unlike anything I'd seen in the space before, and offer a visually compelling twist on familiar themes and archetypes.

Elsewhere, Sideshow's other large scale products were on full display, including the Wolverine and Sabretooth which are separate pieces, but still look nice together due to the snowy bases on both. The Ralph McQuarrie Stormtrooper continues to be a terrific tribute the original designers first crack at Star Wars, and the more I see it, the more I want it. That's kind of how I feel about all of this. It's the curse of being in charge of toy coverage.