Autumn in New York is a beautiful thing. For fans of pop culture, the season brings their own east coast Comic Con.  It's Preview Day, and because it's in Mid-Town Manhattan on a Wednesday, the foot traffic was not the critical mass that San Diego normally is. For this website, not having to cover Hasbro on a show of this magnitude is a little weird, but Hasbro's absence are DC and Mattel's gain, particularly if you're a Batman fan and collector where new figures from DC Direct and Arkham City were prominent. There were some Star Wars reveals from other licensors like Kotobukiya and Diamond Select, and they're not bad at all. But Gentle Giant and Sideshow were also absent and there was  clearly less Star Wars than the show last year.

Check out our Image Bank for photos of the Collectibles panel and slide show from other licensors and Lucasfilm partners such as Sideshow, eFX, and Think Geek. 

At only 500 pieces and $29.99, the Kotobukiya Celebration VI exclusive ARTFX+ R2-A6 shouldn't last too long at Celebration 6, particularly with that cool collectible coin. Koto has set aside a small number for their online store to purchase now and be delivered after the convention. If you're attending CVI, this may spare some luggage space.

Kotobukiya's red hot ARTFX+ line has been a great seller for the Japanese company to the point that they're pulling back on their larger 1/7 scale ARTFX statues. The interchangeable parts, displayability, and pricepoint have made them popular with collectors.

He's white and green, stands nearly 4 inches. limited to 500 pieces, and includes a special collector's coin. Kotobukiya announces their Celebration VI exclusive to be an ARTFX+ R2-A6!

Kotobukiya posts some preview photos of their new and upcoming ARTFX+ Emperor's Royal Guard 2 Pack on their Facebook page. Both will look great flanked next to the upcoming ARTFX+ ROTJ Darth Vader and an as of yet unproduced Emperor Palpatine.

The new collection of Japanese Bishoujo ("beautiful young girl") style Star Wars statues  from Kotobukiya make their debut with Jaina Solo.

Kotobukiya announces their next release for the popular ARTFX+ assortment and it's a definite must have: Darth Vader  Return of Anakin Skywalker. The 1/10 scale ready to assemble  snap-fit kit features multiple interchangeable arms to pose him in a variety of ways and swappable heads for a helmeted and unhelmeted look.

Our sponsors at BigBadToyStore have announced pre-orders for the upcoming Kotobukiya ARTFX+ 1:10 Scale Statue Boba Fett (ROTJ Version).

Southern California received an early dose of pop culture and ample amounts of rain as WonderCon 2012 was moved to the massive Anaheim Convention Center this year with their traditional venue at the Moscone Center in San Francisco under construction for upgrades. While it is organized by the same group that does Comic-Con International in San Diego, it was much smaller in scope and foot traffic, partially due to the foul weather. Despite this, there were still enough cosplayers, panels, and exhibitors to go around.

We have uploaded photos from WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend,  including shots from Gentle Giant, Kotobukiya, eFX, Action Figure Express, and some Views from the Floor.

Another exclusive to next month's WonderCon reveals itself. AFX announces their ARTFX + Shock Trooper 2 Pack by Kotobukiya!

Our Image Bank has been updated with more photos from New York Comic Con. Check out some shots from the Kotobukiya, Hallmark, Her Universe, and around the convention floor! Click here to visit our NYCC Image Bank!

We have uploaded photos of all the Japan collectible goodness from Kotobukiya. The centerpiece of their booth are the new R2-D2 and Han Solo Carbonite ice trays that are sure to be a hit for your summer cocktail parties. ActionFigureExpress also offered their SDCC exclusive TFU Stormtrooper Commander 2 Pack at the show.

Another cold, wintery Toy Fair is behind us, and while we understand the reasons behind having it in New York in February, there has to be some workaround where we aren't under a blizzard warning every year and don't have to explain to our spouses or significant others why Valentine's Day for a toy geek actually falls the next Saturday after Toy Fair. But we digress.