One of the big events LEGO fans look forward to each year is Comic-Con International in San Diego, the largest multi-genre entertainment and comic convention in the world. Starting back in the 1970s, it originally showcased comic books and science fiction/fantasy related film, television, and similar popular arts. Since then the event expanded into virtually all genres, including horror, animation, anime, manga, toys, collectible card games, video games, web-comics, and fantasy novels. LEGO is also a major player at San Diego Comic-Con with various presentations, discussions, new set reveals, and some very special sets and minifigures that are only available at the event in limited quantities. The 2015 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 9-12, with preview night on July 8th (for professionals and the press). Below are some of the details related to LEGO fans. 🙂
➡ 2015 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON EXCLUSIVE LEGO SETS: Three special sets will be available for attendees of the event; LEGO Star Wars Dagobah Mini-Build with 177 pieces and an R2-D2 minifigure, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Action Comics #1 Superman with 145 pieces and a Superman minifigure, and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Throne of Ultron with 203 pieces and four minifigures (Ultron and three Ultron Sentries). Each of the sets will be $39.99, but you will need to be selected in a raffle drawing to be able to purchase the set.
➡ 2015 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON EXCLUSIVE LEGO MINIFIGS: There are also a couple of exclusive minifigures that will be given away at the event, with a limited number of 1500 each. Attendees can enter a drawing from Thursday, July 9 to Saturday, July 11th to try their luck. The two minifigures are LEGO Arsenal (Red Arrow) and LEGO All New Captain America (Sam Wilson).
➡ 2015 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON LEGO EVENTS: You can find the full event calendar at the San Diego Comic-Con website, but I will also highlight the activities that are especially relevant to LEGO fans.
DC Comics Meets LEGO Art – Creativity reaches superheroic heights as brick artist Nathan Sawaya reveals the new The Art of the Brick: DC Comics exhibition. Renowned comic book artist and co-publisher of DC Entertainment Jim Lee will draw live the concept for a brand new Batmobile that will be included in the exhibition. Joining in the discussion are production team members Brandon Griffith and Tommy Williamson. Q&A moderated by TV host Victor Lucas (Electric Playground). Thursday July 9, 2015 6:00pm – 7:00pm – Room 25ABC
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers: From Silver Screen to Console – Join Arthur Parsons (Game Director, TT Games), Matt Ellison (Producer, TT Games), Mike Jones (Executive Producer, Marvel Games), Bill Rosemann (Creative Director, Marvel Games) – and a special guest appearance by Marvel legend Stan Lee – as they present an inside look at LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, the first console videogame featuring characters and storylines from the critically-acclaimed film Marvel’s The Avengers and the blockbuster sequel Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, all combined with a splash of classic LEGO humor. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and Marvel Games, along with moderator Greg Miller (KindaFunny.com) are teaming up to provide a spirited panel discussion on this brand new, action-packed Super Hero adventure, including a live game-play demonstration, reveals of enhanced character team-up abilities and power-up features, new artwork, the latest game trailer and more. Not to mention exclusive giveaways! LEGO Marvel’s Avengers will be available this winter. Saturday July 11, 2015 4:15pm – 5:15pm – Room 6A
Making the LEGO Fan Scene – So what happened in the past year on the LEGO fan scene? Joe Meno (editor, BrickJournal magazine) talks with Nathan Sawaya (LEGO certified professional builder), Tommy Williamson (BrickNerd blogger and Brickfilmer), Brandon Griffith (creator, STUDS cards and ComicBricks), and Paul Lee (LEGO artist) about the people, the models, and even the films that are leading the LEGO fan community in new creative directions. The panel will also discuss how to become part of the community, and take questions. Saturday July 11, 2015 6:00pm – 7:00pm – Room 23ABC
World Premiere of LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom – Crime is on the run as the newly formed Justice League keeps Metropolis safe, and this makes evil genius Lex Luthor very unhappy. Together with Black Manta, Sinestro, and a gang of ruthless recruits, Lex builds his own league and declares them the Legion of Doom. With this super-powered team of terror and a plan to attack the top-secret government site Area 52, can Lex finally be on the verge of victory? The bricks are gonna fly when Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League face off against the world’s greatest supervillains. Catch the premiere, and then enjoy an entertaining panel led by actors Troy Baker (Batman: Assault on Arkham), Josh Keaton (Green Lantern: The Animated Series), and Khary Payton (Teen Titans Go!), producer Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood), director Rick Morales (Beware the Batman), and writer Jim Krieg (Green Lantern: The Animated Series). As always, surprise guests might pop up, and there will definitely be exclusive prizes for some lucky fans. LEGO DC Super Heroes Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom will be released August 25, 2015 via Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, and Digital HD. Sunday July 12, 2015 11:15am – 12:45pm – Room 6BCF
LEGO Ninjago – The LEGO Ninjago team returns to discuss the Ninjago TV series and product line. Tommy Andreasen (senior creative manager, The LEGO Group), Dan Hageman (writer, Ninjago TV series), Kevin Hageman (writer, Ninjago TV series), Keith Malone (content development director, The LEGO Group) Simon Lucas (creative lead, LEGO Ninjago), and Maarten Simons (senior designer, LEGO Ninjago) discuss developments in the world of Ninjago, offer sneak peeks and host a Q&A session, moderated by Brian Bowler (marketing director, The LEGO Group). Sunday July 12, 2015 1:00pm – 2:00pm – Room 7AB
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes – Get an exclusive, inside look at the development process of recently released LEGO Marvel Super Heroes products, special LEGO Marvel Super Heroes animated content, and the upcoming LEGO Marvel Super Heroes console video game with Marcos Bessa (senior designer, The LEGO Group), Adam Corbally (senior graphic designer, The LEGO Group), Jason Cosler (senior manager content development, The LEGO Group), Cort Lane (VP animation development and partnerships, Marvel), Mike Jones (executive producer, Marvel), and Arthur Parsons (game director, TT Games). Discover how the toys, animated content, and video game come to life with the teams behind their development. Moderated by Brian Bowler (marketing director, The LEGO Group). Sunday July 12, 2015 2:45pm – 3:45pm – Room 5AB
As you can see, there are plenty of events for LEGO fans at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. And of course there is much more than LEGO at the event, so there are other things to check out as well. Please note that attending Comic-Con requires purchasing a ticket (they call them badges) long before the actual event. In fact, scoring badges to SDCC is one of the most challenging, controversial and confusing tasks you will probably ever encounter with any convention. In addition, due to popularity, when tickets become available they usually sell out within an hour, and they are non-transferable. If you consider attending in the future, you should register at the SDCC website now and get notifications about when tickets become available for the following year. If you are a member of the media, you can get badges as well, but this also requires pre-registration. Another popular way people attend is to volunteer. Volunteers work for a few hours in various tasks, and they also get a free badge for that day.
I expect that LEGO will be revealing some of the upcoming LEGO Ideas sets, and maybe we will get some unexpected surprises as well. I know that Allen from TheBrickFan.com and I believe Ace from FBTB.net are attending the event, so if you would like to get live coverage you can check out their websites. I will also write a summary update to cover any interesting news, new LEGO sets, etc. that will be revealed at the event, so stay tuned. And if you are one of the lucky ones to participate in SDCC yourself this year, you are welcome to share your experience in the comment section below. 😉
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Wow! I didn’t realize it was so hard to get tickets! That’s insane! Can’t wait for all the news though! Exciting!
Yeah. It’s been argued that these exclusive figures might not benefit the brand in the long run, since the actual income is quite small. TLG doesn’t make any money on the collector’s market, anyway, and as long as the package is exclusive, there’s no real need for the figures and parts included to be.
Then, brand appeal is a tough concept to measure.
I remember one Big Bang Theory episode where the gang tried getting tickets to SDCC by staring at their laptop screens and constantly pressing the reload button every few seconds. Seemed like quite an ordeal…
Yeah, pretty much that’s how it goes! 😀
Hey, off topic but I’m putting together the Parisian and I’m trying to figure out which part goes in the clip underneath the scooter. I can see that something is there, but I dumped my parts bags into a plastic drawer to not lose parts while building and it had some parts from other sets, so I can’t figure out which of these belongs on that clip. Can you link me a picture of the part? Thanks!
Kim, it’s a bucket handle in dark-tan: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=95344
ah ha! Thank you!
To me, the Star Wars isn’t worth $40, but Superman and Ultron are. The figures are awesome! Will these Lego Exclusives be at NYCC? Or will NYCC have different Legos? Just asking since I am going to only New York Comic-Con this year.
My understanding is that these sets will only be available in San Diego. NYCC may have something different.
Well i got glasses today :/
Those mini sets are cool. I’d like to build an Dagobah set. Maybe the instructions will be posted online. The Action comics set is a nice build. A new captain America, I just got a Falcon minifig today. Maybe they’ll do an alternate version in the future.
I believe I heard rumors of the 70751 Ninjago Temple set being revealed at SDCC. I don’t know of its true or not so I would like some clarification. Thanks!
Davyd, yes, the set will be unveiled on Friday, July 10th at SDCC. I already have the press-release ready, which we are allowed to share on the 8th (tomorrow) at noon EST. It is a gorgeous set! So stay tuned for tomorrow! 😉
Haha alright! I will! 😛 Hopefully it contains the Preeminent! :DDD
So I guess the post will be 2 hours late tomorrow? Not complaining, though, that set sounds like it’s worth it. Cannot wait. 😀
Yes, it will be two hours late. The embargo is very strict.
I want that Superman set sooooo badly, and would also love to snag that Arsenal mini-figure but am no where near San Diego and cannot afford to go to Comic-Con even if I was. But good luck to those who get their hands on it – I bet they will enjoy it!