It's going to be a blockbuster and Funko has the toys to prove it.

The Everett, Wash.-based company unleashed its plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 toys on Wednesday with 40 different items across six brands for fans to chase beginning in February.

The follow-up to Guardians, which made $333 million at the box office world-wide, is set to arrive on May 5.

Continue reading →

It's one part gimmick and one part patriotic but the arrival of a new comic book series and team from Marvel on Wednesday should be big -- and a big challenge for those who decide to collect them all.

It's U.S.Avengers and the first issue arrives with a variant cover for every state as well as a few more covers that all spotlight an individual star from the Marvel Universe.

Continue reading →

Free Comic Book Day is still a few months away but it's never to soon to see what the SWAG will include.

A dozen free issues made for the hobby-shop holiday were revealed by its organizers on Monday with titles from Marvel and DC a bit more secretive than others, which include books from Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Archie Comics, Bongo Comics, BOOM! Studios, ONI Press, Titan Comics, Valiant Entertainment and Viz Media.

Continue reading →

The first trailer for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Baywatch reboot has arrived in advance of its arrival on May 19, giving the world a new take -- an R-rated comedy -- at the life-saving crew that included C.J. Parker, Mitch Buchanan and Stephanie Holden.

Oh, and we're sure we'll get another character -- The Hoff -- with a cameo, too.

Check out the trailer and tell us what you think after the jump.

Continue reading →

The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls in cards, big grades in comics, WWE's female stars and "My first Blowout Mailday."

Continue reading →

What: 2017 Upper Deck Marvel Annual trading cards
Arrives: February (and also on e-Pack).
Box basics: One patch, sketch, plexi-sketch or premium insert per 20-pack box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: The year in Marvel Comics gets a review in Annual the first planned look back at the year in books that Upper Deck has penciled into its comicard lineup.

Keep reading for more as well as a gallery.

Continue reading →

She's one of the comic book world's biggest icons and a ferocious superheroine vampire — and her first story ever published back in 1969 is now in the hands of one of the world's biggest comic art collectors.

She's Vampirella and the original art — the complete seven-page story — from Vampirella No. 1 is in the hands of Thomas Fish, the owner of BlowoutCards.com. The artwork previously sold in May 2009 after it had been in the collection of its creator, Forrest J. Ackerman all these years.

"During the last comic art con in Secaucus, N.J., I had an opportunity to meet the previous owner and discuss this historic first appearance piece of comic book and horror memorabilia," Fish said. "After some negotiation, we were able to come to a deal we were both happy with and the artwork is now part of my collection."

Continue reading →

A pair of iconic comic book characters also known from a pair of 1980s sword-and-sorcery films are making their way to toy aisles next month thanks to the Funko Pop! line.

They are Conan The Barbarian and Red Sonja. 

Continue reading →

What: 2016 Upper Deck Marvel Gems trading cards
Arrives: November (and also on e-Pack).
Box basics: One Gem-Balaya, Diamond Mine, Original Art Sketch or Diamond Cuts card per box (20 boxes per case via two inners)

What's buzz-worthy: The next Marvel release from Upper Deck includes a small mix of potent cardboard focusing on the women of the Marvel Universe -- some with diamonds embedded into the cards.

Keep reading for more as well as a gallery.

Continue reading →

What: 2016 Upper Deck Marvel's Doctor Strange trading cards
Arrives: Oct. 26
Box basics: One sketch, autograph or "premium insert" card and two memorabilia cards per seven-pack box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: The next Marvel movie gets a premium card treatment where every pack includes a one-card "hit" of some type for the film that Marvel hopes will be a new hit franchise. This is also a brand that also will be released as an e-Pack product.

Keep reading for more.

Continue reading →

San Diego Comic-Con is almost here and the crew at Funko has prepared more than 70 different toys, T-shirts and more that will only initially be available at the show this week.

There will be pieces from Star Wars, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Disney, The Walking Dead and so much more in the company's Pop! line, Dorbz and, well, so much more.

Continue reading →

The Upper Deck Gallery will be at San Diego Comic-Con next week and it will have a pair of prints as well as an artist appearance for those who are Marvel-inclined.

The group image with an SDCC focus featuring Spider-Man, The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy and more seen above is $85 and will be available throughout the show while supplies last.

Continue reading →

When the newest chapter of the Marvel Masterpieces universe arrives from Upper Deck tomorrow, there will be plenty of art from Joe Jusko, the creator who brought the 1992 release to life.

In fact, it will all be from Jusko.

That's a fitting way to revive the brand, which has been on the shelf for nearly a decade, and the artist has been busy teasing images of what's to come.

Continue reading →

Eric Biunno
Also known as: Cyber Warrior on Blowout
Email: cyberwarrior2099@gmail.com
Location: New York
Work away from comics: Owner/operator medical transporter service
Collecting since: 2002

Main focuses: J. Scott Campbell, Adam Hughes & Artgerm comics, Sideshow Premium Format statues.

Favorite artists/publishers: J. Scott Campbell, Adam Hughes & Artgerm and Marvel, DC, Image

Current collecting projects: Hard to find Campbell variants.

Continue reading →

Beginning this month, Funko has several waves of new Pop! vinyl figures coming for some big franchises in film and TV from the past and the present.

The new Ghostbusters, Aliens, Flash Gordon, Mean Girls, Willy Wonka, DragonBallZ, Through the Looking Glass and Harry Potter are just some of the properties with figures coming between now and August.

Oh, and it's also got the likes of UFC stars Ronda Rousey and Connor McGregor on the way along with the fighters in the political world -- Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- scheduled to become toys, too.

Continue reading →

The final trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse arrived today in advance of its arrival on May 27.

Check out the new trailer -- and tell us what you think -- after the jump.

Continue reading →

What: 2016 Upper Deck Marvel Masterpieces trading cards
Arrives: June 29
Box basics: one sketch per 12-pack box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: The Marvel Masterpieces brand is back with a featured artist -- Joe Jusko -- and an array of insert cards and buybacks that make the small box feel like something big.

Keep reading for more -- and a gallery of images.

Continue reading →

If you're a fan of comic book movies, you might not recognize the character on this piece of original art that has hit the auction block. But if you've been to the movies in the past few years, you've seen the character.

And you'll be seeing plenty more of him in the future.

It's the painted cover from Marvel Preview No. 4 from way back in January 1976 and this issue from the bland-named series is the first appearance and origin of Star-Lord -- the lead character in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Continue reading →

The newest trailer for Captain America: Civil War arrived today in advance of its arrival in May and there's one word that might carry the most buzz here.

Spider-Man.

Check out the new trailer after the jump.

Continue reading →

He's no Deadpool, but Peter Parker raked in a few bucks this past weekend.

How? A Heritage Auctions sale of the first appearance of Spider-Man slabbed in an elite grade fetched six figures at auction.

Continue reading →

Deadpool's $150 million showing at the box office this past weekend was a landmark moment for both R-rated movies and a potential game-changer for comic book films, too.

It set box-office records for its rating, records for its studio, records for its time of year and a few other fronts ... and it all started for the character 15 years ago this month as The New Mutants was a Marvel Comics series that was winding down. Deadpool debuted in issue 98, which was called "The Beginning of the End Part 1" -- the title's final issue was just two months away.

The duo that created Deadpool was artist-writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza -- and their work was seen by many readers that month but many, many more when X-Force No. 1 arrived a few months later. One of those books is one of the hottest in collecting today --  Mutants No. 98 -- while the other is one that collectors of the Polybag Era have stashed away in bulk. (Buzz is right there with a few dozen in a box somewhere.)

But what's got to be hotter than the hot book for the hottest movie of the moment?

Continue reading →

For 2015-16 Upper Deck products that don't get a standalone story here on The Buzz when a final checklist is released, we'll place a link to a PDF of the set's checklist right here.

You'll be able to find all checklists in PDF form as released by the company and all in one spot. (If traffic stats show us you guys like this format, we'll expand in other directions. If not, Buzz will focus on other stuff.)

Keep reading to see the Upper Deck checklists posted so far.

Continue reading →

If you're a baseball fan, you know the comic book references were thick this year with the National League champion New York Mets.

Those things happen when you have Thor, Captain America and The Dark Knight all on one team.

But, we need to know, do you own their autographs?

Continue reading →

It's a trend that's been growing for the last decade, but there are probably more than a few collectors who have walked right by them in the card aisle at retail stores not realizing what can be had inside packs.

They're generally known as blind-wrapped mystery toys -- a small vinyl figure inside a box or mylar pouch. They're something that's been popular in Japan for a long time, but have  taken off in the United States for the last decade.

Think of them as one part coin vending machine, one part toy and one part sports card.

Oh, and they can be one part fun.

Continue reading →

Variant editions of comic books are sometimes the Superfractors of that world, commanding crazy cash because of their scarcity and, of course, demand for them.

While this copy of Star Wars Vader Down issue No. 1 is not a 1/1 creation, it's estimated by those in the know to be as rare as a dozen copies because it was only available to dealers who ordered ... wait for it ... 4,999 copies of the standard book. You buy that many, you get one of these.

Continue reading →