EA (Electronic Arts) held a launch party for The Simpsons Game at Universal City in Los Angeles on October 30th. In addition to a VIP party at the Hard Rock Cafe (after walking the yellow carpet), the public could come and demo the game at free playing stations outside. Fans could also purchase the game at EB Games, which stayed open late for the ... read more
Electronic Arts has sent us some exclusive screenshots from their upcoming Simpsons videogame.
These include shots from levels where Bart and Lisa battle for the environment, one where Homer (with Bart) goes on an eating contest, and one in which Homer travels to the Land of Chocolate. The game includes original animation and dialogue.
EA also sent some exclusive images to the ... read more
On September 5th, Electronic Arts held a studio showcase at their headquarters in Redwood City, CA. This was an opportunity to highlight the many games the company will be releasing in the final quarter of 2007. One of these games is The Simpsons Game. I was invited to attend the Showcase, preview the game, and meet its creators.
EA's Simpsons ... read more
A look at what SCS members encountered at the 2007 Comic Con.
A look at Simpsons merchandise on display at Comic Con.
This year's annual Comic Con International in San Diego, California is coming up and we are inviting all attending SCS members to meet up with us at a number of planned events.
The convention runs from Wednesday July 25 (Preview Night) through Sunday July 29 at the San Diego Convention Center. The two biggest SCS events planned are the official ... read more
On display at McFarlane Toys at this Toy Fair was the final packaging for several products: the Manimals boxed set and all of the Series 1 figure dioramas.
Coverage and images from the 2007 Toy Fair.
The San Diego Comic Con is a great destination for Simpsons fans. Not only do you get two Simpsons-related panels (one for the show and one for Bongo Comics), a chance to meet Matt Groening himself, and lots of place to look for Simpsons memorabilia... you also get to meet your fellow SCS members! What could be more fun than that? Except, maybe, the very first sneak peek at the Simpsons ... read more
A look around the convention and around the town from members of the SCS.
Gentle Giant Studios again had an impressive display for their line of Simpsons bust-ups at the San Diego Comic Con. For this line, Gentle Giant has included full figure and diorama style Bust-Ups. Bust-Ups are miniature plastic bust, requiring some assembly. They are about 2-3" tall.
New Bust-Ups on display at the Con include an Itchy & Scratchy set, a Ralph Wiggum, one of Homer seducing Marge. The theme for this new set appears to be love/hearts. The exact release schedule is not yet known.
This year's annual Comic Con International in San Diego, California is coming up and we are inviting all attending SCS members to meet up with us at a number of planned events.The convention runs from Wednesday July 19 (Preview Night) through Sunday July 23 at the San Diego Convention Center. The two biggest SCS events planned are a ... read more
SCS members from all over the country get together during Comic Con for a number of Simpsons-related events and SCS gatherings. Panels at the Con included the annual panels for Bongo Comics and the Simpsons TV show specifically. SCS members also organized a Simpsons Collectors Meeting, an SCS Dinner, and a number of nightime hangouts. Below are some pictures from all of these ... read more
The San Diego has evolved from much more than a mere sci-fi/fantasy convention to being the popular culture event of the year. Fans from all over the world descend upon San Diego to experience this convention. Below is but a mere taste of the geek heaven that is Comic Con.
This year's annual Comic Con International in San Diego, California is coming up and we are inviting all attending SCS members to meet up with us at a number of planned events.The convention runs from Wednesday July 13 (Preview Night) through Sunday July 17 at the San Diego Convention Center. The two biggest SCS events planned are a ... read more
Rocket USA has scaled back their Simpsons releases, but they are still offering many of the past releases. Also, a new item was on display this year: A metal Homer Simpson windchime.
Kidz Kraze does inflatable products from a number of licenses. Last year they released a line of inflatable figures. They are also doing an inflatable Duff can and an inflatable Simpsons chair.
NJ Croce will be continuing to release bendable figures in 2005. In addition to the planned Moe's Tavern-themed set (including Homer with Isotopes cap, Barney, Moe, Duffman, Duffgirl 1, and Duffgirl 2), they are also doing a Kang and Kodos two-pack similar to the Itchy & Scratchy pack they did in the past. The Kang and Kodos set is due out in the late Spring. The Moe's Tavern set is due out in ... read more
Dakin will be continuing the Simpsons plush line in 2005 and beyond. Whereas many past releases had been released exclusively to places like Hot Topic, they are now planning to move back to more mass marketed releases. As part of this move to mass market releases, they are planning on rereleasing many of the early plushes in the line, like the ones pictured below.... read more
Bill: "And now, to present the award for Outstanding Achievement In The Field Of Excellence is the villanous Collector!"
... read more
Troy: "Welcome back! To present the award for Best WoS Accessory, coming from the umm, next century, is Future Burns and Future Smithers."
... read more
Our activities start inside the First Church of Springfield. A special service is being held... a funeral service for the World of Springfield line, which recently met its demise. Reverend Lovejoy continues his eulogy.
... read more
The SCS presents the 11th in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have images from the making of the Town Square set. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork: ... read more
Saturday is always the craziest day at the Con and this year was no exception. From the mosh pit-like walking conditions in the Con to the lines for everything to endless panels, Saturday is the reason to attend Comic Con. One panel was the Simpsons panel, which is always a highlight for us. Later that night, we all went out to dinner at In N Out and then went bowling (please don't ask ... read more
Friday was an eventful day at the Con. Besides the fun had during the day, the SCS members made the most of the nightlife fun around San Diego. Friday was the SCS's biggest event of the Con: the SCS Dinner at Buca Di Beppo! Much fun and food were had by all. Next year.... Del Taco!
In this article, we see the random, geekilicious fun SCS members had during the first few days of the Con. Besides running into Matt Groening every few minutes, we just had a great time in general. See this other article for more random Con fun. Also, on Thursday night, we continued the SCS-SDCC Dave & Busters tradition. ... read more
Comic Con is not only a geek paradise, but it also offers SCS members from all over the country to get together in "real life" and hang out, crack jokes, and spread the Simpsons love. Here's the first of our articles, this one covering Preview Night and some SCS members doing the tourist thing around San Diego. ... read more
San Diego Comic Con is really a sight to see. Tons of booths, panels, free swag, and more costumed geeks than you can shake a Wookie at. But part of the charm of the Con is the beautiful city of San Diego itself. This article looks at both, as experienced by our geeky Administrator, Jeremy "blueduck37" Wilcox. We also recommend checking Michael Crawford's ... read more
This year's annual Comic Con International in San Diego, California is coming up and we are inviting all attending SCS members to meet up with us at a number of planned events.The convention runs from Wednesday July 21 (Preview Night) through Sunday July 25 at the San Diego Convention Center. The two biggest SCS events planned are a ... read more
The time has come for the presentation of the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Acievement in the Field of Excellence in the Simpsons collecting community. Mr. Burns arrives at the podium.
... read more
Springfield.... Present Day: We are inside Mr. Burns' office at the Nuclear Power Plant. Blue Haired Lawyer has come to advise Mr. Burns about a potential trouble.
... read more
An addendum to our coverage is Hasbro, with thanks to an anonymous Simpsons collector for the images. Hasbro is releasing a Simpsons version of the classic Game of Life. This game allows players to go through a series of events simulating the events that occur in life. The most successful person at the end of the game wins. This game is very specific to the Simpsons, with a Nuclear Power Plant ... read more
Cardinal Games makes a number of Simpsons games, particularly their many Simpsons trivia games.
We wrap up our coverage tonight with a preview of Kidz Kraze International's upcoming line of Simpsons inflatable figures. This line is due out in March/April of this year. No photography was allowed of the figures, but I do have a report of what was offered.... read more
We continue with a look at Spin Master, makers of novelties such as the red hot Mighty Beanz. They are launching Simpsons Mighty Beanz this year and we have a look at some of the offerings. They are doing in two separate ways: In 2-packs and in 5-packs. One will be for specialty shops and the other a mass market item. They will follow the typical release pattern for Mighty ... read more
Basic Fun is a seller of smaller novelty items, including many Simpsons items.
Sideshow Toys are makers of highly detailed busts and deluxe figures, like the ongoing line of Simpsons mini-busts. See their website for more info on the available series. Pictured here for the first time are the new sculpts for the Grampa, Willie, Sideshow Bob, Chief Wiggum, and Krusty busts. These retail for ... read more
Next up is the NJ Croce Co., makers of the many Simpsons bendable items available now. Available in specialty stores like MediaPlay and FYE now in the figures line are Series 1 (Simpsons family), Series 2 (Power Plant crew), Series 3 (Krustylu characters) and THOH I (zombie Simpsons). Coming soon is Series 4, themed to Springfield Elementary. It will consist of Bart with his red cap and ... read more
Our Toy Fair coverage continues with a look at Rocket USA, maker of tin toys and retro-style collectibles.
Welcome to our coverage of Toy Fair 2004. In this first article, we take a look at the World of Springfield offerings by Playmates Toys. This is the planned 2004 lineup, as we first revealed back in October. There are at least 3 exclusives planned for this year (including THOH 5 and a Stonecutters Hall), but no official announcement has been made yet. Stay tuned to SCS for info on that front ... read more
SCS member mh002a6228 (Martyn Hume) recently received a number of World of Springfield test shots from Hong Kong. A test shot is an early type of prototype. As written by Markwars1972 in this previous article, a test shot is when making a new figure the factory "will first run a few tests on the molds to see if there is any flashing (extraneous plastic leakage ... read more
Playmates Toys has sent us the official promo shots of WoS Series 15 and 16 (due in January and March '04, respectively) figures and playsets. Thanks to Playmates and Michael Crawford MWC for the images.
The SCS presents the 10th in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have images from the making of the exclusive THOH 4: The Collector's Lair set. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork: ... read more
During the Fall Mass Market Toy Expo, staffer blueduck37 sat down with Playmates exec Pat Linden to discuss the state of the WoS line and ask some questions from our message boards. Here's some notes from that meeting.
... read moreThe week of October 21-23 was the 2003 Fall Mass Market Toy Expo: an early preview of 2004 plans for mass retailers and buyers. Staffer blueduck37 visited Playmates at the event to look at the 2004 lineup.
The SCS presents the ninth in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have images from the making of the exclusive THOH3: Ironic Punishments Division set. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork:... read more
Member semaj nala shares with us a recipe for destruction... er... a tasty frozen treat.... read more
The SCS presents the eighth in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have images from the making of Series 12's Bart's Treehouse set. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork:... read more
The week of July 16-20th was the annual Comic Con International held in San Diego, California and yours truly had the opportunity to attend as one of the representatives of the SCS staff. I’ve been to some of the major Cons, but never before have I experienced anything like this.... read more
Saturday was the last day that most of the staff attended the convention. Before the big party, there was a meetup at the Playmates Booth and of course, three big panels: Futurama, Simpsons and the SCS panel.
Here's a look at the SCS Second Anniversary Party from San Diego.
Simpsons-related panels at the San Diego Comic Con included a Bongo Comics panel on Friday afternoon, the Futurama and Simpsons, and SCS panels on Saturday afternoon.
Friday Mark, meester sparkle and phalen180 took Lil' Sparkle to Legoland. Meanwhile, back at the con, more members showed up and Bongo Comics had their panel at 4:30 PM.
While others went to the Comic Con on Friday, markwars, phalen, meester sparkle and lil' sparkle went to the blocko-est place on Earth: Legoland, Carlsbad.
Other retailers at SDCC 2003 with Simpsons merchandise include Sideshow Toys, Dark Horse Comics, Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast, Playing Mantis, Diamond Comics and ACME / Wonderful World of Animation Art Gallery.
Thursday morning our pants-less leader, markwars1972, arrived at the convention, and much fun was had by all. After a day on the convention floor, the crew had dinner and then hit Dave and Busters.
To start off our coverage of San Diego Comic Con 2003, we bring you images from Preview Night (and beyond) at Playmates Toys booth (#4622).
The SCS presents the seventh in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have images from the making of Series 9's Police Station set. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork:... read more
UPDATED (7/7): how to obtain a signed COA.
Yesterday, I received the three Limited Edition Re-Release Series 2 Dioramas from World In Advance.
Some of you may wonder why I, as an opener, would purchase the Limited Edition dioramas in the first place... and that's a good ... read more
Enjoy this first look at Series 14 promo photos courtesy of Michael Crawford MWC and Playmates Toys... read more
All members and fans are invited to attend a box social, er, I mean the first annual SCS National Meeting which will be held in conjunction with the San Diego Comic Con 2003 in San Diego, California.
The convention runs from Wednesday July 16 (Preview Night) through Sunday July 20 at the San Diego Convention Center; the National Meeting / Second Anniversary Bash will be held on the evening of Saturday July 19 at the nearby Rock Bottom Brewery restaurant... read more
The SCS presents the sixth in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have images from the making of Series 6's Springfield Arcade and First Church of Springfield sets. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork:... read more
The SCS presents the fifth in a series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line, thanks to Chris Lauria (SimpsonsToyMaker), who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. Our latest feature is on the making of the Toys 'R Us exclusive THOH II: Alien Ship. Here's the scoop directly from Chris... read more
The SCS presents the fourth in a series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time around we have several images from the making of Series 4's Comic Book Shop. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork:... read more
This is the third in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. This time we look at Krustylu Studios from Series 3. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork.... read more
The SCS presents the second in a continuing series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria again. This time around, we look at the art involved with Krustylu Studios, Town Hall, and the original 2000 art for Moe's Tavern. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork:... read more
The SCS presents the first in a series of looks at the pre-production art of the World of Springfield line thanks to Chris Lauria, who does most of the playset art for Playmates Toys. First up, appropriately enough, is the Simpsons Living Room from Series 1. Here's Chris to give you the needed info on this artwork.... read more
Playmates Toys has sent us these great shots of the Ullman-Era Bart, Homer and Marge figure prototypes through staffer Michael Crawford... read more
Michael Crawford MWC and Playmates Toys have sent in these first-look pictures of Series 12 in the packaging.
Our Toy Fair 2003 coverage wraps up as we look at the following companies: NECA, Buffalo Games, Dark Horse Comics, Glory Innovations, and Gemmy.
Cardinal Industries displayed some new Simpsons games.
Basic Fun displays their latest assortment of windups and keychains.
LaBrea, a Canadian based company, displayed a number of interesting and unique Simpsons products, the most striking of which were their assortment of Simpsons clocks.
NJ Croce is responsible for the modern Simpsons bendable line.
Rocket USA presents Simpsons tin-motion games and other toys.
As our first feature covering Toy Fair 2003, we bring you a peek inside the Playmates Toys display. See our notes from our Playmates meeting for more details.... read more
On a recent get-together of the New York City area Simpsons collectors, SCS administrator blueduck37 visited the 'Kwik-E-Mart Boutique', the new Simpsons shop at the flagship FAO Schwartz location.... read more
Welcome to the Third Annual Blinky Awards!... read more
Part 2 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Part 3 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Part 4 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Part 5 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Part 6 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Part 7 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Part 8 of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
The conclusion of the Third Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Kenny from Sci-Fi Warehouse sent us production sketches of Series 13, Series 14, Military Antiques, and the Aztec Theater... read more
Michael Crawford and Playmates Toys provided these images of the upcoming Bart's Treehouse playset ... read more
Contributing Editor and SCS member jbelkin800 is back with another editorial on the WoS line and he's got some good thoughts and some great ideas on how to make WoS a continuing success. Without further ado, so here it is:
Here’s the situation as I see it:
PM has launched an “A-line” cash cow. There are thousands of people willing to pony up close to $600 a year to be completists (about what completists/near-completists will spend this year – obviously some more and some less). Most companies would be more than happy to get $600 dollars from you whether they’re selling shoes, tools or fast food.
But where does PM go from here on out?... read more
Michael Crawford and Playmates Toys have come through again with the first look at World of Springfield Series 11 figures and Asst. G Environment... read more
SCS member Adam Goldfine ("agoldf1") recently purchased an early prototype of the WoS Officer Eddie figure,... read more
One of the areas where we will be working closer with Playmates in the future is bringing you unique and interesting perspectives on the toys you love. Today's feature gives you a little better understanding of the oddessey from cradle to production, using the new Homer at the Bat mini-figures as an example... read more
IMPORTANT: This offer has expired and no more orders are being accepted.
Playmates Toys sent us this announcement of a new promotional offer for the Llewellyn Sinclair and Cooder figures.... read more
UPDATE (8/5): More tidbits from Playmates added below
Today we have some more photos from the World of Springfield display at Playmates Toys booth and of our intrepid SCS members, uh, being intrepid. Red the Trucker says, "Drink Duff! responsibly"
In other news (not pictured), Sideshow Toys has a license to produce sandstone busts of Simpsons characters. They should be similar in quality to their current line of Muppet Busts.... read more
Friday coverage from San Diego Comic Con continues with more images from Playmates Toys booth and a few items from other exhibitors. ... read more
The Simpsons Collector Sector's complete coverage of San Diego Comic Con 2002 continues... ... read more
Opinions about re-releasing World of Springfield figures were split fairly well down the middle. For a detailed view of your fellow collector's opinions, continue on... read more
SCS member FantasticDan brought in a very interesting report today. It seems the WoS bug has bitten local TV advertisers. WB-43 in Syracuse, NY (which syndicates "The Simpsons" in that area) is using WoS figures in its commercials for the show. Here is his report.... read more
Michael Crawford attended the Wizard World East 2002 Convention and provided us with these images from Playmates Toys booth.... read more
Packaged Images:
It is our pleasure on this, the first anniversary of the Simpsons Collector Sector message board to officially announce the winner of our Grand Prize... read more
Promotional images of Be Sharps Homer, Target Exclusive Faces of Springfield 9" Figures and Talking Schoolbus, provided by Michael Crawford and Playmates Toys... read more
These promotional photos were provided to Michael Crawford by Playmates Toys... read more
During the week of June 10, 2002 through June 14, 2002, we'll be holding contests to celebrate our One Year Anniversary... read more
These promotional photos were provided to Michael Crawford by Playmates Toys... read more
With the recent announcement by Playmates Toys that Moe's Tavern will be released in late 2002 or early 2003 as an EB / Diamond Comics exclusive, the SCS staff has declared our "We Need Moe's!" petition a success. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Okay, I have a million other things I need to do, but I couldn't resist completing the results. These have already been sent to Playmates.... read more
One question that comes up a lot here at the old Collector Sector involves the changes between the prototype and final versions of a WoS playset. Many collectors want to know why their Arcade has only three games as opposed to the five they saw in online pictures or why their Simpsons Kitchen has no corn on the curtains. The reason is that the pictures people see online or in toy magazines before an item’s release are prototype versions. It is not at all unusual for a company to make a few changes to a product before it is officially released. Some of these changes are for the better while some things are unfortunately scaled back due to cost issues. So, without further ado, we present you with a comprehensive list of these changes for all the WoS interactive environments.
... read more
We thought that our visitors might enjoy a little look behind the screens at the process involved in updating the World of Springfield Phrase Database when a new series of figures and playsets are released.... read more
Hello and welcome back to the Simpsons Collector Sector! As you may know, our old webhost suffered attacks in early February and much of our site's content was lost and interactive features crippled ... it was unclear when we would be able to bring them back up. However, with the help of our great members, staff began work immediately on obtaining archived copies of the data and creating a plan to rebuild the site ... read more
Using the SCS Buy/Sell/Trade forums can often be a friendlier alternative to the craziness of eBay, but there are a number of procedures we recommend to ensure things go smoothly.... read more
Exclusive coverage of Toy Fair 2002 ...
... read more
Please join us for the Second Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Please join us for Part 1 of the Second Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Please join us for Part 2 of the Second Annual Blinky Awards... read more
Please join us for Part 3 of the Second Annual Blinky Awards... read more
When the search engine Google.com completed a massive expansion to their archives of Usenet newsgroups on December 11th, 2001, going back all the way to 1981, a wealth of vintage discussion from the early years of The Simpsons was unearthed... read more
The problem with TRU starts at way they do business. Once upon a time it was advantageous for them (bigger discounts) to order a giant lot for the company and have it distributed to the warehouse and then to the stores. ... read more
So you're new around here, eh? We thought we'd help you get settled in by giving you a step-by-step guide to how to become a part of our community and take advantage of the many resources on the site and on the message board. ... read more
While rearranging my sets to accomodate the new church and arcade environments, I realized that when you include exclusives and sets up to Asst. C playsets, that there will be almost a 1 to 1 ratio of Homer figures to playsets.... read more
In June, 2000, Playmates VP of Boys Toys Jeff Trojan asked the members of our forum to put together a list of multi-pack ideas, as a way of expanding the concept Playmates began with Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy. We came up with over 80 ideas for multi-packs consisting of over 250 unique figures. Here is a list of all our ideas, followed by Jeff Trojan's response... read more
Kent: "This is Kent Brockman, reporting for Channel 6 news. We're here live at the First Annual Blinky Awards pre-show. We're looking for celebrities to talk to about tonight's gala event. Oh, here comes the master of ceremonies himself, Mayor Diamond Joe Quimby...MAYOR QUIMBY, can we have a word with you about tonight's show?"... read more
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