Diverse Insights Geeks Out and Recaps the Top Trends from San Diego Comicon 2019.

San Diego, California (July 23rd, 2019) - Usually San Diego Comicon aka Hollywood's Biggest 4-Day Weekend is all about the brightest stars initiating the hype train for their comic or video game based movies and tv shows, and although that did happen, something much more foundational was occurring - the return of the comic book. I was lucky enough to meet the owner of Torpedo Comics (and drummer for System of a Down) John Dolmayan on preview night to get a crash course on this booming trend. Comic Books prices have sky rocketed and smart investors have made a killing in the last few years. As Hollywood continues to churn out the box offices hits, new fans around the world get introduced to classic characters, and over the last decade have gone back to the books to learn every detail about their favorite heros and villains. Further intensifying the trend is that comics - especially from the golden age (1940s) are ultra finite and only a few exist in "good" condition. Lucky for Hollywood, fans then discover new secondary characters and allow for the cinematic universe to keep expanding as Marvel outlined for the next 24 months:

I sometimes have to remind myself how lucky we are to be in this industry and to have as much fun as we're having. Fandom as a business is evolving though and the competition is increasing, consumers are holding us to a higher bar and thoughtful collectibles are overshadowing label slapping strategies of the past. If you're a KID@HEART like me, I think you're in good hands for the next evolution of content and product. Here are the trends from Comicon that I believe will help shape retail for Christmas 2019 and beyond.

The Inclusion Trend - At this year’s Comicon, the Fandom Industry proved to be a progressive social trendsetter regarding gender, sexuality, disability, and race. There were multiple examples of inclusion throughout the weekend; from Marvel announcing Valkyrie as the first LGBT superhero, a booth dedicated to Fan enhanced wheelchairs, and the rise of minority and multi-racial superheroes including Miles Morales, Black Panther, Shang-Chi and Blade. I don’t know what it is about reading comic books that allows for empathy to develop, maybe it’s the stories of different worlds and all that comes from a universe of the unknown.  Maybe for so long you felt alone that when you finally connect with others who share your passion, you are just more compassionate and open to people with a different view of the world.  From a business perspective, representation attracts new fans and often empowers the casual consumer to take their fandom to the next level. 

Batman 80th Anniversary -  I may be a little biased but Batman is my absolute favorite character. I grew up watching Batman the Animated Series, an Emmy winning cartoon that was as dark and conflicted as it’s titular character. Iconic villains like the Mark Hamill voiced Joker, Riddler, Two-Face, and the first appearance of Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, better known as Harley Quinn define mine and so many others childhoods. It was incredible to see the museum like build out of Batman through the ages. First appearing in Detective Comics #27 and spanning 80 years of awesomeness.  Some of my favorite products to celebrate Bruce’s birthday included the SDCC x Funko Batman Shopping Bag Pop, DZNR Plush from Maxx Marketing, and of course the  most iconic Batmobile from Jada Toys.

The Cosplay Report -  comic con cosplay is creative, artful, and most importantly has a direct correlation to retail sales.  I’ve seen it with Minecraft, Rick & Morty, and Bob’s Burgers. This year one cosplay stood out like no other that I have ever seen at any con before, Stranger Things Scoops A’Hoy Uniform Steve & Robin.   Sure, it could be a timely coincidence as season 3 just dropped on July 4 but I think it’s deeper than that, I believe the content told a unique story of adventure and nostalgia while delivering a unique twist on the teenage “She’s All That” romance formula with Robin (Maya Hawke, Uma Thurman & Ethan Hawke’s daughter) being gay.  The product strategy & timing was spot on too; everyone was all in on this look being the “it” costume and allowed for maximum exposure and will undoubtedly be one of the top couples’ costumes for Halloween. All things considered, STRANGER THINGS was the biggest trend of San Diego Comicon 2019.

Pennywise – The horror trend is now a priority for most retailers as this mislabeled niche consumer has spoken with their box office dollars (2018’s IT remake brought in $700M at the Box Office) and is moving collectibles, plush, and apparel at retail.   Pennywise was the second most popular cosplay in my time at Comicon and what was surprising to me was that it was often gender-bended and replicated perfectly horrific. Although horror films are stereotypically thought to be positioned for young adult males, it’s the female consumer at Comicon that seemed the most passionate, which allows manufactures like Kid Robot to take a more kawaii approach to Horror.

Real Bod Heroes - “Bro Thor” made his cinematic appearance in Avengers: Endgame and made for a really easy cosplay; put on a pair of old pajama pants, a Big Lebowski Dude-like robe and grab a plastic hammer from your local Party City, oh and it’s even better if you don’t shave or cut your hair for a few months. However, this slightly out of shape character wasn’t alone, the multi-verse Peter Parker was also prevalent in San Diego, with numerous portly men donning the Spider tights with sweat pants over them. Either people just dig the real world look of regular people as super heroes or the Costco sweatpants market is about to boom!  

Collectibles As Board Games -  If you're like me and not exclusively into one super hero universe you’ve asked yourself who would win in a fight between Batman & Iron Man, could Harry Potter defeat Doctor Strange?  Or maybe you're more into mythological lore & history simultaneously and have asked yourself - could Bigfoot beat up King Arthur with Excalibur of course? Whatever your fandom is, industry giants Funko and Mondo are entering the strategy game business in a meaningful way this Christmas, both creating a gaming system that is infinitely expansive along multiple franchises and takes advantage of the recent boom in adult party and strategy games.

Micro-Merchandising - as more and more companies enter the fandom business; the importance of finite products becomes a major selling point. Consumers are used to limited editions but I’m talking about taking it to the next level to stay relevant; capsule collections that are limited to not thousands, but tens. Products that are individually numbered, like the Kirby x Link jumbo plush, increasing the value of the first few pieces off the production line. Mondo’s time sensitive strategy for their ultra collectible screen prints, where fans can only buy them for a short window and the consumer dictates the edition size.  The coolest example of this trend from the weekend, was the Funko Fundays Fantastik Plastik creation contest, where the winner walked away with a 1 of 1 in packaging prototype of his creation.

Moon Knight - with Marvel studios finishing up phase 3 of their cinematic universe the next wave of superheroes and box office success stories will come from lesser known characters to the public while simultaneously appeasing the hard-core fans who have been following them for decades.   One of the trendiest yet lesser-known characters is Moon Knight, he is Marvel’s pseudo-answer to Batman and has a dark and violent backstory, most recently gaining traction as a DLC character in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance video game.  The major rumor that could catapult Moon Knight onto retailer trend boards soon is that Keanu Reeves might be playing him.  Keanu has owned 2019 with John Wick, Duke Cannon, Always Be My Maybe, & the breathtaking debut of Cyberpunk 2077.

Tiki Theme – the biggest aesthetic trend that caught my eye was Tiki.  I’ve been noticing more and more playful patterns in short sleeve shirts in the fashion industry of late and believe that this trend is hitting the consumer from multiple angles. The originators Beeline Creative have done an incredible job building out their 'Geeky Tiki' range of barware and introduced a con exclusive multipack! Other core desktop collectibles were present in this fun deco and even the Funko Fundays party was Tiki Themed! 

Favorite Exclusives - the most important thing at Comicon are the exclusives; it is what drives traffic, hype, and ultimately the secondary market. There were a lot of exclusive to choose from, so this list was difficult to compile. In no particular order, here are some of my favorites: Mattel’s SlimJim Macho Man Randy Savage, Monograms Friends Group Pack, NECA’s The Karate Kid Kreese action figure, 100% Be@rBrick Godzilla by BAIT, Royal Bobble’s Notorious RBG and Targets x Funko x Entertainment Earth Bullseye Pop!

**BONUS** FutureCAST, Dallas Fall Toy Preview - I'm sorry to do something a little unrelated to Comicon, but very related to trend spotting and making discovery easier for retailers which is the mission of Diverse Insights and KID@HEART. For the first time ever, the Toy Industry is going to create an open format trend gallery for retailers to browse and experience during the fall toy preview and have asked me to be the guest curator. I encourage you to apply, to experiment, to try something different in an effort to make the industry more sustainable through innovation and healthy competition. I believe it will invoke the spirit of collaboration that will benefit the retailer, the consumer, and the manufacturer. Here is the link to apply: https://www.toyassociation.org/toys/events/toy-fair-dallas/futurecast-exhibitors.aspx

Thank you for taking the time and interest to check out my post, if you would like to discuss anything in this trend report in more detail please don't hesitate to contact me [email protected] or follow my adventures visually on Instagram at @RedStarArmy1.

Thank you,

Steve Starobinsky

Founder, Chief Discovery Officer

Diverse Insights