I wanted to show off some of the other cool Minimates that Diamond Comics Distributors had at their booth, but as is often the case with trade shows, photos were not permitted yet.

Something of note at JAKKS Pacific was a considerable line of goodies from the Dreamworks movie, “Real Steel.”

A 5″ line of figures will have interchangeable limbs and light up heads & bodies for customization. A larger 7.5″ line will have signature moves from the movie, but there’s gonna be something even more dear to the hearts of a lot of geeks – a variation (and a necessary one at that) on the childhood favorite, “Rock’em Sock’em Robots” (note to younger readers: ask your folks about this. It’s really cool. trust me).

DC Direct had some very well made busts & figures from the upcoming “Green Lantern” movie:

But the thing I was most looking forward to was goodies to “Batman: Arkham City,” the video game sequel to the 2009 hit game “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” So far, only one figure had been shown off, and it’s a doozy.

Harley Quinn keeps getting nuttier and nuttier. And that’s a good thing.

Mezco Toyz showed off a 6″ Scott Pilgrim figure from the movie and fan fave graphic novel series. Hopefully more figures will be coming.

I love that “Little Big Planet” brings a lot of user-creativity into video games, and to celebrate that, Mezco showed off their second wave of “Little Big Planet” action figures.

McFarlane Toys never fails to impress, and they had a couple of great highlights including this guy

Now Bungie may have left Microsoft, but that does not mean that “Halo” is dead. Far from it. More video games are being planned, and one can only hope that a movie might actually happen.

McFarlane Toys also had shown off figures from “The Walking Dead.” Take a look at these two guys.

Now note that “Officer Rick Grimes” doesn’t look like Andrew Lincoln, the actor who portrays him in the AMC TV series. There’s a reason for that. McFarlane Toys’ goodies for “The Walking Dead” is both for the Robert Kirkman graphic novel series as well as for the AMC TV series. This can create some issues as one of the figures in the first wave “may” actually appear in the 2nd season of the TV series (“Daryl Dixon,” everybody’s favorite crossbow-wielding hillbilly, will be in the second wave of action figures).

That’s it for now. In the third part, I’ll talk about some of the stuff I was unable to see as well as what I consider to be the coolest toy at Toy Fair 2011.

Since we had access to COMMUNITY stars Allison Brie and Danny Pudi, we decided to get the scoop on just what goes on behind the camersa as well as what is coming up on the show. How does the cast pass the time on the set? What about Jeff & Annie? And those pop culture references, dies everyone get them? Plus The Suicide Girls meet reality TV – ’bout time!

DC Comics’ All-Star imprint was intended to bring their top talents together with their top characters to produce stories that followed the core concepts of the iconic heroes and villains so the comics would appeal to mainstream audiences. The two titles that made it out, featuring Batman and Superman utterly failed on that account and their irregular publishing schedules meant the audience the books were aimed at couldn’t get into the needed buying rhythm.

[[[All-Star Superman]]] by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely thrilled the core audience with their retro-futuristic take on the characters and settings, winning acclaim and awards. Now, the 12 issue storyline has been neatly compressed into a 76 minute animated feature, out this week from Warner Home Video. Obviously, every bit and piece, every favorite moment, couldn’t possibly be included in Dwayne McDuffie’s script, but he does a fine job boiling the story down to its essence. In short, Lex Luthor has manipulated events from afar, forcing Superman to save a spacecraft that left him over-saturated with solar energy which has increased his amazing array of powers but is also slowly killing him.

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You may have heard that actor and author Nicholas Courtney died this past Monday. I’d like to add a personal note.

First, some background. Nicholas Courtney was best known for playing the part of Brigadier General Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart on the Doctor Who teevee series, as well as many of the original full-cast audio adventures and, in 2008, on the spin-off show Sarah Jane Adventures. He performed with at least eight of the eleven doctors, and had worked on stage and on such famous British shows as The Saint, The Avengers, Yes Prime Minister and The Champions.

I first met Nick at a Doctor Who convention in Chicago nearly 30 years ago. I was one of the organizers, and while we were waiting for our panel on the first day I asked him if he had ever done any radio drama. Given his rich, authoritative voice, I thought he was a natural and I knew radio drama was still alive and well in Great Britain. Nick lit up like a Christmas tree and said he did it, and does it, as often as he could. He absolutely loved the medium.

We became friends and stayed in touch for about fifteen years. When he returned to the role of the Brigadier in the original audio shows, he was very excited and very happy to share. Nick said I was one of the few who would understand his enthusiasm, and that really meant a lot to me.

Overall, Nicholas Courtney played the role for 40 years with only a comparatively brief time off in the middle. That’s really something. During his tenure, ten different actors played the lead along with countless companions and villains, and he outlasted them all. That’s what makes a legend.

I’m really going to miss the unflappable Brigadier General Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, and I’m going to miss the sweet, affable storyteller named Nicholas Courtney even more.