SDCC 2020 virtual convention details

[griffin]

As a result of SDCC being cancelled this year, they have announced that they will be hosting an online version this year, for their usual news panels and product presentations (for any of their usual exhibitors who still want to have a panel with SDCC branding and audience).
IDW have already noted that they will be doing a presentation, and I would expect Hasbro will as well, just to make sure that they don't miss out on the exposure that SDCC will still generate through this format.

This would allow for the SDCC company to still make a fair bit of money from the exhibitors, and other advertising that shows up in their online broadcasts, and maybe even sell subscriptions to exclusive online content.

Exclusive toys are going to be all sold through various online sources (like Hasbro's Pulse site, which would normally sell a small amount of the SDCC stock after the event), unless SDCC set up their own website portal for the various exclusives that each company would normally have been selling at the event.

SDCC was meant to be on July 22 to 26, so expect this online version to occur during that time.

[1AZRAEL1]

Might actually be able to source these exclusives easier. I'll have to keep an eye out.

[griffin]

SDCC have released their Wed 22 & Thurs 23 schedules, and the first Transformers related panel has been revealed - IDW's Transformers X Back To The Future comic panel on Thursday, with special guest scientists to discuss the "science" in this "science fiction" story.

Panels will be on the Comic Con youtube channel here. They also note that some may only be available for a limited time though.

[griffin]

The Saturday schedule is released (and I guess Friday as well), and there are another two panels that might interest Transformers fans.
IDW - upcoming comics
The history of SDCC exclusives - a discussion about some of the bigger producers of SDCC exclusives, including Hasbro, so there might be some talk about past Transformers exclusives.

It doesn't look like there is anything on Friday that talks about anything to do with Transformers... and with nothing noted in the first three days for Hasbro, maybe they aren't doing an online presentation during this event. And if Hasbro are doing something significant themselves at the same time, they would have announced it by now, being just two weeks away (unlike these small batches of reveals they have been doing recently).

On the other hand, Walmart appears to be doing their own reveal of exclusives a week before SDCC, that might be related to the event (like in previous years that would see ToysRUs exclusives that were first released at SDCC just before the stores were allowed to sell them). Transformers is one brand being noted, so keep an eye out for that on the 17th (which would be the 18th here).

Edit - Walmart had several Transformers exclusives revealed at SDCC last year (four Siege toys as 35th anniversary figures, and more reissues), so they would have planned to have a number planned for this year as well, before the virus hit.

Remember last year, with over 20 Transformers exclusives revealed at SDCC for the last 6 months of the year, with most of them not being released here (which made for expensive importing for most of them).
Expect a similar amount this year... and a similar amount NOT coming to Australia.

[griffin]

Sunday schedule has another IDW-ish panel... but still no Hasbro panel, and that should be the last day.