One of the unique features of the Poppies is that you are more likely to see ties. With the People's Picks, you're dealing with a much, much larger voter pool, making ties unlikely, but when you get down under 150 voters, getting two (or even more) nominees with the same number of votes is much more likely. And just to prove it, we get such a case in the very first category.

Not with third place though. Hasbro has that spot with 10% of the vote, and with another very strong year in Star Wars and a pretty decent showing with Marvel, it's no real surprise to see them here.

Our tie occurs with second place, where two companies took 11% of the vote, barely edging past Hasbro. That would be Sideshow and Mattel, two companies that couldn't be more different. Everyone knows why Sideshow is here, but Mattel makes it on the strength of what they are trying to do with lines like DCUC and MOTUC. While collectors tend to mock them for their blunders, I think people inside the industry realize how tough change comes to an organization of this size, and are still impressed with what they've seen so far.

Who won? Ah, that's a no brainer - Hot Toys. Bear in mind that the many of the people voting here work for a company other than Hot Toys. In fact, there was only one judge directly tied to Hot Toys. Even if they are media types, they often cover lines far outside the realm of high end sixth scale products. And yet 40% of the Poppies voters gave the nod to Hot Toys, making it pretty clear that they're on top of the industry right now.

Some of the judge's comments:

"Quite frankly it's scary how ahead of the competition Hot Toys are, I know Michael has used the analogy of Pixar in the animated 3D movie world, and it's a good one as right now they just seem unstoppable, and it don\'t hurt that they are landing all the best licences!" - Anonymous

"For me it was very tough to choose best overall company. Little companies like Cast-A-Way and Bif Bang Pow did some great stuff with much more limited resources. Then you have huge companies like Mattel that put out some incredible product, but made so many blundered decisions throughout 2009 that I can't in good mind say they were the best. I ended up with Hasbro getting the nod because they've done so much great stuff with Star Wars this year, driving me to buy Star Wars products for the first time in over a decade. Their work with GI Joe needs to be applauded as well, as their Joe line even when switching over to the movie version is by far the best bang for your buck out there." - Newton Gimmick

"Hot Toys. Each year this small Hong Kong company shows us what it means to improve upon an idea. When they started ten years ago, their figures were cool because of the subject matter. Now they are cool because these are the figures we've only dared to dream of having. The realistic paint, texturing, and costumes are second to none, and all companies that produce 1/6 scale figures have been chasing after Hot Toys for the last few years. To our advantage, Hot Toys has inspired companies, such as Sideshow to produce much better products, much to our advantage. At the same time, other companies have taken a few of the ideas developed form Hot Toys without looking at the big picture. Case in point is the Deluxe Collectors Series from DC Direct. The latest figures they have released have utilized Hot Toys' Moulded semi-translucent skin concept without looking at the other things that go with it, such as proper paint applications, a well designed figure buck, and well-executed soft goods using better fabric options. Painting a car green doesn't make it a hybrid.

Another huge plus with Hot Toys is their eco-friendly packaging. All their figures are coming out in very nice boxes that you actually want to keep. They use less plastic, no tape, no twist ties, and no little elastics. Without surprise, the figures don't shift in the packages, and there is almost 100% no waste. I hope that in 2010, other companies follow this practice and become responsible for the waste they create." - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Hot Toys	Hot Toys	Hot Toys
2nd Place	Sideshow	Sideshow	Sideshow/Mattel
3rd Place	Mattel	Diamond Select Toys	Hasbro

If you've read the People's Picks and my picks for this category, I'd assume you'd assume that Hot Toys would smoke it with the Poppies too. Close, but not quite.

It's the third place spot that was wrenched away from Hot Toys, and by none other than Sideshow. In fact, there's a two way tie for third place, each with just 5% of the vote, and both from Sideshow. G.I. Joe and Star Wars are both strong lines for them with rabid followers.

But Hot Toys did end up dominating with the top two spots. Iron Man took second with a whopping 36%, barely being edged out by Dark Knight with 37%. When you get 75% of the vote, odds are you're making people happy.

Judge's thoughts:

"SSC's G.I. Joe line is the physical representation of how cool we thought our Joes were when we were little. Sure, they aren't exactly following the designs of the original Hasbro line, but they seem to have captured Larry Hama's characters to perfection. Hopefully going into 2010 we'll see less alternate coloured figures though, as many collectors have complained about figures like the Crimson Cobra Commander and Fumbles the Sniper.  Sideshow (and other companies) should always remember that the multi-coloured Batman rule only applies to Batman, and stir clear of the practice. Let's not forget how awesome Palisades' Muppet collection was, and how the variations and repaints sucked all the passion out of the collectors working on completing the line.

The only other thing they can do to improve the line going into 2010 is to be consciously aware of the character's tattoos and make sure they are there. SSC put hidden tattoos on at least three figures in the past, but both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are missing theirs and that is just not right." - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Terminator Salvation	Dark Knight	Dark Knight
2nd Place	Dark Knight	Iron Man	Iron Man
3rd Place	Iron Man	Terminator Salvation	Sideshow G.I.Joe/ Star Wars

The industry folks gave the UQS series from DST a bit more love in their top three than either I or the People's.

They put the UQS Obi-Wan Kenobi in third, with 14% of the vote. That's not a bad showing, and slipped past Jason pretty handily.

They also gave second place to the UQS Hoth Han Solo, my favorite for this year.  Both of these have costumes that render the body issues a bit more moot.

But once again, people and poppies judges agreed on first place - it's the Mezco Abe Sapien!

Some more Judge's Comments:

"Abe Sapien was a great compliment to the previous Mezco Hellboy figure. This is an odd scale and the choices were slim, but Abe certainly seems like a fun toy." - Newton Gimmick

"DST's UQS Star Wars figures could be great. They still have a lot of work ahead of them and need to address a few design decisions that don't cut it when it comes to Star Wars collectibles, but when they get it right we end up with a figure like Mace Windu. Excellent fabric choices, great head sculpt. And he came with his robe! (all Jedi should come with their robe)" - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	UQS Hoth Han	Abe Sapien	Abe Sapien
2nd Place	Abe Sapien	UQS Hoth Han	UQS Hoth Han
3rd Place	Jason	Jason	UQS Obi-Wan

When it came to my votes and the people's votes, Hot Toys swept this category. It shouldn't be any real surprise, since they had not one but several fantastic series of sixth scale figures this year.

But when the Industry Judge's cast their ballots, they deviated slightly. They gave the third place bronze medal to a relative newcomer, Go Hero, and their cool Buck Rogers figure. The retro license isn't to everyone's taste, but 12% of the industry folks gave it the nod.

The next two places were no surprise though - Hot Toys Iron Man MKI took silver, and the Dark Knight DX-01 Joker took gold. I have a funny feeling that 2009 was the last year for the Dark Knight figures to hold sway in any of these categories, and we'll see Terminator and Iron Man take over in 2010, with a very strong chance for some dark horse figure to leap to the forefront.

Judge's Comments:

"The Iron Man MK1 is just a beautiful thing to behold, with levels of engineering that make a fan boy collector like me almost weep with joy! It’s not their best face sculpt of the year by a long shot, but that incredible amour more than makes up for it!" - Anonymous

"Bruce Lee is king. An insane amount of articulation, a head sculpt that would even make Hot Toys fans jealous. Then when you add in the accessories, the multiple outfits the changable hair and the adjustable GI Joe Eagle Eye gimmick and you have one of the coolest figures ever made." - Newton Gimmick

"This was a tough category because so many of these figures were amazing. The Darth Vader was spectacular. The Iron Man MKI was mind blowing. I don't think I need to say anything about how cool the DX Joker is. nor do I need to say anything good about the T-600 Weathered Skin figure. All of these figures are instant classics and have raised the bar, but the one that I keep looking at is the Utapau Clone. For the most part, I don't hold the clones on the same pedestal as many other Star Wars fans. To me, Star Wars is about Anakin Skywalker's rise, fall, and redemption. It's about the balance of the Force. Its about the characters who are trying to make their way in the galaxy. But when it comes to action figures, the Utapau Clone is what happens when everything in a figure's production goes right. From design to finish there is nothing wrong with this figure." - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	DX-01 Joker	DX-01 Joker	DX-01 Joker
2nd Place	Iron Man MKII	Iron Man MKI	Iron Man MKI
3rd Place	HT Godfather	HT Godfather	Buck Rogers

If you read my discussion in the People's Picks, you'll know that I felt this category was diluted by having too many figures from the same series. Both DCUC and MOTUC had four figures to choose from, making it tough for any one of them to get all the MOTUC or DCUC love.

If it wasn't obvious enough with the People's Picks, then it should be quite clear here - Green Arrow, Hawkman, Hordak and Skeletor all got 7% of the vote, putting them in a tie for third place.  Then Gentleman Ghost, Joker, Scareglow and Skeletor all got 9% of the vote, putting them in a four way tie for second. As I mentioned earlier, next year I'll be looking to the judges to pick the one MOTUC and one DCUC figure they can agree is the very best of the bunch to avoid fracturing the vote this much.

All that aside, the first place winner is still an outstanding figure, with some truly amazing detail work. Just like the people, the industry folks picked Big Daddy from NECA as the winner in this category. And yes, that means the streak continues of both sets of votes selecting the same number one in every category so far!

Judge's Comments:

"Mer-Man to me was the perfect marriage of classic and new. It\'s the epitome of what the MOTUC line is trying to do and I\'m not sure it's been outdone yet. Certainly there are prettier MOTUC figures out there, but Mer-Man is the complete package." - Newton Gimmick

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	The Joker (DCUC)	Big Daddy	Big Daddy
2nd Place	Mer-Man	The Joker (DCUC)	Gentlemen Ghost/ Scareglow/ Skeletor
3rd Place	Number 1 (9)	Green Arrow (DCUC)	Green Arrow/ Hawkman/ Hordak/ Joker (DCUC)

As you'd expect, Hasbro does well again here, but they aren't the only winner this time.

Mezco took third place with their excellent Jason figure. I really do have to get out there and round up the rest of that first release, and if you haven't, I suggest you do.

Hasbro locked up second with another of the G.I. Joe figures, but not the one I picked - Snake Eyes. I think the entire Joe series was actually pretty damn good, and Hasbro hasn't gotten enough credit for producing better toys for this film than we've seen from most other movies in recent years.

But the first place winner was a surprise to me...again. They picked the Marvel Universe Iron Man, also from Hasbro. I loved the little guy when he first hit, but I remember getting a lot of flack for it. It's clear that with time his excellence has won others over as well.

Other comments by the Judges:

"Hasbro totally owns this catagory. Only mezco was any real challenge to them. Personally I think Firefly is the best, but I fully expected Snake-Eyes to run away with this." - Newton Gimmick

"The Pit Trooper is the best army builder produced in years, and that's why we haven't shot it for the CTR Photo Archive... We can't find one! When it comes to the best small figure, you always need to look at its shelf life. When you factor out the Scalper factor, and see the actual popularity of the piece, you can always tell what the most popular figures are. With all the Pit Troopers accessories, it could easily be used to create a very unique army, especially when the extra bits are put on other Joes." - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Jason	Marvel Universe Iron Man	Marvel Universe Iron Man
2nd Place	Pit Commando	Snake eyes	Snake eyes
3rd Place	Marvel Universe Iron Man	Deadpool	Jason

When I did my picks, small scale figures dominated. But the Poppies judges split things pretty evenly between large and small with their picks.

In third place is the Hot Toys Silken Floss, with 9% of the vote. As much as you might hate the movie, you have to admit that Hot Toys did a great job capturing the uber beautiful Scarlett Johansson, so much so that I already know their version of her as Black Widow will be an absolute must have.

Two smaller scale figures tied for second place, each with 12% of the vote. NECA's Coraline and Mattel's Teela both took silver, and both are certainly more than deserving.

But once again the Poppies judges agreed with the People's Pick voters - they place Hot Toys Sheva in the top spot, with 15% of the vote. Clearly there's more Resident Evil fans out there than I realized!

Judges thoughts:

"Well, it's Scarlett Johansson in 1/6th dressed as a dominatrix Nazi...what's not to like?" - Anonymous

"Once again, there were a lot of great choices this year, but Chun Li nails the character, and the 30+ points of articulation are well hidden and don't negatively affect the silhouette. Same can be said about NECA's April O'Neill, we all know that if it came to fisticuffs, Chun Li would hand April her ass faster than you can say "owned!" - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Coraline	Sheva	Sheva
2nd Place	Teela	Silken Floss	Coraline/ Teela
3rd Place	Alluxandra	Teela	Silken Floss

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With eight categories down and just six to go, we still have our streak of perfect first place agreement going - can it continue?

Third place bronze went to Hasbro for one of their Star Wars BAFs - the Dark Trooper. I never paid that much attention to this guy, but clearly I need to go back and take a second look, since 17% of the judges voted for him.

We had another tie for second, this time between two Mattel CnC figures - Giganta and Chemo. Both received 18% of the vote, and both were very high on my personal list of bests this year. Mattel certainly knows what it's doing with the CnC concept.

If you need further proof, just look at the first place winner, who took the slot with a commanding 32% of the vote - Kilowog. He wasn't the most complex BAF of the year, but the character is a fan favorite, and they executed him just about perfectly.

Judge's comments:

"Come on. One of them is a Green Lantern and the others aren't. The choice is simple." - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Kilowog	Kilowog	Kilowog
2nd Place	Imperiex	Dark Trooper	Giganta/ Chemo
3rd Place	Ancient's Chair	U3PO	Dark Trooper

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When you have one judge, you don't get any ties, unless he or she has trouble keeping their multiple personalities in check. When you have a huge number of judges, you don't get many either. But when you have just under 150, it gets a lot more likely.

Once again, we have a three way tie for third place, each garnering 9% of the judge's votes. Hasbro's AT-ST, DST's Back to the Future Delorean, and Habro's Optimus Prime Leader Class (some more TF love!) all took the bronze.

Second place was all to the Hot Toys Bat Pod though, with 13% of the vote. Yep, there's still some love for this vehicle, even a year after it's initial release.

But the impressive size of the Bat Pod, the coolness of the light up features of the Delorean, and the sheer fun play value of the AT-ST and Prime weren't enough to over come the total wow factor of the landslide winner, the Tumbler. Hot Toys took a whopping 47% of the vote with this vehicle, and agreed not just with the People's Picks voters but with yours truly.

Judge's comments:

"When I reviews the Delorean earlier this year, I knew this thing was going to be a hit. Here was a toy without a toy line, that I was willing to buy. Despite having no toy line attached to it, this was a great vehicle and made for lots of fun. Diamond Select Toys could have made it a tad better, but for the price point it turned out to be a real star." - Newton Gimmick

"I wish I could have picked up the Tumbler as well, but the Bat-Pod is a great display piece, and sums up TDK so well." - Anonymous

"Hot Toys' Bat Pod gives collectors a piece that you could put anywhere in your home or office without taking up as much space as the equally cool Tumbler. When you look at the Bat Pod, you see a scaled replica, not a toy. If you don't own one yet, do yourself a favour and get one now." - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Tumbler	Tumbler	Tumbler
2nd Place	Star Wars Turbo Tank	Bat Pod	Bat Pod
3rd Place	BTTF Delorean	AT-ST	AT-ST/ Prime/ BTTF Delorean

A lot of folks are going to be upset with the results here, expecting that Sideshow will take the top spot with another of their wonderful Premium Format statues. But just like the people, the poppies judges gave the top spot to someone else...

The did agree, or at least 8% agreed, that the Hellboy II PF should win. That was enough to snag a third place medal for him.

Another 15% agreed with me, voting for the Berserker Uruk-Hai PF. I love this bad boy, and I'm quite surprised he didn't win.

An odd thing happened with first - we had a tie! While there were plenty of other ties for second and third place, the other 13 categories all had very clear winners, most of the time with quite a few more votes than any of the trailing nominees. But 16% of the Poppies Judges agreed with the People's Picks voters and gave Catwoman a first place win, while another 16% went off in their own direction entirely, picking a statue that wasn't on any other winner's podium - the Rocketeer from Electric Tiki.

Since one of the two in the tie matches with the People's Picks choice, I'm going to say that the streak is still alive!

I don't have a shot of the Rocketeer, so I'll hit you up with Catwoman again...

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Berserker PF	Catwoman	Catwoman/ Rocketeer
2nd Place	Bishoujo Rogue	T-800 PF	Berserker PF
3rd Place	Sam and Max	Berserker PF	Hellboy PF

Here's a category where the winner has changed drastically from 2008 to 2009. Back then, Hot Toys dominated with their Dark Knight work, but this year they aren't in the top three.

Third place goes to DC Direct's Phantom Lady. 9% of the judges felt she had the best bust. Uh, was the best bust. Yea, that's what I meant.

Second place goes to another of the SDCC exclusives, Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Gentle Giant has done some really beautiful work on their Harry Potter series, and given us now both versions of Dumbledore.

The first place winner was another landslide, with 32% of the vote. Sideshow's 1:1 scale Iron Man took the honors, and I have to say that I'm quite happy to have one on my shelf.

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Stitch	Iron Man 1:1	Iron Man 1:1
2nd Place	Phantom Lady	Alien	SDCC Dumbledore
3rd Place	AT-AT	SDCC Megatron	Phantom Lady

We've gone through 11 of the 14 categories, and the multitude of voters in the People's Picks have consistently agreed with the Poppies Judges. That's quite a streak, but will this be the category to break it? Let's face it, that first place pick of Batman Cosbaby was a pretty big surprise...

Medicom gets another nod in this category, but not for the same VCD that the people chose. The Poppies Judges gave Tron Mickey 12% of the vote, enough to take bronze.

The second place winner is another great figure - Bramble, from 3A. There were actually a couple great releases in the World War Robot series this year, and if you're an Ashley Wood fan, you should check these out.  And yes, I know that Bramble started to hit in very late 2008, but most folks didn't get to see him til early 2009, making it tough for him to be on the 2008 ballot, much like the Bat Pod.

But the Poppies Judges did not go the cosbaby route for first place, breaking the streak. They chose the very cool Staypuft Marshmallow Man from DST. Yea, it's a bank, but I don't think anyone cares. I buy a lot of SDCC exclusives every year, but I didn't make this one a priority and I didn't get over to the DST booth in time to snag the angry version. I regret it every single day of my life. Or at least every other day.

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Bramble	Batman Cosbaby	Staypuft Marshmallow Man
2nd Place	Hellboy Mez-itz	Staypuft Marshmallow Man	Bramble
3rd Place	O-no Sushi	Alien VCD	Tron Mickey

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With more and more homes including media rooms and home theaters, decorating with prop replicas is becoming common. Last year we saw some pretty cool releases, and 2010 looks to be bringing us some even better stuff.

The third place winner took 11% of the vote, but I'm still not sure if it's really a 'prop replica'. It's the scaled version of the X-wing Fighter from eFX. It's definitely a replica, but I always think 1:1 when I think prop replica. Still, the judges felt it was the best category for it to be included, and clearly it was well loved.

The second place winner is a combo prop replica/bust sort of thing - the Green Lantern Rings from DST. Combining the cool ring with the bust of the character was a very smart move on DST's part.

And the top winner? Well, we're back on that streak, as 21% of the Poppies Judges picked the life size C-3PO as their best prop replica for 2009.

Thoughts from the judges:

"There have been a lot of really good Buzz Lightyear figures throughout the years. The first couple from Thinkway years ago were incredible toys. Hasbro and Mattel both made some decent ones. So for Thinkway to create the definative edition of this iconic character is very impressive. It's a shame this toy has to share the shelf with some less than stellar copies. This is an awesome toy for all ages." - Newton Gimmick

"Who doesn't want to have Captain Kirk's chair? If I could sneak one into my living room without my wife noticing, I'd have one. I might still try to sneak it in  :) " - D. Martin Myatt

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Fertility Idol	C-3PO	C-3PO
2nd Place	STOS Tri-corder	GOW Saw Gun	Green Lantern Rings
3rd Place	Captain's Chair STOS	Captain's Chair STOS	X-Wing

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We're down to the last of our 14 categories, that catch all division known as 'best misc'. There's always some oddballs in this one.

The third place winner, with 17% of the vote, is definitely an odd ball. It's the Ravager transforming USB. This thing is really cool, and a Hell of a lot better than that creepy USB the guy created as a fake finger...gross. I'm betting you'll get more women showing them your transforming USB than pulling off one of your digits and plugging it into your laptop. In fact, if the latter trips her trigger, she might be someone to avoid getting nekkid with.

The second place silver winner was my first place choice - the Toy Story Collection Buzz Lightyear. Leave it to Thinkway to take a great product (their original Buzz) and make it even better.

And just to round out the *almost* perfect match between the People's Picks and the Poppies this year, Han in Carbonite from Sideshow Collectibles pulled down 21% of the vote and took the gold!

Place	MWC's Picks	People's Picks	Poppies Picks
1st Place	Buzz Lightyear	Han in Carbonite	Han in Carbonite
2nd Place	Righteous Bison	Buzz Lightyear	Buzz Lightyear
3rd Place	Atomic Disintegrator	Lightsaber Chopsticks	Ravage USB

With 13 of the 14 first place winners in both the People's Picks and the Poppies coming out the same, I'd have to say that the results are pretty conclusive. The winners really are the best out there by popular opinion, whether you work at a company that competes with them, or you're a sculptor creating the products, or whether your a consumer coughing up your very hard earned money to buy them.

As I mentioned earlier, don't be surprised if you see some rule changes next year, and of course we'll review the potential need to break up a couple more of the categories. If you think you'd make a great Poppies judge, please drop me a line as well - I start putting together the judge list in March!