For our inaugural year, I set out to recruit approximately 100 judges from 5 different categories - Companies, Websites, Collectors, Retailers, and Artists.  The final list shows a fairly even distribution amongst these groups, with a grand total of 91 folks.  They come from all aspects of the industry - large companies to small, general websites to niche, contract artists to customizers, and fans of just about every major license.  I'm also happy to say that there's a global influence, with judges from North America, Asia, Australia and Europe.

And so without further ado, here's the folks that will be selecting the winners of the 2007 Poppies: 

Websites:

Where would our hobby and the industry be without the many websites out there that report the news, promote the collectibles, and provide the social networks for our geek selves.  The judges in this category represent websites that cover every aspect of the industry, from niche licenses and products to general themes and news.  There are 19 judges from 16 well known sites, some of which I'm sure you frequent.

- D. Martin Myatt is photographer/ editor/ creative director for Cool Toy Review, and photographer/ editor at Rebelscum.  For more than a decade, he has been contributing to the toy collecting community through numerous media outlets and has been a contributing editor and photography covering Star Wars collectibles for Rebelscum for seven years.  Last February, he and fellow Scummer Dan Curto launched Cool Toy Review, the media site that covers every other action figure line under the sun.

- Mark "Yoda027" Picirilli is the admin and owner of several large collecting websites, including Yodasnews.com, GentleGiantCollectors.com and VoldemortsVault.com.  He has been involved in the collecting online community for over 10 years.

- Adam Pawlus has been writing about toys online since 1995.  As a contributor to ToyFare Magazine, several web sites, and other publications, his currently best known for his daily "Figure of the Day" and weekly "Q&A" columns at Galactic Hunter.  He maintains a general toy news blog at 16bit.com, and his day job is the merchandiser/Toy Evangelist for Entertainment Earth.

- Jess C. Horsley, like Luke Skywalker, grew up on a farm and dreamt of escaping his small-town life to travel other worlds. After enlisting in the USMC as an infantryman, he realized this dream. A decorated combat veteran, Horsley continues to escape the monotony of a routine life as the managing editor of Figures.com, where he's free to play with toys and actually gets paid to do so.

- Daniel "Julius Marx" Pickett is the co-creator/co-owner of Action Figure Insider, a toy news site with a focus on the creators and process of making pop culture collectibles.  He has been writing about toys for just under 10 years and has been collecting his whole life.  He also consults with many companies on projects, hosts panel discussions at conventions, and answers questions from readers all over the world.  Action Figure Insider has recently been featured on Wired.com, G4's "Attack of the Show", and USA Today's "Pop Candy" blog.

- Jay Cochran is the President and Co-Founder of Entertainment News International LLC, a network of media websites dedicated to covering all things "pop culture".  Started in 1999 with a small website called AmericanDreamComics.com (now known as Toy News International), which focuses primarily on action figures and collectibles, Jay and his partner, Jack Hurtwitz, have worked to create one of the most extensive "pop culture" networks on the Internet today focusing not only on action figures, but also on video games, comic books, and movie and television entertainment news, reaching over 100,000 readers on a daily basis.

- Philip Wise is best known around here as the founder of Rebelscum.  When not answering email or figuring out what to add next with website publishing software, Philip can be found making heaps of sawdust in his New Wookiee Workshop, or managing another website interest, TheForce.net.

- Norman "Ronin Six" Apalis is the co-founder, and senior editor of the OneSixthWarriors, a prominent website devoted to showcasing the best of 1:6th scale action figures of all brands, genres, and eras. Having been an action figure buff for over a decade, he has amassed a collection of "man-dolls" ranging from science fiction to modern military bordering on excessive. Supported by a horde of highly passionate 1:6 hobbyists, along with an equally fanatical group of staff members, Norm hopes the OSW continues to remain an integral part of the ever-growing action figure community focused on collecting, kitbashing, and customizing.

- Jeremy Wilcox (aka blueduck37) is the administrator for the Simpsons Collector Sector web community, the largest Simpsons collecting website on the net.  His collection was recently featured in Time Out New York magazine, making his mother very proud.

- Matt MacNabb is the owner / editor / webmaster for Legions of Gotham. A driving force in the collecting community for over four years, LOG has taken leaps and bounds to break down the barriers between the industry and the collectors. Matt is a lifelong Batman fan, and has been a serious Batman collector for over a decade, with well over 3,500 pieces in his collection.

- Chad (aka CMK) is the administrator of BtVSFigs, an online forum dedicated specifically to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel action figures/merchandise.

- David Stephan has worked in motion picture distribution for many years, but his true love is for the collectibles of classic Sc-Fi/Fantasy entertainment.  To that end, he is the creator and administrator of the fan forum "Sideshow Freaks", the largest website and forum dedicated to Sideshow Collectibles.  Residing in sunny Southern California, he constantly battles for living space with piles and piles of Sideshow boxes.

- Phil Reasoner (philnjill) aka Darth Dug is a father of five and collector of too much. He did image guides for the late great Palisades and now is the primary Image Guide supplier for GentleGiantCollectors.com. He's been collecting Star Wars since 1977 and in the past decade has diversified into everything from Palisades Muppets to Medicom Be@rbricks, from DST's Battlestar Galactica to KidRobot Dunny's, from NECA's NBX and Gentle Giants...everything...to Rocketworld I.W.G., Jamungo BUDS and October Toys GWIN's.

- Mr. Stinkhead is the editor of MillionairePlayboy.com, he recently launched NonToxicReviews.com to review baby/childrens' toys and gadgets for Dads. He has written for ToyFare Magazine and the Washington Post. If any playmobil has been nominated, it's his fault.

- Chris Holoka is the graphics designer for such Star Wars sites as Rebelscum.com, TheForce.net, and ToshiStation.com.

- Jeff Saylor - Editor of www.Figures.com. Artist, writer and admitted toy addict, his passion for pop culture collectibles dates back to a Micronaut/Star Wars/Shogun Warrior laced childhood. If not online, Jeff can be found playing video games, painting or rearranging his extensive toy collection. Currently trying to find more space for his growing army of robots and Aliens... 

- Paul Wolf: A consultant by day and toy fiend by night. Paul's been into toys and action figures since before the internet. Yes kids there was a time when there was no internet. Specializing in super-articulated toys, he's also been known to pick up the occasional odd and end. MARVEL LEGENDS FOR THE WIN!

- Jason "ToyOtter" Geyer has been involved in online toy culture for over 15 years, beginning with the fabled rec.toys.misc usenet group. He was a founder of Raving Toy Maniac which led to his own ToyOtter.com site and is currently a co-creator/co-owner of Action Figure Insider with Daniel Pickett. His expertise has led to numerous print articles on toys, involvement with toy panels at the major cons, and as a consultant for DVD features. Although Jason was a toy designer himself for many years, he now works the other side of the aisle in marketing where he develops promotions for Wal-Mart, Frito-Lay, Hershey, and Pepsi among other clients. He also enjoys a fine cup of coffee. 

- Frank Patz Batista left the weird and wonderful world of Mexican Lucha Libre to start, Eternal Collector. The internets ultimate gallery of Collectors and their Collections from all over the world. While this career choice is just as fun as his first, it certainly is easier on the back. He has been a toy Collector is entire life and even remembers sneaking out of arenas before a wrestling show to run to the local toy store to see what is available. "Everyone had a time in their life where they stopped collecting toys, because of school, work, or girlfriends. I have never stopped." Eternal Collector has been featured on G4TV, the Discovery Channel, Treasure HD, various magazines, and websites.

Artists:

You can't produce amazing products without designers, fabricators, sculptors, painters and other artisans.  These judges come from that side of the business.  Many are freelancers, but some work for specific companies. Others are well known and respected customizers, who do commission work for individuals, magazines and others.

- Bill Mancuso - sculpting your favorite Dog Poo, Vomit and Spilt Wine Glass novelty items since 1994.  MWC note: Actually, Bill has sculpted some of the best action figures on the market today, including many of the Muppets, Marvel Legends and and Marvel Toys.  He's just too shy to tell you.

-Cason Pillod - Not satisfied with the limited options available at retail, Cason Pilliod has been crafting his own toys since he was a child.  his passion for toys merges with his background as a theatrical prop designer, allowing him to find unique customizing solutions, which he shares with the ever-growing customizing community via Inanimate Objects.

- Jonathan Matthews is an eight year veteran sculptor for the toy industry, currently on contract with DC Direct as a sculptor of action figures and statues.

- Joe Dunaway has been a painter of resin model kits for over 15 years, and is also an avid toy collector.  He loves his aliens and monsters, but also enjoys any figure that's well sculpted.  Check out his work at his site, ModelZone.

- Paul Harding is a sculptor of action figures for Hasbro, DC Direct and Marvel Toys.

- Brian Dooley has been in the FX and toy sculpting business for 12 years.  He's best known for his work with Jim Henson's Creature Shop and the Sideshow Collectibles New Line Horror and The Dead lines.  He recently completed designs for the film "Iron Man".

- Artist Matt Haley is well known in the world of comic books for his years of work for both Marvel and DC, but has recently attracted a whole new audience, thanks to the comic style art panels he created for seasons 1 and 2 of the Sc-Fi Channel's hit tv series "Stan Lee's Who Wants to be a Superhero?" as well as his work on the Superman Returns movie adaptation and the accompanying promotional poster that appeared in the USA Weekender magazine.  Haley's talent and reputation as an artist have created a demand for his work that spans the entertainment industry: he served as the artist for LucasArts' Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith XBOX game, designed the title sequence for DIC's new animated series Sushi Pack, and is currently creating concept art and illustration for the "Sanctuary" TV series.  Die-hard comic fans will also recognize Haley's design in the new Batgirl and Supergirl action figures from DC Direct currently available in stores nationwide.

- Timothy K Miller (but please just call me "Tim") sculpts for Mcfarlane Toys and Sideshow Collectibles, usually portraits.  Teaches Sunday School.  Likes puppy-breath, snowboarding, sushi, and women.  Hates writing bios.

- Ed Wires: Prototype Painter.  Ed has been painting toy prototypes since 1998.  He has painted thousands of prototypes for all of the collectible genres: Marvel, DC, Muppets, The Hyborian Age, Star Trek, NFL, 2,000 A.D., and many others.

- "HeadsUpCustoms" has been sculpting on and off since 1999, seriously for the last 2 years. He has worked freelance for McFarlane toys, as well as freelance, and now full time, for NECA. He has also had over a dozen custom jobs in ToyFare's Wish List section.

- Jin Saotome of Jin Saotome's Dangerous Toys. Customizing maniac and keeper of the sacred 'steel Wolverine claws'.  Responsible for the plague of Iceman customs on Ebay years ago that mankind shall never forgive him for.

- Andy Bergholtz ---- Professional sculptor and founder of A.B. Sculpture Studio. Andy has been in the industry for 9 years and has worked as a sculptor for such companies as McFarlane Toys, Palisades, Diamond Select, Sideshow Collectibles and DC Direct.

- Adam Hughes is a world-famous comic-book cover artist, who regularly misses deadlines because he loves playing with his 1:6 scale toys a bit too much. When he DOES get to the drawing table, his covers have graced WONDER WOMAN and CATWOMAN for DC Comics, and STAR WARS for Dark Horse. He is designing a line of comiquette statues for SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES based on MARVEL super-heroines.

- Matt 'Iron-Cow' Cauley, probably best known for his custom action figure work, formed Iron-Cow Prod. LLC to better serve his illustration, animation, design, and toy production clients. In addition to being a featured contributer to ToyFare Magazine, there are over 50 ICP-designed DC Direct, Battlestar Galactica and Marvel Comics Minimate action figures currently on sale. His artwork is exhibited and published worldwide and he is currently hard at work developing a line of t-shirts for Macys featuring his illustrations. Matt's illustration, broadcast, fine art, and toy design portfolios can be seen at the official Iron-Cow Prod.

- Mat Falls is the resident sculptor and a co-founder of Sideshow Collectibles. Falls moved to Los Angeles from Northern California in 1983 and established himself in the burgeoning make up effects industry, working for Oscar winners Rick Baker and Greg Cannom. After several years in the waning effects make up industry, Falls realized a transition was in order and helped co-found Sideshow Collectibles as the Dir. of 3-D design.

- David Reeves is a manufacturing rep and designer, working with both his own company and many others.  He's been working on a lot of figures for Sony DVDs, Fox DVDs, and now Fox Sports/NFL. If you watch football on FOX, you've seen the computer animated robot they have before, during and after the show. He's completed the final tooling done in both 4 inch and 10 inch versions, and the 10 inch version should be sitting on the pre and post agme show desk very soon. These will be in Target, Walmart, etc etc.

- The Shiflett Brothers, Brandon and Jarrod, are professional sculptors who have been working in the comic book statue industry for 12 years. Their body of work includes The Hulk, Juggernaut, and Grendel Prime Statues for Bowen Designs. Also, the Draco and Kabuki statues for Moore Creations and collaborations with Alex Ross including the Earth X Captain America Statue for Dynamic Forces. Their work has been featured in three Spectrum books, which collect the year's best fantasy art.

Retailers:

Without retailers to sell the stuff, there'd be a whole lot less to buy.  In fact, that's one of the current issues for the industry, as fewer and fewer retailers carry the figures, statues and busts we love.  These judges represent 15 of the best known specialty market retailers, from small to large.

- Joel Boblit is the owner of the retail website Big Bad Toy Store and lifelong fan of 80's action figures.  To quote Joel "I'll use my experience dealing with the manufacturers as well as customer feedback and order levels when voting this year".

- Thomas Gaul is the owner of the CornerStoreComics and AmazingToyz online retail stores, as well as the CSC Comic Shop and Collectibles Showroom located in Anaheim, California.  He became a slave to the plastic back in 1977 (at age 7) when he purchased his first Kenner Star Wars figure (Han Solo/Fat Head/ 12-back) for $2.29 at the local department store.

- Marc Bowker founded AlterEgoComics.com in 2003 and opened a retail location in Lima, OH in 2005. Alter Ego Comics specializes in new action figures, statues, prop and historical replicas.

- Jason Dorough is the general manager of Comics Infinity, an online retailer in the business of selling toys, busts, comic books, statues and other collectibles for almost a decade.

- Jason Labowitz is Co-founder and President of multi-channel retailer and distributor Entertainment Earth, Inc.

- Adam Stinson is the founder of Dark Shadow Collectibles, which started online in 2004 and is based in Leander, TX.  Dark Shadow Collectibles sells products such as statues, busts and prop replicas.  Adam has been a collector of Marvel and Star Wars items since the early 90's.

- Rick Whitelock is the owner of New Force Comics and Collectibles, and has been a collector of action figures and comics since the mid-1970's, as well as a retailer and wholeseller of both since 1995.  Collectors of Star Trek or World of Springfield figures will certainly recognize Rick, as he has been a huge factor in the online success of both lines.

- Patrick Wang is the president of Action Figure Xpress, a worldwide retailer and distributor of exclusive and limited edition products since 1997.

- Matt Williams is the owner and operator of Toys and Cool Stuff, a Canadian source for awesome action figures and toys.  Like many people in the toy world, he got his start with an addiction to the original Kenner Star Wars figure line back in the 1980's.

- Kenny Penman is co-founder of Forbidden Planet International - started in 1975, with 17 stores in the UK, 1 in Ireland and one in New York City. He looks after their company website when not being distracted by comics and incredible toys. He lives in London, UK so will hope to be able to bring knowledge of a wider range of toys coming from Europe than many US retailers may have seen.

- Kevin Kriese is the founder of Time and Space Toys, an online retailer that specializes in several key areas of collectibles, including Buffy/Angel, classic television shows and Christmas related lines.  He also founded the Buffy Collector Club, where members can get discounts on Buffy and Angle merchandise.  He is also the proud owner of the original puppest of Santa and Rudolph from the classic Christmas TV special "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".  You can read all about the discovery and restoration of these two critical pieces of Americana at the website.

- Jeff Cope has been a long-time member of the online collecting community going back to the rec.toys.misc Usenet group in the 90s. He has served as the E-I-C of RTM, and written for a variety of other collecting sites (and currently hangs his hat at ActionFigureInsider.com), as well as Tomart's Action Figure Digest. In September 2007 Jeff opened Alley Cat Games & Comics in Dublin, OH.

- Bob "The Godfather" Fulkerson is the owner of Fireside Collectibles. Fireside Collectibles started in 2001 as a spin off the a previous business and then moved into the online store in 2004. Bob first got into collecting with the Kenner Han Solo Blaster in 1982.

- and there are 2 additional retailer judges that wish to remain Anonymous.

Collectors:

In the end, it's the buyers that decide what gets made and what doesn't.  They vote with the money in their wallet, and smart companies and retailers listen.  I selected 17 collectors that I feel are opinionated, respected, and experienced.  Some are collectors of very specific lines, while others buy just about anything, but they all know the industry well.

- Jason "Poe Ghostal" Clarke is a founding member of OAFE.net, and an occasional reviewer here at MROTW.  He has also written a number of articles for Toyfare magazine.

-Brant Rusch has been collecting (and mercilessly critiquing) action figures for many moons.  Today his interests lie mainly in 1/6 scale licensed characters from TV and film, but it seems there's always something outside that realm that causes his wallet to magically open.  In 1990, $30 was his monthly toy bill.  In 2007, that doesn't even cover his shipping and handling.

- David Yeh is a product of the 80's, raised on true gems such as G.I. Joe, Transformers, He-man, and yes, even M.U.S.C.L.E.  David had outgrown toys until the 1995 release of Star Wars lured him back for more.  Since then, he has gotten hooked on dozens of other toy lines as well.  David has written for mwctoys.com, galactichunter.com and currently writes toy reviews for Figures.com in his spare time.

- Jeff Parker aka Wookster, is a freelance illustrator and designer, interested in all areas of pop culture and collecting, with a soft spot for Bettie Page, Guinness and all things sixth scale.

- Mark G. Meyer - "The Tekwych" is owner and editor of Go! Figure.  he is a figure collector and industry historian believing that knowledge of the toy industry's history and an understanding of the manufacturing process can make one a better collector.  While Japanese robots and Microman make up the bulk of his collection, almost every format and scale can be found some where on his shelves.

- Joranthalus spends a lot of time on various toy message boards whiel pretending to work.  A full-time Network Engineer, part-time Musician, and a pop culture junkie with a multitude of obsessions that include the classic Universal Monsters, pre-80's B-movies, cigars, running and obviously collecting toys.

- Tommy Sanchez is the co-founder of the "Custom of the Year" competition (coming soon for 2007!), a collector of many things 6 inch scale, a freelance artist, and an overall decent guy.

- T. Phillips (redwing23) is a Sheriff's Deputy and fan of all things Detroit sports!  Collecting 1/6th scale figures is his vice and we have Medicom's Reloaded Neo to thank for that!  He enjoy's movies and his favorite shows are Curb Your Enthusiasm and the now defunct Arrested Development (damn you FOX!).

- Sean Whigham, aka MaulFan, is a freelance graphic artist and a diehard collector of pop culture memorabilia.   Sean's mix of creativity in his graphics and passion for collecting have blended into a steady stream of creative imagery posted around the various thread of the Sideshow Freaks forums, and has even made its way to SideshowCollectibles.com.

- Engineererd (John V.) has been collecting Star Wars figures since the original 12 came out.  To appear to his wife that he's doing something with his varied collection, he posts reviews, action figure comics, and other related items on his website, TV and Film Toys.

- Khalil Quotap aka Kastor is a toy and comic collector who runs the blog Kastor's Korner.  On the blog, Kastor mixes toy reviews with the joys and frustrations of collecting.  Khalil also writes a weekly column on Fwoosh called Demanded Characters which is a short biography on DC characters that fans want to see made into toys.

- JediJones (Eric S.) is a database administrator by day and an action figure collector by morning, noon, night, and later night. He began collecting when his mom bought him Kenner's original Han Solo in 1982 and he hasn't stopped since. His favorite toy lines out of the way too many he collects include Hasbro's modern Star Wars, their 1980s G.I. Joe, Playmates' Simpsons World of Springfield, the various DC animated-style figures, and one-shot movie tie-ins like Mezco's King Kong and NECA's Ghostbusters. Good sculpting is more important to him than high posability and he believes accessories such as vehicles and playsets are what set a truly great action figure line apart from the rest.

- Guy Klender - A Los Angeles based toy collector, I moved to California ten years ago and brought my love of toys to the sunny state. I lucked out with a collectors show or a major show, i.e. SDCC nearly every week so the lust for toys is easy to nourish. I started years back with the new STAR WARS line and it all grew from there. I gained recognition as a toy collector with the film STARWOIDS that made for a fun time at shows with the occasional autograph and I did receive a fan letter as well. I moved on to the higher end products and Sideshow Collectibles sees my bank statement nearly as often as I do. I love finding the rarity or the obscure toy that I may not have known of but for some reason must have. It's a wacky life sure but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world….except for a 12 back vinyl caped Jawa perhaps.

- From 1977 to 1989, Jason Chirevas's parents bought him action figures to play with. Since 1993, he's collected action figures, this time with his own money and everything. A lot happened between.

- Brian Santore - Creator of ROC/ Ring of Collectors, Moderator of MMAnews.com, Favorite lines include GI Joe, Sideshow Star Wars, LoTR, Jakks Wrestling Classics & Transformers.

- There are 2 more judge in the collector category who wish to remain anonymous. 

And there you have the 91 judges for 2007!  I'll be looking to expand this group of judges in 2008, so if you or a colleague are interested, please drop me an email.