For our third year, we have 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 138 people.  They come from all aspects of the industry - large companies to small, general websites to niche, online to print, 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 2009 Poppies: 

Companies:

In this category of judges, 30 companies are represented by 40 different judges.  The companies represented range from one guy operations to multi-billion dollar organizations, from mass market to specialty market, with headquarters around the world.

- Mike Horn, Philadelphia Eagles fan, is father to two children, husband for more than a decade, and CEO of a growing collection of businesses. SwagDog.com is a leading manufacturer of On Demand Apparel™, leading the way with a license from World of Warcraft to produce custom printed clothing. The MVP Collection is breaking ground in the licensed collector statue realm with the introduction of Mini Busts and Statues, licensed by NFL Properties and NFL Players Association.

- Scott Tipton serves as design consultant and copywriter for Toynami, and also currently writes ASTRO BOY, STAR TREK and ANGEL comics for IDW Publishing.  His book, COMIC BOOKS 101: THE HISTORY, METHODS AND MADNESS, is currently in bookstores. He has a startlingly large toy collection, but in this crowd it's probably about average.

- Scott Neitlich is a Associate Brand Manager for Associate Brand Manager - Mattel DC Universe, Master of the Universe, Ghostbusters, Mattycollector.com. A lifelong toy fan himself, Scott began his career in advertising but quickly followed his heart to the toy business to help start up MattyCollector.com and run Mattel's convention and fan relations presence.

- Shingo Nakagawa, International Media and Marketing Coordinator for Japan's #1 Collector Toy Company, Kotobukiya.

- Jim Wampler is the Director of Sales for Quantum Mechanix, Inc. He's been a toy collector and fan for longer than he wants to remember and has 20 + years experience working in the toy and hobby industries.

- Howard Chan - the Founder and CEO of Hot Toys Limited, is a Hong Kong based entrepreneur and a creative director for Hot Toys Ltd. Howard has been an enthusiast of collectible figures since his childhood and turned his passion into a successful career. He initially started his business by producing 1/6th scale military action figures. In view of the popularity of the military action figure series at that time, Howard attained a great success and further expanded his product scope by specializing in 1/6th scale popular movie character and world-renowned celebrity collectibles. 

- Ethan Collings is the Manager of International Licensing at Jakks Pacific INC.  As the title says, he manages international licensing for the numerous toy lines at Jakks.  He has been working in toys for the past three years, but has been a toy collector/fan ever since he got his first fast-food job and was able to buy toys for himself.

- Ken Lilly is the Director of Product Development of The MVP Collection, a new company producing NFL Mini Busts, Statues and other sports merchandise.
The first new products from The MVP Collection will debut during the 2009 NFL season, with much more to follow throughout the year. Previously with The ReSaurus Company and Palisades Toys, Ken was the creative force behind many product lines including Crash Bandicoot, Invader Zim, Resident Evil and the very popular figures and playsets based on The Muppet Show.

- Rick Phares is well known in the action figure industry.  He was a Executive Vice President at Full Moon Toys, and they produced a variety of figures including the popular Puppet Master line. He started Majestic Studios, and produced sixth scale figures based on the past and present Battlestar Galactica series, as well as some very cool horror properties. Currently, he runs Boom Ltd, a full time consuting company working with manufacturers in Hong Kong and China.

- Amanda Burns has moved up in the working world to Asst. Brand Manager, Marketing at Bandai America on the Power Rangers toy line.  Even though Amanda has been with Bandai for just over a year, she has to confess that she is experiencing some withdrawal side effects now that she is no longer dealing with Star Wars...

- Ashly Powell is the Senior Manager of Product Development at Gentle Giant Studios. Before landing on the west coast she worked for DC Direct/DC Comics making Batman and Superman action figures, and before that, she found her real love and passion of urban vinyl while working for Kidrobot in New York City.  Slogan: "I Love Vinyl" (and marshmallow peeps!)

- The Phrenologist: This anonymous judge has worked in some area of the toy industry for over a decade.  He oversaw all action figures for what was once the largest toy specialty retailer in the US and Mexico.  He has handled contests, press releases and public relations for several toy companies.  As a writer his work has appeared in Fangoria, Baby Boomer, Omni, Psychology Today, Playboy, ASB Magazine, Time Out New York, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and numerous other publications.  He is the author of two books currently available on Amazon (and at a bookstore near you!) has just finished a book on the artwork of imprisoned artist Michael Lee Ford, and is working on a new book about Halloween in New York City.  He believes that the MAC Rescue Center (aka MAC Mountain) is one of the greatest toys that ever was, and misses old fashioned toy commercials of the 70's.

- Jess Bansal has been involved in the toy industry for years, working with companies like Toycom, SOTA and the Stevenson Entertainment Group. He's leadership with sales and marketing has been a key factor in seeing many of the cool action figures, statues and busts from these companies make it to market. He's currently VP of Sales for Huckleberry Toys.

- Damien Glonek is product manager at Mezco Toyz and co-creator of Living Dead Dolls.  He is a horror movie junkie and collects everything dealing with horror, please find him a bigger house to hold his collection.

- Mike is the owner of Peril Unlimited, a toy maker, horror movie, and comic book fan, and works for the local fire department.

- Mark Weber served as the Sports Brand Manager for McFarlane Toys from 2003 through 2008, before the entire creative department was eliminated in layoffs last December. He remains dialed in to the overall toy industry, and keeps busy managing his 26-year G.I. Joe collection and teaching his 3-year-old new Transformer names every day. He is available for job opportunities, consulting work, and to make balloon animals at children's birthday parties.

- Terry Scott is a senior vice president at Hasbro. His responsibilities include management of global creative services, which includes the packaging team, and creative director for Cake Mix Studios which is Hasbro's internal IP creative engine and video production team. Terry's team is responsible for all packaging graphic design for both boys and girls toy lines including; Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe, Spider-man and other Marvel lines, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Nerf, Playskool, Easy Bake Oven and many more Hasbro core brands. He's a lifelong action figure collector of Transformers, Thundercats and the Thunderbirds.

- Jesse Falcon has been a featured performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC since 1998, which helped launch the careers of comedians like Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler and The Daily Show's Rob Corddry. Falcon also performs with the comedy group "Mother" and is the co-creator of "Video=Nasty!" and "Telethon" and has been a featured player on "The Chipperton Family", "Showgirls = The greatest Movie ever made....EVER!", "Cracked Out" and "Girl Crush 2040". He has also appeared in the comedic short film Running with Scissors. When he's not bringing laughter to the masses, Falcon has created some of the world's most popular action figures for Marvel Comics, like Marvel Legends and Legendary Comic Book Heroes. In 2005, Falcon was named a Contributing Editor to the national humor magazine "Cracked".

- Charles Howell is the Art Director for Toy Factory, an amusement and crane plush company that produces original designs as well as licensed designs for some of the top properties out there. He has worked in the creative end of the toy industry and the amusement ride industry for over 12 years, plus has produced illustrations for magazines and books including Star Wars Kids Magazine for Scholastic.

“I have always wanted to be involved with art, toys, and licensed properties early on. Along the way I have amassed a good sized collection. So, yeah I’m a collector as well, I think it comes with the territory.”

- Randy Falk is the Director of Product Development for NECA. He manages the development and production for all of NECA's action figures. He is also an obsessive completist when it comes to his toy collection especially 3 3/4" Star Wars and the classic MEGO Super-Heroes.

- Brock Otterbacher is the licensing guy over at Sideshow Collectibles. Lover of all things Terminator, Aliens, Predator, and pulp (esp. Conan), as well as many other geeky things. He prays to Crom every night, and before climbing into bed with his stuffed Cthulhu, he makes sure that his Devilman Underoos® are nice and snug. In all the right places.

- Brant Bridges is the Operations Manager at Sideshow Collectibles, providing support to the creative services and production management teams, and assisting with the product marketing and forecasting. He's a sucker for all things Lego and Star Wars, but has a weakness for great sculpts from any property.

- Between volunteering as a crash test pilot for NASA and serving 10+ years in the toy industry, Deihl Betz is about as tough as they come. He currently resides in Chicago, IL enjoying his gig as Sales Director at MGA Entertainment.  Over the years, Deihl has also spent time with McFarlane Toys, Play Along Toys, and Art Asylum.  Deihl's Wii Fit age is 192.

- Jesse DeStasio is the International Director for Striker Entertainment, handling the entertainment licensing for several high profile film properties. No stranger to all things nerdy, Jesse has been nearly fired from gigs at Play Along Toys, Art Asylum, Mezco Toys, and New Line Cinema. In his spare time, he paints or something. I dunno. I guess you can see some of that mess here: www.jessedestasio.com. Fun Fact: Jesse was flunked out of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NYC Improv School in early 2008!

- Steve Forde, Owner Go Hero / Designer / Consultant. Steve’s first word was "Batman"! His affection for heroes, monsters, and toys led him to work for Kay Bee Toys & Toys "R" Us. His love for art moved him on to hone his skills over 10 years with corporate & freelance media design for celebrities, multi-million dollar companies, as well as many of the independent designer toy companies. In 2004 Steve launched Go Hero, an independent toy & entertainment company at the forefront of the vanguard movement in designer collectibles, making original and licensed lifestyle products and properties. Go Hero products, art, and designs have been featured in several leading edge books, magazines, online publications including Sci-fi Channel, Giant Robot, Juxtapoz, MTV Books, Wizard Publications, Lee's Toy Review, Dot Dot Dash, Full Vinyl, and many others. Steve's work has also sold at the Philips de Pury Auction houses in New York and London. In 2007 Go Hero re-launched and began work on creating never before made licensed retro collectibles based on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Flash Gordon, works by Ray Harryhausen and more. These new products represent the highest quality, expert engineering, and a variety of disciplines in plastics, woods, metals, soft goods, electronics and more. One of the notable offering is a patented internal MP3 player for a new line of 1:6 scale figures called the ATOMedia. In 2009 look for more 1:6 scale figures, vehicles, replicas as well as a return to vinyl.

- Jason Lenzi is the founder and CEO of Bif Bang Pow! Toys. Jason lives and works in Los Angeles, as a freelance writer/producer for television, and as a voice over artist for television and radio. He started Bif Bang Pow! over four years ago, and in that time has released action figures and bobble heads for 'The Big Lebowski', the 1980 movie version of 'Flash Gordon' (with figures art directed by Alex Ross), Showtime Networks' hit series 'Dexter' and 'Californication' , CBS' 'The Twilight Zone', ABC's 'LOST', and Scott Ian of Anthrax. He is a Leo, loves toys, movies, mod culture and The Beatles. This is his second year voting on the Poppies, and he hopes to win in every category. Even the ones Bif Bang Pow! doesn't qualify for.

- David Lee is the co-owner of Cast-a-Way Toys, and long time action-figure collector and customizer. Starting back into toys in 1995 as a collector, he has progressed from aficionado into toy maker, along with best friend Jason Schiermeyer, to make 8 inch toys reminiscent of their favorites MEGOs from childhood. 

- Matt Peck Matt Peck is a snarky action figure and toy collector who has worked as Marketing Associate for Diamond Select Toys for the past five years. Starting as a (self-described) lowly internet fan-boy who spent all his time worshipping Joss Whedon, he is now a PROFESSIONAL fan-boy who only spends MOST of his time worshipping Joss Whedon. When not obsessing over his Minimates collection, Matt enjoys all aspects of pop culture from television to comics to film.

- Tim Launder is in charge of reaching things on high shelves. This is a really important job at Weta because there are a lot of high shelves in the Workshop, and if you don't do it right, all the dust can fall in your eyes. Fortunately he is blessed with supernatural powers which allow him to be really good at this; he has very long arms.

As the General Manager of Weta Limited, Tim also gets to sell and market all the wonderful art that the team in the Workshop create. As his son says; "Dad used to sell cheese, but now he's got a cool job".

- Dan Lujan is Kotobukiya's Associate Advisor for online media and marketing within the US. No stranger to the hobby, Dan has been a avid collector of toys, busts, statues and such for over 15 years.

- Adam Van Wickler grew up during the heyday of action figures. Star Wars, GI Joe, He-man, Thundercats, Transformers, Super Powers, Secret Wars, Mego.  You name the line and Adam had at least a few figures from it. His mother still likes to tell people that Adam was potty trained with the promise of a new Star Wars action figure each time he went like a big boy. To this day he still expects a new action figure each time he goes like a big boy.

Adam has been involved professionally in the toy industry since 2001 and is lucky enough to have worked on many of the toy lines that he grew up playing with.

Adam is gainfully employed by Gentle Giant Studios. Working as an Account Manager in their External Prototyping division, he works with various clients throughout the prototyping process. Overseeing concept artwork, sculpting, molding/casting, painting, and working directly with licensors to gain approvals are among his day to day tasks.

Be sure to check out www.gentlegiantstudios.com and Adam's personal site www.playing-with-myself.com for more!

- Bob Fulkerson: his journey into the toy/collectibles industry began as young boy with a Kenner Han Solo Blaster and has only gotten worse from there. He started as a Collector then a Collectibles Dealer and now an Account Rep/Janitor with Quantummechanix, Inc.   Where will it end when they peel that Blaster from his cold dead hands.

-  Other Company Judges include Travis Allen, Jeff Trojan (DC Direct), Tyler Jeffers (Microsoft), Joseph Reiter (Symbiote Studios), Michael Wilde (Mattel), Darren (One2One), Louie Tran (Triad Toys), Scott Klauder (Sideshow), and Frank Supiot.

Media:

Where would our hobby and the industry be without the many websites and magazines 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 and print publications that cover every aspect of the industry, from niche licenses and products to general themes and news.  There are 38 judges from a wide variety of outlets, some of which I'm sure you'll recognize.

- Justin Aclin is the Editor of ToyFare Magazine from Wizard Entertainment, the #1 action figure magazine. Prior to the past seven years with the magazine, Justin was merely an amateur toy, comic book and geek culture enthusiast. Justin is also the head writer of ToyFare's award-winning humorous comic strip, "Twisted ToyFare Theatre," a fact which he never fails to use as an excuse to promote his own super hero graphic novel, "Hero House," in comic shops now from Arcana Comics.

- Zach Oat is the editor of TelevisionWithoutPity.com and MoviesWithoutPity.com. Before that, he was the editor of ToyFare magazine. Along with toy sculptors Tim Bruckner and Ruben Procopio, he is the co-author of Pop Sculpture: How to Create Your Own Action Figures and Collectable Statues, and the book should be out in fall 2010 from Watson-Guptill. And yes, he still loves C.O.P.S.

- D. Martin Myatt is the 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 photographer covering Star Wars collectibles for Rebelscum since 2000. Myatt's Cool Toy Review continues to grow in content and popularity. Moving into its forth year, CTR's Action Figure Photo Archive is second to none.

- While they couldn't Jason "Poe Ghostal" Clarke writes Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation, a blog about action figures and the industry at large. He has written for Toyfare magazine and for websites such as IGN, OAFE and ToplessRobot.com.

- Brian Slivka has been covering the designer toy industry for 5 years.  It started with a few Happy Meal toys and a dream.  But that just lead to eating thousands of unnecessary calories and waking up from the dream 30 pounds heavier.  Plastic and Plush started up over 3 years ago, and it continues to deliver daily news and reviews from the designer toy and limited edition toy worlds.

- 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. 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. He was most recently featured in Spain's #1 marketing journal, Yorokubu. Although Jason was a toy designer himself for many years, he now works the other side of the aisle in marketing where he develops national promotions for Wal-Mart, Frito-Lay, Hershey, and Pepsi among other clients. He also enjoys a fine cup of coffee.

- Mark Picirilli is the admin and webmaster of several large collecting websites, including Yodasnews.com, GentleGiantCollectors.com, IndianaJonesCollectors.com, HaloCollectors.com and VoldemortsVault.com. He has been involved in the collecting online community for over 12 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.

- 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 of the *Legion Fan Network*, which
includes Legions of Gotham, Toy Legion, Ghostbusters Collector, Pixar Collector and DVD Legion. A driving force in the collecting community for over six years, Legions of Gotham has taken leaps and bounds to break down the barriers between the industry and the collectors. Their coverage focuses on Batman collecting and animation. Matt is a lifelong Batman fan and toy collector, with well over 5,000 pieces in his personal collection.

- 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.

- Jack Muramatsu - Founder and editor of Vinyl Pulse, the premiere news site providing coverage of designer vinyl toys.  After opening countless toys over the past four years, he's got a strange gleam in his eye -- one too many sniffs of vinyl fumes. He's living the dream of blogging full-time about toys and loving every minute of it from sunny Pasadena, California.

- 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.

- Ron Mirasol (aka SamuRon), TheFwoosh.com and ActionFigurePics.com – At the start of the millenium, Ron had an early mid-life crisis and then ended a decade of responsible adulthood by renewing his interest in action figures. Guaranteeing his fiscal and moral decline, in 2004 he joined the staff of TheFwoosh.com, eventually becoming a site administrator and founder and publisher of the Fwoosh E-Zine. But that still wasn’t enough. In April 2009, Ron founded ActionFigurePics.com. Most recently, he helped launch TheCoinSlot.com, Fwoosh’s sister site dedicated to video games. Today, he splits his spare time between the Fwoosh and AFP, and secretly hopes his day job in high tech will somehow intersect with his toy collecting hobby.

- 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... 

- Pete Svab is the Director of Marketing & Promotions for ACME Archives in Burbank, CA.  He is also the co-owner of GalacticBinder.com, the largest Star Wars themed directory on the internet.

- Khalil Quotap aka Kastor is a toy and comic collector who runs the website Kastor's Korner with Bill Sencio.  On the website, Khalil mixes toy reviews with the joys and frustrations of collecting, along with convention coverage, custom reviews, and comic related projects. Along with monthly interviews with Hasbro and Mattel, Khalil also eagerly awaits the return of the best cartoon property ever, Thundercats. 

- Karen Ross is the webmistress of KrossToys, the first Spanish website about Toy Collecting. It started back in 2007 and there she works on her own, writing the articles and reviews and posting interviews to people from the Toy Collecting world.

- 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, Geek Monthly and currently writes toy reviews for Figures.com and Yojoe.com.

- Paul Rudolph is the chief writer monkey for the toy collecting themed blog . His work has also appeared in ToyFare and on .

- Paul Rudolph is a seasoned collector, former writer of Toybender.com, and a frequent guest poster on PoeGhostal.com. His work has also appeared in ToyFare, WizardUniverse.com, and the geek blogs GreatWhiteSnark.com and TheRobotsPajamas.com.

- Bradley "Crazyjaco" Jacobs is a co-founder, admin, and contributor for Powet.TV, a site dedicated to bringing high-quality web programming on pop culture subjects to a new level. Crazy is probably best known for his regular video series called PowetToys, a segment where he gets to show off the latest and greatest toys he has encountered  in an information-rich format all his own. As an avid collector of many lines (Transformers, Marvel Legends, Marvel Minimates, MOTU and the Four Horsemen's Fantastic Exclusive project to name just a few), Crazy decided he wanted to give back to a fandom that he had so actively been a participant. Thus, the launch of Powet.TV and PowetToys, its first regular feature.

- Eric Resnick Eric Resnick is a long time collector and has been writing about the industry for many years. After working as a features writer and collectible reviewer for Toy Shop Magazine their untimely demise, Eric and a Cadre of collectors and pop culture fiends launched You Bent My Wookie, a site that blends collectibles news and reviews with entertainment news, exclusive interviews and the sexiest geeks on the net.

- Curtis (aka. lilwingman) is owner/admin of The Harry Potter Collector's Guide, and specifically, among other things, a big Gentle Giant collector. "Being a collector and student means sometimes I miss a really cool piece.  But most times, I get the piece and just skip eating for the week.  It's all about priorities.

- Eric "measle" Lind: Works in the glamourous and sexy world of IT by day to fund his various movie, game, comic and toy collecting addictions, and then money allowing, buy food, pay the mortgage, etc.  Eric is a cofounder of the sorta new pop-culture website Criticalmess.net.  Criticalmess is a pop-culture community that affords any and all members the ability to contribute site content, submit reviews, commentaries, rants or raves, or just hang in the forum, it exists as a vehicle for the fans to be heard and/or use as a creative outlet.

- Corey Tincher, otherwise known as The Articulated One (TAO for short) uses his youth, lack of experience, and nostalgia-free perspective on toys to review them as objectively as possible at his everything-action-figures website, Articulated Discussion. Even as editor, writer, photographer, and sometimes *friend *at Articulated Discussion*,* he still manages to serve as the lead writer for the Past Generation Toys Blog, as well as write guest toy reviews for various other action figure blogs and websites from time to time.

- Daniel Lynch, aka NoisyDvL5, is the site editor for ItsAllTrue.Net. He's a product of the 80s toy explosion and has collected toys for as longas he can remember. It's been twenty-five years and he still finds himself excited for the next DC Classic, Joe, MOTU figure, Marvel figure, or Transformer. Up until recently, he's been content to peruse various toy forums and interact with other fans. This year, he gathered up a ring of fellow collectors and started ItsAllTrue.Net, a toy blog that strives to  inject some fun into the serious world of toy collecting.

- 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.

- Other Media Judges include Matt (Geb from the Green Dragon), Michael Klein (Figures.com), Sohaib Awan (from Fictional Frontiers), John Hamm (Figure Portal), Newton Gimmick (Infinite Hollywood), and Richard Mix (Collector Dash).

- and there is 1 anonymous media judge.

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. There are 17 judges in this category:

- 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 has been working for a decade sculpting collectibles. He's done work for Palisades, Graphitti, Plan B Toys, and other unmentionables. He's currently on contract with DC Direct. To see some of his sculpts check out his website.

- 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.

- 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.

- Rudy Garcia is a mid-west based artist working in the action Figure, industry.  He started off, way back in 1996, working as a Conceptual artist for a St. louis based toy company called Trendmasters.  His duties included lllustration concepts and product development for both boys and girls.  By 1998, his attention turned to the 3D side of the business and he began to sculpt as well as design. 

In I999, he left Trendmasters and went to work for the biggest name in action figures at that time, McFarlane Toys.  He was hired on as an in house designer and sculptor, creating lines such as Tortured Souls and Spawn:The Dark Ages Samurai Wars.  During his tenure at McFarlane, he also worked on other licensed product such as Shrek, Austin Powers and of course the 18" Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on elm Street.

As 2001 rolled around, he relocated back to the mid-west and started freelancing with a relatively new, toy and collectibles company called Diamond Select Toys.  There, he sculpted mostly Marvel Characters in statue or bust Form.  He has also worked on a handful of licensed product including Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek.

In the Fall of 2002, he landed an in-house, out-of-state sculptor/designer gig with NECA, creating action figures for the Hellraiser line and bobbleheads for Nightmare Before Christmas.

As of 2005, he has been a full time employee of Diamond Select Toys, designing and sculpting product for a whole new generation of collectors. To find out more about his work, check out his website.

- 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.

- Jean St. Jean is a musician turned sculptor, who began his career in a small upstate NY toy sculpting studio doing mostly preschool toys and dolls. Five years later he joined McFarlane where he spent almost 7 years helping them develop their hyper realistic style, the last 4 years as Sculpting Supervisor. In 2004, he left McFarlane to start his own company, Jean St. Jean Studios offering sculpting, painting and prototyping services working on such licenses as Diamonds Select’s Stargate SG-1, SG Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica lines, Mezco’s Cinema of Fear, DC Direct’s World of Warcraft and Ame-Comi and Amoktime’s Killer Klowns and Day of the Dead lines. Currently he is finishing his twelfth bust in the DC Direct : Heroes of the DC Universe line .

- Tony Robles of TonyzCustomz.com and Admin/Co-Founder of ProCustomizers.com. Tony is a customizing extraordinaire that specializes in made to order customs for private clients as well as professional work. Professional work includes Shocker Toys stand creation for Comic-Con in 2008 and Designer Mallow's and Indy Spotlight mock up work in 2009.

- Kat Sapene has been a prototype painter for the toy industry since 1999. Kat has painted everything from Disney characters to monsters, from action figures to statues and busts. She was head painter at Sota toys for a number of years before deciding to try work as a freelancer. She now runs her own studio, WAK! Toys, with the help of her cat who dutifully wears a tie to work everyday.

- Joe Allard is a toy designer that works with companies like Hasbro, Mattel and Sideshow Collectibles, as well as in the Comic Book industry. His resume includes everything from action figures to board games, from collectible to plush, and a lot of other fun stuff in between. You can see an impressive display of his work at the official Design Devil website.

- Ruben Procopio is a multi-talented artist with more than 25 years of experience in the animation industry.  After earning scholarships to Cal Arts and Art Center, Rubén joined Walt Disney Feature Animation at age 18, where he Rubén trained under Eric Larson, one of Disney’s legendary “nine old men.”  Rubén worked as an animator, artistic supervisor, head of department, character designer, story-board artist, video game supervisor, and maquette sculptor on over 25 Disney feature films, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Rubén is credited with restoring the maquette process to feature animation film production in the 80's, and his Ursula maquette from The Little Mermaid resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection.

Rubén is the founder of Masked Avenger Studios, specializing in sculpture, animation, comics and design.  There Rubén and his father Adolfo, who had an acclaimed 35 year career as a Walt Disney Imagineering sculptor, serve the entertainment industry, comic book and collectibles clients including Electric Tiki, Enesco, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network and DC Comics.  At his drawing board, he illustrates comic books and graphic novels, including works featuring Moonstone Books The Phantom, Zorro and the upcoming Green Hornet Anthology as well as his original characters Chameleon Man™ and Goliath™.

- Other Artist Judges include Matt Connelly, and Trevor Grove.

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 17 judges represent some of the best known specialty and mass market retailers, from small to large.

- 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 is the owner of AlterEgoComics.com and the Alter Ego Comics retail store in Lima, OH.  Alter Ego has been around since 2003 and Marc has been a fan of comic books, figures and collectibles for over 20 years.

- 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. He also is the managing editor and founder of Fandomania and is the co-host of the weekly Fandomania Podcast.

- Russell Kay and Jason Forkos, are the owners of krazykingsoftoys.com, which admittedly is still a bit of a newbie to the online retail circuit, as they been around since August of 2008. Russell Kay, also known in the majority of the toy community as KingRandor for many years, has done several reviews for action figures for mwctoys.com, and was responsible for the original Suncoast Area Report, back in the day. Russell was first introduced to the world of action figures back in 1985, receiving the MASK Jackhammer as a present for his 3rd birthday- and he's been hooked ever since.

- 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.

- Joshua K is a huge toy collector, has been selling online for 10+ years, and is the owner of PastGenerationToys.com. His love for toys started as a child and returned when in college where he trolled AOL message boards and Internet newsgroups (remember those days?) which has now turned into a professional business. Joshua currently sells all over the web including on Amazon, eBay, and through his newly designed website. Past Generation Toys is headquartered in Virginia (no physical location, yet) and fulfills orders via a fulfillment center in southern Florida. Although they sell toys, Past Generation Toys realizes that this is service oriented business and has made customer service the first priority – go and see for your self!

- Joe Donato is Vice President of Sales and cofounder of HobbyPlanetUSA.com a worldwide retailer and distributor of high end collectibles and prop replicas. When not spending hours upon hours hanging out a various Toy Message Boards, Joe likes to watch professional sports, movies and cook. He has been invovled in the Toy Industry since 2001 He has a decent size collection of movie posters, 80's GI Joes and Sideshow Premium Format Figures.

- Andrew McIntire is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Things From Another World and an independent art director. He has been a comic and toy enthusiast since he was a boy, and to his great pride (and his wife's great embarrassment) boasts that he owns enough classic Star Wars figures, vehicles, and play sets to stage reenactments of almost every pivotal scene from the original trilogy. An endeavor which his long suffering wife would probably prefer he not indulge in when company's over.

- Jeff B. is co-founder of Urban Collector and a passionate collector of LOTR, Star Wars and DC collectibles.

- Andrew Agnello has been an avid Star Wars collector for well over a decade. While he holds Star Wars close to his heart, he enjoys collecting many other collectibles such as Batman, Iron Man, and Harry Potter. He started Andrew's Toyz out of out of his passion for collecting action figures and statues. When Andrew isn't working he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey. Andrew has a B.A. in Economics & Business Strategies from the University of Rochester and is looking forward to participating in the Poppies this year!

- The online toy store, PalOOza! Toys, was started in 2005 to bring a select group of imported toys and games based on popular video-game characters to their fans. Roland Edwards, Jr. (“Pops”), the store’s owner, continues to build an extra special web site, adding interactive games and unique offerings.

- Emmanuel Tanghal is the owner of Showpiece Collectibles, an online retail store that offers premium collectibles such as action figures, prop replicas, statues, and more.  He is also an avid collector of movie and comic book figures ranging from action figures to prop replicas.  His passion for “toys” began when he read his first superman comic book at the age of 8 years old.

- Michael Shah is the owner of on-line retailer, Mikes Comics N Stuff, an on-line retail store that specializes in Doctor Who, DC action figures, and whatever else catches Mike's eyes.  An avid and life-long comic book collector - he still has his first comic book he bought off the newsstand, Avengers #158, buried somewhere in his collection - he finally decided to take his 30 years of comic book and action figure collecting knowledge and pursue his dream of opening a comic book related collectible business.

- Other Retailer Judges include Steve Loney (Toynk), Curt (TFSource), and Michael Richards (Razor's Edge).

- and there is 1 additional retailer judge that wishes 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 26 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.

- Michael S. Miller is the Editor in Chief of Toledo Free Press. He as been a toy collector since 1977, a year which will ring a bell with many who were affected by the force unleashed that year. Michael has written about pop culture and collecting for more than 40 publications coast to coast. His next published work will be a chapter in "Gotham City 14 Miles," a book about the impact on the 1966 Batman TV show.

- Chris Ryall is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of IDW Publishing, a San Diego-based comic book and graphic novel publisher. In this role, he has been involved in the acquisition of such licenses as TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE, STAR TREK, and many other.

He is also an Eagle- and Eisner Award-nominated comic book writer, having written over three dozen comics, including CLIVE BARKER’S THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW, ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS, DOOMED, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, MASTERS OF HORROR, BEOWULF, and more.

In June, his first prose book, COMIC BOOKS 101, was released. Current comic book releases include GROOM LAKE, IDW X, a 10th anniversary oral history of IDW, FRANK FRAZETTA’S NEANDERTHAL for Image Comics, and a children’s comic picture book, I AM OPTIMUS PRIME. Ryall has two new comic book series starting in early 2010, WEEKLY WORLD NEWS in January and a new ZOMBIES VSROBOTS series in February 2010.

Chris previously served as Editor-in-Chief for filmmaker Kevin Smith’s Web, was a corporate speechwriter for American Honda, a creative executive with Dick Clark Communications and an advertising copywriter. He lives in San Diego with his wife Julie and daughter Lucy.

- Brian Ashmore is an illustrator that has produced work for many companies including Marvel and DC Comics.  Among his work is a painted Batman hardcover and a series of painted Hulk comics.  To irritate his wife, he is also an avid toy and classic videogame collector. His studio is teeming with little plastic people. He is also the creator of Yesterville Toy Room (a toy blog about the toys of the 1970s) and co-creator of Under the Giant Penny (a Batman collecting blog).

- Willie Goldman is an LA based screenwriter and television producer, and also the co-creator and co-executive producer of Ace of Cakes, currently entering its sixth season on Food Network.  After starting his career at NBC in Burbank, he moved to Warner Bros. Television where he worked on the Emmy-winning drama ER for seven seasons.  In addition to selling two original drama pilots recently to Sony Pictures Television and CBS/Paramount Television respectively, he is currently seeing his feature film screenplay The Last Good Kiss (hopefully) enter pre-production.  Goldman has also worked and written for Master Replicas, Sideshow Collectibles, and Sony Computer Entertainment, and consulted with several studios and licensors on several projects including various home video and video game projects.  He also maintains the website, alienscollection.com and is  the author of The NY Times bestseller, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes. 

- John Bonavita is the author of the very successful action figure guide book, Mego Action Figure Toys (currently in its third edition by Schiffer Publishing). John is a early pioneer in action figure collecting and was instrumental in organizing collectors and spreading hard to find action figure information during the decades leading up to the advent of the Internet.  His early 1980s fan-produced action figure photo guide books are still used today by thousands of Mego, GI Joe and Captain Action collectors world wide.

- From 1977 to 1989, Action Figure Insider blogger Jason Chirevas' 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.

- Jeff Parker aka Wookster, is a freelance illustrator and designer whose work has graced everything from BBC television titles through to a burlesque fetish artist’s logo (you should have seen the perks!). Though it has to be said toy collecting and reviewing seem to be taking up more and more of his time. He’s interested in all areas of pop culture and collects anything and everything, with a special penchant for high-end 1/6 scale, especially if it’s from the ALIEN series of movies. He also has a soft spot for Bettie Page memorabilia, Guinness (the drink, not the book of records!) and kicking back with a good DVD (new ones are increasingly hard to find you know!).

- 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 while 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.

- 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.

- JediJones (Eric S.) is a programmer/analyst 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 of the way too many he collects include Hasbro's classic and modern Star Wars and G.I. Joe lines, Playmates' Simpsons World of Springfield, 6" Marvel Legends and DC Universe, and movie tie-ins from the smaller companies 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 have truly set the great action figure lines apart from the rest.

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

- Scott Rogers is a video game creative manager for THQ by day and an action figure customizer by night. He is an amateur comic book historian who has served as a creative consultant on several toy and game lines including Heroclix and Corgi and is the world's foremost authority on Matchbox's Fighting Furies line. When not working, Scott's convincing toy manufacturers to make toys of his favorite comic character: The Killer Moth.

- Chip Cataldo burst on the local New York internet collecting scene in 1984, Usenet's in 1991 (post #13 on rec.toys.misc), helped found The Star Wars Collector's Archive in 1994, and launched The Bruce Timm Artwork Archive in 1996. He has been in Bruce Timm's office, gotten drunk with Pinky & The Brain, and had a private conversation with Chuck Jones...all within 24 hours. He's even bummed around Toy Fair with Jason Geyer the Toy Otter multiple times.  He currently collects DC Universe Classics, Justice League Unlimited, and carded Super Powers.

- Paul M Kelly prefers to operate under the liberating anonymity that internet pseudonyms provide. You may also know him from RTM's ToyBuzz, where he posts as gonzo, simian* and JJJason*.

*This info may be fabricated.

- Monte Williams Monte Williams spent thirty years happily scouring American toy aisles before relocating with his wife and daughter to Africa, where he suddenly has no toy stores to explore. Nowadays, Monte never updates Geek Creek (his toy photography weblog), because the internet connection on his new home continent is so anemic that he cannot upload his photos! However, his self-indulgent musings on geek culture can still be found at PopMatters.com.

- Josh Long: Computer Technology Teacher/Avid Collector. Josh has collecting something in some form for as long as he can remember. When he was a kid, he was very big into sports cards of all the major sports but one athlete in particular. That athlete was Michael Jordan. During his playing career he hit nearly 2,000 different cards filling multiple books and shelves so they could all be displayed. After he retired the second time, Josh decided to take a break from collecting but he didn't know what he would find that he was so into.

In 2003, just about the time Return Of The King was going to be hitting the big screen, he found a little site called Sideshow Collectibles. Josh saw all the various statues from the movies and kicked himself for not having found them sooner. He didn't waste any time getting into it though going back and getting several that he had missed and getting his Pre-Orders for ones that where still to come.

At one point, Josh was very close to having all the Sideshow Weta statues but have since cut back on that to balance his collection out. However, he has replaced that with several items from Sideshow's Lord Of The Rings lines, The Dead, Indiana Joines, and Star Wars. He has also ventured off into buying some pieces from Hot Toys and Medicom with the great products they've been producing. 

- Greg Sepelak has been doing dorky things most of his life, usually involving robots beating the everloving crap out of each other. He's penned and co-penned over two dozen official strategy guides for video games from series like MegaMan, Kingdom Hearts, Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Incredibles. Over the last several years, he and his writing partner Trent Troop has been writing for the official conventions and fan clubs for Transformers and G.I. Joe, from comic issues and prose stories to character bios and informational articles. His artwork has also featured on several convention-exclusive Transformers toy bio cards.

For chuckles, Greg keeps himself amused by amassing a whole lot of Transformers, with a decent amount of Star Wars action figures, modifying said toys with extra paint, and helping maintain and take photographs for TF Wiki, one of the most expansive Transformers informational resources online.

- Other Collector Judges include Mark Bellomo, Eric Stettemeier, Allan David Doane, Jeff McGinniss, Jason Jerde (TCM Hitchhiker) and Mike Kelley.

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

And there you have the 138 judges for 2009!  I'll be looking to expand this group of judges in 2009, so if you or a colleague are interested, please drop me an email.