Super Hero Squad Rumorbuster

Monday, June 30, 2008

Minimates are dead, long live the Squad?

In a bout of irony straight from O Henry, while SHS fans are out on the trading boards claiming that the line is doomed (despite the impending video game, cartoon series and merchandizing efforts) and not selling well, of products being pulled, Minimate Headquarters is running a bit of a rumor rundown regarding DC Minimates and the possibility of a DC Super Hero Squad type line.

Essentially, at a convention, a guy said he heard from someone official that DCD was pulling the minimates and focusing on a Super Hero Squad type line, and we've already talked about how they could be successful at it, and so now various fans of the minimates are bemoaning the lack of completed teams, assuming that SHS style toys compete with Fisher Price, that the toys are both extremely popular and if they succeed it's because of the "numbers and buying power of tasteless morons". Of course, there's also more than a few posts threatening boycotts, people saying the line didn't sell, that the line sold great, and of course, that the squad "sucks". Oh well, there's no accounting for some people's taste right?

So the next time you're reading a message board and you start reading doom and gloom posts about the Super Hero Squad, go give those threads a read, or go to Marvelous News and read one of the Marvel Legends cancellation threads.

On the plus side, that's one more rumor for the DC Squad line.

But it's still a rumor.

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The Mysterious Wave 10

I had a great e-mail from a reader pointing out that the Super Hero Squad Wave 10 figures (Sentry et al) have been removed from Hasbro Toy Shop, and the third wave of 4-packs (City in Crisis/Spider-Man Saves the Day and Winter Soldier Saga) disappeared as well.

In late April Wave 3 of the 4-packs went up for pre-order, and as of right now, orders placed for the sets are still listed as "back-ordered" in HTS's account status and were originally scheduled to ship 8/14/08. Before those figures were up for pre-order, Wave 10 was never made it to pre-order stage.

I've read a couple posts on some trader message boards saying that the line is over, and Entertainment Earth did mark the wave as canceled but the figures remained up on HTS for weeks afterward.

Now, here's where things get even weirder: the first picture of Wave 10 came from the Previews catalog and said the figures were shipping in July. The figures are not listed in the July 2008 consumer cancellations however and we don't have access to earlier cancellation lists. We checked the Product Change Archives and the Shipping Updates but neither of those mentioned the figures. That's not necessarily determinative of anything though, as the only real Hasbro announcement made was when they bumped up some Indiana Jones figures shipping dates.

Midtown Comics still has the figures listed as shipping July/August, and is offering the cases at 10% discount, Urban Collector lists them at 18% discount and shipping in July, Statue Toys has them shipping 3rd Quarder 2008 for about a 10% pre-order discount, Galaxy Comics gives them a July 30 shipping date so apparently none of those retailers have any reason to think that orders will not be fulfilled. But as we've talked about before, simply being available for pre-order online does not mean a product is guaranteed.


We're going to try to get more information on the subject, but right now what we have is:

(1) Winter Soldier Saga wasn't shipping until August, and those pre-orders when placed before HTS took the product listings down have not been yet been canceled.

(2) Wave 10 is listed as canceled by Entertainment Earth, and the products which were shown on HTS (but never put up for pre-order) have been removed. The figures were originally scheduled by Previews to ship in July, and (from what we have access to) Previews does not list the figures as canceled/delayed, and many comic stores (or at least their online counterparts), still have the figures available for pre-order.

So the information we have currently says the products are still coming out.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Index Has Been Updated

We've updated the index of blog posts a little early this month (although we should probably be update the index as new posts come out rather than updating it once a month, but you can also search this site via Google or through the breakdown by month located on the side of the blog.

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

An open letter to DC and Mattel on how to compete...

Like the title says, this is an open letter to DC and Mattel on how to compete... with the Super Hero Squad.

After the first couple waves of Super Hero Squad came out and demonstrated that the line wasn’t necessarily the flash in the pan that many toy lines end up being (a set of core characters get represented, but the line implodes, so collectors end up with a handful of Attactix or Super Hero Showdown or whatever else) many people seemed to ask “When will DC get into this?”

In Q&As like this or this Mattel tends to be very evasive on the subject. Never ruling out a competing line, but never officially admitting to anything. So in the spirit of brotherhood, we suggest the following steps DC and Mattel need to do in order to compete with Marvel’s Super Hero Squad, and maybe even beat them.

1) Quality control. Ask any SHS fan what their pet peeve is and they’ll likely say paint applications. Or too many Spider-Men. But it’s likely quality control. If you don’t cheap out on the plastic (see: The Ben Reilly Spider-Man that’s flimsy and 3/4 the size of most other Spider-Men figures) and, like your mother always said “color within the lines” you’ll be all set.

2) Distribution. If you want to be top dog, get your distribution issues under control. Yeah, there’s some hunting with the Super Hero Squad, and yeah, sometimes the case distribution is bizarre (see She-Hulk) but you can currently go to the Hasbro Toy Shop site and order approximately half of the line (if they ship to you that is. Sorry Australia.) and they have been very good about making current waves available for pre-order on the site before going to retail. The easier you make purchasing, the better.

3) Character Selection. How many Justice Leaguers have their been? Justice Society? Titans? Think of the Legion. With rumors that you’re going to produce 45 characters for the Infinite Heroes line in 2008 (with the figures not even dropping till late summer) you seem to recognize the value of mining a diverse character catalog. While Super Hero Squad has set a pretty high bar, producing many characters and filling out many of the big names in the X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Defenders rosters, there are certainly people willing to trade 15 or so Spider-Men for new characters.

4) Comic-accurate vehicles and playsets. Fans didn’t want the Spider-Truckor the Spider-Racer (at least not the fans I’ve heard from) so while Super Hero Squad Vehicles and Playsets rely on “play factor”, completists and the “kid” market, you could catch the borderline collectors with a well designed Batmobile, Batcave, Fortress of Solitude, Justice League Satelite/Embassy/Cave/whatever else they’ve used. Playsets and vehicles will always be a hard sell (or so the conventional wisdom goes), so why not go for both the kids AND the collectors who want some fine wheels for Batman.

5) Take chances. When most “outsiders” look at SHS, they immediately jump to the riskier moves Hasbro has taken with the line. Ghost Rider, Punisher and Elektra were all early characters. Ultimate Giant Man and Nick Fury before 616 counterparts. Super-smiley Galactus om-nom-nom’ing. In that spirit, throw us a few Doom Patrol characters. And don’t give us that “oh, we keep Vertigo separate” line… Animal Man switched back to the mainstream universe for 52, Doom Patrol came back for their last couple series (and appearances in the Teen Titans cartoon), the Golden Age Sandman came back. Kids are more likely to pick up a Jamie Delano trade of Hellblazer sitting right next to the Superman books at Borders after seeing the movie on FX at 3 in the afternoon than picking up a classic issue of Swamp Thing (which… didn’t you produce a cartoon of Swamp Thing right around the time Abby was committing obscenities with him? Huh.)

6) Brand it early. SHS began in early 2007, after a demonstrated dedication to the format shown by other lines like Star Wars Galactic Heroes which had begun in 2004. It wasn’t as experimental or risky a concept as some would believe. It was literally a matter of throwing another license at the format. It wasn’t until early 2008 that fans learned of what promises to be a huge branding push for the line… books (potentially comic books), an animated series, a direct to DVD feature, a video game.

DC has the benefit of a long-established tradition of stylized youth-oriented comics, through both titles representing its various animated series and more experimental fare like Tiny Titans, as well as its Cartoon Network properties. Slap the brand onto your youth line, or even just particular books like Tiny Titans, and make sure those characters get represented in the toy line. Inability to work out a deal for the late, lamented Legion of Super Heroes toys based on the animate series resulted in missed synergy for that brand. Coordinate character “looks” like you already do with Super Friends.

So make sure you hit characters represented in Brave and the Bold, and even Teen Titans and Justice League (which still have large followings), make sure that the toy line's name crosses from comic book to toy line to general merchandise. Put it on folders or even the mythical Trapper Keeper. But make sure that thee brand is cohesive. Now, I'm not suggesting you renamed Batman: Brave and the Bold to "DC Super Powers Presents Batman In The Brave and the Bold Showcase" but how bout putting a Super Power (or whatever name you choose) logo on a splash panel at the end of every episode?

7) When in doubt, sculpt it out. A big complaint of SHS collectors is the number of re-used sculpts, especially Spider-Men and Hulks. While there’s definitely a market who will buy everything, and another who buys strictly for play value, there’s an entire market out there that will not purchase yet another Spider-Man shooting a web at the ground or Captain America with shield on his arm. They would rather have Superman in flight, Superman with “dem laser eyes” (aka, heat vision), Superman with super-breath, Superman mid-punch, Batman with Batarang, Batman mid-kick, Batman with grappling hook out. This may require more cash than the Justice League Unlimited (so named because of the unlimited number of re-used body parts) but surely the DC Universe Classics line has shown you that fans love great sculpts.

8) Don’t be afraid to recycle. But I don’t mean figure sculpts. This time, don’t use the Super Friends name, already in use with their Spider-Man & Friends-esque line. Bring back Super Powers.

9) Stay away from arctic radiation polka dot space armors. If you want to put another Batman or Superman out, then do both kids and collectors a favor and give them a straight out new version of the character, not a gimmick version. Tek-suits and radiation-suits and cyber-suits and mechano-suits aren’t really what make the figure. It’s doubtful that many kids are wishing they had a complete set of JLA parka-wearing figures. They want the character, and if they have to settle with the latest day-glo neon Batman, they will, but it’s really Batman that they want.

10) More characters per wave. The 4 2-packs per wave is nice, but most collectors, casual and hard-core, would love to drop an additional $6.50 when a new wave comes out if that meant a couple more characters.

11) Be flexible. Offer 2 packs. 3 packs. 5 packs. A Batman Family. A Superman Revenge Squad or Rogues Gallery multi-pack. If Doomsday requires a big sculpt, then give it to him but do not make fans purchase a Giganta-sized Doomsday just because figures must be either standard-sized or mega-sized and nowhere in between.

12) And this one is just from me to you: Stay away from the chase. Sometimes it's nice to know that a 4 packs equal one wave. That I can pre-order everything online. That I won't pay a premium for a pack because there's a different paint scheme.

Unless I’m wrong. I will happily accept any marketing data that anyone can show me saying that Magic-Repelling Costume Superman sells better than ole-fashioned vanilla Superman.

I know it’s been Generally Accepted Action Figure Protocol (GAAFP) since the legendary days of He-Man and his Masters of the Universe that nobody wants “just another figure” so you need to make it different, better, cooler."

“What’s that Bill? We need another wave of MOTU? Ok, so this time give He-Man flying fists or battle armor.”

But toy lines are often built on a lot of conventional wisdom that isn’t always borne out. See Pre-Marvel Legends Toybiz Marvel figures with action features like squirting water and robot dinosaurs versus Marvel Legends and Classics figures.
And those would be our suggestions for putting out a line of Super Hero Squad competing figures. And if you’ve got a little more time, we’d be happy to give you more suggestions.

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Hulk Wave 2 shipping via Previews

And to further follow up on the Hulk Wave 2 (aka, the She-Hulk wave) delay last mentioned here Chuck Moore on the Comic Related forum has posted the June 25 expected Previews shipment showing "MAY084666 HULK SUPER HERO SQUAD AF 200802 $95.88" as being shipped. Which in layman's terms if Hulk SHS Wave 2. The $95.88 price per case is based on the $7.99 per 2-pack suggested sale price Previews lists, which as many people know is more than Wal-Mart and Target, but as we posted yesterday, less than many eBay scalpers are unloading this wave for.

And of course, as is mentioned in the post at Comic Related, such things are subject to change, so contact your local retailer before heading out. I've heard many complaints that comic retailers just don't stock the figures and while it likely has something to do with the cheapness of the figures at retail and on Hasbro Toy Shop, some retailers will pre-order product for you at a discount so it never hurts to ask.

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Monday, June 23, 2008

The Monthly "the line is doomed!" Rumor

It’s time for our monthly “the Super Hero Squad is doomed!" rumor.

But first, let’s deal with shortpacking! She-Hulk is apparently the first 2-pack to be sold out of Hasbro Toy Shop and that probably has something to do with what Entertainment Earth is reporting as the current case ratio of She-Hulk and Absorbing Man getting 2 packs per case, Black Bolt and Wolverine getting 4 per case, and with upcoming case revisions in July where She-Hulk and Absorbing Man are packed at 1 per case, while Hulk/Wolverine and Hulk/Black Bolt get 5 per case. With 5 times as many Wolverine/Hulk repaints floating around as original She-Hulk and Absorbing Man sculpts, and the generally reliable Hasbro-branded store selling She-Hulk out before the figures get to mainline stores, we could have a scalper’s dream.

Don’t panic, however. When items sell out in Hasbro Toy Shop, they don’t always permanently sell out and they may come back in stock, and while HTS availability is usually enough to temper scalpers (after all, there’s no premium for certain individual figures, there’s often coupon codes, and the prices are competitive with stores like Wal-Mart and thus far more friendly than many online retailers) inability to purchase the figure on HTS and a reported short-pack doesn’t necessarily equal higher prices. Searching through completed auctions on eBay show that all 4 2-packs have been selling at $10 (most likely due to the drought at retail level.)

Also, online retailers are sometimes wrong, or at least offering unusual products, like Cmdstore which is pre-selling the Toys R Us Exclusive Brawl That Shook The World for $16 which is only $1 more than pre-orders of the upcoming Iron Man packs. So they’re selling the Iron Man packs with a 50% mark-up, but the TRU exclusive at a 35% discount? Huh. Ok. Their retail locations are Canadian, so all things are possible, but remember to take things with a grain of salt.

Now, the Hulk Wave 2 drought at retail is what led to the most recent theory about the line being doomed. Essentially, the rumor goes like this:

“OMG! I haven’t seen the new Hulk figures out yet at retail and the Gamma Lab playset hasn’t been released even though some (well, one) checklist said it would be out in May! They must be pulling product and cancelling things! OMG”

“Yeah, I know, all I see are the same Hulk wave 1 figures. They’re not selling!”

“OMG. I knew it. The line [or at the very least the Hulk branch] must be doomed.”

And now for the reality… nobody EVER had ANY information on when the Gamma Lab was going to be released. Any checklist putting out “May” as the release date was guessing based on the Hulk Wave 1 figures.

Cool Toy Review didn’t even publish the typical Hasbro promotional pictures until May 4, as we talked about way back when.

Any delay from a date that was pulled out of thin air means absolutely nothing. What IS known, is that Entertainment Earth is saying it will “arrive” in August and… well... that’s about it. Look for me to use this exact same line of reasoning in two weeks when people start saying “oh no, the Sentry wave was supposed to be out in July and it’s not out yet! The line is over!”

As for the Hulk Wave 2 not being spotted at retail yet, there appears to be manufacturing issue as we addressed when we debunked the myths surrounding the Wave 2 order cancellations many collectors experienced so one could probably assume that if Hasbro’s branded store is having problems getting the stock to fill their pre-orders then the amount of stock trickling out to the mainstream is likewise limited. And just as a general common sense principle, an inability to meet pre-order demand is not a sign of poor sales.

There may in fact be a glut of Hulk Wave 1 out there, and that may result in some stores limiting orders for Wave 2 or the potential Wave 3, but let’s be logical: If you’re pulling stock from the back room, are you going to fill the Hulk pegs with the Wave 1 figures you have in a case in the back, or are you going to fill it with Wave 2 figures that your store does not have and can not put out? Let’s go with “in stock” for the win. And because the pegs are filled with the 4 packs you’ve already seen, that does not mean that there are no sales, and even assuming you have some photographic memory for the exact packs and know that these identical packs have not sold in however many days, anecdotal evidence does not a truthful statement make!

So there we go: Shortpacked She-Hulk might be the next Vulture, Entertainment Earth says the Gamma Lab will be out in August, Cmdstore is pre-selling a TRU exclusive at a hefty discount, and a product not making an imaginary shipping date does not mean that product has been discontinued.

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Super Hero Squad in Wizard 201

Apparently the Super Hero Squad cartoon is mentioned in Wizard 201. No real news (it's Wizard after all) just a run-down saying it "may be the closest thing we've seen to an Avengers cartoon in a while" and comparing it to Marvel Team-Up for the 10 and under set. They don't even have promotional artwork, just a shot of the first Thor SHS figure. In other words, if you were thinking of picking up the magazine to see if there was anything exclusive, new or interesting, you'd be disappointed.

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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Hulk Brawl update

So after finally picking up one of the Hulk Brawl That Shook the World sets, I noticed that every set Toys R Us had out had identical Hulkbusters, and not the black-goggled version shown in Marvel's boxed version which isn't totally unusual for Super Hero Squad purposes (see the Venom/Puma 2-pack, Storm's upside down cape, the Bobby Drake/Iceman costume used in the SHS poster checklist, Kraven) and all the eBay photos I've seen have the identical Hulkbusters as well.

Long story short, looks like there's only two flavors of Hulkbuster after all. Oh well, cannon fodder is cannon fodder.

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Friday, June 20, 2008

New Poll: Who do you want next?

You may notice a new poll has been posted. It's the typical "who do you want next?" style poll, and depending on interest, it may be the first in a series where we take the winners of the request polls and then poll them out.

Anyway, the first four candidates are, in no particular order:

Hercules - Olympian powerhouse, fugitive from mortal law, caretaker of Amadeus Cho the smartest boy on Earth.

Captain Britain - Brilliant scientist, temporal explorer, otherworldly champion, and all around swell guy.

Iron Fist - The latest in a long line of K'un L'un's champions, this New Avenger was a temporary stand-in for Daredevil during Civil War.

Moon Knight - Khonshu's fist doesn't have many super hero friends despite being a registered super hero, former West Coast Avenger and member of the unofficial Marvel Knights team, but would still look nice in your collection.

In choosing these candidates, we chose people that had not been covered already in the "The Case For..." section and that starred in their own current ongoing series. Characters in team books were left out of this poll as were characters who already have figures (I'm looking at you Spider-Man!)

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Pictures of Wave 7 posted at Cool Toy Review

Cool Toy Review has posted a few galleries of Wave 7 packs (ie, Spider-Woman, Deadpool, Cable) for those still on the fence about buying them or those that just want to see some cool Super Hero Squad photos.

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Toys R Us Coupon Code

For those still waiting to purchase the Hulk: Brawl That Shook the World set, Toys R Us has a coupon available here for $5 off $25. You can visit the site, or just enter 922559 as a coupon code in the check out.

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No SHS in Marvel's September Solicitations

Way back when we reported on MSN's report on the Super Hero Squad video game. We had some questions about the reporting, notably when it said "Marvel Comics is now featuring Marvel Super Hero Squad comic strips within several of its all ages books and will be introducing a dedicated Marvel Super Hero Squad comic book series in fall 2008."

The problem? Marvel doesn't feature Super Hero Squad comic strips anywhere, but does reprint some Mini-Marvels strips in the Marvel Adventures line, and nobody else referred to a dedicated comic book. The closest anyone came to was Hollywood Reporter's claim that there's an upcoming "book series" for the fall (Hollywood Reporter just says "the fall" while MSN said "Fall 2008").

Because of that report, we've been eagerly awaiting Marvel's Solicitations for any of the fall months. The bad news? September has come and gone without any sign of the Squad.

But of course we'll keep looking.

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A HA! An answer to the cancelled Hulk Wave 2 orders!

If you know many Super Hero Squad collectors or visit some of the collector boards, you've probably heard at least a few stories of people whose orders have been canceled by Hasbro. We even covered the phenomena here but we've done a little more digging.

First contact with the Hasbro Customer Service representatives was actually very helpful. Apparently, when Hasbro learned that Hulk Wave 2 date was going to be pushed back, they sent out an e-mail notifying people of the delay and informing them that if they are still interested in receiving the figures, they need to contact Hasbro to let them know. Those that did not respond to Hasbro had their orders canceled while Hasbro moved to a new computer system.

So after some digging, I found a copy of the e-mail they send. They do indeed include the line "IF YOU ARE WILLING TO WAIT UNTIL THE DATE(S) INDICATED ABOVE TO RECEIVE YOUR ORDER, YOU MUST CONTACT US TO CONFIRM THAT YOU STILL WANT THE ITEM(S). IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU, THE ITEM(S) WILL NOT BE SHIPPED, AND YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED FOR THEM."

But it's at the very end of the e-mail. People who only read the first portion of the e-mail will only be informed that:

"RESPONSE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE YOUR ORDER. Due to high demand, the following item(s) you ordered are still backordered. Please note the revised availability of the items below:"

"ITEM(S) NOT YET SHIPPED
Item number: 78421
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Hulk and Absorbing Man
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 6/12/2008"

And that is why people who ordered back on May 4th when they were first made available had to re-order their figures, while others who ordered figures weeks later have their figures.

But lets throw some salt on those wounds. The notice that the figures were on back-order and would be canceled without response was dated 5/13/08. The notification that the orders were canceled was dated 6/17/08. The first batch of figures actually started shipping on 6/12/08 (at least according to the people I've talked to.) If Hasbro had canceled the orders earlier, those individuals would have been able to place their orders again and would have been shipped their figures. Instead, Hasbro didn't canceled the orders well after the figures had started shipping!

Now, to throw further salt in the wounds... after those people were given an e-mail saying their orders were canceled, they couldn't place the order again because the website was undergoing an upgrade. And after placing their orders, which have been "expected to ship within 1 business day" since June 17 when they were back online the ship-date for these "in-stock" items keeps being pushed back. Users who ordered an in-stock, ships-in-one-day item on the 17th are still waiting for the item to be shipped on the 20th.

In talking to a Hasbro rep about the shipping delay, the only answer we could get was "we're a little behind right now."

So, in the spirit of constructive criticism, we're offering suggestions to Hasbro for future situations like this:

1) Be like Amazon! While approval is still required to keep the items "on order", they inform you that your item will still be shipped if they receive it prior to a certain deadline. Their exact language is "If we are able to get the items before _______________ 2008, we will ship them to you." Here, many people had canceled orders only after the items had been in stock and started shipping.

2) Provide multiple-access points for the information. Those affected by this situation were told of the situation via e-mail, which is fine but in today's world of junk mail filters, multiple sources of information helps. Those that simply sign on to Hasbro for their order status were only told their order was "back-ordered" which is exactly what it says for future-shipping items, like the City in Crisis and Iron Man Wave 2 sets originally scheduled to ship late summer. A notice that response was required in their order status may have been helpful!

3) Upgraded shipping! While automatic upgraded shipping for all items shipping past the estimated one business day would be too costly, how about free upgrades for people who order an "in-stock" item that hasn't been shipped within 5 days? Or a coupon code/discount card for people facing similar delays?

So if you've been waiting for almost 2 months for an "in stock order", and then your order was canceled, now you know what happened! Go back, place your order, and... uhm... continue waiting because while it's "in stock" there's still apparently some shipping delays.

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

More SHS Shopping Help

First off, Big Bad Toy Store has some not-so-bad deals on the Hulk Wave 2 Wolverine/Hulk pack and Super Hero Squad Wave 2 Daredevil/Elektra (both for $2.99) but be warned... shipping may be more than you'd expect.

Secondly, Hasbro's Summer Savings Sale has the Collector's Pack for $15.99, Angel/Colossus, Daredevil/Elektra, Cyclops/Magneto, and Captain America/Hawkeye for $3.99, and best of all, Beast/Apocalypse and Ultimate Iron Man/Ultimate Giant Man for $3.99 which is a 60% discount.

Happy shopping!

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Free Coupon Cards w/purchase from Hasbro's new catalog

The new Shop at Home catalog from Hasbro features coupon codes giving $10 gift cards with purchases of $50 or more, $15 with purchases of $75 or more, and $20 with purchases of $100 or more.

The catalog itself is relatively light on Super Hero Squad figures, showing the Psylocke wave, Wave 1 of Iron Man 4 packs (which I've heard has been clearanced out of many Targets, but can't independently verify), the Battle for New York 4-pack, and the Wolverine/Sentinel mega pack, all at the usual prices.

To request your own copy of Hasbro's catalog, along with any future coupon codes, visit the catalog request site and sign up.

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SHS Hulk Wave 2 Orders Cancelled?

Well Hasbro is filled with mystery. Since yesterday, the website for Hasbro Toy Shop has been showing this message saying they're down for an upgrade. Now today, some people have received a message saying "Unfortunately, the product(s) you ordered are no longer available. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We have canceled your outstanding order with HasbroToyShop.com. Confirmation information is below" for the following products:

"ITEM(S) CANCELED
Item number: 78421
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Hulk and Absorbing Man
Quantity: 1

Item number: 78420
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – King Hulk and Black Bolt
Quantity: 1

Item number: 78423
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – The Thing and She-Hulk
Quantity: 1

Item number: 78422
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Wolverine and Grey Hulk
Quantity: 1"

We've previously reported on the date of these figures being pushed back here, and here, but we have also previously mentioned how the sets were quickly placed online and were originally scheduled for delivery as early as May 13 way back when.

Edit: Ok, so some users at the Super Hero Squad forum reported receiving their orders, and most importantly, they're back up at Hasbro Toy Shop which is done with it's maintenance. Apparently those with canceled orders just need to re-submit their order.

Coupon Code SPRREQ8 should still work.

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

BLK Poll Results

So when going through the Walmart Super Hero Squad SKUs, we did a brief rundown of the potential candidates for "BLK", the mystery figure apparently coming with another potential Captain America. While some people are proudly announcing that Black Widow is coming it's definitely worth noting that not only is Black Widow "unconfirmed" there's absolutely nothing whatsoever saying she's coming. There's good reason to suspect it, but arguments can be made for a bunch of other characters too. Heck. We might even get another Black Spider-Man.

Anyway, so the goal of the poll was who do YOU think BLK is.

Black Widow 21 (55%)
Black Knight 13 (34%)
Blackheart 0 (0%)
Black Crow 1 (2%)
Black Panther 2 (5%)
Other 1 (2%)

Total Votes: 38

Now, the poll isn't foolproof... it's totally informal, and I later discovered that it's pretty easy to log multiple votes on these polls, so take the numbers with a grain of salt.

Back to waiting for some hard proof!

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SHS Video Game Fall 2009

From the THQ Investor Report Super Hero Squad, the Video Game, will come out Fall 2009. I've seen a bunch of other sites link to the presentation with vague hints that there is more in the report... but there's not. SHS is only briefly mentioned, and with the Fall 2009 date that was already mentioned in the previous THQ press releases.

And by the way, happy Fathers Day to those that celebrate it!

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

More Coverage of Super Hero Squad at Licensing International Expo

But be warned, the coverage is pretty sparse. Action-Figure.com has a brief run-down of what little information they could get on the upcoming cartoons and animated features from Marvel. Apparently while the press was invited, the representatives weren't ready to deal with them.

Most of the information they have on Super Hero Squad looks like it's from earlier press releases (in fact, the main quote from it comes from the main press release regarding the video game)

They do have a picture of the cartoon's banner, and the article mentions a PS3 game coming in 2009, but nothing else. It seems unlikely that Marvel's newest licensing opportunity would be a PS3 exclusive, so it's reasonable to assume that there just wasn't much information available.

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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Case For... Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Continuing our look at why certain figures of certain characters should get the Super Hero Squad treatment, we look at Captain Mar-Vell.

Mar-Vell is Marvel’s Barry Allen. Both deaths are the characters’ most widely remembered characteristic. Both have had extended family carry on their name (while Barry had both Wally West and Bart Allen become Flashes, the Captain Marvel title has been taken up by Genis-Vell, Mar-Vell’s child via artificial insemination, and Phylla-Vell who… well… same story, but this time in a recreated dimension, and half-Kree, half-Skrull Teddy Altman, the Young Avenger known as Hulkling) And finally, both have had “resurrections” jammed into massive crossovers.

Playing the dual-role of shocking-plot-twist and mostly-un-used-character during Civil War, Mar-Vell has been mostly missing since his return, only to be revealed as a Skrull infiltrator (and thus making Civil War that much more palatable for those unhappy with some of the developments) but Secret Invasion promises to give Khn’nr a little more story.

Captain Marvel hasn’t had as many chances at action figure stardom as some of his fellow super-heroes, but for someone with 40 years of history, he’s overdue. An Avengers ally, the original source of Ms. Marvel’s energy, father of current Guardian of the Galaxy Quasar and Young Avenger Hulkling, he’s a thread throughout the Marvel Universe.

And finally, that costume’s a classic. It was the inspiration for Ms. Marvel’s original costume, and has been adapted for use by almost every other character that has attempted to use the Captain Marvel name.

On the downside, his most famous story was his death, there’s no telling how long Khn’nr is going to continue using Mar-Vell’s form and a legitimate attempt to resurrect the good captain will probably be as ill-received as the Civil War fake-out. Although he’s certainly famous amongst comic fans, would he have enough appeal to the marketing powers at that be at Hasbro if there’s no current Captain Marvel?

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Black Cat, Puma, Mysterio up for sale at Hasbro Toy Shop

So it looks like when we reported that Black Cat et al were being added to Hasbro's site we were on to something. Currently a search on Hasbro Toy Shop for Super Hero Squad will bring up the Black Cat, Puma and Mysterio two-packs from the late and (sometimes) beloved Spider-Man line. I believe the SPRREQ8 coupon code is still valid at Hasbro, giving fans a 10% discount.

You can also see the figures in the "recently added" part of Hasbro's website here.

Whether this is a sign that Hasbro has pulled some stock from stores that still had the product on the shelves (freeing up space for new stuff), or that they found some stashes of the product in their warehouse, or even if (and this is PURE speculation) they're going to re-release more of the late Spider-Man product, who knows. What is known, is that people who paid $12.99 and $4.75 shipping for the Black Cat pack definitely overpaid, as did the person who paid $6.59 plus $2.95 shipping for just the Black Cat.

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Licensing International Expo 2008

A few sites are lucky enough to know people going to Licensing International Expo 2008 (including Marvelous News who have this glimpse of the Hulk Gamma Corps) but unfortunately nobody has put up any news about the Super Hero Squad.

The Licensemag reported that Marvel, at Licensing International Expo 2008 will be discussing:

"Marvel Entertainment will continue to focus on building integrated licensing programs worldwide. For 2009, a key focus will be the theatrical release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, (20th Century Fox). Marvel is also developing a major licensing initiative to support its new TV animation launching in 2009, including "Iron Man: Armored Adventures" and "Wolverine and the X-Men," airing on Nicktoons, as well as series for Incredible Hulk and Super Hero Squad. Another key focus will be its successful Spider-Man Classic character licensing business, with fresh new art to update the brand, and further emphasis on its brand segmentation strategy, including Marvel Heroes and a new approach targeting females."

So now that we've seen Hulk, can someone grab some information on the Super Hero Squad for the rest of us?

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Monday, June 9, 2008

Is Wave 10 Cancelled?

And the second rumor for today: that the Sentry/Red Skull/Electro wave is canceled.

Entertainment Earth has listed the set of figures from the Sentry/Red Skull wave (known as Wave 10 on Wikipedia and here, Wave 9 elsewhere) as canceled. Lending a little more credence to the rumor is the fact that Hasbrotoyshop.com still has the figures as “coming soon” but not listed as pre-orders.

The truth? Nobody officially knows what the hold-up is. It’s just as likely that when an “official” date couldn’t be met (and certainly not the “June” release date some online sites have reported) Entertainment Earth decided to pull pre-orders for the “set” rather than having to explain to people why the order date was being pushed back. It’s also possible that Hasbro decided that releasing so many Super Hero Squad sets back to back, like the Deadpool wave in April, the Psylocke wave and the first Hulk wave in May, and the Ares wave and Hulk Wave 2 in June, was a little much for the average collector and decided to slow down the releases. Who knows. But as of yet, that figures from that wave are still officially up as “coming soon.”

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Black Panther is being re-released? Black Cat? Puma?

Rumor: This line, or this figure, or this other one, are going to be re-released soon.

There is one thing that can split most toy collector groups in half: the re-release. Basically, when a toy company decides to put out a figure they’ve previously released, either through case revisions like many Marvel Legends variants or in a new package, in a set, whatever, it can turn a previously coveted toy into an eBay loser.
For some reason, everyone seems to have inside knowledge about Super Hero Squad figures being re-released. We’ve already discussed some of the re-release rumors previously, particularly the perpetual rumor that Kraven was going to be inserted into whatever case comes up next.

If it’s a “new” re-release, either in a box set as some of the Super Hero Squad box-sets like Sand Pit Showdown, or the majority of the Easter sets, then the only people “hurt” by the re-release are the collectors who open their figures and now have a figure indistinguishable from a newer, possibly cheaper, release. A repaint solves this problem as you now have “different figures.” When the figure is identical, both in paint and packaging, as the earlier figure the “mint-on-card” people get irked as well. While an out of package Captain America from Wave 1 is “worth” the same as an out of package Easter Egg Cap, in the package they’re different creatures. If the Wave 1 Captain America pack was re-released in modern packaging, they’re still different creatures. If the pack was re-released complete with Wave 1 packaging, then the “collectible” just got a little less rare.
Of course, Captain America is just an example since the Wave 1 set is still readily available on auction sites.

Now, on the other side of the debate are those that want the figure, but not at the “rare” price. When a loose Vulture goes for 38.00 you can be certain that there are many people willing to pick up a box-set with him, even one of straight up re-releases. A repaint would filter out some demand from people collecting only the characters. A re-sculpt would also alleviate some of that demand. Suddenly finding a source of un-opened Vulture packs and flooding the market would almost certainly bring down prices for the figure, both loose and carded.

So, on May 15, someone pointed out on Fwoosh that the Black Panther/Storm wave was back up for order on Entertainment Earth some people will be pleased, some not so much. Of course, the “reorder” was pulled on May 19th, a few days later so don’t get too excited thinking about finally getting your hands on the Black Panther.

Another interesting re-release rumor was started when Hasbro put the Black Cat, Puma, and Mysterio packs onto their website. By changing the Product ID, you can cycle through their latest offerings (as of right now, the last thing up is a Star Wars troop building 8 pack of Destroyer Droids)

So, are we going to see Black Cat, Puma and Mysterio released again? Who knows. It’s also possible Hasbro only put up the package profiles to enable people to completely mark their online Wishlists, or as a way of showing their history. If either of those are the case, then we may see Vulture and the Venom/Sandman two-pack put up soon as well. But, most importantly, it’s not proof that the figures are being re-released.

In short: Rumors that Black Panther or Puma, or any figures from those two waves, are being re-released are just that: rumors. You shouldn’t try to unload your collections before the prices “crash”, and if you’re thinking of purchasing one of those figures, there’s no proof of an impending rerelease to lower the prices. The Black Panther wave was only briefly back up on Entertainment Earth as available for sale, and was then promptly taken back down, and nobody has any idea why Hasbro put Black Cat, Puma and others on their website.

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Friday, June 6, 2008

Marvel's Hulk SHS Gallery

Marvel has gotten into the Super Hero Squad promotion bandwagon with high-res pics of 7 of the 8 2-packs from the first waves, pictures of the Brawl That Shook the World set (showing one Hulkbuster's goggles to be blacked out, and both busters having reversed coloring from the 2-pack version of the soldier, and best of all, the box doesn't have that annoying Toys R Us Exclusive sticker in the way) and pictures of the 2-packs display case.

So there you go, the Hulkbusters are all different, clear new pictures, what more can you ask for? The Wave 2 toys themselves? Well... yeah, we're waiting too.

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Thursday, June 5, 2008

And slightly better pictures of the Winter Soldier Saga Set...

Well, better is subjective. Marvelous News has some more of the same pics of the upcoming Super Hero Squad Wave 3 set, Winter Soldier Saga. Basically, the shots get sent to the reputable news sites, but to make them look "theirs" some sites try coloring the background, and the result is Falcon's ear going bye-bye so while these are the same pictures, albeit smaller, they don't have the chipped photoshopping and the awkwardness of using fill to paint over part of Falcon. They do still have the same white specks all over the Winter Soldier box as the earlier photos though. Still, for photo junkies, this may be of interest.

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Up close with Spider-Man Saves the Day, Winter Soldier Saga

Cool Toy Review has up close shots of the new Super Hero Squad 4 packs Winter Soldier Saga and Spider-Man Saves the Day. It's a little easier to see the text on top of the Spider-Man box in this photo set. There's some unfortunate photoshopping that cuts through Falcon's ear and left bits of the white background Hasbro usually uses for these promotional photos in spikes on Captain America's shield, but if nothing else it does show that the City In Crisis on Hasbro's site = Spider-Man Saves the Day once boxed.

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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Operation Hulk

Operation Hulk has been available for a while now but I never noticed the Super Hero Squad logo on the bottom of the box. Since we've already talked puzzles, the video game, and the cartoon why not mention the first board game as well, right?

It's item number 40524, $19.99 on Hasbro Toy Shop (and also available in stores), and the item description is:

"Fix Hulk up, but don’t set him off! Toxic Gas, Betty Butterflies and other ailments are really getting under Hulk’s green skin. He’s your patient, so grab those tweezers! Earn money by successfully removing funatomy parts. But don’t set off the buzzer, or Hulk’s eyes will glow green and he’ll howl and growl!

When the parts are out and Hulk is healed, the richest doctor wins!

Includes gameboard with Hulk “patient” and tweezers, storage drawer, 24 cards, 12 plastic funatomy parts, play money and instructions.

For 1 or more players.

Requires 4 “AAA” batteries (not included)"

The real question is why Hulk would allow Iron Man and Spider-Man into the operating room after World War Hulk.

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Squad Past, Present and Future: A look at the

One source of happiness for the devoted Super Hero Squad fan is a set of leaked SKUs. The leaked SKUs are generally discovered months in advance of promotional photos (which are, themselves released often months before the sets are released), and generally have at least a few solid character reveals. There’s often a partial name that causes confusion, or a generic name that falls victim to speculators who refuse to admit they’re speculating, but overall the SKUs are generally accurate, it’s the people passing them around that aren’t.

Anyway, this is a look back at the SKUs, the accuracy, the confusion, the occasional goof-up and overall, the potential future of the line.

The first batch I could find were:

Storm/Black Panther 65356925203
Cpt America/Fury 65356925204
Wolverine/Chopper 653569925205
Torch/Annilus 65356925206
Iceman/Pyro 65356926032
Thor /Loki 65356926033
Gambit/Rogue 65356926034
Dr Strange/Antman 65356926035

Pretty good right? Ultimate Nick Fury was surprising since we didn’t have a 616 Nick Fury (and still don’t unfortunately), but otherwise they were fairly spot on.

And then we have:

MVL HULK SPIDERWOMAN 65356930140
MVL DEADPOOL PUNISHER 65356930141
MVL CPT AMERICA CABLE 65356930142
MVL BLK SPIDER MAN DOC OCK 65356930143
MVL DAREDEVIL SPDMN 65356930144
MVL WOLVERINE PSYLOCKE 65356930145
MVL SPIDERMAN VENOM 65356930146
MVL GHST RDR MTRCY 65356930147

Which was a fairly straightforward set of SKUs, without much guesswork needed. Now we’re going to get into some of the SKUs that caused confusion.

BEN REILLY/SPIDER-MAN 65356931763
NEW THOR/ARES 65356931765
SPIDER-MAN/HOBGOBLIN 65356931764
WOLVERINE/THE H 65356931766

More straightforward SKUs, but “The H” resulted in some confused checklists referring to the set as Wolverine/The Hulk, which we now know as Hand Ninja. Ben Reilly/Spider-Man was also a bit of a conundrum, as we eventually learned that the set included Carnage. It can either be seen as the SKUs’ first mistake (since it essentially lists two Spider-Men, and omitted Carnage) or it’s just a harmless omission in favor of explaining what Spider-Man was included.
Next is the very straightforward set of:

MVL SPIDER-MAN / ELECTRO 65356933280
MVL SPDER-MAN / SENTRY 65356933281
MVL CAPTAIN AMERICA / RED SKULL 65356933283
MVL BLADE / PUNISHER 65356933282

Followed by the not-so obvious line-up of:

MVL SPD ULTRON 65356934449
MVL SOLDIER AGENT 653569344451
MVL S-M RONIN 653569344447
WEAPON X MYSTIQUE 653569344450

This is a great example of the frustrations and satisfaction one gets from the new SKUs. Mystique, Ronin and Ultron are highly demanded characters, but Soldier/Agent say just enough to not say much. And by not SPD and S-M are just assumed to be new or new-ish Spider-Men, which are frustrating in their own way.

We’ve already talked a little about the 4-Pack SKUs:

MVL CITY IN CRISIS 65356933020
MVL THEME PK URBAN HEROES 65356930439
MVL THEME PK X-MEN 1 65356930256
MVL THEME PK AVENGER 65356931768
MVL THEME PK X-MEN 2 65356931769
MVL WINTR SOLDIER SA 65356933021

With Urban Heroes apparently turning into “Battle For New York”, “City In Crisis” (Or "Spider-Man Saves The Day", as we learned earlier today from Marvelous News) being erroneously credited as the Emma Frost set we now know was X-Men 1, we see that while the information may be right, it’s still subject to change.

We’ve also got:

MVL 4PK THE NEW F4 65356935071
MVL 4PK THE DEFENDERS 65356935072
4 PACK SECRET WARS 65356937551
ALIEN INVASION 65356937552

Which are subject to the normal speculation and considering how long it took to reveal “City in Crisis”, we’ll probably have nothing but speculation for a long time to come.

Mega Packs get into the action sometime too:

MVL SANDMAN S-MAN 65356933016
MVL GALACTUS MR FAN 65356931165
MVL ULT HULK ULT WOLVERINE 65356931166
MVL WENDIGO WLVRNE S 65356933017

And we now know that Ultimate Hulk is a recreation from the Ultimate Hulk/Wolverine mini-series that has yet to finish, and that Galactus is a repaint. Wendigo… well… come on… when has he ever been Mega-sized? On the other hand, in the recent King Sized Hulk, the Red Hulk faced off against a rather tall and lanky Wendigo, so maybe we’ll forgive the fine Hasbro sculptors for their broken sense of proportion. And we may not need another Sandman when regular Giant Man is still unmade, but oh well.

Back to the two-packs though, we finish up with:

MVL SHS SMAN SHANG UPC 65356936178
MVL SHS CYCLOPS MAR UPC 65356936181
MVL SHS THING KANG UPC 65356936180
MVL SHS INSULATED S-M S UPC 65356936179

HLK GRAY HLK LEADER 65356933645
HLK 2PK HULK ZZZAX 65356933646
HLK HULK DOC SAMSON 65356933647
HLK HULK SOH 65356922648

MVL CPT AMERICA BLK 65356937550
MVL SPDR-ARMOR RHIN 65356937547
MVL SPDR-MAN TOMBST 65356937548
MVL BEAST AVALANCHE 65356937549

Where we have all the highs and lows of SKUs. Kang, Leader, Zzzax, Doc Samson, Avalanche are new characters and pretty self-explanatory (but as we’ve seen, sometimes these things change.) We’ve got some other obvious characters like Cyclops, Thing, Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man and Beast where the question becomes what versions of the characters, whether they’re repaints or resculpts. We also have the reasonable guesses… like Shang becoming Shang-Chi (as many sites reported Hasbro representatives mentioning by name during Toyfair), “Rhin” and “Tombst” being Rhino and Tombstone. And we have others like “MAR”, “SOH” and “BLK” where reasonable guesses include Marvel Girl, Son of Hulk and Black Widow, but are far from definitive.

And there we go, the past present and possible future of the Super Hero Squad, laid out in 11 digit codes.

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City in Crisis is now "Spider-Man Saves The Day"?

Marvelous News is reporting here that the new Super Hero Squad Spider-Man set with Green Goblin and Mary Jane is now called "Spider-Man Saves the Day", and as you can see in the up-close photos they've published, if you look at the top of the box, it looks like the box says it too. Of course, Hasbro itself is still calling it the City in Crisis, but oh well.

Comparing the Sandman up-close pictures they have with the Sandman that came in the two-packs, it looks like they've re-done the eyes, going from 2-Pack's round browns with white dots to more oval eyes. The belt buckle on 2-pack was a solid square, and on the new one it's got some stripes. The new Sandman also has belt-loops, and his fist hand looks a little more "muddy."

Looks like the checklist needs to be updated. Oh, and can someone explain to me why many people seem to refer to this Sandman sculpt as "the comic version" and the original sculpt as movie version? Maybe my eyes aren't as attuned as eveyone else's, but the movie Sandman costume was fairly representative of the comic costume, and once Squaded, it looks... well... just like a comic version would look once Squaded. So feel free to explain this riddle to me.

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Monday, June 2, 2008

More Shopping Help

First, apparently the Hulk Wave 2 packs are pushed back a little more. People who had ordered the Psylocke/Ghost Rider/Daredevil/Venom wave from Hasbrotoyshop should have received their boxes this week (as I did) and while Hulk Wave 2 had been pushed back to ship at the same time as those figures, it's currently listed on the Hasbro site as arriving 6/13-6/16 with express shipping. On the plus side, those are also the expected dates for express shipping of Carnage and Ares et al so those who purchased through Hasbrotoyshop can still have lots of fun unwrapping box after box after box.

Second, hopefully you resisted the temptation to order the Hulk Brawl That Shook the Earth Cinema Scene through eBay for $60, because now Toys R Us has it on their website for $24.95. Add in shipping and handling and the US total is a little over $30. Search the site for Hulk and then scroll down.

And thirdly, the Super Hero Squad puzzles are up for sale and in stock at Hasbro Toy Shop and with express shipping they will be in your house (theoretically) in two days. And coupon code SPRREQ8 was the last discount code I have found that actually works.

Hope that helps someone out.

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Sunday, June 1, 2008

Updated Index of Super Hero Squad Posts

And finally, an update to the Rumorbuster Blog's index. I'm going to switch out of the Google site soon though because I don't like the unusual formatting it inserts into things. In the meantime though, I present to you a summary of everything we've talked about so far...

Artwork

- Where can I get a sneak peak at Super Hero Squad versions of Mystique, 616/Comic Abomination, Falcon and others? 1, 2, 3

- Who did the design work for the Iron Man toys? 1

Case For… (or, why they really should make…)

- Luke Cage (The Case For… # 1) 1

- Nova (The Case For… #2) 1

City in Crisis

- What is City in Crisis, and who is in it? Is that Green Goblin? Someone told me Kraven was in it, and someone else said Vulture? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Collector's Pack 1

- I've read that the $30 price tag was a mistake, what's the story there? 1

Collector's Pack 2

- Is it coming out? I heard that it was pulled because Hasbro thought characters in wheelchairs don't sell, and, well, this is the set with Professor X after all. Who else was in it, and isn’t this the Collector’s Pack that was announced like, Summer 2007? Now I’m hearing that it’s coming out in August, but nobody can point to anything official. Is it now a Wal-Mart exclusive? 1, 2, 3, 4

Costumes/Designs

- How Comic Accurate is Sabretooth's costume? 1

- Are Version 1 Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman 616 designs or are they Ultimate? 1

- Is Ultimate Hulk really mega-pack worthy? 1, 2

- What Wolverine Costumes have we seen so far? 1

- Why do Customizers make Stealth Iron Man blue? 1

Hulk Wave 1

- Where can I find it? Who’s in it? Was Abomination included or was he pulled? 1, 2, 3

Hulk Wave 2

- She-Hulk, Thing, Wolverine, Black Bolt and the Absorbing Man? Where can I see pictures, when are they going to be/did they become available? 1, 2, 3

Hulk Wave 3

- Who’s in it? Is it official? Can it really include Zzzax, Leader and Doc Samson? 1

Hulk Gamma Lab

- What does it look like? 1

Hulk: Brawl That Shook The World

- Is the Hulk multi-pack out yet? How much? And is it really a Toys R Us exclusive? 1

Iron Man

- Is there an Iron Man 5-pack? 1

- It doesn’t seem like Iron Man got a lot of toy-love… what’s the story there? 1

- Who did the design work? 1

Iron Man Wave 2

- What figures? Are they just repaints? Are Desert Face Off and Crimson Dynamo Attacks the same? 1, 2, 3, 4

- When is it available for order? And when will it be available? 1

Kids Play

- Aren't Super Hero Squad toys for kids? Ages 3 and up, man... why don't you go with the uber-mature Marvel Legends? 1

- Ok, I agree that there are some more mature characters in Marvel’s line, but it’s still a good way to introduce kids to the characters, right? 1

Kraven

- Is Kraven coming out? Maybe in the Collector's Pack? I heard he was in a Four Pack? 1, 2

- I read somewhere that low sales killed Kraven, and even though nobody has ever given that as a reason, and there’s no source for that rumor, is it true? What’s the history of Kraven rumors? 1

Marvel Legends

- Isn't that line dead? Aren't internet rumors always true? 1

Mini-Mates

- Do you know of a totally subjective, absolutely authoritative way to know which is better: Mini-Mates or Super Hero Squad? 1

- Is it true the line is over? 1

Movie Lines

- Since Iron Man, Hulk and Spider-Man all had movie lines, or at least a line to coincide with their movies, what other potential movie lines are coming out (and thus likely to get lines)? 1, 2

- Is it just me or did Hulk receive a bigger Super Hero Squad marketing push, especially with its Super Hero Squad toys? 1

New York City Comic Con 2008 (AKA NYCC 2008)

- Who’s got pictures? Who went, and what was shown? 1, 2, 3

Paint Applications

- Ugh. Am I the only one that notices some of these paint applications are really, really bad? 1

Prototypes/Unreleased Figures

- I thought I saw a different Venom sculpt? Isn't Storm's cape upside-down from the picture? 1

- I read somewhere that Venom was resculpted because he was too small to fit in with the line. Of course, I can't find any official word on this, but what's the story? 1

Recall

- I tried to buy some Hulk figures early, but I was told there’s a recall. Where can I get solid info on a potential recall, find out if a toy is recalled, and why did my attempted early purchase of Hulk figures trigger that message? 1

Size Changes

- Are Super Hero Squad figures going to be 3-inch from now on? 1

Spider-Man

- Maybe I’m crazy, but there seems to be a lot of Spider-Man figures out there. What’s the deal? 1

- I notice in the press releases for the cartoon and video game, Spider-Man is absent. What’s the deal with that? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

- Was the movie line as successful as Marvel wanted? As Hasbro? I heard that low sales killed Kraven, and that poor distribution of some two-packs was caused by poor sales, is that true? 1

Super Hero Squad

- Are there checklists? 1, 2

- Where can I see what figures have been released so far, or at least a good chunk of them? 1

- Who does design work on the line? 1

Super Hero Squad: The Animated Series

- What’s this I hear about the Super Hero Squad cartoon? Since all the other upcoming Marvel animated series are apparently airing on Nicktoons, will this one too? 1, 2

- Who’s producing it and how many episodes? What the heck Is Super Hero City? What characters are going to be in it? Isn’t it weird that Spider-Man isn’t being mentioned in most of the press releases? 1, 2

- Will we see a promo at Brand Licensing Europe? 1

Super Hero Squad: The Merchandising

- A cartoon is great, but what merchandising is anticipated, and what is possible? Construction Toys? Costumes? Direct to Video feature? A book series? 1, 2

- MSN says there’s a comic book series in the fall, that Super Hero Squad strips are already in some Marvel comics, and that Spider-Man will be swinging around Super Hero City. Why doesn’t that sound accurate? 1

- Ooh, puzzles! Tell me more! 1

Super Hero Squad: The Video Game

- So THQ has the license for a video game. When can we expect something? And wait, once again Spidey’s not mentioned in most of the official releases? 1

- Wait, did MSN just say Iron Monger and Spider-Man are going to be in the game? 1

Super Hero Squad Wave 7 (note: I'm using the "4 packs to a wave" numbering, just for simplicity's sake)

- Evil Expressioned Cable? What? 1

- Spider-Woman, Cable, Deadpool oh my! Where can I find this wave? Is it out yet? 1

- What characters are going to be short-packed from this wave? 1

Super Hero Squad Wave 8

- What characters are going to be short-packed from this wave and when will it be/did it become available? Did Ghost Rider's Flamecycle really come with a kickstand? 1, 2, 3

Super Hero Squad Wave 10

- Blade, Red Skull, Electro and Sentry? Awesome. Where, when and what do they look like? 1, 2, 3

Super Hero Squad Wave 11

- In the leaked SKUs, who are Soldier/Agent? 1

Super Hero Squad Wave 13

- In the leaked SKUs, is that Avalanche, Tombstone, Rhino and Captain America? Who, or what, is “BLK”? 1, 2

Super Hero Squad Four Packs

- What's the source for the rumored Champions 4-pack? Is it official? Is it from leaked Wal-mart SKUs? I thought the name "Champions" was tied up legally? And what Four Packs have been leaked in Wal-Mart SKUs? 1

Super Hero Squad Four Packs Wave 4

- What are in the next wave of 4 packs (according to the leaked Wal-Mart SKUs)? Secret Wars? Alien Invasion? What might those mean? I read somewhere that Beyonder was in it, or that Alien Invasion is a Secret Invasion pack? 1, 2

Winter Soldier Saga

- Who’s in it, and where are the pictures? 1, 2

X-Men

- How many X-Men 4-packs have been made/are known to be in the pipeline? 1

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