Hulk: Brawl on sale

The Hulk SHS set Brawl that Shook the World is in Toys R Us's 2-day sale, marked down to $14.99, apparently with free shipping if you use their website. Not a bad deal for 4 figures and the "sonic tank" and those that have held off on buying a repaint set.

New Posters

Well as posted earlier, Danger of Dreadknight and Iron Monger Attacks contain new posters featuring several of the new characters (Ronin, Shang-Chi, Electro, Green Goblin, Nick Fury and the Skrulls) so hopefully we'll get full scans up this week. In the meantime, gaze as Shang-Chi, Ronin, Spider-Man, Wolverine and generic SHIELD Agent (or perhaps, an easy way for semi-obscure character collectors to pretend they haveClay Quartermain?) as they take on a handful of Photoshop-cloned Hand Ninjas.

New Fantastic Four and Defenders revealed!

Thanks to the awesome new posters in the new Iron Men sets, we now know that the New Fantastic Four four pack will be Storm, Black Panther, a translucent version of Johnny Storm and the Thing, while the Defenders will be Nighthawk, a Chrome Silver Surfer, Hulk (looks like the v1 Hulk though. Pity.) and Gargoyle!

Super Hero Squad: The Comic

So those promo images are, in fact, a one-shot. And there's a poster too.

$3.99, set in Super Hero City and... well... just read the press release:

Marvel is proud to announce that SUPER HERO SQUAD: HERO UP! One-Shot will be released in January 2009, based on the successful Hasbro action figure line featuring Marvel’s greatest heroes & villains. Written by fan favorite scribe Paul Tobin (Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes) and featuring art by the can’t-miss team of Marcelo DiChiara & Chris Sotomayor, this extra-sized one-shot features all your favorite Marvel characters. Experience the Marvel Universe like never before, as the heroes & villains of Super Hero City clash in epic confrontations! Take a stroll down to the Xavier Institute, past the FF’s Baxter Building…but don’t stray too far, because dastardly Doctor Doom’s domain is the next block over…! Plus, learn more about your favorite heroes with bios and more! This issue ships with two covers—one featuring the heroes of SSH and the other featuring the villains!

Also, don’t miss the SUPER HERO SQUAD POSTER, featuring all the heroes and villains of Super Hero City!

In 2009, comic book fans everywhere will be asking “Are You Ready To Hero Up?” and there’s only one place to find the answers— SUPER HERO SQUAD: HERO UP! One-Shot!



SUPER HERO SQUAD: HERO UP! ONE-SHOT
Written by PAUL TOBIN
Art & 50/50 Covers by MARCELO DiCHIARA & CHRIS SOTOMAYOR
All Ages …$3.99
FOC—12/18/08, On-Sale—1/7/09


SUPER HERO SQUAD POSTER
Poster by MARCELLO DiCHIARA & CHRIS SOTOMAYOR
24 x 36... $8.99
FOC—12/11/08, On-Sale—1/7/09

Iron Monger and Dreadknight on Hasbrotoyshop.com

Like the title says, you may now buy the Iron Monger Attacks and Danger of Dreadknight sets at Hasbro Toy Shop. The only coupon code I could get to work was disc10 which gets you a 10% discount (which means the two sets are still going to set you back $30.) On the plus side? You can finally act out unofficial Iron Man movie scenes using Ultimate Nick Fury and the movie figures.

Go forth and enjoy! Given the number of sites claiming that Sentry, Ronin and Marvel Girl waves are all shipping between now and November, the Collector's Pack appearing here and there and these guys we're looking at a serious infusion of Super Hero Squad figures.

Chutes and Ladders!

Marvel Super Hero Squad Chutes and Ladders! Come on! Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine and Spider-Man taking part in America's favorite game (runner up: no limit Texas Hold'em. Second runner up: Pogs.) After Operation: Hulk, this is the second SHS themed board game, but is there anyone else out there that would love to see an official board game? With actual figures as the tokens?

Dreadknight and Iron Monger on Hasbro Toy Shop

Danger of Dreadknight and Iron Monger Attacks are on Hasbro Toy Shop. Listed as Coming Soon and with the 10.99 price tag.

One reason to buy the Incredible Hulk on DVD...

Well, Marvel Animation Age has a little article about all the cool previews coming with the upcoming Incredible Hulk DVD release and best among them? Super Hero Squad!

In related news, the upcoming DVD release of the live-action The Incredible Hulk feature film contains a trailer for Marvel Animation Studios. The trailer contains new footage from Iron Man: Armored Adventures, as well as new footage from Wolverine and The X-Men, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Hulk Versus, Black Panther Animated, Marvel Anime, and a look at designs from Marvel Super Hero Squad.

Ok, so it's a look at designs and not full footage but still, cool enough. Footage of Marvel Anime sounds interesting too... presumably it's going to show off at least one of the Anime initiatives talked about way back when

Winter Soldier and City in Crisis/Spider-Man Saves the Day in production?

Rick and Alex e-mailed to let everyone know that Winter Soldier Saga and City in Crisis (listed as Spider-Man Saves the Day) have hit eBay thanks to a seller in China. In all likelihood, these are the run-of-the-mill stolen from the assembly line figures, so while stealing is bad, the plus side is that there were figures on an assembly line to steal!

There's also reports on the Super Hero Squad forum that a few Toys R Us's have put out, and sold, the long awaited Collector's Pack 2 so all signs point to some happy Super Hero Squad hunting in the coming weeks.

Prof. X and Shadowcat (at long last), Winter Soldier, Crossbones, Falcon, Mary Jane, Green Goblin, Mandarin, Dreadknight, Iron Man (Movie), Iron Monger... it seems like it's been a while since we've had so many new characters!

The Super Hero Squad producer

Comics Continuum has a piece up talking about the upcoming Hulk vs. DVD, along with a bit about the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon and they follow it up with a brief piece on the Super Hero Squad cartoon:

"Mitch Schauer, who created Nickelodeon's Angry Beavers, is producing the Marvel Super Hero Squad series. Look for a more humorous approach than other Marvel shows."

Danger of Dreadknight and Iron Monger Attacks packs up...

but not for sale yet. Rick and Alex let us know that the links to Iron Monger Attacks and Danger of Dreadknight sets have gone up, pictures, details and all. I guess they're the first people to get two no-prizes? Well, they've earned them.

Oh, and notice the $10.99 price tag. It could always be worse though. Hopefully they'll show up on Hasbro Toy Shop soon

Danger of Dreadknight:

The mystical master known as Zhang Tong and the technological terror of the Dreadknight have teamed up to take the Iron Avenger down! Against the magical power of Zhang Tong, the only hope Iron Man has is the sneakiness of his stealth armor, while the power of the Dreadknight can only be matched by the high-flying might of his traditional armor!

These fun, collectible figures are ready for to stage an imaginative battle! Four-pack includes Dreadknight, Zhang Tong, Stealth Armor Iron Man and Iron Man figures.

Item #: 78633
Approx. Retail: $ 10.99
Ages: 3 & Up

And Iron Monger Attacks:



Every piece of technology in the Iron Monger battle suit is stolen from Iron Man, and it looks like the armored villain wants to upgrade! He's smashed into Tony Stark's lab, intent on stealing the original armor. Luckily, Iron Man and War Machine are on the scene, and they're armed and ready to blast Iron Monger into scrap!

These fun, collectible figures are ready for to stage an imaginative battle! Four-pack includes 1st appearance Iron Man, Iron Monger, War Machine and Iron Man figures.
Item #: 78632
Approx. Retail: $ 10.99
Ages: 3 & Up

No more Mega-sized?

I saw this on the Super Hero Squad Forum and so I checked out Figures.com's Q&A where a Hasbro rep says Mega-sized figures might be a thing of the past

FIGURES.COM: The Superhero Squad line has proven popular over the years with kids and collectors alike. Will fans be seeing more larger scaled figures in this line similar to the Apocalypse or Galactus?

HASBRO: There are no current plans for mega-scale Squad figures in 2009.

What exactly does that mean in the end? Mega Scale figures haven't been selling? They're struggling for new ideas for characters popular enough to get mega-figures? They realized how silly a mega-sized Wendigo would be? We'll most likely never really know. Speculation on!

Be warned though, visiting the site treats you to nearly 30 flashing ads and then just teases a Superhero Times Q&A featuring... well, the same set of ads and even some text ads. Firefox + Ad Blocking Extension = a much more enjoyable reading experience, especially given the time it takes to render the page with ads.

This may be our last farewell post... on Winter Soldier.

Same news, different delay:

ITEM(S) NOT YET SHIPPED
Item number: 78452
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – City in Crisis: Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Green Goblin and Sandman
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 12/23/2008

Item number: 78453
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Winter Soldier Saga: Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Crossbone
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 12/23/2008

Once again, you need to contact Hasbro to let them know that you still want these figures, now scheduled to ship sometime around Christmas apparently.

Super Hero Squad Fabric?

Ok, standard disclaimer about not linking to ongoing eBay auctions because more often then not, the ones that benefit are the scalpers and all that... but if you go to eBay and search for Super Hero Squad Fabric you'll see one of the more interesting licensing examples of Marvel's Super Hero Squad. Literal bolts of fabric. Perfect for making pillow cases or curtains, or maybe even a backdrop for your display case? A search on Google Shopping shows some varieties of color. So puzzles? Check. Operation Hulk? Check. Fabric by the yard? Check. What's next? Birthday party napkins? Bubble dispensers? The future is wide open.

One more last word on Winter Soldier/City in Crisis

And that additional, final last word is... a date. September 23, 2007. One month, 5 e-mails threatening to cancel the order... one can only hope that this is in fact the final last word.

Hopefully the last word on Winter Soldier/City in Crisis?

An e-mail saying there was going to be a delay until 8/20, but that orders would not be canceled.

Then the e-mail saying the product was delayed until 8/26 and would be canceled without confirmation.

Then the e-mail saying it would be delayed until 9/2 and would be canceled without confirmation.

Then the e-mail saying it would be delayed until 9/8 and would be canceled without confirmation.

Then the e-mail saying the item was backordered, would ship on 9/8/ and that the order has been confirmed.

Then the e-mail saying the item was delayd until 9/12 and would be canceled without confirmation.

Can you guess what just showed up in my inbox? That's right... an e-mail saying that the item is delayed until 9/17 and will be canceled without confirmation.

So we've had 5 e-mails threatening to cancel our order unless we confirm it, 1 e-mail saying the item was delayed but no further action was needed, and 1 e-mail saying it was delayed, full stop.

Hasbro, maybe you should consider giving us faithful shlubs a gift card, free shipping or maybe just a new poster?

At the very least, with all the delays, we should have flawless paint jobs. Mary Jane better be the best figure you've ever put out because you've had more than enough time to work on her.

Finally! Wave 9 and 10 hi-res photos!

Marvelous News! Hi-res!
Wave 9!
Wave 10! Nick Fury/Skrull!

Phew, now lets get on to the analysis! First off: Wave 9. And keep in mind, there's still a chance things will change from what we see here.

- Captain America's got a repaint. A weird one at that, with reversed stripes on the shield. Ok.
- Red Skull did end up with the clear Cosmic Cube
- Spider-Man (in the Electro pack) did end up being the white-web shooting one

Wave 10.

- The box says Nick Fury and Skrull Agent, so apparently Nick Fury is confirmed, and the SHIELD agent is possibly just an army builder in a box-set or a later character.
- From the way Ronin's knives change position in the box, can we assume he's got those wrist articulations that let you pivot the hand, even though it only looks "right" in a small area?
- Black Spidey looks to have metallic silver spider-logo... which, if true means everyone complaining that he's a straight re-pack can settle down. Now, such a slight repaint isn't any better for the majority of fans, but I'll accept it. Now here's hoping we don't have a new trend of taking all the Spidey-sculpts and releasing them as black-costume/silver spider variants.
- Spider-Man with the translucent red goop is coming with the Cyberman... I mean Ultron. Personally, I think translucent red goopy Spider-Man is one of the more visually dynamic versions of that sculpt, but that's opinion.
- Weapon X/Wolverine looks... well... like a Weapon X Wolverine should I suppose. There's been some banter on the trading boards about whether his near-nudeness will put off some parents, but look, let's be honest, the biggest potential sales problem is that he's not called Wolverine. I doubt many parents are going to freak out and refuse to buy the figure because he looks near-nude. More likely, they're going to wonder why he's near-nude, and then buy it anyway.
- Mystique looks good, but it's a little sad that almost every woman sculpt has been a virtual statue.

And again with the City in Crisis!

Everyone knows the drill now... Hasbro has sent out e-mails saying "whoopsie, our bad. City in Crisis and Winter Soldier are like... IDK, on a truck or something somewhere. Whatevs." And then we, the concerned pre-orderers, have to call or e-mail to confirm. Anyway, their new e-mail has an estimated ship date of 9/12/08, but honestly, at this point I think the "estimated ship dates" are automatically generated to be a few days after the original because this is what, the fourth time they've pushed the date back a few days, not counting the times they've sent e-mails saying there's a delay and we DON'T have to call them.

Anyway, when you do contact Hasbro, be sure to voice your displeasure, and let them know if you'd prefer a system that only cancels your order when YOU want it to, without forcing you to jump through hoops to keep something you ordered on order.

City in Crisis/fulfillment issue?

One reader reports that after responding to the most recent request to confirm that they want the City in Crisis and Winter Soldier sets, they received the following e-mail.

Thank you for contacting us with your confirmation.

Please be aware that the items you ordered are currently not available but en route to our fulfillment center. We expect to be able to ship it by the dates indicated below. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Your credit card will not be charged for backordered items until they have been shipped.

Marvel Super Hero Squad – City in Crisis: Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Green Goblin and Sandman - Expected Ship Date 09/08/2008

Marvel Super Hero Squad – Winter Soldier Saga: Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Crossbone - Expected Ship Date - 09/08/2008

Will tomorrow be the real ship date? Will we have to call and confirm for our orders, again? Look for all this drama, and more, on the next edition of As Our Plastic Ships.

And again with the City in Crisis...

Third time is the charm?

ITEM(S) NOT YET SHIPPED
Item number: 78452
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – City in Crisis: Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Green Goblin and Sandman
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 9/8/2008

Item number: 78453
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Winter Soldier Saga: Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Crossbone
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 9/8/2008

And yes, once again, you must contact Hasbro or risk having your order canceled.