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!

Winter Soldier and City in Crisis Delayed, Action Required

After sending out e-mails saying that the Winter Soldier Saga and City in Crisis/Spider-Man Saves the Day sets would be shipping out on August 20 (and after we congratulated them on the far more reasonable policy of keeping the order on file in the event of a delay, instead of the puzzling policy of canceling delayed orders AFTER the products have been shipped) Hasbro has sent out the following e-mail...

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: 8/26/2008

Item number: 78453
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Winter Soldier Saga: Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Crossbone
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 8/26/2008

We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions regarding your order or would like to change your order, please call our Customer Service Center at 1-800-408-0052. 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.

Which means that yes, once again, if you don't want your order canceled, forcing you to re-place the order and ending up at the end of the queue, you must contact them and waste your time dealing with customer service.

While we were on the phone, we asked them if they had any insight into the logic of making customers waste time in phone queues (I'm assuming e-mail will work as well) confirming that they want what they want, when it's Hasbro's fault they couldn't provide the figures on time. The answer got? "That's just the way the system is." Truer words, my friend. Truer words.

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.

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.