Newsclips 10/16/08

Before heading out of town for the weekend I figured we should post some news, even if it's been a bit of a slow-news-week (although lots of cool stuff is happening behind the scenes) so here we go...


Pilot of the new Witchblade series is on iTunes... check out the free iTunes offerings here.

Hasbro Customer service gets another knock from its handling of the Cloverfield Monster sales (remind me some day to tell you all about the half hour I spent on the phone with a Hasbro rep who e-mailed me to say that not only did they cancel my order for taking too long (2 hours to respond to an e-mail sent at nearly midnight on a Friday night! Thank insomnia I was even up!) they couldn't uncancel it only for them to realize that the part that they were canceling was the part they had previously shipped to me. A month prior. And I had just wasted my time talking to them.).

While Marvel's online comic reading format is hard to navigate, they're going on with several new online only comic projects... many of which actually sound good to an obscure and older character lover like myself. A Frontline-esque take on Galactus, good old fashioned western fun with Kid Colt, Frankenstein and the Werewolf-by-Night? Sounds great!

And while the old news on eBay is the gentleperson still selling pre-orders for Super Hero Squad Wave 9 ("arrives late sept!" they proudly exclaim. In mid-October. I wonder if they're going to have the stock to fulfill their orders or if unsuspecting marks... I mean dupes... I mean buyers will have time to get their money back thanks to various time-limits eBay has in place on complaints. Personal experience folks: eBay pre-orders can be scary...) the fun news is...

Custom Super Hero Squad soap.

Ok, it's just putting SHS figures in handmade soap as it hardens, but who would have thought of it? Other than the person that thought of it of course. Anyone else spot some creative uses for these guys? Cake toppers? Chess pieces with Spider-Man and Hulk or Iron Man being pawns?

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.