Super Hero Squad Rumorbuster

Monday, May 19, 2008

Wave 8, promotional text problems, and paint applications

I happened to see 3/4ths of Super Hero Squad Wave 8 at Target today and noticed a few things:

First: the Psylocke packs had the worst paint jobs I have seen in a long time. One had what looked like a chunk taken out of her cheek (similar to the nick I found on my Fin Fang Foom, a nick straight to the semi-translucentish plastic underneath the outer surface), and the “good one” has purple blemishes all over her arms and legs, while the “good” Wolverine looks dirty. It’s ok… I’ll consider it “battle damage.”

Second: This is apparently the last time we’ll see Wolverine in his classic blue and yellow garb. Up next is Samurai Wolverine, followed by a potential Weapon X Wolverine, and the Wolverine shown here is back to his Astonishing X-Men-esque look (no blue briefs, but blue running down the legs) although why Hasbro is digging to make a repaint of the version 1 Wolvie from the Wolverine/Sabretooth pack shown here rather than a paint of one of the newer sculpts is beyond me.

Third: I tend to enjoy the little descriptions they put on the various characters, and looking at the new packs reminded me of the text Hasbro has up for the Cable and Captain America 2-packs on their website:

“This chunky duo includes the evil-expressioned Cable figure and criminal-capturing Captain America figure both ready for a rumble!”

Apparently the copywriters haven’t read too many Cable books. On the other hand, he can be a little evil.

Fourth, and finally, the Flame Cycle has a kickstand! There was lots of complaining about Wolverine and his bike, but Ghost Rider is now able to sit comfortably on his bike without tipping over.

Labels: , , , ,

Hulk Wave 2 Delayed

This isn't new news (to those of us that ordered the packs when we saw them) but I keep forgetting to put it up here.

When Hulk Wave 2 Super Hero Squad figures were put up for order on Hasbro's website, as mentioned a while back I was surprised at how quickly the ability to order came, noting how there was no pre-order/coming soon period.

Well, not too long afterwards, the fine folks at Hasbro Toy Shop sent an e-mail explaining that the product was now back-ordered. The current ship-time for Hulk Wave 2 (the She-Hulk, Wolverine, Thing, Black Bolt and Absorbing Man wave) is June 12, 2008, which is conveniently enough the same ship-date as Wave 8 (with Psylocke.) Unless one of these dates gets pushed back, it looks like many of us will have lots of boxes waiting in the mail box mid-June.

Meanwhile, Hulk Wave 2 is still available for purchase on Hasbro Toy Shop, and the somewhat elusive Cable and Deadpool packs are also back in stock.

Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Psylocke Wave is on the streets...

A user on the Super Hero Squad Forums reported finding the Psylocke wave (Wave 8 according to Wikipedia, 7 to collectors who counted the double-ship of waves in November as one wave) in Target, Foster City, CA (CA seems to be where new waves hit first, note to people looking to move to buy toys), and some eBay auctions are showing Psylocke auctions from San Jose and Redondo Beach.

I've decided not to link to eBay auctions because I really don't agree with scalpers, and while it's possible that one particular eBay seller happened to accidentally buy 3 extra copies of the soon-to-be-short-packed (if Entertainment Earth's case revisions are accurate) Wolverine/Psylocke the week she's released and decided to put some on eBay, I just don't want to drive prices up for individual scalpers up.

Meanwhile, Hasbro's official store is reporting that those of us able to pre-order Psylocke have an expected ship date of May 26, 2008 (which is about right since Hasbro's ship date tends to be a few weeks after the street date) and Hulk Wave 2 is supposed to start shipping May 12.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Super Hero Squad Wave 7 and 8 case revisions

Case revisions, where the number of one figure or another is changed from earlier cases, can sometimes help ease a drought of one particular figure and give collectors relief from eBay prices. And sometimes, they can short-pack particular figures making a particular figure rarer as the line goes on. Entertainment Earth (who sell figures both in sets and in cases) has the following case revision information:

Wave 6/7 (they're using th 6 designation, but it's the wave with Spider-Woman and Deadpool)(out now):
3x Hulk and Spider-Woman
3x Punisher and Deadpool
3x Captain America and Cable
3x Black Spider-Man and Doc Ock

Wave 6/7 Revision 1(June):
4x Hulk & Spider-Woman
2x Punisher & Deadpool
2x Captain America & Cable
4x Black Spider-Man & Doc Ock

Wave 8 (Psylocke, Comic Venom, Ghost Rider and Cycle)(May):
3x Daredevil and Spider-Man
3x Wolverine and Psylocke
3x Spider-Man and Venom
3x Ghost Rider and Motorcycle

Wave 8 Revision 1 (June):
4x Daredevil and Spider-Man
2x Wolverine and Psylocke
4x Spider-Man and Venom
2x Ghost Rider and Motorcycle

So characters like Cable, Deadpool and Psylocke are going to be a little bit harder to find once the revisions start shipping. Those dates, by the way, are from Entertainment Earth. Since Spider-Man/Daredevil and Spider-Man/Venom are going to be shipped with twice as many units as Wolverine/Psylocke and Ghost Rider/Hellcycle, apparently Hasbro is really banking on resculpts of pre-released characters being twice as sellable as the brand new Psylocke and the oft-demanded Ghost Rider on Bike.

Will their theory play out? Are Spideys really that much more popular than characters like Wolverine? We'll soon see.

Labels: , , , , , ,