Archive for the 'Marvel' Category
— March 8, 2007
Okay, Marvel is really trying to pull a fast one on comic books fans here. It’s really nothing new if you are a comic book fan however. If this is news for you, on Wednesday, Marvel released Captain America #25 where Cap is shot on the steps of a court house.
The result of this is that it is being reported that Captain America is dead. This has created a media and collector frenzy. The media jumped all over the story, which is why Marvel did this in the first place, and the issue was impossible to find in comic book stores yesterday, except on eBay.
Marvel knew this was coming, but retailers did not know, so they did not prepare for this. As a result, comic book stores all over the US immediately sold out of the book once this story hit the press. The problem is comic fans are not buying the book. Instead, speculators are buying the book in hopes that it will bring them a nice return on investment.
As of last night, there were 300 results on eBay for “captain america 25″ and there was not one auction available for less than $10. Most were between $30 and $60 with the highest auction I saw at $66 for both books ending soonest. Oh yes, that’s right, I forgot to mention there are 2 covers for this book, making 2 collectibles, not one. Not to mention, that Wizard already has another variant issues planned as a Wizard World LA exclusive which starts next weekend!
SPOILER ALERT!
There is a spoiler alert coming. If you are reading this, you have been warned. The clincher in all this has to be the fact that CAP IS NOT DEAD YET! In the “Civil War: The Initiative” which was also released yesterday, readers find out that Cap is not dead, but he survived the shooting and they are keeping him alive in a hidden location.
Is anyone shocked yet? I am not. I did not know about any of this until yesterday, but as a comic book reader and a skeptic, I know that comic books deaths are rarely final. They do them from time to time to generate sales and publicity as they have done here. These characters are money machines for them and they cannot kill them off permanently. Instead they will bring them back after a while and generate more sales and publicity. So yes this is nothing new, but seems that Marvel is sinking to a new low here. The truth is though this is not the end. This is only part of the cycle of life as a superhero. So to that I say, Cap, Rest in Peace?
Update: It gets better. Diamond Comic Distributors issued a press release to comic book retailers today. It turns out that creating a national media frenzy was Marvel’s plan all along, in order to drive demand for Marvel books. According to the press release:
“While Marvel regrets having to withhold any solicitation information from retailers, we had no choice,” said Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel. “The media would never have picked up the story unless it was an absolute secret… so we had no choice. Instead, we made sure to have the healthiest overprint ready to fill reorders for as long as possible.”
To ensure maximum exposure in the media, secrecy about Captain America’s fate had to be ironclad. Many retailers were understandably caught off-guard by the surprising developments of Captain America #25, resulting in rapid sell-outs at the retail level and quickly escalating prices in the aftermarket. However, as Gabriel stated, a significant overprint of this hot issue is now being shipped to Diamond, which will fill all backorders placed as of press time. Marvel fully supports the specialty market, and appreciates storeowners’ patience in this unusual circumstance.
So it appears that Marvel planned for the book to be scarce initially, but overprinted so that the book would be widely available later. Well, at least they were smart about that. Take that people paying $60 on eBay! But wait, there’s more!
The aftermath of Steve Rogers’ assassination continues in a number of upcoming comics, many of which are undergoing title changes to reflect the hero’s death. To keep the incredible ending of Civil War a secret, Marvel solicited five Jeph Loeb-written books in the February and March Marvel Previews with bogus titles and partial information.
Well, at least it’s only 5 more new books about Captain America’s death. What’s that, another one?
In addition to these five Fallen Son specials, Marvel also revealed that the March-solicited Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Remembered would be retitled Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered. Looking back on Steve Rogers’ storied career and paying tribute to the life and legend of The Star-Spangled Avenger, this 32-page, full-color issue carries an FOC date of Thursday, May 10 and arrives in shipments May 30.
Be sure to see your local comic book retailer of choice to get both covers of Captain America #25 that you missed this week because of scalpers, as well as both covers of all five new books remembering Captain America, plus the Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered book.
And don’t forget, Cap’s probably not all dead. He’s only mostly dead.
— March 7, 2007
We are taking pre-orders again for the Spider-man 3 mini busts from Diamond Select with sculpts by Gentle Giant . Also, we are finally allowed to show the photography for these busts so each product has been updated with the images. At the pre-order price, these won’t last long so get your orders in. The cut off date for pre-orders on these is March 11.
Update: Pre-orders are closed.
— February 24, 2007
Well, I’m surprised no one’s really talking about this yet, but have you seen Harry Osborn’s new costume in Spider-man 3? It basically makes him look like a huge tool. For those that don’t know, in Spider-man, Harry Osborn is the son of Norman Osborn and is played by James Franco in Spider-man 1, 2 and 3.
In Spider-man 3, Harry takes on the “Goblin” persona to get revenge on Spider-man for killing his father. I don’t think we know what his official villian name will be yet, but the rumor is, it is the “Hobgoblin.” On the official Spider-man 3 web site, he is listed as “New Goblin.”
The movie may give reason as to why the new Goblin costume is the way it is, but as soon as I saw the pictures, I thought it was embarassing. See for yourself in the picture above, which was taken from a desktop background downloaded from the Spider-man movie site. It basically looks like he is planning on playing a serious game of paintball, going snowboarding or participating in some other extreme sport.
I guess this is just another one of Sony’s lame changes to the Spider-man comics continuity. In this movie, we already have to endure the fact they are claiming that the Sandman is responsible for the death of Peter’s Uncle Ben, which is different from the comics. Also in the comics, Harry became the second Green Goblin but not the Hobgoblin.
Hopefully, the fact that Venom is in the movie will overshadow this embarrasment and redeem the movie itself in the eyes of the fans. I do expect the movie will be awesome and possibly the best one out of the three. But I’m afraid that this part of the movie may be laughable and remembered by fans the same way that Batman’s nipples are to this day.
— November 6, 2006
Marvel Select will be releasing 2 previously unreleased figures from Toy Biz Marvel Legends in Spring 2007, the Brood and Skrull. These figures were originally supposed to be released as pack in villains as part of Marvel Legends series 13. The word is that they were dropped due to cost issues.
This news comes from Diamond Select who distributes the Marvel Select line. Things to note in this news release are that these figures will feature the same articulation and attention to detail as previous Marvel Select figures. Toy Biz sculpts and develops the Marvel Select line, and Diamond Select asked for these characters based on demand from fans when these figures were announced and then canceled.
I wonder if these figures use the original Toy Biz sculpts and if so will they be in scale with Marvel Legends even if they do not have the same articulation. Diamond Select also says that they hopes for similar opportunities in the future. Here’s hoping!
Go to Action Figure Insider for more info and a picture.
Update: Toy News International has some better pics here. You can see that from these pictures the prototypes have limited articulation that is typical of figures from Marvel Select. I do hope that they will still be more in scale with Marvel Legends than the Marvel Select figures.
Also, Action-Figure points out that these are army builders, and that they WILL be in scale with Marvel Legends. The bad news for army builders is that suggested retail price on these is $19.99. Army building with these will be expensive!
— November 2, 2006
Yes, you read the headline correctly. TNI has posted shots of the new Marvel Legends packaging from Hasbro. This is Hasbro’s first series of Marvel Legends since getting the license from Toy Biz and should be out soon.
The clamshell is gone replaced by a blister on a cardboard back. Gone is the familiar logo replaced by a new crappy one. The packaging looks huge, not to say that it wasn’t before, but the pictures make it look too big. The one change I do like is the character artwork that now appears at the top of each card and on the right side. But, the panels on the right side still look distracting.
The figures themselves look okay, even though this is not a very exciting series. Another disappointment that looks like it is here to stay is the build a figure, Annilhus, is about the same size as the regular figures. Gone also are the days of the 16″ to 18″ build a figure that towers over your other Marvel Legends. Those were great times.
Overall, I think the packaging is meant to attract a younger audience and fit in more with Hasbro’s other lines and upcoming Marvel movie lines. Let’s hope that the quality of the figures does not change now that Hasbro is producing them. View the new packaging here.
— October 24, 2006
It must be press day at Toybiz because every toy site today has posted press images from Toybiz upcoming series of Marvel Legends figures, Marvel Legends series 15, Marvel Legends Face Off series 2, Marvel Legends Icons series 3 and Marvel Masterworks series 2. Follow the links to see the images on Toy News International.
Marvel Legends series 15, the Modok wave, is hitting Wal-Marts now according to collectors in the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern United States.
— October 19, 2006
According to this week’s Diamond Select E-newsletter, series 12 and 13 of Marvel Minimates are now shipping!
Series 12 features the New Avengers with two-packs containing Spider-Man & Ronin, Nick Fury & Captain America, Sentry & Power Man and the limited Sentry chase figure!
Series 13 contains the Astonishing X-Men’s heaviest hitters with Cyclops & Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde & Beast, Wolverine & Colossus and the limited Days of Future Past Wolverine!
I know that collectors have been wondering when these were going to show up. Be looking for them because it could be anyday now.
— October 13, 2006
Just saw this today, Diamond Select will be importing Marvel statues from Kotobukiya. Kotobukiya is known among collectors for their execllent Star Wars statues. Kotobukiya appears to be expanding their reach with collectors by also doing DC and now Marvel characters.
The first one in the line is Wolverine, and the initial picture looks fantastic. At $175 however, I for one will be passing on these. I really like this news but that is too rich for my blood. Plus, I don’t have much space to start collecting these statues. Wolverine will ship in March.
Check out the Kotobukiya Wolverine here.
— October 13, 2006
Bowen, producer of many Marvel Comics busts and statues, has added images of 3 new Marvel busts to their site. On the Behind the Scenes page, you can now see images of the painted Ka Zar and Zabu bust, the painted Thunderbird bust and what appears to be an unpainted bust of Spider Woman II aka Julia Carpenter. See the Bowen Behind the Scenes page for pics.
In related news, the Havok and Polaris mini busts are now showing as being sold out through Bowen’s site although they are still available through other retailers, including this one.
— October 5, 2006
Sideshow posted their weekly newsletter for subscribers tonight, and in it announced the unveiling of 2 heroes. First, they announced the first review of the first Sideshow Lord of the Rings figure, Strider. Sideshow says this item is due to ship in the next 30 days, but you can read the review before it ships.
Also, Sideshow announced the next Marvel Premium Format figure and it is Captain America! They have posted a preview of the Captain Amercia Premium Format statue here, and let us know the details will be available in next week’s newsletter. They also tease us about what the exclusive for Cap will be, promising us something great. Come on Sideshow, stop that!
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