The Rumor Buster

Minimates are dead, long live the Squad?

In a bout of irony straight from O Henry, while SHS fans are out on the trading boards claiming that the line is doomed (despite the impending video game, cartoon series and merchandizing efforts) and not selling well, of products being pulled, Minimate Headquarters is running a bit of a rumor rundown regarding DC Minimates and the possibility of a DC Super Hero Squad type line.

Essentially, at a convention, a guy said he heard from someone official that DCD was pulling the minimates and focusing on a Super Hero Squad type line, and we’ve already talked about how they could be successful at it, and so now various fans of the minimates are bemoaning the lack of completed teams, assuming that SHS style toys compete with Fisher Price, that the toys are both extremely popular and if they succeed it’s because of the “numbers and buying power of tasteless morons”. Of course, there’s also more than a few posts threatening boycotts, people saying the line didn’t sell, that the line sold great, and of course, that the squad “sucks”. Oh well, there’s no accounting for some people’s taste right?

So the next time you’re reading a message board and you start reading doom and gloom posts about the Super Hero Squad, go give those threads a read, or go to Marvelous News and read one of the Marvel Legends cancellation threads.

On the plus side, that’s one more rumor for the DC Squad line.

But it’s still a rumor.

The Mysterious Wave 10

I had a great e-mail from a reader pointing out that the Super Hero Squad Wave 10 figures (Sentry et al) have been removed from Hasbro Toy Shop, and the third wave of 4-packs (City in Crisis/Spider-Man Saves the Day and Winter Soldier Saga) disappeared as well.

In late April Wave 3 of the 4-packs went up for pre-order, and as of right now, orders placed for the sets are still listed as “back-ordered” in HTS’s account status and were originally scheduled to ship 8/14/08. Before those figures were up for pre-order, Wave 10 was never made it to pre-order stage.

I’ve read a couple posts on some trader message boards saying that the line is over, and Entertainment Earth did mark the wave as canceled but the figures remained up on HTS for weeks afterward.

Now, here’s where things get even weirder: the first picture of Wave 10 came from the Previews catalog and said the figures were shipping in July. The figures are not listed in the July 2008 consumer cancellations however and we don’t have access to earlier cancellation lists. We checked the Product Change Archives and the Shipping Updates but neither of those mentioned the figures. That’s not necessarily determinative of anything though, as the only real Hasbro announcement made was when they bumped up some Indiana Jones figures shipping dates.

Midtown Comics still has the figures listed as shipping July/August, and is offering the cases at 10% discount, Urban Collector lists them at 18% discount and shipping in July, Statue Toys has them shipping 3rd Quarder 2008 for about a 10% pre-order discount, Galaxy Comics gives them a July 30 shipping date so apparently none of those retailers have any reason to think that orders will not be fulfilled. But as we’ve talked about before, simply being available for pre-order online does not mean a product is guaranteed.

We’re going to try to get more information on the subject, but right now what we have is:

(1) Winter Soldier Saga wasn’t shipping until August, and those pre-orders when placed before HTS took the product listings down have not been yet been canceled.

(2) Wave 10 is listed as canceled by Entertainment Earth, and the products which were shown on HTS (but never put up for pre-order) have been removed. The figures were originally scheduled by Previews to ship in July, and (from what we have access to) Previews does not list the figures as canceled/delayed, and many comic stores (or at least their online counterparts), still have the figures available for pre-order.

So the information we have currently says the products are still coming out.

The Index Has Been Updated

We’ve updated the index of blog posts a little early this month (although we should probably be update the index as new posts come out rather than updating it once a month, but you can also search this site via Google or through the breakdown by month located on the side of the blog.

An open letter to DC and Mattel on how to compete…

Like the title says, this is an open letter to DC and Mattel on how to compete… with the Super Hero Squad.

After the first couple waves of Super Hero Squad came out and demonstrated that the line wasn’t necessarily the flash in the pan that many toy lines end up being (a set of core characters get represented, but the line implodes, so collectors end up with a handful of Attactix or Super Hero Showdown or whatever else) many people seemed to ask “When will DC get into this?”

In Q&As like this or this Mattel tends to be very evasive on the subject. Never ruling out a competing line, but never officially admitting to anything. So in the spirit of brotherhood, we suggest the following steps DC and Mattel need to do in order to compete with Marvel’s Super Hero Squad, and maybe even beat them.

1) Quality control. Ask any SHS fan what their pet peeve is and they’ll likely say paint applications. Or too many Spider-Men. But it’s likely quality control. If you don’t cheap out on the plastic (see: The Ben Reilly Spider-Man that’s flimsy and 3/4 the size of most other Spider-Men figures) and, like your mother always said “color within the lines” you’ll be all set.

2) Distribution. If you want to be top dog, get your distribution issues under control. Yeah, there’s some hunting with the Super Hero Squad, and yeah, sometimes the case distribution is bizarre (see She-Hulk) but you can currently go to the Hasbro Toy Shop site and order approximately half of the line (if they ship to you that is. Sorry Australia.) and they have been very good about making current waves available for pre-order on the site before going to retail. The easier you make purchasing, the better.

3) Character Selection. How many Justice Leaguers have their been? Justice Society? Titans? Think of the Legion. With rumors that you’re going to produce 45 characters for the Infinite Heroes line in 2008 (with the figures not even dropping till late summer) you seem to recognize the value of mining a diverse character catalog. While Super Hero Squad has set a pretty high bar, producing many characters and filling out many of the big names in the X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Defenders rosters, there are certainly people willing to trade 15 or so Spider-Men for new characters.

4) Comic-accurate vehicles and playsets. Fans didn’t want the Spider-Truckor the Spider-Racer (at least not the fans I’ve heard from) so while Super Hero Squad Vehicles and Playsets rely on “play factor”, completists and the “kid” market, you could catch the borderline collectors with a well designed Batmobile, Batcave, Fortress of Solitude, Justice League Satelite/Embassy/Cave/whatever else they’ve used. Playsets and vehicles will always be a hard sell (or so the conventional wisdom goes), so why not go for both the kids AND the collectors who want some fine wheels for Batman.

5) Take chances. When most “outsiders” look at SHS, they immediately jump to the riskier moves Hasbro has taken with the line. Ghost Rider, Punisher and Elektra were all early characters. Ultimate Giant Man and Nick Fury before 616 counterparts. Super-smiley Galactus om-nom-nom’ing. In that spirit, throw us a few Doom Patrol characters. And don’t give us that “oh, we keep Vertigo separate” line… Animal Man switched back to the mainstream universe for 52, Doom Patrol came back for their last couple series (and appearances in the Teen Titans cartoon), the Golden Age Sandman came back. Kids are more likely to pick up a Jamie Delano trade of Hellblazer sitting right next to the Superman books at Borders after seeing the movie on FX at 3 in the afternoon than picking up a classic issue of Swamp Thing (which… didn’t you produce a cartoon of Swamp Thing right around the time Abby was committing obscenities with him? Huh.)

6) Brand it early. SHS began in early 2007, after a demonstrated dedication to the format shown by other lines like Star Wars Galactic Heroes which had begun in 2004. It wasn’t as experimental or risky a concept as some would believe. It was literally a matter of throwing another license at the format. It wasn’t until early 2008 that fans learned of what promises to be a huge branding push for the line… books (potentially comic books), an animated series, a direct to DVD feature, a video game.

DC has the benefit of a long-established tradition of stylized youth-oriented comics, through both titles representing its various animated series and more experimental fare like Tiny Titans, as well as its Cartoon Network properties. Slap the brand onto your youth line, or even just particular books like Tiny Titans, and make sure those characters get represented in the toy line. Inability to work out a deal for the late, lamented Legion of Super Heroes toys based on the animate series resulted in missed synergy for that brand. Coordinate character “looks” like you already do with Super Friends.

So make sure you hit characters represented in Brave and the Bold, and even Teen Titans and Justice League (which still have large followings), make sure that the toy line’s name crosses from comic book to toy line to general merchandise. Put it on folders or even the mythical Trapper Keeper. But make sure that thee brand is cohesive. Now, I’m not suggesting you renamed Batman: Brave and the Bold to “DC Super Powers Presents Batman In The Brave and the Bold Showcase” but how bout putting a Super Power (or whatever name you choose) logo on a splash panel at the end of every episode?

7) When in doubt, sculpt it out. A big complaint of SHS collectors is the number of re-used sculpts, especially Spider-Men and Hulks. While there’s definitely a market who will buy everything, and another who buys strictly for play value, there’s an entire market out there that will not purchase yet another Spider-Man shooting a web at the ground or Captain America with shield on his arm. They would rather have Superman in flight, Superman with “dem laser eyes” (aka, heat vision), Superman with super-breath, Superman mid-punch, Batman with Batarang, Batman mid-kick, Batman with grappling hook out. This may require more cash than the Justice League Unlimited (so named because of the unlimited number of re-used body parts) but surely the DC Universe Classics line has shown you that fans love great sculpts.

8) Don’t be afraid to recycle. But I don’t mean figure sculpts. This time, don’t use the Super Friends name, already in use with their Spider-Man & Friends-esque line. Bring back Super Powers.

9) Stay away from arctic radiation polka dot space armors. If you want to put another Batman or Superman out, then do both kids and collectors a favor and give them a straight out new version of the character, not a gimmick version. Tek-suits and radiation-suits and cyber-suits and mechano-suits aren’t really what make the figure. It’s doubtful that many kids are wishing they had a complete set of JLA parka-wearing figures. They want the character, and if they have to settle with the latest day-glo neon Batman, they will, but it’s really Batman that they want.

10) More characters per wave. The 4 2-packs per wave is nice, but most collectors, casual and hard-core, would love to drop an additional $6.50 when a new wave comes out if that meant a couple more characters.

11) Be flexible. Offer 2 packs. 3 packs. 5 packs. A Batman Family. A Superman Revenge Squad or Rogues Gallery multi-pack. If Doomsday requires a big sculpt, then give it to him but do not make fans purchase a Giganta-sized Doomsday just because figures must be either standard-sized or mega-sized and nowhere in between.

12) And this one is just from me to you: Stay away from the chase. Sometimes it’s nice to know that a 4 packs equal one wave. That I can pre-order everything online. That I won’t pay a premium for a pack because there’s a different paint scheme.

Unless I’m wrong. I will happily accept any marketing data that anyone can show me saying that Magic-Repelling Costume Superman sells better than ole-fashioned vanilla Superman.

I know it’s been Generally Accepted Action Figure Protocol (GAAFP) since the legendary days of He-Man and his Masters of the Universe that nobody wants “just another figure” so you need to make it different, better, cooler.”

“What’s that Bill? We need another wave of MOTU? Ok, so this time give He-Man flying fists or battle armor.”

But toy lines are often built on a lot of conventional wisdom that isn’t always borne out. See Pre-Marvel Legends Toybiz Marvel figures with action features like squirting water and robot dinosaurs versus Marvel Legends and Classics figures.
And those would be our suggestions for putting out a line of Super Hero Squad competing figures. And if you’ve got a little more time, we’d be happy to give you more suggestions.

Hulk Wave 2 shipping via Previews

And to further follow up on the Hulk Wave 2 (aka, the She-Hulk wave) delay last mentioned here Chuck Moore on the Comic Related forum has posted the June 25 expected Previews shipment showing “MAY084666 HULK SUPER HERO SQUAD AF 200802 $95.88″ as being shipped. Which in layman’s terms if Hulk SHS Wave 2. The $95.88 price per case is based on the $7.99 per 2-pack suggested sale price Previews lists, which as many people know is more than Wal-Mart and Target, but as we posted yesterday, less than many eBay scalpers are unloading this wave for.

And of course, as is mentioned in the post at Comic Related, such things are subject to change, so contact your local retailer before heading out. I’ve heard many complaints that comic retailers just don’t stock the figures and while it likely has something to do with the cheapness of the figures at retail and on Hasbro Toy Shop, some retailers will pre-order product for you at a discount so it never hurts to ask.

The Monthly "the line is doomed!" Rumor

It’s time for our monthly “the Super Hero Squad is doomed!” rumor.

But first, let’s deal with shortpacking! She-Hulk is apparently the first 2-pack to be sold out of Hasbro Toy Shop and that probably has something to do with what Entertainment Earth is reporting as the current case ratio of She-Hulk and Absorbing Man getting 2 packs per case, Black Bolt and Wolverine getting 4 per case, and with upcoming case revisions in July where She-Hulk and Absorbing Man are packed at 1 per case, while Hulk/Wolverine and Hulk/Black Bolt get 5 per case. With 5 times as many Wolverine/Hulk repaints floating around as original She-Hulk and Absorbing Man sculpts, and the generally reliable Hasbro-branded store selling She-Hulk out before the figures get to mainline stores, we could have a scalper’s dream.

Don’t panic, however. When items sell out in Hasbro Toy Shop, they don’t always permanently sell out and they may come back in stock, and while HTS availability is usually enough to temper scalpers (after all, there’s no premium for certain individual figures, there’s often coupon codes, and the prices are competitive with stores like Wal-Mart and thus far more friendly than many online retailers) inability to purchase the figure on HTS and a reported short-pack doesn’t necessarily equal higher prices. Searching through completed auctions on eBay show that all 4 2-packs have been selling at $10 (most likely due to the drought at retail level.)

Also, online retailers are sometimes wrong, or at least offering unusual products, like Cmdstore which is pre-selling the Toys R Us Exclusive Brawl That Shook The World for $16 which is only $1 more than pre-orders of the upcoming Iron Man packs. So they’re selling the Iron Man packs with a 50% mark-up, but the TRU exclusive at a 35% discount? Huh. Ok. Their retail locations are Canadian, so all things are possible, but remember to take things with a grain of salt.

Now, the Hulk Wave 2 drought at retail is what led to the most recent theory about the line being doomed. Essentially, the rumor goes like this:

“OMG! I haven’t seen the new Hulk figures out yet at retail and the Gamma Lab playset hasn’t been released even though some (well, one) checklist said it would be out in May! They must be pulling product and cancelling things! OMG”

“Yeah, I know, all I see are the same Hulk wave 1 figures. They’re not selling!”

“OMG. I knew it. The line [or at the very least the Hulk branch] must be doomed.”

And now for the reality… nobody EVER had ANY information on when the Gamma Lab was going to be released. Any checklist putting out “May” as the release date was guessing based on the Hulk Wave 1 figures.

Cool Toy Review didn’t even publish the typical Hasbro promotional pictures until May 4, as we talked about way back when.

Any delay from a date that was pulled out of thin air means absolutely nothing. What IS known, is that Entertainment Earth is saying it will “arrive” in August and… well… that’s about it. Look for me to use this exact same line of reasoning in two weeks when people start saying “oh no, the Sentry wave was supposed to be out in July and it’s not out yet! The line is over!”

As for the Hulk Wave 2 not being spotted at retail yet, there appears to be manufacturing issue as we addressed when we debunked the myths surrounding the Wave 2 order cancellations many collectors experienced so one could probably assume that if Hasbro’s branded store is having problems getting the stock to fill their pre-orders then the amount of stock trickling out to the mainstream is likewise limited. And just as a general common sense principle, an inability to meet pre-order demand is not a sign of poor sales.

There may in fact be a glut of Hulk Wave 1 out there, and that may result in some stores limiting orders for Wave 2 or the potential Wave 3, but let’s be logical: If you’re pulling stock from the back room, are you going to fill the Hulk pegs with the Wave 1 figures you have in a case in the back, or are you going to fill it with Wave 2 figures that your store does not have and can not put out? Let’s go with “in stock” for the win. And because the pegs are filled with the 4 packs you’ve already seen, that does not mean that there are no sales, and even assuming you have some photographic memory for the exact packs and know that these identical packs have not sold in however many days, anecdotal evidence does not a truthful statement make!

So there we go: Shortpacked She-Hulk might be the next Vulture, Entertainment Earth says the Gamma Lab will be out in August, Cmdstore is pre-selling a TRU exclusive at a hefty discount, and a product not making an imaginary shipping date does not mean that product has been discontinued.

Super Hero Squad in Wizard 201

Apparently the Super Hero Squad cartoon is mentioned in Wizard 201. No real news (it’s Wizard after all) just a run-down saying it “may be the closest thing we’ve seen to an Avengers cartoon in a while” and comparing it to Marvel Team-Up for the 10 and under set. They don’t even have promotional artwork, just a shot of the first Thor SHS figure. In other words, if you were thinking of picking up the magazine to see if there was anything exclusive, new or interesting, you’d be disappointed.