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What's Out Now? Report, Part 2
Posted by Curto on March 24, 2007 at 10:27 PM CST:
If you've been out toy-hunting at all lately, you may have heard a similar story...new toys are being held back until March 24th, and many stores have been instructed to NOT sell them until that date.
Most stores have complied with this, despite a few leaks here and there. If you've checked out the toy aisles the past few days, you probably noticed a lot of bare sections, making way for the new Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean toy lines.
Spider-Man 3
Today was EASILY the day for the web-slinger, as every store I went to today had huge displays of red-and-blue and black-and-silver cardboard promotional pieces set up, all for the "Web-Slinger Weekend" by Hasbro.
Over the past few weeks, we've been showing you all the great-looking figures that are now out in stores, and there's a LOT of them! Hasbro has provided a partial checklist, but there's more out than what they've listed. Here's a rundown of what is now dominating the toy sections of your favorite retailers.
Movie Action Figures: Collection 1
__ New Goblin (disk launching)
__ New Goblin (rolling attack)
__ Peter Parker
__ Punch Attack Sandman
__ Battle Attack Sandman
__ Spider-Man (super articulated)
__ Spider-Man (super articulated (black))
__ Spider-Man (double punch)
__ Spider-Man (double punch (black))
__ Spider-Man (spinning webs)
__ Spider-Man (web projectiles)
__ Spider-Man (zipline action)
__ Venom (capture web)
__ Venom (symbiote attack)
Classic Action Figures: Collection 2
__ Doctor Octopus
__ Green Goblin
__ Kraven
__ Lizard
__ Poison Blast Scorpion
__ Rhino
First thing you notice right off....these are smaller figures than we've been seeing the past few years, and the packaging really show it. In fact, there's a lot of space in the bubbles, which makes the cards really light (well, except fopr Rhino...he's heavy!) But with all that room inside, you almost get the feeling that there should be something else in there, but there isn't. Still, the figures are REALLY nice, and this is a great line of figures from the movie, especially since there aren't many human faces to get wrong. One thing to point out, Collection 1 figures listed above are based on the movie, while Collection 2 figures (all villains) are "inspired" by the movie, meaning they are not in the actual film, but some do show up in the upcoming video game. You can tell which is which by either a "3" or a spider-symbol on the front of the card.
Ooze Attack Action Figures
__ Hammer Attack Sandman
__ New Goblin
__ Spider-Man vs. Venom Symbiote
__ Venom
Essentially a 2-pack, although normally one of the figures isn't an actual figure, but a larger figure-like accessory...when you see it, you'll understand. Each comes with a vial of ooze, which is sure to have kids spending hours of fun making a mess of things.
Retailer Exclusives
__ Sand Blast Battle Pack (Sandman Vs. Spider-Man)...Target
__ Spider-Man (black suit, metallic finish)...Wal-Mart
__ Spider-Man Web Copter (w/ Spider-Man (super articulated))...Toy "R" Us
I described the Target exclusive battle pack the other day, which is pretty neat, but a little overpriced. The Wal-Mart figure is a better deal, since it's the same price as the rest of the figures. But if don't like the metallic paint look, you might want to pass on this. One point of interest is the back of the card reveals there will be a Venom exclusive as well...also metallic painted. The best bet might just be the Toys "R" Us copter, since it's new and comes with a Spidey figure, because TRU likes the all-in-one play feature.
Vehicles
__ Web Rocket Spider Car (w/ Spider-Man)
__ Triple Blast Hover Jet (w/ Spider-Man)
__ Bump 'N' Go 4-Wheeler
__ Bump 'N' Go Web Rider
__ Webworld Racers: Sandman Vs. Spider-Man
__ Webworld Racers: Spider-Man Vs. Venom
There's something for everyone here...although these are not to scale with each other. The car and jet are action figure scale, and include figures (again, the all-in-one play pattern). The jet is especially fun because you can use it as a jet with the figure, or you can turn it into a role play weapon that can be worn on your arm. The Bump 'N' Go vehicles are neat, and the Webworld Racers are actually much smaller than I thought they'd be.
Super Hero Squads
__ Spider-Man/Doc Ock
__ Spider-Man/Green Goblin
__ Spider-Man/New Goblin
__ Spider-Man/Rhino
__ Spider-Man/Sandman
__ Spider-Man/Venom
The super-cute Super Hero Squad line continues with new sets based on the entire film franchise. If you love Galactic Heroes and the normal Marvel Universe Super Hero Squad, you'll love these.
Titanium Series
__ Spider-Man I
__ Spider-Man II
__ Spider-Man (black)
__ Sandman
__ Venom
__ New Goblin
To be honest, I'm not sure of these. 3" scale vehicles is one thing, but 3" scale figures? I guess we'll just have to wait and see how these sell, but there really weren't a whole lot of them out today.
Spider-Man & Friends
__ Deep Sea Spider-Man
__ Hang Glider Spider-Man
__ Fire Fighter Spider-Man
__ Jackhammer Hulk
__ Crime Fighter Wolverine
__ Itsy Bitsy Spider-Man
__ Action Pal Spider-Man
__ Action Pal Hulk
__ Super Pal Spider-Man
__ My First Spider-Man
__ Spider-Spud
This is sort of a catch-all category on this list, since I'm not really among the target audience for these toys. Not that I think they aren't cool for younger kids. They are in fact great toys for young children.
Overall, today was really all about Spider-Man...especially at Toys "R" Us and Wal-Mart stores, where they both had HUGE displays and so many toys (most of which I've listed above, but I'm sure I forgot some).
One major disappointment was the "FREE photo of YOU and Spider-Man" promotion at Wal-Mart (see yesterday's new for the flyer). Now I remember as a kid I went to our local supermarket and "met Spider-Man" in person and had my picture taken and that was just the coolest thing ever. Now all my kids are older now, so they weren't interested in this, but I called a couple friends who have younger kids, and they were excited to "meet Spider-Man", just like I was as a youngster, so they get dressed up and head to the store, walk all the way back to the toy section to get their picture taken with...a cardboard cutout set up in the middle of the aisle?
So very lame. So very disappointing.
For part 1 of this report, head on over to Rebelscum.com and learn what's out now for Star Wars toys.
Check back tomorrow for part 3, which will focus on the new toys in the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End line from Zizzle. |
  
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