Monthly Archives: February 2011

Toy Fair 2011 (Plus JLU Heatwave and Jay Garrick Prototype Pics)

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year, well for toy fans anyway. Toy Fair weekend 2011 is upon us but don’t be alarmed because we haven’t seen any Mattel offerings yet:

Toy Fans,

Like San Diego Comic-Con, New York Toy Fair is one of the most hotly anticipated toy events of the year. Why? Because even though it isn’t open to the public, we unveil some of the biggest toys of the year!

This year, the Mattel Collector Night is on Sunday, February 13th, from 3 PM to 6 PM ET. Of course, I can’t show you images yet, but I promise we’ll have TONS of reveals from all your favorite lines, including a DCU Classics wave, figures from JLU, DCU vs MOTU, DCU Action League®, Ghostbusters™, Masters of the Universe®, and Green Lantern.

There will also be reveals and product on display from Batman, Young Justice™, CARS, WWE®, and even some Barbie® Collector items I know you’re gonna want. A lot of your favorite fan sites will be in attendance, so be on the lookout for updates from those sites −− but for the official scoop, be back here on Monday, February 14th, for our special post-Mattel Collector Night coverage!

— Matty

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Recent Acquisitions Volume 6: In Gold We Trust *Image Intensive*

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Alright folks as promised (albeit a bit late), another edition of Recent Acquisitions. Two days ago I received a package from Sci-Fi Genre; the DC Universe Origins Flash Two Pack from DC Direct. Celebrating 75 years of DC Comics, the packs feature one figure representing the classic version of the character and the other being the most current version of the character. This is from the second wave, the first featuring exclusively Batman characters. I believe that all of the figures in the wave are repaints. I know for a fact that Jay Garrick is a repaint of the First Appearances Flash action figure and that Barry is a repaint of Wally West from the Justice League of America Series 3 action figure set. Normally I would scoff at a repaint, I still haven’t picked up JLA Classified Classics Flash or Identity Crisis Classics Flash and don’t plan to anytime soon, but the new paint applications on these figures are a vast improvement over the originals.

Pictures of this set and much more after the break.

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Flashpoint #1 Solicited: May 11

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DC has started their monthly preview of solicitations for upcoming books with Flashpoint #1, coming May 11.

Flashpoint #1

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by ANDY KUBERT
1:25 Variant cover A by ANDY KUBERT
Variant cover B by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PEREZ

Everything You Know Will Change in a Flash!

Not a dream, not an imaginary story, not an elseworld. This is a Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It’s a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it? It’s a place where America’s last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of the Outsider, the Secret 7, S!H!A!M!Z!A!M! [Edit: I assume they meant to type “S!H!A!Z!A!M!”], Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces.

It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!

Welcome to FLASHPOINT!

On sale MAY 11 = 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US = Rated T

The five issues of the core FLASHPOINT series are oversized, 40 page books priced at $3.99 each, while the other mini series and the one shots will be priced at $2.99.

Sonic the Hedgehog 20th Anniversary

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Video game character and Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog turns 20 this year, and his comic book will be celebrating with a special 20th anniversary issue in #225.

Archie Comics’ press release notes that Sonic is “the longest running continuously published licensed comic of all time” and holds the record for the “longest running video game inspired comic.” It’s also the longest running comic book about a speedster not named the Flash. Second place is Impulse at 90 issues (including #1,000,000). (Admittedly, there aren’t many to begin with.)

In fact, since DC has relaunched The Flash several times, Sonic may actually take the #1 spot in a couple of years, measured by number of continuous issues. The current records are:

  • Flash vol.1: 246 issues (#105-350)
  • Flash vol.2: 232 issues (#1-230, #0, #1,000,000)
  • Flash Comics: 104 issues (#1-104)

With #225 coming out this summer, they’re only months away from passing Wally West’s series, and will pass Barry Allen’s just two years from now!

Sonic the Hedgehog #225 hits comic shops on June 1, and newsstands on June 7, 2011.

Site Stability & Comments

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So, yeah, the site’s been having some stability problems. Dreamhost has changed some settings to deal with disk issues, but the new settings require more memory, and it’s just been one big swallow-the-spider-to-catch-the-fly experience. It’s mostly working at this point, but if you end up having problems loading the site or making a comment, please let me know by email at speedforce at pobox.com or on Twitter at @speedforceorg.

Also, a lot of comment spam has been slipping through the last couple of days. It’s mostly the “I found your site on Google and this is such a fascinating analysis” type of robot-generated flattery (even on things like linkposts) that quietly links back to the spamvertised site. I’ve been clearing it out as quickly as I can, but they keep posting at times like when I’m on the road or in a meeting at work, etc.

The upshot is that I’ve turned on moderation for now. I don’t like to pre-moderate everything because that can slow down discussion, but I’ve set it to let through returning commenters and hold comments from new people until I have a chance to review them.

Flash #10 Variant Cover by Yildiray Cinar

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On the eve of the Flash #9 release, DC has posted the art for four variant covers including this impressive piece for next month’s The Flash #10.

The post at The Source says it’s Scott Kolins, but it doesn’t look like his style, and that’s not his signature. Anyone know who it is?

Update: Thanks to Craig MacD for identifying the artist as Yildiray Cinar (Legion of Super-Heroes, Noble Causes, Teen Titans: Ravager). He’s posted the black-and-white version of the art as well. Continue reading →