Yeah.  The ripple effect of that overstock of the TPM wave has been pretty catastrophic.  And given what Hasbro showed about 2013 at SDCC, it looks like they're not going to go all-out in support of AOTC in 3-D.  The potential for a wave (or more) of AOTC themed figures to hold up everything else from shipping to retail is not something that I think anyone wants to see.

The upside to this wave of Thor figures showing up at TJ Maxx & Marshalls is that the increased supply will bring the eBay prices down. 

DC guys get... Ben Affleck? 

I read about this last night.  There were a couple of articles, and one said that after checking in with his representatives, Affleck has passed on directing a Justic League movie.  But he is apparently taking a meeting about an acting role in the movie.

Hmm.  There's the potential that it could have been wave 2, possibly.  Did you see Thor with the helmet, Fandral or Hogun?

Definitely good news.  Whedon definitely had a strong grasp on how to make these characters work together on-screen. 

Obviously there are lots of questions.  Will the ranks of the Avengers grow?  Will other Avengers leave the team?  And then there were the rumblings about bringing Galactus & the Silver Surfer into the Marvel Studios fold.  The possibilities are almost endless.

As for Avengers related projects?  There seem to be so many that it'll make your head spin!

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Thor - The Dark World (2013)

Captain America:  Winter Soldier (2014)

Ant-Man (No release date)

Nick Fury (No release date)

...And Mark Ruffalo has been signed to a multi-film deal as well.  Whoa!

Marvel and Fox discuss Silver Surfer/Galactus swap for DD extension:

http://www.newsarama.com/film/marvel-fox-character-swap-galactus-daredevil.html

Apparently Marvel Studios is discussing a deal with Fox that would allow them to get an extension on their in development DD movie (they lose the rights Oct 10 or something I believe I read) in exchange for the return of the movie rights to Silver Surfer and Galactus.  I'd like to see them get the entire F4 back (really, all of the Marvel characters back), but this seems like a good movie - particularly with them going more cosmic with Guardians of the Galaxy.

UPDATE: Apparently FOX is denying this now, so who knows what's going on

Considering the direction that the Avengers took with the Chitauri and their "Ally", I think it would be interesting to see the Silver Surfer and Galactus make their way into that comic universe.  After all, the Avengers are about taking on monumental threats.  Silver Surfer and Galactus represent the kind of threat that the Avengers are about.

Yeah, I know what you mean Rob.  When NASA had the lunar impactor mission a few years back, a lot of people thought they'd get to see HD video of this thing flying into the surface of the moon.  But it wound up looking more like black & white time lapse images. 

Sending a video stream over those kinds of distances is really prohibitive.  Satellites that provide video service are at an altitude of 23,000 miles over the Earth's equator, and you've got to have very precise azimuth and elevation adjustments in order to receive signal, let alone transmit.  Doing that from the moon, which is over 10 times that distance was a challenge in 1969. 

Transmitting live video from Mars would be even more difficult, and the problem is twofold:  precision delivery of the signal, plus the power that would be required to do so.  The space craft probably doesn't have enough onboard power to transmit video.  And that's likely why NASA muxes together their telemetry with data from the onboard instruments and still cameras.  It's a lot more efficient from a power standpoint.