I finally saw the Biggs X-Wing in a store this morning.  The box looks really sharp.  But the $59.99 price tag?  Maybe it's a psychological barrier, but the box seemed a little small for that price.

It looks like a new wave of IM3 Assemblers is making the rounds.  And some of the armors look like those from the end sequence of IM3.  And I also saw a TRU exclusive 2-pack today that includes a couple of suits of armor that are also in that end sequence.

Wait.  This thread has been dormant for 3 YEARS?!?!  I honestly can't even remember the last time I bought a Sports Picks figure.

Although I don't know if they have been spotted at regular retail yet, there are actually two lines of Avengers (or Avengers Assemble) figures.  The basic, $5.99 ones (which are these Cap, Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk we've been seeing), and then another line that is more in line with the Marvel Universe stuff.  You can see some of them towards the end of this gallery from SDCC (the movie Avengers in comic form, Leader, Red Skull...)

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/2013_SDCC/SDCC_2013_Hasbro_Marvel_Sunday/

Or like this (from BBTS):

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=HAS22947&mode=retail

I finally saw this wave today, minus the Black Widow.  And they look infinitely better than the "cake toppers".  I went ahead and bought the Hulk.  I may pick up a Red Skull or Falcon down the line.  But the Cap and Iron Man were kind of underwhelming.

The more appropriate solution moving forward seems to be having the draft an appropriate length of time before the season opener in order to accommodate any waiver moves.  I understand the concern regarding injuries leading up to the start of the season.  But the first game of the season seems as if it should be the chief concern, not having that waiver wire clear one day before the first SUNDAY of the regular season.

It's not about "Towing The Line" with Hasbro regarding news.  Are press releases important?  Absolutely.  And so is analysis of those releases and events.  The analysis of those press releases is what sets sites apart from one another when Hasbro does an image dump.

Personally, I think that posting eBay auctions as front page content is bull****.  I always have.  But some sites like Rebelscum regard that as a revenue stream, and I understand their motivation for doing so.  I don't like it, but I see what drives it.  And it's not much different from Adam Pawlus's Figure of the Day feature (and other copycat features).  Although in his case he's actually doing work, writing about and photographing the figures in question.  Features like that are designed with the express purpose of generating content for a main page, especially during a drought in news.  But I know that you know that, too.

As for stories that are hot right now?  The TBS cardback issue is a significant story.  That's a defect that's being seen across the board.  When the blisters of brand new figures are falling off the cardbacks in the store, it's worth reporting.  The spring issue with the Amazon exclusive Slave I is a story.  The revelation of Merumeru (which didn't come through Hasbro) is a story.  Why did Hasbro hold Merumeru back from SDCC/CE2 is a sideline story.  The reception that the 6" figure line is getting is a story.  And reactions to the 5 POA figures and scaled down vehicles are stories.

Regarding sales trends?  That's a story that takes a little more time to develop.  Especially with a line that's effectively been on hiatus for almost half a year.  But the current climate of short attention spans is focused on pegwarming.  All the while not taking account that it's on a line that's launched at the end of a slow summer, when people are vacationing.  It comes across as being short-sighted.

Pegwarmer articles already?  How about a little patience, m'kay?  Let's see how the line is selling perhaps....THREE WAVES IN, and not THREE WEEKS IN.  Maybe even when collectors, who seem to have been in a state of hibernations, actually realize that there's new product in stores?  Or when they start getting back from vacation in earnest?!?! 

There's something to be said for the perspective that a little bit of time can provide.