First three issues of CHEW all sold out, reprinted in time for fourth!
Since CHEW’s release, John Layman and Rob Guillory’s ongoing crime series with a disgustingly delicious twist has faced a series of distribution-level sellouts despite extremely healthy reprints. Next month, Issues One, Two and Three will each be reprinted in time for Issue Four's release, with Issue One reprinted for a fourth (and final!) printing, a ‘Last Bite’ edition for people who are still hungry for a copy of one of the most talked about debuts of the summer.
“I continued to be stunned and staggered by response to this book, and I don't understand it one bit.,” Layman said. “CHEW is about a cannibal cop, set post bird flu alternative reality. Nobody should want to read it, and, yet, it continues to sell out. I’m told we’re now three times as successful as THE WALKING DEAD’s initial launch and, even better, the fans and retailers I’ve heard from are excited for more. So I'm not even going to try to understand it, I'm just going to be grateful to all the readers and retailers and reviewers who have responded so, so, so positively. Thanks!"
CHEW's star, Detective Tony Chu, is a cop with a secret. As a Cibopath, Detective Chu gets a psychic impression from whatever he eats. While it means he's a hell of a Detective if he can stomach the evidence, once his secret gets out the government makes plans for him, whether he likes it or not. CHEW blends horror, mystery and the strangest ability of them all in an ongoing series of horrific crimes solved in the most horrific way possible. With the sell outs continuing on a regular basis, Image will be once again increasing each printing’s quantities in hopes of keeping them available. The fourth printing of issue one will mark the final time the comic will be reprinted in a special ‘Last Bite’ edition.
CHEW #1-4, all 32-page full color comic books for $2.99, will be available in-stores on September 2nd, 2009.
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Mattel took time out their busy schedule to answer some questions.
1) On the Masters of the Universe art book, there was supposed to be a limit of 2 books per person, but there are numerous reports of vendors, at SDCC, were able to buy more than 2 copies. What happened there & what are you planning to do to rectify this situation? There are a lot of upset consumers out there.
The books were very tightly controlled, with a limit of two copies per person. Some buyers had additional friends in line who also bought two copies.. We did make one exception: two members of He-Man.org were allowed to purchase 10 copies each to distribute to other forum members.
2) There multiple comments from people who bought the Wonder Twins set that ended up with more than one Gleek. Reports are that the employees working at the booth just threw the Gleeks in there without paying attention. Some customers bought 2 Wonder Twins and ended up with 5 Gleeks. I realize this is human error, but it seems actions like this lead to running out of Gleeks. While you did deny this happening on your Facebook page, there are just too many reports of it happening.
As you said in your question, humor error does occasionally occur. Gleek was on a first come first serve basis and as announced on our Facebook page multiple times before the show, we did have more Wonder Twin sets vs. Gleeks.
3) You mentioned better distribution with the new Wal-Mart wave. When I last spoken to Wal-Mart (http://pendragonspost.blogspot.com/2009/05/attention-fanboys-how-to-find-dc.html) they told me that only 1800 of their 7000 stores carry this line. So a lot of consumers are extremely nervous their local Wal-Mart will not received the product. Is there anything on Mattel's end that you can do to reassure the consumers?
Distribution for Wave 10 has increased compared to Wave 5, but it is up to Wal-Mart to decide how many stores carry the line.
4) Is there a chance that the Ghostbusters and Dark Knight Movie Masters lines could get a membership subscription similar to the Club Eternia 2010 Membership?
Yes, this is possible down the road.
5) Is there any plans for a preorder system to be put in place? It seems to be a very sensible move to allow people to preorder the figures prior to sale date and produce the number preordered with a slight surplus production run as well. You would be guaranteed the sales for the preorders and everyone who really wants a figure should be able to acquire it without having to resort to 3rd party sellers.
No.
6) Is there any chance we will get a second chance to purchase Black Lightning, Atom and the Metallo C&C that barely made pegs in Wal-Marts? Could they be added to the World's Greatest Heroes part of DCUC?
It is possible that former figures could be reissued as All Stars in future years or wind up in multipacks.
7) What will the price of "The Dark Knight" Movie Masters be? Any chance of having a subscription for them?
The price will be $20.00 each., There will not be a subscription.
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For a lot of reasons, Masters of the Universe Classics He-Ro is an exciting figure. First, he is the first of this new line that was never produced in a previous Masters of the Universe toy series. He-Ro was originally envisioned as character that was to have appeared in a prequel series called The Powers of Grayskull, in which he would have been He-Man’s ancestor in the distant past of Eternia. There exist some photos of a prototype that give you an idea what this character would have looked like had he been produced but the line was canceled early in its conception and, consequently, He-Ro has had an air of mystery about him for over twenty years. So it is very exciting for MOTU fans to finally have a toy version of this character produced in the new collector line. It is also nice to see that Mattel is looking beyond just the obvious characters for this new series and that they are willing to dig deep into the long and rich history of Masters of the Universe to give us unexpected and surprising characters. This speaks well for the longevity of Masters of the Universe Classics.
As with the other figures in this line, He-Ro features a bio that seeks to reconcile the various conflicting Masters of the Universe continuities and it has become entertaining each month to see how Mattel ties all of these disparate plot elements together. References to He-Ro were very rare and little was known of him beyond the fact that he was He-Man’s ancestor and a powerful wizard. He had no counterpart in the 2002 series, although King Grayskull replaced him in that continuity as He-Man’s powerful distant ancestor. therefore, in the MOTC continuity, he becomes a of Grayskull in ancient Eternia, and upon his death he bequeaths the sword of power to Grayskull who adds his own power to it and it is then passed on to He-Man many years later. So, He-Ro becomes a pivotal character in this continuity.
The figure itself is very much in keeping with the aesthetic of this line, in that it is a modern makeover of the original prototype figure. With that said, the figure has a very retro design with its golden armor, 1980’s coif, and Xanadu-looking headband. The overall deco is a choice that to me is a little campy, but also very much honors the original design of the figure. I get the feeling that Mattel and the Four Horsemen wanted to finally give us a He-Ro as close as possible to the one for which many of us had waited for so long.
Like most in this line, He-Ro comes with a good amount of accessories. He features a large golden staff with a split-apart top, revealing one of three different colored gems. The gems are randomly packed and sculpted in translucent plastic of green, purple or red, with green being the most common color. Both of mine were purple. It is difficult to see which stone you have until you open the pack although, you might be able to tell by shining a flashlight through the packaging and looking for a spill of color near where the gem would be attached to the staff. He-Ro also includes a see-through version of the power sword, painted blue with flecks of silver or grey paint, in an apparent reference to a sword included in one of the old accessory packs. The armor is removable and if you bought the San Diego Comicon exclusive there will be a SDCC logo on the figure’s chest under the armor. The version sold on Mattycollector.com does not have this logo.
I’ve been reading online that there have been some quality issues with the paint on this figure, particularly around the eyes. On my opened copy, the only quality issue is in the magical staff, which apparently is supposed to have a male and female connector but my copy had two male connectors which, in retrospect, was obvious as the staff was wide open and the gem visible in the package.
Although he is not my favorite MOTUC figure in the series by far, I’m happy and surprised to have He-Ro included in the line, if only to populate the “Ancient Eternia” segment of my collection. He-Ro is a sentimental choice which shows that the people running this line have a lot of love for the brand. With He-Ro finally produced, I’m hopeful may see more obscure Masters of the Universe characters like Eldor, Horde Supreme, Dekker and Prahvus in addition to the already announced fan-favorites Scare-Glow, Zodak, The Green Goddess and Wun-Dar.
Patrick Garone
Staff Reviewer
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