As part of a promotional effort from Microsoft, several sites (including Powet.tv) were sent out part of a large ‘Halo 4’ image, split into 32 parts.

I got the email less than a half hour ago, but enough other fans and blogs got it that a forum goer from NeoGAF was able to stitch them all together.

What appears to the left may well be the box art for Halo 4. Behind the crouching Master Chief is the UNSC ship Forward Unto Dawn, broken in half from the event of Halo 3, is being sucked into the maw of the mysterious monster planet we saw in the E3 trailer last year. Also along for the ride are a few Covenant ships and who knows what else behind that fire and debris.

This next image transcends implications into an outright leak. This is the card back to one of the Halo 4 action figures. The first wave has Master Chief, an Elite Zealot, a Grunt Storm (whatever that means!) and a Red multiplayer Spartan.

Advertised as Wave two is another Spartan, Cortana, and two new characters: The ‘Crawler’ and the ‘Watcher’ with images of each. They’re kind of hard to see, since they’re toys and the images isn’t the best to begin with. Hopefully these new enemy classes mean we’re officially beyond The Flood as late game enemies. The Flood did not appear in ODST or Reach.

Halo 4 will launch on November 6 in North America, and is available for pre-order now. More news is expected soon, during E3.

Poe Ghostal wrote a lengthy article using quotes from several recent Mattel Q&A’s about the expected price hike for next year. I’m not going to rehash everything he said because I think he did a better job than I could. There were two choice quotes, though, he used made by Scott “ToyGuru” Neitlich, manager of the MOTU brand.
From the Ask Matty forum on MattyCollector.com:

The Horsemen tend to “overdeco” figures. Every figure in 2012 is delivering $22.00 worth of paint apps. In 2013 we are dramatically raising prices so we can afford more paint and accessories. If we wanted to deliver all the figures exactly as the 4HM painted the protos we would need to charge more and we already sold in the sub for 2012, so that is not an option. Legally we can’t raise prices on the sub after it is sold in. This is why we will start 2013 at higher prices.

The most frank and honest quote I have ever heard from a Mattel rep, again from the Ask Matty forum:

We will keep the line going as long as their are customers buying. But, yes, as I stated on Roast Gooble dinner, one day these figures will cost more to make then fans are willing to pay. Hopefully that day will be far in the future.

Again, I recommend fans of the MOTU Classics line to read Poe’s article, which can be found here.

You can this in the ‘creative use of toys and games’ category. A band by the name of Delta Heavy has put together a fantastic stop motion animated music video. The feature includes appearances of Connect Four, Battleship, Jenga, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Scrabble, Dominoes and more.

The Transformers Collectors’ Club Roundtable panel happened at 3PM EST on Saturday April 28th, 2012 at Botcon. Among the announcements were the free club exclusive membership figure for next year, the figure subscription service (FSS) for Transformers, and some narrative behind the creation of this year’s exclusive set and box artwork.

Join us after the jump for all the details, pictures and even a little video.

[UPDATE – Crazy: The Club has posted an official version of the Depth Charge artwork. I have included it in the banner]
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Welcome to the Powet Top 5, where we explore the top (and bottom) 5 items we think are relevant to any of a variety of topics that span the imagination. Sit back, read, and respond

I know that when I write these articles that they tend to get on pretty niche topics. This time around I think I have outdone myself on niche-ness. If you were born any time after 1975, you should know of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their wonderful initial toy line from Playmates in the early 90’s. If you collect toys, you should absolutely know of the Four Horsemen. You should also have heard of the Four Horsemen’s FANtastic Exclusive endeavor and the property it spawned, The Seventh Kingdom. In today’s article, we are going to draw some parallels between the properties. Read on after the jump to learn more!

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This posts serves as your one-stop shop for news related to Botcon 2012. From announcements to reveals to actual convention coverage! Check back often as we bring you the latest news for our favorite annual robot toy convention.
More after the jump.
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Hasbro has sent along two additional images to us. Each photo is of a 3 3/4 inch figure from the movie toyline for The Avengers. The two figures are soldiers in Loki’s army. One is a standard soldier, the other is part of a Power-Up Mission Pack with additional accessories including aerial speeder of some sort.

Loki's Army Soldier

Loki's Army Power-Up Mission Pack (3 3/4inch)

Hasbro has sent along some official photos of a couple Spider-Man variants that have been pretty highly anticipated. Miles Morales, the Spider-Man from Marvel’s Ultimate Comics, appears here in 6 inch form and a 3 3/4 inch Marvel Universe form.

6 inch Ultimate Comics Spider-Man

Marvel Universe Ultimate Comics Spider-Man variant