From the 7th to the 15th to the 21st
Its only another week, but New Super Mario Brothers is something we’ve waited for very patiently and we can wait a little longer. Not like there isn’t a stack of unplayed and incomplete games here at the Shipley compound…

thx mike!

Edit: OMG, Nintendo has update their site and it says May 15 again.

Fresh in my inbox to you is another update from Brian Savage of MasterCollector with regard to a new shipping option, particularly international members.

We have found another way to ship some product to our non-US customers at a lower cost and it has been implemented into the store. It is called Global Priority Mail. This service does have some limitations. The shipment must fit into a box that is no more than 36 inches by adding length girth height. Also, the order cannot be over 4 lbs.

For example a 1 lb package to the United Kingdom via surface mail is $24.25 and takes 4-6 weeks.

The same package via airmail is $16.75 and takes 7-10 days.

The same package via Global Priority is $10.50 and takes 4-6 days.

I know, it doesn’t seem to make much sense but that’s the USPS rates and delivry standards.

We hope that this lowers some of the foreign shipments costs. It won’t work for all orders as the items are tool large or the order will be 100 heavy. We think it will work for the bulk of your orders.

Make sure you check the store each week at transformersclub.com/shop to see what the new items in stock an the weekly specials!

Thanks for your support,

Brian
=======================================

[UPDATE:

Plesae note that in my last email I had a typo. The dimensions that limite this type of foreign mail is length + width (not girth) + height. This must be 36 inches or less. About 70-80 per cent of the products will fit into this area, but not all of them.

Its kinda funny how this email was a correction for a typo in the last email, yet the first word of this one has a typo in it too.
-CRAZY]

Figures.com has posted an interview today with Four Horsemen fabricator H. Eric ‘CORNBOY’ Mayse. The interview isn’t very long at all and covers what goes into fabrication and what might be fabricated in a toy or its accessories. An interesting read for anyone who likes to know what goes on in the making of toys.

As a small side note about the interview, figures.com is witnessing him work on a figure sculpted by Eric Treadway that cannot be commented on. This might be the SDCC 2006 Exclusive. As you can see here, it appears that the following information is known about the figure:

Originally Posted by FOUR HORSEMEN
???? 2006 SDCC/WWC exclusive Mini-Statue (ET/ )

ET stands for Eric Treadaway and it looks like the fabricator is not listed yet. I’ll be honest though, I can’t find where that poster found this information. This is all just a conspiracy theory by me anyhow. Nearly all the figures are sculpted by either Eric or Chris Dahlberg, if I’m not mistaken.

It’s rare that I post something not related to $20 GOTY, but this is a special occasion.  Morrowind was one of my favorite titles on the original Xbox, and it’s sequel pretty much addresses everything I didn’t like about Morrowind.  From the combat, to the menu, to travel, and the skill system, everything has been overhauled %100.  The best thing I found early on is that the intro sequence, in which you have to escape from prison behind the ill fated emperor (who is voiced by Patrick Stewart), gives you a chance to try out each of the skills available.  When you reach the end, you can change anything you want.  Anything you can think of, it’s in here, from stealth, to destructive magic, to marksmanship.  The only thing I don’t like is that the construction kit available on PC isn’t available here, but oh well.  Hopefully the downloadable content will offer us some interesting stuff.

Diamond Select Toys has announced that they will be offering the Spider-woman in the ‘black’ (its always been blue to me) costume as an exclusive at the San Diego Comic-Con this July. Pictures can be seen by following any of the links in this post.

[via TNI]

From the Diamond Select Toys site:

Spider-Woman: San Diego or Bust!

Diamond Select Toys is excited to announce the latest exclusive item for this summer’s San Diego Comic Con – our Marvel Select Black Spider-Woman! Hot on the hells of our regular Spider-Woman release, this version of the buxom beauty features an all-new paint design sure to please fans of the masked maiden.

Available July 19th through July 23rd, the Marvel Select Black Spider-Woman depicts the second Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter. After receiving her powers through secret experiments by the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Julia took up the Spider-Woman name and replaced the presumed-dead Jessica Drew as a member of the Avengers. Although now retired, her actions contributed to the defeat of the Beyonder during the infamous Secret Wars.

Standing 7 inches tall and including a detailed Hydra base, the Marvel Select Black Spider-Woman is in scale with past Marvel Select releases and will feature the line’s trademark deluxe packaging.

Before Halo 2 came along, this was the biggest game on Xbox live, and it’s still one of the favorites of many Xbox live gamers.  It’s a flight simulator, but it’s so easy to pick up and play.  The single player campaign isn’t bad either, taking you through an alternate reality 1920s.  Really, it’s there to give you a taste of the different planes, and there isn’t much of a reason to go back after you beat it once.  THere is also plenty of downloadable content for use in multiplayer.  Hopefully Microsoft will bless up with a sequel.

I stumbled on to this and thought “Hey, how did I miss this?” and then I checked the upload date it was only posted a few hours ago, so odds are you’re seeing it for the first time just like me.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

After a friend of mine clued me in that he had written much of the the Wikipedia entry for Metroid Prime Hunters, it occured to me I still have yet to post my opinion on the game.
MPH is a lot less forgiving that the the Gamecube original. Lock-on is gone, ammo is required for all additional beams, and with the Hunters running around randomly from planet to planet, you could walk into a confrontation when you’re least prepared.
The title is kind of a misnomer too. I’m not 100% on the game yet but there has yet to be any reference to Metroid Prime, the final enemy and title character of the first gamecube game in the series.
Anyway, starting is a little easier than prior games because you’ve still got your boost ball, Varia, bombs, missles, etc. And you won’t lose them either. Progress is hindered rather by not having certain beams to open doors, and sometimes confusing number of teleporting pads.
Its unlikely any Metroid fan will be disappointed with this game, though the hardcore few who firmly beleive in the games time honored sequence breaking and massive exploration might be kinda let down its such a straight forward shooter. Its not quite as brilliant as Super Metroid or Metroid Prime, but from a technical standpoint I am amazed by how well the DS handles this game, as its very visually rich and often times VERY fast.
I’ll take time to sample the online aspect and multiplayer tomorrow, but I can reccomend this game purely based on its single-player, beleive me.

And to those who preferred Retro studio’s console games, theres always Metroid Prime 3