The Vincent Price Collection on Blu-ray (OOP, Scream Factory)

Gather 'round, friends, and listen to a tale of woe, a tale of terrors unimaginable, of horror unfathomable to the human mind: an OOP BD set scrubbed clean from every retailer imaginable. It's a spooky tale of greed, fright, panic, and procrastination. A tale worthy...of the Hobby Haven.

(P.S. Happy Halloween)

Odds and sods

Just some quick housekeeping notes here!

I'll post the Holiday Shopping Guide on November 1st. I'll have enough info to do a very rough, basic post by that point, and will fill it in as information is released.

Still no news on which day in November will be the Sailor Moon Crystal dub premiere (Hulu and viz.com exclusively!), but we do have a confirmation that Sailor Moon Crystal will be released on DVD and Blu-ray next year. It seems to be sometime after March, which is all we know. Given that the release of the original anime's third season is also scheduled for next year, I'm left wondering if Viz plans to stagger the releases at all to ease the burden on fans' pocketbooks.

Just found out that the DC Super Hero Girls dolls will cost $19.99 each. I'm picking up Wonder Woman first thing, and will probably get Poison Ivy and Batgirl as the year goes on (gotta space these out, thanks budget).

And new Figuarts! Besides R season's Black Lady, we now have confirmation of ANOTHER version of Sailor Moon, this time in her R season incarnation. That is to say, she comes with her Cutie Moon Rod, and her Crystal Star transformation brooch. ::headdesk:: At least we know they're getting excellent use out of the Sailor Moon mold. I'm taking this as a sign that the figures are popular?

That's all for now! Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Figuarts news

I've got news both good and bad, folks.

The first article of news: we have confirmation that Bandai will be making a Black Lady S.H. Figuarts as the next entry in their Sailor Moon Figuarts line. No release date, but given the release schedule (Sailor V in September/October, Pluto in November/December), she's clearly a 2016 release. This tells me that getting Figuarts of other characters from the series is quite likely!

The second article of news: Bluefin (the NA distributor of Bandai products) has confirmed that none of the preorders that Amazon cancelled will be reinstated. Whether this means that Amazon will not be carrying new Bluefin products from here on out is yet to be seen, and I have no clue what's going on. Bluefin has encouraged customers to purchase the cancelled products from their other partners--but this doesn't help much when Pluto isn't available to order from any of them. I am hoping that we can get V and Pluto from Barnes and Noble (they carry Bandai's Figuarts and Tamashi Buddies figures) at some point. It would just be stupid for them to not bring over Pluto in some way, shape, or form, so I'm sure that we'll get her. Eventually.

Sigh.

Miss Scarlett Cooks! Asparagus and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone! I've got a new recipe for you! Now, this is a bit more seasonal for spring, but it doesn't hurt to share it now, does it? I made this for Mother's Day, and got rave reviews. But this doesn't have to be just a meal for special occasions! Make sure you do it on a night when you have enough time, though, since the preparations take almost as long as the cooking.

Not quite a review: Legend of Legacy CE

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Hobby Haven! This isn't a review, exactly, (because I haven't been able to play much of it), but I wanted to gush about the latest game I picked up: The Legend of Legacy. Silly Engrish-y name aside, this has been one of the games I've been most stoked about (besides Persona 5, of course) this year. 

Ever After High "Heartstruck" C.A. Cupid

Hello, all you lovelies, and welcome to this week's edition of the Hobby Haven! Today, I'll be reviewing one of the latest Ever After High deluxe dolls. the ever-lovely and ever-lovestruck C.A. Cupid in her newest incarnation, "Heartstruck." I have to say that I love the deluxe dolls that Mattel creates for EAH; they are always so on point, and feel truly display-worthy. I'll admit that this was something of an impulse purchase (as Thronecoming Cupid was); I was so miffed about not finding Fairest on Ice Duchess that I resolved to just buy one that I really liked.

This doll is themed after one of the newer episodes, appropriately titled "Heartstruck"; Cupid accidentally loses her bow and love arrows, which Hunter uses to blithely cause romantic havoc among the student body. It's never explained why Cupid is decked to the nines in this episode, but I'm not complaining.

The rest of the review is after the jump!

Odd and sods

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! How's October going for all of you?

I decided against doing a crazy "Shocktober" marathon like I did last year; it always seemed that even when I scheduled myself to watch something, I never felt like it or had the time. Instead, I've been doing things as I feel like it, and it seems to work better. For example, Icaro and I hung out over the weekend and played "Until Dawn," which is an incredibly suspenseful and creepy video game for the PS4. It plays on all types of horror movie tropes, and when we were down, I felt like we'd watched about three different types of horror movies. I also have been reading Rick Yancey's "The Monstrumologist" and Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files" series; it's been a while since I found an engaging horror/supernatural series, so I was happy to have stumbled onto both. I also finally picked up "The Vincent Prince Collection, Vol. 1" BD from Scream Factory; I will be reviewing that on Halloween, so stay tuned!

In news that isn't about my life (HA!), Viz announced during NYCC that they will start streaming the English dub of Sailor Moon Crystal next month on Hulu! No word on how soon they will release it on home video, or on how long the dubbed episodes will remain for free viewing, so I would recommend watching it while you have the chance, if you are interested.

Lots of manga announced at NYCC as well; Viz announced that they're bringing over a lot of stuff that people had been begging them for: Haikyuu, Kuroko no Basuke, Yona of the Dawn, etc. None of the announcements are anything I had been waiting for, but it's great to see some long-begged for series making it to these shores. Viz also confirmed that THEY were the company that had licensed the 2011 Hunter x Hunter anime, but I don't think we'll get an explanation of why it took so long for it to get here.

DC Super Hero Girls will be launching the dolls this spring, apparently as soon as March! Definitely going to keep my eyes peeled, and maybe use this as an excuse to start looking for back issues of Wonder Woman again. The web series for this line is also up on Youtube, or you can watch episodes on the (FAN CREATED, NOT OFFICIAL) Facebook fan page for it.

And remember Mattel making un-articulated basic dolls for Ever After High? They're doing the same for Monster High. They seem to be doing this for younger fans, since these are very plain and with less accessories and plainer outfits and hair. I think these are great for younger kids, as way to get them something fun to play with that they can't easily destroy.

Speaking of Monster High, there's lots of new lines coming! The next movie is the "Great Scarier Reef," which means lots of underwater-themed dolls. Several of our regular characters turn into mermaid-like versions of themselves, and they meet lots of new (and realllllllly bizarre-looking) characters. There's a half-squid girl, a half-water spirit girl, and a two-headed hydra girl(s?). I...will be passing on this line. There's a new "weekend getaway"-type budget line, and some new characters appear that were mentioned in conjunction with Monster Exchange: Kjersti Trolleson, Isi Dawndancer, and Batsy Claro. Finnegan Wake, the merman who uses a wheelchair to get around on land (you might remember him from one of the webisodes), also made his debut, and is only for sale on Mattel's website.

Well, I'm going to stop here, since it's getting kind of late. Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Ever After High news!

Oh, wow! So we have confirmation that "Dragon Games" will be an upcoming special in 2016, along with "Epic Winter," which seems to be based off of the tale of The Snow Queen. It features the character "Crystal Winter" (which is an awful generic name but whatevs) who the fandom is thinking might be this girl whose image was leaked earlier:

We're closer to getting her doll! YES!

NEW DOLL SERIES!

I am pretty excited right now, guys, and I will share why. Mattel, the beloved makers of Barbie, Ever After High, and Monster High, are now making dolls for a new line, DC Super Hero Girls. The idea is that DC is creating a new cartoon, aimed at a slightly younger (think elementary to early middle school) audience starring their female superheroes as high school students. From the visuals I've seen, this is being aimed as a much more approachable, family-friendly version of the characters.

I probably would have become more interested in superheroes as a kid if something like this existed! I also like how the costumes aren't so bathing suit-like, it makes cosplaying a lot more approachable, as well. 

I don't know if these are prototypes or the finished product, but I really like what I see. I definitely want Wonder Woman, and would probably pick up the Batman characters. Not really crazy about the rest, though. But I like that so many of them are wearing pants! I always thought that crimefighting in those skimpy leotard-type outfits looked so uncomfortable, like they'd get a wedgie at any minute.

There will be more characters than these, of course--apparently some of the male characters like the Green Lantern will be present--and lots more merchandise, including some action figures. Merchandise is supposed to start rolling out later this month (although that can always change), so I'll be keeping my eye out!

Grumble, grumble

Well, it's not just the Sailor Moon Figuarts that are being cancelled due to "lack of availability," it's EVERYTHING from Bandai that Bluefin distributes in the U.S. Checking out the Bluefin Facebook page yields dozens of complaints from customers whose preorders for Figuarts and Proplica merch have been cancelled. Bluefin, as of a week ago, stated that they are working with Amazon to hopefully get orders re-instated, but there's been no news since. I had Pluto ordered with an Amazon gift card, so I'm not really able to get her anywhere else; and she seems to be pretty much sold out at every other vendor. I have every faith that we'll be able to get her eventually, but probably not for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if this takes a month or two to get wrangled out. It's pretty much unthinkable that Bluefin would *not* try to get a deal worked out with one of the biggest e-vendors in the world to distribute their merchandise.

In happier news, my new Ever After High doll arrived, so I've been having fun cooing over her. And since it's that time of the year, I'm going to see if Funko is making more Hello Kitty Halloween blind boxes.

Sailor Moon Re-ment sets: Cafe Sweets and Daily Life

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Hobby Haven! It's been a while since I did a real, live review, and I'm pretty excited. I do have to apologize, because the camera was not being entirely cooperative that day, so a few shots are a bit blurry. Bear with me, please!

We're looking at two of the Sailor Moon Re-ment collectible miniature sets. They are my newest guilty pleasure. :)

Let's take a look, shall we?