Con-trarian Views: FX International Toy and Hobby Show 2008

For those that don't know, the FX International Toy and Hobby Show officially kicks off the convention season in Orlando for us geeks. It's generally considered the warm-up for the larger, more publicized and expensive Mega-Con show, which usually follows within a month or so of FX. While Mega-Con attempts to provide something for all the fan-bases within the geek community, FX seems to deliberately limit its scope, although that scope has grown larger in recent years (in 2006 they claimed to have "11 conventions in one", a claim they could support as long as you were willing to consider three or four tables in the back of a huge room at the Central Florida Fairgrounds its own "convention"). FX traditionally has been far more geared towards the independent collector/vendor selling their items to fellow enthusiasts, as opposed to Mega-Con, which is usually sponsored by the larger comic book stores in the area and is dominated by their presence. How much you enjoy FX really depends how much you can appreciate a less corporate, more "little guy"-friendly convention appearance and atmosphere. One less-than-flattering, but certainly accurate way to describe the FX show is "the flea market for dork stuff." (Once again, thank you, Tobey.) It is what it is, and I enjoy it, which is why I end going just about every year: it's relatively inexpensive, they draw cool celebrity guests, the deals on the toys and comics-related merchandise are usually pretty good, and the folks running around in costume ... well, that's always a hoot. So with that in mind, here's a look at this year's event.

The Venue

Like last year, FX was held over 2 1/2 days at the Orange County Convention Center. Unlike last year, when they held the event in the newer North Concourse of the Convention Center and it's truly enormous exhibit halls, this year they set up the show in the older West Concourse, where the rooms are a more reasonable size for an event like this. For a show like FX, bigger isn't always better: last year's show felt more sparsely attended than it actually was simply because there was so much unused space in the exhibit hall, and the aisles between the vendor tables made the traffic through them appear to be a trickle. The halls in the West Concourse are far more suited for this event--still plenty of room for everyone to set up and for traffic to flow smoothly (they even had room to set up a wrestling ring in the back; more on that later), but tables and vendors across the aisles from one another didn't have to shout to talk to one another.
The largest downside of the OCCC venue is concessions. More specifically, the prices the concession stands in the exhibit halls charge for items such as sandwiches and beverages. Not even gourmet sandwich eateries like Panera and Atlanta Bread Company have the audacity to charge $9.50 for a turkey sandwich, and if they do have something approaching that price, it's usually on a specialty bread with dijon mustard, asiago or feta cheese, something exotic. The $9.50 turkey sandwich at the Convention Center comes on what might as well be Publix-brand white bread, no condiments, and if you're lucky, lettuce with a bit of crisp to it. How about $5 for a soda to go along with your $10 sandwich? Or a $4 pretzel? Yikes. If you decide to go to this show next year, do yourself a favor and bag a liter of water and a sandwich made at home, or makes plans to eat off-site. Otherwise half your convention spending funds will go towards feeding your face instead of feeding your collections.

The Vendors

This year FX managed to provide a great variety of vendors and creators to spur visitors to part with their dollars. From the innovative, modernized spins on Grimm Fairy Tales found at the "Grimm Visions" booth (left) to the usual suspects peddling the latest collectible action figures, discounted trade paperbacks, $1 comics, movie props, and ancient weapons, the show offered the best mix of the pricey and the reasonable to fit everyone's budget. I personally would've liked to see more vendors selling discounted trades, especially at a time when trades cost on average $24.99 and 50% off is just about the only way I can afford to pick them up nowadays, but that's just me. The pictures below show just a few of the tables there this year, but you get the idea: lots of eye candy and stuff to blow your money on.





The Guests

Okay, I have to confess at this point. The only guest at this show I had any REAL interest in meeting and talking to was the young lady you see in the picture to the left, Ms. Laura Vandervoort, currently starring on Smallville as Kara Zor-El, Clark/Kal-El's newly-arrived Kryptonian cousin. Yes, there were VERY cool guests this year: Helen Slater (once a "Supergirl" herself and also a recent guest star on Smallville), Nathan Fillon (Firefly/Serenity, Drive), Adam West, George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes, The Howard Stern Show), Greg Grunberg (Heroes, Alias); as well as the usual B and C-listers (Erik Estrada and "Fat Momma" from Who Wants to be a Superhero?, pictured below).



Yes, it might've been cool to get a chance to talk to some of them--Nathan Fillon in particular seemed to be having a great time at the show, living up to his reputation as a consummate jokester, at one point zooming around the convention floor in a motorized wheelchair borrowed from a delighted fan. But you know what? Take another look at Laura Vandervoort, okay? I mean, come on!!



True story: on Saturday I was at the show helping out with minding the "Grimm Visions" table, which was across the aisle from the table for "Crazy Ed's Comics." Sometime around 3PM I happened to look up from my copy of Jim Butcher's Storm Front, book 1 of "The Dresden Files" novels, when who else but Laura Vandervoort, along with her companion, who looked like he might be a model for Express Men stores when not with her, walked right past me on her way to "Crazy Ed's" in order to buy a Supergirl comic book. Soon enough, folks walking by were asking to take pictures with her, including "Crazy Ed", and as she kept saying she had to get back to her table I simply couldn't bring myself to approach her for a picture. So I sat and unashamedly stared. I'm fairly sure I didn't drool, though. Trust me, my five minutes talking to her the next day was EASILY the highpoint of my weekend.

The Fans

The pictures below really say it all, but just a few things I noticed:

-Lots of great costumes this year, but LOTS and lots of Star Wars representation especially. I would've had more pictures of superhero costumes had I been taking pictures on Saturday.

-The wrestling matches going on throughout the day in the exhibit hall were constantly drawing spectators. Most of them were laughing, of course--no real hardcore wrestling fans to be seen--but it was a popular attraction that no doubt will be repeated next year.

-and finally, about that last picture of Ms. Vandervoort, the one where she's talking to a fan: I took this picture hours before I actually met her, and I was standing at least 100 feet away using my camera's zoom. I had no idea she was actually looking over at the camera (she must've seen the flash) for the pic until I had uploaded the pics to my computer. Timing is funny sometimes.



Final thoughts

Yes, it was a great show this year, which I didn't expect because of the state our economy is in and my belief that folks would have more important things to spend their hard-earned dollars on. Guess fandom and geekdom trumps necessities for others besides me, after all. Thank goodness. Now bring on Mega-Con.

Movie Geekiness: the 1st teaser trailer for "Star Trek"

Well folks, here it is, the trailer that had the best chance of getting me out to the movies to catch Cloverfield this weekend, the teaser for J.J. Abrams' reimagined Star Trek(unfortunately, there's no decent YouTube version of it yet, so you'll have to jump over to the Paramount site to see it clearly):

Star Trek teaser

Ya know, though I've already seen it, IF by some miracle I make it out to a theater to see "Cloverfield" (and I've heard it's decent, as long as you don't sit in the first 10 rows of the theater and you don't mind jarring hand-held digital camera filmwork), I think I'd STILL get excited seeing this, hearing the music, seeing the ship. It's hard to tell from the view how much the Enterprise has been changed for this "reimagining", and there's already been quite a bit of fanboy debate put out there on the subject. I'm not going to get involved in that just yet--I want a better look at the damn thing first. Overall, I'm pretty optimistic.

Of course, I am EVER the optimist when it comes to "Trek" projects, but that's besides the point.

Action Figure News: Mezco's "Heroes" Series 1 Figures

Any fans of the TV show Heroes out there? Fans of the 1st Season, at least? Well, if you are, then you're really going to get a kick out of these new action figure offerings from Mezco Toyz. "Heroes" Series 1 includes renditions of Sylar, Peter Petrelli, Nakamura Hiro (yes, that's not a typo, that's how his name would be said in Japanese, family name first), Claire Bennett, and Mohinder Suresh. No word on variants, yet, but with how hot these properties should be, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear about variants soon. No word yet on when these will be in stores, but after seeing them I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for release dates. Check 'em out!



Mezco has been doing figures based on movie and TV properties for some time now, the most famous of which have been their cult hit Living Dead Dolls. What always gets me about their licensed property work is how well they do the faces of the characters they tackle. In this set, I'd say Hiro is the one who impresses me the least, but Sylar, Peter, and Claire are pretty damn impressive. Also the detail on the accessories each figure comes with is worth mentioning--how about the photo of the late Dr. Suresh on the back of the book the Mohinder figure comes with? One question I have, though, is why do three of the five characters come with shoulder bags/man purses? Did Gap Stores provide some of the funding for the development of these figures, for the sake of product placement? (I have a bag very similar to these, and I got it at the Gap.) That's a minor, MINOR quibble--overall I'm really impressed with these. Thoughts?

More recommended from Mezco Toyz:

South Park Series 2 Mr. Hankey Action figure

Living Dead Dolls Edgar Allan Poe and Annabel Lee Set

Family Guy Action Figure Set

Miami Vice Action Figure Case

Comics Spotlight: Captain America #33

Captain America #33
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Steve Epting
Inker: Butch Guice
Editor: Tom Brevoort

(Writer's note: Yes, once again I'm reviewing a book that hit stores a week and a half ago. The money I had to spare this week went to groceries. Sucks to be poor. the fact that I simply HAD to pick up this book despite my current financial status should say something for its quality. :))

Last week I filled this space with a review of a book by a writer currently exclusive to DC Comics whose work I feel is absolutely, positively "must-read" every month. This week I'm balancing the scales and doing the same thing for a writer working primarily for Marvel Comics. His name got in the newspapers and other media quite a bit last year when he wrote the story that killed off one of comicdom's most iconic characters, Captain America. His name is Ed Brubaker, and his work is definitely something I recommend EVERYONE, comic book book fan or not, pick up.

For several years now, Brubaker has been making Captain America truly his own, retconning certain elements of the character's backstory (not beyond plausibility, mind you) in order to introduce new characters and bring a level of gritty drama the series had not had for some time previous to the start of his run. Focusing on backstory and history of a character is nothing new for Brubaker: according to his entry on wikipedia.org, "When working on licenced characters with extensive established histories at both Marvel and DC Brubaker has consistently changed aspects of those characters' backstories. Examples of this include the return of Holly in Catwoman, the return of Bucky in Captain America, and the introduction of the character Vulcan in X-Men: Deadly Genesis." The result has always been tightly-plotted, character-driven dramas which redefine and humanize the subject characters to an extent not witnessed before.

In the case of Captain America, over the twenty-four issues of the book Brubaker wrote prior to the character's assassination, readers came to see a Cap haunted by suddenly unreliable memories of the past, both in his own mind and in the physical form of his seemingly-returned-from-the-grave World War II partner, Bucky Barnes, in a guise and role he never would have expected. In many ways, Brubaker shows reader "his" Captain America through the eyes of the character's best friends and companions: Sharon Carter, Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D and a former lover of Cap's; Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon, Cap's one-time partner; Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, Cap's colleague in the Avengers and later his enemy during the catastrophic Superhero Civil War (Marvel Comics); and of course, Bucky himself in later issues. Brubaker uses the supporting cast to show readers the "Cap" beyond the icon, beyond the ever-confident, unflinching, charismatic hero who wraps himself in the American flag, about whom even Thor once said, "That mortal I would follow even through the gates of Hel itself." The result is a Captain America all the more inspiring and heroic, because Brubaker puts us in touch with the man underneath the flag. And after the character's death, when his friends and colleagues must move past mourning and get to the bottom of the plot that began with Cap's death, he puts us in touch with their anguish and pain, and lo and behold, if you've been reading the whole run and you have any kind of heart at all, you've come to care about them, too.

Which brings us to issue #33. Without getting into spoilers, suffice to say a showdown readers have been waiting for since issue #26 finally takes place (hint: the combatants are featured on the front cover, shown above). Now, since the end of the Civil War ol' Shellhead Iron Man has been on the receiving end of a lot of beatdowns (all fully deserved, in the humble opinion of this author), but none has quite the emotional resonance of this particular fight, a fight Tony doesn't want any part of from the start. It's because Brubaker spent so much time building up our sense of Tony's guilt over what happened to Cap and Bucky's entire life before and since Cap's death that the action in every panel of this issue commands attention. And the payoff, the ending and the foreshadowing of what's to come (see the image below) makes complete sense within the context of everything that's happened, and you may, as a reader, have seen it coming, but it doesn't diminish any of the satisfaction. I've read some posts in forums that claim this was a wasted opportunity to take the character of Captain America in a new and unexpected direction, and I couldn't agree LESS. This is the beginning of something great: Captain America as a man who beneath the layers of his costume and shield also has layers of complexity to his character, and thus almost limitless potential for character-driven storytelling.

In terms of the art, penciler Steve Epting, as he has throughout his run on Captain America, delivers gritty, realistic, fast-paced action that's easy to follow from panel to panel. Making the fight scene that is at the center of this issue work as something believable and engrossing (I mean, after all, "on paper" this should be a horrible mismatch) is absolutely remarkable. He sells us on it, just as he sold us on every amazing physical feat he rendered Steve Rogers accomplishing. And he's just as successful at giving us strong character moments, as well--in particular he renders the weariness apparent on Tony Stark's face quite well. The job Tony's taken on since the Civil War is aging him, without question, and Epting handles expressing that aging, that growing exhaustion, through use of darkness and shadow over the facial features. Bucky's anger and intensity is also worth noting--Epting's had more than two years practice working with this character, and the expertise shows. My one (very) minor quibble would be with the inconsistency in the artistic treatment of Black Widow here, as opposed to in other books like Mighty Avengers. Does she have short hair, or long hair? She's sexy either way, don't get me wrong, but its ... well, like I said, it's a VERY minor quibble.

I like the longer hair, personally.

As a fan, I'll always miss Steve Rogers. I miss him still, and I know I'm not the only one, though I may be one of the few to admit it. I eulogized him as best I could in my MySpace blog, shortly after issue #25 hit the stands. Hard to believe it's only been 10 months. But now we, as readers, stand of the precipice of something I think will be great. We stand as witness to the beginning of a new legend. For this, I say thank you, Ed Brubaker, and the folks at Marvel who have supported you in your vision. And also, I say once again, rest in peace, Steve Rogers. You will be missed. Long live Captain America.

Next issue:


Recommended reading from Ed Brubaker:

Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1: The Last Iron Fist Story (New Avengers)

Criminal Vol. 1: Coward

Daredevil: Hell to Pay, Vol. 1

Hi-Def News: Warner, New Line to support Blu-Ray exclusively! (Format) War is over!

Folks, normally I'm not an "I told ya so," but this time, well I just have to, because I've gotten into too many animated discussions with people who weren't buying into it.

The high-definition format war, between Blu-Ray discs and HD-DVD, is effectively over.

The Digital Bits.com reported yesterday that Warner Bros. studios, previously a supporter of both hi-def formats, would be begin supporting Blu-Ray exclusively in 2008. New Line Cinema quickly followed suit with a similar announcement. Warner will continue to produce new HD-DVDs, allowing a short window of time between their release and the standard definition and blu-ray releases, until May 31st to satisfy contractual obligations with the HD-DVD Group. After that, ONLY Universal, DreamWorks, and Paramount will be continuing to support HD-DVD, with Sony, MGM, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, and now Warner and New Line Cinema firmly with Blu-ray. That represents 70% of Hollywood's major movie studio output. And here's why:

-Market research data provided by the NPD Group, a leading national market research company with offices in the United States, the UK, Japan, and the European Union, shows that this past December, despite a $100 price premium in HD-DVD's favor, set top Blu-Ray players outsold HD-DVD players, and despite Toshiba offering the cheapest HD-DVD player on the market, Blu-Ray software sales outpaced that of HD-DVD by 2-to-1.

-Blu-Ray carries the corporate support of consumer electronics manufacturers Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic, LG, and Hitachi, as well as computer manufacturers Apple and Dell. In comparison, HD-DVD's sole exclusive supporters are Toshiba and Microsoft, with Samsung and LG producing players that support both formats, players that due to their high-manufacturing costs have not become a realistic option for consumers. On its website, Samsung devotes MUCH greater attention to its successes and upcoming product lines associated with Blu-ray.

-With Time Warner fully and exclusively supporting Blu-Ray, Wal-Mart stores will now be free to add even greater emphasis to their Blu-Ray offerings, bringing them more in line with Target stores, which last year discontinued sales of HD-DVD players in their stores in order to focus on Blu-Ray.

A great many industry observers came into the holiday season believing that one way or the other, the format war would be decided by the end of 2007. Looks like Warner saw the writing on the wall. Paramount and DreamWorks are rather stuck with their decision last summer to back HD-DVD exclusively for 18 months--going back on it now would be a PR nightmare and probably spark litigation. But how long will it be before Universal announces that it will, at the very least, begin to support both formats, so that they can have a slice of the riches going to the Blu-Ray camp? I reckon not long. It didn't go unnoticed that the North American HD-DVD Promotions group officially canceled their Sunday press event at this year's upcoming CES (Consumer Electronics Show) trade show in Las Vegas, a show which traditionally has been a launching pad for promotion of new electronics products for the coming year. Guess they don't have anything good to say.

But seriously, in my mind, all you had to do to be convinced of the way this was going to go was go into a Target or Wal-Mart store around mid-December, as I did a number of times. If you happened to wander into the electronics/movie section, it was practically impossible to miss: shelves devoted to Blu-Ray releases and Playstation 3 games and accessories were just about bare, while the HD-DVDs were, well, there were a LOT more of them available.

This trend is going to continue despite the holidays being over. Just this past week, Best Buy stores were offering a promotion backed by the Blu-Ray Disc Association--buy any blu-ray disc player (excluding Playstation 3 consoles and dual-format players) and get 5 free blu-ray discs instantly. Not a mail-in offer, although the mail-in 5 free blu-rays with the purchase of any player (PS3 included) is still in effect, but an instant, pick-your-movies-off-the-shelf-right-now promotion. So all total, you could have TEN free movies for your collection, each retailing for at least $19.99, just for buying a player, some of which have come down as low as $300.

Want to bet blu-ray player sales top HD-DVD sales again in January? That, my friends, is what you call a "sucker bet."

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I TOLD YA SO.

Comics Review: Green Lantern #26 "The Alpha Lanterns, Pt. 1" (Spoiler-Free!)

Green Lantern 26
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Mike McKone
Inks: Andy Lanning, Marlo Alquiza, and Cam Smith
Editor: Eddie Berganza

(Writer's note: Yes, this issue is now a week old--I'll be better about reviewing just-released books in the future. Just bear with me, as I just picked up THIS book, along with all my books from last week, YESTERDAY. Also, though this is the solicited cover for the issue, this actually turned out to be the cover for Green Lantern Corps/Sinestro Corps Secret Origins)

I've said it to friends and other comic book fans on many occasions, but since this is a new blog, I'll say it again: Geoff Johns is one of the most compelling writers working in comic books today. For those that don't know, Johns is currently writing Green Lantern, Action Comics, Booster Gold, and Justice Society of America, all published by DC Comics, and without reservation I recommend each of those books to anyone not currently reading them. What makes his books compelling is his gift for nailing down a particular character's voice--when we, as readers, are in the character's head, hearing their thoughts, the voice we hear rings true, no matter if the character is as familiar as an old high school friend, as Kal-El (Superman) or Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) may be, or completely new to us, as Booster Gold will probably be. After all, the subtitle on Booster Gold is "The Greatest Superhero You've Never Heard of!"


image courtesy of www.ign.com

This past year in particular, Green Lantern has been a showcase for Johns' gift for voice. "The Sinestro Corps War" event, which ran through the summer in Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps,and the Tales of the Sinestro Corps specials, garnered praise from fans and across the industry for being a model for how event comics SHOULD be handled, with a strong, character-driven, action-packed story contained within a small number of books and relatively few tie-ins. If you ONLY read Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps, you still had all you needed to enjoy the story--the additional pieces provided richer characterization and backstory to the various "heavies" in the story, some of the scariest villains in the DC Universe. Each chapter of the "Sinestro Corps War" in Green Lantern began with us, the readers, inside Hal Jordan's head, with the words, "My name is Hal Jordan. I'm an officer in the Green Lantern Corps, Sector 2814." The next sentence would often bring us right into the action, as seen through Hal's eyes, the eyes of a man who has overcome great fear, who has been at different parts of his life a daredevil test pilot, a superhero, a host to the Spirit of Vengeance, and one of the most powerful antagonists in the universe, capable of rewriting reality according to his whims. There's a glib bravado in his voice, but it's sobered by harsh experience and awareness of duty. Hal's is a steely voice, a voice you instantly like and hope to hear in a time of crisis.



And Johns nails it perfectly. He has nailed it perfectly every time, since he helmed Hal's return in Green Lantern: Rebirth, through every issue of Green Lantern leading up to "The Sinestro Corps War." It's Hal's voice that guides us through the stories, makes us care about what happens, keeps us reading and counting the days until the next issue, and of course, the credit for that belongs completely to Johns.

Now, with issue #26, a new chapter begins in the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War, and while Hal Jordan continues to be a prominent voice in the story, Johns gives us a taste of another voice, just enough to tell us we'll be hearing a lot more from him in the stories ahead. Fans of the Cartoon Network show Justice League Unlimited will be pleased to know that voice belongs to someone familiar: John Stewart, another officer in the Green Lantern Corps, and Hal's partner in this series. Stewart has been an important figure all throughout Johns' run on Green Lantern, but to my knowledge this is the first time we as readers are granted interiority into his thoughts--it's the first time we hear his voice in a narrative role, and it's another credit to Johns that the voice is clearly distinct from Hal's. He's a character with a complicated history, one he hasn't completely left behind, and "The Alpha Lanterns, Pt. 1" seems to foreshadow that Stewart's history will come to the forefront in the near future. I, for one, can't wait to see more.



This wouldn't be a complete review without mention of the art. Let me start by saying this: Mike McKone is VERY good. Previously I really enjoyed his work on Teen Titans, and missed his style on that book when he and Johns left that book with issue #48. His treatments of character's faces and bodies are tempered with a realism that grounds the work--expressions and postures feel genuine, and you're never looking at someone in a panel and wondering, "Why the HELL are they posing like that?" At the same time, he completely capable of pulling off the big splashy pages, like the two pages posted above. It's all GOOD ... but I still found myself missing Ivan Reis' GREAT work. Reis is someone else whose name will sell me a book, almost regardless of what it is, so it's a tough act to follow. I'm not sure McKone's more-grounded style is the best fit for a space opera-style book like Green Lantern, but its definitely good enough to warrant the benefit of the doubt.

And just who are "The Alpha Lanterns"? Well, no sense in giving that away. (Told you this would be Spoiler-Free!) Just pick up the book. Better yet, pick up "The Sinestro Corps War" issues, and enjoy that to the full, and THEN pick up this book, and enjoy watching the pieces begin to fall into place for the next great epic story that will no doubt unfold in the coming year's issues. You won't be disappointed.

More recommended reading from Geoff Johns:

Green Lantern Vol. 1: No Fear

Infinite Crisis (Superman (Graphic Novels))

Teen Titans Vol. 1: A Kid's Game

New Year, New Blog, Great news for BSG fans!

Hello and welcome to what I hope will be the first of many posts in my brand-spanking new blog here on blogger. Many thanks to my old friend JC Martinez for giving me the idea to set up shop here, and thanks to any and all who read my blogs over on MySpace and now are reading my ramblings here. My aim is to actually consolidate my blogging activity, going down from two blogs, the MySpace one and my old Livejournal blog, to just this one. In truth, I hadn't written at all in the Livejournal blog in almost 10 months, and there's a good reason for that: the livejournal blog was focused entirely about my love of the Miami Dolphins, and well, as any NFL fan knows, this past season there wasn't a whole lot about the Dolphins that was worth immortalizing in hypertext. All that matters is that the season's over and things can only get better!

Anyway, on to the good news referenced in the subject line, posted today on TV Shows on DVD.com : Universal Studios Home Media has FINALLY released the box art and release date for Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica Season Three! Check it out:



Battlestar Galactica - Season Three will retail for $59.99, though I'm sure folks out to get it in the first week of release will find it for much cheaper. What's of the most interest to me in this set is the news regarding the episode "Unfinished Business", which was a favorite of mine and many other people I talked to due to the episode filling in the final bits of information viewers were missing about the "one-year-later" time-jump that took place in Galactica's second-season finale, "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II." The version of "Unfinished Business" on the set will feature an extra 25 minutes of never-before-seen footage, much like the Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5 (Episodes 10-20)DVD set featured a longer cut of the episode "Pegasus." I always find the extended episodes fun to watch just to look for the "new" material and consider how whether or not it should have been cut, so this is just extra incentive for me to put aside a few cents every day between now and March in order to grab this set off the shelves at the first possible moment.

Now, this news also confirms what a great many of us BSG fans already knew, that this DVD release was being timed to immediately precede the start of Galactica's Season Four in early April. We've been waiting a LONG time for both this set and new episodes, so I know I can't be alone in being excited by this news. I do fear, though, that it all may be a case of "too little, too late." After all, it's been almost a year since Season Three ended, and admittedly that season was a bit uneven in terms of episode quality. Can this show ever again regain the momentum and fan-fueled excitement that it once boasted? Will audiences return to see the show through its final season, for Season Four will indeed be the last? Will the current writer's strike in Hollywood end in time for the show's writers to complete Season Four at all? So many questions, so much uncertainty about the future ... well, this much is certain: I'll be buying this DVD set without hesitation, and I know I won't be alone.