Media Blasters' Voltron: Defender of the Universe Collection 2 (MSRP $39.95) has been delayed due to problems involved in the production of boxed set's special tin packaging, according to Barbara Herman, Media Blasters' Senior V.P. of Sales and Marketing. 'Due to the unique art and quality of the collectible tins we have had a difficult time finding a timely source, especially with the continuing bumps in orders due to exceptional sales,' she said. 'December 12th became our target date to have Collection Two widely available to the consumer. However, product did start flowing last week and we now expect all accounts to have received some, if not all, of their orders well before December 12th.'
There is now no firm on sale date for the new Voltron Collection, which was originally scheduled to go on sale November 21st. Retailers can put the collection on sale as they receive it. As Ms. Herman explained to ICv2, 'As product becomes available it is being shipped as usual; accounts requiring redirection through DCs will be shipped first. December 12th is a soft date, all accounts may sell product as soon as they receive it. The only near exception to this is that Transworld did request express shipping for the first part of their order as it became available, product will show up quickly in their retail outlets.'
Unlike the first Voltron Collection, which was available in both tin and regular packaging (Wal-Mart had the conventional packaging), Collection 2 will only be available in the tin format. The first Voltron Collection set the Media Blasters' record for first week sales (see 'Voltron Blows Away Invader Zim') demonstrating once again the power of properly packaged 1980s cartoons in today's market. Although heavily modified for American TV, Voltron, which helped popularize the Super Sentai (superhero team) ethos with American audiences, was based on two anime series, Hyakujuu-ou GoLion (1981) and Kiko Kantai Dairaga XV (Armored Fleet Dairugger XV)
The third Voltron Collection (Green Lion MSRP $39.95) is still on track for a February 27th release.