Hasbro is ready to release a wide array of B.U.M . toys, ranging from deluxe action figures and their color coordinated Space Cycles to lots of different PVC collectible figurines.

The biggest surprises at the top of the lists in August are the #1 toys product -- Clive Barker's Tortured Souls from Mcfarlane -- and the #1 anime -- the El Hazard OVA DVD box set.

Dark Horse Comics will publish four Kiss -related comic titles beginning in the spring of 2002.

D-Boy, Inc., in association with Studio Tron and Fanboy, Inc. plans to release a series of collectible pewter statues based on the gorgeous female leads in Kia Asamiya's Silent Mobius manga.

Diamond Comic Distributors is offering retailers a chance to enlarge their offerings of magazines that is virtually without risk. Retailers who sign up for the six-month program get a free, expandable, modular rack that rolls on coasters and is delivered to their stores without any freight costs by UPS.

Dark Horse Comics announced the acquisition of the license to publish a one-shot comic book adaptation of the Disney/Pixar computer animated film Monsters, Inc.

The July issue of Diamond Previews includes a shared exclusive (with the Electronics Boutique chain) of Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy figures from the comic-savvy Simpsons TV series (and, of course the Bongo Comics series).

On October 16, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release the DVD edition of Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace.

The large number of movie/TV books available this season should provide opportunities for a wide range of pop culture stores.

The Topps Company is preparing to issue a new series of Star Wars trading cards that features all the top characters.