March 30, 2005 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer BigBadToyStore.com has several new items of interest to collectors:

BBTS SHIPPING POLICY UPDATE: We've decided to cease using the USPS Parcel Select program after monitoring delivery times - the delivery times were not up to our expectations and our main concern is a satisfactory delivery time for all customers. Due to ever increasing shipping expenses and multiple rate increases from UPS over the past few years, we need to raise our flat rate shipping to $6.99 per order. All orders placed using the $6.99 rate will ship by either UPS Ground or USPS Priority Mail. Packages will on average arrive in 2 - 4 business days after we ship. This is an attractive delivery time for a reasonable shipping fee that is still one of the lowest in the industry. (All pre-orders placed in the past at the $4.99 & $5.99 rates will be honored at the $4.99 & $5.99 rate.)

NEW PRE-ORDERS:

WETA - CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: Weta will be producing a line of polystone statues based on 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe' movie coming in December 2005 from Disney. This movie looks like it will have special effects and costumes of the same caliber as Weta's work in Lord of the Rings. We have a variety of pre-orders up for Weta's upcoming Chronicles of Narnia polystone statues, maquettes and environments. The early Lord of the Rings statues are now immensely valuable and these are being produced in similarily small numbers so may be a great investment item as well as being great looking items based on a fun property. Here is a link to a quicktime clip about the movie - it looks very exciting!

WETA - KONG: Weta will also be producing a line of polystone statues and busts based on the LotR director Peter Jackson's next film - Kong - We have pre-orders up for a variety of items including Kong statues and busts, Dinosaur busts and skulls, and statues with various characters from the movie.

SIDESHOW: A couple cool new pre-orders from Sideshow. The 1/4 Scale Darth Vader is now available for pre-order in very limited numbers for $399.99 each. Sideshow has sold out of them and is producing only 2000 pieces so this one will be tough to find. The Lord of the Rings Weathertop Environment is also up for pre-order.

PRE-ORDERS ARRIVING SOON: All these items are in transit to us now from Japan: Masterpiece Ultra Magnus, BT-12 Overdrive, Robotmasters RM-22 & RM-23 LioConvoy. Everything should arrive around Friday or Monday.

NEW ITEMS IN STOCK:

LORD OF THE RINGS: Two new gift packs have just arrived. The Pelennor Fields set includes the Mumakil Rider and Morannon Orc figures which are only available in this set. The Lothlorien Gift Pack has also arrived and contains the Haldir and Celeborn figures that are only available in this giftset.

SPIDER-MAN: A nice variety of new Spider-Man items has arrived. Highlights include the Spider-Man Classic Villians set. Here is a chance to pick up all the 'short-packed' chase figures from previous Classic waves at a fraction of the price. The set of 5 figures includes one each of: Green Goblin, Ultimate Rhino, Ultimate Lizard, Tail-Strike Scorpion, and Carnage. These sold for $15 to $25 each in the past and are now available for $9.99 to $10.99 each or $49.99 for the set of 5! The very popular Sinister Six boxed set is back in stock for $44.99. Spider-Man Classic Wave 12 sets of 6 are in stock for $64.99 and these other new items have also arrived: Stunt System Expansion Sets, Web Power Gloves & Mask, Motorized Webble Shooter, Floor Crawling Spider-Man and More!

MASTER REPLICA: Darth Vader - A New Hope - FX Saber. This very popular FX saber is back in stock for $113.99. It comes with a display stand and full size saber blade. Many other Master Replica items are in stock and all the new Star Wars items are available for pre-order as well.

WWE CLASSIC SUPERSTARS: We've received Jakks WWE Classic Superstar figures from Series 3, 4, and 5. These waves contain tons of 80's and 90's wrestlers including: King Kong Bundy, Jake the Snake Roberts, Brutus the Barber Beefcake, Hacksaw Jum Duggan, Jimmy Superfly Snuka, The Million Dollar Man and More!

OTHER ITEMS IN STOCK:

PALISADES: X-Files Palz - 11 different Palz figures including variants
GI JOE: Exclusive 6" Cobra Commander Statue - $64.99
TORTURED SOULS 2: Sets of 6 back in stock
#18 SOUNDBLASTERS: Limited quantities restocked
GALAXY FORCE: More Micron Booster Wave 3 in stock