From the site:
"As many of you probably know, 2003 was a transitional year in the way McFarlane Toys and spawn.com handled unveiling toy lines for the year.
Previously, we had attended the annual Toy Fair event in New York City in February and unveiled an entire year's worth of toys in one fell swoop. Since the company no longer attends that event, beginning in 2003, it divided what was once an annual event into four individual ToyFest events online at spawn.com.
This was a novel approach and one that worked to a degree. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the schedule of the ToyFest events sometimes conflicted with other advertising or sales scheduling.
So it was back to the drawing board for 2004.
To do this, we kept in mind the number one priority of the spawn.com staff: To give spawn.com users the most accurate information on upcoming series as soon as possible as simply as we can. To that end, here's where we're going in 2004.
We will announce action figure lineups and series as soon as that information is available and confirmed. This will be accomplished through both the News section of the site and the online Toy Catalog. These sections of spawn.com will be the main avenues of information for fans and site readers to get the latest inside scoop on what's coming. Additionally, we'll also include more than just major releases in these updates (ie, two-packs, exclusives, repaints, etc.).
We have made a commitment to get fans of our products the best information as soon as it's available and this plan of releasing lineups as soon as they're available (as opposed to awaiting a specific event date) will hopefully do exactly that. As soon as we know something, you'll know it. End of story.
We will be keeping the "ToyFest" name; it will now be attached to a monthly ToyFest Magazine on spawn.com. In that online "magazine," we'll recap the additions and/or changes made to the main Toy Catalog at spawn.com during the course of that given month, along with some additional toy-related content.
Those who visit the site often will probably already know much of what's posted in this ToyFest Magazine as they'll likely see it as soon as the information is available in the News and/or Catalog areas of the site. The Magazine will mainly serve a recap function for those who don't visit the site as often, so they can access all the newest information quickly.
We hope the readers of this site will enjoy the upcoming coverage on spawn.com and our commitment to getting you the most accurate information as soon as possible. This new format will go into effect in February."
So, what do you think? I'm wondering if they will actually announce it before someone else (EB's website, Beckett) does. My problem here is that I don't regularly visit the site any more. I liked having a specific date that I knew I should be there for to unveil lots of goodies. It was like Christmas in June. Maybe they're just trying to get me to go to the site more often...
