More Steven Universe merchandise on the way

heyjamieIf you were worried about the paucity of merchandise available for Steven Universe, then worry no more! According to Animation Magazine, Cartoon Network has made deals with several manufacturers that will be bringing out new Steven Universe stuff for a while.

Some will be coming out quite early, in time for the holidays this year. Funko will be making Pop! vinyl figures of Steven Universe, which will be available at Hot Topic; Just Toys will be making a bunch of stuff, with the article listing dog tags, minis, backpack hangers, and “fun packs”. You can check out their Bravest Warriors stuff to get a feel for what they make.

Spring 2016 will see PhatMojo step into the ring with plushes and foam weapons, and Zag Toys launching collectible mini figures.

Then, in 2017, we get a line of plushes and more from Toy Factory (see their Adventure Time stuff if you’re curious what to expect).

The Guide to the Crystal Gems officially released today

guidetothecrystalgemsWe’ve been waiting for this one: the Guide to the Crystal Gems has finally come, and there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that the book looks gorgeous, and there are some nifty factoids about the Crystal Gems in it. The bad news is that it is basically stuff we already knew or could easily have figured out. The second dose of good news is that the stuff we want to see will now definitely be revealed to us in an episode, not in a peripheral.

The guide is liberally illustrated with screenshots from the show, framed as photos, and has profiles for every Gem we’ve seen on the show (including fusions, except for Sardonyx).

It starts off with a brief mention of the rebellion, then full-page writeups for Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl. The idea of gem monsters on Earth and the arrival of the homeworld Gems each get a paragraph, then it’s on to the character bios.

Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl each get full writeups with a profile, a long paragraph describing them, some more paragraphs related to things specific to them, and sections named “Fearsome Foes” and “Memorable Moments” that showcase their fighting prowess and… well, memorable moments respectively.

Rose Quartz gets a very similar treatment with a profile and many pages talking about her, but since she’s in the show’s history and so has no photos to showcase she doesn’t get Fearsome Foes or Memorable Moments sections.

Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, and Jasper each get a profile; Opal, Sugilite, Alexandrite, Malachite, and Stevonnie each get a profile and a paragraph writeup. Most of the book is written from Steven’s voice, but Garnet is responsible for telling us about the fusions, as well as the idea of fusion.

It’s heavy on pictures and light on text, but at $10 MSRP it looks like a good buy, especially for a younger fan.

New episode: Too Far will air on October 15, 2015

This might be our last premier on a regular schedule for the year (the schedule starts to get really weird around this time each year), so let’s make sure we enjoy it! Watch Too Far on October 15 at 7:30 PM EDT (please note the time change, as it was not originally scheduled to air at 7:30).

Too Far
Amethyst and Steven get in on some gem gossip.

Lunar Sea Spire podcast episode 50: When it Rains

PodcastTitleKen, GC13, Sophia, and Dakota, back from his break for an episode, get very excited to talk about When it Rains. The Peridemption train is rolling!

At this point everyone will have their heart broken should something happen to keep Peridot from permanently joining the team, since that scene of her stepping into the rain seemed pretty conclusive. She’ll be a great asset for lore-loving fans, with her homeworld mindset and awareness of recent events (though of course we need Jasper to join as well).

The Cluster continues to loom over the series, and the destruction it can cause has finally been revealed. Let’s just hope that we never see its physical form, so that destruction never becomes a reality—on Earth, anyway.

Steven Universe air times for October 5-11, 2015

Thursday:
5:30 PM EDT: Back to the Barn

No, this is not an error. As of now there are no re-runs at all scheduled for Steven Universe this week, not even a repeat of When it Rains.

What could When it Rains mean?

With what we’ve learned about the Cluster, it’s kind of all we want to talk about. (Well, the only lore-related thing, anyway. We still love Peridot.) It’s been a lot of information hitting us in these past couple of episodes, so we have some wondering to do.

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What we learned from When it Rains

The lore train does not stop! When it Rains was everything we wanted: a good lore drop combined with some wonderful bonding between Steven and Peridot. So, who wants to know about the Cluster? We do! So we’re going to take stock of what we learned this week.

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Preview for Back to the Barn

Oh, this is going to be so cool! We went up into space, now it’s time to prepare for our trip underground. (By the way, does anyone still doubt the Pearl servant theory?)

 

Ratings for When it Rains

There are only so many ways to say it, but Cartoon Network’s ratings remain sluggish. When it Rains led the week at 1,361,000 viewers, though.

Here’s how Cartoon Network’s premiers did:

  1. Steven Universe at 5:30 with 1,361,000
  2. The Ridonculous Race at 7:30 with 1,225,000
  3. Wabbit at 5:00 with 1,136,000

Immediate reaction to When it Rains

Well this episode turned out to be just about everything we could have possibly hoped for. We learned so much, got a lot of character development packed into a very short time without feeling overwhelming, and got some serious promises for what’s going to happen next.

It’s just… Wow. There was an idle prediction made about the Cluster, but it’s tough to realize that it was right.

A special shout-out to the responders to our Tumblr post about predictions for When it Rains: everyone was in agreement that Steven and Peridot would bond well, and they did. No fake-outs from the Crewniverse this time. Go team, and GO GREEN MOM!