Hey everyone,

John Vignocchi here, executive producer on Disney Infinity with the official announcement on the Collector’s Edition and PlayStation 3 Hardware Bundle for Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes!

Earlier this year, our team started brainstorming about something special that we could do for PlayStation owners. After consulting with the Sony team on several ideas, Adam Boyes had noticed that our plan was to not release Hulk until post-launch. “Is there anyway we can pull that up for PlayStation fans?” he asked. It was at this moment that Gio Corsi (another member of Adam’s team and a huge Marvel fan) stood up and shouted “HULK SMASH RELEASE DATES!” in approval of the suggestion.

After some laughter and back-and-forth, we had come to a consensus on our execution: We would create some sort of cool carrying case that would include all components of our Starter Pack (which focuses on the Avengers), all of the additional Avengers characters that would be available at launch (including Captain America and Hawkeye), and we would allow Hulk to be sold early inside this PlayStation Collector’s Edition. Adam and his team also said that they wanted to bundle our Disney Infinity 2.0 Starter Pack with a PlayStation 3 console for Holiday 2014, which we found quite flattering.

After exploring numerous options for a carrying case, the team decided that none of them felt right for our fans. We decided to create a Collector’s Edition that could act more as a “collector’s display” for the various Disney Infinity figures, which is something our fans have been asking for us to create for a long time.

With that in mind, our amazing concept team at Avalanche began creating various sketches for what this collector’s display could be. We knew the Collector’s Edition should feel like a collector’s display, relate to the Disney Infinity Avengers Play Set story, and impress the discerning eye of the Marvel collector. We also knew it was going to be quite large, considering the display had to show off all characters from the Avengers Play Set and feature the Frost Beast based on the design the team had chosen. In the end, we all knew that if wanted to create a physical representation of this battle from the game… Well, this thing was going to be a lot bigger than we ever would have imagined!

Finally when Avalanche Software’s VP of Art, Jeff Bunker, got his hands on the initial prototype, he couldn’t just leave it alone. “You know — this thing should really be able to glow in the dark,” he said, as he half smiled and let out a soft sigh at the thought of all the additional work involved. Jeff even made each of the pedestals light up so that there is a glow underneath all of the characters.

This is the “what it might look like glowing” concept that Jeff Bunker and his art team put together to show the guys at Sony…

In the end, our team put together a Collector’s Edition that we feel is representative of the quality that you have come to expect from the Disney Infinity brand, and something PlayStation gamers will be proud to own.

The exclusive PlayStation Collector’s Edition comes with the Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack, all Avengers figures and the Frost Beast Collector’s Edition display. Pre-orders start soon at your favorite local retailer. Both will also be available for pre-order this week at San Diego Comic-Con at the Disney Infinity Pop-up Shop (343 4th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101) and at the Marvel booth inside the San Diego Convention Center.

Additionally, for those of you who have friends that have NOT picked up a PS3 and our fans of Marvel (and Disney!), our Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes PS3 hardware bundle will be available from Sony this fall. It features a 12GB PlayStation 3 and the Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack for a steal at $249.99.

Thanks for reading, everyone, and thanks to all of our friends at Sony for being such great partners!

-JV