Merch madness

Merch madness

By Eric Almendral, Metromix

There’s no need to wait for opening weekends to binge on this summer’s pop-culture candy. Studio marketing and merchandising machines, fueled by dreams of "Star Wars"-like profits, have been hard at work fabricating products designed to stoke the flames of hype while depriving you of a chunk of your hard-earned scratch.

To help ease your consumer confusion, we've reviewed some of the offerings currently in stores. Just remember, even if you leave the multiplex mumbling, “The comic book was better,” you can go home, assemble your toys (er, figures) and act out the movie the way you would have made it.