As far as toy news goes, it is pretty old since these have been showcased at Toyfare NY, and the comic conventions, as well as a special Philly preview.
The story from Jakks was that they wanted to include this as an acessory but it wasn't possible because of cost issues so they made it a seperate figure altogether to get it in the hands of fans they knew would like it. Weird? Yes, but I got to tip my hat to Jakks for thinking outside the box and being loyal to the fans. Any other toy company and The Meat would have been dropped from the assortment very quickly.