is there a way for proles like me to access soundscan figures online?

Metal Sludge puts out selected soundscan numbers.

Sometimes people post numbers to USENET.

That is all.

Scott - there's not really a one-stop-shopping type site with all the info, but you can usually track them down on different sites, depending on genre... like check out http://www.blistering.com/ for hard rock/metal numbers, and there's several that post Rap/R&B numbers weekly. Good luck.