Star Wars Collecting: The Best and Worst of 2011

If you were to read the various collecting websites you would be under the impression that 2011 was the worst year for Star Wars collecting, at least as far as Hasbro goes.  We don’t necessarily agree with that, but do admit that there were some challenges that had to be overcome.

Most of the issues surround distribution and wave mixes for action figures, but outside of that, it was generally a decent year for collecting.

We had several small events in 2011 that made being a Star Wars fan interesting but the “big” stuff will be back next year with the 3D movie release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Celebration VI.

If the year 2011 could be summed up in two words, we think it would be “status quo.”  Take a look through what we felt was the good and bad for the year and, as always, feel free to let us know if we missed anything or you really disagree with us.

Best

Best Figure

Best Vintage Collection Figure: Bastila Shan

This may have been one of the hardest choices we’ve had in a while.  There were several characters in the running but ultimately we wanted to reward Bastila Shan since she is the most recent Fans’ Choice Poll winner to get an action figure.  She has all the appropriate points of articulation and comes with both a lit lightsaber and a hilt.  The one mark against her would be paint apps, we’ve seen a couple of photos that were a little sketchy, but if you were patient, you could pick up a really good looking figure.

Best Clone Wars Figure: Seripas

As with Vintage Collection there were several good choices but we ultimately liked Seripas the best.  Hasbro did an excellent job of capturing his robot likeness from the cartoon and even though he doesn’t have the most articulation we’ve ever seen, the fact that Hasbro was able to create a removable Seripas helps take him to another level.  The rifle accessory isn’t really relevant, but the two pop-out weapons on the arms more than make up for it.

Updated Characters

One of the things that made choosing the best Vintage Collection figure difficult this year is that there were a bunch of excellent updated characters including Zam Wesell, General Lando Calrissian, Logray and Ponda Baba.  Add in the Echo Base Trooper and ARC Trooper Commander (Fordo) and there were some really excellent choices.  In the end, the fact that Bastila Shan was a highly requested figure and a new character in the mix won her the title in our opinion.

Even Piell

Even Piell was a close second for us on the Clone Wars front.  Something about the way Hasbro executed him, with plenty of articulation, cool accessories and a great head sculpt, really makes him stand out.  There were several excellent Clone Troopers through the year also, but usually they just get a new paint job and head and it’s hard to pick one to really be the best figure of the year.  However, we loved the new Captain Rex with Jet Pack and Hasbro did a top notch job on Commander Wolffe’s head sculpt.

Best Figure 12“

Yoda (Sideshow)

Hands down this was our favorite for 2012.  We hadn’t purchased anything from Sideshow in over two years but after seeing this figure we had to jump back in.  This version of Yoda is from The Empire Strikes Back and really looks like the character from the film.  He has great articulation and accessories, several extra hands and if you had the cash, you cannot beat the Yoda’s Hut environment that Sideshow created to go with him.  Having Sideshow come back at Christmas time with a Santa Yoda version of this figure was also a fun idea.  We're sure that the base figure will show up again when Sideshow tackles his Prequel Trilogy versions and we can't wait to see them.

Best Vehicle or Playset

Mandalorian Gunship

This was a surprise when it showed up at San Diego Comic-Con and kind of blew us away.  It’s large for a Starfighter vehicle, has rotating wings and, the most impressive part, seats six action figures.  There are some shortcomings, such as the seating is limited enough that only certain figures will fit (e.g. Mandalorians and ARF Troopers).  Also, the only way to get this as of December is online, and then only if you got your order in before the initial shipments sold out, otherwise you’re waiting until 2012.

Best Other Toys

Star Wars Operation

Now that Hasbro has released Star Wars Operation it seems like this was a no-brainer, that took 30 years to get made! While Darth Vader would have been our first, and somewhat obvious, choice of patient, Hasbro went with R2-D2 which makes just as much sense.  Plus, the artwork on the packaging is reminiscent of Galactic Heroes and Jedi Force, pulling in kids with the cuteness.  Not only is Operation a beloved game, created in 1965, but R2-D2 is a very popular character and the two together make an excellent combo.

Best Lego

Super Star Destroyer (10221)

When this was announced in June it set the Lego fan boards buzzing.  The set is made up of 3152 bricks, is over 4 feet long and includes five minifigures.  It has a sizeable price as well, $399.99, but is one of the most impressive sets Lego has done for the Star Wars line.

Best Busts and Statues

Emperor Palpatine and Imperial Throne Premium Format (Sideshow)

Sideshow really took their Premium Format line up a notch with this release of the Emperor.  Featuring articulation in the arms, waist and neck, plus alternate hands (and portrait on the Sideshow Exclusive release), Emperor Palpatine can be displayed in several ways to really add character to the statue.  Sitting on his throne, the Emperor can command his forces or try to lure Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side.  This is the type of piece that can easily become the focal point for a collection and it seems like that was Sideshow's intention, they definitely brought their A game for this Premium Format statue.

Best Non-Toy Collectible

Topps Power Plates

In October, Topps release a set of 30 Power Plates which are metal and shaped to mimic a license plate.  Each plate has a magnet and a photo of a character, from all six Saga films, with a vanity saying such as “FRMBOY” for Luke Skywalker.  The Plates are a little bit smaller than a Widevision card and turned out very well.  We always like it when Topps thinks outside the box and this was one of those times.

Blu-ray Swag

We like free stuff and for this year's release of the Star Wars Saga on Blu-ray there were some cool promotions available.  Along with T-shirts at Best Buy and Walmart, the two items we liked the best were Target's lithograph set, featuring artwork from the Blu-ray packaging, and Walmart's Boba Fett poster.  And even though you had to pay for them, you could pick up cans of Pringles chips or tubs of popcorn with Star Wars artwork on the packaging to satisfy your snaking needs.

Best Exclusive

Star Wars The Padawan Menace

Released the same day as the Star Wars Saga was Star Wars The Padawan Menace, the latest and longest Lego animation feature.  The half hour special, which had first aired on Cartoon Network, was released on Blu-ray and DVD exclusively at Walmart stores.  The set also included previous animated shorts The Quest for R2-D2 and Bombad Bounty.  The final selling point, if you needed one, was the Young Han Solo minifigure that came in the package. 

Best Events

Star Tours: The Adventure Continues

After helping fans journey to that famous galaxy far, far away for 23 years, Star Tours closed in 2010 to make way for Star Tours: The Adventure Continues.  On May 20, 2011, at Disney's Hollywood Studios, the new journey began.  With upgraded destinations, new characters and 3D technology, Star Tours: The Adventure Continues is poised to run for another 20 years.  We're hoping for another Disney event at Celebration VI to highlight the new ride, but even if there's isn't an event held in conjunction with the convention, count us in for a visit.

Saga Blu-ray Release

You know it was a slow year when one of the top events wasn’t really all that much of an event.  But in September, Lucasfilm finally released all six films in the Saga on Blu-ray and that was a reason to do some cool promotions (Walmart’s poster and Target’s lithographs), fun displays (Walmart’s AT-AT and TIE Fighter), and food tie-ins (popcorn tins, Fruit Roll-ups, cereal).  There’s debate over whether or not the transfer was as good as it could have been, if the features were interesting or new enough, or if it should have come with the original theatrical releases on the discs, but at the end of the day, it was a highlight of the year for Star Wars fans.

Worst

Worst Figure

Clone Trooper (212th Battalion)

The 212th Clone Trooper is one of our favorites so when we found out that Hasbro was going to re-release it in their Vintage Collection repaint wave we were excited.  Then it landed and continued to have the same problem as the 2010 Revenge of the Sith Clone Troopers with the discolored helmet.  Most of the figures we saw on the shelf had a green tint to the helmet that definitely didn’t look good.  It’s hard to lay out over $9 for a figure that looks like that, especially if they’d stuck with the ROTS-41 Super Articulated Clone sculpt that was used for the original release of this character.  That figure didn’t have a removable helmet, like this one does, and doesn’t suffer from the same discoloration problems.

Case Selection

As we mentioned at the top of the article, we really don’t believe that the distribution was as big a problem this year as it has been at other times, but we won’t argue with those who blame Hasbro for poor case selection.  For the second time in as many years, Hasbro had to issue a recall this year for the Revenge of the Sith Clone Troopers, Sandtroopers and a couple of 2010 Empire wave figures, Dengar and Cloud Car Pilot.  Any time a company has to remove figures that are a year old from store inventory to free up distribution, there’s a huge problem.  Unfortunately, Hasbro, while recognizing the issue, wasn’t able to move very quickly to rectify the case ratios and we still were seeing Sandtroopers shipping in late 2011.  At over $9 per figure in the Vintage Collection, and with the economy still on shaky ground, army builders couldn’t save Hasbro this time around and probably won’t again in the future.  Hasbro needs to recognize that and adjust their releases accordingly.

Worst Figure 12”

Lack of Humans

More specifically, non-armored humans.  While Sideshow did release several Clone Troopers with human portraits, there was a distinct lack of unmasked humans in their line this year.  In 2011 there were 19 total releases from Sideshow, 15 were figures and 4 were environment pieces.  Of the 15 figures, 9 of them were Troopers of one flavor or another and the other 6 (including Holiday Yoda) were aliens.  There were no figures for Luke, Han, Anakin or Obi-Wan, no new Imperial Officers or Jedi, no Rebel Troopers and, especially, no new female figures.  We may be seeing a shift for Sideshow to more helmeted characters and aliens while Hot Toys picks up the humans, starting with Bespin Luke Skywalker, but that hasn’t been officially announced yet which leaves us with the unfortunate task of calling Sideshow out on this for 2011.

Worst Vehicle or Playset

Luke Skywalker's Tauntaun & Landspeeder

We were happy to hear that Hasbro was releasing an exclusive wave of vehicles to Target that included both Luke's Tauntaun and Landspeeder.  However, at $24.99, they were easily overpriced by at least $8, especially the Tauntaun, when compared to the Search for Luke Skywalker Battle Pack, also an exclusive, which sold for the same price and included two action figures.  Hasbro has previously expressed their desire to release both of these but, in the Landspeeder's case specifically, they hesitated at placing it in the Starfighter assortment because they didn't feel it rose to the size or value levels required.  Unfortunately that's where Target chose to price them.  We recognize that Target is ultimately responsible for final retail price, but we feel that Hasbro had a responsibility to find a better home and retail price for these items.

Worst Other Toys

Role Play Helmets

In the past, Hasbro has released several electronic role play helmets including Darth Vader, Boba Fett and Captain Rex.  They were all well designed, built and had fun sound features.  In 2011, Hasbro released three new helmets for around $20 each, including a Clone Trooper, Darth Vader and General Grievous, but they were a big step backwards.  We actually think "helmet" is misleading since they are more mask than anything else.  We felt that Hasbro's update to their entry level lightsabers and the introduction of the Ultimate FX Lightsaber line were well done so it makes this retreat in features and design a glaring misstep for Hasbro.

Worst Lego

Variety

Lego did a good job of creating fun and interesting sets this year, they covered five of the six Saga films and the Clone Wars, but they also released six ships that were upgrades to previously released sets.  Lego is one of our favorite brands and we do recognize that the vehicles have a lot of play value built into them, but we'd like to see more environment settings that don't cost $100.  Things like the Carbon Freezing Chamber from The Empire Strikes Back, a Jedi Temple, the arena from Attack of the Clones or a Cantina that's more than Han Solo and Greedo in a booth.  The Saga films have a finite pool of vehicles to draw from and the Clone Wars isn't necessarily introducing worthy vehicles every week, but there are still plenty of environments that could be a lot of fun if the creative talent Lego has at its disposal were to be turned loose.

Worst Busts and Statues

Darth Vader: The Force Unleashed (Gentle Giant)

We'll admit that the work Gentle Giant put into this bust was some of their best, the sculpt and paint were well executed and they achieved some incredible detail in the robotic pieces of Vader's damaged armor.  Maybe they did too good of a job.  Depicting Vader after getting his ass handed to him in The Force Unleashed game, the bust shows wounds suffered in the game along with those inflicted during his final showdown with Obi-Wan Kenobi in Revenge of the Sith.  The bust may not be for everyone.  The other issues we had with it include the odd wires on the front and, especially, the edition size which was 3,000 pieces, only the fourth bust to have that large of an edition over the last two years.  This is also the seventh Darth Vader bust Gentle Giant has done, counting the MBNA Chrome and McQuarrie Concept, but we still don't have a version of him from A New Hope.

Worst Non-Toy Collectible

Star Wars: The Blueprints

We're picking this based on price alone.  Although we haven't seen the book in person we did see preview pages at New York Comic Con and don't deny that this is an impressive book.  However, the book is limited to 5,000 copies with the first 125 signed copies priced at $1,000 and the rest at $500.  That puts this book out of the reach of most fans and collectors and seems to be part of the trend that includes the Sculpting a Galaxy deluxe edition, Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars deluxe edition and the biggest culprit, Star Wars: Frames.  We've happily paid in the $100 range for excellent reference books in the past and while we don't deny there's a market for this type of release, we'd prefer to see something more accessible.

Worst Exclusive

Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) Mail-away

As action figures go this wasn't a terrible release, but what we didn't like about it was the fact that it was the second Boba Fett mail-away offer in two years, and it didn't hold up.  Last year's rocket firing Boba Fett was innovative but this figure, which took its cue from early production shots of an all-white suited Fett, is kind of boring.  Taking it down another notch was the fact that Hasbro repainted an existing figure which lacked several key details that make the actual suit unique.  The final nail was the somewhat mishandled online release of the form used to order the figure.  That last was partially the fault of an overeager fan base that harassed Hasbro support rather than reading the form, but Hasbro didn't handle the situation very well and helped add to the disappointment of the whole offer.  While we have always liked the mail-away offers for no other reason than it's a thank you to the collectors, we're glad Hasbro is taking a break in 2012 to offer a contest promotion instead.

Worst Events

Closing of StarWarsShop.com

Near the end, StarWarsShop.com didn’t offer a lot of goods that we were interested in, but over the years they were in operation they were an outlet for multiple items that we otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.  That included posters and art from the Lucasfilm Archives, foreign exclusive toys and collectibles, Celebration exclusives and official movie posters.  We still miss the site and every once in a while still find ourselves ready to type their address into our web browser just to see if they were offering any new collectible from around the world.  During their 7 years in operation we came to rely on them for some fun items and they will be missed, we think, for years to come.