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1-29-2010Gentle GiantThe current Previews magazine has an advertisement for new Gentle Giant items, including the Revan bust and Leia maquette we showed the other day. What's interesting is shown in silhouette only, a Luke Skywalker "farmboy" bust with his lightsaber held in the air. This bust has been rumored since a photo was posted to Twitter back on November 12th. Behind a sample of the gold plated Darth Vader helmet was what appeared to be an early sculpt of Luke in his classic Tatooine outfit, holding a lightsaber. It seems that this bust is now a go, and we have further confirmation from GG employee VinylSquirrel, who posted on the RebelScum.com forums that this bust is coming. Apparently, the pose, lightsaber held up in Luke's right hand, is to represent the first time he see's it lit in the film while also paying homage to the Hildebrandt movie poster where Luke holds his saber up while Leia sits below him. If you're not a fan of the pose, there will be a second offering of Luke. Unfortunately, per VinylSquirrel, that variant Luke will be offered only to PG members. HasbroMore information has come out of the UK toy fair this week, including a sneak peek at four new Empire Strikes Back figures that we'll be seeing this fall. Thanks to Jedi News (who seems to have overloaded their server as of this writing) and Hasbro, we have photos of Bespin Luke Skywalker, Hoth Leia, Dengar and a new AT-AT Commander who, we believe, is Veers.
Reports are also in that there is another new role play item and it's Boba Fett's blaster which should go along well with the new helmet that was just announced. Thursday was the final day for the UK event and baring a few more leaks, or press releases from Hasbro, our next look at these items and more will be at the NY Toy Fair in two weeks. Wizards of the CoastWe haven't covered WotC lately, but they've been putting out miniature sets for the last few years on a pretty regular basis. However, with an announcement yesterday, that will be coming to an end in May when their license with Lucasfilm will end. Product will be available through August and there are two new releases that will still come out. For the miniatures game, Masters of the Force will release in April along with the final RPG, The Unknown Regions. They've had a pretty good run of sets, unfortunately I haven't played a game in a while and haven't picked up any boosters in probably two years. Hopefully the on-line community will keep the game alive as there are plenty of pieces available for gamers to use for years to come. 1-27-2010UK Toy FairThe 2010 UK Toy Fair kicked off yesterday and runs through Thursday. While most of the information that we're looking forward to won't be released until the New York Toy Fair in February, there were still some exciting announcements yesterday from Hasbro and Uncle Milton. Jedi News has exclusive coverage of the events, including photos, but here are some of the items being shown off, some confirming rumors and some being the first look at already announced items. From Hasbro we now have finished pictures of both the Cloud Car and Snow Speeder along with their boxes, which will sport the new blue Clone Wars deco. Also shown are two new role play items, Boba Fett's helmet and General Grievous' lightsaber. Uncle Milton was showing off the following new science toys;
The Death Star Planetarium is the one that I find most interesting. It has both the Star Wars galaxy and Earth's night sky as options that you can project onto the ceiling of a room. 1-26-2010
Nahdar VebbThe next mail-away offer from Hasbro is for the Clone Wars character, Nahdar Vebb. The offer runs from now until June 30, 2010. You have to send in 5 UPC codes from the Clone Wars, Legacy, Legends or upcoming Vintage line of action figures along with $6.99 and the official form. Forms will be included in upcoming action figures but you can also print it from Hasbro's website. Check out the full details on HasbroToyShop.com where you can also pick up action figures to use in this redemption. Don't forget that the Qui-Gon and Eopie mail-away program is still currently running and you have until March 31, 2010 to postmark your order. HasbroHasbro is running a new mail-away promotion where you can receive three Saga Legends free with the purchase of one of their role play toys.
The qualifying role play items include the electronic lightsabers, blasters and Captain Rex' helmet. Orders have to be post marked by April 3, 2010 but you have to purchase the toys before March 20, 2010. The Saga Legends figures you receive will be random, and while supplies last. Make sure to head to Hasbro's website for all the details and the order sheet you need to print. 1-23-2010SideshowSideshow posted an excellent "Ask Sideshow" feature last night that was all Star Wars. Included were announcements of future items such as General Grievous, R2-D2 and C-3PO in the 1:6 scale and Stormtroopers in Premium Format. Make sure to check out the full "Ask Sideshow" feature on their website. HasbroThanks to some eBay auctions, we now know what will be in the 2010 Toys-R-Us exclusive Force Unleashed multi-packs.
The two Shadow Stormtroopers have some clear components to them that show them "phasing," which is kind of a neat feature. There are four new figures, Proxy, Juno, Militia Elite and the Raxus Prime Galen. Since this was originally conceived as a regular Legacy Collection wave, that sounds about right. The Force Unleashed multi-packs are scheduled for this Spring. 1-22-2010Gentle GiantWith the exception of the Republic Commando busts hitting doorsteps this week, it's been rather quiet on the Gentle Giant front. That changed yesterday with the pre-order and new photos of the upcoming Darth Revan mini bust and Slave Leia maquette.
Per Gentle Giant's forum rep, VinylSquirrel, Revan will come with interchangeable lightsabers in red, purple and orange. Both are due later this year and are up for pre-order on sites such as Razor's Edge and Big Bad Toy Store. 1-19-2010HasbroHasbro updated their Q&A round-up archive with a photo of an upcoming Galen Marek figure that should be out in one of the two Toys-R-Us five packs of The Fore Unleashed figures.
This version of Marek will anchor one of the two packs while a second Marek will anchor the other. They join a new Juno Eclipse, Proxy and an updated Jump Trooper which will come with his jump pack. These should be coming to Toys-R-Us stores sometime in the spring. 1-15-2010SideshowDioramaThe Princess Leia vs Jabba the Hutt diorama went on sale last night with the release of the weekly newsletter. There are two versions with the exclusive coming with Salacious B. Crumb as the extra accessory.
Both versions are due in the third quarter of this year and while the exclusive runs $229.99, the regular edition is $224.99. Both editions have FlexPay available when ordering directly from Sideshow. The edition sizes have not been set. Bronze)
Bronze Jango Fett Sideshow also announced the next release in their bronze statue line, Jango Fett from his Attack of the Clones appearance. Sideshow posted an inside look video to their website. As part of the video it's also mentioned that the piece after Jango will be Darth Maul. A work in progress look at Jango is included in the video but no ordering date has been announced yet. Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner's GuideStarWars.com updated yesterday with the first look at a new book coming in September titled "Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner's Guide.
The book, from Scholastic, Inc., is written by Ryder Windham and includes cutouts of the Millennium Falcon that stack to create a 3-D model of Han Solo's famous ship. No price has been released yet and a quick check of Amazon didn't show any pre-orders. Looks like a cool book so make sure to check the article on StarWars.com and check your favorite book seller later in the year. 1-14-2010Hasbro2010 Packaging Art)
2010 Packaging StarWars.com unveiled new art for the new 2010 line of Clone Wars product yesterday and it features Captain Rex and a predominantly blue color scheme. The art should appear beginning in August and will be used on the Clone Wars basic figures and probably most of the other lines including vehicles and Battle Packs. It's still believed that the line of basic Saga figures, which will replace the Legacy Collection, will have a vintage style cardback. That has not yet been announced. 2010 Rumored ProductsOver the last week several images have been posted to ToyArk.com and other websites which appear to be slides from a Hasbro presentation. Included in the slides have been information on a new AT-AT, mail-away Boba Fett promotion, FX sabers and now, the Galactic Battle Game. While the authenticity of the slides has been in question since they first started to appear, one of the early slides depicted card art that is identical to that shown above, only with Commander Cody in place of Kit Fisto. Now with the post to StarWars.com confirming the cardbacks for 2010, it seems that the info in the leaked slides has gained some traction. What's been in those slides? Here's a quick rundown:
The Galactic Battle Game appears to come with Clone Wars figures and the stand has holes that allow you to position it over the power level cards. The die shown looks similar to a chance cube. This looks like it could be a fun game and a way to add a level of play to an action figure without designing the toy as a game piece. The AT-AT is the biggest piece of news and could go with the Target computer information for a new "Super DLX Vehicle" in the $100 price range. The UK Toy Fair is about a week or so away and we're less than a month from the NYC Toy Fair so look for more leaks and product announcements to come soon. Hasbro Fans' Choice PollWizardWorld.com posted an article about the Fans' Choice poll and included some cool info, the vote breakdown for all 30 of the characters!
We already posted the winner and top five yesterday but it's interesting to see the top 10 as well as the margins which, in this poll, were extremely close for the top two before tailing off after the top four. Of interesting note, Jocasta Nu, Dormé and Bariss Offee were the only Saga characters in the top 10 and no Original Trilogy characters made the top 10 at all. Tzizvvt showed relatively high at #12 while Dr. Evazan only got 1% of the vote for a weak showing at #28. It seems like Evazan should have shown higher but voters may have taken it for granted that he'd be re-sculpted again anyway. Of the top 10, we'd be happy to spend our cash on Bastila, Jaxxon, Dash Rendar, Guri, and a definitive Bariss Offee. While we don't have the distaste for Jocasta Nu that some of the forums seem to have, she's not high on our list of must have characters. 1-12-2010Hasbro Fans' Choice Poll
Bastila Shan ToyFare magazine has hit some mailboxes and we now have the winner announcement: Bastila Shan! The top five are:
Since the Knights of the Old Republic has been a big fan favorite, it's possible that Bastila was on a short list at Hasbro anyway. Jocasta Nu, from Q&A statements Hasbro has made, wasn't. Hopefully a strong showing for all five characters will put them on Hasbro's radar and we'll see them in plastic eventually. We're still hoping for that Jaxxon figure! LegoThere are a few new bits of information on 2010 sets that should be coming our way. First up are two mini sets:
These may be scheduled for Target in the US during their Easter holiday set, much like the V-19 and Grievous' Starfighter were released last year. That's not confirmed yet and the numbers are also similar to the 2009 UK Daily Mirror promo so we'll have more info as it's available. For main System sets, we may be looking forward to a new Midi-Scale ship and a new AT-AT, possibly from Endor?
The reason we're guessing that the AT-AT may be from Endor is because of the next set information. A promo poster for 2010 sets and minifigs included four figures from a set numbered 10201. The minifigs are:
The number fits in with the large sets like the Republic Dropship or Death Star and speculation is that it's an Imperial Shuttle from ROTJ when Vader returns Luke to the Death Star to confront Palpatine. Since Luke was delivered to the Shuttle via AT-AT, it sort of fits. Again, more info as it's released, which may be any time now as Toy Fair is just about a month away. HasbroToyFare magazine should be hitting comic stores tomorrow, but may hit mailboxes as early as today, and the announcement we've been waiting for will be in it; the next Fans' Choice figure announcement will be released. If we get wind of it before tomorrow we'll be sure to post it up. 1-8-2010SideshowDuring Sideshow's "12 Days of Sideshow" they debuted several new Star Wars items and last night the first of them was officially announced and a pre-order date given.
Princess Leia vs Jabba the Hutt; "You're Going to Regret This!" polystone diorama will go up for pre-order on January 14th with the newsletter. No edition size, price or release date have been set for this yet. Sideshow also announced the edition sizes for two upcoming releases. The exclusive edition of the Premium Format Luke Skywalker - Jedi Knight will be 700 pieces. The second, 1:6 scale Emperor Palpatine, will have 1000 pieces. The regular editions of both are still to be determined. 1-4-2010HasbroBanthaSkull.com is reporting on some new DPCI information from the Target computers and there are a couple of interesting points. The Saga Legends and Clone Wars lines are listed and we don't expect much to change with them, while the Legacy Collection seems to be replaced by "3.75 Vintage." That seems to confirm rumors that the Legacy Collection replacement will sport retro cardbacks and have a much different look than the other basic figure lines. All three are showing a retail price of $7.99. The other interesting listing is for "Super DLX Vehicle" with a price of $99.99. Speculation is that this will be the 2010 release in the scale of the Turbo Tank and AT-TE, with many rumors (or is it just wishful thinking) pointing to a new AT-AT. New role play items include a "Mandalorian Helmet" and "Grievous Lightsaber," both for $34.99. Two other new listings are for a "Hailfire RC vechile" for $59.99 and "Megabattler 10in Fig" for $19.99. Sandtroopers.com posted a photo of a prototype Captain Rex with limited articulation and what appears to be speaker holes in his chest. This will probably be the "Megabattler" line. Hasbro released a similar product for their G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra line called Tough Troopers. The Tough Troopers line had more exaggerated proportions than the Captain Rex, but still similar. Other lines carrying forward include Transformers, Battle Packs, Starfighter line, Galactic Heroes, Deluxe figures/vehicles and both the basic and electronic lightsaber role play toys. 1-3-2010SideshowThe 11th day of Sideshow's "12 Days of Sideshow" video reveal gives us a look at a new diorama, Princess Leia vs Jabba the Hutt.
The diorama depicts Leia as she chokes out Jabba on his Sail Barge on Tatooine. Look for this to be up for pre-order later this year. 1-1-2010Around the Toy Aisle: Holiday EditionWith Christmas a week ago and stores holding year end sales all this week, there has been a lot of shopping for last minute gifts and deals. What's been around the toys aisles for the last week, or not? Read on to hear about what I've seen for the Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Avatar and Lego lines in our final Around the Toy Aisle report for 2009. |
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