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3-30-2007Around the Toy AisleThe TAC figures are really starting to hit now. Target has two pegs dedicated to them and last night I found them at Wal-Mart mixed in with the last couple waves of TSC figures. Target's Order 66 2-packs are hitting stores as are Wal-Mart's Treachery on Saleucmi Battle Packs. Speaking of Battle Packs, the Capture of Tantive IV and Jedi Training on Dagobah sets hit at Target this week along with the new role play blasters. Last weekend also saw the big release of both Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean figures which have huge aisle sets at Target and Wal-Mart. Ben-10 has been adding a lot of new figures recently and Target can't keep them in stock. The line seems to be selling well and I'm still debating collecting it. They look like fun. The first wave of Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro have been restocked at both WM and Target. While the first stocking sold through quickly I think the lack of a hugely popular character is hurting them. Plus the build-a-figure is kind of weak in my opinion. It's certainly not a Sentinel. One thing is for sure, Hasbro wasted no time in spreading the Marvel license around to all of its lines. Titanium, Attacktix, Super Hero Squad (think Galactic Heroes), Signature Series...there's no end in sight. The Sigma 6 GI Joe figures are still hanging around in a few stores but I don't expect to see much new product locally for a while. Wal-Mart had a huge end-cap of McFarlane Sports Pick figures from the Cooperstown Collection (series 4). There were plenty of DiMaggio and Roger Maris figures for you Yankee fans. Justice League Unlimited figures appear to still be shipping to Target, at least, with a few interesting characters like Huntress and Dr. Light. Always thought that was a cool line. The rest of the aisles, although full locally, don't seem to hold much interest for me right now. Too much super hero stuff for my taste, though, and after getting a glimpse of what Hasbro is doing for Spider-Man I can see how non-Star Wars collectors felt in 2005 when my favorite toys choked most everything else out. Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't still and overabundance of Ghost Rider movie figures around. They account for a lot. I'm sure it'll get crowded again when the Fantastic Four figures hit later this year. SideshowThe CIV RAH Sandtrooper went up for sale yesterday for attendees of the convention. The edition size is 1,000 pieces and clocks in at $139.99. Non-attendees get their shot at this figure starting today at 1:00PM EST. I might go fast so get in early if you're interested. Sideshow also posted a preview picture of the Space Slug Enviorama that will go up for sale next week. USPSMaybe you can't have one of the Post Office's R2-D2 mailboxes in your collection but you can have a scale cardboard facsimile. StarWars.com updated yesterday with the R2-D2 Mailbox Papercraft. Celebration IVMore autograph guests have been announced as have more collectible panels. Check out the blog for more info. 3-29-2007SideshowDon't forget that if you are attending Celebration IV you can pre-order your RAH Sandtrooper today at 1:00PM EST. Sales for non-attendees will be up on Friday at the same time. And don't forget that over the next couple of weeks we'll also see pre-sales go up for the diorama and 1:6 scale Luke Skywalker with attendee sales on Thursdays and non-attendee sales on Friday. USPS
Yesterday the USPS announced 15 new Star Wars themed stamps as well as launching their uspsjedimaster.com web site. You can vote on that site for your favorite stamp with the winner being issued as a single stamp later in the summer. The new uspsjedimaster.com web site is also running some games with the grand prize being a trip to Celebration IV in May. These 15 stamps will debut at a first-day-of-issue ceremony at Celebration IV on May 25th. You can read the full announcement and see more photos of the stamps on StarWars.com. 3-24-2007TargetTarget was in the middle of an aisle reset yesterday morning as they got ready for today's launch of the Spider-Man 3 action figures. And what's good for Spider-Man is good for Star Wars. They set two new pegs for the TAC figures and they had some out. It was an odd selection so I think they pulled from multiple cases. There were probably 4 each of R2 and Obi-Wan, a Mace, Super Battle Droid, Airborne Trooper and McQuarrie Stormtrooper. Not a Marine or Lava Miner in sight. They also had out the Darth Vader with coin album which has really incredible art on it. I picked up the Stormtrooper and Vader with album on the way home from work but in the morning I snagged an Ambush on Felucia Battle Pack which was on clearance for $13.98. The Ambush on Ilum pack is also on sale for $13.98 but I still couldn't bring myself to pick one up. If it goes to $9 and change, and they have one left, I'll probably bite. I'd almost spring for a second Felucia set but I'll see if any are left later on. Still no new Titaniums and they haven't stocked any new vehicles yet. They did, however, have some of the newest Galactic Heroes figures. Wal-MartI think I forgot to mention the other day that Wal-Mart had the new TAC Unleashed Battle Packs in stock. There were at least one each of the Streets of Mos Eisley, Commanders and Stormtrooper Boarding Party. I don't think there were any Rebel Blockade Troopers though. 
HasbroHasbro is showing off photos of wave 3 of the TAC figures on their web site. And, yes, Biggs has his soft goods cape! The Jawa with LIN Droid looks great as does the McQuarrie Chewbacca figure. I really can't wait for those three in particular. The Tatooine Luke also looks pretty good, the Stormtrooper is a slam dunk due to his troop builder status while Darth Vader (another?) is an also-ran. Still, overall, I'm hyped about the year's figures. RebelScum.com is reporting that two new TRU exclusive vehicles have shown up in the computers of the retailer's French stores. One is listed as an "Interceptor" while the other is a "Hyperspace Starfighter." Speculation is that the Interceptor could be either Baron Fel's TIE Interceptor or the Royal Guard TIE Interceptor similar to the Titanium version that was just released. The Hyperspace Starfighter could be either an AOTC or ROTS Jedi Starfighter with the much asked for hyperdrive ring. Lego has a ROTS JSF with hyperdrive ring slated for this year while Hasbro has already released an AOTC Titanium fighter with the ring and they have a Transformer (Saesee Tiin as an AOTC JSF) coming later this year. Exciting times! Gentle Giant)
We finally got our first look at the new Classics busts from GG. The first three will be Kit Fisto, TIE Pilot and Boba Fett. Each bust will run between $25 and $30 depending on where you pick them up. Currently, if you order them from ShopStarWars.com, you will get an exclusive collector card with each that has info about the character with a photo of the character on the front and a photo of the bust on the back. Reports from Toy Fair of a Royal Guard mini bust were true as he's now up for pre-order on your favorite e-tailer web site. Also coming is a Senate Guard mini bust which is basically the same body sculpt but with a different helmet, a gun and, of course, he's blue. I think the final product announcement that came out yesterday is that there is a new Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader statue on the way. This version will depict him kneeling for the emperor. Also of note, Gentle Giant is now taking pre-orders for their own items. Acme ArchivesPer the AA rep, Chris, the R2-D2 and C-3PO Character Keys should be arriving at ShopStarWars.com next week and will be processed and shipped out soon after that. Chris also announced that the Celebration IV exclusive key will be Grand Moff Tarkin from the Original Trilogy. Wizards of the CoastAlthough there isn't a Star Wars comic slated for this year's Free Comic Book Day, WOTC is stepping up by making Clone Trooper miniatures available. Each retailer participating in Free Comic Book Day should receive a bag of 25 of the miniatures. SideshowDid you get your order in for the exclusive version of the new 1:6 Princess Leia figure yesterday? If not, she sold out in about a half hour. Get on the waiting list or check out the various e-tailers for the non-exclusive version. The exclusive will have an edition size of 1977 and comes with wrist binders as the exclusive item. 3-20-2007HasbroThe new V-Wing and Sith Infiltrator have hit Target in California. Look for these to start making their way east. Maybe we'll see them when Target resets their aisles this coming weekend. Toys-R-UsIf you're shopping at TRU this week and buy $20 or more of Star Wars toys you can get a free $5 gift card. The promo is also available on the toysrus.com web site as well. Master ReplicasMaster Replicas kicks off their Celebration IV news with a contest, a party and an exclusive. Their exclusive for CIV will be a new scaled replica of Wedge Antilles' X-Wing pilot helmet. Limited to 1,500 pieces this looks to be based on the old Riddell mini helmets that MR obtained the rights to. MR will also be holding a Force FX Combat Trials competition where attendees of the convention will get to show off their lightsaber skills for a chance to win prizes. Collector Society members will also be treated to a party as they were at CIII. Details and guest announcements for that will be coming as we get closer to the show. Wizards of the CoastThis year will see the release of the next expansion in the miniatures game called "Alliance and Empire." Most of the characters will be from the original trilogy. The figures in this expansion will have square bases instead of the round that we've had up to this point. We'll also be seeing a new starter pack that will include 6 figures and an updated rulebook. A Force Unleashed expansion is planned but, as with the video game, it's been pushed back to 2008. On the bright side, you could win a free trip to Celebration IV by entering WOTC's new contest to create a great battle using your minis. 3-17-2007Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Gentle GiantToday is the first day to enter the raffle for the black and white version of the Lego Darth Vader maquette. If you're a Premiere Guild member, might as well sign up. Following in the footsteps of the Vader, Fett and Leia before it, the C-3PO bust is now getting a black and white deco for blister.jp. Like before, it will have a 500 piece edition size with 250 pieces held back for a US release. GG also announced some Star Wars edition sizes.
HasbroThe 26th edition of the Hasbro Q&A has been posted on the various sites and here are some hilights. The Force Unleashed wave of TAC figures will be pushed back now that the game has been delayed. Wave 8, which was actually going to ship after the FU wave so that the FU wave could coincide with the game release, will now come before so there will be no interruption at retail of TAC figures. Celebration IV will see the debut of figure stands. Based on the TSC style, they'll come in 40-packs for $9.99. I can not wait for those! I'll pick up a couple packs to go with the TAC line at least. Hermi Odle is now 100% confirmed as, when asked about seeing a photo of him, Hasbro responded that he will debut either at CIV or Comic-Con. I'm hoping for a CIV debut! TitaniumJediDefender.com broke the news the other day about a price hike for the Titanium 3" vehicles at Target and TRU. I can confirm that my local Target bumped the price by $1 sometime in the last week or so. Wal-Mart had already raised their price but I forgot to check K-Mart when I was in last night. It's really a shame that this happened, especially at WM, as my local store still has early 2005 stock on the shelves. They only received one shipment, that I know of, in all of 2006 and the product is just lingering on the shelves. When my WM should have been looking to blow out the vehicles for pennies on the dollar, they instead raised them $1 making them pretty much unsellable. TAC4-inches.de breaks the photo of Biggs Darklighter with his cape in their news update from Thursday. They also have a nice shot of some of the Saga Legends cardbacks that we'll see later this year. The Yoda card looks cool! Celebration IVI posted this on the blog as well but I had to put it up front because it's THAT cool. The collecting panels at CIV will have their own collectible again this year. This time around there will be 12 pewter medallions that feature artwork depicting the original 12 Kenner figures. They will be passed out randomly over the weekend at the collecting panels and each coin is limited to 350 pieces. So, make sure you attend a lot of the panels for your shot at collecting the entire set. 3-16-2007Sideshow Sideshow finally dropped some news on us and it's big! Not only did they let us know what the Celebration IV exclusives will be but we also found out that our next Priority Pre-Order figure in the 1:6 lineup will be Princess Leia in her white gown and hair buns from A New Hope! Leia will go up for sale on March 23rd and she's not an inclusive edition so look to be near a PC as I'm sure she's going to sell fast. On the Celebration IV front, as I mentioned the other day, we have three exclusives. For the 1:6 scale figure we'll be seeing a Yavin Luke Skywalker. Pre-order for attendees are on April 12th with non-attendees getting their shot the next day. The distributed figure will be a Medicom RAH 1:6 Sandtrooper. Pre-orders are March 29th and 30th for attendees and non-attendees respectively. The final piece is a diorama of the Space Slug scene in The Empire Strikes Back. Pre-orders are on April 5th and 6th. The Yoda 1:1 bust should be shipping soon so if you have a pre-order on it, you're wait is almost over! USPSThe R2-D2 decorated mail boxes from the US Post Office should make their debut around the country today. For a list of locations and the official announcement, check out StarWars.com. Also debuting today is the web site to kick off the new promo. March 28 will be the official launch with additional content. Russian Matryoshka Dolls
If you remember the announcement from last year about the Russian nesting dolls then you'll be happy to know that they are now available for pre-order on StarWarsShop.com. They're priced at $9.99 which isn't bad as they are kind of small, but still, very cool. I'm tempted to put in an order for the Obi-Wan set. Gentle GiantPlenty of drama in the world of GG the last couple of weeks. First the news about the five exclusive Clone Trooper Commanders that will be making the convention circuit this summer and then photos of the Clone Wars Obi-Wan statue started to surface and appeared to be extremely different than the proto that's been shown for over a year. GG still hasn't addressed the statue issues. The latest? Raffles for the black and white Lego maquettes. The first was Boba Fett last week with Leia going off yesterday. Vader should be up next. Plenty of people a little miffed as they've missed out on one or both so far. Items about to ship out from GG this month include the Han Solo on Tauntaun statue and a couple Harry Potter busts. Oh, and if you ponied up your $50 for the Collector's Club you can look forward to a one year extension in your membership. It probably won't go for those joining after yesterday but, if you were a member prior to 3/15 you should get the benefit. 
Acme ArchivesAcme has launched a new collector's guide to their character keys that includes the order they were released in and the edition size. You can also check out our checklist to the character keys. A new link has been added to the display pad at the top of the page. TargetJust an update to their spring aisle reset. The Spider-Man 3 toys have a street date of Saturday, March 24th so look for a reset late on the 23rd or before opening on the 24th. Because the Star Wars toys are in the same aisle they should get reset with space for the TAC figures as well. I'm hoping for the coin album. Not sure why I'm looking forward to the repack figure, though. If they're still in stock later today I'm probably going to finish off the first wave of TAC figures at K-Mart. I only need to pick up Obi-Wan, R2 and the Super Battle Droid anyway. EasterBack on the 1st of the month I mentioned the egg decorating kits at Target. It appears that they are exclusives to that chain, but there is also an Easter Basket that's available. The basket is not an exclusive and will include things like a foam rocket and dart set, dodge ball and candy among other items. Nikko Home ElectronicsNikko is shopping a new set of Star Wars speakers that include a subwoofer and two TIE Advanced speakers. Nikko is the same company that showed off the R2-D2 DVD projector back in January at CES. 3-15-2007Unlock the VaultThis fall Steve Sansweet and Pete Vilmur will be releasing a book called "The Star Wars Vault" that seems to follow in the footsteps of Sansweet's "Star Wars Scrapbook." The Vault will have recreations of vintage tickets, stickers and even George Lucas' original script notes. Check out StarWars.com for the announcement. Look for the book this fall. LegoIf you'd like a solid gold C-3PO minifig, Lego has just the contest for you. Although all the details aren't out yet, Lego will have 5 solid gold C-3PO figures for their "These Are The Droids You're Looking For" contest. Also look for the 10,000 metallized C-3PO minifigs that will be inserted into 2007 sets. Target ClearanceI stopped in Target last night because I hadn't been there in a few days. Supposedly they'll be doing a reset around the 25th of this month to get ready for summer. Resets always mean clearance! Nothing in the Star Wars section was on clearance but if you're after Pirates of the Caribbean toys, check your stores. All of the 3.75" figures had clearance tags for $2.98 and they were the new ones with the 3D coins. Odd. Best of the lot I found, though, was in the Sigma 6 GI Joe section. I scored one of the huge Dragonhawk toys for $4.98. To go along with it I also picked up an Iron Hammer set for $2.98. I may go back for one of the COBRA H.I.S.S. tanks that was also on clearance. In the 8" line they were blowing out the Duke Paratrooper set for under $10, originally $19.99. I forget the exact price on him but he may have been under $5. I was too blown away by the $5 Dragonhawk toy. I paid $8.50 for about $50 worth of toys. Can't beat that. 3-14-2007HasbroReports are out that the new role-play blasters are hitting stores. These new ones are brightly painted and have added firing NERF projectiles. JediDefender.com is reporting that the 3" Titanium line may be looking at a $1 price hike in 2007. Some Wal-Mart stores had already bumped their vehicles that much and it looks like TRU and Target are going to follow. What really sucks is that my local WM store still has 2005 stock left over from when the line was exclusive to their store. The stuff that's left hasn't sold for 2 years at the $4.88 price and it burns my ass that they hiked them to $5.88. I'm sure that'll make all those Snowspeeders and A-Wings disappear. The local Target still hasn't stocked the Star Wars line since about October or November. All they have are two lonely Colonial One ships from the Battlestar Galactica subset. I even tried helping out by buying one a couple weeks ago when there were three there. Hopefully we'll see new stock in the store after their 3/25 aisle reset. Apparently that reset is to make room for the Spider-Man 3 figures but we should also see TAC get shelf pegs then as well. KotobukiyaIf you liked the McQuarrie Vader and Luke ARTFX statue then you may be interested in the next release, Revenge of the Sith Obi-Wan Kenobi. Master Replicas will be importing both and pre-sales on their web site go up at noon EST today. These aren't cheap, though. Look for Obi-Wan to ring the bell at $100 while Vader and Luke will set you back a cool set of twin Ben Franklins. DisneyAs if Celebration IV wasn't enough Star Wars for you this year, Disney steps up with another summer of Star Wars Weekends. StarWars.com updated Monday with a schedule of appearances which include Warwick Davis, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch and Anthony Daniels. If you're planning at being in Florida in June you should check it out! ) JapanThe Japanese market always seems to turn up some cool items. Three new items are coming from the Pacific Island including an R2-D2 laundry basket, lightsaber remote controls and a Darth Vader costume. The prices don't seem to be that bad from that web site. No word on availability of these in the US. That laundry basket is cool, though, and would go great with your R2-D2 waste basket if you managed to pick one up. 3-11-2007HasbroIf you're looking for the TAC coin album with Darth Vader, it's out. Reports are coming in that the album has been found at Toys-R-Us, at least, and is ringing up at $9.99. Also, using the DPCI code, it appears that people are scoring TAC figures at Target now as well as K-Mart. USPSBesides the stamps that are coming out in May, look for mail boxes with shrink wrap R2-D2 decorations on them. 3-9-2007SideshowNot much news on regular release 1:6 figures but their newest newsletter confirms 3 exclusives for Celebration 4. They'll have a 1:6 figure, a diorama/environment and a distributed figure. I guess the distributed figure will probably be from Medicom and could either be a VCD or maybe a Real Action Hero figure. They will also make some available to non-attendees. Also, if you've been putting off buying the Premium Format Grievous figure, Sideshow has exactly 2 left as of this writing. They've also posted turnarounds of both Asajj Ventress and the Bubo creature pack. Force UnleashedThe Force Unleashed video game is being reported as delayed till the spring of 2008 now. No word yet how that will impact the novel and other supporting items. The Hasbro wave of figures is on tap for this year as well and could potentially get screwed up due to this announcement. That would suck as the wave looks incredible. But, it's on tap to support that game and Hasbro might not be willing to gamble on it without the game coming. 3-8-2007Stamp ThisPer a RebelScum.com report we may be seeing some Star Wars themed postage stamps this year to celebrate the 30th Anniversary. Cool idea. Looks like the stamps will be on sale on May 25th while we're at Celebration IV. I wonder if they'll have some type of unveiling at the convention. HallmarkIt's never too early to start thinking about Christmas. Hallmark has sent word that they will have at least four new decorations this year only one of them has a twist. Only available on July 14 and 15 will be a limited edition Tusken Raider. July is usually when the preview decorations are out but it looks as if this year we'll need to actually go buy at least this one. The others listed are two diorama ornaments, one of the Millennium Falcon with light and sound and one of Luke, Obi-Wan and C-3PO called "A Jedi Legacy Revealed." It's when Obi-Wan first presents Luke with his lightsaber. That dio will also have, at least, lights. The final announcement is for an R2-D2 with Jawa. Overall not bad. I'll have to remember to score that Tusken. The others I may wait for. I gambled this past Christmas and scored big, picking up all the ornaments on the post-Christmas 50% off sale. 3-7-2007TACThirtieth Anniversary Collection figures are starting to hit wide this week at, of all places, K-Mart. Found the entire first wave at my local store last night for $6.99. I picked up one each of the Galactic Marine, Airborne Clone Trooper, Mustafar Lava Miner and McQuarrie Stormtrooper. The cards that they are packed on turned out really nice, I love the look of them. The art is really nice and there is plenty of info on the back. The coins are a cool extra and I'm really looking forward to collecting all of them. Of the four that I bought I think I like the Galactic Marine the best. If we hadn't already seen the Airborne Trooper he'd rank up there but the early release in the 2006 Mace Windu Battle Pack makes him "old." Plus I hate the removable helmet. The Marine, however, has a removable helmet that stays in place nicely. He's super articulated although the hard molded skirt hinders that somewhat. The detail is nice and he's a definite army builder. The Lava Miner is nice but has an odd stance. That wouldn't be so bad but his rather nice accessory is too large for his hands to it makes for an overall awkward looking figure. The detailing and paint apps are great, though. The McQuarrie Stormtrooper is the same sculpt as we got back in the Saga collection but it's really been taken up a notch with paint apps. Replacing the original black with grey and highlighting sculpt lines makes it look even more like the art on the card. There are new paint apps to both the blaster and shield with the blaster looking especially nice. As a matter of fact, there's so much painted detail that it actually makes the original look lacking...and that was a great figure at the time of release. If all the McQuarrie figures get this nice of a treatment then Hasbro can make all they want, I'll be in line to buy them. I passed on the rest of the wave for now as I'm sure they won't be hard to find. Besides, I didn't have $60 to drop on them. I'll save myself $0.30 and get them at Wal-Mart or even Target. No sign of the Darth Vader with coin album. I probably would have bought it if it had been stocked. I'm really excited by this line. As excited as I have been in the past for movie release figures. That's saying something now that we're two years removed from the last film. 
TitaniumThe Ultra Titanium line has gone exclusive to TRU for the rest of its life span. Announced, and now pictured, are a TIE Fighter, Anakin's ROTS Jedi Starfighter, Clone Wars deco Republic Gunship and an X-Wing. I think the X-Wing has either Biggs or Wedge deco but I'd have to look that up. Obviously I'm psyched about the Gunship, I just wish now I'd ordered it and the JSF on the BOGO sale back on President's Day. The price has jumped on these now that they are exclusive. All four vehicles are going to set you back $24.99 plus shipping, if you order from the web site. I'm hoping for a free shipping offer as I don't think we'll see as sweet of a deal as that BOGO sale for a while. TransformersAs I mentioned a while back when the news first dropped, and again after Toy Fair, there will be a Republic Gunship in the Transformer line this year. StarWars.com updated yesterday with a look at that ship plus Saesee Tiin as a Jedi Starfighter (complete with hyperdrive ring) and Mace Windu, also as a JSF. Rounding out their announcement are Vader as a TIE Advanced and the Emperor as a Shuttle. I believe those are both repacked items. Although, the JSF vehicles are slightly re-tooled re-paints anyway. Looks like the Gunship will be my first Transformer purchase. And, seeing as they've repacked the Gunship in the Clone Wars deco in both the 3.75", Attacktix and, now, Titanium lines I expect to see one here as well. Especially since they've already updated the ARC-170 with the shark paint. HasbroLast Friday Hasbro got back to answering some questions and they let slip a couple new pieces of info. First up, yes, Biggs will have a cape in his Academy outfit. Hasbro just forgot to pack it for Toy Fair. They wouldn't comment when asked about a potential Indiana Jones IV toy line but they did have to comment twice on the same question about role-play lightsabers. I guess someone wanted an answer so badly they submitted their question to two different sites. We also had to suffer through at least one direct playset question and one that was thinly veiled as a "display" question. They were also asked about more silver figures (?!) but said no, thank goodness. When asked about an Acklay repack Hasbro said that there is a good chance. Possibly in the Geonosis Creatures exclusive at TRU that was leaked last week? The Mara and Luke comic 2-pack will feature them from Shadows of the Empire from the point in the story where they escape from Stormtroopers. A'sharad Hett will have his Tusken Raider face coverings in his pack with Anakin. No word yet on the summer convention exclusives yet. Look for that info closer to the shows. 3-2-2007MedicomIf you like the Medicom VCD line you'll be happy for two reasons; SideShow currently has the ROTS Clone Trooper in stock and the TIE Fighter Pilot is on sale for 15% off. Secondly, ShopStarWars.com is now offering the Boba Fett VCD in Empire Strikes Back paint deco. Boba is a pre-order and will ship in June of this year. I've been temped on a couple of occasions to order the Fett VCD but now there's two to choose from? Gah! I did finally order the Yoda VCD from bigbadtoystore.com and he came in last week. Great figure! If you've been holding off on Yoda, don't wait, it's a great figure overall and you won't be disappointed. Celebration IVCheck out the CIV blog as new autograph guests were announced yesterday as was a very special live art exhibit! 3-1-2007Toy RunI was able to find the Wal-Mart wave of figures at store I don't normally visit. Picked up R4-M6, Aurra Sing and Kitik Keed'kak plus a couple wave 8 figures for a friend. I also snagged an extra R4-K5 after I busted up my first one trying to correct the middle foot defect. Which reminds me, it appears that both Vader and Mace's R4 droids suffer the same problem, the center foot is assembled backwards. I forgot to check all the figs on the pegs Monday but when I ran into another R4-K5 at my local WM store I checked and it was backwards also. Too bad the factory found a way to screw up the best astromech sculpt out there. The local Wal-Mart also had the newest Galactic Heroes figures with Hammerhead/Bith Band Member, Snowtrooper, Clone Wars Obi-Wan and Durge/Obi-Wan. The Hammerhead figure is really cool looking. Celebration IVSince I didn't get around to using the blog pages for Toy Fair I decided to change course and use it for collecting Celebration information. So, head over to the Celebration IV Blog for a countdown to 2007's biggest Star Wars event! Gentle GiantAs if GG needs more bad press, two things have popped up this week to further bruise their reputation. First up the raffle is starting for the 250 piece allotment of black and white Boba Fett maquettes that were held back from the Blister event. Apparently the 1 per household raffle system isn't what most want, they wanted to be able to just buy it outright. We'll see how it shakes out in the end. The second, and possibly worse news is that the Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi statue appears to have been adjusted over the initial preview piece and it's bad. Really bad. The prototype piece that's been showing for over a year is a dead ringer for Ewan McGreggor while the sculpt that's showing up in forums looks more like a bearded Cameron Frye. There are already a lot of forum rats taking a $20 re-stocking fee hit and canceling pre-orders. Although GG has put a couple posts on their blog they've all been in the "we're investigating" vein. More news when it's available. HasbroLook for both Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi's ROTS Jedi Starfighters to make a new appearance in 2007 in TAC packaging. New Unleashed Battle Packs are hitting store shelves and include the new ANH figures. Sets include one of Stormtroopers, Rebel Troopers, a set with Vader, Leia and two other figures plus a Tatooine set with Luke, C-3PO and R2. It's been out for a couple weeks but the 7" Unleashed Shadow Trooper is out also. It's a re-paint of the Stormtrooper from a couple years back. Egg DecoratingIf you want to decorate some eggs for Easter using your favorite Saga then fear not, Target (at least) has you covered. I found a box similar to last year's at my local store yesterday. The front of the box pictures a body and face to make C-3PO and a cool Vader with a foam helmet. Snap it up for $2.99 or wait for clearance. I think I got two boxes last year for about 90% off. |
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