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6-26-2006New domain nameThis past weekend I registered a new domain name for my site; ImperialHolocron.com. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be designing new graphics and a new layout for the site so stop back! HasbroNew 2007 items have been announced and there are a lot of cool things on tap next year. New vehicle sculpts are coming for the V-Wing and Sith Infiltrator. I'm shocked at this, by the way! Also plenty of figures including a bunch that made the ToyFare fan poll. Some notables; Galactic Marine and Quinlan Vos. The various forums are buzzing about it but I'll wait till the Hasbro presentation at Comic-Con which should shed more light on these. Coin pack-ins are on tap for next year as well. Sounds interesting. Although I think it's cool to have unique coins with each figure I really would hate having to buy repacked figures to get the coin. Randomly packed coins is one solution but knowing how the carded completists hate randomness I don't know if Hasbro would do that. Anyway, more info at Comic-Con so I can wait. One thing announced for this year is the Target exclusive Snowspeeder. Looks like an upgraded sculpt if not completely new. The pack-in figure looks awesome though and I'm half temped to buy it just for the pilot. We'll see when it hits stores. Gentle GiantThe Blackhole Stormtrooper bust should be hitting my doorstep either today or tomorrow. Now I can't wait to find out about that Mara Jade bust that's coming to GenCon later this summer. Acme ArchivesThe ARC Trooper Character Key showed up last week and looks great. I got #601 and #602. I'm banking one for a possible trade towards the Sidious key that will be a SDCC exclusive. There will be 50 up for order to the general public on July 17th but if I miss out it's the secondary market for this one. There will also be an Anakin key coming from Acme. It'll debut at Comic-Con but is not an exclusive to that venue. Toy RunHit up the shopping attractions in Elmira last Friday night. My main goal was the Hunt for Grievous Battle Pack at TRU but I didn't find it. Picked up a VTSC Tusken Raider and TSC Obi-Wan (for the cloak) instead. They also had the new Ultra Titanium AT-AT on the shelves but pretty much everything else was standard peg warmers. Wal-Mart and KB were a waste for the newest stuff but I did pick up two more Utapau Clone Troopers. The new Target store isn't opened down there yet but since there's really nothing that new right now it didn't matter. Target here in Ithaca didn't have much to speak of, they still haven't gotten the newest Tatooine wave of figures. I did, however, pick up 2 more Utapau clones bringing my army up to 16. I love that deco on the Clone Troopers. I probably should have pre-ordered one of the GG busts in that deco but waited too long. I did preorder a white ROTS Clone however. 6-22-2006HasbroFound one each of Hem Dazon and Garindan at Wal-Mart today and picked them up. The Garindan figure is really nice with soft goods cape and a holster that will hold both his blast and commlink. Hem Dazon is also a good looking figure but I don't like his legs. The plastic is too soft and the pose means that standing up for any length of time will probably cause sag, especially if it warms up a little. Pretty good articulation on the arms, though, and I like the figure quite a bit. Also the Cantina figures (Momaw Nadon and Hem Dazon) now officially have three variations; blue w/ white painted cup, clear cup and clear blue. Yay. And with that, I'm caught up again on TSC figures. Now the next goal is to find the Hunt for Grievous Battle Pack. I think I'll make a toy run on Friday night, see if I can't score a couple of them. New news hitting today is that an exclusive TIE Fighter is on the list for this year. Looks to be grey instead of last year's blue version. It'll still have the larger wings. The first wave of Hoth Unleashed Battle Packs has been found. Unfortunately the AT-AT Driver pack isn't out yet. The newest Star Wars Transformer to be found is the Millennium Falcon w/ Chewbacca and Han Solo. Hasbro.com also updated with info on the San Diego Comic-Con exclusives. Check it out. As I think I mentioned before they'll have a 501st Stormtrooper but they'll also have a Titanium gold TIE Fighter and new on the list, a 2006 Saga collection poster. Honestly, the poster is more exciting to me than the other items! The first two weeks of Q&A with Hasbro has gone pretty much how I expected; lame questions, standard corporate-speak answers. Not really anything new except that we'll have to wait till 2007 for more VOTC/VTSC type figures. Also any more Clone Wars-based figures that come out will be done in realistic style (shit). SideshowThe Inclusive Edition of Darth Maul is now sold out and the standard edition is up for sale. I haven't checked yet to see if they finalized the Inclusive Edition size yet. Gentle GiantThe fallout from the Blackhole Stormtrooper bust is still ongoing. Got my ship notice today though. Hooray, GG! Also put in a pre-order on the deluxe Clone bust that's coming later this year. Plain white to go with the AOTC bust. Now I just have to lay my hands on a regular Stormtrooper to show the evolution of helmets and such. 6-15-2006SideshowToday is pre-order day for the new Darth Maul 12" figure. I'm in! I can't decide if I want the accessory pack though. Have to think on that one. Acme ArchivesThe new ARC Trooper Key is shipping from RazorsEdgeCollectibles.com. Just sent in the final payment and it should be here in a couple of day. WOTCChampions of the Force expansion set is out for the Mini game and there are some good looking figures in the lost. They've also released box art for the next expansion, Bounty Hunters. That'll be an interesting set. I'm still waiting on the rumored (or is it confirmed now?) space battles set which should have fighters and capital ships. Non Star Wars Put my order in for the 2006 con exclusive Adventure Team set from the GI Joe club. This set is absolutely incredible. Check out pictures here. I ordered the extra figure and dog set as well. I couldn't pass it up. And with the membership figure shipping pretty soon it's going to be a good summer for 12" Joe figures. Now if I can score one of those Geyperman Fight for Survival outfits I'll be able to kit out a US, Canadian and British expedition set. Also received the Hot Toys Predator and Alien figures that I ordered from eBay. Put together the clear and Scar Predator figures and the Battle Alien. Very well detailed with plenty of articulation and accessories. Somewhat fragile but on display they are fine. I think I'll have to get a couple more. Can't wait to see the Celtic Predator assembled. The new set with the Marines should be out soon and I'm definitely in for a set of those. PSWCS Summer Social Wrap-upLast weekend was the PSWCS Summer Social and it was held in Harrisburg. It was a long drive down, about 3.5 hours, but well worth it. Plenty of food, friends and toys to go around. I managed to sell a couple items which paid for my dinner and gas home and even afforded me a couple collectibles that I bought from other members. It's always fun when the weekend pays for itself. Snagged some Kubricks and trade paperbacks in the raffle which were really great items. Can't wait for next year. Hopefully I'll be able to go and won't be tapped out by C4. 6-9-2006Today was a good day in collecting as Sideshow Toys officially announced the 12" Darth Maul figure to their Sith Collection. Pre-orders will be up on June 15th and, per their new Inclusive edition strategy, you'll have 4 days to order. I plan on getting this one but I'm thinking about canceling my Kit Fisto pre-order. Anakin should be here by the time this is posted and I'm still looking forward to Obi-Wan and Mace. I'm pretty certain I'm going to be selling Luke, however. Gentle GiantIt took less than 15 minutes but the Blackhole Stormtrooper sold out. I decided at the last minute to order one and got through in about 9 minutes total. Now the question; Keep it, trade towards Mara Jade or flip it for C4 hotel money. Ah, decisions, decisions. HasbroNew hi-res pictures of the later waves of figures for the year popped up on Thursday. A couple of them look pretty good including Rep Been, the pod racers and Gragra. The rest I'm not sold on including the cheap EP1 Obi-Wan kit-bash. I still say we need an Obi-Wan Evolutions set with EP1, 2 and either 3 or 4. Oh, and a new SA Qui-Gon!! Also new pictures of Mace Windu's Squadron Battle Pack that'll be at Target later this year. I see at least 3 of these in my future! Hoth Unleashed sets have new photos up including the awesome pack with AT-AT Driver, Vader, Veers and a Probe Droid. I'm in for at least one. Finally pictures of the new Endor AT-AT are out also. Plenty of dirt on the feet but it's not a bad looking repack. Should come with TSC AT-AT Driver and OTC/POTJ Biker Scout. Electronics are mentioned but no idea yet if they are updated from the POTF2 release. Summer SocialBoth PSWCS and DCSWCC are having their summer social celebrations today. I'll have a report on ours Monday. WOTCChampions of the Force expansion hits stores today. There are some good looking figures in this line but I don't know if I want to invest the money in them as I don't play that often. We'll see. I'll probably get sucked in! I'm really looking for the starship expansion rumored for later this year. I'd love to play a game with fleet strategy. 6-8-2006Toys-R-Us has announced that their split from Amazon.com will take place on or about June 30, 2006. Their new on-line store is slated to open on July 1, 2006. It'll be interesting to see what happens to pre-orders that have been placed on the Amazon.com version of toysrus.com and if the same items will be available on the new site. Gentle GiantThe Asian exclusive Blackhole Stormtrooper bust is going on sale on Friday. I think I may pick one up just to piss off the RS.com forum rats. That and maybe it'll eventually help me score a Mara Jade bust if I miss out on that GenCon exclusive. Sideshow AnakinI got my shipping notice and it should be here today! Can't wait to open this figure. I left the Luke boxed and I'll probably unload that soon but this figure looks amazing and is definitely a keeper. Now I can't wait to get Obi-Wan to go with him. 6-4-2006Wizard World Philly 2006Friday was a long but fun day at WW Philly. Joe K. and I got there just before 10:00am and stood in line for about a half hour before they started letting people upstairs without checking in. Really all checking in got you was your gift bag and comic anyway. So, off we went about 10:30. Large Press and Collectible CompaniesRight off the bat we hit up Gentle Giant at their booth and scored the con exclusive Vader Bust-Ups. They had the new Chewy, Grievous, Maul and ROTS Clone Trooper busts in the cabinet. They had the Boba Fett statue and new Greedo vs. Han bookends. The Rancor environment is HUGE and really looks great. No pictures were allowed but the Clone Wars-inspired Obi-Wan statue was there as well. GG also presented their Bust-Ups display that included many of the released figures as well as all of the new Animated Clone Wars versions coming later this year. In non-Star Wars items they had Simpsons Bust-Ups and busts and statues from Harry Potter. Two new maquettes they showed were Saruman from Lord of the Rings and a dragon. I'm unsure if the dragon is supposed to be Smaug from the Hobbit but I guess a couple minutes on-line might help with that. I didn't get his name but I asked a GG rep if he had heard about the cracking of the finish on the Vader and Jango Fett chrome busts as reported on various forums. He said he'd just heard about it but was wondering if it was a limited problem, possibly related to the storage and display of the busts more than a production problem. Diamond Select had a huge booth this year as well. They were showing off their Buffy and Angel figures as well as the new Stargate SG-1 figures. The SG figures look incredible but I'm not going to get dragged into that line. There were two exclusives available from the Stargate line at the show. One was the Philly Daniel Jackson and the other was left over Jack O'Neil figures from Free Comic Book Day. I should have picked up a Jackson but passed. Most of the large comic houses were there including Marvel and Aspen and SpikeTV had a huge booth with a DJ playing music. Various wrestlers were signing at their booth as were comic artists at their respective publishers. WizKids was showing off their various games and sold an exclusive Spectre HeroClix piece. Wizards of the Coast was selling some boosters and showed off the newest release that should be hitting stores next week. There are some cool figures like the Republic Commandos and Commander Cody. A new OT Yoda is also on the list as is a new Vader. Small Press and Artist AlleyArtists Alley had their usual mix of artists and performers including Tom Hodges and the 501st Legion. Joe and I stopped and talked to Lisa from the 501st for a while. Friday wasn't a big day for them as they only had two people there trooping. Saturday there are supposed to be 30+ members of the 501st there. Matt Wood will also be signing autographs on Saturday so we missed out on him. I hope he enjoys Lisa's awesome Grievous cookie! Autograph GuestsThere were several people there on Friday but the people that I wanted to see, Matt Wood and Erica Durance, were only signing on Saturday. Only two pin-up chicks this year, Stacy Walker and Dazza was back. There were a bunch of wrestlers there including Virgil (who must not have any other income besides the convention circuit), King Kong Bundy and Jeff Jarrett who's with TNA now. Traci from TNA was also there and a pretty hot chick. Oh, and don't forget Lou Ferrigno...or, yeah, go ahead. DealersThe dealer floor held some interesting things this year. There was a great mix of toys and comics, probably better than last year's comic-heavy showing. Most of the ROTS and TSC SW figures were around for inflated prices. Some tables had older items but not enough for me to recall anything specific. Animated Clone Wars figures were on quite a few pegs and seemed to be going for decent scratch. GG busts varied with some starting in the mid $30's and going up. I scored a Han Solo bust for $38 after seeing the new Chewy at GG's booth. They're like bread and butter...very hairy bread, but you get the idea. Sideshow Collectibles didn't have a booth but was well represented with several of their Premium Format statues on the floor. The most prevalent was probably Han that I noticed. One booth had the new Grievous on display. Several booths had the 12" Luke Skywalker figure going for $70+. I didn't pay particularly close attention to see if they were the exclusive version or not. I didn't see very many Master Replicas sabers that I recall but a couple booths had F/X sabers including Maul's. Prices weren't bad on some of them including Luke Skywalker, Mace and Vader for under $100 each. One booth had Maul for $170 but thinking back now, I don't know if that was for the double saber or just a single blade/handle. I saw some scaled replicas on sale for $25 and up but didn't pay attention to exactly what models that included. ShoppingOn to the shopping. I was actually looking for some Predator Snap Kit sets from Hot Toys in Japan but didn't find them. At that point I started shopping for some other things that I thought would be cool. I picked up the GG Bust-Ups Vader as I mentioned before as well as that Han bust. I also bought a Series 3 Han Solo Carbonite Kubrick figure and ended up with the chase thawed Han! Nice surprise but now I still need the Carbonite block version. Lots of booths had trade paperbacks and graphic novels for 50% off and I bought "Origin" which is Wolverine's story. I also got "Star Wars Union" and "X-Wing Rogue Squadron Battleground: Tatooine." I forgot to go back to the one booth where I found a "Tales of the Jedi" book that I didn't have. I also forgot to go back and get the #6 Spider-Man vs. Black Cat comic. It hit me this morning as I was going through my backpack. The other purchase I made were three boxes of Mononofu weapons. These are Japanese gashapon sets, blind boxed, that are about 1/6 scale. The series I bought boxes from included katanas a bow and several other swords. The three that I got were all unique and very cool. Not exactly sure of the name of each or the origin as I can't read Japanese. I'll have to see if I can find a translated site somewhere. I'd love to get a few more of these, especially if someone is selling them opened so I could choose. EBay didn't yield many options nor did my search for on-line e-tailers. Many were sold out or too expensive. I probably should have bought a few more at the con but at $8 each I didn't have a lot of extra cash to blow on them. We left the show about 5:00 or so. After getting out of town, which only took about an hour, we headed up 476 back to the Scranton area and Joe's house. Wrap upJoe's Sideshow Premium Format Grievous and 12" Anakin figures both showed in the last couple of days so I got to see both of them. The Grievous is extremely impressive and I'd recommend it to anyone that's a fan of the General. The Anakin is also a very impressive figure and I'm glad now that I ordered it. The mechanical arm alone is almost worth the $50 price. Joe also hooked me up with the new TSC Momaw Nadon and R5-D4 figures. I left Joe's about 9:00 and was home in Ithaca by 11. Very long and packed day but it was very fun. I almost can't wait to do it again! Although it's looking now like I'll be going to L.A. for Celebration 4 next year and I'll probably end up skipping WW Philly. 6-2-2006Yay! Today is Wizard World Philadelphia and while you're reading this I'm probably either on my way or I'm there spending too much money on crap I don't need. Anyway, not much new in the local area as far as Star Wars toys go. Heroes and Villains wave has shown up a couple more times at Target but that's about it. Last weekend I spun through Binghamton where the H&V wave was in abundance at Wal-Mart and I managed to pick up two additional black Clone Pilots so I now have the three that I wanted. Still have to score a Clone Commander from the Evolutions Clone Trooper set and, maybe, add one more Utapau Shadow Trooper to the collection before I call it done. Reports from Western NY and NE Pennsylvania have come in that people are finding the latest Tatooine wave of figures. This wave includes the much anticipated R5-D4 re-sculpt that we've deserved for, oh, about 10 years. New Hammer Head looks great also and rumor has it he'd make a good Roron Corrob custom. We'll see. Celebration IVYep, Los Angeles. It's been pretty well known that it was going to happen in 2007 but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm already saving. Acme ArchivesAcme Archives announced their SDCC exclusives. Anakin Skywalker will debut there either robed or shirtless (word hasn't come in yet and AA is taking input on the forums) while a transparent Darth Sidious will be the exclusive. Word is 50 will go on sale on the web site prior to the con for those of us not attending. We'll see how that works out. Otherwise I'm hoping either the extra Padme or ARC I ordered will come in handy for a trade. SideShow ToysThe new 12" Anakin Skywalker is shipping from SideShow now with a couple people already having it in hand. I ordered the regular edition from a third party so I actually have no idea when or if I'll actually get him. Should have jumped sooner but I had to go back for him after seeing the awesome Obi-Wan. WOTCChampions of the Force booster sets will be launched on June 10th. Good news because it sounds like there are some cool characters in this set. The 10th is the PSWCS Summer Social so I won't get to a store to pick any up till after that weekend but I'm sure I'll get some. Hmm...May have email Essentials about a launch game the following weekend or something. ExclusivesKir Kanos and a mystery figure are the new Internet exclusive announced for this year. The Kanos figure looks pretty good and I'll have to get a set. Still need to get the EE Astromech Droid sets as well. Better get on that. Target supposedly is getting a $60 Shuttle. No word yet if it's Galactic Heroes, Saga Collection or something else. I'm kind of pissed that, after laying out FAO's blood money, they're releasing it at this price. Oh, well, it's not like I was looking for resale value. Just would have liked to have saved $60+ on this. 30th AnniversaryAlready announced are sets of figures to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. They'll come in 4-packs in tins. Kind of cool. Home | AT-AT Driver | Republic Gunship | Features | Multimedia News Archive | Links | For Sale | About
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