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6-27-2007Comic-Con)
ShopStarWars.com has their San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Shadow Scout Trooper with Speeder Bike up for pre-order if you will be attending the show. This is only for those attending the show and the price is $25. Hopefully they'll have some up for non-attendees after the show. I don't think I'd buy a fleet of them but I'd be up for one at least. TOMYWhile we're on the topic of ShopStarWars.com, they also have two other items up for pre-order from TOMY in Japan. Back in January at an event in Japan TOMY showed off two die cast metal figures, Darth Vader and Boba Fett. Those figures are now up on SSW.com for $99.99 with an estimated ship date of September 2007. You can check out both Vader and Fett for more information and to place an order. While both figures look very cool, I don't think I can bring myself to pony up $100 each. That Fett is definitely tempting, though. 6-26-2007Happy AnniversaryTo, well, myself! This week is the one year anniversary of the debut of ImperialHolocron.com! TheForce.Net Reports More Hasbro RumorsIn last week's Force-Cast from TheForce.net, Dan Curto gave up some more rumored figure and vehicle announcements that Hasbro may (or may not) have in the works. Could we see an AT-TE? A new AT-ST that seats two? How about Speeder Bikes, Cinema Scenes, Thrawn and Wes Janson? Head over to TheForce.net and download the Force-Cast for all the info. MedicomThis past weekend Medicom showed off some new items that will be coming out. On the Kubrick front look for carded versions of the Series 1 Bounty Hunters, a full line of Be@rbricks Ewoks including Paploo, Teebo, Lumat, Romba and Chief Chirpa. On the 400% front we'll see Paploo which is limited to 2007 pieces. Medicom even gave away a carded Han in Carbonite figure. If you like Kubrcks and the Prequel movies, celebrate, because we should see some Prequel characters get bricked in the near future. Reports from the show also tell us of a RAH Darth Maul figure and a VCD Wicket figure that will be in a realistic style like the recent Yoda figure. HasbroEntertainment Earth revealed two more figures from their up-coming 14 figure set. The set will include at least 2 ROTS-41 Clone Troopers with Mandalorian designs on their armor. Look for the rest of the figures to be highlighted at Comic-Con in July. Gentle GiantGG is sending out 500 of their 100th silver Boba Fett Bust-Ups to the first 500 Premiere Guild members that signed up. Check your mail boxes if you think you were one of early adopters of the Guild. Last night was the cut off for the Commander Neyo raffle so we'll probably hear something Wednesday on who won and who didn't. 6-20-2007HasbroAccording to Hasbro, their coin replacement program should begin about August 1st. If you have damaged coins on any of the TAC figures 1 - 21 and would like to swap them out for the same coin you will be able to follow a link on Hasbro.com to the consumer affairs site to get it done. You'll be able to exchange as many coins as you want. Hasbro mentioned that you should keep in mind that not every coin will be perfect. This week's Q&A was a little early and several good questions were answered. First up, the UGH figures for 2007 were listed. These should ship with Wave 4 and include the following 12(!!) figures:
If you're sending away for your UGH coins from the VTAC promotion, they're ready to ship. Hasbro RumorsRebelScum.com posted a list of rumored figures last night and there are a couple of interesting developments. As mentioned earlier, Willrow Hood is on the short list for getting a figure. Also, we're getting a cool Ewok 2-pack this year but it sounds like we'll get another next year which will include a female Ewok with a Wokling. Head over to RebelScum.com for the rest of the info. Celebration IV ArtIf you missed out on some of the artists prints at Celebration IV, you might be in luck. ShopStarWars.com posted several prints on their site last night and they're charging the same as they were at the convention. You'll have to pay the shipping charges but if you ran short of money, didn't attend or otherwise passed on these prints, now is your chance to pick them up. Check out either the Art or Celebration IV sections of their site for the prints that are available. I'm assuming these were leftovers from CIV so quantities may be limited. Master ReplicasThe pre-orders from MR just keep rolling in. If you're interested in the Shadow Stormtrooper helmet it will be up for order today at 12:00PM for Collectors Society members. It's limited to 500 pieces and will set you back $499. 6-19-2007LicensingOn the heals of yesterdays announcement about Indiana Jones toys is this week's Licensing Show at the Jacob Javits center in New York City. The show runs from Tueseday to Thursday. One piece of info already reported from the show is that not only is Lucasfilm licensing Indy, but they're also looking for new partners for Star Wars ahead of the 2008 releases of "The Force Unleashed" video game and "Clone Wars" cartoon. 6-18-2007Breaking News!Posted: 10:45 06/18/2007 Hasbro, Lego and Hallmark all have a new license; Indiana Jones. Just announced today in a press release, we hear that all three companies, longtime Lucasfilm partners, will be creating products based on the Indy franchise. While Lego has given some specifics, Temple Escape ($49.99), Race for the Stolen Treasure ($29.99) and Motorcylce Chase ($9.99), we haven't heard about the other companies yet. If toys aren't your thing, Random House, Scholastic and DK Publishing are also in the mix for your reading pleasure! I'm hoping for some good things from a Hasbro line, especially if they not only give us some nice 3.75" figures but also if they at least throw us one good (and affordable) 1:6 scale Indy. SideshowThe Holographic Darth Sidious figure went up for sale last Friday for non-attendees of Comic-Con and it appears that all 5,000 pieces sold out. But, if you're going to be at Comic-Con, you can still put in a pre-order for pick-up. It's also cheaper, $39.99, if you snag it at the show. Gentle GiantThis past weekend was the Blister event in Japan where GG debuted their 1,500 piece Commander Neyo bust. They limited it to 800 pieces so that means that 200 will go up for raffle which starts this week on Friday. There's also another black and white animated maquette going up for raffle. This time it's Luke Skywalker and it's limited to 250 pieces. If I'm reading the blog right, that will go up on Friday as well. Master ReplicasIf you're a Collectors Society member, don't forget that this Wednesday is the pre-order day for the new Shadow Stormtrooper helmet. It's limited to 500 pieces and I'm sure it's going to be a quick sell out. WizKidsLast week the new Star Wars PocketModel TCG game debuted and now they've announced the first expansion; Star Wars: Ground Assault. The expansion will include such ground vehicles as an AT-AT and AT-TE walkers. Look for them to release in September. 6-15-2007)
Acme ArchivesDebuting at Celebration Europe will be the next Character Key from Acme. This time around we get a cool looking TIE Pilot. It's limited to 1000 pieces but it's not exclusive, look for non-attendee pre-orders to go up on July 9th. Celebration IVThe attendance numbers are in for Celebration IV in Los Angeles and, according to StarWars.com, 35,000 fans attended the event from May 24 - 28. That's 1,000 more than the published numbers of Celebration III in Indianapolis in 2005. It was definitely a good turnout for the weekend but those numbers can be spun a few different ways. Was attendance down because there was no movie to hype? Was it up because it was in Los Angeles? Maybe even it was down because of LA, just based on the number of people I've seen on the various forums that couldn't attend due to it being on the West Coast. One thing is for sure, the larger convention hall spread those people out so that you never seemed to have huge lines in any one area. Some events had big lines, but nothing for the store or the autograph hall, things that have been jammed at previous Celebrations. Overall it was a definite success. However, I don't think it was a large enough success that moving it back to a central location of the country, or even moving to the East Coast, is out of the realm of possibility. Gentle GiantWell, even though I wasn't overly impressed with the (lack of) details about Gentle Giant's Premier Guild collector club, I joined a couple months ago. Yesterday I got my first benefit, I "won" a Spirit of Yoda mini bust in their raffle for CIV busts. After seeing it in person I kind of liked it but didn't bother to brave the crowds at CIV to buy it but now, along with $10 shipping, I'll be able to pick it up for retail. GG offered up 400 pieces for the raffle but I think everyone that entered must have gotten one as it's available for direct sale on their web site now. Ironically, if you order it directly, they only charge you $5.82 for shipping. Tell me again why I paid $50 to join their club? SideshowYesterday Sideshow announced that the Premium Format Scout Trooper on Speeder Bike will have a 1,500 piece edition size. And, apparently, it sold out. Not bad for an $800 piece. Not to be outdone, they also announced the edition size for Leia Boushh at 6,500 pieces. As of this writing they have less than 10 pieces still in stock. Start looking for her in August. If you pre-ordered Plo Koon start looking for him, he's shipping now. 6-14-2007Wizard WorldWe're just a day away from the 2007 Wizard World Philadelphia convention. I'll have some coverage of the show but probably not till Sunday as I'm not sure if I'll have Internet access till then. Till then, head over to WizardWorld.com and check out all the info on the show including artist and guest lists, programming and exclusives. And, if six hours at a comic convention isn't enough, we should be off to see the new Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie afterwards. 
SideshowDon't forget, if you're going to be attending San Diego Comic-Con, today is Priority Pre-Order day for the exclusive Darth Sidious with Mechno-chair. Look for the order process to start at 1:00PM EST. If you aren't attending, pre-orders go up tomorrow at 1:00PM EST. 6-13-2007HasbroSaga Legends made an appearance at the local Target last night. As expected, they stocked with the TSC figures and rang up at $6.64. I picked up an AOTC Clone Trooper and TPM Battle Droid 2-pack but I don't think I'll keep that Droid pack. I'm only picking up a couple army builders and one from each movie for the coins. Since I'll probably snag TC-14 later on that'll cover the TPM coin. Although a few have sold, the VTAC figures are kind of stagnant at Target. I think it's due to the $11.99 price tag. I'll be looking for them to go to clearance later this summer. 6-12-2007Master Replicas
They may not have a license after the end of this year but that won't stop MR from putting out a few more pieces. One of them will be this week's Mara Jade limited edition lightsaber. Collector's Society members can begin pre-ordering on Wednesday and have until Friday. They'll also get three incredible bonuses; instead of 10% off, CS members get 20% off, free shipping and the LE has been upgraded to a Signature Edition at no additional cost! The lightsaber is limited to 750 pieces. Gentle GiantIf you are Premiere Guild member and didn't pre-order any of the Celebration IV busts for pick-up at the show, you can now enter the raffle for a chance to purchase any you missed. You have to log into your account and enter before June 12, 1007 at midnight PST. Hasbro Coin ExchangeOne of the things that Hasbro announced at Celebration IV during their What's New at Hasbro presentation is that they recognized the early coins in the TAC figures were very scratched up and damaged. Because of that, through their consumer affairs department, they will be doing a coin exchange. I don't see any info on their web site yet so I posed the question on the RS.com forums to see what we can find out. I'll update with any new information. HasbroOn the figure front, the local Target stocked the new Vintage TAC figures this week. They had multiples of each, probably 3 cases, but they were $11.99 each. I picked up Bossk, IG-88 and a Snowtrooper. Then, yesterday, HasbroToyShop.com posted them for sale as well, still at the old $9.99 price. There are also a couple coupons for money off on qualifying purchases. I ended up ordering a set of 6 for $60 shipped which makes them cheaper than at retail. Fans of the 7" Unleashed figures are getting another shot at owning a "new" figure with the Unleashed ARC Heavy Gunner. StarWarsShop.com has this piece up for pre-order, with an August ship date, right now for $29.99. 6-8-2007SideshowApparently Sideshow had some server problems with their Obi-Wan Priority Pre-Order yesterday but I managed to get through in about a minute to put my order in. That was at 1:09, and I was able to log in and out for about a half hour after that. I guess it didn't go as smoothly for everyone else. But, the 1977 pieces for the exclusive edition did sell out. The non-exclusive edition is now up for sale, though, with an edition size that has yet to be set. And don't forget, today is the day to pre-order your Premium Format Scout Trooper. I can't wait to see what the price is on that piece. If you're looking for the Holographic Darth Sidious w/ Mechno-chair, look no further than June 14th for his Priority Pre-Order. That's when this San Diego Comic-Con exclusive goes up for sale to attendees. If you aren't going to the show your pre-order is on Friday, June 15th. Both times are 1:00PM EST. While you're on Sideshow's web site, check out what else they have in stock. They said in last night's newsletter that they have some 1:6 Darth Maul figures back in stock and they're also showing low stock warnings on the Leia Boushh and Endor Rebel Troopers figures. 6-7-2007K-MartBelieve it or not, K-Mart came through on Wave 3 of the 30th Anniversary Collection figures yesterday. I managed to find all of Wave 1 at K-Mart a couple weeks before it hit Target and Wal-Mart so it's not unheard of them to scoop other stores on Star Wars toys. They had one of each new figure in the wave and two each of Darth Vader and the Stormtrooper. There were also a couple Wave 1 figures (Airborne Trooper, Galactic Marine, Mace Windu) that I don't think were there last week so they probably came in the same case. My favorite figure from the wave? The new Jawa and LIN Droid. Luke's moisture vaporator accessory is probably my second favorite piece. Although the McQuarrie Chewbacca and Biggs are both really nice figures also. The Vader is nice but the removable helmet, with Hayden Christensen as Anakin, actually detracts. I'm still liking the Order 66 Vader which is based on the Evolutions figure but has a glued helmet. Tatooine Luke isn't a bad figure, he has a great accessory, comes with both a lit lightsaber and hilt for his belt and the paint apps are decent. It's good for what it is, a whiny farm boy for your Tatooine diorama. The Stormtrooper is probably the weakest figure in the lot due to the removable helmet. I'm a firm believer that regular Trooper figures should not have removable helmets. It's fine for Commanders and other characters that were seen on screen without a helmet, but I like my generic Storm and Clone Troopers just that, generic, faceless and ready to fall at the hands of my Rebels or droid army. Overall Wave 3 is pretty good but the next two waves should be a lot better. Even though we get another Luke and Vader in Wave 4, Vader will be the McQuarrie Concept and the other figures look to be really nice. After that we get the incredible Wave 5 which I'm looking forward to more than any wave I can think of in the last 2 or 3 years! )
SideshowDon't forget that today is Priority Pre-Order day for the new 1:6 Obi-Wan Kenobi figure. It should go up about 1:00PM. And if that's not enough for you, the awesome Premium Format Biker Scout will go up for sale on Friday at 1:00PM. I don't think I've seen a price on it yet and if one was mentioned at CIV I missed it. I'm sure it's not going to be cheap, though, since Sideshow is offering a FLEXpay option. Also, according to the announcement that came yesterday, it's going to be very limited and the edition that goes on sale Friday will be the only one available. Gentle GiantAccording to the to GG Blog, the raffle for CIV mini busts should go live sometime this week. Keep checking your inbox for the announcement. I'm probably going to enter for the Spirit of Yoda as I'm a little disappointed now that I never ordered him. I was thinking of passing on the other two but I'll probably sign up for the Gree raffle to hedge my bets on trading for a Cody after Comic-Con. 6-4-2007 Celebration IV UpdatesI posted all of the photos I have from CIV yesterday along with info on the Droid Builders room, The Vader Project and several other sights from the convention. I have a couple video clips of the Endor Diorama that I want to post but I believe the smallest will be about 15MB. More on that later. Till then, please check out all my CIV coverage! Around the Toy AisleWith CIV a week ago and not having much cash left over I didn't really feel the need to do much toy shopping lately but that hasn't stopped me from hitting up the local Wal-Mart and Target stores. Both were gearing up for Saturday's release of the Transformers movie toys. Plenty of stuff out now and some of it is even pretty cool looking. Although reports are in that wave 3 of the TAC figures have hit, there's no sign of them locally. The Monday before I left for CIV I found the new VTAC and comic 2-packs at the Dickson City, PA Toys-R-Us but, again, nothing locally. My Target has reset the Star Wars section and there are pegs for the VTAC figures along with a bump in price, $11.99. Kind of sucks so I may actually be looking to pick them up on-line. With coupons they may end up being cheaper that way. I was lucky enough to get back from CIV just in time to take advantage of Target's final clearance on the Order 66 2-packs. I managed to pick up some army builders of Mace Windu's Galactic Marine and Obi-Wan's Utapau AT-RT Driver for $2.48 each. Awesome price. They were wiped out over night and I didn't get back to buy any more but I did get my fill, which I was happy about. Pirates of the Caribbean toys are still out in force with maybe a slight bump since the latest film in the trilogy opened. I haven't paid much attention to them but some of the paint apps did look a little better than what I recall seeing on the earlier figures. Spider-Man still has a huge presence in the toy aisle as well, but it has been cut down some. I don't know how deep Hasbro will go into that line now that the film has been out for a few weeks, especially with Transformers getting the big push now and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opening in two weeks. Ben 10 is still getting a lot of stock in at Target while I haven't seen much new in the GI Joe line lately. I know some new product is coming our way from that line, even before the 25th Anniversary stuff starts hitting. StarWars.comIf you haven't been to the official site in the last 2 weeks you should check it out. It's undergone a redesign, to the front page at least, and has some cool new info on it. Not the least of which is the trailer for the new "Clone Wars" cartoon that should be coming in 2008. 6-3-2007Celebration IV CoverageIt took a few days longer than I expected but I finally have a good chunk of our Celebration IV coverage written up. I have plenty more photos to put up but to get the ball rolling I have day-by-day coverage posted along with info from Hasbro, Sideshow and Gentle Giant. Still to come, coverage from Lego, Acme Archives, Lucasfilm Archives, The Vader Project and much more! Click here or on the Celebration IV logo to start reading. Home | AT-AT Driver | Republic Gunship | Features | Multimedia News Archive | Links | For Sale | About
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