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6-29-2009Hasbro)
ROTJ Slave Leia Sandtroopers.com turned up a new photo of the ROTJ Slave Leia figure that we'll be getting later this year. The figure was first hinted at in an issue of the "Insider" a few months ago. The figure has decent articulation but the best feature will be an alternate lower torso that's sculpted in such a way that she'll finally be able to lounge on Jabba's dais. Also in the post on the Sandtroopers forum is a new loose photo of the upcoming Clone Wars animated Padme. I think this is the first loose picture of the Padme figure with her weapon but I'm not positive of that. 6-26-2009KubricksIt looks like we now know what all the chase figures will be for the upcoming Boba Fett collection. The other day we mentioned that there is a black & white repaint using a variant vintage paint scheme as well as a Rocket Firing Boba Fett. The Rocket Fett is the painted "J" slot version. The third, and probably final, variant is the unpainted "L" slot Rocket Firing Boba Fett. Medicom is always on the ball when it comes to paying tribute to the vintage Kenner figures and the Boba Fett collection really epitomizes that. 6-23-2009HasbroPlenty of new product has started to show up at retail in the new red and white design scheme that will replace the current blue and white Clone and Stormtrooper look. Saga Legends are the first carded figures with the new look that have shown up. Even my local Target had one case of the figures on the new cards, but the figures were the same as we've seen for the last year or so and included 501st Clone Troopers, Super Battle Droids and a few others. On the vehicle front, the new Republic Fighter Tank and Anakin's Jedi Starfighter have also hit stores and are making their way across the US. These are also in the new red boxes and repacks of the Vulture Droid and Magnaguard Starfighter are showing up with them. New photos have also shown up for the Phantom Menace wave of figures, the first in the TLC line with the red packaging. We knew that the numbering for the figures would start over with this wave but till now we didn't know what the first six figures would be till now. Unfortunately, it's half of the 2009 ANH wave repacked. One through five will be Luke and Han in Stormtrooper gear, the Spacetrooper and Jawa with WED droid and a shirtless Darth Maul. The cardbacks also show that a Scout Trooper will be in this wave but will probably be 12, numbered after the six new figures. The last part of the year is shaping up to have a lot of repacked figures in the TLC line compared to 2008 and the front half of this year. Depending on what your store shelves look like right now, this could be good or bad. But with Hasbro really loading up the back half of the year with new figures anyway, more repacks are probably not the best choice when Saga Legends is still going so strong. As always, keep your eye on the TLC Checklist where we try to keep up on this stuff. MedicomKubricksAfter having more time to sort through the photos coming out of the Parco event, and reading info on the various websites covering the show, it looks like there is at least one more set of Kubricks coming. There is an R2-D2 and C-3PO 2-pack on its way. Some cases of the Boba Fett collection were also available at the Parco show and it looks like two of the chase figures have been found. One figure, appearing in the Vintage Kenner box is a Rocket Firing Boba Fett! The second shows up in the black and white Fett box and is an alternate vintage Kenner paint scheme. It's unknown if there is a third chase or how rare these two are but that Rocket Fett is a great idea for a chase. Real Action HeroesAlso shown off at the show are two new entries in the Real Action Heroes line; 1:6 scale R2-D2 and C-3PO figures! It also appears that there will be another variant on the Super-Deformed Boba Fett vinyl figure. SideshowStill playing catch-up on a few things from last week. In their weekly newsletter, Sideshow set the edition size on their exclusive Shocktrooper at only 750 pieces. It's now sold out but the wait list is available as is the regular edition. No edition size has been set yet on the regular edition. 6-22-2009Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society Fundraiser)
Operation Ward 57 Medallion The Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society is selling a limited edition medallion as a fundraiser to support Operation Ward 57. The medallion features Obi-Wan Kenobi, the heroic Jedi Master from Star Wars - The Clone Wars. The medallions were produced in a one-time run of 1000 pieces with the permission of Lucasfilm Ltd. The cost is $10 per medallion, with a limit of 3 medallions per household. 100% of the proceeds generated through the sale of these medallions will be donated to Operation Ward 57. Operation Ward 57 is a charitable organization that collects donations to benefit the veterans in the orthopedic Ward 57 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Ward 57 cares for some of the most severely injured military veterans who return from operations overseas. Operation Ward 57 purchases comfort and support items to help these veterans and their families through difficult and trying times. To learn more about Operation Ward 57, please visit: http://www.operationward57.org The members of PSWCS hope you will consider supporting this worthy cause through purchasing these medallions. You can order at: http://www.pswcs.com/OperationWard57 Gentle GiantIf you are going to be attending the San Diego Comic-Con this year and are interested in any of the Gentle Giant exclusives, now is the time to order. They are offering three Star Wars items this year including a McQuarrie concept Boba Fett bust, Blackhole Stormtrooper statue and a pink Darth Vader 1:4 scale helmet that is being sold to benefit the Susan G. Koman Foundation. You need to be a Premier Guild Member, and logged in to GG's website, to place your pre-order for pick-up. Non Guild members will get a chance to order for pick-up on July 1st.
Boba Fett runs $65 while the Stormtrooper statue is $150 and the Vader helmet is also $65. 6-21-2009You go away for a couple of days and everything blows up! Gentle Giant dropped bombs, the Parco show put a shot across collector's proverbial bow and Wizard World went off in Philadelphia. Now that I'm back from Philly, and the nearly rained out Saturday travel day is over, it's time to catch up with all the fantastic and frustrating news from the last couple of days. Wizard World PhiladelphiaFirst up, check out the WW Philly 2009 wrap-up for all the lowdown on this year's show. FYI, it was awesome. One of the top, if not the top, show since this event started. KubricksIt's no secret that we here at the Holocron are big fans of Medicom's line of Kubricks so it's also no surprise that this weekend's Medicom Toy Exhibition at the Parco Complex in Japan blew our minds! It seems that, for the time being, the regular series releases of Kubricks are going to be on hold in favor of several Deluxe Series which will include a build-an-item component. JediDefender.com has all the photos and information, but let me hit you with this: Kubrick AT-ST! That's right, Medicom's new Deluxe Series 2 will include Hoth versions of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Mechanic Chewbacca, R-3PO and a Snowtrooper officer and each figure will come with a part to build a scale AT-ST. Deluxe Series 1 is all about Jabba's Palace with the six regular figures being Luke Skywalker, Boushh's prisoner Chewbacca, C-3PO w/ Salacious Crumb (!!!), R2-D2 w/ drink dispenser, Bib Fortuna and Amanaman. The figures will build Jabba the Hutt AND his dais AND hooka. How freakin' cool is that?! If you're a 400% fan then you aren't left out, a partial photo of a chromed 400% C-3PO also made it out of the show. If all that isn't overload then I should also mention that the promo figure for the show is a carded Darth Vader Kubrick that's a direct nod to Hasbro's 2002 Toy Fair promo Vader. If you are Kubrick collect then keep your eyes on this space for updates on when these new Deluxe sets may be going on sale. Gentle GiantRepublic CommandosThe biggest news out of Gentle Giant over the weekend is that they will be holding another worldwide exclusive event centered around The Republic Commando busts of Delta Squad. The four busts each have an edition size of 1,300 pieces and each is exclusive to a different country. They are scheduled to go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2009 at the retailers listed in the chart below. Members of Gentle Giant's Premier Guild in the US will have two shots at each bust. A limited number of busts will be held for sale singly as well as 200 of each held for a box set, much like the Commander busts were done in 2007. As of now, the box set is scheduled to go on sale after the single busts go on sale around the globe as well as after the single sales to PGM members go up. More info will be coming on that in the future. Till then, enjoy the pictures, the headache of buying these is still a few months away.
Hoth Leia)
Hoth Leia This is the year of Hoth characters from The Empire Strikes Back and that includes Princess Leia in her cold weather outfit. Gentle Giant announced this bust a few months ago and a photo showed up within the last month. Now Hoth Leia is up for pre-order and we have a new photo direct from Gentle Giant. The edition size for the bust has not been set yet but she'll run you about $60 depending on where you order from. She's not scheduled for release until April 2010 so you have some time to get those orders in. There will be a second release of the figure that will include the mask from the Mynock Hunt scene. No details on that release are available yet. Trash Compactor BookendsThe other item that GG put up for pre-order this weekend is the Trash Compactor Bookends. Also scheduled for an April 2010 release, the bookends show Han, Luke, Leia and Chewie as they try to escape the trash compactor on the Death Star.
The bookends measure 12" wide by 7.5" tall and 6" deep. They run $199 direct from Gentle Giant and the edition size is still to be determined. 6-19-2009Wizard World UpdateIt's been a long day of buying comics and looking at toys, but it's also been fun. There have been plenty of Star Wars characters in attendance this year. From Wookies to Lord Vader with even a "Yoda" thrown in in the form of Tom Kane.
We're attending the toy industry panel now but I'll hope to have some updates on that later. Wizard WorldJust rolled into Philly and now waiting on line for the doors to open. There's a large crowd but checking in was easy this year. More updates later! 6-18-2009AdidasAdidas Originals has just announced a new Star Wars line of licensed product coming in 2010. Several styles of adidas sneakers will feature Star Wars characters and graphics. Head over to StarWars.com to check out the news. Acme Archives)
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Just an update to yesterday's post about the two new Acme Character Keys. The Maris Brood key, which is a ShopStarWars.com exclusive, is also signed by both the artist and the character actor who portrayed her in the video game. Maris Brook sells for $38.99 is is very limited at 500 pieces. For the Princess Leia key, Acme put out a press release last night to let us know that their exclusive SDCC key will go up for pre-order on July 1st at 3:00PM EST. This is for attendees of SDCC and is for pickup only. The sale runs till July 22nd at which time 100 keys, which will be held back, will go on sale for non-attendees. They will sell from July 22nd till they sell out. The Princess Leia key has an edition size of 750 pieces and will run $35.00 plus shipping for non-attendees. If you will be at SDCC, stop by the Acme Archives booth, #5429, to buy one of their Star Wars Visions promotional prints. They are limited to 500 pieces and will run $10.00. They measure 18"x24" and are hand numbered. A photo is not available of the print yet. Wizard WorldWizard World Philadelphia starts tomorrow at noon and if everything goes according to plan the Holocron staff should be on site for the full day. We'll see about updating as we go through the day but will definitely have a post con article. This year's show is shaping up to be spectacular so if you're going to be in the Philly area this weekend, you ought to stop in. For tickets and guest information, check out their website at WizardWorld.com. 6-17-2009ShopStarWars.comThe official Star Wars store has updated their website yesterday with a new layout and design and has also finally offered up a couple exclusives that we've known about for a while. )
Stormtrooper Commander Gentle GiantThe first exclusive from ShopStarWars.com is the Gentle Giant Stormtrooper Commander mini bust. It's limited to 2,500 pieces and is scheduled to ship in October. The bust is $54.99. The Stormtrooper Commander is based on the character from The Force Unleashed and can now join his Hasbro and Sideshow counterparts in your collection. Acme ArchivesMaris BroodAlthough this news leaked out back on June 3rd, the Maris Brood Character Key is now available for pre-order from ShopStarWars.com. The exclusive key is very limited, with only 500 pieces in the edition. She runs $38.99 and is scheduled to ship in July.
Maris Brood is also from The Force Unleashed game and the art on this key is very action oriented. If you want to add her to your collection, you may want to order soon as the small edition size has the potential to sell quickly. Princess LeiaAcme Archives announced their San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Character Key last night and it's Princess Leia in her white New Hope outfit. This key is also very limited, only 750 pieces will be available.
Acme will be offering pre-orders for the key in coming weeks. We'll try to post an update when they go on sale. 6-13-2009Happy Birthday Ralph!!Today is Ralph McQuarrie's 80th birthday. Happy Birthday, Ralph, and thank you for all of the awesome art and your contributions to Star Wars films.
Sir Dooku?Actor Christopher Lee, who played Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as well as many other key rolls in hit films, was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II today. Lee is credited in over 250 films by the Internet Movie Database and has played memorable characters such as Count Dracula, Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, and Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Also honored this year is Alan Cumming who played Nightcrawler in X-Men 2: X-Men United. HasbroFriday brought out another round of answers from Hasbro. This close to Comic-Con I wasn't expecting too much, but there were some interesting bits of news that are worth mentioning. BanthaSkull.com gets the scoop on a new figure and info on an upcoming release. First up, when asked about a rumored figure, Captain Jeremoch Colton, Hasbro mentions that he's all new and not a kitbash based on Captain Antilles. BS.com also mentions that he's rumored for the ROTS wave this year but Hasbro doesn't actually confirm that wave for his release and I don't recall hearing this rumor before. Second, an update on the Camie and Fixer comic pack that Hasbro had slated for later this year. The bad news; no longer slated for this year. Per their answer, the budget wasn't there. The figures will be coming out, Hasbro is just looking for a new home for them. CollectionStation.com asks about the possibility of updated cockpits on some original trilogy ships and Hasbro let's us know that if they update any more (ie X-Wing, Vader's TIE, Y-Wing) the Y-Wing is the best bet. Fans of the "Legacy" comic will be happy to know that Hasbro has a new Cade Skywalker figure in the works. GalacticHunter.com gets the tip in a question asking about this character and whether or not he'll come without his coat and have normal arms (without the coat sleeves). The answer is a resounding, yes! GH.com's second scoop for the week is in the Clone Wars line. Look for the Tactical Droid (TX-20 or TA-175) sometime in the next year. 6-12-2009SideshowShocktrooperLast week Sideshow announced the new Shocktrooper 1:6 figure and it went on sale last night with the release of the newsletter. Like the other Clone Trooper releases, the exclusive version has a unique stand. The figure is due fourth quarter 2009 and runs $89.99. Edition size to come. The standard edition is up as of this writing, but look for it when the exclusive edition sells out. )
Reactor Station Alpha Figure EnvironmentLast week the adventure environments went on sale and this week the Reactor Station Alpha environment gets its turn. The new environments will set you back $89.99 and Reactor Alpha is due first quarter 2010. The photos on Sideshow's website make it look kind of cool and while they show it with a Stormtrooper, pointing to its sci-fi origins, I actually like the look of it better with the Cobra Trooper. I think the price on these is a little steep, but they do look nice and I could see some people picking them as a nice enhancement to their collection. I just won't be one of those people. Gentle GiantGentleGiantCollectors.com posted a new Q&A with Gentle Giant earlier this week. You'll need a forum account to read the full Q&A but it's free so sign up while you're there. Of note is the first look at the Hoth Leia mini bust that will be coming later this year. They also announced the edition sizes for a few items that are coming soon. Garindan is limited to only 1,500 pieces while Hoth Luke will be around 2,300. The Garindan is rather limited so it may be wise to get a pre-order in for him if you're interested. 6-10-2009)
2009 Hyperspace Membership Kit LucasfilmIf you are a Fan Club member than be on the lookout for your 2009 membership kit. StarWars.com updated yesterday with a photo and list of goodies in this year's kit and there are a couple nice items included. If you need to renew you can always head over to ShopStarWars.com. Remember, you don't have have to get the "Insider" with your membership any more, making it only $14.95 to join. HallmarkA couple years ago Hallmark began releasing chase ornaments in their Star Wars line. I think the first was the Tusken Raider and then last year gave us the Emperor's Royal Guard. Now, it seems, Hallmark has taken a page out of the other license holder's books; exclusives. At this year's San Diego Comic-Con Hallmark will have a booth inside the Star Wars pavilion and will be selling a set of exclusive ornaments limited to 700 pieces. They will be a Shocktrooper and Shadow Trooper. No price on them yet but for a photo, head over to TheForce.net. 6-8-2009Republic Gunship)
ILM Attack Gunship Patch When Lucasfilm and ILM work on movies they release crew items from t-shirts and hats to jackets, glassware to pins and patches. In 2002 for Attack of the Clones the Visual Effects, or VFX, department had an Attack Gunship patch made for them. I've seen this both loose and on a jacket. It's taken a couple of years since I first learned about it to track one down but last week I finally did. It came on Saturday and I'm psyched to add it to the Republic Gunship collection. The patch is just about 3" square at it's widest points and, as you can see from the photo, is identified with "ILM VFX 02" text along the bottom. For now, that's another item marked off the Republic Gunship checklist. SideshowAs I mentioned in the Around the Toy Aisle, I was on the road a lot last week so today I'm doing some housekeeping on the previous week's news. Up first, Sideshow. Shocktrooper
Shocktrooper On Thursday, with the newsletter, Sideshow previewed the next 1:6 figure in their line, Shocktrooper. They said earlier in the year that this was the year of armor and they've been on that track since then. Pre-orders for the Shocktrooper will go live on June 11th with the release of the weekly newsletter. Look for the price to be similar to the previous Clone and Stormtrooper figures. Last week Sideshow introduced the new Figure Environments which included one Star Wars based Reactor Station. They said at the time that these would go on sale with this week's newsletter and some of them did, the fantasy versions. My guess is that the Reactor Station will probably go up for sale next week with the Shocktrooper. But, if it's priced like the other two, $89.99, I think a lot of people will probably be passing. Q&AOn June 3rd Sideshow released their most recent Ask Sideshow article and Star Wars got a couple answers. When asked if Sideshow would revisit earlier releases only with the Prometheus body, Sideshow answered that they are moving forward with new releases and it would be some time, if ever, before they released older figures on a new body. Sideshow was also asked if they had access to, and would consider releasing, figures based on the unreleased vintage Kenner Empire Strikes Back figures. While they said they would investigate, Sideshow is of the opinion that the molds for the vintage figures, which were only shown in prototype, may not be available. 6-6-2009Around the Toy AisleThis past week I was on the road for work and used the opportunity to stop at some Walmart and Target stores that I wouldn't normally be able to visit. It was interesting to find that there was very little difference among stores over quite a large part of New York state. I stopped in Walmart stores in Ithaca, Auburn, Waterloo, Queensbury and Oneonta and Target in Queensbury and Ithaca. Read on for my observations. Kubrick)
Series 10 Series 10 of the Star Wars Kubrick line is now out and the chase figures have been reported. According to info posted at JediDefender.com there are three chase figures. Packed in Clone Trooper boxes is a Commander Gree while Tion Medon can be found in the Tarfful box. The regular General Grievous has a 4-armed chase figure. JD.com is reporting Tion Medon and Grievous as 1:96 chase figures while Gree is a much more attainable ratio of 4:96. For photos and the full ratio breakdown, head over to JediDefender.com. After seeing some newer photos of the Darth Vader from this wave, I have to say that it's one of the coolest figures in the Kubrick line to date. He has a 2-part removable helmet and, since this is from ROTS, he has a Hayden Christensen-style burned face underneath. I believe we can look forward to the Boba Fett collection as the next release. I'm psyched for that one! 6-4-2009HasbroJediDefender.com comes up with some cool photos of a Republic Gunship with new doors, which completely cover up the cargo/troop bay. Head over to their site to check out the photos. 6-3-2009Acme ArchivesA new character key has been listed on ShopStarWars.com and it's Maris Brood. The key up for pre-order, shipping in July. It's limited to only 500 pieces which makes it the lowest edition size along with the SDCC Darth Sidious from 2006. They key will set you back $38.99. No picture yet but I'll post one as soon as it's available. 6-2-2009HasbroThe Force-Cast released a special podcast last night that focused on the current state of the collecting hobby. Included in the show are interviews with Dan Curto and Derryl DePriest. It's only about an hour and 10 minutes long but if you don't want to sit through it, the highlights, as far as new toys are concerned, include;
According to DePriest, Ziro was slated as an exclusive but the retailer backed out. He's still on the short list, but not in the near future. Han has already been confirmed for later in the year while the Gam Guard was a new one. Zuckuss and Dengar got kind of the wink and nod treatment, but I would put money on Zuckuss, probably for 2010 (if not sooner, there is a second ESB wave for this year). 6-1-2009Gentle Giant Collectors GiveawayGentle Giant LTD has teamed up with GentleGiantCollectors.com to bring you another great giveaway as we gear up for San Diego Comic Con 2009! As most of you know, Gentle Giant Ltd will have several great exclusives from all of your favorite lines, and now is your chance to win them for FREE! Starting on June 1, 2009 and ending on June 30, 2009 you will have a shot at winning a SDCC Exclusive BlackHole Stormtrooper Statue, a SDCC Exclusive Concept Boba Fett Mini Bust and a SDCC Harry Potter Dumbledore Mini Bust! Each item will have it's own giveaway criteria and while you are welcome to enter all three, you can only WIN in one category. Head over to GentleGiantCollectors.com for images and all the details on the contest rules. |
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