|
||||||||||||||
7-30-2007Acme ArchivesA year ago when Acme and Sideshow announced a partnership in which Sideshow would distribute Acme art, it was speculated that they would have four exclusive character keys; Durge, Dooku, Kit Fisto and Aayla. A year later and Sideshow has only released two keys, Dooku and Kit Fisto. Nothing that I can find on-line from this year's convention claims to have info on this partnership but Acme has told us that there will be two more Clone Wars Character Keys before that line is finished. I'm hoping for a Durge, who seems like a logical choice, but I can't wait to see what that last one will be. Hopefully now that Comic-Con has passed we'll see an announcement from Acme. Gentle GiantQuite a while back some photos of a Chewbacca mini bust with gas mask from the space slug scene in ESB hit the web and people speculated that it could be the club exclusive. Well, apparently it was spotted at the Diamond Comics booth at Comic-Con so it could possibly be their exclusive instead. Still haven't seen official word on that but I'll keep looking. TargetThe local Target store has started the Fall reset so keep an eye out for a new action figure aisle layout and, possibly, some new waves of figures. I'm hoping this will help get the new Galactic Heroes out. Haven't seen a planogram for the aisle hanging around so I don't know how much space will be allocated to Star Wars yet. I'm guessing that the Spider-Man section, at least, will downsize now that the movie has passed. Transformers could go either way. They're still a hot seller but that movie is a couple weeks old now and retail is a fickle movie-mistress. 7-29-2007Indiana JonesIf the 4" line from Hasbro isn't enough for you, how about a 12" line of Indy toys as well? Apparently Sideshow isn't going to be the only company offering a 1:6 scale action figure in 2008. Check out this photo from San Diego Comic-con!
7-27-2007HasbroNews from today's Hasbro presentation: Look for figure stands to return in 2008. The final waves of TAC figures will ship with a coin which may be replaced with a stand, probably as they're mixed into refresh cases of '08 figures. There will be a new Fan's Choice poll in August with input from the various fan sites that participate in the Hasbro Q&A. All figures are fair game including Ephant Mon. Look for this to begin August 3rd. It also looks like two of the previously announced Battle Packs are getting pulled. The STAP Attack and Hoth Patrol won't be coming out. Wal-Mart will be getting two exclusive Battle Packs of Jabba's band. One set will have Max, Sy, Droopy, Barquin D'An and Doda Bodonawieedo while the other will have Joh Yowza, Rappertunie and the dancers, Greeata, Lyn-Me and Rystall. New for 2008They're bringing back Evolutions sets including Jedi with Qui-Gon, Bultar Swan and New Jedi Order Luke. Sith with Darth Bane, Nihilus and topless Maul. Fett with Mandalore, Jango and Boba. It appears that the Jango Fett will be SA and Boba will be the first first time he comes with a removable helmet. Single figures will include Po Nudo, 2-1B, Octuparra Droid, new Kashyyyk Trooper, and a new Commander Gree. They're also debuting a line called Mighty Muggs which will be 6" scaled vinyl figures. I guess we should think Medicom VCD, maybe? Indiana JonesThe Indiana Jones figures will be from the Star Wars team and come in a 4" scale. They're doing all four films but only the classic films are being previewed. Look for Raiders Indiana, swordsman, monkey man, Belloq, and Marion with head piece. Each figure will come with a real world relic pack-in. If you like Galactic Heroes, Hasbro will bring us Indy figures in the same style called Adventure Heroes. TitaniumHasbro had some new(ish) Titanium vehicles in their case today including re-paints of the AT-AT, Snowtrooper on white Speederbike, green A-Wing and a grey and black V-Wing, Also shown were some of the vehicles that were originally available in the Wal-Mart Gift Packs like the green Republic Gunship and metal Millennium Falcon. I'm not sure if they are just being shown off or if they are getting packed into the single line. This fall look for re-paints of the AT-RT (Hunt for Yoda), Darth Vader's TIE Advanced in white, Kit Fisto's Jedi Starfighter with Hyperdrive ring and an EPIII Trade Federation Battleship. Gentle GiantsAlong with the two Indiana Jones statues that were shown off Wednesday night, there's also a statue of Indiana and Henry Jones with a motorcycle from The Last Crusade. Very cool looking. Server ProblemsSorry about having the site down overnight. Our hosting company had a server crash due to a hard drive failure. They took that opportunity to bring out site back up on a new server. So, we were offline for about 20 hours. Everything should be back up now but I'll be checking out the site over the next day or so to make sure everything is correct. San Diego Comic-ConThursday was the first full day at Comic-Con and things really started popping with the various license holders. Let's break it down and take a look at the cool stuff we should be seeing from the various companies over the next six months or so. Acme ArchivesKicking it off with Acme, they introduced a new collectible called Star Wars Revealed. It's a character key sized, flippable piece showing a complete lightsaber as well as the inner workings. Think "Incredible Cross Sections." The proto they had at SDCC was of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber and looked pretty nice with each part labeled. Acme also was showing off some newer high end art pieces including an X-Wing pilot piece and "The Don" which I posted about the other night. Gentle GiantAs I mentioned earlier, GG appears to have the Indiana Jones license as they were showing off an Indy statue and bronze bust. New Chubby characters including the Fett family, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. SideshowRemember that 2-pack I mentioned? It's not droids, it's Darth Sidious and Palpatine in 1:6 scale. During their presentation today they also showed off an early concept for an Attack of the Clones Yoda vs Dooku diorama. They also showed off a rough head sculpt for an upcoming 1:6 Indiana Jones figure. Look for photos on the Production Blog. And if you wanted to pre-order new items, the Ilum Padme went up for sale at about 12:30PM EST yesterday. As of this writing (11:30PM EST) it's still available. This is an exclusive to the Sideshow web site in the US so no exclusive piece and don't look for it at your other favorite e-tailers. It's priced at $54.99 with no edition size set. All of the photos and the piece at Comic-Con are still listed as prototypes so look for some tweaks to the figure before it ships. HasbroLots of news from Hasbro on the action figure front. First up, the Mystery Pack from Entertainment Earth is a mystery no more! All 14 figures were revealed yesterday and I'm pretty psyched about them. The pack is titled Elite Forces of the Republic and includes: ) Elite Forces of the Republic
The Mandalorian figures are a mix of retooled VOTC Fett and 2002 Jango figures except for the two females which appear to be all new. Omega Squad are repaints of the Delta Squad figures (and the original Scorch) while the ARC troopers are the new Alpha sculpt from the comic 2-pack. The standard Clone Troopers are the ROTS-41 figures with a neat skull decoration on their armor. The set is currently up for pre-order on Entertainment Earth's web site for $66.99 with an estimated ship date of November. If you liked the 30th Anniversary coin that Hasbro handed out at Celebration IV and Celebration Europe then stop by the Hasbro booth to pick up their San Diego Comic-Con coin. They also have a gold Indiana Jones coin although those figures will not be coming with coins next year. Hasbro also had stock of the action figure poster from CE that depicts the 60 30th Anniversary figures. Although news has been out for a while now, Hasbro was showing off figures from the upcoming Battlefront II action figure set. This set will have 13 figures including one set of 6 Clone Troopers and a set of 7 droids. The TAC-55 Clone Trainee figure was shown without his helmet and looks great as just a red trainee figure rather than a full fledged Trooper. The McQuarrie Rebel Trooper looks awesome in figure format and I can't wait to add him to the collection. Carded figures from the next few waves were also present and good news on Darth Malak, it appears that they fixed the googly-eyed version that was shown a week or so ago. If the carded one is a final production piece this figure is going to be a hit. Hasbro will, in fact, have Indiana Jones figures at Comic-Con. We'll be on the lookout for them later today. Hasbro already has a case set up at their booth for them but the figures aren't out yet. Between these and the confirmation that Sideshow is working on a 1:6 scale Indy figure, I'm starting to get very psyched about 2008! 7-26-2007Gentle GiantNew photos from the Gentle Giant booth have shown up on GalacticHunter.com as well as other sites. Among the new things they show are:
Although we saw it at CIV, photos of the new Bust-Ups with R2-D2 build-a-figure were also put up. This was a "no photo" piece at CIV but I'm sure some pictures leaked out. San Diego Comic-ConPhotos were rolling in last night from the various news sites that were attending preview night at SDCC. There have been a few new things that have popped up that were expected but nothing shocking yet. Hasbro is showing off carded figures from the next couple of waves as well as Battle Packs and vehicles. The AT-AP and Grievous Starfighter are both out as is the new AT-RT battle pack. New comic 2-pack figures have been spotted as well. I haven't seen anything that's a surprise yet but Friday is Star Wars day so they may wait till then to unveil more. Sideshow is showing off the Luke and Padme figures as well as Medicom's VCD C-3PO and Wicket which both look pretty incredible. I haven't seen Indy stuff from them yet, however. Gentle Giant is, however, showing off some Indy items including a bronze bust of Indy and a statue of Indy riding a horse. Not sure yet if these are GG items or imports, more info should be coming. 7-25-2007SideshowNew photos are up of Bespin Luke Skywalker and Ilum Padme. The Padme is still listed as a prototype but we finally have a good look at how the basic figure turned out. Check the thumbnails for full details.
I have to say I'm impressed with Luke. I'll probably order him as that's one of my favorite outfits from the Original Trilogy. The Padme figure, on the other hand? I don't think so. I'd like to see it in person before shelling out money for that. And, if she doesn't have hair under the cowl? Pass. San Diego Comic-Con Social Networking Cards Early photos and reports from Comic-Con are starting to roll. First up, a new license announcement with Get Solo which will allow Star Wars fans the opportunity to create custom Social Networking business cards with Star Wars graphics. Looks like the entry level is $30 for 100 basic cards or $60 for 500 of the Premium Cards. There's also a 1000 piece order available. They look to have a good selection of graphics. It'll be interesting to see how these sell. SideshowSideshow dropped some bombs on us the night before Comic-Con kicks off with the official press release that they do, in fact, have the Indiana Jones license! The license will cover 12" figures, Premium Format statues and life-size busts ranging from $70 to $600. If the low end is $70 then that's a lot of cash to splash out for a 1:6 scale figure but I'm definitely in for a Raiders of the Lost Ark Indy figure. Hopefully he'll come with an idol and the head piece for the Staff of Ra. I also want to see an Ark of the Covenant but I'm thinking that'll be a piece more like the Dejarik table. The license covers all four films so we should see some cool items over the next year or so. Next up is a sneak peek of the new "Look sir, droids" Envirorama which will debut at Comic-Con this weekend. If that's not enough for you, don't worry, we WILL be seeing Ilum Padme at Comic-Con and Sideshow even posted a quick shot of her last night. Don't forget that we'll also see the new Luke Skywalker in Bespin duds.
Remember the Real Action Heroes Maul figure? Look for a pre-order from Sideshow beginning at 1:00PM EST on August 17th. Do you like the VCD figures that Sideshow has been importing from Medicom? You're in luck, it appears that the Wicket will be coming from Sideshow as well as a C-3PO figure that I don't think we've heard about before. No photos of those two yet but look for them, probably later today. I believe these will be up for pre-order this Friday. Sideshow will also have some cool announcements on other lines such as Lord of the Rings (Hobbits!), Tomb Raider, Conan, Alien vs Predator 2 and a few other licenses. Keep an eye on Sideshow's site this weekend as they are announcing several pre-orders to start over the weekend. Padme is listed for Thursday while the VCD's are Friday and the Envirorama on Sunday, among others. Acme ArchivesIf you aren't attending Comic-Con, today is the day to pre-order your Sandtrooper Character Key and X-Wing Sketchplate. The Sandtrooper is listed for 8:00PM EST and I'm assuming the Sketchplate will go up at the same time although it's not specified on the web site. Keep your eyes on CharacterKey.com. 7-24-2007) R2-KT R2-KTThis week at Comic-Con the new R2-KT astromech figure will debut in honor of Katie Johnson. You can see the press release here. The figure will retail for $9.99 and will also be sold on-line at HasbroToyShop.com and StarWarsShop.com. MedicomIf you like the Real Action Heroes line from Medicom you're going to love their newest addition, Darth Maul! As awesome as the Sideshow version is, this one looks to be just as nice if not better. The first hint of this was back on 6/26 when Medicom also put out some info about upcoming Kubrick figures and a VCD Wicket.
Acme Archives) The Don Acme sells a limited edition giclee called "Mos Eisley Wise Guys" by Artist Sam Fout. That piece is limited to 350 pieces and is available now from Acme. As a companion piece, Fout has produced a new work titled "The Don." "The Don" will debut this week at Comic-Con but should also be available for sale on Acme's site afterwards. If the piece is the same size as "Wise Guys" then it'll be about 13 by 19 inches and run $95. No word on the edition size but we should have that Wednesday or Thursday. HasbroWant some 2008 rumors? Word on the street is we could see some comic 2-packs next year with Cade Skywalker and Darth Talon from the "Legacy" series while an Asajj figure packs in with Tol Skorr. The third set will pair off Anakin Skywalker and Durge. Maybe we'll see them this week in San Diego? I'm all for a Darth Talon so I've got my fingers crossed. 7-23-2007HasbroWhile sales of Transformers and movie related Marvel products helped Hasbro to increase sales this quarter, their second quarter profit was off due to the stock warrant buyback from Lucasfilm. The article also mentions Furreal Friends and Littlest Pet Shop as big sellers while a recall on Easy-Bake Oven also cut into profits. No mention of Star Wars. Still, revenue was up 24% over a year ago. KotobukiyaIf you liked the R2-D2 Kiriko glass from Celebration IV then you're going to like what Koto has up their sleeves for San Diego Comic-Con. Rebelscum.com is reporting that they will have two new glasses at their booth this coming weekend. One will be similar to the R2 glass but in different colors and called R4-P17 while the other is all new and is C-3PO! They're going to run $50 at the show but there are no production limits mentioned as there was with the previous R2 exclusive. SideshowCould this LA Times article about Comic-Con confirm we'll be seeing 1:6 Indiana Jones figures? It definitely seems to point to us getting a life sized bust of the intrepid adventurer. 7-22-2007Gentle GiantIf you joined Gentle Giants new Premier Guild collector club you should be on the lookout for the first of several member gifts that will be coming this year. First up is a poster advertising the Max Rebo band. Members can pick theirs up in person at Comic-Con or they will be shipped out beginning the following week. HasbroThis past Friday's Q&A answers from Hasbro had some cool tidbits as usual. Not the least of which is that the formerly Toys-R-Us exclusive green (Anakin) and blue (Obi-Wan) Jedi Starfighters will be re-released in 2008. Look for them, sans figure, in the $20 vehicle line in closed boxes. TargetIf you like clearance prices on your Star Wars figures then Target is the place to be. Their high priced Vintage Thirtieth Anniversary Figures have been on clearance for about three weeks now but as of this past Thursday they were 50% off or about $5.98. I picked up openers of Han, Leia and Luke and a second Snowtrooper. For $23 and change that's a much better price than paying $47 at original retail. 7-21-2007Acme Archives If you are not attending San Diego Comic-Con this year but would still like to pick up the Sandtrooper Character Key and X-Wing Sketchplate you should free up some time around 8:00PM EST on Wednesday, July 25th. Per the Acme reps, that's what time they will go on sale for non-attendees. There will be a limited number available so order early if you want to secure either piece. San Diego Comic-ConWe're only a few days away from this year's Comic-Con and hopefully we're going to see some cool things. What I expect:
Friday will be Star Wars day at Comic-Con so there should be plenty of info coming out. I'll try to pick it up from the various sites that will be reporting from the con so you'll have "one stop shopping" for all the hot info. 7-20-2007SideshowAccording to Sideshow's web site, we should be seeing a Bespin Luke Skywalker figure debuted at Comic-Con next week. Pre-orders for the figure will go up on August 10th at 1:00PM EST. In the newsletter that came out last night there was also a hint at other Star Wars product that will debut at Comic-Con. Could we possibly see, finally, the Ilum Padme figure? I've also seen some rumors of a 2-pack, possibly. Could our favorite droid duo be in the works? HasbroMore info has appeared on some web sites about upcoming Battle Packs. One is for a Jabba band pack. What exactly could be in it we're not sure yet but probably Max Reebo, Droopy and Sy at least. Maybe some dancers or newer figures like Rappertunie. JediDefender.com updates with a photo of an AT-RT Driver from the upcoming AT-RT Patrol Battle Pack that will be showing up at Target later this year. Finally, Toys-R-Us.com updates with photos of the new Y-Wing fighter exclusive that should be hitting stores in September. They also have pre-orders up for the new TIE Interceptor and Galactic Heroes Cinema Scene packs, Battle for Naboo and Hoth. The GH and TIE Fighter are listed as shipping in August. 7-19-2007Mace Windu Maquette)
Mace Windu Maquette Gentle Giant finally finishes off the Animated Clone Wars maquette line with Mace Windu! This piece will be a ShopStarWars.com exclusive and debut on Friday, July 20th. Limited to 1,000 pieces, the maquette will be available to Hyperspace members for three days before any leftovers will go on sale to the general public. The maquette should ship on July 31st so we won't have long to wait to see this on our doorstep. HasbroIf you like exclusive Battle Packs you may like the upcoming Toys-R-Us set titled Arena Encounter. It includes a Reek, Acklay and Nexu along with Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme. 4-inches.de debuted photos of the set yesterday. Everything appears to be a repack and there may or may not be any paint deco updates. The figures, from the photos on 4-inches, appear to be less than stellar versions of the various characters. I don't think we have a price on this yet but plan on it not being cheap. If the Bantha set is over $40 this will be as well. While you're checking out the photos of the Battle Pack, also look for new photos of the Saga Legends figures we'll be seeing later this year. 7-17-2007) Dred Priest EE Mystery Pack UpdateMaybe we won't have to wait till Comic-Con to see all 14 figures from the Entertainment Earth Mystery pack. The other day an image hit in Toy Fare of a black Republic Commando and today we get a photo of the newest Mandalore, Dred Priest. From one of the hints in Adam Pawlus' Q&A column on GalaticHunter.com it would appear that we may be getting all of Omega Squad, unless they're all the same. But, either way, more Mandalorians is good news! 7-16-2007) Rebels and Imperials Wizards of the CoastThe new retail 2-packs from Wizards of the Coast are out. Titled "Rebels and Imperials," these packs have re-released pieces in them from previous sets. So, if you missed any of the pieces before, here's a second shot at them. The set has 24 pieces and they do have a new numbering scheme but the statistics on the cards look to be the same as the pieces from the original sets. I picked this 2-pack up at Target for $4.99 and pulled a Dagobah Luke which was originally from the Bounty Hunters expansion and a Stormtrooper, originally from Rebel Storm. R2-Q5 WastebasketIf you enjoyed the R2-D2 wastebasket then check out the newest incarnation, R2-Q5. This was posted over on the Blister.jp web site. Thanks to Doc for the heads up.
7-15-2007 Hallmark R2-D2 and Jawa HallmarkIf you collect the Hallmark ornaments this is your weekend! Hallmark Gold Crown stores are holding their Ornament Premiere this weekend which includes bonus points for purchase and a first look at what will be adorning your tree come December. The local store had R2-D2 and Jawa along with both scenes, "The Adventure Begins" with the Millennium Falcon and "A Jedi Legacy Revealed" with Luke, Obi-Wan and C-3PO from A New Hope. I don't recall if the Tusken Raider was on display at my store but limited quantities should be available this weekend. ) X-Wing Sketchplate Acme ArchivesAlong with the Sandtrooper Character Key, Acme Archives will also be debuting a new Sketchplate at San Diego Comic-Con, an X-Wing Fighter! Sporting graphics based on Joe Johnston's sketches, the piece is limited to 1,000 pieces and will retail for $35. It'll go up for pre-order for Comic-Con attendees on July 16th at 2:00PM EST. Non-attendees will have a chance to order their Sketchplate beginning on July 25th. Head over to Characterkey.com to place your orders beginning on Monday. 7-14-2007HasbroA couple good pieces of news have made it out of Celebration Europe since Friday, not the least of which are photos of the last wave of 2007 30th Anniversary Figures. I updated the TAC Checklist but as a quick rundown, we finally have confirmation on the following Wave 8 figures:
Overall they all look nice but I'm interested to see Jango without his poncho. The Clone Trooper trainee should be awesome but I need to see photos with the helmet off. Voolvif Monn and the McQ Rebel Trooper are the highlights of the wave for me with Voolvif being my favorite. With Roron Corobb and Yoda on Kybuck also coming, plus Foul Moudama last year it's been a great run of CW cartoon characters. I should mention that the photos are actually from a TAC poster that Hasbro is giving away at Celebration Europe. It's very similar to the ROTS poster from 2005 and has all 60 figures pictured on it. Hopefully Hasbro will have this poster at San Diego to make it easier for us to pick it up in the US. I'm sure if the figures are on this poster we should see all of them at Comic-Con in person. ) Celebration IV Medallions Celebration IV MedallionsI finally finished off my set of Medallions from CIV! The last one to arrive was Luke Skywalker and, because of a shipping mix-up, the seller sent me a bonus piece, a test of the R2-D2 medallion. I'll have to order a display case from RebelScum.com to put them in and I'll see if I can find an Air-Tite holder for the R2. 7-12-2007) SonyIf you like playing games and enjoy the PSP you're going to like the new PSP 2. It's not a huge overhaul of the popular gaming system, but the PSP 2 is slimmer, lighter and should have longer battery life and faster game loads. What does that have to do with Star Wars? Well check out the Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron edition with Darth Vader graphics. It should ring in at $199. Look for it in October. The Force UnleashedWhile we're talking about games, look for the new trailer for "The Force Unleashed" tonight during "Entertainment Tonight" at 7:00pm. Check your local listings for exact times. Entertainment EarthWell, didn't take long and we know another figure from EE's upcoming mystery pack; a black Republic Commando re-paint. The photo of the figure is in the newest issue of "Toy Fare" magazine which is hitting mailboxes and your local comic store. I wonder if other figs will hit between now and Comic-Con? 7-11-2007)
Entertainment EarthEE.com updated yesterday with another character from their 14 figure mystery pack. This time it's Rav Bralor, a red-clad, female Mandalorian warrior. Along with Llats Ward and two Clone Troopers that's four figures so far with 10 more to go. Look for the full reveal at San Diego Comic-Con unless EE decides to throw us a bone and preview some more before then. Gentle GiantIf you're looking for the pre-orders for pickup at San Diego Comic-Con you're going to have to wait an extra day. Due to a server upgrade the pre-order has been pushed out till 7/12. Lego From Bricks to Bothans has photos of the new Lego AT-AT walker. Set 10178 looks to come with minifigures of Luke, AT-AT Commander (Veers?), AT-AT Driver and a Snowtrooper while the vehicle itself will be motorized! This set has been rumored for a couple of months now but I think this is the first confirmation of it. I can't see a part count on the box but it has to be at least a $100 set if not more. It appears to be similar in size to the previous release as well. Head over to the FBTB.net forums for a couple photos and join in on the conversation. HasbroIn last Friday's Question and Answer session with Hasbro they gave us a final count on the McQuarrie Concept action figures for 2007. Turns out there will actually be 13 figures rather than the previously announced 12. That's due mainly to the two packs that are being issued as each figure in those sets are counted as an individual figure. Although Hasbro didn't confirm the final figure for the year, rumors and the new figure stand pack have all pointed to it being a concept Rebel Trooper. So the final list of McQuarrie Concepts looks like this, in order of release:
I'm pretty happy with that list for the year! Also, I've read several forum posts with people, for some reason, speculating that the Concept General Grievous shown at CIV was part of the McQuarrie line. I don't know where that came from. However, good news on that figure, it'll be coming shortly after Comic-Con and is a ShopStarWars.com exclusive and will come with a coin. Grievous was originally slated to be the SSW.com Comic-Con exclusive but wasn't ready in time so they'll have the Shadow Scout Trooper at the show instead. 7-10-2007Gentle GiantIf you're going to San Diego Comic-Con this year and collect GG items then head over to their blog for info on pre-orders which will begin tomorrow. The big Star Wars items include Commander Cody, animated Yoda and R2-D2 maquette, the Han and Luke Stormtrooper Bust-Ups 2-pack and the Darth Vader Jumbo Chubby. Galactic HeroesJediDefender.com is reporting that the next wave of Galactic Heroes have been found at retail. I'm really psyched for this as there's an AT-AT Driver/AT-AT Commander 2-pack in this wave. 7-9-2007Acme ArchivesDebuting at this year's San Diego Comic-Con will be a new Character Key, Sandtrooper. The edition size is set at 1,000 pieces with a retail price of $30 and limited to one per person. For attendees of Comic-Con, you can preorder for pickup beginning July 16th. There will also be a limited number of keys available for non-attendees which will go up for sale on July 25th. Check out Acme's site for more information. Also don't forget that the next key will be the TIE Fighter Pilot which will debut at Celebration Europe. TargetI can now confirm that many Target stores are clearance pricing the Vintage 30th Anniversary Collection figures. The local Target had them marked to $8.48 beginning last Thursday. There are still plenty of Han, Luke and Leia figures while the Snowtrooper seems to be the fastest seller. Bossk and IG-88 are also hanging around. If you haven't checked your Target store in a few days, head over and see if you can find yourself a bargain. 7-6-2007Target Clearance?Some reports are coming in of clearance tags on VTAC figures at Target. Reported prices range from $6.88 to $8.38. Haven't see this locally but I'll be sure to keep my eyes open. SideshowAccording to the newest newsletter from Sideshow we can look forward to both Leia Boushh and Asajj Ventress in the next 30 days. Great news for those of us waiting on Asajj! And, if you stop by the Sideshow web site they've posted QTVRs for both the RAH Boba Fett and Black Hole Stormtrooper VCD. 7-5-2007AT-AT DriverI recently picked up a new first shot of the upcoming Attacktix AT-AT Driver so I broke out the camera and snapped a couple photos. While I was shooting I also decided to pull out my POTF2 first shot, which I've had for a while, and take some individual photos. )
) AttacktixThe Attactix figure came from an eBay auction that I won about two weeks ago. It's in non-production colors but is complete. The gun even has a spring in it. I didn't load it to see if the mechanism worked, though. The base it's attached to has all of the usual game info but no stickers or anything of that nature. I'm not sure if it's the same base the production piece will come with, as it's not released yet, or if they just put it together to see how it all fit. The figure itself doesn't have any copyright info that I can see but the black base does have 2005 copyright info and country of origin. As I mentioned, the production piece hasn't been released yet. I'm uncertain of the release date but they did show off that wave of figures at Celebration IV. )
) )
Power of the Force 2This next piece I've had for a few years and can be seen on the AT-AT Driver page, I just decided to get some single photos of it. It originally came from The Earth and is shot in non-production colors. This figure does have the copyright info stamped on his feet, as you can see from the photo, and even comes with his weapon. This was the first pre-production figure that I added to my AT-AT Driver focus so it's an interesting piece to me. I would love to find a first shot of the AT-AT Driver that came with the POTF2 release of the AT-AT vehicle back in 1997. To my knowledge, I've never seen one come up for sale on the open market. Of the modern figures available at retail now, or soon to be released, I'd love to find a first shot, or other pre-production piece, for the Unleashed, Galactic Heroes and Transformers figures. We'll have to see what turns up. Around the Toy AisleAnyone that's been to a store in the last month will have seen all the Transformers figures that are out in support of the new movie. Personally, I've been walking past them on the way to the Star Wars figures but yesterday I stopped and took a closer look. Having just seen the film on Tuesday, and loving it, I was interested in the vehicle designs. There are some nice Optimus Prime and Megatron figures in both the $20 and $40 range while the other robots are well represented in $10 and less lines. The one figure I was looking for was Bumblebee but he was in the classic Camaro style and not the modern version. I can also say that I would have liked to have seen some die-cast metal versions of the hero vehicles from the film. The plastic versions just don't seem to quite capture the screen characters. Pirates of the Caribbean still has a decent presence at both Target and Wal-Mart and seems to move a little but I can't get a good feel for how many kids might be picking up this line. Spider-Man 3 figures are still hanging out but don't seem to be moving quickly at the local stores. Same with the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer figures. I think Hasbro is going to be doing better business with the Star Wars and Transformer lines just based on the depth of the lines out there right now. Even the current waves of Marvel Legends seem to be lackluster and don't move quickly. That may be due to the fact that many of the high profile characters have already been done more than anything else. Ben 10 continues to move quickly locally with plenty of restock on the $5 line of action figures. They sell briskly at both Target and Wal-Mart here while some of the more expensive figures and vehicles hang around longer. I get the urge to buy that line every time I see it but so far have held out. GI Joe is almost nonexistent locally with Wal-Mart being the only store that has had any newer waves of figures. But Target has had new stock of the 8" Sigma Six figures in over a year while Wal-Mart skipped most of them till the last 2 months or so. Both stores are mostly out of the 2" product but things may turn around with the new 25th Anniversary Real American Hero product on the way and the revamp of the 8" Sigma Six line. Wal-Mart will also be getting some awesome looking exclusives beginning in August. The line will consist of vintage style 12" Adventure Team figures with Kung Fu Grip and reproduction boxes. Priced at about $10 this line, hopefully, will sell well. I know I'm looking to pick up at least one of each including Land, Sea and Air Adventures, Man of Action and Adventurer. Star Wars figures have been kind of stagnant the last couple of weeks but Target has turned up the newest Saga Legends figures at least twice. Target and Wal-Mart both, however, continue to receive cases of late waves of the Saga Collection figures. Since SL and TSC share an assortment number I'm guessing that will continue till the distribution centers clean out all the TSC stuff. Since K-Mart turned up Wave 3 of the TAC figures a couple weeks ago, Wal-Mart has had at least one case. I found a McQuarrie Chewbacca there the other day which was a great find. Target is the only store still stocking the Titanium vehicles, although intermittently, but the most recent stock seemed to be lackluster. There were a couple V-Wings but the rest were all repaints. I still haven't seen the Firespray Interceptor or the Classic Cylon Raider and Battlestar Pegasus from the Battlestar Galactica lines. The local Wal-Mart doesn't appear to be carrying the VTAC figures and since they didn't carry the VTSC line last year, I'm not surprised. Target, meanwhile, can't give away VTAC figures and at $11.99 I can understand why. Something that did surprise me this week was to find two each of the Sith Infiltrator and white TIE Fighter vehicles at Wal-Mart. They weren't stocked near the Star Wars figures and, as a matter of fact, weren't even in the toy section! They were on a shelf near the lawn and garden department surrounded by "clearance" toys that have been rotting there for 6 months. Very odd. I may have to rescue one of those Infiltrators before too long. Star Wars Lego seems to move well at Target as every time I mosey to that end of the toy aisle at Target I find less stock available. As I've mentioned before, I thought that Lego did a great job of finding lower priced sets to put on shelves this year and it seems others may agree. I see there are some new Mars sets and it looks like there will be a couple Harry Potters sets as well. I actually saw a kid looking for Power Ranger figures at Target yesterday. They're still selling, who knew? The DC figures, meanwhile, don't seem to move at Target and I haven't even bothered to pay them much attention lately. TMNT figures sit at both Target and WM. I can't begin to make a call on the Japanese cartoon tie-in figures and toys. I don't know enough about them to know if they have any support and since I don't know the characters, couldn't tell if any of them sell. In the games department both the Wizards of the Coast and WizKids Star Wars offerings are available at Target. I'm assuming that the new WizKids Pocket Models games for both Star Wars and Transformers will be available at Wal-Mart as well but nothing has popped up yet. Hot Wheels are always a major seller and the stock of cars at Target, WM and K-Mart rotates through very quickly. Couldn't begin to make an educated statement on that except to note that the Mystery cars in the Hot Wheels line this year was an interesting gimmick. Enough of one that they roped me into about six or eight purchases. The rest of the aisles, made up mostly of girls, young children and educational type toys, is not my thing. 7-3-2007Star Wars ApparelStarWars.com updated last night with some new fashion items from Marc Ecko. The hoodies look kind of cool including one that looks like Boba Fett's armor. HasbroThe web site 4-inches.de broke images of the new AT-RT battle pack that we should see later this year at Target. It comes with two AT-RT vehicles, 2 AT-RT drivers and a Commander that appears to use the Bacara sculpt. SideshowSideshow will be running some nice sales on Wednesday, July 4th. Also look for giveaways and Independence Day trivia. |
||||||||||||||
 |
)
)
)
)
)
)