This morning I found the mother lode of Vintage Wave 9 (6 cases worth) at my local Walmart. This store typically is very slow for new merchandise so it just emphasizes the point that you need to check your stores consistently, even the bad ones, it will eventually pay off.
If that is little comfort, fear not, we are going to be giving away a Vintage Collection Bastila Shan, Walrus Man and Rebel Soldier on facebook. Watch for details this Friday!
Dan and Jerry are back and they kick things off with a lunch-time store run. Jerry finds and reviews the Target exclusive Tauntaun set, “The Search for Luke Skywalker.” But, the big news this week was the announcement of the 20 characters eligible to be the 2013 Fan’s Choice figure. Did your favorite figure make the list? Listen and find out. Also, Dan and Jerry offer their “certain point of view” on which ones you may want to save your vote for. All that and a run-down of the Legendary Scale Darth Maul that Sideshow put up for order this week! Listen and see what you think about Dan and Jerry’s picks!
Regular Version:
http://www.swactionnews.com/Podcasts/SWAN318.MP3
Enhanced Version
http://www.swactionnews.com/Podcasts/Enhanced/SWAN318.M4A
The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with the addition of the ARC Trooper Commander (VC54) from The Vintage Collection.
PROS: Hasbro delivers an amazing rendition of fan favorite “Captain Fordo” here in the ARC Trooper Commander. Great options for display and/or customizing with the switch out clone trooper gear. Awesome head sculpt and loads of articulation with the use of the new (VC45) clone trooper body.
CONS: Might still be tough to find in any quantity (luckily Hasbro intends to reship him later). Probably could have included the standard issue DC-15A blaster rifle for more weapon options.
Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this figure is worth adding to your collection.
You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.
Sideshow Collectibles tonight announces that collectors will soon be able to add a holiday version of the 1:6 scale Yoda to their collections! Check out their latest video or visit Hot Toys for more images. Remember to keep an eye on upcoming newsletters for your chance to pre-order this festive edition!
It’s that time of year again! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and with that comes those Black Friday deals. Promotions have started leaking online and Toys”R”Us looks to have some great discounts planned the highlight of which being the Death Star Trench Run for $79.99 and the Republic Attack Shuttle for $69.99. Head over to TheBlackFriday.com to check out a scan of the ToysRUs Big Book for these deals and more!
If you see any more Black Friday promotions, be sure to send them our way!
UPDATE: Thanks to our facebook reader Paul Magnus Kelly for pointing out that these are actually promos from their current “Big Book” catalog hitting mailboxes now.
The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with the addition of the exclusive Luke Skywalker’s Tauntaun from Target from The Vintage Collection.
PROS: While the new Tauntaun here is of superb quality and design, the Vintage packaging is the real draw to this exclusive.
CONS: The price. The price. The price. Wow, $24.99 for a single “beast” while a battle pack with tauntaun and 2 figures retails for the same thing just inches down the shelf???? For shame Target. Although there is no corresponding “Hoth Luke” on the shelves right now, nor has there been since 2007, Hasbro has promised a new Luke for 2012.
Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this set is worth adding to your collection.
You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.
MedicomToy updates today announcing the 12″ Ultimate Unison Han Solo. This high-end piece features a highly articulated body, detailed outfit based on his appearance in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and includes his signature Endor Trench Coat and breathing mask. Look for this to retail for just north of $350.00 US.
The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with the addition of the Search for Luke Skywalker exclusive box set from Target.
PROS: While the figures in this set are pretty top notch, the real star of this set is the all-new tauntaun. It’s nicely articulated and has a decent deco. The price for this set is also attractive at $24.99 considering each figure would retail for about $8 bucks each. Han gets a nice (and necessary) upgrade here with ball-jointed hips and a soft good section of his coat both of which allow him to ride the tauntaun more naturally. The Rebel Trooper is essentially a straight repack save for a new artillery remote accessory that was teased way back when the Hoth Rebel Trooper was first announced in the Legacy Collection line in 2008.
CONS: The faults with this set are mininal but warranted. First, Han is a good figure overall, but the color of the coat is too blue, even for advocates of the “blue coat” theory. Also, Han’s removable cap is such a poor design as it doesn’t fit his head properly because of interference from the separate coat collar/hood accessory.
Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this set is worth adding to your collection.
You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.
With the new exclusives hitting the aisles at Target, one thing is for certain, Vintage packaging sells. I took it upon myself to create my own “exclusive” that could have/should have been released by Hasbro – and with no new tooling costs or over-inflated pricing.
In essence, it is the new “Search for Luke Skywalker” set but reworked to take advantage of the popular Vintage packaging design. This version switches out the new, super-articulated, Hoth Han for a more screen (and scene) accurate sculpt and it also drops the superfluous Hoth Rebel Trooper, remedying the fact that there isn’t a Hoth Luke in stores to tie into Target’s exclusive “Luke’s Tauntaun”. How’s that for poor retail planning?
By now you’ve heard or seen that both new beasts have the non-functional open belly plug, but with a little prying and some extra guts from the 2003 Toys”R”Us exclusive “Battle of Hoth” multi-pack, you can take Han’s cool new tauntaun and make it even better.
Hopefully Hasbro sees that with a little more planning and minimal development costs, it is possible to get more play value than you can swing a lightsaber at for kids and adult collectors alike.
Hasbro informs us that the answers for the questions we submitted back on 9/16, that were originally scheduled to be back to us on 10/13, then rescheduled for delivery after NYCC, have been officially cancelled. New questions were due to them this morning and those will be returned to us (hopefully) on November 7th. We’ll see…..
Feel free to keep submitting questions in our forums.