After the long holiday weekend, I hit up my usual Target stop this morning and found that they have placed their exclusive Luke’s Tauntaun, Landspeeder and Search for Luke Skywalker sets on clearance for $17.48 each. I also noticed that the Clone Wars Republic Attack Shuttle was down to $55.48. Your store’s clearance items may differ, but if you are looking for some post-holiday deals, start checking your stores ASAP as they won’t last long.
The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with the addition of the Walmart Exclusive AT-RT Walker with ARF Trooper from The Clone Wars Collection.
PROS: After a delayed release, this set finally makes it way to retailers just in time for Christmas. A decent, if not odd, deco on the ARF trooper – kind of the Star Wars version of digital camo I guess. AT-RT Walker is a great, episode specific, repaint of the ’09 mold.
CONS: Availability is hit or miss right now. The lack of a Captain Keeli or Master Di on the pegs (or in the foreseeable future for that matter) makes for a lonely ARF Trooper and/or poor retail planning.
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.
The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with the addition of the Walmart Exclusive BARC Speeder Bike with Clone Trooper Buzz from The Clone Wars Collection.
PROS: After a delayed release, the set finally makes it way to retailers just in time for Christmas. Decent deco on the trooper (which recycles the “Jesse” sculpt). Fits well on the speeder nicely due to the ball jointed hips. Look great with the other 41st Elite clones released thus far.
CONS: Availability is hit or miss right now. Some might not like the sculpt selection for the figure and the fact that the figure and speeder included does not match the sculpts shown on the back of the packaging.
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.
The Walmart Exclusive Clone Wars Ultimate Gift Sets have started showing up at store across the countr, and while there is nothing new in this set, it might make for a great gift for some collector this holiday season. Thanks to our friend Dan at SWCollector.com for the report.
Originally revealed at SDCC as a Target exclusive, Hasbro has confirmed through this week’s QnA session with Echo Base News that the Battlefields of Naboo Battle Pack has been cancelled for 2012. It’s possible that it may see release in the future, but for now, it can be removed from your 2012 “to-do” lists.
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 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.
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.
Upon “playing” with my new Search for Luke Skywalker set tonight, I decided to perform abdominal surgery* on the new Tauntaun to see how roomy the interior might be should Hasbro decide to make an “open belly” version. I’m sad to report that unless they make him with removable legs, there will be no way to have the new Hoth Luke fit (convincingly) inside the steamy guts of the fell-beast. You can check out facebook page for a better look.
*The belly plug is affixed with glue in a few spots but, if you’re careful, you can remove it with little to no damage to the tauntaun.