Tag Archives: jedi temple archives

Collecting News, Site News

Update: Black Series Limited Availability?

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052913black

Fans have already been skeptical about the upcoming Black Series due to the uninspired assortment of figures we’ve seen so far.

And now, our friends at Jedi Temple Archives are reporting some potentially disturbing news with the future of the Black Series.   Nothing is confirmed yet, but it appears that retail-wise, Hasbro may only be distributing these figures to North America.  Click here to read what they have uncovered.  We are keeping our fingers crossed for our overseas friends that this is not the case.

EDIT: Enhance your calm everyone. Preview (Diamand Comic) will only be selling these to their existing accounts that reside US/Canada. Any other accounts will have to find other means of order fullfillment for these lines. – Jayson

Collecting News, Toyguide Updates

Toyguide Update: Captain Rex (CW04) (Yakface & JTA Collaboration)

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2013CW04_preview

The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with a special series covering the 2013 “foreign exclusive” assortment of Clone Wars figures. At first blush, you may think that we were only missing out on some simple repacks and repaints, but that is not the case – there is a fair amount of “new” to be had. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Jedi Temple Archives to run down the details and minutia of this final wave of animated series-style figures.

We continue on with the addition of Captain Rex (CW04) – who gets an articulation update, a revised deco as well as a brand new gun.

PROS: Hasbro has addressed one of the major complaint that collectors had about the previous version of this figure. The legs now feature ball-jointed knees making dynamic poses possible. Hasbro also introduced a new Z-6 rotary cannon accessory that is not only more to scale with the figure, but also features a (manually) rotating barrel and articulated handle and grip.

CONS: Despite it’s gain in articulation, the deco (for me) is a step backward as I like the battle-worn treatment the previous version had and the omission of some of the “kill marks” seems like a very unnecessary revision.

Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this figure is worth adding to your collection and be sure to check out JTA’s full Research Droids Review for this figure as well.

You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.

Collecting News, Toyguide Updates

Toyguide Update: Anakin Skywalker (CW03) (Yakface & JTA Collaboration)

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2013CW03_Anakin_preview

The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with a special series covering the 2013 “foreign exclusive” assortment of Clone Wars figures. At first blush, you may think that we were only missing out on some simple repacks and repaints, but that is not the case – there is a fair amount of “new” to be had. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Jedi Temple Archives to run down the details and minutia of this final wave of animated series-style figures.

We continue on with the addition of Anakin Skywalker (CW03) – who gets a new coat of paint and new parts as well.

PROS: Hasbro tweaks the previous release of Anakin (again), upgrading the head sculpt to a more series-accurate profile  and, in a strange move, retooled both forearms as well. This retooling along with a significant redeco of the outfit result in the best animated Anakin Skywalker (so far).

CONS: Obviously, availability is an issue with this figure, but also my sample has a awful paint job with several instances of overspray/paint bleeding. Hopefully this is a fluke and not a wide spread problem throughout the production run.

Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this figure is worth adding to your collection and be sure to check out JTA’s full Research Droids Review for this figure as well.

You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.

Collecting News, Toyguide Updates

Toyguide Update: R2-D2 (CW05) (Yakface & JTA Collaboration)

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2013_CWR2_preview

The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with a special series covering the 2013 “foreign exclusive” assortment of Clone Wars figures. At first blush, you may think that we were only missing out on some simple repacks and repaints, but that is not the case – there is a fair amount of “new” to be had. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Jedi Temple Archives to run down the details and minutia of this final wave of animated series-style figures.

We continue on with the addition of R2-D2 (CW05) – not a simple repaint here…. this is an all-new mold (for him).

PROS: For this latest iteration of R2 from the Clone Wars, Hasbro has repurposed the Build-A-Droid/Droid Factory sculpt first used on the 2011 R7-D4 figure. The result is a far better representation of Artoo from the series and a far better sculpt overall. Since it utilizes the build-a-droid platform there are plenty of customizing opportunities thanks to its parts cross-compatibility with other B.A.Ds.

CONS: For R2-D2 collectors or fans of astromechs in general, not having this figure as part of your collection may hurt a bit. Thankfully, his availability on the secondary market shouldn’t be as scarce as with some of the other figures in the assortment.

Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this figure is worth adding to your collection and be sure to check out JTA’s full Research Droids Review for this figure as well.

You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.

Collecting News, Toyguide Updates

Toyguide Update: 501st Legion Clone Trooper (Yakface & JTA Collaboration)

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2013CW06_preview

The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today kicking off a special series covering the 2013 “foreign exclusive” assortment of Clone Wars figures. At first blush, you may think that we were only missing out on some simple repacks and repaints, but that is not the case – there is a fair amount of “new” to be had. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Jedi Temple Archives to run down the details and minutia of the final wave of animated series-style figures.

We start things off with the addition of the 501st Legion Clone Trooper (CW06) – a character design that debuted during the final arc in Season 5 of The Clone Wars.

PROS: Hasbro has taken the opportunity to give us one new character offering for the sub-line’s swan song. The deco for the 501st “Jet Pack” Trooper (as I call him) is very distinctive with its vibrant blue unit flashes as well as red accents that truly set this figure apart from prior 501st Legion clones. Don’t be surprised if you see of few of these costumes make their way into the 501st Legion.

CONS: Availability. Availability. Availability. You’ll have to call in a favor to a friend from The Great White North (Canada) or across the pond (Europe) to obtain this figure unless you want to pay double (or triple in some cases) on eBay.

Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this figure is worth adding to your collection and be sure to check out JTA’s full Research Droids Review for this figure as well.

You can also weigh in with your impressions on the figures we add to our toyguide on facebook and in our forums.

Collecting News

Giant Size Darth Vader from Jakks

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Our friends at Jedi Temple Archives have posted word that Jakks Pacific have acquired the rights to sell Star Wars products and one of their first offerings is a Giant Size Darth Vader. These extra large figures are 31″ tall, feature multiple points of articulation with incredible detail and sculpt. You may recall their Batman figure from The Dark Knight Rises last year. Head on over to JTA for a mockup of the figure and packaging and watch for this figure’s release later this year.

Artwork, Customizing, Site News

The Enloe Trials: 2012 Roundup

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This past year saw a return to the photonovel realm for Rykrof Enloe, with The Enloe Trials photonovel series.  I really didn’t think after taking a year off from these things that I’d find it in myself to come back, but thanks to a lot of encouragement from our forum members, I decided to launch a new series for Rykrof propelling him toward the events of the Original Trilogy.

Things kicked off back in February with The Baron’s Crusade; the prologue to this new series.  In it, Imperial Baron Tylin Gere has begun a personal quest to acquire an ancient Sith artifact, and will stop at nothing to acquire it.

Soon after, Emperor Palpatine informs Darth Vader of the rogue actions of Tylin Gere in Seeds of Insurrection.   Meanwhile, former Jedi Master Kala Mly Shundi contacts Rykrof Enloe on Urelia in an attempt to persuade Rykrof to join a small but growing rebellion against the Empire.

It isn’t long before Imperial troops arrive at Rykrof’s home, sent by none other than Tylin Gere.  In this chapter, Atrocity, Rykrof loses his father, and is forced to work for Tylin if he ever wants to see his wife or son alive again.

Thank you to everyone who has helped support this series (you know who you are), as the photonovel craze from several years ago has died down significantly across the Star Wars boards everywhere.  But in 2013, more exiting adventures are in store for Rykrof Enloe — so stay tuned for more action as the year progresses!

I’d also like to throw a shout out to our friends at Jeditemplearchives for their support too!