While many of us are losing more and more passion for the hobby due to Hasbro’s distribution problems, there is a glimmer of hope when you see a report like this, where forum member Jedighost009 just scored the latest wave of Black Series figures at Kmart.  Reports are also coming in more of these figures making appearances at Target the past week, so don’t give up and keep sharing those finds in the forums.

Personal Note:  Can you imagine if Hasbro had a better plan in place and had launched the first wave with what’s packed in Wave 3?  Geeze… it’s hard to not accuse of them being completely responsible for their own problems sometimes.

By most accounts, this has been a dismal year at retail for the Star Wars line, starting with a massive overproduction of the first wave of vintage, followed up by Hasbro carrying forward far too many TPM figures in subsequent waves that ended up creating a terrible logjam at retail – so many amazing figures this year have been nearly impossible to score at retail thanks to this disaster. 

However, there are still rays of hope, as with Christmas rapidly approaching, retailers are beginning to stock the pegs a little more frequently with waves we expected to be able to find over the summer (better late than never, right?). 

If you’re brave enough to fight the crowds at retail, and are persistent enough, you just might be able to score a few late gems this year – I’ve personally seen the Evazan wave three different times (all at different retailers) over the past two weeks, and other forum members are reporting similar finds.

With all the frustration collectors have had to endure this year, one thing that seemed to really have people excited was the upcoming K-Mart exclusive AT-ST.  Well, that might have just gone out the window.

The good news is, this has now been found at retail… but the bad news is, it appears that loose collectors are going to be upset when they open the box – click on the image above for the scoop on the inconsistent paint job that Hasbro gave this thing, and thanks to forum member Jedighost009 for the pics.

The gang at Sandtroopers.com have revealed an upcoming K-Mart exclusive that’s sure to be popular with fans – a vintage style packaged AT-ST!

This repaint of the previous Wal-Mart and Target offering has new paint deco, but appears to lack having the amazing new AT-ST driver that was part of the Target offering previously.

Still, it looks damn cool and this is one that I know I’ll be wanting to track down (or two!).

Yesterday we reported that Wal-mart is planning on offering the new Imperial AT-AT for $79.99 starting on 11/7 and if you follow us on facebook, you’ll see we also posted that K-Mart is doing one better… it is currently selling it online and in-store for $49.99! Wow! Now that’s a low price!

The Yakface Toyguide updates resume today with the addition of the K-Mart Exclusive Jodo Kast (Bounty Hunter)

PROS: A major improvement over the first attempt back in 2008. Great detailing on the armor/jumpsuit and the sculpt selection couldn’t have been better.

CONS: None really unless you live in an area without a K-Mart. A bloodied face paint job would have really put this figure over the top. Helmet is a little snug which lends itself to deforming over the head (especially over the nose). Ships with the belt assembled backward but easily correctable if you are an opener.

Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this figure is worth adding to your collection.