Aloha! Welcome to Jango's Jargon, Volume 3!
This week, I've decided to go ahead and address the issues
of the new repacks. You'll come to find that repacks have
been around about as long as that crappy Orn Free Taa
figure, from last April, at your local Wal Mart.
History lesson: While Jawa's had moderate screen time in the
OT, they ended up getting their figures put on the ROTJ
action figure cards which was both 2 years later, and not to
mention, Jawa-less.
Fast Forward: What's old is new again. Our 2003 Saga line is
seeing a re-introduction of classic POTF2 era figs like Leia,
Han Solo, and C3-P0. There was nothing wrong with the
earlier C3P0's? The commtech Han was readily available in
1999, and Leia.. words fail me. The only explanation I could
offer is Hasbro's standard of keeping main characters
readily available at retail, i.e. the new Luke, Chewbacca,
Vader, etc.
Hasbro did make one smart move in repackaging the harder to
find, last wave of POTJ w/ the gimmick less backing cards.
Of course, they decided to spice it up with 4 variants of
the Imperial Officer, and strip Teebo of his accessories, to
throw in a bubble and make it look "new".
The move to repack a figure like Kamino Escape Jango is
obvious. Hasbro pulled an Episode 1. Overproduction; which
leads me to the big story.
Repackaging. It ain't as big a surprise when you look at
what has happened since the new trilogy was introduced. In
the summer of 2000, Sams Club took in alot of the
bastardized Episode 1 figures in the form of 2 Packs, as
well as CommTech Reader w/ Figure packs. Needless to say,
they faired as well as they did the first time at retail.
Skip ahead 3 years. Hasbro has been the Dolomite of
collecting, pimpin' the leftovers to the same people who
rejected them in the first place.
K Mart Saga 2 Packs
BJ's Saga 2 Packs
Best Buy "Bounty Hunter" 2 Pk (Game + Unleashed
Jango)
K Mart "Collector Series" - First 16 in a Case
Kay Bee Jedi Starfighter Pack w/ Pilot Kenobi
Kay Bee 4 Packs
Kay Bee "Lightsaber Bundles" w/ 3 Figs +
Lightsaber
You learn something new everyday. Apparently, Hasbro hasn't
though. Until next time!