There could be some really off the wall stuff that could be mined to great effect in the Star Wars universe. How about that old episode zero storyline? I'd watch a young Qui-Gon movie showing how he became so independent of the Jedi Order. A full-on Shadows of the Empire movie? I could even see something like a Nien Nunb movie that makes a fun story out of how he found himself as Lando's copilot out of seemingly nowhere (something I've wondered since I was a kid.)

Is there any precedent for a movie series like they've proposed? I can't think of anything that comes close. Thomas the Train maybe, he has a new movie (on video anyway) every year.

So if Dreamworks could do it, I don't see any reason why the Clone Wars couldn't have been better looking.

Lucasfilm Animation was laughed at for the Clone Wars because of their wooden looking characters. Just look at Obiwan's hair!

I thought the ugly appearance of the show was supposedly on purpose because Lucas wanted it to look like the puppets from Thunderbirds.

I have to say the TRU sale has really gotten me back in the game. Randomly went last Sunday and found 2 Dr Evazans on the shelf. Tuesday netted a Wedge amongst random TPM dregs. Thursday there was more TPM and a (ripped card) Barada. Today stopped in on a whim around 2 PM and as I entered the aisle a TRU employee was putting a case on the pegs. Turned out it was the "blu ray" wave so I picked up Cracken and the Mon Cal, two figures I had passed up a year ago due to the price.

They really seem to be moving through some cases out there. I might need to stop in even more often and finally plug those last few gaps in what I've wanted.

Now, do I understand this right--The figures that look like bootlegs come in the pretty packages, while the pretty figures come in the bootleg packaging?

My greatest hope would be an all-inclusive line that very quickly covers the basic characters (Luke, Han, Anakin in iconic outfits) and brings in those last few remaining hold outs that have yet to be made. (15thCA, Cliegg Lars, etc) Something to get the toys set up to lead into the all new movie stuff.

I guess what I would like to see is a return to the OTC model, get a definitive line out there that can stand by itself as a collection of Star Wars figures with no need to borrow main hero figures from previous lines to make the collection feel complete. I don't mind having to borrow a Yarna from Legacy or Ben Quadrinaros from last year to bulk up the "one of everybody" loose collection. It would be nice and long overdue to have another line that could stand by itself, especially since this line is being put out as "for the collector."

I wouldn't balk at reissues of previous sculpts as long as they met the above criteria. I would want waves made up of twelve "new to the line" figures each. I would be happy with 4-5 waves a year, and maybe 10-20 of those figures being brand new, non-reissues.

I fear we will get the same old case ratios and the line will be difficult/impossible to collect like it has been these last five years.

Hmmmm. As a collector who hasn't bought a figure in two years (honestly due to cost and inability to find the few figures I would have bought) this is probably geared more towards me and my ilk. And my verdict? Errr, maybe.

One of the exercises I did when paring down the collection was to figure out the bare minimum of needed figures. I settled on a format of twelve figures per film. Of course, I kept a collection of about 400 essentials, but that 12-figure concept would totally work for this line for me.

The problem there is that I only want 1 of the first wave characters: Artoo. I guess I'll wait and see if the line has legs enough to get me the characters I want, and pick them up later on the secondary market. So it does keep me collecting, but it sure isn't gonna get me back in the stores.

I was thinking Hasbro would be filling 2014 with a return to the OTC concept to gear towards the new movies, and was wrestling with the thought of getting a carded collection of those if my thoughts panned out. I really regret not picking up all the OTC figures last time and having some sort of solid carded collection to go with the loose stuff. On that note, I wish these packages had a little bit of background art ala the OTC/Saga2 stuff. Black box is nice-looking, but the collector who leaves it in the box deserves more.

I really like the Luke, though. And small waves sound like a step in the right direction, back towards the POTJ era. Good luck, Hasbro.

As long as Artoo and Threepio are still highly featured, I am on board for whatever they have in mind. Make no mistake, I would love to see a story that leaves room for Thrawn stuff to still fit (and maybe some neat animated versions of the Zahn stuff down the road) and for the timeframe we're looking at I could be on board with a Darth Caedus story, but I am more interested in a great story that adds to the emotional arc of the movies thus far (the fall, the redemption, the casting aside of the material world?) than in following any of the EU.

But, yeah, to count as Episodes VII - IX, it's gotta have the droids right there in the thick of it. That's Star Wars.