Without straying too far into "pit" specific talk, the reason that the price for Chinese goods are rising isn't because the dollar is depreciating, its because the Chinese have made atleast show efforts to stop manipulating the renminbi.  Meaning they are actually letting the value of their currency rise; some.  Which means you need more dollars to purchase goods made in China.

Higher commodity prices don't have a 1:1 relationship with rising consumer prices.  Action figures have a significant portion of their cost tied in the labor costs.  Which is to say the Hasbro (or freelance) sculptors, the factory workers, the packaging designers, the marketing people, the people that stock the figures, etc.  For the most part those costs haven't been escalating.  Of the $8+ of the cost of the action figure the actual value of the plastic contained in the figures is only a few cents.

It's inaccurate to state that the higher commodity prices directly lead to higher consumer prices.  Its only true for consumer items where the underlying commodity makes up the majority of the price structure.  For goods where the majority of the price is tied up in non-commodity components (for example items with a high labor content), price increases can only rise when inflation gets baked in (ie when we see increases to core inflation).

Hasbro has realized that the Vintage line sells at $8-$9 at a rate sufficient that they think they'll increase their margins if the increase prices to the $9-$10 range.  Similarly Walmart and Target have realized that they are leaving money on the table and not gaining market share by pricing their figures lower.  Its not a commodity story, its just business.

I finally opened up the one I bought, at KMart clearance about three months ago, over the weekend.  I love this sucker.  I too have bent nose guns (or else they were aligned by Lt. A$$h%le....  )

My four year old and I spent the weekend engaging in dogfights between my 3 3/4" CW Y-Wing and his Galactic Heroes CW Y-Wing.  Needless to say he found it much funnier when his ship shot down mine and his seemed oddly impervious to damage (I think he was cheating).

I like the design, especially for the price I got it at.  Maybe I should pick up a second at TJ Maxx clearance and give it a red paint job...  Oh well, wishful thinking.

The red and grey droid looks like something from Wall-E.

I like both sets, but I probably won't like the price...  And since they are probably only going to be available inside the Disney Studios and Disneyland (as opposed to Downtown Disney; I'll be going down to visit my parents this winter and we probably will visit Dt Disney, but not the parks..), I'll probably miss them.

I'm such a sucker for Stormtroopers with unique decos... 

10. Lucas Family
 my comment at this set being a major Lucas indulgence with a huge touch of Hasbro groveling.

Even the figures seem embarrassed that they exist....

Yeah, I got the AOTC Anakin and it was the same way; sticker UPC.

This was at a Target in upstate NY.

I think its a new mold.  Atleast the area below the cheek guns is completely different that in the non-RC version (on that tank there are little storage doors that open up), also in the older version the lower set of windows on the cockpit have gullwing doors that open, the RC version appears only have the one door that opens forward.  Also the center hull looks a little higher...

Not sure about the size or other details, but the rest of the tank looks similar to the old version.

R5-A7
R5-X2
Trade Federation PK Droids
Jar Jar Binks (SA)
Padme Handmaiden
Queen Padme Amidata (Post-Senate)
Anakin Jedi Padawan
Grebleips
Sebulba
Tey How