We know that Hasbro is paying fairly close attention to how the Falcon and AT-TE sell, so I was curious how many in our community picked one or both of them up.  Did you buy one, both, or multiples?  Do you intend to get either later on?  It will be interesting to see how these big vehicles do.

Personally, I picked up the Falcon at Wal-Mart this weekend.  I would have liked to get the AT-TE, but just can't afford both right now.  I may try to get an AT-TE later on if possible, although I have to figure out the display/space issue before I do that.  I noticed at the stores though, that the AT-TE is packaged smaller than I would have thought, and should be able to stay on the shelves in the regular action figure aisle regularly the way things are set up.  Anyways, did you pick up either of the big vehicles?

Linky.

Looks like it is on the way after all.  I'm glad I held off on the Force Unleashed one, and that this one is indeed confirmed for next year.  Looks nice.

I couldn't think of the right way to title this, but I'm sure there is a better way.  I was curious what some of your initial thoughts and discussions were like when you first saw the Original Trilogy, whether it was in the theatre - on video - on cable, etc.  What types of discussions did you have on the playground, with your friends, etc. about the characters and universe prior to the days of the internet and the majority of the EU stuff?

I can remember prior to Jedi, even as a young kid, a group of friends discussing what Vader was like under the helmet (especially after the "back of head" shot in Empire).  I can remember the speculation on what Boba Fett looked like under the helmet as well, and his backstory.  I can remember talking about how Luke made his new green lightsaber for ROTJ.  Were the Stormtroopers robots or people?  All of the speculation was part of the fun in those days it seemed.  Did any of you have similar discussions with your friends, family, etc?  What types of things were you wondering about when you first saw Star Wars, then Empire, and finally Jedi?

Either line - Legacy or Clone Wars - what is the item (or items) you are looking forward to the most for this weekend (or for the lucky ones earlier)?  Although I'm looking forward to a lot of it, I'll be entirely unoriginal and say the new Millennium Falcon is the one thing I hope to pick up the most.  There is a lot of great products coming out (AT-TE, starfighter vehicle assortment, Legacy figures, Evolutions), but if I could only grab one item, that would be the one.

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I thought it might work best here.  I've been thinking about trying to assemble a smaller "high end" (at least high end to me) collection of some of the main characters from the OT.  The two lines I've been looking at are the 12" Sideshow figures and the Gentle Giant mini busts.  I'm not sure how many here collect both (or either one), but I was curious which line you think might be the best way to go.  I know its all a matter of opinion, but I always enjoy reading other people's thoughts.

The characters I was thinking about picking up over the long haul are the following:

ANH Han Solo
ANH Luke Skywalker (Tatooine)
ANH Princess Leia
R2-D2
C-3PO
Chewbacca
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Darth Vader
Stormtrooper

Maybe later on..

Lando Calrissian (Bespin)
Yoda
Boba Fett

Anyways, I realize many of these haven't been touched on in either line in some cases, but I figure they will be eventually.  As for my personal collection, I only have Han/Chewie mini busts, and Han (Bespin) 12" (with the ANH Han on the way in the next week or so).  With Sideshow's price increases, it seems like GG might be the more affordable option for me - but then again, many of the mini busts I would have to backtrack on and that could get pricier (or even cheaper too) in some cases.  Who knows, with all this Hasbro stuff coming up, I might not be able to afford either line - but I was just curious what some of you thought.  I'm not nearly as educated on these lines as many of you, and I appreciate any help you might have to offer.

I remember around the time of the first VOTC being announced, many of us were talking about wanting "definitive" (sculpt/articulation/paint) versions of the main characters in their "main" outfits, and we started to get that with the VOTC line.  Since then, we've even seen Hasbro mention wanting to put out the "definitive" figure of a certain character or characters.  Although there can always be advances in the figures (just see the big differences from POTF2 to today), it seems like many of them are starting to get close to perfect.  Which figures do you think are perfect (or close enough) that you'd just like to see them re-released every so often in the basic line, not necessarily needing a "new" version any time soon?  Or do you feel like they could all use improvements?  It seems like we're getting quite a few really nice figures, and some that could maybe just use a minor tweak (ball jointed elbows most often) and we'd be there.

Barring any big changes in sculpt/articulation or overall figure quality - here's a few off the top of my head that I'm pretty happy with:

VOTC Han Solo (ANH)
VOTC/EB Chewbacca
VOTC/Tantive IV Stormtrooper
VTSC Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot)
VTSC/Droid Factory/TLC Battle Pack Han Solo (Hoth)
VOTC/Evolutions Boba Fett
VTSC Snowtrooper
VTSC Biker Scout
VTSC Han Solo (Endor)
VTSC Bossk
VTSC IG-88
TSC Princess Leia (Boussh)
Evolutions/TAC/TLC Darth Vader
TAC 4-LOM

ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi (Pilot)
Clone Wars/Legends AOTC Clonetrooper
ROTS/Evolutions Count Dooku
Evolutions Jango Fett
Evolutions Qui Gon Jinn
ROTS - Most of the Jedi Figures
Evolutions Anakin Skywalker (AOTC)
ROTS Clonetrooper(s) - SA White and Repaints (Shocktrooper, 501st, etc.)

Better with Minor Tweaks...

VOTC Lando Calrissian (Ball Jointed Elbows)
Evolutions Darth Maul (Ball Jointed Elbows)
VTSC Bespin Luke Skywalker (New Head Sculpt?)
TAC Anakin Skywalker - ROTS (Ball Jointed Elbows)
Evolutions/O66 Palpatine (Neutral Head Sculpt?)
R2-D2 (VOTC version is ok, but repainted R4-G9 would probably be about perfect)
TSC C-3PO (Pretty good, but after the new 4-LOM and build a droid C-3PX, it could probably be improved upon)

There are probably a few others (VTSC Tuskens, VOTC Leia, VOTC/OTC Yoda, etc.) that are pretty good as well, but maybe there are some differences that some people would like to see.  Of course, there are other great background/supporting characters/figures we've gotten, but I was trying to mainly stick with the bigger names and main supporting players from the movies.  I know there are some I'm forgetting too, but I thought it would be neat to see everyone's opinions, and determine which versions of the "big guns" we still need to get.

I didn't see a topic thread for this already, so I apologize if there is one.  I was just looking at pics of the upcoming LEGO Death Star at the eurobricks forums, and wow, that is pretty spiffy.  I'm not a Lego collector personally (can't afford to keep up), but this really does look nice.

I always like reading everyone's opinions of the individual movies, and since the original Star Wars' birthday was this past weekend - it got me to thinking about Star Wars/ANH.  I was too young to have seen this originally in theatres (I was born a month after release), so my first experience was on VHS (and later, the SE in theatres).  It was amazing then, and still is now to me.  Its kind of nice how it is really the most "self contained" movie of the Saga, since at the time they didn't know how it would do.  I was re-watching "Empire of Dreams" on the History Channel over the weekend, and its really neat seeing the "hoopla" that went on after it hit.  It must have been a fun time to have lived through that.  Anyways, I'll post more about the actual movie later - but I just wanted to see what everyone's opinions (or memories) of Star Wars (or A New Hope, if you prefer) are these days.