So, after a weekend of toys, movie information, title announcements, giveaways, etc., what do you think of the future of Star Wars after what we have learned at Comic-Con?  Once again, I'd like to commend Matt, Jared, and the staff here at JD for great coverage of the event, and delving deeper into things that weren't covered at the Q and A.  What are your impressions?  Anything in particular stand out, or that you were disappointed with?

Hasbro Basic Figures
Well, unfortunately it looks like the OTC is officially done (for now) after the 39 figures.  Kind of disappointed there weren't anymore new figures going to be included in this line, but it has been a pretty good year all said.  The VOTC figures shown continue to look great, although there are perhaps a few shortcomings on our favorite droids.  Overall though, I think I'd say that the entire VOTC line looks great, from sculpting standpoints.  Disappointing to hear that they won't be repacked (at least by what Matt was told), and even if that isn't the entire truth, I don't think we'll be seeing anything any time soon.

Good to see a few new waves are coming next year, prior to Episode III.  The Cantina wave is especially welcome, although I'm one that would have liked to see Hem Dazon included as well.  The waves do seem to be filled with figures many people have been jonesin' for though, which is great.  The Cantina and Jedi Council packs kind of seem like a joke to me.  I want to the get whole council circle, but these sets are really seeming like ripoffs to me now at $20.  Blue Snaggy is cool, but we don't have any K-Marts in town, and the other figs don't make it worth it anyways most likely.

Unleashed
IG-88 looked nice, as well as the other previously announced figures (Bossk, Tusken, Aayla).  I've really been enjoying this line overall, and I hope it continues.  I've only been collecting the OT ones, but some of the others look nice too.  Too bad they take up too much space, or I'd probably get them all.

Galactic Heroes
This is another line I really enjoy (and also go OT only on, except maybe for that Yoda/Clone pack).  Glad to see a few more 2 packs announced, and I hope that this line continues in some fashion as well.  Just a neat little collectible, and great for your kids, nieces/nephews, or even just yourself .

Miscellanous Thoughts
Some of the other lines represented looked very nice as well.  Gentle Giant obviously does wonderful work, and the new collectibles coming from Sideshow and Master Replicas look spiffy as well.  If I had the budget for these areas, I'd be all over it.  The Bust-Ups (at their lower price point) are awfully tempting.

The Episode III title...I like it.  Maybe not a huge surprise, as this has been one talked about for quite some time it seems, but I like it because it seems to fit in more with the titles of the OT movies.  Mirrors ROTJ nicely as well.

The packaging (well, this has its own thread), but it is something like we've never seen before.  I don't know what to think of it for sure, but it does seem to be a little more visually interesting than the POTF2, POTJ, and Saga incarnations.  I also like the inclusion of the character pic on the bubble, stands out nice and will make figures easy to find on the pegs.  I also really like the Vader helmet (and silhouette), as well as the lava.

Kind of disappointed with the Hasbro reps (well, at least one the way it sounds) treatment of Matt when he asked them a few questions.  I don't really care for the collecting community as a whole being looked down upon, especially when we readily support their line for a number of years.  I think we all know (and they do, deep down), that without us, they wouldn't even be in the stores anymore.  I do hope that kids like and buy Star Wars, and lots of it, because I hope that another generation can experience the magic of this great Saga...but don't disregard us just because we're adults.  Disappointing news about items such as the VOTC availability as well.  Otherwise, it was a nice show, good to hear some new Episode III news, see a few figures for the first time (VOTC Wave 3, 2005 figures) and get a glimpse of what is to come.  Overall, what are your impressions of the show, what we've seen, and what is yet to come?

Just realized, maybe this doesn't fit in the OTC thread, if not, feel free to move it and/or delete it.  Sorry .

As far as the whole "not repacking VOTC", I think they're bluffing. With the majority of the line not even on the pegs yet, its the smart thing for them to say. Otherwise, the consumer base wouldn't buy the VOTC up with such a frenzy. Would you buy 20 VOTC stormies if you knew they were going to be repacked next year? No, you wouldn't.

That's something I have been thinking about too, and like you said, when it comes down to it, if its going to make them money, why not?  They obviously like the repack business, they just as well utilize these (you know they'd sell more than the POTF2/POTJ repacked versions).  I hope that we do eventually see these again, although I'm thinking it will be awhile if we do now, since it sounds like 2005 is almost ALL Episode III stuff (as expected).

These sets are really frustrating.  I bought the first two, and thought they were pretty cool...but have been looking at the pile of the latest set (Qui, Ki Adi, Yoda) sitting at TRU, and although I know I want the "whole circle", I just can't bring myself to buy it.  It just seems like such a rip off, $20 for three figures I have standing here on my shelves already.  Just so they have some chairs.  I don't know, I really want to complete the circle, but looking at that set (and pics of these others), its going to be tough to spend $20 a pop on these.  The re-coloring is laughable.

This is a pretty cool wave, and I'm looking forward to it.  Sly Moore is an interesting enough background character, but probably the one I'm least enthused about.  But, wookiees and Jedi...woo hoo.  Pablo Jill was one of the most visually interesting aliens in AOTC, and I'm always up for another wookiee.  They all look to be sculpted very well too, so that is great.

Although the Kaadu is kind of cool, I think I'm in for a pass on this set as well.  I haven't been overly enthused about any of the "TRU pack sets" they have had lately anyways, the repacks they use look so dated...and I have most of them already anyways.  Great for those of you looking for these figures though, although I think these might end up sitting a bit on the shelves.

First of all, thanks so much Matt (and everyone else here at JD), for the great reporting from Comic-Con.  I think we've all learned so much more, and got a lot of questions we were curious about answered, due to your "one on ones" with the Hasbro staffers.  To me, it is quite disappointing to hear how rude you were treated (at least by one rep), and how poorly they seem to see the "collectors".  I'm not saying they shouldn't have some figures marketed towards kids, and like some of you said, I don't even mind action features here and there in the movie year, as long as it isn't on every character...and the ones it is on, we get a better version of later.  Granted, I don't like them, but if they think the kiddos do, that's fine with me.  As long as we get "our" versions too

As to some of the things we've heard about........first off, I'm quite disappionted with the VOTC news.  I was really hoping we'd see these stuck back into the line at later dates.  We know Hasbro loves the repack, so if at some point they are thinking "we need another Han, Leia, and Vader on the shelf", then why not repack these great VOTC versions, instead of yet another Commtech Han, "new likeness" Leia, or miscellaneous Vader.  These aren't bad figures, but we've seen them more than enough, and you know that the vast majority of their market (kids and collectors both) would rather have these VOTC versions.  Its just crazy that they wouldn't want to capitalize on these, but it sounds like they were pretty adamant about it.  You'd think they would be able to be more profitable if they would re-release them, instead of being such a limited run of figures.  Even if they did want to charge a buck or two more, I'd be ok with it, if it meant we could find a few more Stormtroopers, etc.  It is starting to sound like these will be as limited as we originally thought, with a 3-4 month window to pick them up.  I really hope the ESB and ROTJ waves can at least be spotted at retail like the first wave...and that they aren't all impossible to find.

A few good things, I am glad that they know that super articulation is a good direction to go...and army builder figures are a good place to start with that.  It also sounds like they will make sure there is plenty army-building action for the Episode III line, which is great too.  I'm happy to hear we'll see a few more new figures before the III line hits, and from the pics we've seen, they don't look too bad at all.  I don't tend to get quite as jazzed about prequel figures, but they ones they chose do look nice.  And, I will admit, we're about due for some prequel figures again anyways.  Also good to hear that they are at least "discussing" modular playsets.  I really hope that Death Star set makes its way to us eventually, even if it is 2006.  Heck, use that as a chance to re-make the Han and Luke Stormtrooper outfits we've been wanting, and pack them (and some Stormies) into the individual "sets".  I'd buy them up I know.

I really hope they do make a return to the OTC-style packaging again too.  I didn't figure we'd get it for Episode III, so no big surprise there, but hopefully when they "unify" the line again, they will look in that direction.  That is something I guess I give Hasbro some credit for, I know in the years I've been on the boards...we've always talked about hoping they would do "vintage or vintage-style packaging"...or "super articulated, really well done versions of the main characters"...which we're getting a little bit of both of those areas this year.  Sadly, it was marred by massive rehashes, as well as now finding out that our "ultimate" versions are going to be "ultimately hard to find...and expensive".  That said, I am glad that they did the VOTC line, despite its limited availability and higher cost.  These figures are (overall) still quite amazing.

This is long enough, but thanks again Matt (and JD staff) for the great coverage of this event.  I'm glad that you did some prodding to find out details on a number of questions we had, and it helps us to get a better idea of the line, its future, and what our buying habits will be for the rest of the year.  Great work everyone.

GH has a little report up on the Q and A, more to come later hopefully.  Some interesting bits though...."Four waves of figures will transition us between the end of OTC and the beginning of Episode III. A Naboo Wave  will bring us Padme Celebration and Handmaiden Rabe from The Phantom Menace. A Cantina Wave will bring us Feltipern Trevagg (the Goatal), Dannik Jerriko, and Myo (the Cyclops) from A New Hope. A Coruscant Wave will bring us Sly Moore, Pablo Jill, and Wookie Senator Yarua. Finally, there will be a Sneak Preview Wave."

Also news on Animated Clone Wars, Galactic Heroes, Unleashed...check it all out HERE