Lately, I've seen more AT-TE's than BMF's. A run last night to the local big 3 (TRU, WM, and Target) found that WM had 3-4 AT-TE's and no BMF's, Target had 2 of each, while TRU had a whopping 2 dozen AT-TE's on a top shelf and 2-3 BMF's. Besides the irregular amount of AT-TE's at TRU, I've been seeing definitely more of the walkers than the Falcons in Chicagoland as of late.

Everyone of course suggested that they have CV at the same location as WW Chicago - the Rosemont Convention Center as suggested by BrentS. The venue is certainly large enough to handle hosting CV and there are many hotels nearby - several are "connected" to the con center - and of course O'Hare Airport is just a couple miles away. Also there's a mass transit train station in walking distance which would help people out who want to visit Downtown Chicago or other tourist locations. Being in the midwest I would think works out perfectly for the majority, unlike LA last year. So yeah my vote's for Rosemont, because it fits just nicely for their needs, plus it's like 10 miles from my house. 

From my post on July 1 - the Rosemont Convention Center is the ideal choice in Chicagoland to have CV as stated above. While Rosemont isn't hopping with late night activity, was downtown Indy any different? Access to downtown Chicago is easy by the train station 2 blocks from the con center and all the hotels will be immensely cheaper than the ones near McCormick Place. So let's hear for Chicago and the Rosemont Convention Center for CV! 

I hate paying premium prices for the garbage I throw away after I get my figures.

I think what might even be the worse part is for many of these "vintage" figures, they wind up getting re-used within a year or two later. I believe of the 23 "vintage" figures that have been released so far, only 4 of them (ANH Luke, ANH Leia, Bespin Luke, and Bossk) have yet to be refreshed in some manner. I would rather Hasbro release these figures in two formats - one with the premium BS packaging and then the other on a basic card - so that people like us who want a loose figure can pay the cheaper price and then those who want the carded display can get the premium price. I know wishful thinking, but they seem to be listening to collectors enough that I'd like to see them listen to that idea.

Quote from: Jesse James on August  7, 2008, 02:09 PM

I'd note the AT-ST driver is an army builder and if done right I think he'd move really well at this point.  Lots of demand for that one...  Sure he pegwarmed back when, but so did other steaming piles regardless of what character they were.  AT-ST Driver would do good today I think.

Jesse, how close is the AT-ST driver to the Imperial Scanning Tech in terms of outfit? Could a base figure be created to essentially give us both characters?

Except for the gloves on AT-ST Driver, they are essentially the same. The basic outfit was used on a variety of crewmen throughout the OT including the Rebel Hangar tech. In fact the X-Wing pilot orange outfit looks to be the same as well, unfortunately I've never seen a pic without the flak vest to verify that. It makes me wonder though if we'll be seeing the body of the tech that comes with the Yavin Hangar pack re-used down the road for an AT-ST Driver or Imp Scanning Tech.

Nothing sucked quite like 2002 though.

Yeah at least the figures from 97-98 were on clearance for a buck and a lot of them made for good custom fodder....

Check the front page here for that 10-20% off sale at Target.

And thanks to our Target Sources for the tip.

Well that didn't take long. I was expecting the sale to hit the week after the movie came out, but this will do just fine. Time to score those vehicles I've held out on, maybe find me that damn Rebel Pilots 2 Evolutions set.

I went to Target today to find the last 2 evo packs which I did and they had figures for $6.99 as well.
I only bought 6 prior to the drop but just out of principle I will take my receipts for the adjustment, they are bastards, I am getting sick of their quick drops. Price it right the first time.

That didn't take them very long, they had to be hurting from Wal-Mart and TRU have a more competitive price. Now I'm looking forward to the eventual 10-20% sale Target will have in a couple of weeks so I can score me the V-19 and Spider Droid. They always do these sales after a few weeks of a new toy line launch...

I had quite a Midnight Madness and Saturday.

I got together with the local collectors club, the Chicago Trade Federation, and we hit a TRU for midnight madness at a TRU in Chicago's southwest burbs. One of our guys was there at 5pm first in line, I got there at 8pm and by the end there were 15 of us! Jimmy Mac from the Forcecast showed up as well and did his part of the MM broadcast from the front of the line with us. Once we got in it became chaos with everyone behind us shoving their way thru including some idiot who clipped my knee in an attempt to get a B-Wing. Though I got some stuff and had a great time with the club members, the typical actions of people in large groups put a slight damper on the evening.

Haul from MM:

BMF
Rebel Pilots Evolutions
Wave 1 TLC Figs: Han, Chewie, Malar
Wave 2 TLC Figs: Obi-Wan, Quarren, Mon Cal, Scuba Trooper, Lancer Droid, Quad-Cannon Trooper

Then the next morning I woke up to hit the local stores, the Wal-Mart by me did NOT put out anything the night before and after 3 more visits throughout the next 24 hours I found they still hadn't done so - lazy bums! Met some other collectors at the stores, including Jackoftradze, and we hit a few more Targets, another Wal-Mart, and TRU. Was a fun hunt, we were all calling each other giving the scoops on the stores and helping each other out at each stop. The end haul from this was:

Wave 1 TLC Figs: Luke (already lost the lightsaber hilt ), Vader, Ewok, Yarna, and Ak-Rev
Hoth Recon Battlepack

A hell of a lot of fun overall, though very tiring too

Ask an ye shall receive, courtesy of Rebelscum....



We're getting the cart, w00t!!

Seriously this might be the best Battlepack ever in my opinion. It brings hope for other small pieces like the Vehicle Maintenance Energizer, perhaps the Radar Cannon, all sorts of options. Awesome stuff for sure, I want at least 3 of them.