I picked up Low Light this weekend at a local Wal-Mart, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed at the level of detail that went into his accessories.  I think it's a great aspect of most of the POC figures that they can carry all their gear either in their packs or on their bodies.  Little things like the ability to have LL either carry his gun satchel, wear it on his back with the backpack, or wear the backpack with the satchel attached to the side make this line the best value, IMO, in the action figure aisle today. 

Is there some weird revision case that doesn't include Shadow Tracker and/or the new Destro?  All this WM had was LL and Skydive (also a neat figure, btw), along with several Cobra Shock Troopers, Duke, and Commando SE from the previous wave that hadn't been there a day earlier.

I really can't include much of anything from the 1995-1998 era on my list, and it's because no matter how dated those figures are, and how horribly roided out some of those sculpts can be, they made me very happy at the time.  Even now when I look at them, I don't have any "hatred" for those toys, as they were a chance to finally get new SW toys again, after years of going without due to that dreaded enemy of childhood collecting: the unannounced yard sale.

That said, I had a hard time narrowing my list down to 10 from the post 1998 era...  

1.  Moff Jerjerrod (Saga, 2006):  Granted, this isn't because the figure is particularly bad, but more due to a history I have with it that has not ended to this very day.  The Wal-Mart closest to where I live has had a very slowly dwindling stock of Moff Jerjerrods for the last 4.5 years which have NEVER been marked down, have NEVER moved, and will NEVER sell.  There are at least 8 Jerjerrods, covered in dust, with cards that have been scuffed, kicked, beaten, and stepped on, still hanging on the pegs in the SW section, STILL at 6.88, and still unwanted.  It definitely proves the adage that familiarity breeds contempt, because I have seen that figure so much in this single WM that it has filled me with a totally irrational hatred for a figure which, compared to others on my list, really doesn't suck that badly.

2.  Mace Windu (Saga, 2003):  This was the first figure I didn't buy at retail, which again, holds a distinction as, up until that point, I had gotten one of EVERY single carded figure to open.  One of my friends gave me one as a gag gift because of my disdain for it, and only when I opened it did I realize just how truly horrible it was.  Let's stick a huge joystick in the back of a figure, make his arms out of gummi worms, and give him an awful "rectal probe" facial expression.  As offensive as some of Hasbro's action features during the 2002-2005 era got, this was probably the pinnacle (or, more accurately, nadir) of that marketing gimmick.

3.  Anakin Skywalker (from Swoop Bike, Saga, 2003):  I have exactly the same problems with this figure as Jesse so eloquently explained in his post, but the fact that I still have to display his sorry ass on that bike on my shelf due to the lack of an AOTC-era Anakin with ball-jointed hips to replace him with disturbs me even more than any of his flaws.  Of which, there are MANY.

4.  Explodo-Grievous (ROTS, 2005):  I have no idea how this figure even made it out of Hasbro's design team, as most of the ROTS stuff (even the action feature laden toys) was top notch in most respects.  It looked, felt, and behaved as if it were a knock-off Happy Meal toy.  Its inability to hold together made me momentarily long for the days of the Saga 2002 magnets.  The fact that, once the film came out and we saw just how big Grievous actually was, he was horribly underscaled to a degree that hadn't been seen since the POTF2 Chewbacca and Leia, just made things worse.

5.  Luminara Unduli (Saga, 2002):  As much as Eeth Koth seems to be getting knocked in this thread for his status as a harbinger of action pose doom, I think Luminara beats him in every respect.  Lack of articulation?  CHECK.  Ridiculous pose?  DOUBLE CHECK.  Saggy lightsaber?  TRIPLE CHECK.  When the ROTS version hit in 2005, I tossed this one in the "sell" pile and never looked back.

6.  Rabe (Post-OTC, 2005):  This is probably the one figure that I only keep because Hasbro will probably never do another one ever again.  This came out at a time when Hasbro had shown they clearly knew better, and only one wave prior to the start of incredibly detailed Cantina Aliens (Myo, Feltipern, and Jerriko).  I know that this figure was part of a wave delayed due to the OT DVD release and the Original Trilogy Collection hustle, but even if compared to the Saga 2004 series it was delayed from, it is subpar in sculpting, detail, and design.  

7.  C-3P0 (Vintage OTC, 2004):  The VOTC figures were pretty much as good as it could get back in 2004, so even when Threepio first hit, it was clear he stunk.  He sported less articulation and detail than many mainline, non-premium figures at that point, and at a higher price tag.  He was the stinker of the VOTC assortment, and he remains one of the worst figures to this very day, as far as I'm concerned.

8.   Clone Trooper (Deluxe with Speeder Bike, Saga 2002 and Clone Wars 2003):  Even though 2003's Anakin (from the Swoop Bike) outdoes this one in terms of ridiculous pre-posed sculpt, the Clone carries it to a new level with awkward removable armor, a completely non-functional action feature that resembles the Masturbating Bear from Conan O'Brien's show, and a near-total inability to even interact with the vehicle he comes with.  As soon as the 2003 SA CW Clone Trooper hit, he got to ride the bike in my display and this bowlegged aberrant Clone went into the bottom of the "dregs" box.

9.  Luke Skywalker (Death Star Duel; Saga, 2003):  For all the reasons that everyone else has already gone into at length, this figure offended me on multiple levels.  Not the least of which was that I "had to" buy it twice  because the first one I got had the "swapped hand" issue.  Of course, that's more my problem than the figure's, but hey, it does suck pretty bad.

10.  The Emperor (Saga, 2003):  I really don't know what Hasbro was trying to accomplish with old Palpy here.  That huge hood was silly enough, but the awkward pose that looked like he was trying to do the Wal-Mart "Squiggley Dance" and what I can only describe as "impotent" Force Lightning accessories made this one of the worst non-action feature related figures from the Saga years (2002-2004).  The fact that Hasbro reissued him a year after they'd done the superior-in-all-ways Evolutions sculpt in 2006 was yet another strange decision that I can't figure out.

I'd also like to say that saying the figures from 2002-2003's Saga line, for the most part, were horrible is like shooting fish in a barrel; it's far easier to go through and pick out which figures from that era were actually GOOD.  I find the majority of those figures far more offensive than ANYTHING that came out of the POTF2 era.

Prediction:

-Vintage sales are slower than expected, despite higher prices, lower quality (i.e. yellow Clone helmets, crappy repaint waves for no reason), and poor case packs (more Clones, less anything else that is actually selling well). 

-Clone Wars continues to sell like crazy, because kids are the only SW fans left.

-Saga Legends is the greatest thing since sliced bread and penicillin.  Never mind the deluge of them and nothing else anywhere you go.  Those millions of AOTC and ROTS Clones are simply an illusion caused by the barren desert that is the Vintage pegs at most retailers.

-Due to outstanding sales at Big Lots, they'll be reintroducing Star Wars Choppers, which will take the place of Vintage, because kids hate quality figures and love motorcycles!

Okay, so maybe not the last one.

I was at Target this morning and noticed that they have raised the prices on all three figure assortments again: Legends and Clone Wars figures are now 7.99, and Vintage is now 8.99.  I guess they saw TRU raising their prices across the board and, instead of trying to compete by keeping prices low, they simply decided to jack up their prices as well so nobody will be able to stomach buying figures there either.   

Oddly, none of the other action figure lines Hasbro makes (Joe, Marvel, Iron Man, etc) had any changes made to their prices; I figure it's only a matter of time before Wal-Mart decides to raise their prices and enter this ass-backward competition for collector dollars. 

I had what is, at least to me, a major find earlier today at a Ross store.  I had gone in to check on those Joe deluxe sets for a friend of mine (no luck), but I did see and purchase that elusive red Rampage from the ROTF movie line.  I'd never even seen the remnants of that case assortment in stores, so to find the one character I wanted to begin with was a huge deal to me.  So, once I finally get the Human Alliance Mudflap, I can close the door on old TF collection holes.

Yet another in a long line of wonderful transactions with Jeff.  As always, it was a pleasure. Thanks!

With 15 bucks in coupons and absolutely nothing new showing up at TRU, I picked up the ROTF Voyager Bludgeon yesterday (for just over 5 bucks), and it's okay for that price.  I try to stay away from Bayformer toys that weren't actually in the films, but given his resemblance to both the G1 character and the IDW-era post-Pretender-fusion version of the character, I bit the bullet.  Like I said, it's worth 5 bucks.

I also picked up Straxus at Wal-Mart and am much more impressed with him.  I barely remember him in the old Marvel comics (wasn't it just a background appearance?), and my only real knowledge is from the new IDW stuff with the first Ark crew, but he's a cool toy.  I also like the head, which looks silly and is, thus, very entertaining to me.  And, hey, big ass ax thing!

Target didn't do their reset this morning, so no luck on Voyager RTS Lugnut or Scout Windcharger.  I'm also still coming up completely empty handed on the ROTF Human Alliance Mudflap front, so if anyone is reading this who can help me out for a decent price, please PM me.

Punch/Counterpunch 

There were also minibot toy "spys" packed in with the small guys like Seaspray/Powerglide, but they weren't in the show.

Yeah, I knew about those; I had a little yellow one that was, IIRC, a motorized pullback car.  Very simple transformation (the flip legs and pull out arms with the head just a detail on the undercarriage), but it was nice to have a pack-in item that was functional and fun rather than just taking up space (see "Galactic Battle Card Game and Die Included!"). 

What I was referring to were regular, normally-identified as Autobot/Decepticon characters who came with a rubsign for the other side (i.e. getting a Soundwave whose rubsign revealed an Autobot logo, or a Prowl whose rubsign revealed a Decepticon logo).  I always thought it would be pretty neat to get one like that, and I'm halfway hoping that one of the newer RTS toys will work out that way.

And hoo-*******-rah thank you Jebus on the upcoming Thundercracker in the Generations line.  I just hope that it actually hits retail, given that it's coming out so close to the new movie toys which, based on the UNIDENTIFIED DECEPTICON TANKER TRUCK and Ironhide toys, aren't looking so hot this time around.