I'm loving realistic Anakin.

As a die-hard fan of the animated line, I still don't know what to think of these realistic "cross-overs."  I really don't have a problem with Hasbro making realistic versions of the core characters from the series, since we already have animated versions available for those of us who prefer to see these in animated form.  But I think that I may shed a small tear into my Coke Zero if Hasbro releases a realistic version of an animated character before that character is made in the animated line.

The plastic seems much cheaper and it has nearly nothing in the way of articulation compared to its counterpart. 
anyone else notice?

I now have two of these troopers in my collection, and I cannot say that I have noticed a difference in the quality of the plastic.  Of course, if you are comparing it to the phase 1 trooper (which first came out in 2008), the newer figure lacks ankle joints, and possibly a waist joint.  But the plastic?  No, I can't tell a difference. 

Hello, everyone. 

Concerning those two mini-rigs: the Hasbro slideshow presentation from Toy Fair states that those two mini-rigs are scheduled to hit retail in April, about the same time wave two of the basic figures are scheduled to arrive.  We should be seeing them in April/May, I would guess.