Jeez, that's what, 66% more than the original price of the Unleashed figures?
Yep, and as time went on, they got progressively less intricate bases, by and large. Let's look back!
-The 15 dollar price point in 2002-2003 gave us (amongst others) Jango Fett, Anakin Skywalker (Geonosis), Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), Boba Fett, Han Solo, Yoda, and Darth Vader (Bespin). Nearly every figure, even if their base was small, had a base that was heavy and solid and, if need be, well constructed and easily assembled.
-The 15 dollar price point in 2004-2005 gave us (amongst others) Aayla Secura's barely there base, Bossk's diminutive base, the hollow base of the Tusken Raider, Chewbacca's green blob, IG-88's bendy base, Aurra Sing's nearly impossible to assemble armature, the complete lack of a base for Sidious and Yoda, and a lot of regular plastic bases that either warp (see Mustafar Obi-Wan's foot) or that are unsecure and do nothing to support the figure (see the Stormtrooper and ROTS Darth Vader). Granted, the figures were still sculpted incredibly well and some figures did come with very well executed bases (see the Clone Trooper), but by and large, the quality of the sculpting was years beyond the quality of the materials.
-The 20 dollar price point in 2006 and 2007 gave us seven straight rereleases in fancy packaging (Boba Fett, Grievous, Jedi Luke, Bespin Vader, Best Buy Vader, Mustafar Anakin, and Mustafar Obi-Wan) and one repaint of a figure nobody could find to begin with done in an even lower-quality plastic (the Shadow Stormtrooper).
-Now, apparently, the 25 dollar price point will give us the fourth use of a particular figure mold, the third use of a particular base mold, and minimal tooling of a "new" head and skirt with a weapon the character didn't even have to begin with. And we don't even know
what kind of packaging it's going to come in yet, meaning that even the overpriced tube could fall by the wayside as well.
Let's hear it for unreasonable inflation!
