I was interested in hearing the announcement about the on-line auctions with eBay. However I am already cautious about them. The other day I saw that some enterprising soul has already started auctioning off the Jedi Master Points at the last time I checked the bid was at $20.50. I will bid to try to win something but I'm not going to hold my breath. I think that having the auctions World wide or at least regionally such as all of N. America or Europe or Asia and Australia would have been really interesting. Hopefully, since the first one is a trial Hasbro will expand the opportunity to our fellow collectors around the world.
I am excited about the new figures that will be released this year and then next year also. I think that the deluxe figures will be pretty cool. I'm looking forward to the Bail Organa figure, Tatooine Padme and the Concept Stormtrooper. As for next year's figures I think the Tatooine Jedi Luke will be the ultimate. Wouldn't it be cool if the Luke figure came with two or three right hands: one flesh, one battle damaged, and one gloved. That would be so awesome.
I have been thinking about Wal-Mart and its lack of support for the Star Wars Saga line this year. Who cares! It means I won't have to hit 16 stores on a fruitless run twice a week. However, they could be pretty market savvy in the notion that maybe people will keep them in their run rotation. Each time that Wal-Mart stores have put new merchandise out on the shelves so far this year, it has been snatched up and picked clean within hours to as much as two days max even those with incredibly damaged packaging (ie Trash Compactor Sets with utility knife cuts in the bubble and on the cards and dented bubbles). I'm not talking about last year's leavin's or the Cantina Cinema Scenes which continue to darken the pegs but the new waves of '03. Perhaps they are just keeping us hanging on for the chance at seeing the new items and then they are not stuck with yearlong pegwarmers. While I would like to eliminate them from my frequent haunts while looking for the ever elusive new figures I will probably keep going and going. Personally, I hope the Clone Wars Line goes big and Wal-Mart shoots itself in the foot just so that they might find that they do not determine what drives the retail market.
