Author Topic: 2006 Vintage Saga Collection (vTSC)  (Read 133533 times)

Offline Jesse James

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #165 on: February 9, 2006, 03:18 AM »
It's tough to say they're not twice as good as what we're getting though when you look back and I think the majority wanted what we got...  3PO is undoubtebly the stinker of the lot, but as Ben's go the VOTC Ben is still considered one of the better ones by a lot, though it's lacking a lot too...  Still, it's the only Ben you can sit in a landspeeder and for me that meant a lot since that's where he's displayed.

Han though is twice as good as Han Carbonite by a long shot...  VOTC Stormtrooper trounced every Stormie to that point.  Chewbacca may be the greatest figure of all time arguably.  Fett's top-notch.  R2-D2 was nothing to snooze at though I personally don't care for it as much as the Bar2-D2 version.  Vader was the best till that point.  Lando's fantastic.  Leia's the best to that point and I'd dig her re-released with a hood-up head actually...

3PO sucked, Ben was so-so, and Luke I personally put in the sucked column only due to the unnecessary goofy shirt (he didn't have a removable shirt in vintage so that figure still strikes as a "huh?  ???" figure too...  But that means 9 hits and 3 misses or mediocres out of a short 12-figure line...  Then the next wave comes, and honestly I don't know too many people upset with them unless they simply don't like cloth which this line's obviously got a focus on using cloth...  I like it myself when it's done right and the two iffy ones are tough to tell how good the figure is underneath the coat, and the coat's tough to judge on a card, so I'm leaning towards really liking them just based on early photos...  The price sucketh though, no doubt.

Is Veers a good figure?  He's ok...  I've seen customs that were far superior though...  No back tot he armor, the goofy fit of the helmet over the hat-head, and lacking leg articulation on a body that, with the right leg articulation, would've been really REALLY good to reuse down the road....  And an argument can be made on his height being a bit odd looking too, but the other items I think are a bit more "substantial" to some people...  Veers doesn't strike me as even close to VOTC quality then. 

Carbonite Han is ok...  Veers is ok...  They're neither one near as good as the Cantina Wave in 2004/05 though, and those are basic figures, and background characters at that.  So it's tough to say they, or most of the rest of Saga 06 compare well to the VOTC in terms of quality...  VOTC isn't really double price quality to me though either, I don't care for the price at all, but if it's the only way Hasbro delivers then how else can you look at it?

As far as Leia goes, I gave her a good review...  She coulda been better, mostly with how her arms pose, but I like her.  She fills a hole, and I'd say she's sorta like the AT-AT Driver.  I think he's a better figure than Leia really, but she's a close runner-up.  She's still not VOTC quality to me...  Better than Ben and the line's worst like 3PO, but below Vader, Lando, etc...  If I were rating by comparison that is.  She has flaws like the somewhat static right arm due to sculpt, the sculpt's iffy on the face (I didn't mind it, but it's not their best by a longshot).  She's not a bad figure though, I kinda dug her.  I like VOTC Leia better though, I can safely say that.

So to that end, I think what people are saying is that they WANT that high quality that, most of the time, VOTC has developed...  They don't want that price that comes with it though, but I'd say most are to the point where they see Hasbro seemingly in refusal mode to really take the line to the "next level" as a standard...  Not even VOTC level, but a straight across the line overall standard increase that at least matches figures like the AT-AT Driver resculpt.  The VOTC seems to offer your best chance at your best figure (to most) but with a price...  The basic line is like a craps game though.  You'll see a figure listed on rumors, and when pictures finally surface, what are you going to get?  Sometimes you win with an AT-AT Driver, sometimes you lose with Scorch...  This makes some people happy irregardless because they just don't give a ****, this doesn't make others happy... 

Right now I have a tough time gauging how sales are going with Saga but I know I haven't seen much more than a couple cases out at a time so pegwarmers are tough to judge.  They're not dumping tons of cases on shelves right now though so it's tough to say Carkoon wouldn't pegwarm if it hit en masse...  I know Bib's a pegwarmer here, so that's one anyway and he's ok for what he is too, just not popular.  Tough to say...  Geonosis is a better mix I think so I'm not worried about it, Carkoon is the one with the earliest back-up potential if there happens to be a lot of that case out there in circulation I think.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #166 on: February 9, 2006, 09:54 AM »
but I'd say most are to the point where they see Hasbro seemingly in refusal mode to really take the line to the "next level" as a standard... 

I wonder if that's s conscience effort to allow Hasbro to upgrads figures every so often.
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Offline ruiner

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #167 on: February 9, 2006, 09:58 AM »
Hasbro has wised up since the days of POTJ and Saga.  They have realized that they CAN command higher prices and still sell product (without allocating new tooling for every figure).

They know collectors are keeping this line alive - how many of us bellied up to the bar and bought all 12 VOTC figures and the complete set of OTC figures?

How many of us bought the ROTS exclusive figures?  All of which were rehashes.




Offline Brian

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #168 on: February 9, 2006, 10:28 AM »
Excellent points by everyone here.  I'm on board with what Jared and Jesse mentioned in their posts....I'm definitely not asking for $10 figures, but more so the quality that we (most of the time) got with them.  I think we know that Hasbro can bring that quality to the $5 line, they did several times in the ROTS line, but it just doesn't seem like they will do that.  The comments discussing having a larger, 10-20 figure VOTC/VTSC line (at a likely higher pricepoint) I think stems from not only wanting that type of quality, but also from burnout on the line overall.  Like I've said before, I'm always happy to get new figures...and as many as possible...but at the same time, for someone like me its hard to keep up with 60-80 basic figures, then VOTC, not to mention anything else along with those lines.  Like it has been said already, I think its more some of us saying "well, if this is the only way we can get this quality, then we'll have to pay the $10".  I sure wish it would be cheaper, even if it was around $7 if it had to be higher than basic figure price...because my budget is fairly limited, and will be moreso this year, and with the pace things are coming out it seems like its tough to keep up with things even if you only collect the basic figures and nothing else.

I can see the difference in quality this year too.  Like Jesse mentioned, if you compare the VOTC Han to the Han Carbonite figure...yeah, its probably twice as good.  I was happy to get the Carkoon Han, but knee joints would have went a long way towards improving this figure.  Same with Veers and Derlin.  I like them both plenty, but knee joints would have helped a lot too I think.  Hasbro can do nice knee joints (on human figures too), just looking at VOTC Han, Lando, Fett, and even Luke shows that...they just don't for some reason.  I agree that I think Boussh Leia is slightly under-rated this year.  I think most people like the figure, but no one seems to be talking about it too much.  I think the AT-AT driver is the best of the line so far this year, with Leia second.  Overall, I've liked this line, mainly because of the overall "theme" and the packaging is nice too (even though I'm an opener).  There has seemed to be a few figures that are "real close" to being perfect, and I think that can get frustrating.  I'm not overly disappointed by any means, but it would be nice if the majority of the figures (particularly the "new" releases) were more along the lines of AT-AT, Boussh, and the VOTC (and some ROTS) lines.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #169 on: February 9, 2006, 10:59 AM »
Well I think we all agree that we want the highest quality of figures for a fair price.  I just don't want to see a $10-$12 line becoming the focus.  It's ok as a subline, but I'd rather the figures be at a more affordable price for us collectors and of course the kids.  There should always be a $5-$6 line of good figures.  Maybe they won't have 10+ points of articulation, but for what we're paying, I don't think we're getting a raw deal.  Would I have rather had Carkook Han with articulated knees?  Of course.  And they should have done that. 

 :P

Offline jedipurge

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #170 on: February 9, 2006, 01:58 PM »
great points, but if they can give a ROTS prisoner palpy articulated knees, even though he wears a robe that i almost tore to get off of him, for $4.99 and look @ pilot obi i think we all can agree that he's votc/evo and above quality without a doubt.  why can't this be done with these knew figure  >:( and the price is higher then anything we saw with ROTS.  if hasbro wants to make a figure that's at best should be $6.99 and charge an extra $4 for packaging that's fine, but at least release these figures on a normal cardback for us openers/army builders. basically for army builder/openers/customizers we are throwing away the $4 that we're being charged for the packaging by opening them.   ??? i just don't get it.  like another cantina han but it not being the votc version just on another card WTF??  it's almost enough to make me quit the line.  it just seems like hasbro is contiually giving us the shaft.  what about the BBi line how many vehicle have i seen compared to what we got with Rots and saga 2.  oh wait we don't even have any vehicles from saga 2.  the articulation/paint/and sculpt on the BBi figs and vehicles almost blow anything out of the water that hasbro throws at us and it's at a cheaper price.
 >:( :( ??? :-X :'(  sorry about the rant everybody, but this hobby is getting very frustrating and expensive, but thanks to my star wars OCD i just can't quit.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #171 on: February 9, 2006, 02:40 PM »
Ha Ha, jedipurge, I think you echo the sentiments of most of us.  There's always the answers that Hasbro can't justify new vehicle molds (if that's true, it's the collectors fault for always waiting for them to go on clearance to buy them), but as for things like knee articulation, I don't see any way Hasbro can explain that without admitting they just cheaped out.

 :P

Offline Dan

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #172 on: February 10, 2006, 04:46 PM »
The way I read the Hasbro blurb, it made it sound like the Lucas stormtrooper was going to require the sticker from  "1 of each" of the new VOTC. At $13.00 a pop, I didn't plan on buying 1 of each. I love the idea of mail-aways as a reward for collectors. A bunch of gimmiks that make collecting tougher and more expensive does not interest me very much. Like Jedijaybird said regarding some other Hasbro BS, "why don't you slap my grandma while your at it?"

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #173 on: February 11, 2006, 01:29 AM »
Wow, that was fast.  SWS.com has these listed by the case, 2 of each figure.


Offline Jesse James

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #174 on: February 11, 2006, 03:23 AM »
Not a shabby price there either.

I'm a bit miffed they advertise the Lucas as "vintage style" when it isn't.  More out of principle than what it is they're offering.  I'm likely gonna get a case of these just so I'm covered on some of them, but I'm really REALLY hoping these are mixed in down the road so Scouts and Tuskens somehow outnumber the others in distribution.  Even cases are cool right now, but down the road we all know the two taht will be a big pain to find.  :( 

The new pics make Han look a ton better to me...  Albeit from a distance.
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Offline Dan

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #175 on: February 11, 2006, 07:26 AM »
That SWS.com price is pretty good, I was expecting 135-150 before taxes and shipping. The EE price is 120, and it isn't often SWS.com beats them. I put my order in, because I fear the "1 of each" factor is going to make finding bikerscouts and raiders even tougher. On another thread I expressed concern that a plan like that could not only encourage scalpers, but reward them. If you absolutely have to have 1 of each, they can effectively hold a figure hostage. I know some of the HW sellers around my area have connections at stores to cherrypick the cases. They will be sending the bikerscouts out the back door as well.  >:(
So.... I bite the case bullet for the VOTC clan. I don't give a rat's *** if I ever see a silver base or gumball toy accessory. If I see a foil carded AT-AT driver, I buy it as an anomoly to add to the collection.  :-\

And then I sit back and count the days til June, when the beautiful Kubrick people will again impress us with their creativity, ingenuity, and attention to detail. And thank Hasbro for convincing me to put most of my money elsewhere.(Choppers? Goofy robot ships? Tiny preposed junk packs for $10.00? Force Battler whats?) But there isn't enough capital to take a chance on a new ship.... ::) )

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #176 on: February 11, 2006, 06:44 PM »
According to two separate reports at www.coreplanets.com, the new VSTC figures were found at a Walmart in Kansas today.

 :P

Offline Reid

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #177 on: February 11, 2006, 07:06 PM »
According to two separate reports at www.coreplanets.com, the new VSTC figures were found at a Walmart in Kansas today.

 :P

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

TOO...MUCH...FIGURES...COMING OUT...AT....A...TIME...15 YEAR-OLD'S WALLET...TOO...THIN...GAHHHH!!!

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #178 on: February 11, 2006, 09:04 PM »
As I suspected, the loose photo's look a lot better than the carded. I still think Luke's stance is way too wide and I have a sneeky feeling that the Sandperson's arms are swivel joints.

Chewie, does the report say what the retail cost was at WM?
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Offline Jim

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Re: 2006 vOTC (or vTSC) - now with pics!
« Reply #179 on: February 11, 2006, 10:56 PM »
My main concern was waiting for pics to show up of the upcoming VOTC Sandperson with soft goods.  I am so disappointed in how huge and poofy this looks.   Huge :o  I was looking forward to this figure thinking how cool this could (should) of been.  The version that came with the Bantha had the right idea .
 I'm sure that this will be the final version Hasbro will come up with since it is part of the VOTC line.  Im sure it will have excellent articulation.  But this poofy suit is bad IMO. 

The soft goods did not work on Greedo either.  Other figs should of been considered for the VOTC line. 

Did the Weequay from the Battle Pack have articulation on the right arm?  I like the way they repainted him, but am not going to buy this with all those other
that are still on shelves.  The Han Carbonite is the biggest pegwarmer in my area.