30AC Wave 1 - Revenge of the Sith

[Vator]

Eins has yet to arrive in South Carolina. Everywhere I go, I am greeted by thousands of Final 22 figures who, seemingly, have just arrived themselves. I need my fix!

[Reid]

Saw the remnants of this wave at Target, Obi-Wan and R2.

[JangoTat]

Saw the remnants of this wave at Target, Obi-Wan and R2.

get used to it, they love to hang out on the pegs together.

[Rob]

I've seen bits and pieces of this wave at almost every store I've been into this whole week - but not a single sighting of the Concept Stormie.   

[speedermike]

Same here, I've seen this entire wave, except for the McTrooper, at least 5 times this week.  Multiples of every figure.

[Brian]

It looks like the TAC supply is starting to pick up a little in our area as well, with the exception of Wal-Mart (which is still buried under lots of Enboo/GB stuff).  They do/did have the Saleucami BP and Vader w/album on an endcap at one point though - just no basic figures.  Anyways, I stopped by our local TRU and Target today, and both had lots of TAC on the pegs.  Target especially - although there were no clones, McQuarrie, or SBD there.  At TRU, I was able to grab a couple more Galactic Marines, and one more Airborne trooper.  They had all the figures there, except for the McQuarrie again.  It looks like there will be lots of Obi-Wans and R2s to go around though.  I'm basically just on the lookout for the McQuarrie Stormtrooper at this point, but I am a little concerned about finding it (let alone two of them).

[Greg]

   That's interesting, Brian. One of the Wal-Marts in my area was loaded with basic figures on an endcap, along with many coin albums and Saleucami sets. I mean, loaded. At least twenty of each clone and many of the other figures. Of course, there was only one McQuarrie Storm Trooper which I now regret passing on. It's kind of funny how greatly Wal Mart stores differ from each other.   
   Anyway, here are some of my opinions on some wave one figures. Thus far, I have picked up three Galactic Marines, two Super Battle Droids, two Airborne troopers, and one Concept Art Storm Trooper. These figures seem to be the best of the wave, as well as the hardest to find. The Super Battle Droid is the best, and the flames are kind of cool. The clones are well done, and the removable helmets are a really nice touch. The concept Art Stormie is a vast improvement over the 2003/2004 version. It's amazing what some new paint can do to a figure.  Overall, Wave 1 seems like a very good wave and I cannot wait to pick up the other four or five figures.

[JesseVader08]

I lucked out a few weeks ago and found the McQuarrie Stormtrooper and Airborne Trooper, now all I want is ONE Galactic Marine.  Patience is a virtue, right?

[David]

I've seen bits and pieces of this wave at almost every store I've been into this whole week - but not a single sighting of the Concept Stormie.   

Hmmm...Im speaking to nobody in particular...but hah! Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all to get mine on eBay. I've taken a lot of grief for my recent decision to purchase a less than expensive McTrooper from a scalper I knew off eBay, but now everyone's complaining that they can't find one...

  

[Rob]

I finally found concept stormtroopers the other day.  Took a while.  For whatever reason I really like these with the new paint job.  I'm hoping to pick up a few more.

[Dressel Rebel]

Hmmm...Im speaking to nobody in particular...but hah! Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all to get mine on eBay. I've taken a lot of grief for my recent decision to purchase a less than expensive McTrooper from a scalper I knew off eBay, but now everyone's complaining that they can't find one...

  

No it's always a bad idea to hand $20 over to a scalper for a single basic figure on eBay when at the time the wave had been out in stores for a week in most places and hadn't even hit yet in others.  Especially when the figure is a rerelease and is being packed in cases from now until at least June.  Chances are you could have gotten 3 of them for that same money in a store if you didn't pay the very people that try pretty hard to **** up our hobby.

And even if you went the next 3 months without seeing one on the pegs, you're still paying the person that caused the whole situation 3x the retail price, and giving the green light for him to do it again. 

[Rob]

^ co-sign.

[Nicklab]

Hmmm...Im speaking to nobody in particular...but hah! Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all to get mine on eBay. I've taken a lot of grief for my recent decision to purchase a less than expensive McTrooper from a scalper I knew off eBay, but now everyone's complaining that they can't find one...

  

A lot of the money that I've seen wasted in the hobby over the years can mainly be attributed to impatience and a lack of research.  And to that end I know of two specific things you can do in order to keep from being ripped off like this.

-Do your homework.  Surf the forums so that you can stay current on when figures are hitting stores.  You will notice trends where you can pick out which chains are getting new figures.  See a lot of reports in forums that Target stores are getting a new wave of figures in?  Start hitting Target stores specifically in your toy runs.  And using something like the Target DCPI numbers and their scanners to determine whether or not they have figures in their stockroom can help you as well.

-Persistance.  Try to hit the stores on a regular basis.  Opening times are a great time to hit stores.  They usually stock during the overnights and you're likely to get first crack at figures because of that.

It's these methods that led to me getting the McQuarrie Trooper and the rest of the ROTS wave at retail.  I saw some of the ROTS wave at a Con a few weeks before they showed up at retail but I held off.  They were way overpriced and I wasn't going to pay $20 for an Airborne Trooper so that I could have it a week or two before everyone else.  I found it at retail and patience paid off.

[Reid]

Hmmm...Im speaking to nobody in particular...but hah! Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all to get mine on eBay. I've taken a lot of grief for my recent decision to purchase a less than expensive McTrooper from a scalper I knew off eBay, but now everyone's complaining that they can't find one...

  

No it's always a bad idea to hand $20 over to a scalper for a single basic figure on eBay when at the time the wave had been out in stores for a week in most places and hadn't even hit yet in others.  Especially when the figure is a rerelease and is being packed in cases from now until at least June.  Chances are you could have gotten 3 of them for that same money in a store if you didn't pay the very people that try pretty hard to **** up our hobby.

And even if you went the next 3 months without seeing one on the pegs, you're still paying the person that caused the whole situation 3x the retail price, and giving the green light for him to do it again. 

Besides... You shouldn't pay $20 for one figure... And, how is paying 3x the actual retail price "less than expensive"? seems pretty pricey to me...

[CloneF13Y35]

I went by the local KB TOys at the mall yesterday and they had just put out a case of TAC figs so once they put them on the pegs I saw the McQ Stormie and picked it up. now I just need another to open