I picked up most of Wave 2 tonight that I hadn't gotten yet, which was most of the wave... I'm still missing the Magna Guard however, which sucks since he's who I wanted the most, but such is life.
Anyway, some thoughts overall on this wave...
-Palpatine... An outstanding figure all around. It's some of the cooler softgoods Hasbro's ever done because they make the complexity of the outfit, while still giving the figure a wide range of articulation without much of a compromise at all. The outfit though, I really thought was going to impede this figure's potential coolness. I thought for certain Hasbro would cut something down because I just couldn't see them going softgoods and pulling it off. They did though.
I really would've liked a non-cackling headsculpt though. It's really about the only gripe I could find besides him having a saber hilt as an extra accessory. He's going to look great next to Mas Ameda though, and a couple Royal Guards (which I just happened to pick 2 up cheap at the Toy Show last month, so cool beans there).
This was my favorite figure of this wave, thus far.
-Clone Trooper... Surprisingly a delight. It's a nice, generic, uber articulated Clone... I'm a bit of a sucker for the improved articulation I guess, and I'd probably re-buy some army builders of different colors with this sculpt. At least the movie Clones anyway, like 212th, and 501st Troopers.
The only disappointments to me were that his eyes are again staring upward... Will Hasbro ever fix Clone eyes? And the helmet lacks a LOT of paint details, as do the treads of his shoes. It's actually noticeable, and kinda lame that they're omitting details like that IMO.
-Sandtrooper... A great army builder Stormtrooper, and I love getting more of the rifle he comes with. I'd love to pick this figure up with a worn deco and maybe a unique pauldron.
-Anakin "Darth Vader" Skywalker... Badassery. The articulation is fantastic and a HUGE improvement (I'm even suprirsed how much it helps him), and the likeness is spot-on. I love the change in the hair sculpt. I'm going to still get a 2nd of this figure to put a non-Sithy headsculpt onto though. A very good figure, and a Jedi with a hilt for his belt? I love it, and I wish ALL Jedi had the hilt accessory to clip to their belts.
-Cmdr. Cody... Mine has fairly loose hip joints, which is a bit disappointing, as I really was on the fence on buying Cody again anyway since I don't feel the fixed belt is a huge deal. The paint details seemed slightly better though, and the antenna was silver, so I caved. I sorta regret the purchase now though because the hips are quite loose on mine.
-General Grievous... An insanely pleasant surprise. He isn't super sturdy, but mine stands just fine, and I've had him in some pretty cool positions. I like putting his hands behind his back like he's pacing the bridge of his ship or something.
The cape though, takes the cake... I had gotten Palpatine ahead of the rest of this wave, and then tonight I got Grievous, and his cape is maybe my favorite softgoods accessory of any figure, ever. The pockets are nicely sewn, and each side holds 4 sabers. The design is on the back of the cape, which I wasn't sure we'd get, so I was really glad to see it there... The weight makes the cape hang nicely, and it's of course got the red lining... It's really one of the finer pieces a figure has ever come with, hands down.
Grievous only comes with 2 sabers and 2 saber hilts, so I guess we're to fill the other pockets with other sabers. I'm thinking of adding a Nahdar Vebb hilt or something. I'd rather they included more sabers rather than his blaster pistol, but that's ok I guess.
His articulation upgrades are nice. The arms lock better, but still not great, and I think my figure needs his arms run under some hot water so they form to one another better. The package warped them slightly. Still though, the wrist articulation is a help, and the pins/holes seem deeper too, so I like that they were really trying to improve the 2008 figure. Also, his color seems better. Grievous is easily my 2nd favorite figure of the wave, behind Palpatine right now. I'd say the Magna Guard will trump them both, but I don't have it yet to be sure.
I got a number of the figures tonight as the Foil Carded versions, as that was all there was. I was thinking there would be foil and non-foil in the same case, but maybe I'm wrong. I can't see someone passing on the foil ones, but whatever. I opened them as the foil stuff doesn't matter. I'd like to salvage the cards, but I kinda dislike the foil enough that I doubt I try salvaging these.
Anyway, good wave... Anxious for about 6 or 8 Magna Guards, and hopefully an easy blue repaint of the same figure.
