I'm always pondering what figures I'd like to have sort of readily available to pick up... Sometimes that's easy, sometimes not. For some reason, 2007 I was buying so much re-released stuff, that it was almost like collecting two lines. It was great having some of that stuff just hanging around to pick up.
So anyway, this got me thinking about the vehicles... They come, they go... Some seem like they've not been around much or weren't around long when they were new.
So what's the vehicles you'd like to see back on shelves, and what upgrades would you like? This includes minor tweaking/retooling to the molds. Nothing major like a resculpt of a vehicle. I'm thinking mid-size too, not the Deluxe or larger lines. Just the $20-$25 pricepoint.
-Snowspeeder... I'd take this thing repainted 10 times over. Sure it's just come out, but it's incredible and this is probably the single mid-size vehicle that I'd go nutty army building right now. I'd take Wedge's, Zev's, whatever.
-Luke's Downed Snowspeeder... The cannons on Luke's speeder were bent upward, the window cracked... I'd buy this. Am I alone? Slap some bent gun barrels in the box with it, a window-cling window crack like the one boxed Snowspeeder set, and damage the paintjob a (good) bit... I'm in. I'm in just for the scene. I'd actually buy a Legends Snowspeeder Luke, to specifically do this as a fixed scene on my shelf, complete with a dead Dak in back.
-Zam's Speeder... If Hasbro were able to fix the flexible part in the front so it wasn't tacky, I'd probably rebuy that speeder. The scale's pretty good on it actually, just mine was a lint collector from the tackiness of the crumple front. Cool concept, poor execution... Knowing what they f'd up, I'm 100% sure this is fixable. They have paint that cures on vinyl/latex type materials. They can do this better. With the Zam I've got now, I'd gladly rebuy this vehicle.
-EU Assault "Snow"Speeder... There's an eu design on the "Snow"Speeder where the cockpit is opened, and where teh harpoon is, there is a quad-cannon similar to the Falcon's. It's more a tan/brown color. I'd LOVE to see this thing made. Deco changes to the current mold, a cockpit retooling, and a new weapon for the back that just plugs in. Very simple to do, and even more aggressive looking. I'd be in on this completely... multiples if they did it.
-The Snail Tank Droid... I really don't even want another one of this, but I just know that it didn't last like some mid-size vehicles do. This thing came and went here. Seems like it'd do well out again.
-Homing Spider Droid... Not sure on deco tweaking. If I had my way, maybe a slight extension of the legs (it'd be really easy... It's actually not hard to do on your own if you have a decent hobby shop nearby). Really though, the Homing Spider's a pretty decent scale itself, and it's been a while since that's been on shelves it seems as well. At least I haven't seen one in a while.
-Hailfire... I'm frankly shocked the Hailfire hasn't made it back out, other than the RC version being on shelves maybe blocking the idea of the static one comign out. Now that the RC one is largely gone though, the static one may be a nice item to have out.
-V-19 Torrent Fighter (Repaints)... Only the Snowspeeder would get me to buy more I think. If they gave us at LEAST a slightly worn deco on the Torrent, I'd rebuy it for that alone. I have 3 clean ones, I'd buy dirty ones, and i'd probably buy different EU squad decoes, or weird nose art on one or something. Loved that ship, and still do, just don't need another clean one anywhere on my shelving.
-A-Wing... I long for a McQuarrie decoed blue A-Wing. If they were nice and gave us accurate bulky laser guns, I'd be giddy (maybe include both sets of guns so you can go McQuarrie concept, as well as film accurate). I've got green, which was pretty slick, and I've got 2 shades of red now... the new cockpit upgrades are nifty. But I am itching for a nice blue decoed ship. It's one of my favorite McQuarrie art prints.
-Jedi Starfighter Slight Retool... It's not likely to ever happen, but I actually would like Obi-Wan's fighter retooled to have all 3 landing gear. The action feature was wonky on the ship in the first place, so I'd really like to see that eliminated, and the 2 rear landing gear able to drop down now instead. They did the front gear so incredibly well, it's a shame teh back gear was sacrificed to the action feature on that otherwise really detailed ship. It'd maybe actually get me to buy that design again, which I've not picked up now for quite a few releases.
There are certainly a few complete ground-up sculpts I'd like to see done too... For some reason I'm interested in a Hyperspace Ring for a V-19, and I'd love seeing the ROTS Hyperspace Ring added to the line as well. I'm also a big proponent of the Fanblade Fighter making an appearance in the line as well. It's actually small, so it actually could break down in the box... Doing one on your own, not too easy IMO, but Hasbro could actually do this to-scale in the mid-size line, it'd just have to be slightly more complex than a lot of mid-size stuff.
But ultimately there's a lot of minor things, sometimes even deco changes, I'd like to see on tools they already have all done up. That Snowspeeder is just itching to get a repaint though. And I'm kind of tired of seeing mostly mid-size stuff I just am not interested in. Right now there's some new stuff but it seems like a drought may occur in the near future. Little tweaks to spice up things on that shelf at retail may be a good incentive for a guy like me to (re-)buy.