Author Topic: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures  (Read 15074 times)

Offline BigDumbWookiee

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2005, 01:32 PM »
I LOVE the figures, but I HATE the accessories. I'd rather see movie authentic stuff, or at least closely inspired.
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Offline ruiner

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #16 on: April 15, 2005, 02:41 PM »
You seem to be the first, care to elaborate on why you like them?

Just curious, I've been eyeballing the Vader if and when I see him on the pegs...


Offline Brian

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #17 on: April 15, 2005, 02:59 PM »
Yeah, I was wondering if anyone here is picking them up or not.  I've been considering the Vader as well, and that figure does seem to be selling pretty well around here.  Anakin, Obi, and Grievous are in droves everywhere I've seen though.  I've considered picking up ones like Vader...as well as the upcoming Chewie and Clone.  For those who have picked up any of these, what do you think of them?

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2005, 06:15 PM »
I've only seen pictures of these, but I actually like them too.  I don't like the EU accessories, but the stylized scults and aggressive facial expressions are what draw my attention.   My favourites so far are actually Anakin and Obi-Wan, which I haven't said very often about the other lines.   :)

I think they're $15 CDN up here, so that might prevent me from grabbing them (assuming I even see them).   :-\

Offline Rod

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #19 on: April 15, 2005, 11:31 PM »
I didn't think much of these except Vader.  But then I saw him on 4/2 and noticed that his left shoulder does not have as much articulation as his right one.

Right shoulder articulation is like that of the CommTech Stormtrooper......

Left Shoulder articulation is kind of like the vintage figures....and due to the weird angle of his left arm, it swivels way too close to his body.....kind of "weird".

I liked tha anime style of these figures but now will only get them if on sale for my upcoming kids. (Gotta get them some toys to tear into when they get big enough).

The Clone Trooper is a definite....I gotta satisfy my Clone obsession.

Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #20 on: April 16, 2005, 11:36 AM »
Despite my belief that this line is going to flop bigger than Rosie O'Donnell on a Miami beach, I picked up the Vader at a local WM yesterday.  It has its good points (it's Vader and it's kind of neat looking, I suppose), but it also has its bad points (that shield and some very strange articulation choices between the arms).

Quick review (I guess):

-THE GOOD:  The sculpt is nice, very anime and stylized.  He stands on his own reasonably well and that's always a plus.  He can hold his lightsaber with both hands, and the shield can be taken off and thrown into a box, never to see the light of day again.  There is some really interesting articulation that you can't really see in the package on his arms.  Basically, if this makes sense, he has two cut joints in his lower arm: one is the usual at the elbow, and the next is less than a half inch away where his gloves meet the forearms.  He's also got cut wrist articulation, so that's three points on each arm from the elbow down, which I hadn't seen before.  The lightsaber is nice, and is more along the lines of the 12" dolls in terms of appearance and quality, if a bit smaller.

-THE BAD:  The cloth cape (the outer one) doesn't have the same care and quality in its stitching that other Vaders at this scale or smaller (Jedi Force Vader and the GH Vader) have had over the past few years.  Why they chose to do a plastic inner cape and a cloth outer cape is beyond me, but it's there.  There is no articulation in his right leg at all (other than the squeeze thing), and his left leg only has a hip joint (but this is good since he can stand on his own). 

-THE WTF?:  The shield is ridiculous.  The action feature is silly, and pointless (although I guess that's the point of these figures).  The biggest WTF? moment is the lack of a ball jointed shoulder on the left arm while the right arm has a ball joint.  I can't figure this one out at all, especially since the Jedi Force Vader had this on both shoulders.  Plus there's the overall pointless nature of these figures ever being made, so there you go.

Overall, it's a fairly cool piece as far as just looking at it and saying, "Hey, that's an interesting looking Vader" on your shelf, but as far as "This makes me want to collect this whole line, how awesome!", it scores a big fat zero.  If you've got 10 bucks to burn and you like Vader, go ahead and pick it up.  If you're wavering, go to the next aisle and pick up the Jedi Force Vader, which is a much cooler toy overall and a lot more fun.  Just be sure to buy it before clearances, because I doubt this one will be sticking around in the mess of Obi-Wans, Grievii, and Anakins (I had to dig through eight pegs to find one Vader).

As incoherent and Burroughs-esque as this post has been, it's my thoughts on this figure. 

 


Offline Brian

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #21 on: April 21, 2005, 11:53 AM »
Taking a look at some of the preview pics over at RS of the next wave of "Force Battlers", the more they really remind me of the "Sigma Six" line coming from G.I. Joe later this year.  Especially when you look at the Mace Windu figure, the style and look are almost exactly the same.  I just don't know how these things are going to do.  I'd really like to pick up the Chewie, and the Vader that is out now looks kind of neat, but something about the human figures looks a bit off to me.

Offline Jeff

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #22 on: May 16, 2005, 12:42 PM »
The latest word in fashion: 7 is the new 3 3/4

I still think this line is Hasbro trying to convince us that Larger figures are "awesome".   ::)

Anyway...

Han Solo w/Stormtrooper Disguise:


Luke Skywalker w/Backpack Skiff:


And the first re-hash, Darth Vader w/Cape Glider:

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Offline Brian

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #23 on: May 16, 2005, 01:17 PM »
The new figures are interesting, and to be honest, I've been tempted to pick up the first Vader a couple of times.  I'll likely get the Chewie if/when it is released, so that makes the Han a tempting buy as well.  I don't like their tagline "7 is the new 3 3/4".  That makes me have nightmares of the way the Sigma Six line in the Joe World will be the focal point later this year.  I would think that Hasbro would leave 3 3/4" as the "staple" line of Star Wars though....they go hand in hand so much at this point...but you just never know.

Offline Jeff

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #24 on: May 23, 2005, 11:28 AM »
I don't know if anyone actually cares about this line but...

The Emperor:


Yoda:
« Last Edit: May 23, 2005, 11:51 AM by Jeff »
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Offline Brian

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #25 on: May 23, 2005, 11:32 AM »
I kind of like to keep up on this line, although I haven't bought any of them.  Has anyone here been picking them up or even thinking about it?  I had the Vader in my hands a couple of times, before putting it back, but it is somewhat scarce around here anymore.  The others from that first wave (Anakin, Obi-Wan, Grievous) are piled up pretty much everywhere.  I'll admit that I'm somewhat tempted by the Chewbacca we have seen pics of, and will likely pick that one up.  If I do that, I might get the Han too, but we'll see.  They are kind of neat in a "kitschy" sort of way, but it seems that they are overall disliked pretty strongly.  Seems like they are doubling up with Jedi Force and Force Battlers in a way, and it also seems like Hasbro is testing the "larger figure size" market with these.  They just look so much like that GI Joe "Sigma Six" line that is coming later this year, at least from the pics I've seen.  Thanks for the pics Jeff.  I sometimes pick up Yoda things for myself or my brother, so that one might be a little bit tempting too.  At $9-10 each, these are easier to pass up it seems.

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #26 on: May 23, 2005, 02:45 PM »
I think I'm one of the few people originally interested in this line -- I've got Vader, Anakin, Obi-Wan & Grievous.  I've really liked their anime-like facial sculpts, but I'm beginning to lose interest.  I may grab Luke and Han simply because of their OT appeal, but the Emperor and Yoda don't do much for me yet.

Offline Brian

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #27 on: June 9, 2005, 10:34 AM »
Hasbro now has an official update featuring the next wave of the Force Battlers, consisting of Yoda and Palpatine.  Nothing incredibly new, since we've seen some pics of these before...but a little more info and different pics available at the link...if anyone is interested :).
« Last Edit: June 9, 2005, 10:35 AM by mosnab »

Offline Holographic Elvis

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #28 on: June 9, 2005, 03:45 PM »
Yoda and Palpy are the next wave?  Did they just skip Chewy and Mace (which were on display at C3)?  I only see Obi1 out here with the occassional Anakin.  Wanted to grab a Grievous for my nephew so I'll have to hunt around.

Offline Brian

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Re: Star Wars "Force Battlers" Figures
« Reply #29 on: June 9, 2005, 03:56 PM »
I'm sorry, I don't think the Yoda/Sidious wave is technically the "next" wave in the line...just the next one they have announced.  I personally am not sure of the order, but beyond the four that are on the pegs now (Obi/Anakin/Grievous/Vader), we've seen upcoming figures of Chewbacca/Mace/Clonetrooper, Han/Luke/2nd Vader, and now Yoda/Sidious if I am remembering correctly.  I'm not sure if that is the order they are going to be released or not.

As far as these figures, they actually seem to be dwindling a little bit at least around here.  You can basically only find Anakin and Obi in town now, and I'm afraid I might have missed the boat on the Vader.  I wasn't sure if I wanted it that bad or not, but I'm thinking I might pick up the Han and Chewie that are coming up...and that might lead to the Luke as well, and if that happens, I know I'll regret skipping Vader.  I should probably skip them altogether, but I wouldn't mind having just a few for something "different".  We'll see.