I'm going more with favorites than "BEST"

BEST FIGURE - VC105 - Royal Guard (ROTJ) - With this figure I think that Hasbro has finally nailed the Emporer's Royal Guard.  And in the process, the inclusion of the additional accessories made this not just a great ROTJ figure, but also a very cool EU rendition of Kir Kanos.

HONORABLE MENTION - VC106 - Nien Nunb - This is an update that I've been waiting to see for a long time.  The Kenner vintage Nein Nunb mailaway figure was one of my favorite figures from that line, and I always loved the character in ROTJ. I think Hasbro pretty much nailed Nein Nunb from a sculpt standpoint.  Do I think the paint apps could have been a little better?  Definitely.  If the paint apps on Nien Nunb's face had been better, THIS would have been my BEST FIGURE vote.


BEST VEHICLE - I've got to go with the Speeder Bike, too.  This one vehicle has been such a sore spot for years, that to see it finally done the right way is a relief.  The sizing and details are all there.  And I really hope that Hasbro is going to capitalize on the tooling and offer versions with both Luke and Leia on this speeder bike as well.


BEST EXCLUSIVE - The K-Mart AT-ST Crew takes this slot for me.  This is a case of Hasbro actually getting it right for once.  They listened to collectors and gave us a 2-pack of Imperial troops with different head sculpts, and you know what?  It's sold pretty damned well.  And on top of that, the figures are really cool, too.  I'm definitely happy to put them in my AT-ST's, and retire my older AT-ST Drivers.


BEST MULTIPACK - This could have easily been the best exclusive, since it was both a multipack AND an exclusive.  But I have to go with the TRU exclusive Ewok multipack.  I think this is another case of a great offering because Hasbro LISTENED.  They offered us NEW Ewoks as well as a revised Teebo.  And they threw in a bunch of Ewok accessories, too.  It makes this set more versatile, and those additional accessories give you the option of displaying your Ewoks the way you want.  This is a WIN feature for me.

Definitely liked the Kenner Walrus Man cameo.  Very nice nod to vintage collectors!

I also liked the nod to the Republic Commando video game with the final sequence.  Having Gregor fight the Battle Droids as he did was very reminiscent of some of the gameplay from the RC game.  Especially blowing up the fuel drums to take out the Battle Droids.

This episode may have made the previous episode in this Droid/Seperatist communications decoder arc almost semi-tolerable. 

The prequel version of Yoda in Sideshow's 1:6 scale Order of the Jedi line is now up for preorder.  This one is $99.99.

Yeah, but look at some of the projects those people have been involved in post Freaks & Geeks.  The show was cool, and I totally got into watching it in re-runs on IFC.  But for both Rogen & Segel, a lot of their success has been in subsequent Judd Apatow projects.

I haven't opened mine yet, but it's VERY tiny.  But I really don't think a regular sized figure is going to fit in that cockpit.

Looks like this line may be loaded with potential disappointments. 

Not a good way to go, since IM3 will be the first Marvel movie following on the box office success of Avengers

$34, huh?  At that price I could be seriously tempted to buy the Helicarrier!

But then what about the future of the Avengers line?  We're just a little over a month away from Toy Fair.  And when you look at the Avengers Box Office gross numbers, it's the number 3 movie of all time with over $1.5 Billion worldwide.  One would think that Hasbro might want to revisit Avengers in 2013.  But what should they do?  Here's a wishlist:

BASIC FIGURES
Captain America (new uniform, no helmet)
Thor - Mountaintop battle (no armored sleeves)
Thor - Helicarrier battle
Tony Stark - Snap on Mark VII armor
Hawkeye - No sunglasses, rapelling gear
Loki - Unarmored
Maria Hill
Agent Coulson - with Destroyer gun
Chitauri Warrior - with removable facemask & articulation


DELUXE FIGURES
Banner & Hulk (properly scaled)
Black Widow & Chitauri hovercraft


There are definitely a good number of other figures you could offer if they expanded the Avengers comic line, too.  But I imagine Hasbro might not want to cross over too much with Marvel Universe.

The sourcing on a return to Tikal is sketchy.  Even the Reuters report that was the source for the comicbookmovie.com link was pretty vague.  And Reuters is a world-renowned news agency.  But in that part of the article it looked as though they were going on what a Guatemalan Star Wars fan group had stated, and nothing from Disney or Lucasfilm.

Only time will tell!