JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => Past Hasbro 3.75" Lines => The Black Series 3.75" => Topic started by: Jayson on July 19, 2016, 12:23 PM
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(http://www.yakfaceforums.com/jayson/HSB8671lg.jpg)
Six awesome new 3 3/4-inch scale action figures, with five characters making their toy debut!
Figures include cool accessories and have the articulation you've come to love from The Vintage Collection and The Black Series.
Exclusive boxed set features a brand-new never-before-seen display box!
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801
:o :o :o :o :o
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Nice! Looking forward to some new stuff. EE (and Adam Pawlus) have done well with their original exclusives (not just repaints) in the past. I'm looking forward to this sight unseen.
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Me too. Thinking a jawa theme but maybe not as the blurb seems to suggest otherwise and not sure there's 5 figures left in that segment of the movie. I'm game.
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Maybe two of them are the six foot tall jawas?
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Sounds like the characters will be a mix from multiple sources...
The characters date back as far as the original Star Wars movie and span the saga's rich history, bringing home a diverse range of interesting dudes.
I'm super excited to see what the six figures end up being. They specifically say that five of the characters are seeing their first toy appearance leaving the sixth figure to hopefully be a unique/new variation of a character we've gotten before.
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My hope is fly guy from the cantina along with other patrons and alien dudes from across the saga ;D
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The Sandcrawler graphics do seem to hint at something Jawa/droid related. My guess is that it's a Jawa with 5 new droids. Especially since EE got those exclusive astromech multipacks a few years back.
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Adam loves astromechs, so I wouldn't be surprised if this assortment was astromech (or at least droid) heavy.
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For $80, I'd really hope it's more than just some repainted BAD figures.
Nevertheless, this is pretty exciting news. I'd love to see more SA TFA figures released using this method.
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Exciting news! I'm even (especially?) intrigued about the box, given how Pawlus has pushed in the past for diorama-style packaging.
If the "previously released" character is an update of the Lars Family Power Droid, I'll eat my hat!
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Never before made characters with Black Series caliber articulation?
Yes please.
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Ordered mine, using the JD sponsor linky thing! :P hint hint hint
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801
Ordered 2, cuz hey, whatever.
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I'm still kicking myself for not picking up Joker Squad or the two Mandalorian sets.
With Vintage and TBS style articulation and 5 of the 6 figures never being made before, I'll get two of these most likely!
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Ordered. Definitely thinking Jawa for 1-2 of the figures and the rest are probably droids. I'd love a few new cloth jawas with articulation. Is there another hint in that it says "3 3/4-inch scale" instead of just "3 3/4-inch?" Feels like they wouldn't have bothered saying "scale" if they were all human sized...
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Now that I've thought about it a little more, and read some of Adam's comments, I have a different theory. That being this exclusive may be the way to release the last few remaining characters from the Kenner line (up through POTF) who have yet to be re-made in modern renditions.
Adam has also mentioned in some comments at a couple of other sites that this set will be unveiled before the weekend, and will not include characters from either ROGUE ONE or REBELS.
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Hmmmmm.... I'm thinking vintage is a good possibility. I've liked all the EE exclusive boxed sets over the years. I wish they'd had more of them honestly. That TFA one was lame but the boxed sets of figures have always been nice. The mandalorians was a great set.
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Now that I've thought about it a little more, and read some of Adam's comments, I have a different theory. That being this exclusive may be the way to release the last few remaining characters from the Kenner line (up through POTF) who have yet to be re-made in modern renditions.
"Five of these figures have never been made as toys!"
I'd assume, even not trusting the messenger, that includes vintage Kenner as well.
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I saw that, too. The thing is, Adam has been making the rounds in the comments sections of several sites. And damn, is he stirring the pot! He admitted himself that "it's marketing". But he's getting people talking and placing orders without even having seen a single image of this new offering.
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Eh, I've liked what EE has done in the past so I can't bitch about what this is without seeing it myself.
The more I look at it though, that sure as **** looks like an astromech silhouette and jawas, so I guess I'm leaning towards astromech repaints and Jawas? I'm not disappointed in hearing this at all, if that's what it turns out as, but hey, I'm all for some new good figures is all I'm saying. I just want cool new stuff. Repaints are ok too, but not as great as new figures. That said, I'm not (regardless) expecting them to have tons of new tooling around.
The Mando's didn't and that worked well IMHO, so I'm ok with this as it is... so far... not having actually seen anything and just knowing articulation and scale are in my wheelhouse. Happy to have ordered up.
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Diverse Range Of Interesting Dudes
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I saw that, too. The thing is, Adam has been making the rounds in the comments sections of several sites. And damn, is he stirring the pot! He admitted himself that "it's marketing". But he's getting people talking and placing orders without even having seen a single image of this new offering.
If it's a dud, it'll be just as easy to cancel the order as it was to create it.
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Diverse Range Of Interesting Dudes
Hmmmm... D R O I D S... Seems like something is trying to be said there.
I'm kinda shocked if it's THOSE kinda those though, since Disney seems to be on those like stink on poop.
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If it's droids, they'd better be unique and new, not a bunch of repainted old sculpts.
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One of the more exciting announcements in forever! Can't wait.
In the unlikely chance they are all droids, I could handle them being based off the Sail Barge R2 body. Too bad that didn't stick.
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Great catch on the droids... wondering if it's possibly from the Droids cartoon, or someone is, because he did say in one of his many pot stirring posts somewhere that one of the figures had appeared previously in a non realistic form. Took that to mean from CW as he DQ'd Rebels, but who knows. Maybe from Droids. I'd love it. Doubt it. This is definitely one of the highlights of the year so far. Looking forward to seeing the final product and hoping to be wowed by the choices.
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Hmmm, that'd fit with the Tatooine theme if there is one there. Maybe.
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One is from the original Star Wars -so not ANH. R2-A5?
One Comes with same accessories it's vintage equivalent did -Red and white bartender droid on Sail Barge?
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One is from the original Star Wars -so not ANH. R2-A5?
One Comes with same accessories it's vintage equivalent did -Red and white bartender droid on Sail Barge?
Pop Up Lightsaber R2 maybe?
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One is from the original Star Wars -so not ANH. R2-A5?
One Comes with same accessories it's vintage equivalent did -Red and white bartender droid on Sail Barge?
Pop Up Lightsaber R2 maybe?
Could be. A new sculpt would be nice.
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Adam has been lobbying for Vlix for years and years, imma guessing that it what Darby is saying, Droids the cartoon with Vlix. Not many Droid's from the OT left to be made.
I was hoping for modern Owen, Beru and Jawas but that would be a terrible seller
Kenner updates would kick ass including the Lars Power Droid!
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I think, and this should be no surprise, the majority will be disappointed in this set. Already some guesses are hoping for return of vintage and/or brand new sculpts or whatever.....
Don't get your hopes up too high is what I'm saying. Its new and I think it's pretty cool but temper your expectations is all I'm saying.
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Please not Vlix. I still plan on owning an original some day.
Odd that they would hype the articulation for just jawas and astromechs, which are so limited in that regard to begin with. Hopefully at least one surprise in there.
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This set is overhyped now. Expectations have been insane the last 24 hours, so like Jeff said, this is bound to be a let down. If they are actual Star Wars characters and SA, then I don't mind the price tag, but I'm already feeling deflated after thinking through the various options. :-\
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Yeah, I'm already imaging the comments tomorrow (or Friday) of how this is yet another Hasbro let down to collectors and blah, blah, blah. I'm up for whatever. Hoping there's something really unexpected in there but thinking whatever it is probably repaints or kit bashes. Which isn't really a bad thing.
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I like Rob's mindset. I preordered a set (using the JD link so put away your pitchforks), if the set sucks I can simply cancel.
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The thing is, repaints or otherwise, this what stuff costs now. It's a like it or lump it situation. I'm not sure what to expect at this point but I agree this is "overhype" beyond compare and IMO does a possible disservice to it, if it isn't something really special.
In the business world the ones who let the product speak for itself are the ones the price rarely matters. I hope this is cool, or at least cool enough, but yeah given all this build up I think that could backfire some. Especially with collectors these days. But I hope for something cool. :)
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Pics are up. Me likey. Don't remember where the droids are from, but paint schemes are very nice.
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(http://www.entertainmentearth.com/images/AUTOIMAGES/HSB8671lg.jpg)
EE has posted them... Astromech 6-pack, 4 from TCW I think, and 2 from the films? If I'm not mistaken.
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OK EE lays out who is who, and good thing because some of these I'd forgotten easily.
The blue/grey drink dispenser is from Ziro the Hutt's palace.
The green/white is from ANH and was cut for the SE (I recalled him)
The maroon/white is from TCW (Plo Koon's droid, and I recalled him as well)
The red/white drink dispenser is in Jabba's Palace in ROTJ but tough to spot. He IS there though, and easier to see in some press materials more than the movie IIRC.
The R2KT is from TCW and being labeled KTQT, and while I remember R2KT in the CW episodes I didn't recall her with the yellow/black hazard marks on her head, or why they're there.
And the orange one is from the Y-Wing Pilots in the malevolence episodes of TCW I guess.
You can see that these are using the Bar2D2 sculpt which is smaller and had the opening arm thing. I'm not a fan of that sculpt but I'm wondering if Disney doesn't have dibs on the BAD sculpt and thus this was all they could use. Since the paintjobs are pretty unique, as are the colors, I'm assuming these wouldn't be Disney Droid creations (or able to be created at least, using the parts they put out), so I'm kinda cool with this.
$13.33 stings, but hey, since I buy so little else anymore, it doesn't sting too badly. I'm down.
And again if you wanna order up, feel free!
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801
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Oh man, that is way better than I could have imagined! SO MUCH Clone Wars love!
I've been working on my own custom D-squad for awhile now off and on, this will help a lot.
Price is steep, but I'm very appreciative of the opportunity to expand my beloved Clone Wars collection. I am in for sure! :)
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LOVE the packaging, though not a packaging guy. But still. Very cool. R2-A5 - wanted him for so long I totally forgot about him. CW love - I loved all the CW droids so this is nice. Jabba's bartender - super obscure but welcome. The price stings a bit but reality bites.
Totally called the commentary going on right now. The snake is eating its own tail with this stuff. I don't know what people want or expect and really who cares. We want, we want, we want and we get, we get, we get and still it's not enough. ???
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(http://The price stings a bit but reality bites.)
^This
I've been buying expensive toy lines, imports, etc. for some years. I bought Hot Toys Snap Kit figures from Aliens years ago and only wish I'd bought a few more cases to flip now. I buy the Hiya Aliens line, the Acid Rain line... Stuff just isn't cheap now, and Hasbro's feeling that pinch too.
This is an online exclusive to a single store, and EE isn't Wal-Mart with buying power, so the fact these are the same price as the WM TBS figures more or less, it's kind of surprising.
Now, can fans choke down that TBS 3.75" price on repaints... eh... I can. I mean I'm not wealthy or anything, but at this point I don't buy nearly as much Star Wars as I once did, and this is up my alley for what I actually enjoy collecting, so I'll support it sure. It's not cheap, but it's what I want. I paid $150 for an Acid Rain vehicle... one vehicle, no bigger than a Hasbro ship like the X-Wing or something. Granted, that line is an import line, very small company/production runs... but if it weren't import and was a US company, I figure at best they're still half that price, and 80-ish isn't cheap either.
It's all in what you like/want, and if you're willing to belly up to the bar and actually pay, at this point.
It's like the 6" "Hallway" playset things from Galactic Trading Post... You get a 32" hallway, done in plastic, painted, high grade plastic... but you won't get it for free. Are you willing to pay and get what you actually want, or are you just going to sit and expect everything and to pay nothing for it? I pine away for 2007-2009 as much as anyone else in this hobby, but the reality is things in China changed, and Hasbro can't control that, and you just gotta eat it or get out of the hobby at this point. :-\
I personally want to keep collecting things I don't have and want, and this falls in line with that, so I'm buying. And again, my budget was opened up by the sheer volume of things I don't buy or I wait till sales or I simply miss out on. The Amazon FO Trooper set (3.75") is out of stock there from Amazon... I missed it. I wanted bits of it, but not much of it. I missed out. I don't feel bad on that.
This, I'll pay and I'll get something that'll make me happy I own it. If I have any real complaint I just don't like that R2 sculpt and prefer consistency lol. The price is background noise IMO.
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I'm always happy to get more astromechs. The price per figure stings a little bit, but I think an offering like this is the only way we would get these particular droids. It's definitely cool to get R2-A5 at last. That droid is a great addition to a Mos Eisley street scene. And the white & red bartender droid is a good addition for either Jabba's Palace or a Sail Barge diorama.
But I am genuinely surprised that four of these droids are source from the Clone Wars movie and series. I do appreciate KT-QT and the nod to the "D Squad" arc. But seriously, have we run out of astromechs from all of the other films?
EDIT: I had to do some serious searching to figure out that the Plo Koon droid was in the the SOTDS phase of the animated Clone Wars line (http://www.rebelscum.com/TCW64-R7D4.asp).
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+1 Jesse.
OT astromechs (no expert) are largely accounted for. There are some PT stragglers, the most prominent of which is R5-X2 who ideally should have featured here as it was planned as one of the BAD's during the cancelled BAD run in 2013ish. There were no astromechs of note in TFA (outside of Poe's stop gap black/orange droid that did get a BAD figure in the park I think). Hopefully Rogue One supplies with lots of droids we'll struggle to remember years from now.
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I'm surprised you guys are that into this. Quite frankly I'm really disappointed. I was hoping that this would be a way for Hasbro to keep getting new figures out and the '5 figures that hadn't been made' tease made me think it would be something really cool.
As it is, it's 5 repaints that technically become new characters, 4 of them from a cartoon that I couldn't care less about. It should be a $50 or $60 set, not an $80 set.
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The teasing was not a good idea... Not to **** on Adam over it, but IMHO just wasn't a smart thing to do given collectors and their generally ****** attitudes. I'd have just revealed it and let the cards fall where they may. Maybe forewarn the sites, put them under a gag order, let it happen like that and play out that way. Selling repaints at today's prices is tough and I get that. People have it in their heads that repaint should equate to cheaper, and that's just not reality.
The reality is that the costs are in the paint, the labor putting it together, etc. These, sold via a small online retailer (Again, like above, this ain't Wall-Mart), and they're still chiming in at the current retail price/per on 3.75" figures of some quality.
So with all that said, this is about right... From that perspective. Labor stings in China. If Hasbro moves its operations to India or Vietnam, like they've done with some of their lines (MLP, etc.), you may see things change back to lower prices and high quality combined. But that's just not the environment they're working in currently.
And again, to each their own. I say if you're out, you're out, and that's your choice. I don't hold judgment on you. Everyone has their threshold on this stuff. There's a breaking point for everything, and it's different for everyone. Perceived value is a HUGE factor, and it's one that varies from person to person depending on tons of issues Hasbro can't possibly gauge. This was made "for us", and if it fails, it fails. If it succeeds we'll see more I'd assume.
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Yeah, this is even worse than I had envisioned. And I LIKE astromechs. Repainted droids =/= brand new SA figures. $80 saved I guess.
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Think about this thought too though, and again I'm not trying to sell you on it if you don't want it, but this is about what a droid at WDW costs too. $13.33 is about the price on those. If you're buying those... why are these suddenly bad ya know? Just sayin'.
Then again I can see astromech overload for some people, hah. Not me, but I'm weird with wanting just about anything. I bought EU figures I had no clue who they were, I just thought they were nicely done. So yeah, these aren't far off what a WDW BAD figure costs. They're way over what a WDW BAD multi-pack costs though I guess. Two ways to look at that I guess.
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I like droids, too. And like I said, the price point stings. But after almost NOTHING but 5 POA figures for the past year or so, even something like these droids begin to look pretty good.
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Sadly, I'm so desperate for OT figures, I'd pay $80 for the two OT droids - TCW droids are a bonus. :P
I had a bit of early notice from EE this morning (embargoed) and tried to remind people not to get too crazy in expectations. Feel bad for those who thought that it was going to be 5 NEW sculpts. Not the way of the world anymore it seems.
I'm pretty happy for the set, but I was one who always hoped EE would do another astromechs set. Like Jesse and Nick said, price is what it is these days. And sadly, I will pay $13 for them. At least There are some accessories in there with two bar droids. And at least it's not the mission series R2 sculpt. Could be worse. I get it though if you're passing. I can see that.
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Yup, well said. When you compare it with the WDW BAD figure prices... hey, I've been buying droids like this for a few years now. No sense stopping. :P
I still need to beg Phruby for some purple ones from the new BAD waves... ugh, this is just a reminder.
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Not sure if I should pre-order and pay $13 shipping, or take my chances and order these in November and hope for free shipping.
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shipping is free on these IIRC Dave. ???
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I figured it would be all Droids, but I was hoping for something weird like R2-D2 done in Droids cartoon colors. Oh well.
I remember much of this same reaction to the Mandolorian sets EE offered years ago, and look at those now.
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YEah that was one of the things I thought about... And they had ****** stuff like stuck wrists and stuff. You got a little more "new" I guess but everyone complained about those prices and figures too, yeah. What's old is new again. :)
I can't wait till the bottom falls outta the market on these toys that are fetching a lot. It'll happen, like it always does, and I'll gobble up army builders again.
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shipping is free on these IIRC Dave. ???
That is what I had thought, but then I saw it was charging me shipping. I should have looked closer as it then credited shipping. ::)
Thanks.
I'll buy these, but agree that these should be more like $60 with their limited articulation.
I'm glad these are funky and different. I was hoping for some different types of droids (power droid, protocol droids, etc.) mixed in, but this isn't too bad.
I agree the packaging is cool.
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That's EE's weird way of checking out. The price of the toy drops to envelop the shipping... No clue WHY it does that, but EVERY time I order there I get confused too, and I have like 8 semesters of accounting under my belt. Makes zero sense to me but it must be their software is all. I always wind up doing math to make sure something isn't going awry on me though too.
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Since I can never have enough Astromechs, I'm digging the designs. Part of me kinda wishes they had used the Hasbro Build-a-Droid sculpt (not the simpler recent Disney ones) so I could mix-and-match with the color combos, but the Vintage Collection baR2-D2 was a nice sculpt.
That sculpt is slightly smaller than the other Astromech sculpts so I'm kinda on the fence about that, I did like the TVC baR2-D2 just for the massive amount of features/details, but I'm sure things like the pop-up lightsaber/sensor-scope aren't going to be included with these, right? So maybe in that regard, that's what makes this sculpt "unique".
I pre-ordered two sets the other day - and while I typically get double openers of every astromech, I don't think I'm going to up my order to three of these, mostly due to the cost. I was able to get my baR2-D2s for I want to say $10.99, so if they set had been in the $60-$65 range, I would have been more inclined to maybe get a 3rd. The cost per astromech is $13.33 - $0.50 more than the $12.83 pricetag of the WalMart Black Series figures - and with that line at least we got 9 new figures and 4 repacks, using that logic and new-to-old ratio, to justify the $80 it should be four new sculpts and two old ones - definitely not six repaints of an existing sculpt.
I think out of all of them I'm most looking forward to Ziro the Hutt's Astromech to go with Ziro's Protocol Droid - now if I could just get a repaint of Jabba in Ziro's colors with some feathers tacked on, that would make for a pretty nice display.
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Well I think the sensor scope at least has to be included cuz that's the cover for the hole in his head. The scomp link thing though... if they're included cool but I'm not banking on that. The Sensor scopes are in the picture though as that's what is needed for the dome to not have a gaping hole in it of course. So there's that going for it.
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Well I think the sensor scope at least has to be included cuz that's the cover for the hole in his head. The scomp link thing though... if they're included cool but I'm not banking on that. The Sensor scopes are in the picture though as that's what is needed for the dome to not have a gaping hole in it of course. So there's that going for it.
Yeah - I thought about that, unless they just take the top part of the sensor scope sculpt and glue it in place at the factory....
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That's possible but I'd wager they'll just stick it in as an accessory, more or less, as the gluing adds a step. Not that it's unheard of for them to glue **** shut for no reason. ::)
I'm not banking on the scomp link, but hey, can't have it all these days. :P
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I'm surprised you guys are that into this. Quite frankly I'm really disappointed. I was hoping that this would be a way for Hasbro to keep getting new figures out and the '5 figures that hadn't been made' tease made me think it would be something really cool.
+1
I was starting to worry that we were getting something pretty easy like this after Jeff's comment yesterday. I like astromechs and the paint jobs on these look nice. I'll keep my EE order and enjoy these to some extent. But in all honestly, I have dozens and dozens of astromechs by now, especially with the Disney BADs. I was really hoping for at least a few obscure humanoid figures - a jawa, a cantina alien, something original to go with the set.
I thought someone mentioned these being SA figures versus 5pt figures, but an astromech isn't SA at all unless there are some crazy new features these bring to the table. It's okay, but I'm disappointed it wasn't more.
**EDIT: It's right in the first post in this thread, "Figures include cool accessories and have the articulation you've come to love from The Vintage Collection and The Black Series." Not sure if the "articulation" comment was Adam's or someone else's but that's really misleading and inaccurate for this set. I can see why people are upset if that was communicated broadly.
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I think out of all of them I'm most looking forward to Ziro the Hutt's Astromech to go with Ziro's Protocol Droid - now if I could just get a repaint of Jabba in Ziro's colors with some feathers tacked on, that would make for a pretty nice display.
You took the words right out of my mouth! What an easy repaint that would have been for them.
And now we need the rest of D-squad too.
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Meh, a don't like them. I think they are a pretty ugly set of figures. I don't like the huge box. I have enough astromechs that I don't need bizarre paint schemes. I like the ones I made at Disneyland a lot better. You guys can buy them.
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**EDIT: It's right in the first post in this thread, "Figures include cool accessories and have the articulation you've come to love from The Vintage Collection and The Black Series." Not sure if the "articulation" comment was Adam's or someone else's but that's really misleading and inaccurate for this set. I can see why people are upset if that was communicated broadly.
Yeah that's pretty sleazy. Technically we've been getting SA Astromechs since the POTF2 line. Also the line about the characters "dating back through the history" of the OT or whatever where they built it up like it was going to be all OT era stuff.
I'm honestly still debating whether I want to cancel my set... I enjoy Astromechs, and these look cool (at least the OT ones) but for the value, the $80 stings. SA humans/humanoid figures, even some of those BAD protocol droid sculpts would have been cool, but this just feels like $80 for repaints of half-figures. Those used to provide funding for newer, better figures, but at this point it's like, what is this $80 going towards for the future of the line?
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**EDIT: It's right in the first post in this thread, "Figures include cool accessories and have the articulation you've come to love from The Vintage Collection and The Black Series." Not sure if the "articulation" comment was Adam's or someone else's but that's really misleading and inaccurate for this set. I can see why people are upset if that was communicated broadly.
Yeah that's pretty sleazy. Technically we've been getting SA Astromechs since the POTF2 line. Also the line about the characters "dating back through the history" of the OT or whatever where they built it up like it was going to be all OT era stuff.
I'm honestly still debating whether I want to cancel my set... I enjoy Astromechs, and these look cool (at least the OT ones) but for the value, the $80 stings. SA humans/humanoid figures, even some of those BAD protocol droid sculpts would have been cool, but this just feels like $80 for repaints of half-figures. Those used to provide funding for newer, better figures, but at this point it's like, what is this $80 going towards for the future of the line?
And that's exactly where I got the impression they'd be new figures, new sculpts... with Wal-Mart Black Series levels of articulation. That and the Tatooine image, combined with the promise that it was 5 new figures, had me thinking cantina aliens, un-made vintage figures... something new.
Until Jeff came along and hinted that we should temper our expectations, and then when they revealed what it was. Ultimately I'm going to buy the set because I've basically collected them all and like to keep it that way, but maybe I'm more bummed out about it because I was hoping for a much more varied set and also because I never got into CW, so that's basically 2/3rds of the set that does nothing for me.
I know it's been many years, but the last time EE did one of these sets we got 10 figure for $10 less than we're getting 6 for now.
$69.99:
(http://www.entertainmentearth.com/images/AUTOIMAGES/HS87055Alg.jpg)
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I am fully expecting some sort of damage control response that cites some sort of feature that was on a Vintage Collection R2-D2 or R5-D4, like the extendable computer interface tool. But even with a feature like that, what sort of articulation does that mean on an astromech droid? Perhaps 8 POA?
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I am fully expecting some sort of damage control response that cites some sort of feature that was on a Vintage Collection R2-D2 or R5-D4, like the extendable computer interface tool. But even with a feature like that, what sort of articulation does that mean on an astromech droid? Perhaps 8 POA?
5? Unless you're counting wheels under each leg as a point of articulation?
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2 Shoulders, 2 Ankles, 1 Head = 5. Unless there is a retractable third leg (which would be awesome) to get us to 6.
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Even the recent four pack of droids at Disneyland is only $30. Six for $80 is pretty insane.
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2 Shoulders, 2 Ankles, 1 Head = 5. Unless there is a retractable third leg (which would be awesome) to get us to 6.
Articulated center foot gets you to 7. And the actuator arm/computer link gets you to 8.
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Even the recent four pack of droids at Disneyland is only $30. Six for $80 is pretty insane.
Let's see... Hasbro markup, which always happens... EE markup... but yeah, it's steep for 6 repaints. Even with free shipping.
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These use the VC25 baR2-D2 sculpt which had the pop-out arm R2 used to zap crumb. Probably why they are claiming "vintage collection" levels of articulation because this r2 came from that line.
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These use the VC25 baR2-D2 sculpt which had the pop-out arm R2 used to zap crumb. Probably why they are claiming "vintage collection" levels of articulation because this r2 came from that line.
I figured that would probably be the rationale for using that kind of language in describing the droids in this set.
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Heavy paint apps, exclusive to a single online store.... Priced per figure same as WM TBS line... The price isn't that outrageous really. Like I've said this is basically what BAD figs cost at Disney. But this was pretty oversold. That definitely hurt perceptions I think.
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Heavy paint apps, exclusive to a single online store.... Priced per figure same as WM TBS line... The price isn't that outrageous really.
Only compared to what we're used to. You get a 6" black series figure for $6 more. It's the same story all over the place though. Prices are getting crazy and there doesn't seem to be much changing that. Gentle Giant Mini-Busts cost 2.5x what they cost 5 years ago and about 50% more than they did just a year ago.
5 POA was sold as a way to bring costs down and while they started at $5.99, they've been steadily increasing ever since to the point where $7.99 is a good deal on them and $8.99 or even $9.99 is common.
And it's not like Star Wars isn't as popular as ever - that new movie meant TONS of sales. When Episode III came out prices went down from about $8 to $5 - but with this film we didn't see anything like that. $13 might be in line with everything else today, but that doesn't make it a good or reasonable price.
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I don't know why we are comparing these to SA Black Series figures anyway. You get a lot more out of a SA Phasma than an astromech with a center arm. I consider these similar to the basic series figures at $8, especially since they're just repaints. They're exclusive and have fancy packaging, so we get a 50% mark up. I can stomach that, but I'm not looking at real SA figures for justification.
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Yeah I haven't really seen anyone bashing the price, just the perceived value. There are pros and cons in the set, it all comes down to how you look at it.
I'd guess that most of the disappointment stems from not the description, but for at least a few hours there was hope for the 3.75 inch SA line. Like maybe they were still going to throw collectors a bone. This thread got 6 pages of replies in 2 days! When is the last time that happened? When is the last time there was this much excitement around the 3.75 inch line?
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I don't know why we are comparing these to SA Black Series figures anyway.
Really the only reasons is because that's how EE promoted the set.
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I don't know why we are comparing these to SA Black Series figures anyway.
Really the only reasons is because that's how EE promoted the set.
Exactly.
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Yeah I haven't really seen anyone bashing the price, just the perceived value. There are pros and cons in the set, it all comes down to how you look at it.
Exactly.
Perceived value here is everything at this point, with the line in general I think. I really think the effort to build anticipation did a disservice. :-\ Drop this as a "surprise" and you probably get some murmuring on price and otherwise happiness.
While I don't agree that I'd compare these to the TFA basic line, I also don't look at them and think $13 is a steal by any means. $10 per I'd obviously be a much happier man, but hey, like I've said, same price as Disney Droids built at the park. I'm ok with that, so why wouldn't I order this set? That's my rationale on it ultimately. Plus I don't buy much Star Wars stuff, or I wait for sales if I do want certain things but don't see that value in them at full price, and so I figure dropping $80 on this is not that big a deal for me at this moment.
Now if I were buying TONS of Star Wars figures and this cropped up... eh... I'd be him-hawing it because of budget reasons I suppose.
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The guy who advocated the end of obscure super-articulated figures because they BORED him, promotes the set as SA figures of characters available for the first time.
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The guy who advocated the end of obscure super-articulated figures because they BORED him, promotes the set as SA figures of characters available for the first time.
Ugh. I still remember some of that, and the crazed rationalizations that "5POA figures make me feel nostalgic for the Kenner vintage line!"
...Because progress was such a bad thing. ::)
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I'm not gonna start an Adam Pile-On because I imagine he's seeing some of the backlash over the pre-reveal talk and so on, but yeah... I never agreed with him on articulation. The only excuse to cut articulation is to cut costs.
If your figure doesn't stand because there's "too much articulation", that is more your fault, or the figure doesn't have ankle joints and the ankles/feet are sculpted like **** (Armorless Clone from 30AC line, I'm looking at you). :P
And if your figure is falling apart that's a design flaw, as there are ample hyper articulated figures that don't fall apart because they were designed properly. It's much more the exception than the rule there.
For me, GI Joe was everything in the 80's, and Star Wars was only good for giving cool vehicles and monsters for GI Joe to fight (or a cool cloth coat and pistol, to my favorite Joe figure who needed cold weather gear and a pistol that was somehow cooler because it was tiny and more easily lost).
I get "retro" figure love though, but retro figures need retro sculpts to really feel nostalgic, and I consider them a wholly separate thing to just dumbing down articulation on a toy.
This is a whole separate topic though to debate endlessly.
Hasbro cut articulation simply because figures were too expensive to produce in the land of, not just rising, but quickly spiking labor costs. Sucks for us. :-\
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They're exclusive and have fancy packaging, so we get a 50% mark up.
Just like Jocasta Nu. That is the nature of the small market exclusive.
Yes, TEN years ago we got two 5-droid packs for $60ish.. But guess what - still worked out to the same as a basic figure at the time, $6 each. Just sucks that a 'basic figure' has to be $13 these days.
It sucks balls that we are at a point where China labor cost and Hasbro shareholder profit demands ruined our hobby. It is what it is.
I'll be buying this set to support the 3.75" line. Maybe if this set does well, we get more. Or EE takes a risk on something else 3.75" related maybe (hopefully). Supporting the Walmart line or this type of set or really the only option we have if we want more SA 3.75" stuff. But at the end of the day, I fault no one who skips this set or can't support it for whatever reason. Different strokes and all that.
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Yeah, times are a changing. I keep hoping they move out of China, but that's a complex socioeconomic issue, and hey, we can't change squat on that.
I'm where Jeff is... I buy because it supports what I like to buy. There isn't that much of what I like to buy, so it doesn't sting tooooo bad. A little maybe. Like I said earlier though, I buy Acid Rain stuff and this is cheap by comparison. I got a $115 toy from them from EE in the mail just today, and I plan to buy 2 more (at least) if I'm able to fit it into my budget.
I have 3 things from BBTS coming from that line too. I have Aliens 4" stuff on the way... Everything kinda kicked me in the nuts at once there, but if you like it enough you'll pay for it till you see it as simply not worth the other things you're giving up to have it, I guess.
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I don't know why we are comparing these to SA Black Series figures anyway.
TBS Astromechs:
(http://www.yakfaceforums.com/TGuide2004/ActionFigures/TBS/basic/TBS09_R2D2/parts.jpg)
(http://www.yakfaceforums.com/TGuide2004/ActionFigures/TBS/basic/TBS01_R5G19/parts.jpg)
TVC Astromechs
(http://www.yakfaceforums.com/TGuide2004/ActionFigures/TVC/basicfigures/VC25/parts.jpg)
(http://www.yakfaceforums.com/TGuide2004/ActionFigures/TVC/basicfigures/VC40/parts.jpg)
I think Adam's choice of words was appropriate. Although underscaled, the TVC R2 is far superior in terms of articulation/features than the TBS astromechs, in my opinion.
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I think the set is good....not great. I like astromechs, but I don't need a bunch of astromechs from a cartoon that wasn't very good to begin with. I don't need super fancy astromech packaging (I do have to admit that the packaging makes for a great display piece). I guess I was hoping for something a little different.
Some speculation that they were going to make updated vrsions of obscure droids cartoon characters, like Vlix, sounded nice, but I knew deep down that's not what we were going to get.
I think I'll wait until they eventually drop to about $20.
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Just like Jocasta Nu. That is the nature of the small market exclusive.
Yes, TEN years ago we got two 5-droid packs for $60ish.. But guess what - still worked out to the same as a basic figure at the time, $6 each. Just sucks that a 'basic figure' has to be $13 these days.
I get the defense of the pricing and what they are, but I'd argue that basic figures right now are $7.99, not $13. I'd expect some level of mark up since they're exclusive, and some level of savings because they're made almost entirely out of existing sculpts and tools.
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A basic ARTICULATED figure is not $7.99 though, and these droids do fall into the more complex labor issue where they're put together and painted by hand... All figures are painted by hand, but these paint jobs do look kind of elaborate.
IMHO they're just running on part as an (assumed) very small run exclusive that has a more complex mold used and some nice spiffy paint decos. I don't LIKE $13 figures any more than anyone else though. But that's today's price for quality, and all that stuff we've been over.
Now, if these were the R2 sculpt from the TFA 2-pack? Yeah, that'd be some bull****.
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I think what's hard to swallow here is that the TRU 3 pack of 6 inch Astromechs is only $55. That's at least $5-10 cheaper than what you'd pay for a single 6 inch figure. EE comes along with similarly obscure Astromechs in a 6 pack, either priced at the max of the 3&3/4" line or at a significant mark up over the basic $8 figures depending on how you look at it. Comparing the two offerings, it sure feels like the TRU set is a deal and the EE set is a bit of a rip off.
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Heavy paint apps, exclusive to a single online store.... Priced per figure same as WM TBS line... The price isn't that outrageous really. Like I've said this is basically what BAD figs cost at Disney. But this was pretty oversold. That definitely hurt perceptions I think.
Developing exclusives can be tricky - this set went through a few revisions before the version you see today. Pricing is also tricky. I do stand by that these do have levels of articulation of a vintage figure, and even though everybody is no doubt sick of me posting this on other comments threads, new sculpts are increasingly difficult in the current marketplace. The number of "one of everything" collectors has gone down a lot since 2005, and since 2010, so finding the right item to offer everybody something new at a price that - I hope - won't make people balk can be a challenge. That and I was a little Clone-d and Stormtrooper-ed out. Outside of Disney, droids have been in pretty short supply since the decline of The Legacy Collection, and I was happy that we were able to keep figures at more or less the same cost as a current release from The Black Series. Had we gone with the 3-jointed droid body (and believe you me, it was something kicking around) maybe we could have brought costs down. Some people would be happy, others would do it differently - and of course Hasbro also has the way they need to do things due to available tooling, their own expertise in the business, and whatever other factors I'm feeling too lazy to type out right now.
Because it was brought up, I still love limited articulation figures. For five or six bucks? Bring 'em on, all day long. Those were fabulous. Recent movie years tend to bring higher prices with them (see also: G.I. Joe) and other factors in terms of perception, features, filling out a line plan with varied price points, and so on can change up how things need to be run. I'm still pleased as punch with the 2-packs from last year, Ashoka and Vader for $15 ain't bad given the snowballing prices of plastic people from pretty much all manufacturers. The writing was on the wall in 2013 with the Star Wars action figure line splitting three ways, and Hasbro moving some areas into simpler/cheaper (12-inch figures) which saw wild, crazy success. I know they're not for everybody, but the toy market goes so far beyond what the older crew wants that it's easy to dismiss things that just aren't meant for us in the first place. I like Vintage. I like vintage. I like cheap. I like super-articulated. Generally speaking the 6-inch figure does manage to provide a pretty good bang for the buck compared to its super-articulated 3 3/4-inch counterpart, and the change in what is selling reflects that. I don't need ankles to enjoy a figure, but I get super cranky if my figure can't fit in a vehicle. Given the ever-changing options available to collectors, getting us to agree on everything is tough - and when you consider there's a vocal group of us increasingly older guys that fades away a little bit each year and also a new audience of whippersnappers and lapsed fans, I'm continuously amazed that so many of us are still here 21 years after it all relaunched.
I'm a toy fan, first and foremost. Articulation is good, and the goal here was always to come out with the best possible item with the resources at hand. Given that new sculpts weren't an option, I think the end result is pretty good - and I hope if it doesn't tickle anyone's fancy, what we do next might. (Full disclosure: I don't know of any 3 3/4-inch stuff on the drawing board for us for exclusives just yet.) There wasn't a way to do Jabba's Bartender (on my short list for almost a decade) or Ziro's droid without engaging the Vintage molds, and the others sharing the body just happened to work out nicely. We did our best - and we want to do more. Things like vintage packaging, the unmade Vintage 92/93/96/whatever are something on my lips on a regular basis, but after spending 10 years as a fan journalist and 11 years on the business end of things, you really get a good look at what happens and why. Hasbro and Entertainment Earth got to meet a variety of needs with this set, plus a few of my own, obnoxious demands. (I want new characters. I don't want to rebuy anything I've already picked up, even/especially if it was in the Disney Droids line.)
If for any reason anyone reading this - or talking to someone reading this - ordered on the teaser day and didn't like what they pre-ordered, we're very happy to make a change to your order. I wanted to give some awesome droids a new home - especially one of the "lost droids" from the pre-Special Edition era which I wanted to do for the first Droid packs - hey! New robots. I hope you dig 'em and if not, we'll try again later.
Now that I've thought about it a little more, and read some of Adam's comments, I have a different theory. That being this exclusive may be the way to release the last few remaining characters from the Kenner line (up through POTF) who have yet to be re-made in modern renditions.
"Five of these figures have never been made as toys!"
I'd assume, even not trusting the messenger, that includes vintage Kenner as well.
Ouch. At least trust that I do my homework, I've got my whole Vintage Kenner collection since I was a wee lad and spent time in the mines looking for Sise Fromm back when he was worth $4 carded. Ah, the good old days. Nobody cared. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's being obnoxiously thorough when saying "this one not been done as a 3D collectible before."
Hmmmm... D R O I D S... Seems like something is trying to be said there.
I'm kinda shocked if it's THOSE kinda those though, since Disney seems to be on those like stink on poop.
But none of those are offering to buy your other figures a drink.
Great catch on the droids... wondering if it's possibly from the Droids cartoon, or someone is, because he did say in one of his many pot stirring posts somewhere that one of the figures had appeared previously in a non realistic form. Took that to mean from CW as he DQ'd Rebels, but who knows. Maybe from Droids. I'd love it. Doubt it. This is definitely one of the highlights of the year so far. Looking forward to seeing the final product and hoping to be wowed by the choices.
Droids the cartoon is probably my most favored place to do new figures, and I'd say I've succeeded in nudging about 0 to the market. Doesn't mean I won't keep asking, and I hope anyone else out there that wants them (or anything, really) also keeps asking Hasbro and talking about it. Chatter is good. People see chatter. Chatter can change minds. Seeing what people are posting, I feel like there's a pretty good split between "More droids, please!" and "No more droids! Please!" I got a little overwhelmed with 3 3/4-inch Clones myself, for example, so I hear you. It was 10 years since we did our last Astromech packs so it seemed like a good time, especially given some of the more outrageous designs in The Clone Wars. (Some of which didn't make the cut.) There are conversations about most of the things you've all brought up in the threads here, but not everything is always possible to do as an exclusive. When you get right down to it, the main line is capable of a lot more thanks to the economy of scale. Exclusives are more limited by design usually.
Adam has been lobbying for Vlix for years and years, imma guessing that it what Darby is saying, Droids the cartoon with Vlix. Not many Droid's from the OT left to be made.
I was hoping for modern Owen, Beru and Jawas but that would be a terrible seller
Kenner updates would kick ass including the Lars Power Droid!
I'd love to see Kenner-style figures from the "Collect All 21!" wave!
I'm not shy about how much I want a Vlix. I hope other people are in the same "I never got a vintage one, it exists, I don't have it, so I want one" category... although part of the reason I want it is because the Droids cartoon just happened to air on my birthday in 1985 and Vlix just happened to be in it, along with the rest of the Fromm Gang. I like 'em.
I hope - I really hope - 3 3/4-inch has a future. I like 6-inch but I'm primarily a 3 3/4-inch guy just because of the time and money put in to the single greatest scale of licensed action figures ever produced. And, well, I want more... so if anyone wants to kick up more buzz on those original Kenner dudes, that'd be fantastic. For those concerned about Droid Overkill, I don't think there's a heck of a lot of chance of our doing another set for a while. After all, this is only our third pack at EE and it took ten years!
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Thanks for coming by and giving us more info Adam.
Like I said in my earlier post...it's a good set, I personally am just not overly wowed by it. Perhaps it's just because I'm still kicking myself over nver picking up the Mandalorian or Joker Squad sets. :)
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I appreciate that insight as well. I am thankful for the opportunity to add more Clone Wars characters to my collection, even if they don't match the previous Astromech iterations.
I do wish there was some way we could get the rest of D-squad made though, having just one of them (ok, 2 if you count R2) makes me pine for the rest. ;)
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First, thanks for doing the work to bring new figures, even if they're expensive exclusives. It's nice to see figures that haven't been made before - outside of the new films, that's a rare thing these days and it's one of the main things I still enjoy about collecting 3 3/4" - when something new happens... I also appreciate that you dropped by to respond to some of the discussion.
I do stand by that these do have levels of articulation of a vintage figure, and even though everybody is no doubt sick of me posting this on other comments threads, new sculpts are increasingly difficult in the current marketplace.
That still doesn't sound right to me. It sounds like one of those 'being technically right is the best kind of right' king of things. When you announce the price and say vintage levels of articulation before everyone knows they're droids, we're all instantly expecting 12, 13, 14 points of articulation on human or alien figures. We're expecting things that could have been neatly slotted into the vintage line - not 6 droids made out of existing sculpts.
For better or worse, that's what happened. It probably would have gone over better if you'd just shown the item at the same time so people didn't spend a couple of days wondering about what greatness would be in store and building up their own expectations. Basically, without the tease it wouldn't have felt like a let down.
Because it was brought up, I still love limited articulation figures. For five or six bucks? Bring 'em on, all day long. Those were fabulous. Recent movie years tend to bring higher prices with them (see also: G.I. Joe) and other factors in terms of perception, features, filling out a line plan with varied price points, and so on can change up how things need to be run.
I don't mind the limited articulation if the sculpts are good - that said, what happened that prices tend to go up in movie years? Back during the prequels the exact opposite was true. We went from $7 or $8 to $4.99 when ROTS hit, because volume.
Secondly, Quite frankly the limited articulation feels like a total bait and switch on Hasbro's part to me. Costs are high, to lower them we're going to reduce artiulcation and now you get $5.99 figures again. Hooray. Fast forward a year and a half and figures are $7.99, $8.99 - all while doing higher volume again. I know inflation and costs and whatever, but oil prices are way depressed compared to 3, 5, 7 years ago, there's new movies driving more buying and collecting, but in general the manufacturing quality is going down. While I'm not admittedly in Hasbro marketing and budgeting meetings, the general trend strikes me as a simple strategy to boost margins - which is fine and dandy and what businesses aim to do most of the time, but the idea that it's all market driven necessity doesn't pass the smell test.
I'm a toy fan, first and foremost. Articulation is good, and the goal here was always to come out with the best possible item with the resources at hand. Given that new sculpts weren't an option, I think the end result is pretty good - and I hope if it doesn't tickle anyone's fancy
I think it's a nice set - I'd like it to have been a few dollars less, I honestly think the tease and language in the tease was a mistake from a PR standpoint, that's all.
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I hope anyone else out there that wants them (or anything, really) also keeps asking Hasbro and talking about it. Chatter is good. People see chatter. Chatter can change minds.
Chatter long enough and loud enough and good things happen (http://www.jedidefender.com/icmg.php). :D
I feel like there's a pretty good split between "More droids, please!" and "No more droids! Please!" I got a little overwhelmed with 3 3/4-inch Clones myself, for example, so I hear you.
Or Rebel Pilots. Seems like there is a never ending supply of those too... I like Pilot diversity, but how about some basic Rebels too once in a while. Seems like we're never gonna get the POTF2 Endor Jumpsuit Rebel resculpted. :-\
For those concerned about Droid Overkill, I don't think there's a heck of a lot of chance of our doing another set for a while. After all, this is only our third pack at EE and it took ten years!
Bummer. I'd pick a 'real' Hasbro droid set from EE over the hassle of the Disney BADs every day of the week. Price is the same and there's a lot less hassle getting these.
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That still doesn't sound right to me. It sounds like one of those 'being technically right is the best kind of right' king of things. When you announce the price and say vintage levels of articulation before everyone knows they're droids, we're all instantly expecting 12, 13, 14 points of articulation on human or alien figures. We're expecting things that could have been neatly slotted into the vintage line - not 6 droids made out of existing sculpts.
Clues are clues - I was trying to give a hint as to the era and style of figure to which one should set their expectations. Given the "diverse range of interesting dudes", the silhouette, and the vintage/black, well, it's marketing. It's a game. The aim was to have fun, and this sort of thing isn't for everybody. I, of course, stand by that these figures are comparable to the Vintage/Black Series line, because they're not comparable to anything in Saga Legends/Mission Series, or TFA. It's a puzzle as to how to convey information without giving the whole thing away - I'm all for reading suggestions, though. We're always trying to improve things, which is one of the reasons I pop in these places. (That and I like seeing if people like the stuff.) I was hoping someone would crack the droid puzzle the first night (and they did!) and then move in to speculation on who and what. Also I was hoping anyone on the fence wouldn't order unless they were all-in on 3 3/4-inch - hence the "these are new characters" and not "returning favorites" angle.
All-new sculpts on an exclusive are tough to do - not impossible, but economic considerations sometimes give numbers to make it happen, and sometimes don't. I would and will absolutely call out "this item has a brand-new sculpt" or "this item has a brand-new head" on a future promotion as appropriate - as in this case, it was not appropriate.
I don't mind the limited articulation if the sculpts are good - that said, what happened that prices tend to go up in movie years? Back during the prequels the exact opposite was true. We went from $7 or $8 to $4.99 when ROTS hit, because volume.
Noooot really. Figures were in the $4.99-$5.99 range for Saga/OTC/POTC. ROTS started in the $5.99-$6.99 range, but because Walmart, prices hit $5.24 - and then Target followed suit and dropped theirs to $5.24 - and that's basically cost. The big stores do fight in heavy traffic season, I see this frequently with Transformers around Xmas depending on inventory levels.
I do not remember $4.99 figures during ROTS AT ALL. (Unless there was a weekly sale I'm blanking on, but I don't count those.) $5.24 was the usual lowest price in the USA, and it's because it's 1 cent below $5.25, which holds some significance.
Secondly, Quite frankly the limited articulation feels like a total bait and switch on Hasbro's part to me. Costs are high, to lower them we're going to reduce artiulcation and now you get $5.99 figures again. Hooray. Fast forward a year and a half and figures are $7.99, $8.99 - all while doing higher volume again. I know inflation and costs and whatever, but oil prices are way depressed compared to 3, 5, 7 years ago, there's new movies driving more buying and collecting, but in general the manufacturing quality is going down. While I'm not admittedly in Hasbro marketing and budgeting meetings, the general trend strikes me as a simple strategy to boost margins - which is fine and dandy and what businesses aim to do most of the time, but the idea that it's all market driven necessity doesn't pass the smell test.
This is the "figure prices go up in movie years" thing - it's not necessarily Star Wars to which I am always referring. For Saga we saw a dip - for ROTS we saw an increase followed by a nearly immediate dip. For TPM and The Clone Wars, we saw increases. We also saw increases for some Marvel, for Age of Extinction, for the GI Joe movies, and so on and so forth. Usually Hasbro is pretty good about holding the line at certain price points, adjusting the feature set and complexity to meet the $4.99/$9.99/$19.99/whatever needs they require for stores and birthday present price points and all that jazz.
It's a puzzle - the accessories are seen as a value-add to make up for things like fancier packaging, different marketing requirements, or to hedge bets against likely rising costs. I freely admit I don't know what the story is here, but extra gear tends to coincide with price increases - at least for a while.
We're also dealing with the Rise of the Middle Class in China - as I'm fond of quoting, the middle wage in China is doubling right now. It's not merely oil prices - labor is a very real expense, hence the talk of moving to other places for certain kinds of product and new experiments in manufacturing techniques. We had a pretty smooth run in Star Wars action figures from 1995 to 1999, with minimal changes until 1998 when prices climbed (and so did SRP), and in 1999 when prices went up again. And in 2000, there was a decrease in cost - but Big Box didn't follow suit with a lower SRP until later during POTJ. And then Hasbro really made stuff cheap in 2002, with a gradual increase to 2005, and then a price war, and then a price increase in 2006, and again in 2008, and again in 2010, and again later in Vintage and for Black Series. I don't really know why I'm even typing this out, but stuff changes. I'd love to see what Hasbro can do to get figures back down to $4.99/$5.99 again, but I love seeing the weird business aspects of this in action.
For example, a few years ago Hasbro experimented with simplifying its Transformers offerings during the end of the Prime/Beast Hunters line - 4 of the "simpler" toys were de facto Europe exclusives, while 2 were tail-enders here. The result was slightly less deco and articulation, but MASSIVE figures - $20 figures the size of $40-$50 figures - before being reigned in to a slightly different format. We also saw a bunch of items developed for South America and China markets recently arrive at Universal Studios as theme park exclusives, also the "big and cheap and simple" category - wonderful toys, but they cost a little more about theme parks as souvenirs tend to have a little more on them. They're great, though, and it shows a way Hasbro can experiment with price points, size, mass, and volume in order to deliver a similar-but-different product. A key difference there is that the audience of kids is not quite as clued in to the rich history of the line as we as adult collectors are.
Around 2010 we saw a break from that - and in 2012/2013 we saw some corrections with feature and mass reductions giving us smaller, lighter vehicles, simpler figures, Transformers minus the spring-loaded weapons, and so forth.
It's not perfect, but I'd like to say it's good. Over the last 21 years I don't think there was ever a point where everybody was holding hands, singing that things are great - in hindsight, we paint ourselves a pretty picture. Distribution issues were always a problem, as were sculpts, as was articulation (except most of 2008-2015), and often price, and of course character selection - we've all got our favorites. In the big picture I still say Star Wars has had the best run of any licensed (or original) action figure line, but boy howdy am I biased. We got a lot. Not everything, and not the remaining vintage dudes with a little v still, but the only company that seemed to have goals of completely updating some original figure lines was Mattel with Super Powers (via DCUC) and Masters of the Universe (via MOTUC). If there are others, I'm drawing a blank, but I digress.
I hope you love our next 3 3/4-inch exclusive! I don't know when it will be, but hey, we'll keep doing our best!
PS since Jeff's post came in -
I am going out of my way to not duplicate Disney Droids in our efforts. (There almost was one.) I prefer the Hasbro ones with the wires on the feet, but if I have one without the wires it scratches my "good enough" itch. If fans really grab on to the Droids and want it make it a regular thing, I'd be all for it, but I don't know if that's sustainable.
I was just thinking about Rebel Pilots last night, and I don't disagree. I like 'em, but I'm good unless I have a pilot seat to fill or there is a new manufacturing technique. At this point there's nobody in the flight suits that I can say I specifically have been wanting in 3 3/4-inch - I mean, Hasbro nailed it. Griz Frix? Shira Brie? Cesi Eiriss? Wedge after Wedge? Biggs a-go-go? We've done well here. Heck, I'd go as far as to say I'm good for Imperials - minus a couple of retro updates, maybe - until we have some big ships or playsets to fill out. Even Ewoks, I can't believe we've got Marvel-based Ewoks - maybe some Kenner flavor ones, and a realistic Cartoon Logray might be fun, but that's where I'm at. We really got a ton of awesome stuff over the years.
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I'm going to admit that I was a tad deflated when I saw the set. The saving grace however, is the excellent Astromech body used. For the record, in case it matters, I would not have been horribly upset if two of these were Astromechs we've already had but, with the updated bodies.
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I hope you love our next 3 3/4-inch exclusive! I don't know when it will be, but hey, we'll keep doing our best!
And I'm sure it will be overpriced and you'll chime in once again with a thesis justifying the price.
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I hope you love our next 3 3/4-inch exclusive! I don't know when it will be, but hey, we'll keep doing our best!
And I'm sure it will be overpriced and you'll chime in once again with a thesis justifying the price.
You're not wrong.
I'm really hoping to see things get cheaper. I don't think it's going to happen, but I'm hoping. Depends on which sides of the fence you get to look at it from - either side of it, you're going to get a lot of raised eyebrows and "...wasn't this cheaper a few years ago?" (Because, yeah, it was.)
I miss the era of cheap toys. (This is one of the reasons I was really excited by the advent of $5.99 Saga Legends a few years ago.) The only real shocker I've seen lately in terms of value-driven plastic is in the non-licensed sector, the Glyos guys managed to make something equal in terms of overall size/quality to Fighter Pods/Spider Pods (but not in deco/packaging) called Bit Figs. Those buggers are shaping up to be a quarter in vending machines, as opposed to $2ish per figure in sets... which is definitely counter to most trends. If you're seeing anything else getting cheaper (or other than Hot Wheels, flat) I'm always interested in seeing who's doing what and how they're able to make it cheap. Mattel puts their R&D for Hot Wheels into manufacturing - and I wouldn't be surprised if the license-to-original-car ratio shifted too - but I haven't seen action figures get cheaper in quite some time.
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I was just thinking about Rebel Pilots last night, and I don't disagree. I like 'em, but I'm good unless I have a pilot seat to fill or there is a new manufacturing technique. At this point there's nobody in the flight suits that I can say I specifically have been wanting in 3 3/4-inch - I mean, Hasbro nailed it. Griz Frix? Shira Brie? Cesi Eiriss? Wedge after Wedge? Biggs a-go-go? We've done well here. Heck, I'd go as far as to say I'm good for Imperials - minus a couple of retro updates, maybe - until we have some big ships or playsets to fill out. Even Ewoks, I can't believe we've got Marvel-based Ewoks - maybe some Kenner flavor ones, and a realistic Cartoon Logray might be fun, but that's where I'm at. We really got a ton of awesome stuff over the years.
I think the one area there is still some need on your list is Imperials...not sure how well the sets would sell but I think updates to Ozzel, Piett, Veers, and especially Tarkin with some holes in Sheckil and Lennox and there could be enough there. Would people buy it?
I also still really hope you can get that Funeral Pyre Vader set made, that thing was awesome (now with bonus Kylo Ren holding a mini Charred Head)
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I personally like the theme of some Imperial Officers. Notably, the TESB officers like Ozzel, Veers and Piett if they could be re-done using the Needa body. Captain Lennox and Lieutenant Sheckil would be cool additions. And I've personally been wanting to get the Asteroid Victim Imperial Officer hologram, too. The great thing is that they all fall under the theme of the Imperial Death Squadron under Vader.
And I've been hoping that Hasbro would follow through with that Funeral Pyre Vader ever since I saw the mockup at SDCC. I can't believe they showed that as far back as 2009!!! But now with the whole Kylo Ren fixation on Vader's burnt helmet? I think there might be a place for this set.
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I like the Imperial Officers, but if once new tooling becomes a viable option for someone's next Hasbro exclusive I hope we get some newer newness. But that's just me. I'll personally buy every OT Pilot or Imperial they offer up at a store or a convention... but I worry Sheckil's time was a few years ago and we missed it. But, yeah, I'd buy one. I'd totally buy one. Of course, at this point maybe they'd push for more TFA guys? That I don't know.
...and the ROTJ Funeral Pyre would probably be the first 3 3/4-inch thing I intentionally skip. I guess on the bright side, inflation would make a super-articulated figure on an electronic, newly-tooled (someone gotta make the molds) and fairly large display base would be prohibitively expensive. But I'm a snot, I'd rather someone do a fan-made third-party thing that we can use with an existing figure at a lower price. Along with a third-party (let's say) "Yeti" cave that just happens to have footpegs in the ceiling and just happens to be a good fit for a Wampa. C'mon, someone do it.
(I like your melted Vader helmet idea though. Here's hoping scenery accessories make a comeback.)
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Problem with those would be cost of resin... Bulk = $ unfortunately. Not to say it can't happen. I know a guy who makes 1/18 resin armor from WWII, but people balk at the prices. A Wampa cave would be interesting to try and mold. Hmmm.
The pyre would be easier I'd think... I can already envision a lighting mechanism actually.
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the only thing I can say about the set is that Disney has BAD at $12 a pop, so I know it sucks but the price is about the same for EE's astromechs.
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I like it, but I've always been a sucker for astromechs. And honestly, I never at any point thought this was going to be anything but astromechs so it's not like i got my hopes up for anything else. Overall though it's a really nice set, i like the droid choices, they're all pretty interesting, and i always enjoy more realistic Clone Wars figures. And yeah, the price stings, especially for me since I'm in Canada and after currency conversion and shipping it's going to hurt a lot, but it's not like I've bought much lately anyway. I don't mind paying a little extra for some fun droids if that's all i'm gonna buy for the foreseeable future, so why not right?
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A friend and I were talking about this... he had some fairly legit reasons why he cancelled, not the least of which was simply him not being a huge CW/PT fan so like only 2 out of the set appealed to him. I get it. I really am like Jedipurge, in that this is stuff we've already been paying these prices for, plus free shipping, so hey, whatevs.
The pink one, I'm thankful is different from the R2-KT figure we already have... Rebuying a droid would be beyond irksome. It's similar enough as it is, but at least it's still very different too. I'm happy with that. I wish this stuff was cheaper but it isn't, and it won't be either, no matter what level of bitching comes. Hasbro's answer to this dilemma was scrapping articulation almost completely. I don't like that.
That said, and Jeff's been running some polls on Twitter (You can see the Twitter Feed for JD on the right side of the front page if you weren't aware), and in relation to one, I'd really like to see the line go to 07-ish levels in terms of articulation... Be selective. And drop prices closer to $10/figure. It's still a hike at a decrease in "quality" in some respect, and some figures will hurt more than others (salt shaker Padme's, which I'd be fine to never buy another one), but at least we'd maybe be back on track as a line collectors and kids alike can enjoy and at prices that are at least bearable for most people.
I mean in 07 the figures were great. Some had something you wanted, but didn't get, but you still got the figure and liked it enough ya know? like Academy Biggs for instance. I think of things like the Saga AT-AT Driver and DS Gunner, and man those are GOOD figures I still army build when available, and they didn't have waist articulation, ankle articulation, and they had angle-cut elbows... They're, IMHO, pretty flawless figures though. That as the "standard" would be fine by me. I'd have loved it if that was as articulated as any TFA figure got, actually.
TFA, I want good figures for that movie as much as any other line... If some are lacking knees, but have good arm poseability? Or if some have knees but the elbows are angle-cuts, and maybe no waist joint? I'm ecstatic. And I'd pay $10 per and buy 'em all most likely. I'd be back into army building.
Hell I never left, I am paying $13 per and not out, I just wish I wanted the 5POA stuff more than I do, and I don't want it hardly at all. That line just isn't my bag and this year reinforced it to me. I haven't really cared when I can't find something. I wanted Ackbar, and yet I don't have him, and I don't care either. If he had elbow and wrist joints, I'd be moping though. :-\
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I ended up canceling my order... moving into an apartment and living without a roommate for the first time around the time this set will hit, so my bills and cost of living are going to skyrocket. I'm hoping I have some cash to reorder a set when it comes time because I really do want to support the line.
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I'm still really on the fence about this set. And considering how CLONE WARS heavy they went on the sourcing? There were a couple of R5 units that I really would have preferred to see in this set.
R5-U8
(http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/4/47/Unidentified_Shadow_Squadron_R5_unit.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090328121459)
R5-S9
(http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/f/f2/R5-S9.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/270?cb=20121006045553)
Having those droids in the lineup as opposed to a whopping 6 x R2 units would have been at the very least a bit more interesting. And while I appreciate the effort, do we really need TWO bartender droids? Especially one for a Hutt that will probably NEVER been made into a figure?
(http://www.entertainmentearth.com/images/AUTOIMAGES/HSB8671lg.jpg)
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The set is all about R2-privelege.
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This set is now in stock at EE for those that might still be interested.
I still want it, but don't feel much of a sense of urgency at that price.
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My set was delivered on Saturday, can't believe how big the box is vs how big the actual package is...nice set, good to finally have R2-A5
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Got mine, glad I did... I have my beefs with it, but they're not the price per figure...
I saw a lot of posts regarding this, and some of them citing very specific #s like they somehow knew the cost breakdown on it... Kinda funny. I get you want it to be cheap, but is EE ever going to get that?
I have more of a beef with the sculpt they chose than the price-per-figure breakdown, but that's just me. That said, they're pretty unique decos in the grand scheme and are anxiously awaiting a spot on the display shelves... The orange/grey and red/white droids are my favorites. I could've done without the pink one in favor or something more interesting (I already have R2-KT so I'm good on pink astromechs). The green guy is kind of bland, but then again there is no all white with green accents R2 unit that I can think of off-hand. So the white dome kind of stands out.
Again, I don't like this sculpt... To me, I'd much rather have gotten the BAD sculpt, and yeah an R5 in place of the R2 domes would've been cooler then, but we didn't get that sculpt so I get why we got all R2's.
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This set dropped to $49.95 on Amazon so I finally bit the bullet this morning and snagged one. It may go lower but this price seemed decent enough to me. Always nice to get a few new TCW figures!
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Rob's 1st Law of Star Wars Collecting: If I wait to buy something, it'll skyrocket in price. If I buy it at full price, it'll plummet later.
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I'm pretty sure Murphy owns that law, but I'm in the same boat, Rob. :(
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I bit on the Astromech 6-pack at $49.95. And it hurt a lot less since I had some Amazon gift cards to use.
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I got mine in the mail yesterday. Pretty nifty set, packaging is larger than I expected. Really hoping we get the rest of D-Squad someday!
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Mine arrived from Amazon the other day, and I was finally able to open up the shipping box yesterday. Either the Amazon marketplace seller or Amazon themselves did not care about the condition of the package, because it was pretty bashed up. If I were still collecting to keep things boxed I would be pissed, but the figures were fine.
I'm glad to knock this one off my list. Especially at a price that's lower than what EE was offering it for. In the process of placing this order as well as tracking that 6" Black Series Order 66 on my Amazon wishlist I realized that we're probably going to continue to see EE exclusives pop up like this more frequently, and probably discounted below EE's initial asking price. And it's no doubt because of the wholesale/distribution role that EE has taken on. I think their affiliate sellers may be one of the ways to get better deals on EE's exclusives going forward.
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I'm, uh, just going to bump this JD referral link to the EE exclusive Astromech 6-Pack (http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801) for no particular reason...
Did I mention EE is kicking off a big Cyber Monday sale tomorrow, Monday, November 27th? Might see big savings on select Star Wars items! :-X
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Wow. Thanks Jeff
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$30 - wow!!
Never would have thought I might want two of these...but at that price? Hmmm
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*bump to the new page*
EE exclusive Astromech 6-Pack (http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801) Cyber Monday deal - just $29.99 with free shipping. :)
#ad
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Amazing, gonzo, great deal.
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I always buy these things too early.
Of course, if I'd waited, it would have sold out instantly and become a $200 item on eBay. :P
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I always buy these things too early.
Of course, if I'd waited, it would have sold out instantly and become a $200 item on eBay. :P
That's why I encourage you to be a completionist! :D
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That's a pretty awesome price on the astromechs. I'm glad I picked the set up, and since I'm putting an order in anyway I think I'll nab another astromech set on the cheap for customs/backgrounders.
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It's still $30 today if anyone needs another...
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EE found some more droid packs - $28.50 (http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801) this time...
#ad #sponsoredlink
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Wow.
I wish they'd been the build-a-droid sculpt they used on this newest R2-D2. That sculpt just was ok, but the new R2 BAD would've been ideal. I'd have bought a ton to swap with Disney parts and things. New droids are always good news to me though. And extras for backgrounders always works for me too. $28.50 is aweomse!