OK, now that my time is slightly more free it's time to play clean-up I guess.
Here's the deal... If you like it, comment on it and why you do like it. If you don't like it, comment on it and why you don't like it. Leave the personal crap out of this about how he/she collects or what he/she likes...
Basically guys just cool it... Talk about the toys and not each other, and let's let this die.
Now, my thoughts on the toy...
Personally I like it as a repaint, I don't like the figure choice though. So it's a somewhat mixed bag to me, and upon reflection I'm concerned about the plastic as well (especially considering our recent Q&A with Hasbro this week, and their timely response on Battledroid plastic).
I am a fan of EU repaints because I'm a fan of militaria in general... The camo style battledroids look cool to me and I'm ok with the notion of them being there just not in the films. As Spectre also pointed out, this is a cheap repaint to crank out there to the public to fill out the year.
I'm not sure what it is with Hasbro in the last 2 years now but they do a whole lotta stuff up till the last quarter or so then they dump a bunch of repaints on the market. This is good and bad in a way I guess.
For my money, if the figure isn't a piece of dung as far as its ability to stand on its own, I'll probably be picking up a number of them. I am with Dressel Rebel though in my desire for a new SBD with better articulation at some point. I can see 10 to 13 points of articulation on a SBD at some point or another myself (2 shoulder, 2 elbow, 2 bicep or forearm, 2 hip, 2 knee, 2 ankle possibly, and 1 waist).
My same opinion applies to any battledroid though, they're sorely needed in the line and in good quality as well. The E1 BD's legs were sturdy and to me acceptable in detail...
I am a fan of some repaints, but like iwth GI Joe this kind of repainting for the sake of repainting can really get out of hand. I think there is wisdom in the fear of that... GI Joe went dayglo and it really was a dark time for the RAH line so that's equally plausible for Star Wars if Hasbro decides to run unchecked more or less.