Up until last year I never really paid much attention. When I first saw Eeth Koth on the shelf (about 20 or so of 'em) I noticed off the bat that a coupkle had really lousy face tattoos, and picked out the best one I could find.

When the Saga figures first started coming, I was grabbing without really looking, and paid for it--my Preview Jango has an unpainted right leg. Saga Palpatine also hurt--I searched through for the best liver spots I could find--only to not notice the inner-sleeve details on his left arm were missing.

Now I compare when I have the opportunity.

While travelling over the long weekend I happened upon a few of these four packs at a TRU in the middle of Indiana. It was the first new thing I've found in a store this year, and I bought a couple.

This morning I've had the opportunity to open one, and it passes the Muftak Test with room to spare.

These come with four figures (that's why it's a four pack) that are essentially new and unique, and yet rely on the cutting-edge of rehash technology. Some mini-reviews:

Darth Vader: He's the POTJ Emperor's Wrath Vader, minus the lightning effects and see-thru helmet. I wonder if the skull is still in there? Overall, a great "vanilla" ROTJ Vader with removable right hand and removable cape. Grade: A

Stormtrooper: The stormtrooper is a clean version of the POTJ Sandtrooper, including a slot in his back that you could stick a backpack into. The missing pauldron shows off the only real flaw: he's got a skinny white neck. Interestingly, they gave this figure Commtech Stormie legs, meaning he's a bit more posable than the Sandtrooper, and he looks great among your army builder stormies. Grade: A-

AT-ST Driver: A clever assembly of old parts cobbled together to make a new figure. This is what all rehashes should aspire to. He's simply a re-decoed POTJ Imperial Officer body, the POTJ Rebel Fleet Trooper head, and a (permanently attatched) AT-ST Driver helmet from last years Accessory Set. He looks really good, Hasbro deserves some real credit for finally making a decent rehash! If this figure has a negative, it's sloppy painting, a couple of the ones I saw had goofy faces, so choose carefully! Grade: A

R4-I9: An imperial droid his paintjob is his most striking feature, even my girlfriend in the store said, "Ooh--an evil R2-D2!" He's the same sculpt asl ast year's POTJ R4. The astromech sculpt has arguably been perfected, and it's always nice to get another deco. Grade: A

But the figures are really only half the set. Hasbro really took this set to the ultimate by including enough accessories to make a kid want to play with these guys. Vader's lightsaber, an E-Web Cannon, a Mouse Droid, an Interragator Droid, two (POTF2-era) Imperial blasters, two rifles, a rifle rack, four of their oval-shaped stands, and even a spare misslile for the cannon (c'mon, now you can fire it without worrying if you lose it!) This set was made with playing in mind. Everything clicks--both the troopers can man the cannon (even Vader can!) collector's have their stands, everything seems to have been thought of. The only thing I could suggest would be a backpack to fit in the Stormtrooper's obvious slot, but that's just from a "playing with" standpoint. It's priced at 19.99, very competitive considering all the stuff included. Overall Grade: A

I can't recommend this set enough, if you see one grab it!!

I'm pretty sure the only guys left by the time Luke blew the place up was Tarkin, a couple lackeys, and that poor S.O.B. who kept saying "Stand by."

Actually, that "stand by" guy is the one who makes me think no one got out alive, with the possible exception of Bast and his people.

If there was substantial time between Luke's shot and the explosion, then wouldn't the superlaser have been charged and fired its shot before the explosion?

The only way I see out of that dilemma is in an explanation like events that we saw happening at the same time really didn't.* In effect, Luke didn't fire his torpedo as the guy was saying "stand by", but minutes beforehand. It was only cut together for dramatic purposes.

*And of course, I say "really" knowing fully well none of this really happened anyway.

When playing with my figures, I was always Luke, until I got the B-Wing Pilot (of all characters!) He became me literally, all the other characters called him "Champ" because he was an ace pilot (and because "Bobb" didn't sound nearly Star Wars enough for me) and Luke Skywalker adopted him into the family!

Hasbro announced at their big "open house" a while back that the deluxe line was being scrapped in favor of the new Clone Wars 3-packs. So what happened to kill what was touted (back in 2001) as the "fixed" deluxe line?

I think it was pure assortment problems that did the line in. Even great figures like Bacta Luke sat on shelves when packed in cases of consisting of only 2 different figures. The first AOTC deluxes still glut shelves everywhere, while the later (and unquestionably superior) asssortments sit in warehouses somewhere, only slowly creeping out.

Sure there were a few duds in the line (Deluxe Jango being one of the low points of Star Wars toymaking ever), but I thought the quality of the figures overall was very good, and Hasbro was definitely moving in the right direction (modular backgrounds and/or double figure packs) in the end.

What do you think contributed most to the death of the deluxe line?

So what Star Wars lines do you collect Bobb?  Pretty sure you're a modern line collector if I recall - anything else?

Pretty much like you said. In my day (as a kid) I collected all the vintage stuff and played with it to death. I've tried collecting vintage nowadays but it's not the same (plus I still have most of my very-used old stuff to supply the warm fuzzies). So yeah, I stick with the modern stuff, more and more just going for OT stuff.

And thanks everyone for the open arms.