That's all well and good, but where does a Sail Barge figure prominently into Clone Wars seasons 5 or 6?

This isn't about busting chops or hating on people who want big vehicles.  I'd love a Sail Barge.

This is about the fact that right now the market won't support it, and Hasbro doesn't have high enough confidence in the Star Wars brand to invest in the design, tooling, product safety testing and eventual marketing of a big vehicle.  With a company the size of Hasbro this isn't a casual undertaking.  A piece like this is a centerpiece that you build a line around.  And engineering a vehicle line this is more complicated than pressing a big Castle Greyskull.  The two items really are not that comparable.

And then you look at other things in the line:

BLACK SERIES 3.75" FIGURES - Only 19 being offered in 2013
CLONE WARS ANIMATED 3.75" FIGURES - DISCONTINUED
SAGA LEGENDS - Basic figures reduced to 5 POA, price point deliberately lowered to draw in higher volume sales
STARFIGHTER VEHICLES - Stripped down to smaller / simpler sculpts to meet a reduced price point

The only big chance Hasbro seems to be taking is on the BLACK SERIES 6" figures.  And that seems to be tied in to a scale that has been more attractive to general toy collecting.

The line simply does not seem healthy enough to support a $150 - $200 vehicle.  Perhaps in 2015 or beyond, following the Episode VII release we'll be in a position where Hasbro can take a chance on something like the Sail Barge.

From Jedi Temple Archives....

Question: Regarding reduced articulation for Star Wars TCW 2012 line, will this trend continue into 2013 if TCW line continues? And will it continue into 2013.

ANSWER: If TCW characters are brought into the collector-focused line, they will be realistic and come super-articulated. Animated TCW figures are no longer being made. There will be no more The Clone Wars figures as you've known it the last 5 years.

The question and answer don't exactly match up. My guess is that the Hasbro rep answering the question had this answer planned as how to respond to any questions about future TCW figures. Maybe it's just because Rex and Mace are on the horizon in the Black 3.75" Series, who knows really? Next year there could be zero TCW characters in the line at all.

That response sounds perfectly clear to me.

Animated Clone Wars figures are done.  Any future Clone Wars characters will be made in a realistic style (ala VC92 - Anakin Skywalker (Clone Wars), VC103 - Obi-Wan Kenobi (Clone Wars), etc).

Found it...this was what I was thinking of Pete, from Hasbro's 2013 Product Information:

STAR WARSŪSAGA LEGENDS 3.75-INCH ACTION FIGURES
(Approximate retail price: $5.99; Ages: 4 & up; Available: Fall 2013)
These STAR WARS 3.75-inch action figures include the same high quality design kids have been enjoying for years, but now at a new lower price. The line includes characters from the STAR WARS movies as well as the STAR WARS: The Clone Wars animated series. Each sold separately.

So, who knows really? Sounds like they are kind of all over the place with their info right now...

As for this?  I think that Hasbro is simply referencing the source material, rather than realistic VS animated style figures.

A little bit of a look at Thor - The Dark World figures from Toy Fair.  And it's actually a little bit of a surprise, since the movie is slated for a November release.  If anything, I would've thought we would have to wait until SDCC to see these.

There's not much to look at, but the sculpts are a lot better than the Iron Man 3 figures in the 3.75" scale.

So which retailer has the Vader evolution 4-pack?  Was that Target as well?

Quote from: P-Siddy on February  9, 2013, 10:46 PM

Hasbro has heard the complaints and have talked with Amazon about how they package figures.  They are concerned as we are that their product makes it to the customers hands in good condition.  Whether Amazon listens is another thing.

If I could waive free shipping in exchange for having someone carefully package my items with protection to ensure they arrive in as pristine condition as possible, I'd gladly do it.

I definitely understand the concerns.  But this is an issue with a number of online retailers, isn't it?  If it isn't Amazon, it's Hasbro Toy Shop, Target, WalMart, TRU.com, etc.  The only online stores that you can count on for good packing are small businesses that deal almost exclusively with collectors like EE, BBTS or Brians Toys.

The Cato Neimoidia segment served a couple of purposes.  First, to bring in the new Jedi Interceptors as well as the Tri-Droid Fighters.  IIRC, this is the first appearance in the series for both.  And then we saw the Buzz droids, ala the space battle in ROTS.  But it seemed that Anakin and Ahsoka's presence there was only meant to serve the purpose of bringing Jedi back to Coruscant who may not have been involved in the Temple bombing. 

Regarding Lara's presence at the Temple?  I think it was very clear that Lara was an anti-war protestor (or something along those lines), and she used her husband to promote the anti-war / anti-Jedi agenda.  This episode was very much about the growing distrust of the Jedi because of the prolonged nature of the Clone War.

The investigator droid was a funny nod to David Caruso on CSI Miami with the overly dramatic, halting dialogue.  Add in the visor flipdown, and Filoni & co were definitely having a bit of a laugh with this one.

I've seen a few tweets suggesting that the postponement of the 3D films means any chances we had of "big" stuff to go with them is gone too...

Also saw a few tweets that indicated that Hasbro pretty specifically said retail can't handle a $200 Sail Barge (re: #bringonethebarge petition). 

You look at today's presentation and it's VERY CLEAR.  We need to look at 2013 as a year to essentially reset the line and Star Wars as a whole.  Until Episode VII gets into production and the Disney hype machine can get things rolling, I think we're looking at a pretty bleak year.  Meaning no large vehicles.  Especially when you don't have media to support the release of that large vehicle.

Nice to see Amazon getting some exclusives.  With the distribution fiasco at brick & mortar retail last year, Amazon proved to be one of the more reliable retail avenues for figures. 

I hope this TIE Interceptor has the new style cockpit and ejector seat.  But with Hasbro only showing mainline offerings and not exclusives, I guess that's the only image we've got to go on.