The Clone Wars line in my area was actually distributed/stocked a whole hell of a lot better than the 2003 Saga stuff, even after the 2003 "drought" had ended (or at least subsided). It still wasn't en masse, but it certainly wasn't like the dearth of new stuff that isn't on the shelves right now.
Wal-Mart was the first place that got anything, that being the Anakin, Yoda, and ARC two packs (with the bonus Clones) and those came and went within a day, and the second shipment lasted about that long too. WM actually got all three waves of the basic figures in pretty good numbers (with the traditional "more of the first, less of the second, even less of the third" hierarchy that Hasbro and WM seem to be stuck in), and even the red ARC hung around for about a week or so before it disappeared. I had no idea that one would be so hard to find or I would have picked another one or two up for some people (as it is, I did pick two up for other people). The last wave showed up twice, and totalled about 8 cases worth. I got two of the SA Clones and that was enough for me (one of which is still with me, another of which is off killin' droids in PA). As it is, WM never got anything outside of the basic figures (and the role play lightsabers) for the line.
Target was the place to go for everything else, even though they decided to not put any of the deluxe stuff (Durge and Clone speeders, Clone 3 packs, Spider Droid) out until it was time for the spring reset in 2004 and it went immediately to the clearance aisle. All of the vehicles were pretty easy to come by there, and the first two waves of figures were not that hard to get either. The third wave, however, showed up a grand total of one time (two cases) and by the end of the day all of the SA Clones had disappeared.
K-Mart was, believe it or not, the best place to get the Deluxe stuff, and I ended up getting two of the Clone 3 packs and both of the Speeders there. Basic figures were pretty much the first two waves, and up until about two months ago they still had a CW Obi-Wan hanging on the pegs.
Though 50 bucks for that BS Anakin Starfighter Batmobile thing is outrageous.
While I agree on the price, I actually liked the toy (although I probably wouldn't had it not been in the cartoon). The only problem I had was that here you had this fighter and you couldn't even fit the figure intended to pilot it in the cockpit due to the figure's stance (the same could be said for the Saesee Tiin in the teal JSF). That, to me, was the only sore point with the toy. Outside of, you know, not being able to find anything at retail most of the time, figures not fitting in the ships they're intended to pilot is my biggest pet peeve in the modern SW lines.