It's tough to say they're not twice as good as what we're getting though when you look back and I think the majority wanted what we got... 3PO is undoubtebly the stinker of the lot, but as Ben's go the VOTC Ben is still considered one of the better ones by a lot, though it's lacking a lot too... Still, it's the only Ben you can sit in a landspeeder and for me that meant a lot since that's where he's displayed.
Han though is twice as good as Han Carbonite by a long shot... VOTC Stormtrooper trounced every Stormie to that point. Chewbacca may be the greatest figure of all time arguably. Fett's top-notch. R2-D2 was nothing to snooze at though I personally don't care for it as much as the Bar2-D2 version. Vader was the best till that point. Lando's fantastic. Leia's the best to that point and I'd dig her re-released with a hood-up head actually...
3PO sucked, Ben was so-so, and Luke I personally put in the sucked column only due to the unnecessary goofy shirt (he didn't have a removable shirt in vintage so that figure still strikes as a "huh?
" figure too... But that means 9 hits and 3 misses or mediocres out of a short 12-figure line... Then the next wave comes, and honestly I don't know too many people upset with them unless they simply don't like cloth which this line's obviously got a focus on using cloth... I like it myself when it's done right and the two iffy ones are tough to tell how good the figure is underneath the coat, and the coat's tough to judge on a card, so I'm leaning towards really liking them just based on early photos... The price sucketh though, no doubt.
Is Veers a good figure? He's ok... I've seen customs that were far superior though... No back tot he armor, the goofy fit of the helmet over the hat-head, and lacking leg articulation on a body that, with the right leg articulation, would've been really REALLY good to reuse down the road.... And an argument can be made on his height being a bit odd looking too, but the other items I think are a bit more "substantial" to some people... Veers doesn't strike me as even close to VOTC quality then.
Carbonite Han is ok... Veers is ok... They're neither one near as good as the Cantina Wave in 2004/05 though, and those are basic figures, and background characters at that. So it's tough to say they, or most of the rest of Saga 06 compare well to the VOTC in terms of quality... VOTC isn't really double price quality to me though either, I don't care for the price at all, but if it's the only way Hasbro delivers then how else can you look at it?
As far as Leia goes, I gave her a good review... She coulda been better, mostly with how her arms pose, but I like her. She fills a hole, and I'd say she's sorta like the AT-AT Driver. I think he's a better figure than Leia really, but she's a close runner-up. She's still not VOTC quality to me... Better than Ben and the line's worst like 3PO, but below Vader, Lando, etc... If I were rating by comparison that is. She has flaws like the somewhat static right arm due to sculpt, the sculpt's iffy on the face (I didn't mind it, but it's not their best by a longshot). She's not a bad figure though, I kinda dug her. I like VOTC Leia better though, I can safely say that.
So to that end, I think what people are saying is that they WANT that high quality that, most of the time, VOTC has developed... They don't want that price that comes with it though, but I'd say most are to the point where they see Hasbro seemingly in refusal mode to really take the line to the "next level" as a standard... Not even VOTC level, but a straight across the line overall standard increase that at least matches figures like the AT-AT Driver resculpt. The VOTC seems to offer your best chance at your best figure (to most) but with a price... The basic line is like a craps game though. You'll see a figure listed on rumors, and when pictures finally surface, what are you going to get? Sometimes you win with an AT-AT Driver, sometimes you lose with Scorch... This makes some people happy irregardless because they just don't give a ****, this doesn't make others happy...
Right now I have a tough time gauging how sales are going with Saga but I know I haven't seen much more than a couple cases out at a time so pegwarmers are tough to judge. They're not dumping tons of cases on shelves right now though so it's tough to say Carkoon wouldn't pegwarm if it hit en masse... I know Bib's a pegwarmer here, so that's one anyway and he's ok for what he is too, just not popular. Tough to say... Geonosis is a better mix I think so I'm not worried about it, Carkoon is the one with the earliest back-up potential if there happens to be a lot of that case out there in circulation I think.