I was just about to begin the Rancor cave, trying to figure out where I would showcase the rancor keepers in the diorama- then I realized I was trying to fit too much into the scene.  Further, I wanted to spotlight the 2 goons a bit more than they would have been in the background of the Rancor.  And lastly, I needed to test the "rock" technique before I made a lot more for the Cave.  So although it's a test for a bigger dio, I'm kinda happy with it!  The base is a piece of MDF board coated in plaster and sand, and the rocks are styrofoam shapes painted with plaster and spraypainted with dark brown and a light coat of tan.  I hot-glued them in various configurations to look like the natural cave of the set.  The door panel is a piece of posterboard with holes covered with 3 different colored lightsaber pieces, so that the colored light would illuminate if I placed a light behind it.  I also put a light above the doorway like in the scene.  Hope you like it- the Rancor cave is next  :grin:









And a couple reference pics:

Still no sign of this wave at any of the big 3 in my area.  I was expecting Target to put them out along with their reset, but all we have are the same Sandtroopers, ROTS Clones, 2 Dengars, and a CCP that we've had since at least January. 

I really don't want to succumb to douchebaggery, but I have to tell you how successful a particularly frowned upon technique was.  I call it the "Secondary Distribution System"  , and it works wonders at Target.  Reading about others who have had success, I decided to try it out.  One of my local Targets has had the same figures for who knows how long, with no wave 5, 6 or 7 showing up at all.  I went ahead and bought 10 of the oldest figures (primarily Dengars and 4-LOMs), and returned them to a Target well out of the way while on a mini vacation (now I know there's no real way to be sure you're not screwing another collector at that store you're dumping figures to, but I made SURE there was no one posting here or at RS that are anywhere near that particular location- I'm in southeast Louisiana).  Sure enough, 3 or 4 days later, my store gets in a wave 7 case (which is bought up by me and others), followed by a steady stream of wave 7 cases by need.  I got some more figures there again today.  Moral of the story is that two stagnant stores have been reduced to one.  We're talking no SW figure sales for MONTHS at both stores, and now, one of those stores has a steady stream of sales.  It works.  I don't want to resort to that, but distribution has never been worse, and perhaps Hasbro's figure selection and case breakdown is even a greater culprit.  So, I don't want to condone this (and I don't think I'll have to do it again) but it works.

Hey my JD buds- here are several pics of the latest diorama I've finished.  Plenty of WIP pics over at RS as usual, and this is the first part of a 2-part dio to include the Rancor cave that will be placed below this.  Feel free to ask any questions about this and thanks for looking!

Thanks for the info, JJ- this is the first report of wave 7 at WM, I think!   I think the distribution panic could subside once other stores catch up to Target's releases.  Reminds me of the very first vintage wave- remember the TRU fiasco? 

The set is beautiful, but does anyone think the Tauntaun is a bit over-scaled?  Jesse?

Not that I'm buying them, but the only store I've ever seen them (and at least half the wave is still there) is my local K-Mart.

Yeah, it is frustrating.  Hasbro cannot control petroleum or plastic prices, but they can make good decisions on figure choice, case breakdown, and distribution to some extent.  You'd think all the years of being in the business that they'd learn and things would be the best they've ever been instead of perhaps the worst.