Also, Luke, Leia, R2 and, at some places, 3PO are still readily available. I was sort of hoping that they will be "classic reproductions of the 1977 figures". I already have them all but it would be cool to get them all in mint condition. However, Hasbro's site said that the line would include all 6 movies so I know they won't do vintage styled PT figures.

My problem with vintage figure reproductions is that it will surely put the rest of the nails in the coffin of this line.

No kid out there wants a figure that looks like it was sculpted, made and painted using 1970's technology. They just don't.

I loved my vintage Star Wars figures when I was a kid, but I'll take my 1995-2005 figures ANYDAY over the vintage ones if I had a choice - they just LOOK BETTER. Quality beats out nostalgia anyday in my book.

Here are some pics from the new Hasbro toy catalogue that's online...

Vader on the operating table...


Clonetrooper 3-pack...


unfortunately it looks like the clonetrooper packs are going to be just like the Clone Wars ones, except with ROTS clones...   -- I would have preferred SA clones of varying paint-ops

Is anyone expecting these this weekend (the new ones I mean)?  Or is that just a pipe dream?  I suppose no leaks from the Far East makes it rather unlikely.

Yeah - nothing this weekend is definite. Perhaps you might see stores that still have stock of the Wave 3 figures putting them out, but that's about it.

So Hasbro officially announced the Early Bird set, but they still don't tell us what the figures are going to look like.  My guess is they haven't even got a clue yet.  They threw this together and are going to rely on sales of ROTS figures to determine whether or not the line will keep going.

Unfortunately, this is probably the REAL story right now unfortunately.

I would not be surprised to hear that Hasbro has found great success from retailers with speculative purchasing of the Sigma Six line for GI Joe and as such they are applying the same mentality to the Star Wars toy line.

For me, a scale change would signal my exit - while I absolutely LOVE Star Wars, the exact same thing that happened with the Star Trek line will happen to Star Wars - the "new" line will FAIL - just like Art Asylum's far superior (but out of scale with the Playmates line) Star Trek figures did/has.

I think if ROTS sells well and retailers are pleased they will continue to be willing to support Hasbro making a 3-3/4" line. If the retailers are NOT pleased with the performance of ROTS then Hasbro will NEED to change almost EVERYTHING about the toy line in order to try to get the toy buyers to "bite".

I will still buy as many as three Early Bird kits come Saturday morning and send away for two of these sets (keeping the third EB package mint) -- if the figures I get back are 3-3/4", I'll be happy, I'll be happy even if they are simply VOTC in a white mailer box, at least to me it indicates the direction the line is heading.

I still can't believe people are that bothered about the DS being shown under construction.  People act like that is not realistic.  Well, this is a Star Wars movie people.  You would think that is the coolest if you were a little kid.  Admit it. 

Who knows?  Maybe the labor unions went on strike or the techno union was really hurt by Wat Tambor's early demise at the hands of Anakin - er - Vader.

Don't get me wrong - I'm totally stoked that we get to see the DS under construction in this movie. For me I'm just wondering about the second one and when construction of it starts. Also - realize that it was ONLY plans at the time of AOTC - so in three years it's gone from nothing to this. Not bad progress IMHO.

And let's face it - regardless of release date, Hasbro always has the ultimate wiggle room and can say "Well this is the Xth figure that we conceived" and put any figure they want and any milestone they want. It would be nice to see an all-comprehensive encyclopedia on the Modern line get made so you could (a) fully appreciate the depth to this line and (b) make sure you have everything you want according to your own collecting standards...

If they are "rebooting" the line and starting over symbolically with the Luke, Leia, R2 and Chewie - I hope (for sanity's sake), when they do this, it means that they're going to handle the line a bit more like it was handled during the vintage days.

There was only ONE Tatooine Luke from ANH - sure he got re-released under the ESB and ROTJ banners, but there was never a second, third, fourth, etc... sculpt of the figure.

I would be happy if they use this line to put stakes in the ground and say "This is the ultimate Tatooine Luke and we'll never make another version of Luke in this outfit." If done with the right amount of accessories (long rifle, floppy hat, tan poncho, swappable belts (black vs. Stormtrooper) , binoculars, imperial blaster and lightsaber (lit and unlit)) and a high-level of articulation (at least 15 points) -- then I'd be okay with that.

If you think about it this would help the line survive the longest. Constantly re-issue the exact same figure in the exact same packaging and your profit margin goes up.

I could see them making eight Luke figures and that's it - ultimate versions of Luke from Tatooine, Luke in Stormtrooper Disguise, Luke in Flight Suit/Gear, Luke in ANH Celebration Outfit, Luke on Hoth, Luke on Dagobah, Luke in Bespin Fatigues, Luke in ROTJ (with plenty of accessories to cover Jabbas Palace, Endor AND the final duel).

If they took some of the same principles they have already started to put into some figures and incorporate it into EVERY figure, this could easily be done.

Take for example Luke in Hoth Gear - all you need there is some interchangeable hands, two heads (pre and post Wampa attack), well articulated legs, ankles, ball-jointed shoulders and jointed elbows and you're all set.

Luke in Flight Suit could come with enough interchangeable pieces so that it would apply to either X-Wing OR Snowspeeder

Jedi Luke could have interchangeable hands, black vest, camo poncho, rebel helmet and lit/unlit lightsabers.

For other characters there would be only the need for one or two versions - Darth Vader, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewie all come to mind.

The other plus is that they might be thinking of applying VOTC type detail to PT characters. Who wouldn't LOVE to have a SA Darth Maul or Jango Fett?

Welcome ruiner - I did the same thing at the beginning of February (phased out my presence over on the RS forums and moved to here). You'll find the boards here to be a much more plesant environment.