We had a report from one of our Minnesota Target employees (two actually) that the GH sets are being put out on end caps-

All those extra shocktroopers are going to make a funny addition to my sons' GH pile.  Where have the 212/501 repacks been (or a proper Saleucami Red repaint of that goofy blue clone from the young-Chewie set)? 

Speeder-grip Paploo, though, makes up for every single flaw in the Endor set and then some.  If only they'd taken the care to let Endor Leia ride a bike.  Those little speederbikes have never stopped being the greatest thing about this entire line.

Regardless, it will be interesting and I hope they don't reveal the whole 2008 lineup as it's nice to have some surprises throughout the year.

You know, I happened to be thinking about this over the weekend (after my son asked again about Assaj ventress, and my wife and I remembered we had been expecting/hoping for her in 2008).  Only two "new" waves of 2 packs were revealed, counting the already known Spring Wave (Jedi and Clones), despite Hasbro previously leaking rumors about a whole slew of 2-packs.  I hadn't questioned it before because the flood of Cinema Scenes at Toy Fair seemed like a full year of toys...

but there's no way Hasbro walks away from 2008 without an Ahsoka.  I couldn't imagine it.  I'm feeling pretty confident there may also be a yet unrevealed "clone wars" wave, or two,  that they are patiently sitting on.  That would make a pretty decent Q&A question, actually...

From a pre Toy Fair press release:

Star Wars Clone Wars Galactic Heroes Path Games (Assortment of 3 games)
(Approximate Retail Price: $14.99; Recommended Age: 5 & up; Available: October 2008; Players: 1 to 2)

Based on the upcoming animated series, The Clone Wars, players use battling dice and cards to navigate a 3-D game board with a character from the series. Two Galactic Hero Action Figures are included in each game. Advanced rules are included for older players. An assortment of three games is available, each sold separately.

Huh.  Based on no further evidence whatsoever... I'm going to say this is awesome.  That is provisional, however.  If "assortment of three games"  means each has 2 (or one ) exclusive figure(s) locked inside $15 packaging....

I'm just going to assume this is cool news.

What I really don't get here is where this whole thing fits in the continuity of the EXISTING Clone Wars stories, let alone the movies.  Seriously, this is dumb

What I don't get is why Lucas hates us.  This... thing... is clearly a punishment.  Maybe we should get together and apologize for building him an empire on a foundation of nerdiness instead of leather jackets, hot rods, and being cool?  I don't know.  He just hates us so freaking hard. 

Galactic Heroes Two Pack Assortment
This line will explode with another 28 two packs planned for the new year.

Galactic Heroes Vehicle Assortment
There are currently 5 vehicles planned for 2008.

28 two packs?  The 16 or so per year had been feeling about right.  Are they sure it isn't 14 2-packs for a total of 28 new figures?  Or maybe, based on a Hasbro Q&A question from a week or two ago, it could be possible that 12 of those packs are new pairings of various 10-pack exclusives (shadow trooper and purple clone, e.g.)?  Or are they just also counting old 2-packs that get packed into the cases?

5 vehicles is exciting.  If speederbike/maulbike reissues count as 2 of those, I'll be disappointed.  If convertable landspeeder/x-wing count as 2, I'll be embarrased.  Otherwise, that's amazing news.

Also, still no Wal-mart sets here.

I hit a couple of Wal-Marts tonight running errands.  Both of them had about 10 teetering palates worth of a giant toy shipment unopened in the aisles (no idea where they're going to find the shelf space), including 3 cases of GH 2-packs each.  Still no sign of the exclusive 10-packs.

Vaguely related: Even when I'm not collecting anything, I've always paid some attention to toy sections.  I can't say I recall ever seeing anything like this season's toy build-up at Wal-Marts or Targets.  In addition to turning any available seasonal section into more toy aisles, the overstock at several WM's I've been to is piled 3 feet high with toys in every single section between the stockroom and the toy section.  Hardware?  Overstocked with toys.  Automotive? Toys.  Shoes?  Toys.  Fabrics?  Toys.  Home furnishings?  Toys.  Whatever's going on, it's pretty cool.

Damn, i thought those were part of the 2008 line. I wasnt expectingthem for a while.

My biggest problem with these is starting to become figuring out enough "occasions" for giving them to my oldest son.  I've been building up a giant stockpile in my closet in the meantime.  He's 3, and they are by far his favorite gift to get (he reached a big milestone with his chores and stuff right before a trip last weekend; my wife hinted that he might get a "big" reward... meaning the bounty hunter 10-pack we STILL hadn't gotten to... and he panicked, "no, no, I want a small reward, this big [thumb and index spaced to GH size]!"), but we're still running further and further behind.

I mean, not that that's a bad thing.  Keep 'em (the new ones, anyway) coming!  More Episode 1 in particular.  I'm looking forward to that rumored Jedi/Clones wave next year.

Honestly, at this point I'd almost recommend the complete opposite, Brian:  that you implement a policy of picking up all the Cinema Scenes and passing on the 2-packs.  The way they keep recycling old 2-packs into future case assortments, Big Lots 1-packs, and, OF COURSE   more Cinema Scene filler... there's very little chance you won't be able to double back later and get what you want after all.  

Conversely, the reason (some of) these exclusives are in the 10 packs in the first place is usually because Hasbro doesn't feel super confident about how they'd do in a 2-pack on their own.  It's pretty unlikely that we'll see r2-q2 or rust-plated C-3P0 again... but you can just about count on Endor Leia and Endor Trooper both filling out some future Endor Cinema Scene AND being repacked into various 2009 case revisions (assuming the line doesn't die from collector disgust before then).