I see where you guys are going, but I also see it a little differently.
The CW line has a different SKU/DPCI/etc from the regular Saga line, so when these show up as not selling, stores will scale back on those skus, instead of Star Wars in general.
I also cant see the likelihood of both of these lines being in stores together, so maybe one would follow the other. And while I have my doubts that an animated line is coming (although I give a lot of weight to stuff the GH crew posts), I also doubt it would be on such a high retail scale as the regular line. Basically I see a line of 10 or so figures, all of which are an exclusive of some sort. I dont think Hasbro could convince large chains like Target, WalMart, Toys R Us and KBToys to dedicate space to three seperate Star Wars lines, they are having a hard enough time with two...
Another thing to keep in mind is this: The cartoon hasn't started yet. This cartoon could end up being a huge hit, so huge it would create a market for cartoon based figures. On the other hand, it could flop.
If these were going to happen, then they are in very early production (so early in fact, that even protos havent been developed most likely). Take Hasbro's pace on production and distribution of new figures, and these things wouldn't be on shelves for another 8 or 9 months.
Also consider the cartoon schedule: 20 episodes, split into 2 "seasons" with the first ten coming by years end (which "just by chance" happens to be the schedule for the regular line of Clone Wars figures). The second "season" wont air until a few months into next year, and presumably, given the short term nature of EU lines, the current Clone Wars line will have come and gone.
Basically, I see an animated line coming out around March/April/May of 2004, and having a small production run and probably a higher price. I'd expect Hasbro (or Cartoon Network) to target stores like EB Games, Sam Goody, Media Play and Suncoast. Stores which are known for typically carrying high end collector based toy lines. Given that, they'd probably run about 8 bucks each. Make them limited editions, and you sure as hell know they'd be a hit. Because everyone knows, when you put Limited Edition and Star Wars on the same package, people go nuts.
I would also say that with the nature of Hasbro, not everyone is going to know about this line, and almost definately not the crews they are sending to conventions, because they wouldnt want this leaking out from an official source, and getting the upheval it naturally would (first by those that dont want it, and then a possible second, when those that want them dont get it, because the line ended up getting cancelled before making production). Hasbro business personal (Marketing, Sales, etc) are far removed from those that are developing product lines, and if the product development people want to keep it hush hush, they arent going to let the business guys know about it.