So what praytell is with your crusade across the collecting community against this offering Adam?  I've seen you arguing vociferously against Funeral Pyre Vader on at least a couple of forums.  But surprisingly not at the site where you're on staff. 

Obviously given your position, this will not be something that Entertainment Earth will pick up.  But why are you campaigning so hard to convince other collectors that they shouldn't back the Funeral Pyre Vader idea?  Is it really that much of an affront to Star Wars collecting?  One of your fellow GH staffers clearly disagrees with you.

Scored a couple of Commander Ponds figures yesterday.

My current vehicle qualifies as a clunker.  It's 8+ years old, gets at best 18mpg and has well over 180,000 miles on it (that was a lot of toy runs!).  And I found a vehicle that I can get which would get me the maximum benefit from the Cars program.  And I visited my local car dealer yesterday to set up a deal that's pending on the infusion of more cash into the program.  

Tonight the Senate approved another $2 billion for the program.  It's really a tremendous opportunity to get some gas guzzlers off the road as well as getting some money infused into the economy.  And it's going to be great to spend some money on a new vehicle, rather than trying to maintain an 8 year old car that has seen far better days.

I've been hearing nothing but horror stories from my friends on my NJ collecting board.  I've heard some people talk negatively about Hasbro, saying that's an abusive relationship between a manufacturer and collectors.  But this Republic Commando thing just takes the cake.  

People have been complaining about GG's online ordering system for YEARS.  They've made fair comparisons between GG and Sideshow, and there has been no visible change in how GG does business.  Complain?  And GG ditches two of the people who have been dealing with both Star Wars and the collector media.  And do they improve their infrastructure to better serve their customer base?  No.

I think that collector's relationship with Gentle Giant has been for lack of a better word, insane.  We keep on expecting something different or better from Gentle Giant, but nothing changes.  In my opinion, that is insane.

Quote from: Brian on August  6, 2009, 01:26 PM

I'm hoping the rumored/confirmed Snowspeeder next year is a mass release though, as I'd like a few if done well.

I thought I remembered reading in a QnA that the Snowspeeder would be a in the general "starfighter" assortment.

That's where it appears to be slotted.  It's reportedly an all new Snowspeeder, so mass distribution would be a better avenue for Hasbro from a business standpoint.  And I think since next year is the 30th Anniversary of TESB they want to have a running theme revolving around Empire.

I've got to wonder about something with this segment of the line.  Especially since the Mandalorians will come into play in the new season of Clone Wars.  Could they perhaps put a Basilisk war droid in this part of the line if the Mandos use them?

I think that Hasbro is going to TRY to get the Twilight into that Deluxe Vehicle SKU.  I try to figure out what they're going to slot in that pricepoint and I have a tough time getting a wide range of vehicles for that range.  And if they were to do an all-new sculpt like the Twilight, I think they'd want to do it as a mass release item.

I don't think the Twilight would occupy the $100 vehicle slot.  At this point they seem comfortable doing ONE $100 vehicle per year.  They've done the Falcon which was well over that price, the AT-TE and now the Turbo Tank.  And it seems very obvious to me what next year's $100 vehicle will be based on comments at Comic Con.  I can't see Hasbro waiting until 2011 to do a Twilight at $100.  I think it's much more likely to be a $65 item that would be introduced at Toy Fair.

Long term, I don't know what kind of legs the Deluxe vehicle assortment will have.  We've only seen two vehicle offered so far, and only one is new.  I'm hoping we'll see something else that's new at some point.  But I also expect to see some reissues like the Republic Gunship, the B-Wing, TIE Bomber and the like at some point.

Can anyone confirm the report from comic con that a young Han Solo will make an appearance next season? I read something about this over at aint it cool news.

Someone asked about this at the Star Wars Spectacular.  Dave Filoni commented on it and said that they're being very careful about the prospects of involving any characters from the OT, and would probably avoid doing so.