It was great waking up to find pictures of this wave, a real nice surprise. This wave, particularly the new figures, just looks great to me and I can't wait for it. I think it might be my favorite overall for what we've seen for 2006 so far. Aside from the Vader (which might just be repacked from the Hoth wave, as was mentioned), I think I'll end up picking up every one of them.
Hammerhead (or Momaw if you prefer) - This is a figure I never picked up in the POTF2/Saga days, just waiting to see if it would be re-done. Now, I'm glad I waited. Not that the previous figure was too bad either, but to me, this one just looks amazing. The sculpt is top notch, and it looks like a great figure.
R5-D4 - What can be said...we've all been waiting for this one. It re-uses the VOTC R2 mold a bit, but it works for what it is. Fills a gaping whole in pretty much all of our collections I think, and is a very welcome figure.
Garindan - Another POTF2 figure I held off on, and again, I'm glad I did. A resculpt again, but it looks to be worlds better than the previous one and a pretty cool figure overall.
Hem Dazon - Wow, this is nice. We've all been hoping we'd see him, and I like what they did with the previously unseen "body" of the figure. A really nice Cantina alien, and a nice figure overall.
Han Solo - I don't so much have a problem with Han showing up, and I do like the new head, but why they don't just straight repack the VOTC version is a puzzler. Cantina Han was a great figure at the time, but has since been vastly improved upon and his constant repacking has angered most everyone at this point. That being said, the new head (and paint?) make the figure look pretty good...and I'll probably still pick one up. Maybe just to leave carded on these spiffy cardbacks.
Luke Skywalker - Luke with poncho, that's enough for me too. Another retooling, but its a version of Tatooine Luke that is fairly welcome it seems (with the hat/poncho). Like Jesse mentioned, I'd like to see a "SA" version of this figure someday, but for now, this isn't too bad. I'll definitely pick it up.
Overall, a real nice wave, and one I'm greatly looking forward to. I too noticed a possible step back in articulation, and I'm not sure what to make of it. On some of these figures, it doesn't drive me nuts because the sculpts are very nice, but I'm wondering if this is a sign of things to come or not. From what we have seen so far for the 2006 line, it almost looks like main characters and troops are the ones getting the most attention articulation-wise (Leia Boussh, AT-AT Driver, repacked Han/Luke, etc.), and the background stuff is a little more standard-fare, non-balljointed articulation. I guess I can live with that, as long as we don't regress too far artic. wise. Anyways, that complaint aside, the figures themselves look great. Definitely looking forward to them.