Without getting into mudslinging, I'm just going to report the facts:
1. He works for Entertainment Earth
I have read Adam's Q&A for years. I always enjoy reading it for his info and his humor. When I found out that he was working for EE, I no longer look forward to reading it. Why? 'Cause now you have to wonder, is he hyping certain things in the line or certain exclusives (like this droid trainwreck) out of a love of SW figures or now because he works for EE? It would be like a movie critic making his own movie (yeah right) and then writing a review of his own movie.
2. He had a hand in the creation/development of these figures
Again, if he was an evangelist of the collecting community and had gotten Hasbro to make this set independent of a specific on-line shop, then I would be giving him HUGE props for doing so. As it stands, really all he did was suggest to Aaron and/or Jason Labowitz that they should do something like this, Aaron and/or Jason probably asked him to pick the droids and then EE went to Hasbro building on the relationship EE and Hasbro have had over the past many years. Adam saying he had a major role in this is like a NJ house-frau who gets designers and contractors to completely renovate her home with her husband paying the bill and then brags to her friends that "she rennovated the house" - in reality all he did was pick out paint schemes.
3. He gets paid regardless of what EE charges for them
4. He probably gets a discount on these figures as a result
5. He couldn't care less how much they cost as a result
Again, this is a big sticking point with me. I'm almost starting to wonder if his "swami" was one of the guys over at EE who get to see what's in the pipeline six-to-twelve months in advance. Of course he could give a rats ass about how much these cost 'cause he would be a complete RETARD not to work into his contract as a "benefit" that he gets one of each case that comes down the pike. If you look at the "About Us" page on the EE site, this is EXACTLY why Aaron and Jason founded the company, and I quote:
We admit to being selfish when we started this business. We wanted to find a simple way to buy all of the new action figures and toys at reasonable prices without wasting our time. Our solution was right in front of us, similar to the big-box warehouse store model, we decided to sell full cases of action figures. Thankfully, we were not the only collectors who felt this was a good solution.
So there you have it, obviously one or both of the brothers at the helm take the cases that come in for themselves, so again, Adam would be retarded not to ask for the same treatment.
So I'm willing to bet that he gets the stuff for free, not at a discount or at cost, but FREE. Does he still talk about what he can find in his local stores? He used to mention that kind of thing in his Q&A all the time (i.e. what he found in the local Scottsdale, AZ Target, etc...) - if he stops or rarely mentions what he's seeing in stores in his answers that means that he is definitely getting open-stock items from EE for free and the only reason he hits a brick-n-mortar store is to pick up that chain's exclusive item.
6. If someone complains about the price, he'll make a snide remark toward them and say that people are overreacting.
He will.
You know what? What they should have done is follow-up their AOTC clone box sets with ROTS clone box sets for Utapau, Shocktrooper, 501st, Kasshyyk Green and Coruscant Gray/Blue Detailing variations. Just have all four figures be identical and all four of them based on SA Clone #41.
That is something I would pay for. I would also pay for clone commanders or concepts based on the Art of Revenge of the Sith. There's a seller on eBay who's been doing that pretty steady for the last two months and his figures NEVER sell for less than $125 - sometimes they even come close to $300. Here's an example of his work:
Custom Commander AppoIf Hasbro could make a Commander Gree by just applying a new paint-op to SA Clone #41, they could do the same with Appo.
Before anyone slams me for the post, please realize that:
a) I know that it seems that I'm jealous of Adam, but I'm not, I just don't like the idea of him using GH as a forum to help him promote EE exclusives - especially overpriced ones.
b) I know that I am a completist by choice and no one forces me to buy two of every item, but at this point, with 10 years and who knows how much $$$ invested, two Astromech 5-packs aren't enough to make me stop collecting.
c) These pieces shouldn't be any more expensive than a BattlePack - $21 - $26.
It's times like this when I'm glad that I pre-order stuff from EE and then cancel it on their ass when I find it in the store first.