I wasn't initially entirely sold on Cad Bane's live-action appearance... but it has definitely grown on me. The figure though, wow. I really think this one looks fantastic. I really think they nailed him and appreciate the slightly bluer skin tone. My only real gripe (and it's fairly minor) is that the hat looks slightly wonky, and not as straight as the film version. I assume it may be a limitation of the materials in 3.75" scale since it is removable. I am increasingly more and more in favor of alternate heads rather than removable helmets for TVC. Hats though are a bit different since it's nice to be able to pose the figures holding their hats. The cloak looks really good and plastic feels like the right choice sculpt-wise but it will be interesting to see how it affects the pose-ability of the figure. Overall though. I'm very happy with the images for Bane. It's nice to get all-new things. (Perfect choice for a cardback image, too.)





(I totally forgot which wave Cad Bane & the Tusken Warrior are supposed to be in. If it is not this one Jeff feel free to move these posts.)

This particular board has not been getting much love for a while... let's change that. This piece came out years ago but there isn't a thread for it yet.



I got this guy two years ago and I simply can't recommend it enough. Honestly, this might be my favorite piece in my entire collection. It sits just to the right of computer, so I find myself spending a lot of time staring at it during work meetings and throughout the day. If you have been on the fence on this one at all for the last few years, do yourself a favor and pick one up. Treat Yo Self.

As I have been more seriously ramping back up into collecting (and am getting older ) I have realized that I can no longer solely rely on my memory to keep track of what I have in my collection and what I need. With 90% of my collection still boxed up in storage, I've realized that I have accidentally purchased some unintended doubles lately, luckily it hasn't been anything expensive or that I can't use for custom fodder, but I'd still rather not do that if I can help it.

I decided it is time to really do a full inventory and create some sort of spreadsheet/catalog for myself to make it easier to keep track of all this stuff I have. I've been using Jeff's checklists here on JD and various other image databases and checklists to make my spreadsheet. So far I have just made it through The Vintage Collection basic figures and exclusives. I have been trying to include all loose and carded variations, repack/repaint/retool notes on each release, etc. My plan is to repeat this for each of the main Hasbro lines, and then do a more limited version for all of the other non Hasbro and non-SW lines that I collect.

This is something I figure will take awhile to really complete but I think it is really going to help me. Aside from just buying doubles the other motivation for me is somewhat estate-planning and insurance based. If something were to happen to me, I'd hate for my wife to get stuck with my collection and have no idea what to do with it. I'd want her (or whomever ends up with this stuff one day) to have a full list of items, quantities, and approximate values to be able to decide how to sell it all or what to keep.

My wife works in art restoration and deals frequently with insurance loses after fires and floods. Most homeowners tend to get screwed on their art or other home items because insurance companies require that you list everything you owned from memory after a total loss in a fire or flood. Homeowners that have everything cataloged tend to get the most money back in an insurance loss and have the most things covered. Collectibles are often NOT covered in a home insurance policy, I know my insurance unfortunately doesn't cover it, but that is another topic altogether.

I have a few questions, has anyone built out a spreadsheet or catalog of your own? What kind of organizational strategies did you use (or wish you had used)? Do you find it helpful to managing your purchases/preorders/trades/etc, or is it too burdensome to keep up with?

I thought I should share these with you guys. My new wife and I made all of the decorations for our wedding. My groomsmen and I wore kilts so that should help explain this a little bit. Here were our table numbers:



I want to finish them off with sporrans at some point (we didn't have time to do it for them.) We made 16 troopers total, only 13 made it home. The kilts are all pleated in the back too. Hopefully I can get a group shot at some point.

2011 is done & gone so onto the 2012 Great Collector's Challenge. Will it be the last one?

Reference from the past Great Collector's Challenge:

The Great 2011 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2010 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2009 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2008 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2007 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2006 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2005 Collector's Challenge
The Great 2004 Collector's Challenge

We all know about all of the Vintage lines failings by now: shoddy distribution, bad case assortments, high prices, supposedly slacking sales... etc., etc., With the reveal of latest case assortment with only three new figures per wave it got me thinking today, are we headed towards either a 'new' figure line or a re-launching of the vintage line?

There seems to be a lot of similarities with the end of the SAGA line in 2004. The line was finally showing some promise after two years of mostly ****. Distribution in 2003 and even early 2004 was horrid, I don't know if it was quite as bad as it currently is, but it was close. 2004 SAGA ended with a wave that consisted of only three new figures, AT-ST Han, General Lando, and Crix Madine. The wave never showed up at retail here in CO. Another thing I find interesting is that this all happened in 2004 coinciding with the brand new DVD release. The SAGA line was canned and in came the Original Trilogy Collection (and the VOTC as well.) The last Saga wave did manage to find it's way into the OTC.

Out of the OTC's thirty eight basic figures only seven of them were new, the rest were either repaints or straight repacks. The seven figures were broken up into waves of three and four new figures.

The reason I am bring the OTC/SAGA transition up now is of course because of this year's BluRay release. It seems that many of the signs of 2004 are repeating themselves. I'm sure Lucasfilm wants lots of other merchandise out on the shelves to line up with the release. Why wouldn't a new figure line be a part of that? What makes it especially possible is the rumor that Hasbro intends to make 'realistic' Clone Wars figures in the regular line, and also that Saga Legends may also become part of the basic line. If they want to quickly, and cheaply relaunch the line it would likely be mostly repacks to cut Hasbro's costs, with a few new figures thrown in here and there to entice collectors into re-buying the rest.

I see two ways they could go about the change The first being an all new packing line with a new name, like they did with the OTC. I'm sure we'd see lots of repacks and wouldn't expect many new figures. This would require them to completely change the packing though, so that may be prohibitive. But if it changed the SKUs retailers would buy more for a reset. The other choice would be to re-launch the Vintage line starting the numbering system over. Vintage already seems like the best way to usher in the BluRay, so I'd like this option better. This time though I'd bet it'd essentially have Saga Legends mixed in, and would expect lots of repacks and very few new figures. This second option would probably take less effort on Hasbro's part and would likely be cheaper, so hopefully we'd see more new stuff this way than we would with option one.

I could see some of the later waves from this year being swapped over into the new line, much like the final 2004 Saga wave. That could also explain the ratio of new figures to old figures in the upcoming wave 10. I don't recall a line that had more than 70 figures or so in a year/single number system. That may also be a sign we are due for a change.

I don't remember when Hasbro first revealed the OTC, I was thinking it was earlier than SDCC 2004 but I could be wrong. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hasbro announce a re-launch or a new line at SDCC this year. It seems like we would have heard of this before, but Hasbro has managed to keep secrets from us before. So I don't see that it is outside the realm of possibility. Of course TPM 3D is coming out next year and we have already seen the card art with Maul on it, but I don't think that would necessarily keep the BluRay line from happening. OTC really only lasted from the end of the summer in 2004 up until about February of 2005 after only two-three small waves of POTC/OTC figures. Then of course in April of 2005 the ROTS line debuted and the basic line was restarted for the second time in less than a year. I can definitely see the same thing happening again this time around with the BluRay and TPM 3D. I'm sure that if we don't hear anything by SDCC that nothing is likely to happen.

Thoughts anyone?

I received some VERY fast payment from Esmond for a huge lot of clones. Don't hesitate to trade with him he is a great guy and an asset to the trading community.

November 1st has come and gone and we have just wrapped up our first Custom Contest. 

I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who entered a custom in the contest. We received a bunch of really good entries. I was impressed at the variety of different figures we have. Our 'theme' this time around was any character off of our Top-30 list that we sent in to Hasbro for the Fan's Choice Poll. It was a fairly wide open topic, so I was expecting to see some variety, but I was astonished to see that everyone submitted a different figure. That should make this a very close race.

Now that we have all of our entries it is time to vote on the winners! (Just when you thought election season was over ) Whether or not you submitted a custom, we encourage everyone to vote. We are going to have three categories to vote in, and they look like this:

Most Production Level - This doesn't necessarily mean the 'best' overall figure. What we are looking for here is the figure that looks like it would be something that we would get from Hasbro. This refers to the paint, the sculpt/part choice, articulation and things of that nature.

Most Creative - Fairly self explanatory. See a figure you really like and it appears to have taken a stroke of genius to make it? Vote for that one. 

Most Unique use of Non-SW Parts to Create a Star Wars Figure - Recognize a part from a GI-Joe figure? Have no idea where a set of arms come from but know they don't belong to a Star Wars figure? Vote for it here.

There are a few rules to the voting process:

• Please pick only one figure for each catergory.
• You can only vote for a figure once (i.e. you can't vote for the same figure in more than one category.)
• Entrants were allowed to enter more than one figure, so you can vote for two figures from the same customizer, as long as they are for different categories.
• Voting for your own figure is allowed, but generally isn't the classiest of maneuvers.
• There will only be one winner in each of the three categories.
• Fraudulent voting or ballot stuff is grounds for disqualification from this and all future customs contests
• You must be an active JediDefender.com Forum member to vote
• You can submit your vote either by posting here in this thread or sending me your votes via PM.
• When voting please make sure to list the categoy, followed by the name of the customizer and then the figure of your choice for each of the three categories
• Voting will run until 9 PM Pacific on Wednesday November 18th (That's two weeks.)
• Please keep this thread strictly for voting. Use our Discussion thread for feedback and discussion.

It's fairly simple, but by all means if you have any questions let me know. In addition to the three main categories, The JD Staff will also be picking two additional figures for the Judge's choice category.

As an added inncentive to vote, everyone who votes is also going to be eligible to win a prize. Everyone's name will be put into a hat (figuratively speaking) and we will randomly select a winner. The winner will get 2 TLC Spacetroopers to help build your Imperial Army.

The entries are all listed below. Enjoy looking through all of the great customs. It sure is going to be a close contest. Thanks for voting!