I got one of the two Fetts I sent off for in the mail today and while mine's card isn't anywhere near as damaged as that poor guy at JTA, it still had a huge ding on the lower left corner, and the top part of the bubble wasn't even attached.  To top it off, when I held it up to look at it in the light, the bubble started to separate even more from the card.  Not what I'd expect from any figure, much less one whose appeal is 99% due to nostalgia among adult collectors.

Somehow, I don't think anyone needs the Force to foresee that the next Q&A is going to be riddled with "WTF happened with the Rocket Firing Fetts?"  Even though there's always a disclaimer saying that "we are not responsible for damaged or items lost in the mail", the vast number of people who received figures that were completely destroyed and/or had detached bubbles due to poor quality glue makes me think that Hasbro can't avoid this issue by using that disclaimer as an out.

And, of course, I'm sure the Sgt. Bric figures will arrive in absolutely pristine condition.  

Like everyone else earlier in the week, I found (what looked to be 2 cases of) w2 at Target yesterday.  I picked up Zartan, Dusty, and the Jungle Viper, but left Recondo and Destro behind.  The latter two didn't look bad in the package, but I'm trying to be picky about some of these guys, and I already had a "modern" Recondo from those Cobra Island packs.

Zartan is actually a really nice figure, and much nicer than I had expected.  Tons of accessories, and they all seem to integrate with one another very well.  The ability to store the extra head in the satchel is a huge plus in my book, and I love the little "blinder" that you can put on the bird.  Hasbro really hit this one out of the park.  Dusty is good, I suppose, since I never got the version that was in the DVD packs, and the inclusion of the extra head was nice, although the barbed wire accessory kind of confuses me.

My Jungle Viper's left elbow joint was "fused" together, but thanks to some fine suggestions in another thread, I was able to use hot tap water to loosen it up and bend it without breaking it.  Maybe (probably) I'm just stupid, but it would have been nice for Hasbro to have included some kind of instructions on how to correctly assemble this guy's camo pack (they used to do this for much, much simpler assemblies on the RAH line in the late 1980's, so why not here).  Once I got him together, though, I was really impressed.  The only thing that bothered me was the gun itself, or should I say the inability to hold the gun in a correct position.  I suppose that can be worked with, but overall, I thought it was a good figure well-executed. 

Zartan is still, however, the winner of the three figures I got, and I would recommend anyone on the fence about him to go ahead and pick him up. 

Anyone have a breakdown of which figures come with which packs of weapons?  I'm having a rough time telling what comes with what, and sometimes I'm willing to pick up an army builder if he has the weapons I wouldn't mind having extras of.

Believe it or not, it seems to be random at this point as to what weapons pack you actually get.  I've gotten several Snowtroopers over the course of the last two weeks and while most of them have come with the set which includes the Sandtrooper gun, at least one of them came with the regular SL weapons pack that has been in the SL figures for the last two years, and two of them came with another set of weapons that included the Commando guns. 

Even though I know Hasbro said that they were done with running changes to existing figures (instead opting to simply do them as "new" figures under a new item number, etc), I'd really like to see the Battle Droid two pack rereleased in the non-red (TPM or ROTS) colors.  While I still plan on getting a few more of the Geonosis versions, I'd probably really go nuts on the seemingly more prevalent "tan" versions from the films.  That two pack really is one of the best deals out there right now, since you get two (effectively) super-articulated figures, extra weapons, and two stands for the same price as one figure, one stand, and no extra weapons in the CW animated lineup.

And speaking of SL, has Hasbro given a reason why other popular army builders (namely the VOTC/30AC Stormtrooper and/or 212th Battalion Clone Trooper) haven't been cycled into the SL line yet?  You'd think they'd want a generic Stormtrooper out in some shape, form or fashion with the increased focus on ESB this year. 

Yet another smooth and fast transaction with Jeff, and as always, I couldn't happier.  Thanks, Jeff!

Someone's been listening to a little too much Stern.

Guilty as charged.

I'm on the fence about picking one of these up, since I still think the 2002 version is pretty nice when it comes to the interior detailing (at least compared to the non-ejecting-style cockpits on the regular TIE Fighter toys).  This one seems to be a bit more accurate to the cutaway in the "Cross-Sections" book, but I wasn't sure about the color.  I guess I'll make a final judgment once these start showing up and someone out there does a review of it (and if there isn't a whole lot of other stuff occupying my bank account at that moment).

Just a quick question for you regarding the BDs: Did both figures end up getting released with "eyes" painted on?

Oops, sorry I missed your question earlier in the week, Greg.  Anyway, yes, both figures ("grunt" and "commander") had painted eyes, although they were the big "dilated" look instead of the more accurate smaller "dots."  That same TRU restocked earlier this week and I bought a second set of BDs, both of which also had the "dilated" eyes.

Jesse,

iFett can probably word this one a whole lot better than I can, but could you ask Hasbro about the status of a Classics/Universe/Generations rerelease of Thundercracker?  This is the last of the original three/six Seekers to not be released at mass retail, and although it was originally one of those BotCon exclusives (and presumably never to be considered for release), both Thrust and Dirge (who originated in the same set) have since been released as part of the main line.  So, there's a big hole on the Seeker shelf unless you feel like paying an arm and a leg to get one from the Japanese Henkei line.

(iFett, please shape this up into a comprehensible format )