Just because Hasbro recommends a retail price of $9.99 doesn't mean retailers will follow.

Personally I've already pared down my collecting to what I consider to be definitive figures. I stopped the "one of each" habit years ago. $9.99 is more than I've been willing to pay this year but when I see 5" figures from "The Walking Dead" going for $14.99 and 6" figures from Mattel going for almost $20, it's starting to look like a bargain.

That said, isn't the current license agreement supposed to run through 2016? That gets Hasbro to the 3D release of TESB. That could explain the recent push to get new ROTJ figures tooled. They could choose to extend the license for a year or two if they think it's worth it... or not. I know they've claimed in the past that lightsabres are their biggest selling category but I'm willing to bet the action figure line comes in a close second.

Why does Lucas insist on bringing the Original Trilogy down to the level of the Prequel Trilogy? If anything the Prequels need more elements of the Originals. If he wanted to replace Naboo Starfighters with Y-wings, I'd be fine with that. Instead I'm expecting to see Jar Jar tucked in a previously vacant corner of the Mon Calamari cruiser, waving like an idiot.

At least they swapped them with Star Wars figures. No doubt they could have swapped them with Green Lantern, Ben 10 and Power Rangers and the folks at customer service wouldn't have batted an eyelash.

Slightly off topic but has anyone ever opened a vehicle box to discover something totally different inside?

I've seen quite a bit of panic regarding this packaging replacing the Vintage branding and I'm starting to understand why.

I've been to three different message boards and even though this new look will reportedly have zero impact on the beloved Vintage line, discussions are taking place in the Vintage forums rather than the Clone Wars or Saga Legends forums. It's pretty misleading.

Anyway, for anyone who thinks this packaging is early, it's actually later than usual. The 2010 look was officially revealed on StarWars.com in mid-January. The on-shelf date has typically been late-July/early-August but since LFL is pushing the 3-D release of Episode I, the on-shlef date has been bumped to January 2012. Makes perfect sense.

As for the look, I'm fine with it. Maul was a very overexposed character back in 1999 and 2000 and I certainly had my fill of him then but I can't think of a better character to represent The Phantom Menace.

I'm reading an awful lot of comments elsewhere concerning the inclusion of the original theatrical cuts. Seems like this is going to be a deal breaker if Lucas doesn't squeeze them in. I'm inclined to agree. I'd sooner have the originals (my favorites) in hi-def, warts and all, than to settle for the edit-du-jour.

Hamscaping?

Now I've seen it all.

(I'll be using my beard trimmer.)

"Boss K?" What is that, Pig Latin? That's right up there with "at at" instead of "ay tee ay tee."

I loved my vintage Bossk, too. There were very few alien characters in TESB so he stood out.

Kmart has had the Y-wing and ARC-170 on clearance for $52. Today I noticed they're offering 50% all clearance toys so I picked up the Y-wing for $26. Not the steal the $4 Snowspeeder was but still much better than the $62.99 MSRP. Patience paid off!