The mail-away figure is Captain Rex and he's in The Clone Wars cartoon, not the Force Unleashed - so the Stormtrooper "Captain" is going to be offered somewhere else.

Actually that's kind of a good idea. I might try to do $20 each time I get paid, then it doesn't seem like so much of a burden.

I can see the You Tube parody commercials now...

"Collecting Star Wars can be expensive, but for just a dollar a day, you too could realize your dream of purchasing an AT-TE vehicle this October. Don't leave your inner child wanting this October, contribute today to the 'buy yourself an AT-TE (or two) fund' - you'll be glad you did!"

 

If they made animated style figures, I know it would certainly be hard for me to stop. I think about how I passed on opportunities to get the Droids and Ewoks animated cartoon figures and now I look back and I'm kinda upset with myself for not getting them back in the 80s.

So if the Clone Wars series produced animated style figures, would I pass on them now, only to regret it 20 years from now? It's a question that only I can answer of course.

Perhaps I wouldn't get any to open - that's what I did with the previous Animated Clone Wars series, only got one of each to have a complete MOC/MIB set. Perhaps I would do the same thing with these.

I think Hasbro KNOWS that an animated style line would/could be disastrous for the line and for sales. There would definitely be a lot of collectors who would be angered/upset by such a move.

I look at it this way too - if you want to do five or six new clones and a handful of Jedi - why would you choose the more expensive/less profit/more difficult route? Let's analyze the situation:

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Realistic Style Figures
Pros: Fits with the 3.75" platform, collectors will continue to collect the line, kids already are buying up the figures, these would add to their current play patterns/collections, some of the new figures could be created using parts from previously released figures saving development costs, any vehicles that have been previously issued in the 3.75" line that are featured in the cartoon can be repainted and re-released to the benefit of no additional tooling costs.

Cons: Characters don't "look" exactly like they did in the cartoon.

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Animated Style Figures
Pros: Characters look as they do in the cartoon, kid-friendly designs

Cons: Figures do not fit with the existing 3.75" platform, collectors could choose the make the design style a deciding factor on whether or not to buy into the line, all figures have to be developed using 100% new toolings, figures could not be created using existing tooling until an adequate library of parts had been developed, existing vehicles that might be featured in the cartoon need to be completely made from scratch.

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That's all I can think of right now, if anyone wants to add or subtract my points, feel free to do so to further the discussion. I just can't imagine a manager at Hasbro going with the second option in light of how many "cons" that are so blatantly obvious when compared to doing realistic styled figures.

One more point of evidence that leads me to believe that the figures will be realistically styled: the glimpse of the AT-TE we got looks pretty spot-on in terms of the vehicle. Sure it might be slightly smaller than it should be, but it looks as good (if not better) than the current AT-AT we have. If they were doing the cartoon style, I don't think it would have all of the detail that appears to be present on the toy.

Picked up the last 2007 2" Unleashed Wave yesterday - the one that includes Ki-Adi Mundi/Bacarra/2 Marines, Droids and Mace Windu's 187th Batallion.

Hasbro has stated in past Q&A that the Clone Wars figures will be done in a style that is in keeping with the rest of the 3.75" figure line.

They are not looking to do "Animated Style" figures any time soon (according to the answer I remember reading).

The Animated Figures that sold at Target sold through but if I recall correctly, only because of deep clearancing from Target. Sure the Clones always sold and the WalMart 3-pack sets were barely in stock for the DVD releases, but I would say any speed of sell-through on anything done in the animated style was purely due to a lower manufacturing quantity on each item.

I think Hasbro acknowledges that the best bet for any action figure item is to keep it compatible with the 3.75" platform/system. They have tried other sizes and styles and they always ended up as failures.

Well, Saga Legends will be ending when Clone Wars starts.

So first half of the year: TAC & Saga Legends

Second half of the year: Clone Wars & The Saga Collection 3

Where in the second half of the year, the Saga Collection will be the secondary line, the waves will still be themed, but we won't get waves like Wave 5 & 7 where all of the figures will be new, we'll get waves where like 1 or 2 figures are new, 1 or 2 figures are kit-bashed and then 1 or 2 figures are complete repaints/repacks.

That is the impression that Hasbro has given us via Q&A answers.

So if the Droid Factory line is separate that would make three lines at once. I'm pretty sure Hasbro has stated that there will not be more than two lines running at any one time either.

So my guess is that what I'm calling The Saga Collection 3 will also be The Droid Factory Collection

Picked up the Stormtroopers set from the wave of The Force Unleashed 2" Unleashed Packs.

The cheat-code that came with this one was "LIGHTSABER" - apparently it will give you a more powerful lightsaber in the game.

I can't help but think that Star Wars Shop will be carrying this item after the convention.

I'm in for two or three depending on the price. If they are $10 then definitely I'll order three. Anything more than that, and my limit is 2.

I knew it was only a matter of time before they made a Clone Commander in the Shadow Trooper scheme.