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Collectibles => Past Hasbro 3.75" Lines => Episode 1 => Topic started by: DSJ™ on November 24, 2002, 04:24 PM

Title: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: DSJ™ on November 24, 2002, 04:24 PM
How hard was it to find R2-B1 & TC-14?
I have never seen them in stores in Canada.  :(
I landed up getting both off Ebay at $20. each.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: dustrho on November 24, 2002, 06:04 PM
Well, here in the United States I never saw them in stores, but I've heard they were sold at Walmarts (a story I don't ever go into anymore... they're nasty by me).  I have seen them on eBay and at toy shows, but they're so freakin' expensive.  Those two are definitely something I would love to pick up some day.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: obi-dad on November 25, 2002, 01:45 PM
I actually found them once at Target and bought them.  I never saw them again.  However, only having limited funds with me at the time, I passed on the holo sidious and Padme with ascension gun.  I finally got the holo sidious off ebay or a trade, but I still never got the Padme with the ascension gun.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Scott on November 25, 2002, 05:38 PM
I saw them a bunch of times at K-Mart and TRU, I actually just traded my carded set last month for the Playskool sets.  They are a cool duo :)
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Chris on November 29, 2002, 12:40 PM
I would say they are pretty hard to find. I found them as a pair once at Meijer. I picked them up then. I also traded for an additional R2-B1 a while back. It seems to me I saw them one other time now too, but don't remember. They are a nice pair. While talking about Sidious Holo, they had a bunch at TRU during Christmas when they came out, that was the last I saw of them, that is where I got mine.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Chris Belle on December 2, 2002, 01:02 AM
I never saw any of the above mentioned figures in stores >:(.  I have only seen them on the net.  Way too much $$.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: BobaShek on December 3, 2002, 06:21 PM
Yeah, I haven't ever seen them in stores. But then again, my TRU is horrible when it comes to SW figures. :-\
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Nicklab on December 7, 2002, 05:54 PM
I completely missed these at retail.  Never saw them in the first run, and never saw them on clearance.  I heard about them showing up in one store locally, and that was it.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Guttersnipe on January 2, 2003, 08:45 AM
I saw them both at a collector shop once for £20 each.
I passed on them and bought about 25 loose complete figures (damn I got a good deal that day) instead, reasoning I will see them again, perhaps cheaper.
Alas I never have.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: stormtripper on January 7, 2003, 12:46 AM
Don't have them and probably never will, oh wait their made by hasbro and they are rehashing everything.I am not losing sleep over these personally.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: BidderFett on March 8, 2003, 11:57 PM
I live in Canada and don't see much other than the first couple of waves, and when I come to the U.S. I'm usually a few days too late  :(
At least there's always EBay   :-\
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: dustrho on March 17, 2003, 11:25 PM
I finally got my R2-B1 from an auction on eBay (for $19), and I must say this card is truly C-10 condition! I'm not kidding!!! I have never owned a carded figure like this... it's just about perfect in every way. Well, the only thing that irritates me is that the label is crooked, but that's Hasbro's fault and not the seller's. That shouldn't hurt the value of this, do you think? Here's a picture of it...

(http://www.chrisrhoads.com/photos/starwars_gallery_1/104_0460_r1.jpg)
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: DSJ™ on March 18, 2003, 09:11 AM
Sweet R2-B1 there Chris. I don't think with the label being crooked will affect the value of it. I have the odd figure with crooked labels that are from the factory & all I can say is I'm glad I have the figure.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: dustrho on March 18, 2003, 11:24 AM
With this being true C-10 quality (which I don't own anything that's C-10), what would you think the true value of it is then? Geoffrey Carlton's "Super Wish Book" says $16, AllTroops.com says $25, and Rebelscum's price guide says $20.  Just curious because like I said, I've never seen a carded figure (in person) look as perect as this one.  Thank god I had an extra acrylic case just waiting for him.
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: DSJ™ on March 18, 2003, 11:39 AM
IMHO, price guides do not exist. It's only worth what a person is willing to pay. To me, Ebay set's the standards on pricing.
I would say in the neighborhood range of $20. to $25. tops.
Though you could send it to the AFA & see what rating you get.
If you get a high rating, Ebay it with a high reserve to test the market for it.  ;D
 
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: krisvds on March 19, 2003, 09:44 AM
cool one ! never showed up here...   ::)
Title: Re:R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Angry Ewok on March 19, 2003, 11:23 AM
I was looking forward to buying both of those, but they never showed up. My local comic shop has them, but I didn't bother looking at the price. The rule is:
If its on his pegs, it's a bit over retail, if its under the glass case, its expensive as hell.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Klaatu on March 23, 2003, 02:20 AM
Found these two at a toy show in Winnipeg, cost me $40 each.  Very expensive but completed my Episode 1 collection
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: dustrho on March 23, 2003, 10:52 AM
Found these two at a toy show in Winnipeg, cost me $40 each.  Very expensive but completed my Episode 1 collection

Wow, pretty pricey there but I think R2-B1 is worth every penny I paid for him.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Depmode on March 24, 2003, 09:33 PM
kinda icky to see talking of prices for figures like this. oh well. I view the hobby different, and don't value a figure by a price that it will "command."  As far as getting these figs, i just started collecting the ep1 carded figs about 3 weeks ago. I have them all except about 6, including r2-b1 and tc-14. I plan on getting them one day, but for retail price. Call me crazy, but I know it will happen. I can't justify paying more  for these 2 figs, especially since  I've gotten most of my ep1 figs for less than $3 MOMC. I got a swimming jar jar for $5 and a pit droid 2 pack for $5. Thats the most i've spent on an ep1 fig.   8)
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: dustrho on March 24, 2003, 09:38 PM
I got a swimming jar jar for $5 and a pit droid 2 pack for $5. Thats the most i've spent on an ep1 fig.

James, if you ever find those hard-to-get EP1 figures please buy them all to share with the rest of us here.  I really don't want to have to pay $20/figure just to finish my collection, but I have to say that R2-B1 I just got was totally worth it!
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Depmode on March 24, 2003, 09:45 PM
hey. It's cool if you like it. I'm sure there is stuff I've bought that you would say "OMG, why did he pay that much for that?!"

I will hold and wait. I didn't expect to find the Swimming jar jar for $5, but it happend. Value is all in the holder. I once got over $300 worth (and by worth, i mean if i had bought all this at retail this past year) of Star Wars Lego for $45. That's right. I met someone that just did not want their Star Wars Lego anymore, so they sold all of them (about 20 sets) for $45. It was unreal, but it did happen. I already had all the ledo sets, but I figured I could use the doubles. I am using this as an example to show that one day I will get these figures for a decent price, cause stuff like this happens all the time. It's not just star wars collectibles, it's just in life. Items lose value to people, and people will be willing to throw something away that is worth a billion dollars to another person! :)
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: dustrho on March 24, 2003, 09:52 PM
James, I totally agree with what you just wrote but you will find that there's that one item you want so badly, and you'll pay anything to get it in your hands.  The R2-B1 was that very figure for me.  Unfortunately I haven't run into any situation like you have (scoring big time), but hopefully one day that will happen to me too.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Depmode on March 24, 2003, 10:57 PM
yeah, i hear ya. I bought the LEGO AT-TE at retail price cause I wanted it so bad. It's the first Star Wars Lego set I have payed full price for  :-[   But I wanted it!!! So i broke my "buy lego at cheaper prices" rule.

As far as finding a score, u will get one one day. Just keep ur eyes peeled. I get them every once in a while, so I KNOW u have to get one!
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Jango Fettish on March 31, 2003, 02:40 PM
I got these two, Sio Bibble, Amidala w/ gun all in one feel swoop at Target at retail. Funny thing is, that was the only case of said figures that store ever got.

I ended up getting Swimming Jar Jar, BD Destroyer Droid, and soft goods Qui Gon at a TRU I worked at, all for $1.97.

Same period, another TRU I worked for, I got 6 x R2 w/ Holo Leia.

Guess you can say I have been blessed, figure wise, even now getting thew stuff isn't a problem as I have got E. Mon x 4, Aayla, Barris, and Lama Su x 2 this past month.

However, I DO buy figures for my guys (like y'all) when I see them. I only collect one of each figure I like.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Hung Solow on June 2, 2003, 11:55 AM
My buddy picked me them both up at cost, but we used to scour cental Texas for toys.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Morgbug on June 3, 2003, 01:25 PM
Hey Klaatu,
$40 Cdn isn't such a bad price.  Especially when you consider what the dollar was worth compared to the US dollar when you probably grabbed them.  Chuck in another $5-10 US for shipping and possibly customs fees.  Pretty good deal.  Besides, that's around 4x retail, the same as a $20 US price is.  

I was lucky, I got both of mine in good trades.  At one point I had two TC-14s.  
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Sith Lord Cosmo on June 4, 2003, 12:32 PM
I never saw any of these at retail.  To be honest, I don't even remember how I got them.  I think I got them in a trade.  I'm pretty sure I traded some Simpsons stuff I had for them.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: roguestormtrooper on August 4, 2003, 07:45 PM
I found mines at K-Mart,  of all places,  and bought them both...  Glad I did,  I never saw them at retail again after that.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Ben on August 10, 2003, 08:15 PM
I bought them at an online store for $10 each a few months after they came out, along with a Commtech Stormtrooper. Never have seen the droids at retail.
Title: R2-B1
Post by: chris solo on January 1, 2004, 04:32 PM
Whats a good price for R2-B1 carded in good condition?

Is it really as rare as the prices you see listed on ebay, or is there a quiet conspiracy between comic stores to stockpile a bunch in the back and keep the price jacked?

Does anybody have one for sale?
Title: Re: R2-B1
Post by: chris solo on January 1, 2004, 04:34 PM
Sorry. I just found an extremely similar thread down a bit:

URL Text (http://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=89)

Still, anybody have a spare?
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: chris solo on January 2, 2004, 07:53 PM
What was the reasoning behind the R2-B1 being so rare? Before I got into collecting I swear I had seen it in Quebec.

I got a great deal from a friend that had 2 boxes of assorted Ep.I figs. That started me into collecting. Of course it didn't have the expensive rare figs in it. I'd like to finish off my Ep. I collection, but I don't want to spend $50 Can. at my local comic shop for it.

Do you guys think the price will go down a bit in the future or increase. I have found alot of ROTJ figs on c6.5-7.5 card for less. ???
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Morgbug on January 2, 2004, 10:29 PM
The basic reason these guys cost this much is that production was slowed down.  They came at the tail end of the Ep I line with retailers sitting on piles and piles of Anakin's, battle droids, Ric Olie's etc.  No demand, production goes down.

I would be surprised if you saw them in PQ though, they were only released on US cards.  Perhaps at a collectors shop?

I think the price is pretty stable and will remain so.  Just one of those items that there are less of.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: chris solo on January 3, 2004, 07:33 AM
Another thing that got me into collecting was finding 4 EP.I figures at dollaramma in Montreal. You mentioned Ric Ole. There was also Emperor Palpatine, Padme, and the Cancellor. That was a great deal. You can figure out the fabrication/mark up costs after finds like these.

I don't know who take care of marketing, but those figures sucked. No kid/collector would really want them near the amount that was fabricated. They should have focussed more on the R2-B1, TC-14 and other astromechs or podracers. I'm not into marketing, but those would have deffinately sold better. ;)
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Nathan on May 10, 2005, 03:58 PM
I really wanted both of these but I didn't find either at retail and have never seen TC-14 in person. I did see R2-B1 at a local convention once, but it was thirty or forty bucks and I'm not made of money.

I hope they repack both someday; if not, it's a bummer but I'll live. :(
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Darth Slothus on July 22, 2005, 11:43 AM
THese droids- the tc14 and r2b1 were easy to find. I saw them once at a KMART grand opening in Texas then again in Idaho at another Kmart. When I discovered them in Idaho( in a town of 14,000 people) the case must have been crushed because the cards were all openers-they were seriously curved and dented in bubbles)  :'(
The real trick is....IF you really WANT the figure bad enough-you actually have to have dementia and go to the stores DAILY! when they open or are stocking! If not well, then.....I'm sorry my friend- then your left crying at this website about why you didn't get one.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Nathan on July 22, 2005, 01:02 PM
Well, at the time I was 14 or 15, without the transportation ability to check five stores a day.

(http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/more/schilder/a070.gif) to JediDefender, by the way. (http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/midi/figuren/b070.gif)
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: JesseVader08 on July 22, 2005, 08:12 PM
After 5 years, I finally got a hold of these guys last month.   ::)
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: DoctorPadawan on July 22, 2005, 09:11 PM
Quote
After 5 years, I finally got a hold of these guys last month.

Good to hear, Jesse.  Even though they're not the best figures in the Episode I lineup, they are unique characters and as such, I'd have a major headache if I didn't have them in my collection.  That's what insanity can do to you. :)

As for something mentioned earlier in the thread, one of my hobbies in keeping mental notes on the contents of particular waves, and how difficult they were to locate.  TC-14 and R2-B1 were part of the final assortment of Collection 3, which was a very small assortment unto itself.  In fact, TC-14 and R2-B1 were the only figures in their "wave" and were only the fourth wave of Episode I Collection 3 figures overall.

Wave One (which shipped en masse and sat) was the May 3, 1999 wave, which included Boss Nass, Valorum, Gasgano, Ki-Adi Mundi, and Mace.

Wave Two (which shipped slightly less en masse, but with even more of Wave One shipped again, making that worse) included Tarpals, Ody, and OOM-9.

Wave Three (which shipped sparingly) only included one figure: Adi Gallia and (again) more reships of waves one and two, making that problem even worse.

Then they get around to Wave Four.  Not only was it the last wave of Collection 3, they shipped even more figures from the first two waves mixed in with 2 each of the new figures.  Stores were choking on C3 so much by that point that if they got any of this wave at all, it was only a case or two at most.

So, the droids were pretty much the victim of the Hasbro case cycle: Overproduce and overship the first wave, continue to devote the majority of the case space to these figures and only include 1 or 2 new figures a wave, create a glut, and then blame retail for overordering and the consumer's inability to find action figures. 

Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: bobafett14 on July 22, 2005, 11:26 PM
Both were non-existant in my parts, I lucked out and happend to stumble upon one of each at an out of the way "We're Entertainment" store back in the day...didn;t know they even had figs, they were on a low corner peg, darned near didn't see them.

Never saw them again, and still don;t see many at the toy shows.

Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Jesse James on July 23, 2005, 03:02 AM
THese droids- the tc14 and r2b1 were easy to find. I saw them once at a KMART grand opening in Texas then again in Idaho at another Kmart. When I discovered them in Idaho( in a town of 14,000 people) the case must have been crushed because the cards were all openers-they were seriously curved and dented in bubbles)  :'(
The real trick is....IF you really WANT the figure bad enough-you actually have to have dementia and go to the stores DAILY! when they open or are stocking! If not well, then.....I'm sorry my friend- then your left crying at this website about why you didn't get one.

That's cool you were able to find them easy enough Darth Slothus...  But the fact is that they tended to not ship in very high numbers, so for the majority they were indeed tough finds.  Some people, regardless of how hard they looked or not, didn't see these items.  Myself included and that was when I did hit a variety of stores daily (sometimes twice daily) on my commute.

I got mine from friends instead who did have good luck...  These simply weren't easy finds for most though.  Not to mention they suffered a lot of regional variety.  Like Bobafett14 mentioned, they weren't terribly common in Pittsburgh stores at all, yet once the clearance dumps happened I heard some areas found them a bit more abundantly.

Currently on Ebay I see R2-B1's anywhere from $12 to $18+ carded so I'd say he's at least still something a lot of people are in search of.

"Rare" is an overused term in the modern hobby generally, that is for sure!  However it's also a matter of perspective...  I'd say R2-B1 and TC-14 come probably as close to the term "rare" as most any modern figure has though...  Short of something oddball like the Toy Fair Vader or some such. 
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: JediMAC on July 23, 2005, 03:18 AM
THese droids- the tc14 and r2b1 were easy to find.

Not quite sure I'd say they were "easy" Jon.  :P  I sure as hell never saw them, and don't know anybody else who ever did either.  Judging by their prices on ebay over the past 4 years or so, I'd say they were definitely amongst the toughest figures to find from Ep. 1.

Got 'em for cheap on the trading boards though, fortunately.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Darth Slothus on July 23, 2005, 07:35 PM
Ok, Ok howz about this...They "weren't difficult to find?" Geography-wise look where I was collecting. Honestly- I had no collecting friends-other than my 11 years younger brother- and really didn't need any since everything"fell in my lap"( there was no competition)--I had to learn about getting collector help when I moved back to this state 3 years ago. I swear collecting star wars in the US is about thirds...One third east coast-(NY,NJ other crammed pop. states) another third southwest including so. Cal..and lastly the last third which comprises the the other 90% of US. geography. Look I had know idea how "whatever-hard to get" these were until months later when the LEES and Tomarts showed price increases. At least I completed my other collections since 95 before I moved( except FF weequay!). I will concede if I lived here.. then I probably would not have got those droids


Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: TheBlackDog on July 24, 2005, 10:21 PM
I have to admit, I got "lucky" on these. I was at TRU when they were unloading cases and grabbed three of each. I thought a friend would want a set, he turned them down and I never got back to returning them. The other two were for me, one to open, one to card. Eventually I opened two sets, and left 1 carded. I now have 2 R2B1 loose, 2 TC-14's loose, and 2 Padme Ascensions and 2 Sio Bibble's (all loose). I traded my carded ones about 2 years ago for a bunch of stuff I needed.   My son has one of the loose sets on his shelves for his special collecting figures. He played with them when younger, and still will, but his are still on his shelf for the most part.

After that, I never saw these again. They were very rare in my book and very hard to find.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Loopy_Leia on August 4, 2005, 11:42 PM
I have never seen these guys.  What do they look like?  I probably missed a URL to check them out. Please help?
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: DSJ™ on August 5, 2005, 12:04 AM
Here you go, clicky linky's.  :)

R2-B1 (Astromech Droid) (http://www.rebelscum.com/episodeIr2b1.asp)

TC-14 (Protocol Droid) (http://www.rebelscum.com/episodeItc14.asp)
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: alexandertrooper on August 5, 2005, 08:10 PM
it took me a while but I just finished my ep1 set a couple months ago.  After looking for years for pieces like r2-b1,tc-14, battle padme' and the gungun shield generator.  but now I have them all.  So far it was the only set I found that was really hard to complete.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Ranat on August 5, 2005, 11:22 PM
I managed to score TC-14 at a great price on Ebay, which was $12 shipped!

R2-B1 was a little pricer for me, but welcomed none the less.

The only pieces that are missing from my Episode 1 collection right now are Holo Sidious, Swimming Jar Jar, Eopie with Qui-Gon, and the Fambaa.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Darth Slothus on August 17, 2005, 01:28 PM
they have an Eopie w/gui-gon at my local comic book store. You can find alot of these(EP1 and POTF2) at flea markets,garage sales,comic book stores ect.
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Darth Kenobi on August 25, 2005, 10:08 PM
I never saw these figues at retail when they where release.  I ended up trading two CT Stromtroopers for two damage carded R2 and TC-14.  I ended up finsih my primary Ep1 figure collection (every US release basic 33/4" figures,  vehciles and beast) by buying from overseas including these two figures. 
Title: Re: R2-B1 & TC-14
Post by: Tijuanajedi on September 14, 2005, 05:18 PM
I was lucky and found them at walmart when they came out and got 3 of each, then about 2 months ago I ran in to them on E bay as part of a lot and paid 15 dls for 10 figures including r2b1 & tc14.

like I say I got lucky!!!