The Nikto looks pretty cool.  Hasbro already confirmed that one, IIRC.  It's definitely a welcome addition to Jabba's goons. 

The new Galen Marek is a little bit of a surprise, but a cool new EU offering.  The accessories look pretty awesome.  Is all of that actually going to fit in a TVC blister?  My only gripe here is the timing.  I really think that Hasbro would have a lot more success with these EU video game figures if they could get their release schedule synced up with the game releases.

Which brings me to Shae Viszla.  Pretty awesome that Hasbro managed in this case to offer up a video game figure that IS well timed with the game release.  Granted, we saw Shae in that Deceived trailer going back close to 2 years.  And with the lead time on a new figure being about 18 months I'm glad to see that they took advantage of all of this lead time to get the figure ready.  I'm still surprised that it took LucasArts so long to bring this game to market.

Glad to see they got Rex's new helmet right.

Good to see that WalMart is offering exclusives online.  But not very exciting to see that they're doing it with repacks, which is what both of these battle packs are.  Will WalMart be doing that with the exclusive basic figures?  I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath.

I can't say that I blame him in the least.  After hearing "George Lucas raped my childhood" from way too many fanboys, why should he subject himself to more of that crap?  It's become an abusive relationship where the fanboys have not grown to understand George Lucas's philosophy on filmmaking, and the spirit of innovation that he has used to move the film industry forward.  He improved visual effects.  He improved audio and visual presentation.  He's been a driving force with CGI and animation.  And he and Steven Spielberg essentially created the blockbuster.  And in that spirit of innovation he has been guilty of trying to improve things in the movies where he originally felt like he had to compromise.  That has not been as well received.

In contrast, what are the credentials of his detractors?  It's all well and good to sit back as an amateur critic, but when you criticise someone's work, you had best have something to bring to the table.  Because at the end of the day, how many of these fanboys have become filmmakers and have made something better?  Where are their mountains of credits as screenwriters, directors, producers, etc?  GL has definitely inspired a good number of people to get into filmmaking, but I suspect that they're not the ones who spend many a waking hour on the TFN message boards pouring over every flaw they perceive in someone else's film.  On the contray:  they've been inspired by Star Wars but are embracing their own creativity to do something new.

I have always felt that Lucas faced an uphill battle with the Prequels.  Because he brought the films to kids, and they loved them.  Having that kind of baggage of living up to a generation's worth of expectations is something that almost nobody could accomplish.

Quote from: Nicklab on January 14, 2012, 07:07 PM

Found the Search for Luke Skywalker BP on clearance for $7.48 today.  HINT:  check the clearance aisles.

Jesus that is worth it just for the hoth rebel. With free taun taun accessory. Thanks I will check my targets.

The Han Solo is just gravy on top of it all.  Now of course, if the coat was only BROWN....

Bumping this up.  I was in the store and saw the new LEGO set "Ewok Attack", and I noticed that it features one Ewok that we haven't gotten from Hasbro.  This one is called Tokkat, and it could make for a good Hasbro Star Wars addition to their Ewok offerings.  Lumat certainly seems to be in the proverbial "parking lot", but you have to think that Hasbro also wants to touch on some new Ewoks, too.  Tokkat might be a good candidate.

Given WalMart's checkered past with exclusive figures, I felt like this Tunghori deal was a better option.

Oh, and I scored a clearance priced Search for Luke Skywalker BP for $7.48 today.  Good times!