So let me get this straight. For $24 you can have a TaunTaun with broken tusk or a TaunTaun without broken tusk, a Han figure and a rebel soldier?  At the same store? Someone is not thinking here.

Watch Hasbro try to pass that off with "Oh, well the TVC packaging cost more" and/or "We don't control pricing, our retail partners do".

Be that as it may, both responses are unacceptable.

I haven't been following the Marvel Universe line.  So yeah, my frame of reference for Hasbro with female characters is based in large part on the Star Wars line.

There's also a red/grey War Machine variant in the new wave.  It's really not all that exciting.  But that new movie style Armored Whiplash?  I definitely want that one!

As for the disorganization and mixed messages?  Chalk it up to Hasbro's Marvel group not being totally on top of things.  At past Toy Fair collector media events they have been the group that seems a little disjointed.  As for Black Widow?  I'm kind of glad they waited.  Hasbro has generally not been all that great with female figures, but the Avengers Black Widow actually looks pretty good.

For real. I haven't seen a new Iron Man fig at Target or WM in roughly 18 months. No way these ever see the light of day

There's a new wave of figures that I have only seen showing up at Target stores.  It's got the Stark Racing concept armor, and a couple of other new pieces.

However, it seems that with these new figures Iron Man will be shifting to a new package design.  I guess they're about to wrap up the movie line.

I asked no such question, and Ashley was very clear about the fact that she couldn't say much at all.  I pretty much figured out that she was talking about the story arc with the Clones & General Krell on Umbara.

LucasArts was demoing TOR at NY Comic Con today.  They must have had about 40 gaming stations set up inside the booth, but there was still a considerable line to get in and try out the game.  There's also a HUGE Darth Malgus life-size maquette standing guard at the booth.




A friend of mine is also currently beta testing the game.  His initial reaction?  "It's that good."  I think he couldn't tear himself away from the game to elaborate much more.  But the gameplay I was able to see on the monitors at the Lucas Arts booth looked pretty amazing.

I picked up an extra Hulk exclusive if anyone is looking to make a trade.

This week's episode seemed to draw on a few things.  First, the droids in a Y-Wing.  That totally took me back to the animated segment from the Holiday Special.

Then there's the first segment.  Filoni's homage to Gulliver's Travels anyone?  That certainly seemed to be the direction of the first planet.

The second planet was clearly a tip of the hat to the Wizard of Oz.  And with Pit Droids as the Wizard?  There does seem to be some love within Lucasfilm for the Pit Droids, because they're something of an homage to the Three Stooges.  That kind of slapstick is a nice bit of comic relief.  Especially with the turn the series is about to take.

I got to catch up with Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka Tano) at NY Comic Con today.  And she asked me what I thought of the season so far.  I told her that I thought the characters needed to face some real danger, and seeing Captain Tarpals demise seemed to indicate that things are going to get serious.  She said that the next story arc of 4 episodes is going to get more serious, but couldn't eleborate much beyond that.