So I got home to find the Slave I box sitting on my front porch, shipping labels on it, handwritten UPS numbers written on it, and one end flap hanging completely open. I immediately called Amazon Customer Service and explained how disheartening this situation was, and she said she could either give me an expedited refund or a discount if I wanted to keep the item. As I hadn't inspected the toy itself, given my disgust with the packaging, I asked if I could call back later, and she offered to call me back instead.

Upon inspecting the already damaged and opened box, I found several pieces of the ship (including the passenger seats and boarding ramp) simply laying broken, loose and unsecured in the box. I immediately slid the inner cardboard back into the outer box, and resigned myself to a refund.

This is simply unacceptable, and I made that clear to Amazon. I certainly hope that others do, too. In all my years of ordering from Amazon, this is the first time I've ever had an item arrive without even being packed in any shipping material and, even worse, it has driven yet another nail in my figurative Hasbro coffin. While I'm glad to be getting a refund, I'm still tremendously disappointed. Amazon should know better. Period.

I don't think I'll be getting into this line outside of trying to track a Fett down.  As for the price, I think Hasbro's already trying to cheap out on it, given the drastic paint shortcuts on the production version of Artoo, and them saying that the wave 3 Obi-Wan "may or may not" come with a robe depending on how they can "cost it out."  20 bucks for a 6 inch action figure and they can't afford a piece of cloth?  Sure, Hasbro...just as believable as all of your other price excuses...

I think I would be more upset about Mr. Gold if he was one of the 16 figures.  Since he's not, once I finished with the 16 regular figures for my collection, I moved on, and haven't even thought about him since.  Even so, I think Lego doing "chase figures" is setting a bad precedent, since Lego's always been about inclusion and fun, and less about collectibility (even though I know they're called "Collectible Minifigures").

The best part about being an identified "feeler" is that people have come up to me in stores before to ask if I can find them a particular figure for their kids.  Heck, a few weeks ago, these two women in TRU were shopping for birthday gifts and one of the employees asked me if I could help them find a couple.  Finally, one of my relatively useless skills pays off!

 

As I wrote in another thread (probably very off-topic, but I started out rambling about Vintage, so...), Hasbro's handling of this line has pretty much driven me out of collecting any of their properties, with the exception of Transformers, which you can occasionally find SOMETHING from.  Having to go pretty much online only on a limited collecting budget last year was the major straw that broke the camel's back, but their continual seeming self-sabotage on SW recently has just taken any and all fun out of what used to be an enjoyable part of my life.  I was spending more time and energy trying to find pieces and getting very little emotional return on my "hobby", so I just decided that, unless I see it at retail, I'm not interested. 

It's enabled me to find things that truly do bring me enjoyment (namely Lego, but also gave me time to get back into X-Men comics, and I've been catching up on the stories/books I've missed since graduate school lately), and that don't cause me to develop an ulcer because Hasbro didn't ship them, or the only place I can get them is on Ebay for 40 bucks a pop.  I really feel sorry for completists (if they're still out there), because I know better than most what a need to be complete can do to people on an emotional level, especially when you can't be complete. 

The thing that really strikes me as telling about where I'd rather put my energy has to do with this being Return of the Jedi's 30th anniversary.  That is a HUGE deal for a film to still be relevant and loved after that time period, and when asked what they planned to do to celebrate, Hasbro said they were doing nothing special.  Sure, they're rereleasing the TIE Interceptor in a vintage box, but you'd think there would at least be a wave of figures they could release to celebrate.  But no, instead we get yet another prequel wave with a few ANH figures mixed in.

Lego, on the other hand, has (in the last year) released or will release:

-Jabba's Palace with Bib Fortuna, Leia Boussh, Jabba the Hutt, Gammorrean Guard, a B'Omarr Monk, Chewbacca, Salacious Crumb, and Oola
-Desert Skiff with Luke, Boba Fett, Han, and Barada
-A-Wing Fighter with a pilot, Han, and Ackbar
-Rancor Pit with Luke, Gammy, Rancor Keeper, and the Rancor
-Jabba's Sail Barge with Ree Yees and Max Rebo (amongst others)
-UCS B-Wing Fighter
-AN EWOK VILLAGE WITH 16 MINIFIGURES
-Two planet sets (Endor and Forest Moon) with minifigures and mini-ships

Even Sideshow is doing that incredible (yet out of my price range) Darth Vader 1/6 scale doll, but Hasbro can't do anything outside of reissue a 4 year old toy in a new box at (what will likely be) a 10 dollar price hike?  I just don't get it.  The only thing that would be more bizarre would be if Hasbro did ANOTHER wave of Episode I figures in the Black Series line.  Then again, we've only seen the first two waves, so maybe they have another Qui-Gon or Daultay Dofine on the drawing board because "kids love random Neimoidians."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go build a Lego Superman set because, you know, it's fun.

Saw what is, I'm guessing, considered wave 2 at a local Walmart today, and passed on all of them. The one figure I had definitely planned on getting was Colton (because its Bruce Willis after all), but his eyes were crossed worse than any Chewbacca I've ever seen, so I left him. I wasn't too impressed with any of the others' paint apps either, and Lady Jaye was especially sloppy. For 10 bucks a figure, I expect a lot more.

I did, however, grab the Cobra Invasion Team 3 pack, which is pretty great. Firefly is pretty much a POC-style update of the RAH figure, and the Paratrooper uses the POC Shock Trooper as a base, including most of the gear from that figure plus the parachute and harness from the first Retaliation Cobra Trooper but in black (the harness; the chute is still blue with a red Cobra logo). Storm Shadow looks like the single carded release (which I don't have, so I may be wrong) but he includes more accessories including a RAH style backpack. Very cool set, and highly recommended for fans of the POC stuff.

Hopefully some poor soul takes one for the team and reviews the new Class 2 vehicles. I really want to see how silly they look next to the normal versions without, ya know, shelling out any cash.

I actually bought the Slave I, just because Boba Fett (and Mandalorians, in general, I guess) is my character focus. And yeah, it's pretty sad on just about every level (not the least of which is that I bought it to begin with). I'll post more thoughts in that thread, but wow, is it small and undetailed and just crappy.

If the deco pictured on the box actually reflects what the toy looks like, I may end up getting this one. Curious about the price, though, since the last few big X-Wings have been in the 50 buck range and have included figures.

Speaking of the Trench Run X-Wing, what modifications were made to that mold anyway?