Thanks guys...

The character choice is only odd to me if they're NOT going to continue with the vintage theme and hit other obscure characters...  If they said this was the last vintage wave ever, that's the point that I'd question Greedo as a choice, as there's far better choices if this is it...  SInce it seems this won't be it, I'm curious to see how other secondary characters turn out then.

That image of the Destroyer over the planet was great...  Exagerrated I think a bit, but the effect was stunning to me.  I'm looking forward to next year actually...  I just hope I'm pleased with the stuff they pump out.

First off, the Hem photos are great and I really love that he has an all-new blaster sculpt to FINALLY give us an accurately sculpted/scaled Ponda Baba blaster.  This is especially cool to me because Ponda's pistol was a common Rebel blaster on Hoth too so I consider it sort of the second "Rebel Blaster" behind the one seen used by the RFT's and Death Star Troopers...

That said, about articulation, I think everyone's said what I would in reply to JediShawn's points... 

That's fine you don't "play" (pose, whatever) with your toys like some of us may do, but the fact remains they are toys nonetheless and Hasbro charges a lot of bones for these little action figures comparatively speaking to other toy lines.  So from a competitive level that's one reason I think Hasbro can do better by the fans for articulation.  Hasbro's behind the times on articulation while other toy lines are decades ahead, literally in some cases.

The next point I'd make is that Star Wars figures have gone from as low as $5 to as high as $7+ in the span of a couple years...  That'd be fine and dandy by me if EVERY figure leaped in quality and Hasbro's "standard" or bar they set for action figures was matched by 90% of them...  I'm leaving 10% for "Senators" and other type figures that have a long plastic skirt piece or robe that inheritly inhibits articulation...  But on Cantina aliens, when we got 3 at the tail-end of 2004 with 12 points of articulation as a minimum, I'm as disappointed in seeing lacking articulation as I am when we get a Commtech Stormtrooper recarded instead of the VOTC...  Hasbro CAN do better for $7+ a figure, so why not expect it out of them?  I mean, one doesn't settle for buying a brand new car these days without an air conditioner in it, ya know what I mean?  You paid the same for the car as you would for one with it, so don't you deserve the A/C unit?  It may run fine without it but I'd want it.

I'm a firm believer that even if a character stands around for 2 seconds of screentime, that doesn't mean articulation SHOULD be shorted.  In actuality, the only way I feel articulation should get shorted is when, as I noted earlier, a robe/skirt piece interferes...  Softgoods on everything is asking a lot, so I'm cool with say Mas Ameda not having leg articulation for the sake of his outfit...  Though I do think a cloth skirt would be cool, cloth's a costly expense itself, much less cloth on top of articualtion...  But anyway, when nothing's there to interfere, I do think that wrists, knees, and elbow articulation are ALL must-haves for a new "standard" to this line.

For Momaw to lack all 3, well that just sucks...  And it's a flaw on Hem Dazon and Garindant then as well, though obviously they're better than old Momaw there.

But yeah, anyway, that's my thinking on it...  I firmly believe Hasbro can do better, and a character's place in the films shouldn't dictate whether he gets 6 or 16 points of articulation to me...  It should get something better than articulation we saw in 1995, and barely better than what we got in 1978 (focusing on Momaw here, but the thought applies across the line IMO).  I just want a better toy that's more fun to open, play with, and enjoy...  To me that's better not just for me as a collector with a kid's heart, but for kids who enjoy the line as well.

As far as Hasbro throwing their hands in the air and saying it's a dead line, I don't agree with that at all...  Not just for the contract extension but for the fact LFL's got plans for Star Wars...  Hasbro won't abandon anything so long as there's money to be made.  If they honestly thought this was dead, there wouldn't have been a wave a month till May this year...  You'd see far less being offered I think.

If they buy the win last minute, it'll be the ultimate laugh in the face at all their crying in that campaign thread that got locked up over there.  Part of me almost hopes it happens just to show how utterly hypocritical the whole thing was.

I got my VTSC from Rick at Newforce and I was happy...  He beat the retailers on price with those ultimately so I applaud the guy's efforts. 

It's a shame he gets screwballed by Hasbro routinely...  Not his fault and it causes so many to be hesitant to go to Rick and you can't blame the consumer there...  I guess for regular release items you're usually a little better off to put an order in and likely get it, but for anything that's shaping up to be hard to find (UGH of course) you'll be lucky if you get it.

Hasbro's the one to blame though...  Same as when their case mixes suck ass, or the figure is somehow lesser in quality than a year or two prior...  Hasbro's the root of the problem I've found, retail is simply at their monkey's mercy.

Thanks Jeff...  Ya know, honestly, I'd not even considered the thought they took my gripe about the thigh-strap for the holsters into consideration and it's cool if it is the case...  I'll gladly take credit for it because I am a jerk afterall.

It looks better I think too, and the holster wont' magically stay still while the thigh-strap moves all over the place when posing him.  Fantastic!  I just wish the Han's had gotten it as they are better articulated afterall.

STill, I love Garindan...  To me, besides the Sandtrooper, which is pretty perfect IMO (I love the stick...  It's not even accurate to the films is it?  It's just like this nice bonus they gave us) I think that Garindan is the winner in the wave...  R5's nice, Hammerhead's an improvement but he's hardly a step up in quality to me...  Luke's poncho kicks much ass by the photos (looks like it sits just right) and the hope chest of Ben's is neat...  Han blows.

Garindan and Sandtrooper steal the show, and to me the Sandie only wins based on articulation.  If Garindan had knees, he'd be my number one...

A close 3rd to them is Hem Dazon...  While he's been my most wanted Cantina alien, I'm disappointed in the articulation.  It's really tough to see 3 Cantina guys (counting Garindan) like this when in 2004/05 we got the Cantina Wave of figures that ALL had angle-cut elbows, swivel wrists, ball/socket knees, and then the basics for articulation...  Those were standard-setting actionf igures to me.  NOt perfect, not super articulated, but the ultimate in a compromise between fans and Hasbro.

You got great articulated figures overall, and sure they didn't do much but stand around, but you got some good quality toy out of your cash you spent...  Not statues.  Momaw's complete lack of articulation and the lack of knee joints on the other two just bothers me a lot.  Hasbro can do better and at this point for this price I think they owe it to us personally.  It'd just be nice to see a standard like that set, and then subsequently maintained throughout the line's life.

It's blurry because i don't feel like digging for better right now, but the new figures are the 4 modern ones.  The two WW2 figures are from a wave ago but resurfacing alongside these moderns...  For most into this line they're still sparsley shipping as they're brand new.

There is a:
-US Special Forces: Afghanistan (the bearded guy w/ballcap)...  The figure lacks wrist joints and a removable hat, oh and no working holster.  Beyond that he's not too shabby.

-US Sniper...  He's the guy in the shrug (Guille Suit(sp?))...  Nicely articulated, interesting accessories for possible customs.  I've got him and only the back and helmet come off, not the arms/legs portions of the camo-ing.

-US Navy SEAL...  Best figure of the wave... Again though, no working holster.  Lots of other useful stuff for a diver figure though and whatnot.

-US Night STalker...  Chopper pilot, has laptop and whatnot, but again lacks wrist articulation for no real reason, no working holster.  Good figure though for the most part.

The WW2 figures both feature full articulation and removable headgear.  They also each come with a "heavy weapon" of some sort.  One with a Bazooka and I think the other had a Bazooka as well but now I forget and it's all clumped together so he maybe had a mortar. 

All new headsculpts on all of them too btw.  A little "older" but not bad.  The WW2 guys should've had really young sculpts IMO though.

Anyway, these are just showing up now so your luck finding them will vary.  Only one TRU in my area got one case in as far as I have been able to find...  Good luck.