White Vader's TIE, eh?  Man, this line is going from bad to worse with the asinine repaints they're dreaming up.  It's really making me want to quit collecting these, knowing how badly I'm being taken advantage of, but I know I won't.  The recent 20% price hike sure isn't helping matters either.

I'm quite curious to see what (how bad) the rest of that wave's gonna look like...

don't forget that the lakers suck.  i don't think anyone (except LA fans) expected them to win.

I don't even think that most L.A. fans expected them to win (myself included), or at least not the halfway intelligent ones anyway.  I predicted a Suns sweep prior to the start of the series.  This Lakers team has less heart, desire, and effort than any I remember in quite some time (despite all the major injuries).  I like to think that the season ended way back when we were 26-13.  Those were happier times... 

Phoenix is an offensive machine, and a blast to watch.  As for Dallas, considering they've now lost 7 of their last 8 games to the Warriors, including all 4 this year, they're going to have to make some serious adjustments to their game plan if they want to beat their former coach.  It'll be pretty amusing if Golden State pulls it out, considering the Mav's handed them the #8 seed by not playing most of their starters against them in the second to last game of the regular season, effectively knocking the Clippers out of the #8 seed.  Most were speculating they did that to avoid the Clippers in the first round (and not just to rest their stars), and play the Warriors instead.  Bad move, methinks...  I'd love to see that decision come back to seriously bite them in the ass...

I haven't followed the news & pix too closely, but what's the difference between them, Matt?  Other than the MR version is obviously shiny and white, and Brent's precious Riddell version is turning green...?  (heh.)

Has MR tweaked the Riddell molds a bit?  Or just refined the paint jobs a bit?

...AS mentioned earlier I could be swayed to get the stormtrooper as mine has a yellowish tinge these days...

Glad to hear it.  Serves you right, you boastful bastard. 

I was curious, I saw awhile back that there were a few sightings of the Han/Boussh, Luke/Vader, Royal Guard/Imp Gunner, and Walrusman/Snaggletooth wave - but how many of you have been seeing these at retail?

I just saw this wave for the first time at a couple Targets tonight, Brian, so I'm sure they're just in the "trickling out" stage at this point, and should start hitting in greater abundance pretty soon here.  Only one Vader/Luke set, but plenty of the other three.  But yes, the GH line really dried up at most Targets over the past few months, to the point where it was really hard to find ANY of them, old or new.  But in the past several weeks, I've started seeing them build up on the pegs a little bit again, and with more waves being released lately than had been in previous months, I think we'll start seeing their availability go back up to more normal levels again soon.  I've definitely been seeing a lot more of them at Walmarts of late though, so that may be a better option than Target at this point (as repulsive an option as that may be).

I'm definitely digging this new wave though.  Nice to see them getting into some more popular secondary characters for a change, and OT ones at that.  Pretty sharp looking wave here, with pretty good paint apps on most of the ones I saw, which is an improvement.  No complaints, other than Vader obviously looks a little silly dueling with his helmet off...

What is it about the middle of April that makes all the crazies finally flip their wigs?

OKC bombing - April 19, 1995
Columbine - April 20, 1999
V-Tech - April 16, 2007

And also the Waco Branch Davidian thing, that was on April 19, 1993.  Not exactly the same as the others, but it's still a bizarre, entirely unnecessary incident worth mentioning.

Let's not forget April 14th, 1865: Lincoln's assasination.

(plus, April 4th for MLK's assasination, if you want to stretch it out a couple weeks earlier)

And now a gunman has barricaded himself inside NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

CNN's reporting 2 dead there now.

Buncha ******' psycho idiots out there...

If you are still looking to buy this check out newforcecomics.com

http://newforcecomics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=NFCC&Category_Code=SWP3C

Thanks for the tip on this, Justin.  I've been sitting on my lazy ass for months regarding this set, as well as the Republic Commando set.  So I hustled on over to Newforce after catching your post here and grabbed two of each, finally.  I barely snuck in there in time, as I apparently grabbed the last of the Death Star double-sets (though they're still available individually).  I stuck it in my cart, but when I clicked "Back" a second later to check the shipping quote, the "2-pack" was listed as sold out (the last one was sitting in my cart, apparently).  Fortunately, Rick at Newforce told me my order came through just fine, so I guess I'm in good shape.  For a change, I don't even have to pay the sales tax on these, as I would've at EE where I was planning on getting them.  I guess the shipping offsets that (since EE is 15 minutes away), but the prices at Newforce were obviously way better (saved just over $42 total), so I'm glad I popped in here and caught your post.  Thanks for the head's up!

I actually only saw the Death Star Conference room in person for the first time yesterday, coincidentally.  Nice looking set, of course, though an OT/better Tarkin would've certainly been a plus.  As would a real table and chairs, with articulated knees on the figures, which obviously goes without saying.  But with 4 all-new figures in one set, each at less than regular retail prices, how the hell can you go wrong?!  Excellent set, and excellent value.  I'll probably nab a third set at some point, if I see any for even cheaper later on down the line...