Interesting ideas, Pete.  Maybe they had been planned to be carded.

Well - I think Hasbro had always intended on putting out the Secret Apprentice in a box set like this. If I recall, shortly after Toy Fair, in one of their Q&A sessions when asked why the Secret Apprentice wasn't part of the Force Unleashed assortment, the response Hasbro came back with was "we have something special planned for the Apprentice character" - to me this three figure set is definitely something special.

It gives me great hope for this game - more than anything else, this figure set confirms that the game itself will work in a manner similar to KOTOR and KOTOR II - that was the best part of those games in my opinion, the ability to play the game differently and affect your character, your companion characters and the end result of the game.

Pete- I think you're letting Hasbro off too easy with your suggested modifications of existing figures.  After what Hasbro showed us this year, they just can't cheapen out on us now.  They really must sculpt new ewoks, because there are so many head and body shapes and sizes (I've repainted several myself, and while they look good, they are still recognizable as Romba and Graak); it's also really time for a new Bespin Guard sculpt with better articulation and closed jacket.

I guess I was approaching the situation with a more practical angle of how Hasbro could easily polish off the rest of the Vintage figures as opposed to dragging the modernization of the original 96 figures out another 12 years.

Hasbro has said they will keep making themed waves. They have also stated numerous times that a retooled figure with new paint ops is how they can spread the costs around in a wave when they give us completely new figures.

So in a hypothetical ANH wave, I would welcome them releasing a Death Star Trooper repainted in gray, a Commander Praji using the existing Imperial Officer body only with a new head and then using those cost savings to deliver us a much needed SA Rebel Blockade Runner trooper.

Same thing goes with a hypothetical Endor battle themed ROTJ wave - I'd rather see them employ cost savings and give us repaints of Romba and Graak w/new accessories and cowls so that they could spend the resources on making a SA B-Wing pilot along the same lines as this year's A-Wing pilot.

Yes, I agree with you that Hasbro really SHOULD give us a SA Bespin Guard sculpt that could then have a running variation to provide variety to our Bespin Security Force ranks. At this point, with so few figures left to do from ESB, that would be fine with me. It would also be great if they gave us a SA Hoth Rebel Trooper that could easily be repainted/modified to represent the troopers inside Echo Base AND the troopers in the trenches.

I guess for me I would like to see this issue put to bed. Back in 1995, it seemed unimaginable that by 2007 we'd all still be discussing "what vintage figures have yet to be redone". Considering how many figures we've gotten and the fact that there were only 96 of them originally, it's kinda silly that we still have these lists of 10 - 15 figures still left to be redone.

Here's my list of what still needs to be done:

Death Squad Commander - this one should have been handled this year by a running paint-op variation on the Death Star Trooper figure
Bespin Security Guard - Black
Bespin Security Guard - White w/Moustache
Imperial Commander (a Commander Praji from ANH would be sufficient)
Hoth Rebel Trooper - Echo Base Colors
Klaatu
Nikto
B-Wing Pilot (has to be a Human pilot in a red jumpsuit)
Imperial Dignitary
Lumat
Warok

List isn't all that long. I think the design of a SA Bespin Guard figure modified from the POTJ one would be easily accomplished and allow for Hasbro to easily make both versions to appease everyone who wants all of the vintage Kenner figures re-done.

The Death Squad Commander should be easy to do - just take the Death Star Trooper figure from this year and paint the uniform gray.

For the Imperial Commander, just use the same Imperial Officer body that they are using for the Comic 2-pack Luke, paint it black, stick a new head on it and you're done.

For the last two Ewoks - just repaint the 2-pack we just got. I know that it's not perfect, but it's good enough.

Jabba's skiff guards and palace guards all need an upgrade. I have some of the older POTF2 ones next to Ephant Mon and Hermi Odle and they look ridiculous.

I doubt we'll ever get the Sim Aloo/Imperial Dignitary figure. They had a chance in the Saga2 line and instead went with two different dignitaries.

If they gave us a good SA X-Wing Pilot Body and a SA B-Wing Pilot Body along the same lines as this year's A-Wing pilot, they could be keeping us happy with SA Rebel Pilots from now until the cows come home, all they need to do is just keep slightly modifying the paint scheme, head sculpt and helmet markings.

Did she ever appear with a tan skirt?

Nice to see Hasbro is trying to spread The Force Unleashed around into all of their lines: Basic Figures, 2" Unleashed, 3" Titanium Ships, Evolutions, etc...

I think the Rogue Shadow is a pretty cool design and I'm glad we're going to get at least ONE version of it (although a larger scale version for 3.75" figures that came in an ARC-170 size box would be awesome too, but that isn't going to happen).

I'm okay with this as long as it's only $20. If it's more than that simply because it's an exclusive to Target, that will stink.

I have all of my packaging from the TAC and Saga Legends figures I've opened. So I'm not so much concerned about having all of the UPCs I need, I'm hoping that you don't need to include a receipt from the store where you bought the figures dated between X and Y date. That would stink.

Hopefully they are using the UPCs as a replacement for the silver tabs that the VTSC/VTAC figures came with - those promotions didn't require receipts.

We'll probably also have to include a check for $5 or so to cover shipping.