the new R2 is pretty cool cuz it does do a crazy amount of noises.  That said, I don't think I am interested in buying yet another R2

Yeah, but the fact that Hasbro hasn't been able to properly do the lights on R2's dome has been a dealbreaker for me with any electronic R2-D2.  With LED's being so cheap and easy to use, you would think that Hasbro could figure this out.

There's definitely been a move towards keeping the feel of the game familiar to OT and PT fans.  Jesse mentioned the Republic Troops.  The armor is definitely reminiscent of the Saga, and even the faces of the troopers themselves look similar to the Prequel Clones.  And in an attempt to appeal to some SW gaming fans I've seen plenty of Sith in the trailers who are wearing masks that would remind you of Darth Revan.

He certainly looks that way.  This is the Darth Malgus maquette that was standing at the LucasArts booth at NYCC:



In the SWTOR cinematic trailers you see some of the backstory in Malgus's injuries.  In the "HOPE" trailer he sustained the injuries that led to the breath mask.  From looking at the maquette, it seems like everything else is armor.

Slight delay in getting to the Times Square TRU.  I should get down there in the next few days.

pics of new figures over at toy ark  http://www.toyark.com/news/marvel-toy-news-4/avengers-display-at-toys-r-us-times-square-5652/#images

It is sad seeing the scale of the figures on the hellicarrier
hope we get some close ups of Fury and the baddies on the rides soon too

Nice!  I may have to stop in there tomorrow when I'm in NYC.

Definitely liking the Ven Zallow a lot!  From a sculpting standpoint I think you really nailed him.  The armor pieces look fantastic.

Look at the original Clone Commander Cody.  That figure came across looking like a pinhead.  Now, compare that with the remade Commander Cody figure from the Vintage Collection, and you'll see a noticeably larger helmet.  The Airborne Trooper you cited looks good, but it's a completely different helmet design from the standard phase II armor's helmet.

There may be some other issues at work here.  Notably the toy safety standards that came to light with toys produced in China in the past few years.  Those issues ranged from hazardous paints to potential choking hazards.   And a small accessory like a helmet might have been seen as one of those hazards.  Additionally, these standards might also dictate the grade of plastic that can be used in an item like a helmet.  A more rigid plastic might make for a helmet that looks more film accurate, but might not put the design in compliance with child safety standards.  I'm certainly not trying to apologize for Hasbro.  But this sort of criteria likely seems to be at work.

I think the better option is to go with something along the lines of the CW Obi-Wan Kenobi you mentioned:  2 seperate heads that are interchangeable.  But in that case Hasbro is going to be dealing with slightly more expensive tooling, and we the consumers, are going to have to eat that cost increase at some point.