Thoughts on the new R5-D4?  Better than the Saga version?

I see they still have not painted the back panels red

So Hasbro got a second chance to get R5-D4 right and DIDN'T do the red panels on the back in this new version?  THAT would have been enough to get me to buy the TVC version.  But instead Hasbro lost a sale to me.

It's really funny.  Collectors clamored to get Wooof made in the modern line, and when we saw that the figure was coming out there was genuine excitement.  And the figure really has not disappointed.  

But then what happens?  Wooof quickly became the biggest pegwarmer of the ROTJ wave.  The irony is staggering.

It really is laughable to see how much character overlap there has been between the Vintage Collection and Saga Legends.  It really begs the question about whether or not the sales of those particular characters are SO strong that they need to be offered in multiple lines.

There are a couple of interesting offerings in this new wave.  The Death Star Trooper and Space Trooper immediately come to mind.  But everything else really leaves you scratching your head.  Especially since 9 out of 12 of these characters have been or will be offered in The Vintage Collection.

Wow.  And here I thought the inch of ice I had to clean off of my car this morning was impressive.  But the best snow moment out of Chicago in the past 24 hours had to be Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel getting scared out of his wits by thunder and lightning during the storm.

Everybody wants a removable cape Lando but nobody has any suggestions on how this could best be accomplished.  Is there a way to do it that wouldn't look too funky in either mode?  Like without having a peg or that ridiculous rope chain that the Vaders have?  Maybe a discrete piece of Velcro on the back of the collar or something?

(Pardon the bump--was just wondering about this for some reason.)

The figures in the Super Powers line actually had removable softgoods capes.  The collars of those capes were held in place by compression fitting them to the neck of the figure, and there was no loop around the neck.  Granted, that's something that worked in the 80's for a now defunct toy line.  But it did work on a number of figures.

Really?  This seems like an odd lineup, and not necessarily a likely one.  There are NO core characters in this lineup as it stands now.  The only character that comes close to Hasbro's "A character" status is the 501st Clone.  Pretty much all of these characters have been confirmed by Hasbro in the Q&A's or official imagery.  But I think we can expect at least one or more core characters to be added to this initial lineup.

The word "iconic" gets thrown around in these discussions about large vehicles, and I see that as some way of trying to tie in the adult collector base.  But really, a vehicle like the Republic Attack Shuttle is getting done because of entertainment support.  Between the show and the ship's association with Clones it's almost certain to be a hit with kids.  And while that audience may not be represented on forums like this one, it's those kids and their parents that are going to buy the lion's share of the Republic Attack Shuttles.

I definitely like the different TIE Pilots in the 4-packs.  But almost ALL of the figures in these packs are retcon characters.  Grizz Frix and Ekelarc Yong are the only ones that I recognize clearly from the space battle in ROTJ.