I've been hearing nothing but horror stories from my friends on my NJ collecting board.  I've heard some people talk negatively about Hasbro, saying that's an abusive relationship between a manufacturer and collectors.  But this Republic Commando thing just takes the cake.  

People have been complaining about GG's online ordering system for YEARS.  They've made fair comparisons between GG and Sideshow, and there has been no visible change in how GG does business.  Complain?  And GG ditches two of the people who have been dealing with both Star Wars and the collector media.  And do they improve their infrastructure to better serve their customer base?  No.

I think that collector's relationship with Gentle Giant has been for lack of a better word, insane.  We keep on expecting something different or better from Gentle Giant, but nothing changes.  In my opinion, that is insane.

Quote from: Brian on August  6, 2009, 01:26 PM

I'm hoping the rumored/confirmed Snowspeeder next year is a mass release though, as I'd like a few if done well.

I thought I remembered reading in a QnA that the Snowspeeder would be a in the general "starfighter" assortment.

That's where it appears to be slotted.  It's reportedly an all new Snowspeeder, so mass distribution would be a better avenue for Hasbro from a business standpoint.  And I think since next year is the 30th Anniversary of TESB they want to have a running theme revolving around Empire.

I've got to wonder about something with this segment of the line.  Especially since the Mandalorians will come into play in the new season of Clone Wars.  Could they perhaps put a Basilisk war droid in this part of the line if the Mandos use them?

I think that Hasbro is going to TRY to get the Twilight into that Deluxe Vehicle SKU.  I try to figure out what they're going to slot in that pricepoint and I have a tough time getting a wide range of vehicles for that range.  And if they were to do an all-new sculpt like the Twilight, I think they'd want to do it as a mass release item.

I don't think the Twilight would occupy the $100 vehicle slot.  At this point they seem comfortable doing ONE $100 vehicle per year.  They've done the Falcon which was well over that price, the AT-TE and now the Turbo Tank.  And it seems very obvious to me what next year's $100 vehicle will be based on comments at Comic Con.  I can't see Hasbro waiting until 2011 to do a Twilight at $100.  I think it's much more likely to be a $65 item that would be introduced at Toy Fair.

Long term, I don't know what kind of legs the Deluxe vehicle assortment will have.  We've only seen two vehicle offered so far, and only one is new.  I'm hoping we'll see something else that's new at some point.  But I also expect to see some reissues like the Republic Gunship, the B-Wing, TIE Bomber and the like at some point.

Can anyone confirm the report from comic con that a young Han Solo will make an appearance next season? I read something about this over at aint it cool news.

Someone asked about this at the Star Wars Spectacular.  Dave Filoni commented on it and said that they're being very careful about the prospects of involving any characters from the OT, and would probably avoid doing so.

Quote from: Darth_Anton on August  4, 2009, 10:53 AM

some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.

I've noticed that too....some scenes on demo discs of Pirates of the Carribean, everything is flat and too crisp.  Doesn't look cinematic...looks like an A&E made for cable movie.

It's got to be that they punch up sharpness on the TV and the demo disc both. 

No, it's probably the 120 MHz refresh rate.  It's something that the manufacturers have been pushing.  Probably in an effort to make broadcast signals look "more Hi-Def".  And it probably looks great for sports.  But it also winds up making movies which are shot at 24 fps look strange, as if they were shot on video.  And the cinematic quality of the image suffers.

The price is definitely a deterent for me getting into the deluxe line.  I for one liked the ROTS Crab droid, and I'd be happy to get some more.  But with the new version costing as much as it does at TRU, I'm abstaining.