Apples and oranges... I'm guessing they started by deciding they needed to fit x number of figures in the head for playability, and once they had that number, making the body to scale would have been insane.

Agreed.  Hasbro said during the presentation that they originally planned to sell the AT-AT at the same price point as the Millenium Falcon  ($149).  And they had to fight hard in order to get the price down to a $99.99 price point. 

The head of the AT-AT is about where it needs to be in order to house as many figures as it can.  With that in mind, how much bigger would the main hull need to be in order to be in proportion with the movie model?  The answer is that it would have to be significantly larger.  Perhaps too large to be affordable to produce.  And too large to get into stores at that $99.99 price point.  It's about making a compromise in order to get something better to collectors.

A very telling question was posed to the Hasbro brand representatives during the Q&A.  They were asked "Do you make toys, or do you make collectibles?"  Every brand rep from Marvel, GI Joe, Transformers and Star Wars said universally "We make toys".  If you want a collectible that's geared towards an incredibly detailed level of accuracy, you should probably look to companies like EFX, Sideshow or Gentle Giant.  And for a footnote from Toy Fair, what did I see around the AT-AT display in the Star Wars section of Hasbro's showroom?  Reporters and photographers swarmed around the AT-AT so that they could take in every detail.  And they seemed universally impressed.

How in the hell is that mold still around?  They're beating it like it stole from them.

Offering these Clones in the comic packs was a calculated business decision.  The low costs of these Clones allowed Hasbro to offer this last wave of comic 2-packs, including the new figure tooling of characters like Exar Kun, Tholme, Ulic Quel Droma and T'ra Saa.  Derryl DePriest commented on this specifically at Comic Con.  Hasbro tried to offer so much in this line in new sculpts and articulation that the cost per figure rose substantially.  Hence the inclusion of figures like this Utapau Clone to help drive the average cost per figure down for his last wave of comic 2-packs.

They've been trucking snow into Whistler.  The situation there is BAD.  They can't even make snow there because there's not enough of a snow base on which they can put man-made snow.  They've had to line the mountain with hay.  Then on top of that they're trying to build a base of 3 - 4 feet worth of snow.  THEN they can actually make some powder to put on top of that.

But there's probably no love for Wedge on a basic figure card.

The AT-AT actually showed up in Dark Horse comics' REPUBLIC title during the Clone Wars.  But only in one or two issues.

I hated that black lightsaber.  I can't believe Lucas actually approved that thing.  Talk about screaming EU.  Even if it was like a thousand years old or something.

I like the idea that the Mandalorians have a long history as adversaries of the Jedi, and that they would take trophies like this.  But a black lightsaber that looks like a Samurai sword?

Truthfully, I was never all that excited by ANY of the WalMart exclusive comic 2-packs.  The cancellation of one for "content reasons" stinks (and where WalMart is concerned you can only wonder what that might mean).  But I didn't feel a whole lot of attachment to a couple of EU Rebel Pilots that I had never heard of.

As for the general release comic packs?  I'm still wondering when those will show up and where.  And hopefully Hasbro is going to find a way to get Darth Nihl, Deliah Blue, Jarael & Rohlan Dyre out somehow.

My own predictions for this wave?

Darth Vader - Sith eyes
Darth Sidious - Senate duel
Tarfful resculpt
GH-7 droid
Cin Drallig
Magnaguard droid