NABOO

-Queen Amidala - Post Senate


-Naboo Security Captain


-R5-A7



Jedi
-Super posable Obi-Wan Kenobi with softgoods robes


-Eeth Koth - SA resculpt



Pod Racers
-Ben Quadrinaros


-Clegg Holdfast


-Ratts Tyrell



Trade Federation
-Tey How


-PK Droid

Now is this thing in the $20 range or close to it?  I assume it is.  Just wondering.

Yes, both the Spider Droid and the V-19 are in the $20 vehicle assortment.

Actually, it seems that the chases might be more manageable that you think.   The case packs are reportedly going to be 6 pieces.  The hypothetical that the Diamond rep told me was that there would be 4 x Alec Guiness Obi-Wan's and 2 x Ewan McGregor Obi-Wan's.  So it wouldn't be a case like say McFarlane Sports Picks where you don't know what's coming in a case.

But the 1/4 scale figures are definitely an eye-opener.  They're extremely well articulated.  And the price point is attractive, at roughly $75 per piece.  The Sideshow Premium format pieces are the same scale, but are almost 4 times as expensive and have no articulation.

I'm really curious as to the reasoning behind releasing figures from the Sandstorm deleted scene, since I can't think of many people outside of LFL who have actually seen it.  At least the Anchorhead Biggs scene was included on a CD-ROM in the late 1990's, and while many have seen photos of the Sandstorm scene (along with that brief little clip in the "Revenge of the Jedi" trailer), I am wondering if, now that the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD war seems to be won, that "ultimate" box set of the entire saga is on its way sooner rather than later?

Check out this JTA article for some background on the Sandstorm figures.

That K-3PO looks like the Ewok Deity version of C-3PO if you ask me.  Look at the wires in the mid-section.  The wires there were straight for that version of Threepio, and they appear to be the same way for K-3PO.  And yay!  Finally K-3PO doesn't have battle damage.

This entire Battle Pack is a winner in my book.  Very nice paint work on the probe droid.  We FINALLY get an R5-M2.  We get Han with hood up in brown.  And Early Bird Chewbacca finally gets reissued.  Great figures all the way 'round.

Scored a couple of Republic Commando VS Super Battle Droid comic packs last night, and got all 4 of the new Evolutions sets this evening.

That whole safety scare with Mattel and the Chinese manufacturers might not have hit Hasbro in the headlines.  But I would be almost certain that Hasbro launched their own internal investigation into the safety precautions that the Chinese factories are taking, and might have stepped up their own protocols.  The result?  An increase in costs that is passed along to the consumer.  Translating to an increase in retail figure prices.

And the cost of oil is definitely another consideration.  Oil is a major component in the makeup of the plastic our figures are made from.  Add in the additional costs there, too.  The cost of running the factories, as well as the increased costs for shipping because of fuel:  trans-pacific shipping from China, distribution shipping, and shipping to the stores.  All of those costs are increased by higher oil prices.

Now am I happy about a price increase?  No, definitely not.  But I could see something like this coming.  And as a result I may cut down on my army building.  Or try to shop at stores that offer sales, etc.

From JD's QnA:

Quote

2. Many different pictures of a blue Force Unleashed Stormtrooper Commander have been leaking out over the last few weeks. He doesn't seem to have any wave or number attached to him though. Is he going to be an exclusive of some sort, or will he show up in a second TFU wave that we haven't seen or heard of yet?

** We can’t give you any more detail on this other than the fact that he is not in a mainline assortment (hence the numbering). The actual details are still under wraps and will be revealed closer to the launch date for the game. All of our other mainline TFU sets will still ship on our original schedule, though.

I wonder if this figure will be available through pre-ordering the game and/or SWS.com?

Similar to the way the Battlefront Scout Trooper was released.

With the game being pushed back until August, I think it's still possible that the Stormtrooper Commander might be something like the Battlefront Scout Trooper.