I saw a number of army builders today.  Namely the 7th Legion Clones and Rebel Vanguards.  And I passed.  It used to be that I would scoop up all of them, and build some substantial armies.  Now, I'll get them when I can.

And I also saw the Mighty Muggs for the first time today.  I think they're pretty cool.  But am I going to get them?  That's unclear right now.

Finally saw wave 7.5 in a store today.  It was somewhat underwhelming.  I passed on the whole set.

Hasbro has one legitimate point that I can understand:  they don't want to get people's expectations up needlessly.  That leads to bad feelings among collectors and I can understand them trying to avoid some bad PR.

But Hasbro has SOME responsibility to bear here.  Why?  Because they're letting collector media dominate the news cycle about the line.  News releases have been few and far between.  The Q&A process has been a nice sort of news supplement, but we've gotten less and less in the way of news releases from Hasbro.  Hasbro has let the situation change so that collectors are depending more on collecting websites than on official Hasbro news.  The end result is that those websites run with what news they can find, and since they're collector media and not regular press they'll publish info without the fact checking and confirmations that a regular reporter would do.

If Hasbro decides to be more forthcoming with the info, then maybe they wouldn't feel the need to post the things they said today.

A 30 piece droid does seem like a little bit of a stretch, practically speaking.  Making multiple droids, perhaps one per wave of 5 or 6 figures, does seem a bit more feasible than making 1 huge, 30 piece droid.

So if that's the case, I wonder if the droid that you would make for each wave would fit in with the theme of each wave?  Certainly, it fits in with the build-a-figure concept that's become very popular with other toy lines.  Especially when you look at the concept as it works in the Marvel Legends line.  There's one build-a-figure for each wave of basic figures.

Found a Voolvif Mon and AOTC Padme today.

Where to start?

EPISODE I
-Obi-Wan Kenobi (SA)
-Queen Amidala - Battle of Theed
-Naboo Royal Guard
-Depa Billaba
-Battle Droid


EPISODE II
-Obi-Wan Kenobi
-Clone Youth (from Lama Su & Clone Youth 2-pack)
-Barriss Offee
-Zam Wessel
-San Hill


EPISODE III
-Palpatine - Office duel
-Magna Guard Droid (SA w/ softgoods)
-Palpatine - Declaration of the Empire (red hooded costume)
-Commander Bacara (SA w/ softgoods kama)
-General Grievous (proper scale, softgoods, SA)


EPISODE IV
-Uncle Owen Lars
-Grand Moff Tarkin
-Red Leader
-General Jan Dodonna
-Dr. Evazan


EPISODE V
-Princess Leia - Hoth
-Princess Leia - Bespin escape
-Zuckuss
-Luke Skywalker - Hoth
-Captain Piett


EPISODE VI
-Luke Skywalker - Death Star duel
-Emporer Palpatine
-Admiral Ackbar
-Nien Nunb
-Wicket


VEHICLES
-Millenium Falcon

Very encouraging news!  The $100 price tag is high, but for something like this I think it's to be expected.  I wonder just how big it's going to be, and what kind of features we can expect.

As for OT large vehicles?  A Tantive IV would be too small to have any kind of diorama that people really want to stage.  The Rebel Transport is kind of boring.  Jabba's Sail Barge is probably the only really interesting thing that could be made with *SOME* level of accuracy and have some play value.  Other than a completely redesigned Millenium Falcon, that is.

Hmm, Battle Packs, huh?  Here are some prequel ideas.

EPISODE II
Droid Factory Chase with Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala, R2-D2 & 2 x Geonosians

Well, I came close with a theme here, but not the figure lineup.

Here are some OT ideas:

EPISODE IV
Mos Eisley Cantina showdown - Han Solo (VOTC), Greedo (with booth), Bannis Keeg (Duros), Lirin Car'n (Bith) and Yerka Mig
Detention Block breakout - Han Solo in Stormtrooper disguise, Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper disguise, Chewbacca w/ binders & blaster rifle (Early Bird), Lieutenant Childsen & 2 X Death Star Troopers
Yavin IV Medal Ceremony - Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker (30AC revised), Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, General Jan Dodonna


EPISODE V
Vader communicates with the Emporer - Darth Vader, giant Emporer Palpatine holographic head, holo-pad & meditation chamber
Escape from Bespin - Lando Calrissian (VOTC minus cloak), Princess Leia (new), Chewbacca w/ C-3PO, R2-D2 & 2 X Stormtroopers


EPISODE VI
Escape From Jabba's Sail Barge - Luke Skywalker, Slave Leia, deck gun, Sail Barge Nikto (vintage), Velken Tezeri, Sail barge Weequay
Death Star II Duel - Emporer Palpatine (new, softgoods), throne, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, 2 x Royal Guards (ROTS, but w/ force pikes)