There was some discussion from Hasbro about the possibility of doing a new Falcon.  They're saying that it's a possible consideration should the ship make an appearance in the upcoming television projects.  I think it could be utterly amazing, but it would also be quite pricey.

Scored some basic figures today:  1 x Galactic Marine, 1 x Airborne Trooper, 1 x Lava Miner, 1 x Super Battle Droid & 1 x Mace Windu

I think he's referring to Captain Typho.  We got him in his pilot uni, but not the formal uniform.  But then Typho was quite the pegwarmer in the more action-oriented costume.  Where is the benefit in getting him in a uni where he can be articulated even less when you combine that with his pegwarming history?

That's probably the tissue paper that the bust was packed in.  That has definitely been an issue with some pieces, and seems to have been limited to early releases.  It seems to be a case of the tissue paper being applied while the paint may not have been completely dried.

Scored Mace, Obi-Wan, R2 and the Super Battle Droid today.  Very cool figures all around.

Thanks guys!  The guy I got it for is one of the crew that I make the road trips to the cons with.  He's helped me out with some major scores over the years and I'm happy to help him out.  It's all in an effort to keep my good collecting karma going, I guess.  Funny thing is though that Gentle Giant hasn't charged me yet.  Strange.

I was hopeful that we might get enough Outlander Nightclub patrons to build a decent diorama that might rival the Cantina, but it just isn't there.  And so much of it has to do with the movie.  Sure, there are some interesting aliens out on the streets as Anakin is chasing Zam Wessel, but once you get in the Nightclub the focus is almost entirely on Anakin and Obi-Wan.  The few patrons we do see are characters that we've already gotten figures made from.  Think about who they really cross paths with:

-Elan Sleazebaggano - DONE
-Ayy Vida - DONE
-Lt. Faytonni - DONE
-Ack Med Beq - DONE
-Lucas's daughter as a Twi'lek
-Kalyn Farnmir (who's really just in the foreground as Obi-Wan is waiting at the bar)
-R3-T7 (who you'll miss out in the street if you blink) - DONE

There really isn't the focus on the aliens that there is in the Cantina.  In the Cantina scene of ANH there is a whole series of establishing shots that show dozens of aliens mingling over drinks.  They get their own screen time and because of that they're burned into our collective memory from one of the great scenes in film history.  The Outlander is much different in that the story of chasing Zam has to continue and the scene can't casually cut away to all of the exotic club-goers.  It had to follow Anakin and Obi-Wan as they try to lure Zam Wessel out of hiding.  As a result a lot of the "scenery" went unappreciated.  Sure, there are some interesting looking characters that you might catch in a glance, but you can probably get a better look at them in the Episode II Visual Dictionary than you ever will in the movie.  Because of that I think that Outlander Nightclub patrons are going to have a hard time making it into the line.  I think the Lars family has a much better shot.

I, for instance, never did find the anthony daniels and ahmed best figures or elan sleazebaggano at retail as they were constantly sold off of the pegs here when they released.  I've heard that that wasn't the case elsewhere, but I had to resort to Ebay...

Hmmm.  I think this is attributable to a couple of things that you might not be thinking of.  First, those figures were released right around the end of the Saga Gold line.  And if history has shown us anything, it's that the last couple of waves of a figure line may be among the tougher ones to get.  I don't know if it's due to lower production numbers (Hasbro doesn't release those) or decreased orders at that point in the line, but this has been a pattern ever since the last waves of the EPISODE I line, and we seem to be going through the same deal again with the last couple of waves of The Saga Collection.

And then we have the holidays.  The wave you mentioned shipped around Christmas time, and at that time of year we're competing more and more with average folks for figures than at any other point in the year.  And parents sometimes will buy ANY figure just to have a gift to give.  So those are the more likely explanations for the scarcity of those figures in your locale.