True, but the core concept of a show is that you pay admission so that you can gain access to the vendors.  The vendors are the chief attraction for many people who attend a con.  So you have to factor the cost of admission into every purchase you make.  If you make more than the one purchase you do get to a point where you average out your costs (travel expenses plus admission) across all of your purchases.  In the case of Baltimore Comic Con for me?  The Commander Bacara bust is the reason why I'm going to that show.

In the case of Comic Con and C4 there are a lot of things to enjoy at the show aside from the vendors.  There are a lot of panels, celebrities, various licensees, etc.  But that's also what makes SDCC and C4 rather unique compared with the other events on the GG world tour.  Those are the exception to the rule.  I attended C4 because it's the Star Wars Celebration.  The GG and Hasbro offerings were the icing on the cake.  As for San Diego?  I really wanted to go again this year, but between work and financial committments it wasn't going to work out.  So I've got a helper working on getting me a Cody.

I'm certainly tempted to toss Koyi Mateil into the running.

I can't believe I won not one, but both raffles.  DAMN!  I hope my luck holds for the Cody bust.

I'm up to 9 currently

For what it's worth, in the new Clone Wars cartoon the ARC Trooper Alpha has similar markings on his helmet.

Well, Slave I got a major redesign with the SAGA line and the ensuing OTC repaint.  And there have been significant updates to the Millenium Falcon, but it's essentially the same toy but with some cool light effects.

Sounds like the punters pit that the rs forums have become are getting overly dramatic again.  That's nothing new.  I've ceased being surprised about the whining and complaining that happens there.

The reality is that people over there don't have a great grasp on the hobby over there, and they wind up spouting out crap.  And we all know it's crap, but somehow we get mired in the ensuing crapstorm when the initial post is probably not worth commenting on.

So, now for the real question:  will Willrow Hood kill the line?  Of course not.  He'll probably be in a TESB themed wave and packed on the short side.  Because believe it or not, Hasbro has seemingly gotten their acts together on the case assortments.  Case in point?  Wave 1.  People started going ape**** about pegwarming Obi-Wans and R2's from wave 1.  Where did they all go?  I hardly see these figures at all now.  What happened?  They sold through with the people who are more likely to buy the core characters.  How about wave 2 and 3?  I know I've been seeing a fair share of the core characters and the army builders.  The only things that seem scarce are the McQuarrie figures, and that's been done intentionally.  So it seems likely that Willrow Hood will sell through. 

The Quinlan Vos comic pack is another issue, and Hasbro may need to adjust their case ratios going forward on the EU only 2-packs.  But the sets that have movie characters seem to be selling.  I see the Vos 2-pack in the greatest quantities, followed by LUke & R2, and finally by Obi-Wan & Alpha.  But this could also be a clone thing, too.  I guess we'll know for sure when the Commander Keller / Galactic Marine 2-pack comes out.

I've been hoping for a redone AT-ST, mainly for the cockpit inaccuracies.  I mean, the whole vignette with Chewie and the Ewoks in ROTJ just screams out for a proper AT-ST.  I think the best thing that the AT-ST has going for it is that the legs could probably fold up to the point where it might fit in a box that's not too large.  My fingers are crossed!