Yeah, Sora I knew didn't have knee joints by his early photo so I'll add him to my list of the disappointing.  It's tough to look at him, and then look at every secondary Jedi we got in 2005, and not think that this is somehow a let down on some level.

Great sculpt though and I like having some Weequay diversity in their looks.  It's good for customizing.  And it's not that Sora's horrible either as a figure.  Great sculpt overall, good upper body articulation too (looks like SA everywhere but the legs...  This is a ****** trend, if it is indeed a trend for this year).

I'd be lying if I said this figure ultimately made me happy though.  It's ok...  It sucks compared to Agen Kolar, or Kit Fisto, or Shaak Ti, or Luminara Unduli, or other members of his peer group.  He'll just not be quite as good or fun to mess around with as the other Jedi figures.

These are probably the same debates they have at like a SW Team meeting at Hasbro...    One wants Unleashed in scale with basics, one wants a deluxe line that focuses on big accessories and bigger characters, one wants a $10 pricepoint that focuses on "collectors" figures like VOTC... 

The Fett looked very metallic to me though, I have a feeling Sandie will too, so that kills the Sandtrooper for me.  I too would've picked him up perhaps if he'd have been "realistic" looking in his final form.  I just have a feeling he won't be.

Neat bases with both figures though....  i guess.

YES! SA on Utapuan trooper and Scorch! 

Yeah, unfortunately Scorch got the screwjob by Hasbro on knee joints.  Which is so ****** of them considering this is, without a doubt, an army builder figure by most people's standards I think.

I'm pleased with his looks, he's quite accurate, but knee articulation is a big omission for his poseability I'm afraid.  To be honest I'd sooner have seen this figure with angle-cut elbow joints and ball/socket knees than ball/socket elbow joints and no knee articulation.  That's a really big disappointment for me I'm afraid. 

On a happier note, Sun Fac has turned out to kick much ass.  He's seemingly the best Geonosian figure ever and I was probably in the vast minority who was hoping we'd get a new Geonosian at some point.  I HOPE his plastic holds his weight...  With that fear sort of aside and me just holding hope on him being quality, I can safely say if he is sturdy I'll buy multiples happily.  I will hang onto my current Geo's too, but they all fall eventually ti seems, while Sun Fac looks like just a dandy army builder for Clones to butcher.

But yeah, I'm pretty disappointed with Scorch, but so far I've been pretty bummed to see very few figures getting good articulation.  We're stuck in 1983 apparantly at Hasbro's design tables because Derlin, Veers, Scorch, Han Carbonite...  All a bit more limited in articulation than I was hoping for.  I guess 2005 was too good to be true for hoping that the line overall was turning for the better as far as articulation goes.

Well, gladly add me to this list...  I've been making gripes about this since my first glimpse of 2006 figures.

-Han SOlo Carbonite
-Veers
-Derlin
-Scorch (Republic Commando)

I'm just not sure what happened between 2004/2005 and 2006.  Figures are seeing some serious regression in quality with a spike in price at many retail/etail outlets.  I'm pretty disappointed in this.  Cost increases plus quality decreases suck.

Even if you "don't care" about this, you really ought to at least throw some support to those who do as it's only an improvement when figure's have knee articulation. 

My personal "standard" articulation that most figures would have in the basic 3.75" figure line would mimic that of the "Cantina Wave" from 2004/05.  There would be:

-2 shoulder joints (ball/socket or standard)
-2 angle-cut elbow joints (ball/socket elbows used occassionally)
-2 wrist joints
-1 neck joint (ball/socket or standard)
-1 waist joint
-2 standard hip joints
-2 ball/socket knee joints

I love super articulation, don't get me wrong, and I'd use it quite liberally throughout the line if possible, but at the same time I think the above "12 articulation points standard", and in that confguration (IE: none of this ankle joint crap if the figure has no knee joints) is the most ideal "standard".  It should only be improved upon or not quite as good in special circumstances like army builders or senator figures respectively.

This line's for "Action figures", not statues, and leg joints that don't pose any better than an action figure from 1983 is just kind of pathetic.  Everything increases in quality for the most part but Hasbro has to step up articulation to a new standard, not just a whimsical thing they pull out when they feel like it.

I need the Gondorian for my brother among a few other things.

He has turned to the SS 12" figures too already.  I'm hoping they're slightly less popular than SW so I can easily track them down for him as gifts at the holidays.  It'd make shopping tremendously easy copmared to past years.

I keep seeing remnants.  A new WM opened near my girl's place and she went up and they were loaded with Carkoon.  Finally got the kids their Fett figures I guess.

I finally saw Gonks... 

Still it's mostly remnant stuff, I think things are still seemingly selling well...  Why though, I do not know.  Is it carry-over popularity from ROTS and the holidays?  Is it that stuff isnt' shipping well so it's only selling well due to scarcity (though I seem to see "new" remnants a lot, so I'm thinking stuff is shipping steadily if not heavily)?  Or is it that there's still a lot of opportunists thinking they can make a buck off Saga and are just basically waiting it out till they get burned?  I dunno.  I don't see a whole lotta anything at any one store...  Part of me thinks it's just not shipping heavily and that + scalpers/opportunits on Ebay are keeping things dry.  A lot of the remnants I see are the NEW figures too which backs up my theory some.  Gonks, Fett's, and Vaders have been a real bitch to find, and they're the short-packs, so maybe I'm right?  who knows.

I really hope stores get uloaded upon with some of the later waves, namely the Coruscant Wave which is going to be the biggest bitch to find in history, I can see it coming.