K-Mart Exclusive Vintage ROTJ AT-ST

[Jesse James]

K-Mart gets an exclusive, again, that you may or may not care about...

First,
Sandtroopers.com has the scoop on this, so go check it out!  Clicky the image to see it.

But second...  Yeah, you own this right?  Well, not really...  This is the AT-ST repaint, at least it seems anyway, attempting to recreate the walker that Chewie and his little dingleberries attempt to commandeer for the Rebel Alliance!

So assuming it's not particularly cheap, but not particularly expensive, where does this fit in your collecting world?

For me, this is an easy purchase...  I have literally a stack of AT-ST's from Wal-Mart...  I'm semi-hopeful they're going to fix the walking joints so that they're less prone to cracking, but that'll only be known with time and opening one up.  What I'm more geeked about is the deco.  The original's deco was plain which I liked for army building.  The 2nd one was an inaccurate Hoth one since that walker has significant differences in its design.

This one though, I like that they're trying to give fans the specific walker with the damage on the nose, which served as the life-size prop/set piece, which Chewie and the Ewok hijackers take.    It'll be THE walker I display since I want to display it specifically with its appropriate Ewoks and Chewbacca.  Might even have it standing over a destroyed one of the Wal-Mart walkers.

This is far cooler than the B-Wing, or TRU's half-assed Y-Wing.  I think this is, somewhat shockingly, K-Mart for the win.

[JediJman]

Cool!  Thanks for sharing Jesse.  I'll probably get one if I can find it on sale.  It's a little harder for me to stomach given how many AT-ST's we already have.  You had to know this was coming once they redid the mold.

[Jesse James]

Yeah I'm kind of shocked who got it...

To me there's no question, this is a good one. 

It's like if say they put out another Snowspeeder, all beat up and painted nice, and in a vinty box again, as Luke's Snowspeeder...  Would you be mad?  Maybe, depending on the price.

That's the kicker with this, is the price.  the B-WIng wasn't too cheap but not too bad either compared to the original release of the B-Wing with the Ten Numb figure in the POTJ days.

If this is $30 I'm in without question.  If it's $40 I'll probably still be in but maybe a little miffed.  If it's more and there's a ton of them I may wait.  If it's more and they're scarce, I'll probably be in but begrudgingly.

If it's $20 nobody shall have it but me.  OK, not really, but I'll probably pick up two if it's that cheap, which I have no hope of it being that cheap.

[JediJman]

It's like if say they put out another Snowspeeder, all beat up and painted nice, and in a vinty box again, as Luke's Snowspeeder...  Would you be mad?  Maybe, depending on the price.

I'm never really mad about releases unless I can't find them.  I always have the option not to buy if I don't like it.   

[Daigo-Bah]

The box looks great, the repaint looks great.... but what the heck is it with Hasbro re-releasing things too soon after it was already out?  Certain Saga Legends like Snowspeeder Luke, the Dewback, and now this?  Give it a few years for collectors just into the hobby to need it, and something new for us in the meantime!

[Jesse James]

I think this is striking while the Vinty iron is hot.  They haven't done that yet in the vinty recreation box.  Now they have.  That's my guess on what they're doing anyway.  I think if it isn't done yet, look for them to try it.  Wouldn't be shocked if they tried a Speederbike soon. 

[Diddly]

Well no K-Marts anywhere near me but I might be interested in one because, as Jesse said, the joints in mine (the Legacy Wal-Mart version) are cracked and loose. And I've hardly ever played with tested out the articulation on the thing!

[Matt_Fury]

I actually don't have this one yet (even passed on the WM one on clearance  ) so I may pick this up if it's not too pricey.

[Jesse James]

I'm betting $30 to $40.  The B-Wing was $40 IIRC and that's about what the POTJ one was actually.  Not bad really if you wanted it.  It's $29.99 now too, clearanced fairly quickly.

[McMetal]

So I take it this thing is a complete surprise? No inklings in previous Q&A's or at Toy Fair?

Interesting.

I don't understand why they would give it to K-Mart though, or why they would want it. That company has been bankrupt for like 5 years now. They just announced another huge wave of store closings at the beginning of the year.

The few left around here are still stuck with a bunch of B-Wings that are not moving.

[JediJman]

I'm betting $30 to $40.  The B-Wing was $40 IIRC and that's about what the POTJ one was actually.  Not bad really if you wanted it.  It's $29.99 now too, clearanced fairly quickly.

My money's on $40 or more.  This is K-Mart we're talking about.  Last time I was there, mid-size ships were $35, so an exclusive should probably be at least that. 

I'm not sure nay KMarts still exist in the Twin Cities.  I hope they make this available online...

[Darth_Anton]

Yea! Always happy to have OT vehicle variants. Figured it was a matter of time before we got a repaint like this. I'm down for two.

[Pete_Fett]

I like this. I agree with Jesse - I wouldn't be surprised if Target was getting a new Speeder Bike in a Vintage box just like they got the Tauntaun and Landspeeder.

[Daigo-Bah]

I think this is striking while the Vinty iron is hot. 

I bet you're right- and I hope they allocate no more than 2 or so to each store.  Hasbro has GOT to get a better sense of demand than their record of the last couple years.

[Jesse James]

Well that's not Hasbro, that'd be K-Mart and what they want at their stores...  I can't recall how many B-Wings any given store got in, off-hand.  I'm sure Hasbro would sell K-Mart as many of this as they want...  It'll be up to KM to buy enough.  After the B-WIng though, they could be more conservative.