EE Exclusive: Astromech 6 Pack

[Jeff]

I think, and this should be no surprise, the majority will be disappointed in this set.  Already some guesses are hoping for return of vintage and/or brand new sculpts or whatever.....

Don't get your hopes up too high is what I'm saying.  Its new and I think it's pretty cool but temper your expectations is all I'm saying.

[McMetal]

Please not Vlix. I still plan on owning an original some day.

Odd that they would hype the articulation for just jawas and astromechs, which are so limited in that regard to begin with. Hopefully at least one surprise in there.

[JediJman]

This set is overhyped now.  Expectations have been insane the last 24 hours, so like Jeff said, this is bound to be a let down.  If they are actual Star Wars characters and SA, then I don't mind the price tag, but I'm already feeling deflated after thinking through the various options.   

[Darby]

Yeah, I'm already imaging the comments tomorrow (or Friday) of how this is yet another Hasbro let down to collectors and blah, blah, blah. I'm up for whatever. Hoping there's something really unexpected in there but thinking whatever it is probably repaints or kit bashes. Which isn't really a bad thing.

[Diddly]

I like Rob's mindset. I preordered a set (using the JD link so put away your pitchforks), if the set sucks I can simply cancel.

[Jesse James]

The thing is, repaints or otherwise, this what stuff costs now.  It's a like it or lump it situation.  I'm not sure what to expect at this point but I agree this is "overhype" beyond compare and IMO does a possible disservice to it, if it isn't something really special. 

In the business world the ones who let the product speak for itself are the ones the price rarely matters.  I hope this is cool, or at least cool enough, but yeah given all this build up I think that could backfire some.  Especially with collectors these days.  But I hope for something cool.

[Jedi Idej]

Pics are up. Me likey. Don't remember where the droids are from, but paint schemes are very nice.

[Jesse James]

EE has posted them...  Astromech 6-pack, 4 from TCW I think, and 2 from the films?  If I'm not mistaken.

[Jesse James]

OK EE lays out who is who, and good thing because some of these I'd forgotten easily.

The blue/grey drink dispenser is from Ziro the Hutt's palace.

The green/white is from ANH and was cut for the SE (I recalled him)

The maroon/white is from TCW (Plo Koon's droid, and I recalled him as well)

The red/white drink dispenser is in Jabba's Palace in ROTJ but tough to spot.  He IS there though, and easier to see in some press materials more than the movie IIRC.

The R2KT is from TCW and being labeled KTQT, and while I remember R2KT in the CW episodes I didn't recall her with the yellow/black hazard marks on her head, or why they're there.

And the orange one is from the Y-Wing Pilots in the malevolence episodes of TCW I guess.

You can see that these are using the Bar2D2 sculpt which is smaller and had the opening arm thing.  I'm not a fan of that sculpt but I'm wondering if Disney doesn't have dibs on the BAD sculpt and thus this was all they could use.  Since the paintjobs are pretty unique, as are the colors, I'm assuming these wouldn't be Disney Droid creations (or able to be created at least, using the parts they put out), so I'm kinda cool with this.

$13.33 stings, but hey, since I buy so little else anymore, it doesn't sting too badly.  I'm down.

And again if you wanna order up, feel free!

http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSB8671&id=JE-405087801

[McMetal]

Oh man, that is way better than I could have imagined! SO MUCH Clone Wars love!

I've been working on my own custom D-squad for awhile now off and on, this will help a lot.

Price is steep, but I'm very appreciative of the opportunity to expand my beloved Clone Wars collection. I am in for sure! 

[Darby]

LOVE the packaging, though not a packaging guy. But still. Very cool. R2-A5 - wanted him for so long I totally forgot about him. CW love - I loved all the CW droids so this is nice. Jabba's bartender - super obscure but welcome. The price stings a bit but reality bites.

Totally called the commentary going on right now. The snake is eating its own tail with this stuff. I don't know what people want or expect and really who cares. We want, we want, we want and we get, we get, we get and still it's not enough. 

[Jesse James]

^This

I've been buying expensive toy lines, imports, etc. for some years.  I bought Hot Toys Snap Kit figures from Aliens years ago and only wish I'd bought a few more cases to flip now.  I buy the Hiya Aliens line, the Acid Rain line...  Stuff just isn't cheap now, and Hasbro's feeling that pinch too.

This is an online exclusive to a single store, and EE isn't Wal-Mart with buying power, so the fact these are the same price as the WM TBS figures more or less, it's kind of surprising. 

Now, can fans choke down that TBS 3.75" price on repaints...  eh...  I can.  I mean I'm not wealthy or anything, but at this point I don't buy nearly as much Star Wars as I once did, and this is up my alley for what I actually enjoy collecting, so I'll support it sure.  It's not cheap, but it's what I want.  I paid $150 for an Acid Rain vehicle...  one vehicle, no bigger than a Hasbro ship like the X-Wing or something.  Granted, that line is an import line, very small company/production runs...  but if it weren't import and was a US company, I figure at best they're still half that price, and 80-ish isn't cheap either.

It's all in what you like/want, and if you're willing to belly up to the bar and actually pay, at this point. 

It's like the 6" "Hallway" playset things from Galactic Trading Post...  You get a 32" hallway, done in plastic, painted, high grade plastic...  but you won't get it for free.  Are you willing to pay and get what you actually want, or are you just going to sit and expect everything and to pay nothing for it?  I pine away for 2007-2009 as much as anyone else in this hobby, but the reality is things in China changed, and Hasbro can't control that, and you just gotta eat it or get out of the hobby at this point.   

I personally want to keep collecting things I don't have and want, and this falls in line with that, so I'm buying.  And again, my budget was opened up by the sheer volume of things I don't buy or I wait till sales or I simply miss out on.  The Amazon FO Trooper set (3.75") is out of stock there from Amazon...  I missed it.  I wanted bits of it, but not much of it.  I missed out.  I don't feel bad on that.

This, I'll pay and I'll get something that'll make me happy I own it.  If I have any real complaint I just don't like that R2 sculpt and prefer consistency lol.  The price is background noise IMO.

[Nicklab]

I'm always happy to get more astromechs.  The price per figure stings a little bit, but I think an offering like this is the only way we would get these particular droids.  It's definitely cool to get R2-A5 at last.  That droid is a great addition to a Mos Eisley street scene.  And the white & red bartender droid is a good addition for either Jabba's Palace or a Sail Barge diorama.

But I am genuinely surprised that four of these droids are source from the Clone Wars movie and series.  I do appreciate KT-QT and the nod to the "D Squad" arc.  But seriously, have we run out of astromechs from all of the other films?

EDIT:  I had to do some serious searching to figure out that the Plo Koon droid was in the the SOTDS phase of the animated Clone Wars line.

[Darby]

+1 Jesse.

OT astromechs (no expert) are largely accounted for. There are some PT stragglers, the most prominent of which is R5-X2 who ideally should have featured here as it was planned as one of the BAD's during the cancelled BAD run in 2013ish. There were no astromechs of note in TFA (outside of Poe's stop gap black/orange droid that did get a BAD figure in the park I think). Hopefully Rogue One supplies with lots of droids we'll struggle to remember years from now.

[Rob]

I'm surprised you guys are that into this.  Quite frankly I'm really disappointed.  I was hoping that this would be a way for Hasbro to keep getting new figures out and the '5 figures that hadn't been made' tease made me think it would be something really cool.

As it is, it's 5 repaints that technically become new characters, 4 of them from a cartoon that I couldn't care less about.  It should be a $50 or $60 set, not an $80 set.