Author Topic: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?  (Read 79617 times)

Offline Diddly

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #150 on: June 29, 2005, 01:17 PM »
Nice story, Pete. Stick it to the man!

Anychance you have the VOTC Vader? If so, could you compare it with the Chamber Vader? They look almost the same to me in pics...
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #151 on: June 29, 2005, 01:20 PM »
Nice story, Pete. Stick it to the man!

Anychance you have the VOTC Vader? If so, could you compare it with the Chamber Vader? They look almost the same to me in pics...

I can dig out my VOTC Vader when I get home tonight and make a post about the two tomorrow - fair enough?

I'd post from home tonight except that the new house still doesn't have cable so my cable modem is down for the count at the moment.

But I will definitely be comparing the two. In setting up my office I've decided to decorate my desk with Vader, Clones and Wookies - so I've been wanting to drag out the VOTC Vader anyway.

- Peter
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Offline knashdx

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #152 on: June 29, 2005, 01:34 PM »
I have a friend that use to work at TRU and he informed me that TRU's official policy is that the toy has to be on the floor 24 hours prior to a TRU employee purchasing it. Obviously we all know that is crock of ****. This just proves it.

At least the District Manager, and the other store manager did the right thing. Personally if I was that stores direct supervisor I would have fired his ass on the spot.
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Offline Diddly

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #153 on: June 29, 2005, 01:42 PM »
Sounds good Pete. I can wait as long as needed, I just want to read a review of the thing that compares the two.
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #154 on: June 29, 2005, 02:05 PM »
I have a friend that use to work at TRU and he informed me that TRU's official policy is that the toy has to be on the floor 24 hours prior to a TRU employee purchasing it. Obviously we all know that is crock of ****. This just proves it.

At least the District Manager, and the other store manager did the right thing. Personally if I was that stores direct supervisor I would have fired his ass on the spot.

The Assistant District Manager kept stressing things to me like "we can't/won't hold a toy for anyone" and "we can't personally prevent EVERY employee from buying stuff when the store opens at 10AM"

He said that to me like five to six times. I kept responding to him "Yes, I understand that, but the difference between what you're stating and what ACTUALLY happened is that at 10AM when the doors opened there wasn't even a CHANCE for customers to buy this item, the employees didn't even STOCK IT - they just hid all three of them to buy later on."

I also told him, "Look, if they actually PAID for the item, I don't want you to take it away from anyone, just STOP that practice from happening." - the one he got for me was the one put aside by the manager of the store who hadn't plunked down his money yet, he was planning on doing it later in the day when he got off shift.

When they do things like that it tells me that TRU does indeed have a policy and that policy is that they don't want employees buying toys when they are on the clock. If I ran a retail chain, I wouldn't want to allow my employees to be "shopping" when they should be "working" either. So a policy like that would make sense.
Peter

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Offline CloneF13Y35

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #155 on: June 29, 2005, 03:33 PM »
Quote
You know what - I know that is done and I know that is just part of collecting. It's sort of like a dirty little secret. It's done, TRU management knows it's done, they know they really can't do much about it, but if the employees are going to do it:

(a) you don't make it obvious

and more importantly

(b) you don't BRAG about being able to do it to customers and claim it is a perk advocated by the company you work for

In retail you just don't do that - you treat the customers with respect, even if you are telling them a lie, you do it with a smile on your face and with a plesant tone so the customer leaves the store happy. You don't infuriate them even more because you have a pre-conceived notion of what type of person I am.
Quote

yeah I don't how widely employees buying stuff before customers still goes on but we did it to some extent. our manager didn't let us buy everything, stuff still had to be put out for customers.
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Offline MetalJedi

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #156 on: June 29, 2005, 11:46 PM »
This is one of the reasons why I hate TRU. The one back home in Idaho is a scalpers paradise. The managers read of the manifest what they are getting to the scalper and the scalper just has them save the whole case.

Its ridiculous that we have to go through so much ******* drama for a toy. Just so some jackass can make a couple of extra dollars off of.

Im glad you got to get your Pete. I'll be getting mine online I think.
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #157 on: June 30, 2005, 01:23 PM »
Nice story, Pete. Stick it to the man!

Anychance you have the VOTC Vader? If so, could you compare it with the Chamber Vader? They look almost the same to me in pics...

Ok Diddly - here you go...

Accessory Differences:
The VOTC Vader came with a cape, lit lightsaber, and unlit lightsaber.

The 500th Vader comes with a cape, lit lightsaber and an interchangeable set of right hands - one right hand holds the saber, the other is the one the figure is shipped with - an open, relaxed hand that "rests" on his right knee when sitting in the chamber.

Articulation Differences:
The VOTC Vader features a ball joint neck, shoulders, and knees. Rotating joints for the elbows, articulation at the wrists, hips, wrists and waist.

The 500th Vader features ONLY ball joined knees. The neck and shoulders have reverted back to SW Standard rotation only joints. The elbows, hips and waist are all articulated the same.

Sculpting/Design Differences:
The two figures themselves are completely different pieces. I really couldn't tell that any VOTC parts had been reused on the 500th Vader figure. The closest items are his legs, which have been modified/re-tooled to offer Vader a wider stance in the 500th figure.

The torso, arms and head are all new, particularly because the head of course now features a partially removeable helmet and because how all of these pieces come together now with rotating joints instead of wide range of motion ball-like joints.

The belt looks the same, but is new, it does not feature a hole to insert an unlit lightsaber, probably because the figure doesn't come with one. This IMHO was a mistake, his lightsaber should be holstered while he is sitting in the chair.

The cape of the VOTC is supposedly removeable, but I have never tried to remove it. The cape of the 500th figure looks to be identical, but you can remove it - in fact it is not in the figure in the packaging, but folded into a square in a plastic bag underneath. The cape still suffers from the awkwardness of the silver cloth "chain" that doesn't hang right on the figure no matter what you do.

The shape and sculpt of the helmet on both figures differs - the 500th Vader head is wider and the removeable dome piece is shaped differently than with the VOTC version.

Both figures, as I mentioned, have that lousy rotating elbow joint which should have been replaced by the same type of joint used in the elbows of the SA Clonetrooper.

Final Thoughts:
For being the 500th figure, Hasbro presents a nice display piece. A piece that will display well either in or out of the packaging and they provide a protective shell for the packaging that even openers of their toys may want to keep simply because the plastic it's made out of is so sturdy.

If they were going to have this figure stand out from the VOTC version instead of decreasing the level of articulation they should have increased it. I would have started with the VOTC figure as a base, changed the head and then added ball jointed elbows and hips to provide the ultimately articulated Vader. The ball joint elbows on my SA Clonetroopers and ball joint hips on my AT-TE Gunner are sturdy and while they may cost a bit more since this figure wasn't going to be at the $5.99 price tag, if it means another $1, they should have taken this opportunity to add to the articulation.

Do I like the piece? Yep. I know it seems like I said more negative comments then positive ones, but as a stand-alone piece, not comparing it to the VOTC version, it's nice. It really only starts to loose it's appeal when you compare it to previously released items and then you start to wish they had done a bit more.

That's my thoughts on it. Now I just need to find a MIB one for my packaged collection!
Peter

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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #158 on: June 30, 2005, 01:41 PM »
Pete, just another quick question about the loose presentation of Vader.  Does he sit well/steady in the seat of the chamber on his own, and how is he "held down" there, if at all?

I ask because I have the Complete Galaxy Vader and even though there is a footpeg on the base of that toy's chair, the figure is sculpted in such a way where he's sitting at an angle and doesn't appear all that steady.

Oh, and is the figure easy to replace in the packaging once you've opened it up?  I'm definitely going to open it, but the way it looks in the package is cool too, so I was wondering if it could be "stored and displayed" without any weirdness with seams in the packaging or rips/tears/dents/etc.

Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #159 on: June 30, 2005, 01:58 PM »
Pete, just another quick question about the loose presentation of Vader.  Does he sit well/steady in the seat of the chamber on his own, and how is he "held down" there, if at all?

The figure sits REALLY well in the seat of the chamber. In fact the chair "pad" itself as been sculpted with "butt" and "thigh" indents, like you would see if you sat in a really cushy chair and then got up - a "mold" of your butt would be left behind. There is nothing that physically restrains or holds the figure down unless you have the helmet armiture at the lowest level - it does "click" into place there and since that means the helmet is fully on the figures head, that does serve to hold the figure in place. I found that even with the armiture all the way up though, the figure still sits nicely in the chair, doesn't wobble, lean or fall out of the chair.

Oh, and is the figure easy to replace in the packaging once you've opened it up?  I'm definitely going to open it, but the way it looks in the package is cool too, so I was wondering if it could be "stored and displayed" without any weirdness with seams in the packaging or rips/tears/dents/etc.

If you discount the base cardboard this piece can definitely be pseudo re-packaged after you open it. The outer shell plastic that forms the "top" of the chamber is REALLY thick and sturdy. So don't go cutting into it or anything - not only will you kill your hands, but you'll also ruin a really nice display piece.

In fact, the plastic shell is covering the piece on the top of my monitor at home right now - I don't have any intention on throwing away that piece of the packaging. Also since the figure comes with a "try me" type packaging the knob to raise and lower the armiture for the dome of the helmet is still accessible with the shell in place - so there's no loss to the motion of the helmet being raised or lowered.
Peter

Letting my collecting OCD get the better of me on a DAILY basis... and loving EVERY minute of it!

Offline CloneF13Y35

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #160 on: June 30, 2005, 03:04 PM »
this is sounding really really cool, I will have to get one ;D
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Offline Diddly

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #161 on: June 30, 2005, 08:32 PM »
Thanks for the review Pete. Looks like I won't be playing with the Vader I'll be using the Vader as a display piece. ;D
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #162 on: June 30, 2005, 08:56 PM »
Yeah, great review there Pete.  Feels like I've got one already, after reading that.  And I assume there's not a single mention on the packaging anywhere of exactly how Hasbro actually reached that magic 500 number, right? (forgive me if I missed that)

- M

Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #163 on: June 30, 2005, 10:21 PM »
Cool, thanks so much for clearing that up for me Pete; it is very appreciated.  I can't wait to find one of these now.  ;D

Have they started showing up at non-TRU retailers yet?

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Re: 500th commemorative figure... Vader?
« Reply #164 on: June 30, 2005, 11:12 PM »
Haven't heard of any other sightings around here except for online at kbtoys/etoys.

I ended up grabbing mine online since I'm otherwise caught up. I figure I've got a snowball's chance in hell of fighting off the employees and other collectors for the pitiful numbers these seem to be arriving in. Saves the time and frustration. I really don't need the stress.

And EE has them in now.
« Last Edit: July 1, 2005, 01:05 AM by Tydirium »