Alright. Let's see - lots of questions here...
Obviously we can never say
for sure on anything that Hasbro does or doesn't do, but at the current time, all indications point to these Wave 2 sets not showing up domestically (and that probably includes Canada too). They're probably just going to be in Asia and with several online e-tailers for the time being. From everything we've heard, these won't be hitting the retail stores at all.
BUT, things often change - sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse (like with the Shuttle and the Sandcrawler respectively). Hasbro's an unpredictable bunch. It just doesn't make sense that these things may never see the light of day at a North American retail chain sometime in the future. And if I had to place a bet, I think that somehow, someway, they'll eventually find their way over here to a more affordable outlet - possibly even the Fan Club. But there's just no telling...
Bottom line is that you're assuming a risk if you don't bite the bullet and snag them right now from an e-tailer (like Amok Time or Brian's). But at the same time, those of us who aren't willing to accept this risk and have placed our pre-orders already, might wind up disappointed when someone else gets them for significantly cheaper later on. So it's really up to you folks to decide what you want to do. I for one, said the hell with it and pre-ordered two complete sets from
Amok Time for $114 shipped. Good chance I'll find out later on that I overspent here, but oh well! I'll wait to snag a third set later on from someone else for cheaper, since these will just be extras and I won't be too pissed off if I miss out on them.
I guess it really boils down to these more expensive e-tailer pre-orders being like "buying insurance". I'm paying a little more now, to insure myself against missing out on these in the future. Obviously, a lot of times paying insurance just turns out to be a waste of money and you never really need/use it. But you just know that when you finally decide to pass on paying the insurance, it's going to be that one damned time that you really need it. BTW, I've never placed an online pre-order for anything before until I did so with these just a couple days ago...
I'm sure some more e-tailers will follow suit and get some of these as well, but for the time being it looks like Amok Time and Brian's Toys are the only two offering them. Little cheaper if you're getting the complete wave to go with Amok Time, but if you just want the new Kitik alien, then Brian's is the best route to go. And I agree with you Pat, that it's quite odd that the Kitik is the
cheapest of the 3 at Brians Toys, considering she'll be the one that's in greatest demand, for sure (since she's the only new one)!
Here's the
Amok Time pre-order page, where they're $52 for all three. My total shipping was $10 for 2 sets (6 figures), so it's probably less for only one set. Their site lists the TENTATIVE date as some time in
May, though that most likely won't be happening. Don't recall if my order confirmation e-mail from them said anything to the contrary. Doesn't even look like buying them individually at Amok Time is even an option at this point.
And scroll down
this page at Brian's Toys for the Cantina pre-orders. Looks like they're only sold individually at Brian's, and you generally will pay $8 for shipping and handling on your entire order. No ETA at all listed at Brian's. The Wuher and Evazan figures here will run you $21-22 each, while the Kitik Keed'kak is only $14-15 (not too bad). This is probably your best choice
Brian, and any other fellow Kitik only orderers!
Good luck everybody, whatever path you decide to take. And we'll definitely bring you any further news on the situation as it develops!
