2006 Exclusives

[Jesse James]

Why do I have Louie Anderson giving the hard work speech to Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy in Coming to America stuck in my mind now.   

j/k ruiner, I just thought that was funny for some reason.

Seriously I come from a Steeler Worker's family so Anton makes a ****load of sense to me, no doubt...  I shop at Wal-Mart some, they're convenient at times (not one really close to my house but when I'm out I do shop there) and for Star Wars I don't see lines...  I go where there's stuff unless it's too expensive by my opinion.  KB I've written off for the most part because I just don't go into malls too often due to the hastle.

That said, I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart for things like groceries...  I tend nto to buy things like clothes at Wal-Mart because they aren't too swift for guys clothes.  Target has some spiffy stuff though, but otherwise I'm more a mall guy for that...  You can get cheap GOOD stuff at the mall if you're smart.

For Star Wars though I tend to go where it is...  Right now Wal-Mart's getting my $ for that and my military figures.  Target and TRU are further away, higher priced right now, and have had significantly less as of late.  I did nab Hothies at Target though, and haven't seen 'em since anywhere...  remnants are at the new WM I hear but that's it. 

To be on topic with this...

Target and WM aren't terribly different for their availability, and at this point Target I like better because I find you get better customer service and those scanners still work.  Some you can even use your sunglasses earpiece to punch the digits if they took the pad out.  Try it! 

But I find I get more "action" when I ask a Target employee to get me something, plus I've got it worked out to where if I can't get a drone on the floor to do it I never have been denied at the customer service desk...

Wal-Mart has a cooler return policy overall but you can't look up crap in their system really unless you're sneaky and you can't get a Wal-Mart employee to help you to save your life.  I'm not sure why, but when you ask about their exclusives you get told either a lie, the truth (hard to tell), or flat out an "I don't know" with no more discussion...  That always sucks.

Prices are relative but Target's been high for the past year + or so.  TRU's not though,t hey're generally pretty good.  $30 for the JSF's was a bit much I think but others have been quite nice, like the Landspeeder for $20 was good, the X-Wings, etc...  Wal-Mart doesn't get a lot of exclusives to comment on.  I dno't recall anything in 2005 immediately so I dunno.  But how hard are they to find at WM if they do have them?  It seems to vary.  Like TIE Bombers were a bitch to find but the repaint wasn't so bad... 

[Darth_Anton]

Sorry for a tottaly OT response.  Again...

Jesse, did you know I was from the Allentown area? I have lots of family friends who worked for Bethleham Steel and my family is a coal mining family.

Back on topic... Exclusives suck!

[Famine]

I used to live in Allentown.

Now that we've had our reunion, how long till we start seeing exclusives in grocery stores? That will be fun.

I'd like a Special Ops trooper with my prune juice, please.

Kevin

[Jesse James]

I did know you were from PA, but not out that far east...  thought you were from close to Pittsburgh, but guess I was off by like what, 4 hours of driving the pike?

And yes, exclusives can tickle my balls most of the time...  Don't care for them all the time.  I like some stuff though, like the Coruscant Clone pack.  I enjoyed that for what it was...  Target Clones though...  Yeah, they sucketh and we're in for more high-priced stuff this year just like it.

[Dan]

I wasn't expecting this interesting of a read when I hopped on the thread- but I'll throw another two cents in.

Wal-mart and Hasbro both use the perfectly legal business practice that I think is a threat to our economy. The use of cheap (near slave wage) foreign labor. Look at what it costs to ship something overseas. If you are selling a $5.00 product in the US, it should be cheaper to make it here than ship it over the ocean. But if you can pay sweat shop wages, suddenly you can be "competitive." This is happening everywhere in our economy. I manage construction projects at a local hospital campus. They have even talked about out-sourcing architectual work to India because it is so cheap. Businesses are in a position to send all their labor needs overseas where they are not responsible for things like minimum wage and working conditions. To me it smacks of colonialism, and is a huge contributor to global resentment of the United States. This is a great country, we can do so much better than this. It is time for government to quite catering to businesses, and start demanding they follow U.S. labor laws even if their labor forces are not in the U.S. Then we would see some real job growth in this country.

I like exclusives. When they are cool. Just to stay on topic.

[Diddly]

Found some info on the rumored TRU exclusive Endor AT-AT:

http://www.starwarstoymuseum.com/endor-at-at.htm

Short version: Slight repaint of POTF2 version (minus electronics) with "dirty" feet. Comes with a Saga Ozzel repainted in black with a repainted head. Available this fall for $90.

Based on that info (and especially the price) I think I'll pass.

[Nathan]

That description actually sounds good to me--except for the price. With no electronics, that's a ripoff. Price it at $90 and they can watch it commit instant retail suicide; I can't envision them actually putting it that high.

And yet ... [insert obligatory dig at $15 Target clones].

[Jesse James]

I've read the description of the paint and electronics everywhere, which I chalk up to guessing since it's not hard to imagine what they'd do (and not do, to save a buck) witht his...  That's the first I've seen anyone mention the AT-AT coming with an exclusive Imperial Commander figure of some sort though.

That's sort of annoying considering I don't want to buy this AT-AT, so packing in even a kitbash figure is really annoying to everyone who gives the finger to Hasbro on the lame vehicle rehashes. 

[Brian]

That description sounds about right from what we can piece together, probably a paintjob similar to the Endor AT-ST, and its not surprising if the electronics would be removed either.  I really, really hope that the pricepoint isn't $90.  Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, but I was hoping for something more in the neighborhood of $65.  This is one ship/vehicle I've really wanted to get, but I was hoping it would be a little cheaper than that.

[Darth Slothus]

Probably like the Mill. Falcon we can wait till it goes on clearance then

[Morgbug]

What was regular US retail on the Falcon? 

I don't really need another AT-AT and if I was to get one I'd prefer a nice vintage version, but it would be hard to pass up on a repainted figure as mentioned.  Clearance price seems appealing.

[Gatillo]

I am thiking 49.99 but I am not sure.  The new one is around 40.

[ruiner]

Sweet Jesus!  We paid $90 for the first one with electronics AND two new figures!

This one is going to collect dust just like the OTC and ROTS Falcon's filling the end caps...

[SilverZ]

I can dream of them hitting a 19.99 clearance price though, can't I? I have a full Hoth assault force from the POTF2 release.