Clone Wars Episode 2: Rising Malevolence
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Originally aired October 3, 2008 on Cartoon Network.
In short: The Republic is out to find Grievous' new super weapon. Plo Koon and a bunch of Jedi are stranded in a life pod after a battle, waiting to see if someone will pick them up. Similar plots were done on other shows (Star Trek: Enterprise comes to mind) to varying degrees of success, and it's unfortunate we're seeing such a common device used so early in the series' run.
In this episode, we see a heck of a lot of action. We get to see Anakin talk down to his new sidekick, we get to see R2-D2 doing R2 things, we see big ships get destroyed, we get to see escape pods, and all sorts of stuff. There's little time for exposition, as it seems the series' writers assume you already know the major players and don't need to introduce them or even name them on screen more than once or twice.
Things move along nicely, as there's a slight panic about a super weapon, there's some resentment of Anakin for going on a rescue mission, and there's more than a little tension in the voices of the two main Jedi heroes. Plo Koon, unfortunately, sounds almost like an old, bored super hero. He's very mellow, and can apparently be out in the vacuum of space for a brief period of time. Further, his dialogue propels the notion that by and large, the Jedi are very dull. A more alien voice saying fewer words could be interesting in a variety of ways, but it turns out after years of speculation, Plo Koon sounds just like any other Jedi might sound. Oh well.
This particular installment seemed more robust than the first, but it's still feeling a little light overall. Thankfully, we have two more weeks (at least) following this storyline and the super weapon: the galaxy's most dangerous ion cannon.
Appearing: 2-1B (or similar medic droid), R2-D2, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Commander Wollfe, Yularen, Clones, Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Palpatine, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Battle Droids.
Pros: Mostly great voice acting, good sets, decent story, better pacing-- there's a lot of cuts between the Twilight and a ship wreckage, plus the Malevolence. Cutting away to something else makes everything better.
Cons: The Battle Droids have some very creepy scenes with the life pods, but due to the goofy nature of the characters the threat seems removed despite characters being in very real danger. The concept is a wonderfully eerie one, but the execution didn't work. Also, Plo Koon can breathe in space? Who does he think he is, Batman? Aside from clones, we're seeing few new characters-- this could be a problem.
Posted byAdam16bit at 9:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: SWonTV, The Clone Wars (TV), TV Reviews
Clone Wars Episode 1: Ambush
Originally aired October 3, 2008 on Cartoon Network.
In short: Yoda goes to meet the king of the Toydarians (Watto's people) on a moon to join the Republic, but-- oh yes-- Count Dooku sends Asajj Ventress to issue a challenge to Yoda, which Yoda accepts, over the fate of the Toydarians. Of course, the Toydarians didn't have too much say either way but they seem to like the Jedi. It plays out like a mix of a fable, a few episodes of Transformers (which had similar plots), and a PBS kids show in how Yoda treats the clones. Very touchy-feely, and the Clones are put off by this-- which is probably the right thing to do as to not lose older kids.
The pacing was pretty slow, but I think the real problem is that it wasn't so much slow as it was repetitive-- you're on a single planet for a full episode without much variety. If this were a Star Trek, at least you'd cut back to the bridge of the Enterprise, or perhaps multiple away teams could go through different things. Also, Yoda and some clones vs. anything-- it's not only obvious who will win, but it's so uneven that it's a wonder the Clone Wars lasted more than a few weeks. The Jedi are superheroes, and they're fighting the worst droid army in the history of ever-- how come the war took so long to win?
At 23 minutes (minus commercials) I can see why George Lucas insisted the previous series be about 3-4 minutes an episode. Honestly, this story was so light on plot that it could have easily been done in that short amount of time
Appearing: Yoda, Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Lt. Thire (clone), more Clones, Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids
Pros: Neat scenery (which Yoda actually comments on), good voice work, good designs.
Cons: No wacky and vaguely culturally insensitive accent for the Toydarians, been-there-done-that plot, entire show takes place on a single planet with very little cutting away to make up for it.
Posted byAdam16bit at 8:55 AM 0 comments
Labels: SWonTV, The Clone Wars (TV), TV Reviews
Post-The Force Unleashed
Monday, September 22, 2008
I spent a lot of this past week not blogging, editing, and generally not doing what I should be. My backlog of columns shrank, and I can thank The Force Unleashed on my Xbox 360 for that. I've since finished it.
The game is unusual in that it manages to succeed in something and fail in that very same thing. Some examples:
Properly aging the characters. Bail Organa looks the same as he did in Revenge of the Sith despite a 16-year difference between the stories. Princess Leia, on the other hand, manages to look like a young Carrie Fisher, which is perfect for a story that takes place about 3 years before the original Star Wars.
No ability to skip cut scenes. The first time through, this is a blessing-- you want to see them, they're neat. However, after you've seen them all 2-3 times, sometimes you want to skip them so you can find Holocrons and unlock achievements. Guess what? You can't. You have to watch them every time, and this problem compounds when you want to skip to a new stage-- you have to do so from within a game level, meaning you have to (you guessed it) watch a cut scene for several minutes before regaining control.
Oh, and in the "bad" department...
Interface. The menus are largely well-designed, clear and easy to read. However, the loading time for these mostly text screens is quite significant, and the menus are pretty buggy. I've unpaused the game only to find the level started over, or I'm treated to the beginning of the level cut scene despite being in the middle of a stage.
Controls. Some parts are a little clunky, others are downright confusing-- despite the game telling you exactly which buttons to push, it isn't clear that you're always succeeding.
For what it aspired to do, I think it succeeded. You really do feel (more or less) like you can use the Force, despite some of the characters' equipment feeling less like an in-universe technology and more like an in-game cop-out. Some elements of Star Wars really don't mesh well with a good video game, simply because having super powers that essentially make you a god-like being would remove much of the game's challenge. Also, the very idea of troopers who can disappear just doesn't click for me.
I can nitpick at it, but I'd be lying if I said that the under 10 hour run time wasn't one of the most fun experiences I've had with a Star Wars game in years, and one of the more fun games I've played this year. But I'm extremely biased-- I might not have said the same thing if the setting was ancient Greece or, for example, NBC's Heroes. The final product feels very piecemeal, and there are some inconsistencies within the game itself. The Stormtroopers in the prologue are usually normal Stormtroopers, but in at least one cinema scene they're a hybrid of Stormtroopers and Revenge of the Sith clone troopers. It seems like a lot of it was farmed out to other developers or animators, giving the game a somewhat rough feel. Still, it's a decent Star Wars adventure that really aspires to be an interactive movie, and it seems LucasArts is making a lot of headway toward this goal. It's great to see a decent story in a game that isn't an RPG for a change.
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:55 AM 0 comments
Labels: Expanded Universe, LucasArts, Video Games
Q&A: Post-The Force Unleashed Edition
1. Do you know if the Star Tours Droid Pack with R2-D2, C-3PO, WEG-1618, RX-24 ("Rex"), and DL-X2 ever materialized? I haven't been out to Disneyland or Disneyworld, and haven't been able to locate these on eBay.
--Gabriel
Well Gabriel, I have good news and bad news.
The good news? You're a very capable collector, able to do research and look at the best places for this kind of information on your own. For this, I give you applause and a favor if I can fill one for you at some point. Seriously, I appreciate it when people look for answers in the places that can give them immediate feedback-- which isn't something this column can easily do.
The bad news? You're right. It's not out yet. Hopefully it will show up again soon, but for the time being it doesn't seem too likely to be on the way. As Hasbro tends to give absolutely no information out about the products it develops with Disney-- seriously, none of its Star Tours products for the first few waves (or any of them, if memory serves) appeared on their own web site as news items-- searching eBay is your best bet. Well, that and collector sites like this one. (Or, let's be honest, other ones.)
2. Short and sweet: Is the mail-away Captain Rex the same figure/packaging as the new figure hitting stores now?
--DFR
No, but it fits under the "just different enough to make you mad" banner. The figure is from the same mold, but without the battle damage/dirt. The packaging is actually way better with the mail-in version, as it sports a rockin' fold-out diorama. It's so good I actually used a stupid slang word like "rockin'" to describe it-- that should tell you something. I'd suggest getting one just for that, but I've got a sack of UPCs and order forms and I'm not sending in for extras because, well, it's kinda bland overall. It seems a "clean" variant of Rex may be hitting retail stores as well, making the mail-in version merely a package variant and rendering the actual mail-in offer to be one of the more pointless in recent memory.
3. Is the clone trooper in Legacy wave 2 a member of the 501st and can therefore join Commanders Vill and Bow and 501st airborne trooper in my diarama?
--S
In Legacy Wave 2, there's the Heavy Gunner and SCUBA troopers, neither of which are explicitly in the 501st. The Heavy Gunner is part of the Muunilinst 10, a group you absolutely should consider getting a diorama together for.
As the 501st did not yet exist at the time of this cartoon's creation, it's a crapshoot as to if they could eventually be retoconned into the 501st or Obi-Wan's 212th attack battalion. As far as I can tell, this is just a specialized group unto itself.
4. [In a previous] q and a someone asked a question about not being able to get the figures before retail. To avoid this have you ever hidden the figures around toys r us, walmart etc ? do you think its wrong because ive benefited many times?
--Rich
I think it proves that you probably shouldn't be collecting unless you're doing this because you aren't old enough to have a job yet. If I can't afford something, I don't buy it. I actually cheap out on lots of things so I generally don't have to face the "lunch or toys?" question. Ideally, I'd say fans should avoid this kind of behavior simply because it screws up the store-- if a figure is "hidden," that means the store thinks it still has that item in inventory, and the automatic replenishment system won't tell the employees to order more or put more on the shelves. So basically, by doing this, you're throwing a wrench into the gears of that store, potentially preventing new shipments of product and causing other fans a lot of grief that could have been solved by your just putting it on layaway or simply charging it. Or, you know, doing without-- which is what I do when I can't justify buying something.
5. Whatever happened to the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 3 3/4" Lost Temple of Akator Playset? I can no longer find any listings of it anywhere on the internet and wonder if it was pulled from production. Did it ever come out and/or is it still on its way to stores?
--Todd
I have two suggestions.
Unless Hasbro surprises us, it's due out around the DVD release-- Hasbro makes it a point to have a second big "push" for the home video market, as that's when the kids typically see the movie for themselves. I'd expect to see it around that time.
FIN
OK, so I got and played through The Force Unleashed. The good news is that (for me anyway) it was compelling enough to hold my attention to the end... unfortunately, as you may have guessed, the end came quite quickly. I played through it on the second level of difficulty and am wondering if I should have started with the third. But I don't want to spoil the story, so let's just talk toys and the game.
I'd really like to know when the toys were developed against when the in-game character models were finalized. Some of the figures, like Rahm Kota and Starkiller, don't seem to look too much like the actors in the game. The most interesting thing I thought, though, was with the Incinerator Troopers. The red Wal-Mart exclusive figures leaked ages ago and my first thought when seeing how the stripes were painted was that a pauldron was missing-- and in the game, sure enough, they have a pauldron. So basically the figures aren't entirely accurate, meaning Hasbro has an excuse to crank out more. Also, most of the troops have blasters that don't quite match the game, which is unfortunate but it does give another reason to rerelease them with more game-accurate paint.
It's packed with a lot of familiar places (and faces) so if Hasbro wanted to, the game could have been a great excuse to reissue older figures. It's really a shame most of the toys were sold to a market who hadn't had the chance to play the game yet-- odds are Hasbro could have sold a lot more stuff with the game out. With any luck, the game will do well enough to justify additional toys as there seems to be enough good stuff in here for at least a few more figures. (Well, maybe not a ton. But some.) If you haven't had the chance to try the game out, I'd suggest giving it a shot if you have the means.
...also, a number of you wrote in concerning your experiences with GameStop and the Stormtrooper Commander. Some recurring themes:
- Employees were not aware a promotion was taking place
- Employees said "I'll take one or two myself if we get any in"
- Stores were not given enough to go around
- Stores were not informed what to do with them (at least a few readers were simply given one without purchase
Odds are it was a successful promotion from where Hasbro and GameStop stand, but it's basically cemented where I won't be taking my game business from here on out. I know most people who write in to me only let me know about the bad experiences, so I can only assume some of you got the figure like you were supposed to without any trouble. Here's hoping for a Hasbro reissue down the raod, I suppose.
Oh, and my backlog is empty-- I've got one column in the can, and all the questions I've earmarked have either been answered or deleted. So if you've still got one, you know what to do! Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:40 AM 0 comments
Labels: QandA
Q&A: Animation, Bad Investments, and More!
Monday, September 15, 2008
1. As you know, 2009 is the 10th anniversary of TPM. Consequently, do you suppose that Star Wars product in the original Episode I packaging will sell better on eBay next year? I'm wondering whether I should hold off my auctions.
--Edward
My initial reaction to this question was that it was someone setting me up for a great joke-- then I realized it's entirely possible that the world does not share my favorite stock answer, which was some variation on "burn them."
The bulk of the line from 1995-present was widely collected-- a number of fans bought one of everything to keep in the package, and many of them bought multiples. Episode I was overproduced to a ridiculous sense, and it's going to be more than 10 years before there will be any interest in it. I'd actually go with "forget it." Not all toys are destined to be collectible in the long run, actually very few are. For every old figure you can sell for a profit, remember that there are Playmates Star Trek figures worth a dollar or three each, years of now virtually worthless McFarlane figures, and piles of G.I. Joes which have outlived the collector attention span. The added problem with Star Wars is that many of the figures have since been reissued, often in superior forms.
The anniversary likely won't help. If you're seriously considering dumping your collection, my honest advice to you is to see if you can break even (or profit on) anything, and unload it. Give the rest to charity-- the $1-$3 per figure you will most likely get, less eBay and PayPal fees, is really not worth your time. The vast majority of recent collectibles based on the Lucas saga took a nose dive in terms of value and I think you'd be better off keeping it (hey, you might have kids some day) or setting fire to it.
...or if you're feeling saucy, hold on to all your vehicles for a while. If history is any indicator, fans will care about vehicles, and 5+ years later, they'll start being interested in the figures. I personally do not believe most modern figures will ever achieve any significant collector interest unless Hasbro stops bringing them out again, and again, and again with a series of improvements. Why should anyone pay you $7 for a Mace Windu from 1999 when Hasbro has a new one with a box of weapons, more articulation, a properly colored lightsaber, and a cloth cloak for $7 in stores now?
If you bought the stuff to get rich, well, breaking even is a really admirable goal. The figures aren't going to skyrocket next year (or likely ever) because so many people put them away 9 years ago that they will simply never be rare.
2. Where are the new build a droids from?any movie or EU? And how many will there be?My favorite astromech is now R7-Z0 with the triangular eye,reminds me of Plankton.
--ABarra9721
SO far, the build-a-droids come from a variety of sources. There are places you'll find the R4 units in the movies, you can look them up on resources like Wookieepedia or fan sites like this one. The R7s are squarely Expanded Universe, and little visual reference exists for them. The RA droids, well, you probably know the deal there.
As of now there is no final tally on how many build-a-droids will be made, as Hasbro has yet to confirm how long The Legacy Collection will be produced. Previous lines say we'll get 40-60 figures in a line, which means we're likely to get something like 10-12 droids-- unless Hasbro decides to keep it going, which we all hope they will.
3. I'm still not a huge fan of, nor will I be collecting in great numbers the animated style toys. I think they are great as a limited tie in with the show and do have a few which I will display in stylized ways, but aside from the vehicles they do not work with my existing collection and I simply can't (or don't want to) spare the room or cash for something that doesn't work with everything else I have.
Do you feel that this is a widespread attitude and will it translate to the line being a limited run not unlike the previous Clone Wars line? Do you think there is much longevity in the animated style figures or will Hasbro eventually merge the characters and give us realistically styled figures of characters in the show? I especially would LOVE to see a realistically styled phase 1 Scout trooper from the movie.
--Joshua
The ridiculous volume of releases since 2005 have basically made collecting Star Wars a nearly full-time job. (Thankfully, my full-time job requires that I pay attention to it.) More than boredom, fatigue, or anything else, we've all spent so much time and bought so much stuff that any deviation from the norm is almost enough to make a lot of fans throw in the towel. I've basically lost interest in the other toy lines I followed just because of the effort required to keep tabs on it all.
The obvious new divide-- animated vs. not-- may or may not be a good thing. A lot of fans said they won't buy any animated, but seem to be gradually warming up to the line. I just don't know where it's going to go. Frankly, I want one big line-- not two competing 3 3/4-inch lines. Seeing how the toony toys are dragging, it seems like a lot of fans probably won't be won over by the new releases because there really aren't any to go get. Being boring is typically what gets me to quit a toy line, a big gap means I stop paying attention and move on to something else.
Despite Hasbro's insisting that there won't be any (or many) realistic versions of cartoon figures, I disagree. Realistic clone repaints sell, and it makes sense that we'll eventually start seeing realistic versions of some of the animated clones. Or rather, it seems like a great, cheap repaint that would help Hasbro's bottom line-- why not do it?
I think they're pretty slick, but if Hasbro ended the cartoony line tomorrow I wouldn't miss it. I might change my tune eventually, but one consistent style is really where I think collectors want the line to go. I don't think that's where the money is, but I don't have access to Hasbro's books.
4. Do you know if the upcoming Ahsoka Tano Clone Wars figure will be smaller and more petite than the other figures in the line,like the more recent Princess Leia figures?
--Daniel
She's pretty dainty, but I have yet to play with a sample up close. I don't know if she'll be quite as small as the recent Leia figures, but she does seem to be smaller than other animated figures from what I saw at Comic-Con.
5. Do yo know of any good database or "pedia" type software for keeping track of your figure collection? I've reached the point I can't remember what I have and don't have anymore.
--Buntz
I have two suggestions.
1. Excel, or your favorite spreadsheet application. Nothing sorts, scales, or is as robust when collecting data. I love it for some things, and it is pretty widespread at offices across the world. You can always work on your collection lists at the office, for example.
2. If you don't know what you want, then you don't need it. No, really. This has worked wonders for me and other collectors. If you don't know what you're missing-- unless you're a variant hound who catalogs every minor change-- I would seriously consider letting those pieces go. Of course, this is coming from someone who has collected toys pretty much non-stop since 1989 and is at a point where he'd rather just enjoy the stuff he has for a while. But that's me.
A large personal investment of time is absolutely necessary to keep track of the line because no book (and as far as I can tell, no website) will ever mesh up with every collector's idea of what constitutes a "collection." Do you need all 3 TIE Bombers? Or the blue and red Battle Droids from Episode II in the deluxe and basic line? Your mileage may vary, and because of this I would suggest doing the research to write up a list of what you have and what you want on your own. If nothing else, you might be able to find some pieces you can skip.
FIN
You can skip this next part. You probably should. Seriously, this is just me being angry.
Man I hate GameStop. I used to love GameStop (and Babbages and its other stores)-- in high school and college, I made it a point to go to one or more locations weekly. I picked up something (a figure, a controller, etc.) pretty much every other time I stopped in, or went with someone who was buying. It's tapered off a little in recent years due to declining customer service... and you can probably guess why I'm pissed at them this week. You may have even had the same experience. I called a store on Saturday and asked if they had any of the Stormtroopers available with preorders. "Let me check," she said. Pause. "Yup, we've got a ton." I respond with "so I can come in today, right now, pre-order the game, and walk out with the figure?" "Yes you can." I informed her I'd be down there in a few minutes-- as I had not yet pre-ordered the game-- and I could get it. It takes me about 25 minutes to get there and park, and the guy behind the counter looks at me like I was insane. "Who did you talk to?" he asks. "Her, I assume" I respond, pointing to the only female employee in the store. He comes back and tells me that no, they don't have any. "She said you did-- and that's why I came here to give you my money." He just shrugs, she walks by and I say "so you don't have any despite my asking about it a few minutes ago?" and she says "nope."
Now that's fantastic customer service. I've been giving my business to other chains in recent years because of more and more incidents like this one. At least make it up to me or explain why you lied to me to get me in your store. Ugh. Well, here's hoping you had better luck getting your Stormtrooper Commander than I did. My guess is I'll be watching eBay until the market gets saturated or people get bored with them. Thanks for nothing, GameStop #3815, but I do appreciate your ensuring Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, and/or Toys "R" Us gets my gaming business from here on out. Oh, and by the way, none of your feedback forms work on your web site. Which I assume is intentional. Excellent work there.
Shockingly, though, I managed to find both of the Wal-Mart Force Unleashed Stormtrooper packs last weekend at $15 a pop. I know a lot of people are down on yet more repaints, but as repaints go, these are pretty good. The really interesting thing I noticed about them was that it seems on the packaging, one of the mock-ups of the Incinerator Troopers is a repainted POTJ-era Sandtrooper (or OTC Carry Case Stormtrooper/Saga Imperial Forces Stormtrooper), while one of the Shadow Stormtroopers is a repainted Evolutions Sandtrooper (or Tantive IV Battle Pack Stormtrooper). The actual product is simply repainted VOTC Stormtroopers, which works just fine. If you like these. (And I do.) Here's hoping Hasbro puts them out again in the future, even though the pricing here is about as good as we're likely to get. Supposedly even more Stormtrooper repaints are in the game, which I'm sure would make someone a nice exclusive some day.
I do like these, but then again, I'm easy. And at this time, I've only played the Force Unleashed demo, so for all I know the weapons are all wrong. Still, they're neat figures. I'd love to see more of them, as long as they looked pretty cool, especially if Hasbro started making mini-vehicles to go with them. (Hint, hint Hasbro.)
Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: QandA
Q&A: Fan Wars, Droid Construction and Durge
Monday, September 8, 2008
1. Given your knowledge of the action-figure retail world, would you hazard a guess to say the animated Clone Wars figures are selling a) better than the 'real' sculpt style, b) about even, or c) worse? I know it's hard to tell at most retail stores because they are all lumped together and stores (at least in my area) seem to have been shipped a *lot* of product (six weeks after the lines came out, you can still pretty much get any figure from Clone Wars line 1, the first two Legacy lines, and the Saga Legends first line; in fact I've seen first day of issue stickers loitering around even this week). Did Hasbro release too much product at once, and has that helped or hurt the Clone Wars line, do you think (I know there's intended support through next year, but then there was for Indiana Jones too and that line has *tanked* at retail)?
[snip]
I'm beginning to wonder if (what I perceive to be) a growing (and wholly asinine) aversion to the prequels isn't the cause. [snip] People are going to like what appeals to them. But it really feels like people are closing their eyes -- and minds -- to prequel stuff merely because it is prequel stuff, which to me seems, well, kind of stupid. SW is a BIG playground now and we all have areas that don't really grab us (I find most of the novels are pretty bad personally), so maybe this is just the whining of someone who thinks he's seeing a backlash against a part of SW lore he really likes (for the record, I really enjoyed Clone Wars and have seen it twice, can't wait for the show).
--Ed
The anti-prequel question is a bit of a doozy. I'm a big believer that most franchises have a sort of magical property about them that causes the real feelings toward one story to be transferred to a later installment. For example, the box office success of The Matrix and Pirates of the Caribbean sequels all came from the first strong film. Ditto the merchandise-- the reason POTC2 had such great toys and strong purchases were because of the love for the first picture. In this case, a lot of people hated the prequels but stuck out the movies-- and now that the story of the movies is over, a lot of the indifference or general distaste of the Old Republic is being fueled into The Clone Wars. Which, as far as I can tell, isn't entirely fair given that the cartoony movie didn't strike me as quite as indulgent as parts of the prequels.
I've seen no evidence that Star Wars toys are hurting in any way. LEGO and Hasbro products seem to be doing just fine, but the edition sizes on recent Gentle Giant and Sideshow items (really, over the past year) lead me to wonder what the heck is going on there. It's entirely possible that the success of Star Wars is largely driven by kids, because, let's face it, all we collectors do is complain. We don't typically go on forums and say things like "this new C-3PO figure is entirely wonderful!" And those prequel toys are selling to somebody.
Regarding product availability, what we're seeing here is fairly normal for a "launch." In 1999, with the exception of Darth Maul, those initial Episode I figures were widely available. Ditto 2002's Episode II line's first wave, and much of the first few waves of Episode III in 2005. Sure, some figures were popular, but a very short toy run could usually yield the entire first couple of dozen figures with limited problems. It would seem that the first day of issue stickers-- a really bad piece of marketing in light of the hundreds of dollars of new product, especially given that a sticker does not a "first day of issue" make-- continue to trickle in. I don't know if you pay attention to assortment breakdowns, but no single case has more than 4 first day sticker figures in it. So if anything, there's a certain level of BS/marketing to it, but those terms tend to be pretty swappable. (And I say this as someone in marketing.)
Star Wars was and continues to be a largely kid-driven franchise. It's just that kids grow up-- the reason it's so big today is that the children of what may be referred to as Generation X grew up and came back to it. It's hard to tell what today's kids are going to do, but it's entirely possible they'll grow out of Star Wars (like so many of us did from 1985-1991) and come back some day. Of course, Star Wars went away once, and it hasn't yet done so again. The toy line is consistently successful, the sheer quantity of product each year is gargantuan, and complain as they do, collectors still line up to buy.
I can't say I blame fans for hating on the prequels, or even the TV show, as long as they took the time to see it. The strangest reactions I've seen to the new Clone Wars project are something like this: "Lucas sold out. I'm not going to watch this cartoon crap, I'm just going to buy the toys."
...I'm a firm believer that there's a very large part of the fan base which will buy absolutely anything Hasbro cranks out, without exceptions. This isn't a huge number, but the number that'll buy every basic action figure-- I believe-- is pretty big. Backlash or no, we're in a hobby which survived Hurricane Episode I, several off-years, and countless competitors. No licensed movie figure line has lasted forever, but history shows that a lot of brands will go on even if the fans shift. Someone's going to buy this stuff no matter what we think.
2. How long do you think Hasbro will do the build-a-droid pack Ins? It seems as though continuing a program like that would force people to buy the whole wave, Right? I'm still debating whether it's worth it. I don't know how many times they can get me to buy repacks or repaints of figures i already have. Plus I'm not sure i want to collect figures from comics and other sources besides the movies and TV shows
I was also wondering since Hasbro has stated in recent Q&A's that the animated and legacy figures are going to remain separate (which is fine by me!) Do you think this will spawn 2 types of collectors.
How long before people stop belly-aching about the stylized look of the animated figures? Clone Wars is here to stay and has a long way to go before it ends right? With the release of the cartoon network preview the other night I'm baffled at the lack of excitement for this huge venture Lucusfilm and Hasbro are about to take us all on? I'm Excited are You?
--Chad
Right now the build-a-droid line looks like it's going to have a healthy 12-18 months of production, so right now I'd be surprised if it doesn't last until near the end of 2009. Hasbro might change this depending on sales and new cost factors, but if history tells us anything is that Hasbro won't keep it around forever.
While the Animation and Real/Other lines are separate, I don't know if it will split the collector base too much. I see a lot of people break down and buy into the toon figures because they want to buy something and no new "movie" figures are available, or because they heard some figures like R2-D2 are awesome. (He is, by the by.) As long as Hasbro keeps cartoon characters out of the realistic line, there's a very good chance both could thrive or at the very least co-exist for a while. Collectors seemingly embraced the cartoon line, with only 8 figures out there they seem to be doing just fine.
As far as complaining goes, never. A lot of collectors are pretty focused and anything that isn't what they love is going to be the target of much malice. You'll see the same thing in competing home video formats, video game consoles, and anything else that fans could argue over. Fan interest seems to be a little tepid, but that might have to do with expectations or people going into this not wanting to like it. I'm just a curious fan-- I'll watch something even if (or especially if) someone tells me it's bad. I just finally saw Star Trek Nemesis, for example. It's entirely possible fans will warm up to the show, but I'd be lying if I said I was crazy about the two separate lines-- I'd personally rather just see one, even if it meant shelving the classic movie figures for a while. Do we really need to have cartoony and real clones on the pegs next to one another?
...but to answer your question, I'm all about the TV show. It's a great medium, even if its golden age is behind us, and seeing the saga on TV could be really fun. And if an episode sucks, it's only going to be another 7 days until the next one. As someone who has watched many episodes of Star Trek, I can say that I wouldn't get your hopes too high-- even a beloved franchise can have multiple rotten episodes. That's no reason to knock the entire series, but it is worth mentioning that a 10-20% suck rate shouldn't be a big surprise on a good weekly sci-fi television program. especially if it skews young. (Plus we've had dozens of great [and awful] comics, games, and novels, so I'm expecting a mostly good mixed bag here.)
3. Also, some of the figures I have said first day of issue with the blue foil star wars logo. Will these be rarer than the non foil logo ones? Does it matter?
--Eddie
The intent of those "First Day of Issue" stickers on the first 8 The Clone Wars and first 12 The Legacy Collection figures were to drive sales and create a little extra buzz on an already buzzworthy line. It seems that under 20% of the production of each figure so far has the label, and it might be closer to 10% or less. The real question, which you asked, is if it matters-- I'd say probably not. Typically these "Ultimate Galactic Hunt"-style chase figures do well during slower seasons, but in the midst of a big push, they get lost in the shuffle. Many fans just don't care, and history shows us that this sort of thing doesn't generally have a lot of lasting interest with fans. By the time the next few waves hit, these will likely be forgotten.
If you think they're cool, I'd suggest getting a set. If I was on a budget and I could only pick one or the other, I'd skip the first days so I would be able to have a uniform looking packaged collection-- I'd want a uniform look, but that's me. Since it's just another figure with a sticker on it, it's a great way for the manufacturer to convince you to buy the same product again with minimal changes.
4. I recently picked up the Durge/ Anakin Comic 2 pack and was initially impressed by the Durge figure (not sure why). It sparked in me a desire to go back and pick up the other incarnations of Durge as I have, until the last year or two, been strictly an OT figure collector. I bought the original Clone Wars carded Durge as well as the Deluxe Durge with bike. I haven't had the opportunity to get a good look at the Deluxe (it hasn't arrived yet), but today I received the single carded figure and rushed to do a side-by-side comparison of the two (old and new) versions. At first I thought that the new version borrowed parts from the older version since some of the basic features are pretty similar. I was disappointed by this until I took a closer look and realized that the new version is not only all-new but, sculpt-wise (IMO) not as detailed as the original. The original has more paint apps and added details that the newer Durge is lacking. The 08 Durge is pretty plain in comparison and missing some of the oomph that the older one brings to the table. Sure, the newer figure has some more articulation (although there are no knee joints) but I am a bit surprised at how much cruder the newer version looks compared to the older Durge. I am not an EU guy and have therefore only seen the character in the Cartoon Network Clone Wars series as well as the comic book packaged with the 08 figure. Still, it just seems like the older figure packs a better punch. Is the new one more accurate in all of its ...blandness? Where does the Deluxe figure rate compared to the other two? Your thoughts?
--Dan
The deluxe Durge with his bike is my overall favorite-- best helmet, best articulation, and best accessories. He also holds together nicely. The 2003 basic figure has this weird fleshy patch on his arm, likely meant to be his arm, which doesn't really mesh with the character's appearances in the various comics and cartoons too well. The 2008 figure looks a lot like the 2003 one, but with less detail, a smaller head, and... well, it just doesn't sing. And it should.
Accuracy is tough to read. The character looks different in each incarnation, as artists take liberties with the design. I'd suggest checking out some Internet pages on the character for reference, or if you really don't follow the comics, just pick your favorite. I'm willing to give a little in terms of detail if it's more fun as a toy, which is why I think the deluxe model is the best.
I would agree that the new one is cruder, and it certainly needs something to make it better. Fanboys and girls, hold on to your 2003 figures if you got 'em.
5. So what do you suppose is the deal with [these guys from Asia selling figures by the lot on eBay]? I know you've obliquely
referenced back-door factory sources for toys before, but I'm eager to
talk frankly. I'm not interested in tossing around accusations or
anything, I just think there may be a lot of conversation worthy
information implied by these auctions. I kinda feel like this guy is
getting some sort of unofficial factory output - most likely "off hours"
production runs.
Might it be possible to guess mold usage from such a seller's available
stock?
--John
At one point it seemed pretty telling that these individuals were picking up items from current production runs, but over the years it has been all over the place. They have sold G.I. Joes which never saw an official release, Star Wars figures from several years ago, and even upcoming items. There's no obvious pattern to the items being sold versus what will or won't come out, as these sellers have even sold kitbashed figures of their own designs which were never produced by Hasbro proper.
I honestly don't know what the deal is with them, but I'm wagering a guess that they're done in the off-hours from real Hasbro molds. That, or surplus product made for any of a variety of purposes, such as safety tests or items which were never completed. (For example, there have been cases of toy companies making too much product and not enough boxes, and those toys will end up going somewhere or being ordered destroyed-- and it's possible employees take them rather than have them ground up.)
I know Hasbro's official stance is "it's stolen property" most of the time when prototypes or anything that looks like it came from a factory is concerned, but that simply can't be true. Employees do get this stuff and sometimes sell it off. And if a factory sends Hasbro every piece it ordered and cranks out a few hundred extra for one reason or another, there's definitely some intellectual property rights issues here, but there's no guarantee it's genuinely "stolen" product. It's hard to get information out of these sellers for a variety of reasons, especially given there's often a bit of a language barrier in many cases.
Right now, I'd look at them as merely being interesting to watch for potential new unannounced products or shots at items I've missed-- seeing older molds show up for auction doesn't necessarily mean anything, for all I know someone bought a huge wholesale lot of figures, opened them, and is now selling them at a premium price as an army. (I've seen people pay more per-figure for a lot of unpackaged clones than they would for just one single packaged figure on a regular basis.) I wish I could say that there's something you can read into from the figures they sell beyond the obvious, but right now, I would be unable to see any consistent patterns out of these sellers' inventories.
FIN
Last week was pretty miserable-- thanks for all the kind words, by the way-- but I did manage to stumble on the Ewoks and Droids cartoon DVDs as a mall in Phoenix. It really is a shame these are essentially out of circulation, even though they are oddly edited together with stock footage from other episodes appearing in strange places. No sign yet of the live-action Ewok DVDs any more... but I'm still looking.
You may have seen my post earlier in the week regarding my initial impressions of the Toys "R" Us exclusive Lars Homestead set. My opinions on the topic of its value haven't changed much, but it is fun to mess with it. It's just ridiculously overpriced and has a much lower production quality than I've come to expect from Hasbro which, I suppose, may be my own fault. These little figures aren't all perfect, but I've never seen plastic this flimsy used on any of what I considered to be a collector-grade toy line. Having bought the cardboard sets, which I thought were fine, I found this to be more than a little disappointing. However, I have kept it within arm's reach while at home for a while and have been messing with it here and there. So don't not buy it just because I think it's potentially the worst value of the year outside the $13-$15 individually carded exclusive figures-- you might have fun with it. Just be careful, it's fragile.
I'd also like to add that I can't put down the Tobbi Dala and Fenn Shysa figures. These things are pretty amazingly great for repaints with new heads. That, and they also beg for their own vehicle(s), so here's hoping Hasbro cranks out some fun, angular, 1980s-style space ships with two seats in them. Or three. (And also, I'd like to see a Boba Fett based on the art from those particular issues...)
Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:04 AM 0 comments
Labels: QandA
Star Wars Legacy Comic Packs Wave 2 Impressions
Friday, August 29, 2008
They'll all be in Figure of the Day soon, but I just got the rest of Wave 2 of the new comic packs. It seems Hasbro is putting more effort into this sub-line than the basic figures in 2008, as it's loaded with clever repaints, excellent retools, and brand new figures on par with your average basic action figure.
Star Wars #68 with Fenn Shysa and Dengar
Not one to rest on their molds, Hasbro took the 2008 Evolutions Jango Fett and gave him a new head. The 2003 Dengar was redecorated as well. As a fairly shameless fanboy for Marvel's Star Wars, I like this set a lot. The weirdly colored Dengar looks like a bootleg, and Fenn... well, I wish I liked Fenn more as a toy. Jango's oddly hanging holsters don't look good here, and Fenn's head feels small. His armor looks great though, very much a product of the 1980s. There are no real surprises in accessories or articulation.
Star Wars #69 with Tobbi Dala and Princess Leia
We have a winner! Princess Leia isn't the winner, but she's good-- it's a 1998 mold with a newly sculpted belt and improved paint. She fits right in witht he comic art, being almost entirely white. The holster isn't very good in that it's squished under her vest, which will also squish her blaster if it is held inside. Also, her right hand is warped and if you remove the rubber band, she may drop the gun. Tobbi Dala is a pile of awesome. Great metallic coloring, wonderful pose, and it's based on the 2008 Evolutions Boba Fett. The figure's poses remind me of the various hip-hop Mandalorians at comic conventions and the bright coloring is very retro. You simply must buy this set.
Star Wars Legacy #2 with Darth Talon and Cade Skywalker
Both are all-new molds. Cade doesn't include a lightsaber (no matter what the art or insert tray may say), but Talon does. Cade is super articulated, has his belt packaged on him backwards, and includes his trademark customized special rifle. His head is also a little funky, but the costume is great. Talon is almost super-articulated (no elbows), but is otherwise wonderful. Her lightsaber is a little rubbery, but she's unique enough to warrant a purchase. The set is a must-buy for fans of the Legacy comics.
Star Wars Legacy #6 with Antares Draco and Ganner Krieg
Both share a body, but it's an all-new body. Pros: wonderful paint, great soft goods, super articulation, good poses. Cons: hoods don't stay up well, lightsabers can't be pegged to belts, clearish white blades look goofy. Ganner's head is pretty good, but Antares is quite striking-- it almost looks like it can come to life and speak to you. Again, this is a must-buy for fans of the series. Draco won't let you down.
As a Star Wars comic fan, I'd rate the entire wave a must-buy... but you likely are not a fan of both comics from 1981 and 2008. As such, you might be put off by the oddly colored Marvel characters, or the distant future generations of Legacy. It's hard to identify a true favorite, but out of this wave I'd say the true highlights are Tobbi Dala and Cade Skywalker. If either character appeals to you on some level, buy the figures.
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:22 AM 0 comments
Labels: Action Figures, Comic Packs, Hasbro, The Legacy Collection
Q&A: Unleash Your Questions!
Monday, August 25, 2008
1. Is the Darth Vader with the 2 part helmet a totally new sculpt or just the head portion? Also will the build a droid astromech dome part that he comes with be included with any other figures later on?
--Steve
Basically, it's just a new helmet. The head is molded in the fleshy color rather than painted, and the helmet is now a two-piece sculpted helmet. He comes with the head and foot of R7-Z0, and according to Hasbro's comments on the line will not likely see release elsewhere. So if you want a complete R7-Z0, and you do, choke it up and buy.
2. Don't you think it's about time that Hasbro (or the retailer responsible) announces where we can get that long overdue Force Unleashed Stormtrooper exclusive figure? The game is due to be released in just under a month from now. You'd think that whoever wants us to spend our money in their stores to get the game and exclusive figure would want to make it that much easier on us?
--GalacticHunter
You'd think so, but Hasbro (for some reason or another) keeps a lot of exclusives under wraps until after their release, or never really promotes them at all. This seems to be one of them. It's a GameStop pre-order bonus, but there has yet to be any official announcement despite people actually being given the figure in Canada already. (On that note, does anyone in Canada want to make a very lopsided trade in your favor if you have one or two or three of these?) Generally the delay has to do with the retailer announcing the exclusive on their own, but they rarely do this-- so in this case, it just didn't happen. Like the entire Hasbro Star Tours line.
I did some asking around, but didn't ask if the source would mind me divulging it. So I do have a confirmation from an official source that it will indeed be a GameStop exclusive in the USA, but with an asterisk-- the source didn't say or know how GameStop will distribute it. So I called GameStop to ask, and they answer my questions like I'm insane. So you may wish to pre-order the game, or if you have a friend who works there, ask them and tell me what they tell you. I'm a little shocked they don't know about it if it's a pre-order bonus-- for all I know they'll put it in the stores for $15 because shmucks like me will probably buy it.
It really is obnoxious. As a person who loves toys and video games, you'd think they'd want to attract my business, but no. (Say, does anyone have access to these from Canada and want to get a bunch of Legacy/Clone Wars stuff in a trade wildly unfair in your favor? Email me.)
3. So now that we have an awesome Lancer Droid and an equally awesome Obi-Wan in Clone Armor complete with nifty lances, do you think we might see a battle pack of those two and maybe Durge as well with their swoops?
--Ted
Yes. As in, yes, I think so. I can't say when, of course, but it's a pretty safe bet that this is going to happen at some point in the future. Durge on his Swoop is already out there, and I doubt Hasbro would do more than reissue it. As such, you might want to go ahead and track it down as it is essentially super-articulated (or close enough) and a nice little toy for the money. Although it too has some stability problems... which seems to be a trend these days.
4. Seeing as how we might get a "medical frigate" Luke, it made me think of question I wanted answered since the first time I saw Empire. Vader obviously cuts Luke's hand off at the wrist, so why on the medical frigate does 2-1B replace his forearm as well? Not a toy question, but I thought you might know.
--Chris
Because it looks cooler. I think it's purely so, visually, it was more striking. Subtlety doesn't usually pay off as special effects are concerned, so a lot of things-- like the Carbonite block, for example-- are exaggerated to give it a little more emotion and a little more zing. And, as you can see, it worked.
From the perspective of the story? Well, it's possible they had to goof with his arm a little to get it to function, I suppose. Like if you want a tire on something, you can't just slap a tire on it-- you need to put an axle in there too, and other bits and pieces to allow it to spin properly. Perhaps the assembly needed to be implanted in his arm to make the hand work. But I think mostly it was just the effects department wanting something that, visually, said it all.
5. I usually don't worry about finding non-exclusive figures at retail because I know they will show up eventually but I am starting to get a bad feeling about the Indiana Jones line. All of the stores near me have tons and tons of waves 1 & 2 and seem to be getting more and more of those waves in with no sign of The Last Crusade figures.
How is this line selling (to me it seems very poorly)? I know they have a few more waves lined up but I am beginning to wonder if we're ever going to see those. :(
--Keith
As far as I can tell, Indiana Jones is doing acceptably. It's not doing fantastic business, but people are somewhat interested and the bulk of the interest has certainly faded with the release of the new film. If anything, the line might have done better had it started before the new flick. From where I sit, it seems so much of the stuff is clogging up shelves that it's next to impossible to see anything new, and I found Sean Connery weeks after the rest of the world seemed to. (Well, the wave as a whole-- none of it seems to be making it to shelves.)
It seems that the figures are far enough along that it'll go for a little while longer. The Indiana Jones selling season should last until, at the very least, December or January as people are going to get the DVD and then watch the DVD and then go "man, I'd like a figure of that." So I'd be shocked to not see the line widely available during 2008. But 2009? That's harder to say-- it doesn't seem like the line has a lot of figures that are worth making, and to expect it to have more than 2-3 years worth of life seems... unlikely. But you never know, here we are with Star Wars roughly 1,500 figures later.
FIN
Ah, the post-movie season. The big event has come and gone, and apparently nobody cared-- yet all the figures seem to be selling just fine, which is... uh... kinda freaky. Who knew? I'd be curious to see if Hasbro or LucasFilm made a bigger profit in August 2008.
Now we're moving in to Fall, which I think means this may be one of the most unpleasant years in history for our collective wallets. First, we've got a huge July launch. Then, we've got exclusives and the stuff we missed from the July launch in August, plus another wave of basic figures. And in September, it's going to be a parade of exclusives plus a new video game, with more exclusives pretty much every month from here on out. So instead of giving up something for Lent, I think I'm going to have to give up Transformers and Joes for Q4. And probably beyond if this keeps up, it's just too nutty.
Oh, and did you all check out the Force Unleashed demo? Maybe it's been too long since I played a Star Wars game on a modern-gen console that I genuinely liked, but this seems to be really fantastic. It's weird to be in a position where I've had a dozen figures from a game for almost a half of a year and now I'm eager to see just what their deal is. The graphics are great, the voice acting is OK, and the story seems to be... I'm not sure. Darth Vader's errand boy goes on a fan service parade and kills things? Sounds good to me! I like the fact that the demo is almost exclusively original trilogy stuff, or at least I can appreciate it. (Odds are that's where the money is.) It'll be fun to see how the final product turns out, and here's to there not being another maddening level like Gall from Shadows of the Empire. Speaking of which, I wonder if and/or when we're going to see that ported to the downloadable game services on modern generation consoles. Ah well.
Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!
Posted byAdam16bit at 1:08 AM 0 comments
Labels: QandA
Toys "R" Us Star Wars Galactic Heroes Exclusives Hitting
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Are you looking for the latest Galactic Heroes sets? We spotted one of the two at a Los Angeles Toys "R" Us today, meaning we can vouch for the Kashyyyk set (with Tarfful, Yoda, and some clones with an AT-RT) being out now. The Rancor Pit is also very likely out, we just can't vouch for it. Each set is $24.99.
Posted byAdam16bit at 10:47 PM 0 comments
Labels: Exclusives, Galactic Heroes, Toys "R" Us
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Xbox Achievements Revealed
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Game site Xbox360Achievements.Org posted a full list of achievements for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Curious what they may be? Click through!
Posted byAdam16bit at 5:56 PM 0 comments
Labels: Video Games
Star Wars Trilogies DVD Sets Coming?
Repackaged DVDs are apparently going to join repackaged action figures on the shelves, if the post at T-bone's Star Wars Universe is right. The site has an illustration for two new trilogy boxed sets featuring the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. At this time there is no indication that any new content will be made available, and given all six movies can be purchased today, one wonders why yet another repackaging will happen without new content. Granted, it's nice to not want to rebuy the movies again.
Posted byAdam16bit at 10:02 AM 0 comments
Labels: DVD
Infinities Surprise: White Darth Vader Figure has New Neck
This mold has been used for the 2004 Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Darth Vader, the 2006-2007 Return of the Jedi Tin Darth Vader, the 2006 Imperial Shuttle Pack-In Vader, the 2008 Assault on Kashyyyk Battle Pack Darth Vader... I could go on.
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:23 AM 0 comments
Labels: Action Figures, Hasbro, The Legacy Collection
Open Letter to LucasArts
Friday, August 22, 2008
Dear LucasArts,
I have recently downloaded and played through your demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and am somewhat upset. Over the past decade, we had a deal: you make bad games tied in to the Star Wars saga, and I won't buy them. It worked out really well, and saved me hundreds of dollars which went toward other fun purchases. And now, you make something decent.
Don't get me wrong, we had some good times. The LEGO games? Sure. X-Wing? Absolutely. I even bought all of the games from the 8- and 16-bit generations, quality be damned, and played through Rebel Assault II on the PlayStation back when that sort of thing was considered to be largely impressive. And now you go and release something with polish that's fun to look at and to play? Seriously, what gives, LucasArts?
I've got toys to write about. I simply can't be bothered to spend tens of hours with high-quality software like this. Please do something about it, as it's going to be much harder to make fun of the average licensed Star Wars title if resources and talent go into them and make them good from here on out.
Your pal,
Adam Pawlus
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Editorials, LucasArts, Video Games
Star Wars LEGO 2009
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Want to see some 2009 previews? Of course you do. Flickr user Corran101 added several shots, as did a generous soul at Brickshelf. Check out the return of pirates (!), a Clone Shuttle (!!), and some classic 1930s cars in a new Temple of Doom set (!!!).
Posted byAdam16bit at 10:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: LEGO
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Demo Available Now
Good news, everyone! LucasArts' demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is up and ready to download on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. (Heck, I'm downloading it now.) It's about 900 megabytes, so prepare for a bit of a wait, but I hear it's excellent.
Posted byAdam16bit at 10:51 PM 0 comments
Labels: Video Games
Star Wars Action Figures. Collect all 92!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
File under "Bad Ideas."
The slogan was updated constantly and emblazoned on nearly every Kenner Star Wars product for the better part of a decade. Understanding fans before they knew what was going on, the Ohio-based toy giant encouraged fans to collect them all, and as they grew up and got jobs, a lot of them did exactly that. After all, 92 figures on the final figure cardbacks in 1985, plus a few others which weren't shown, wasn't going to be cheap.
Flash forward to 2008 and Hasbro, after buying Kenner, has done a pretty good job updating the entire line. There's a mix of figure which haven't been made yet, and were made a little inaccurately in the original line. Now that we're almost done updating the figures in name, how about accurately representing them as their 1978-1985 plastic selves-- correct or otherwise?
Make way for a real Vintage collection of modern figures! After the McQuarrie Concept line, I can't think of a better line-within-a-line to appeal to old-school original trilogy fans!
Yak Face
The 1998 figure, while arguably an improvement over the supremely rare original, wears a distinctive and different costume. The original Kenner release didn't have the long duster, and the costume coloring was a little different. Since there hasn't been a Yak Face for sale since 1998, why not go retro next time?
R2-D2 (plain, with Sensorscope, with Pop-up Lightsaber)
The original had a body which was created with a big sticker, a wildly inaccurate head, and a height deficiency. The label wouldn't really look good with the rest of the line, but it might be fun to see Hasbro engineers retool a 21st-century take on the original R2-D2 head on a modern body. The giant saucer eye may have been the stuff a good Hungarian bootleg would be based on, but it's also an iconic part of how an entire generation of kids played with the droid. It's also an excuse to do another R2-D2 without lava reflection paint or ash stains or some other minor deco variant.
Han Solo (Carbonite)
While there have indeed been multiple Han Solo figures with the big metal ice block, none have been made in clear brown plastic. None have been molded with his hands at his sides, either. Since a new mold would be needed to make a Kenner-style block (plus it's quite inaccurate), it seems unlikely Hasbro would want to attempt this design-- but hey, why not? Han sells, and the Carbonite has been out of circulation since 2006. This would be a supremely fun Vintage figure!
Warok (Ewok)
To date, this figure has not been done in any modern capacity.
Imperial Dignitary (Sim Aloo)
Again, the figure has not been done in any modern toy line.
Barada (Kithaba)
Supposedly on the short list from Hasbro, the vintage 1984 figure named "Barada" has been since renamed "Kithaba." He's distinctive from the modern Barada figures because he has a slightly different torso and red pants-- this one could be an easy redeco of Barada, although it might be preferable to see a post-Kenner design of the character as a figure.
Lumat (Ewok)
Initially planned to be released in 2007, apparently Hasbro got cold feet and repainted (and renamed) the figure to "Graak." As such, a satisfactory vintage-style Lumat figure is as simple as repainting an existing mold.
Bib Fortuna
After a few tries, Hasbro nailed the movie version of this character-- but the odd looking Kenner original (and the prototype) haven't been done yet. While the movie character had a black robe, the original had a brown robe, and a prototype had a dark red robe. What's more he was armed with a staff which, to date, seems to have originated with Kenner's designers. (Sideshow remade it for their 12-inch figure recently.) As such, there's another opportunity to do another figure to look more like the Kenner original, but even I doubt they'd consider this one.
Emperor's Royal Guard
While there have been three figures of the movie guard in the modern line, none replicated the elegance of the original. The figure could stand guard, hold a large force pike, and sported a cloth robe. It's so simple, and yet we're not quite there yet-- but we came close in 2005 with the Revenge of the Sith figure. Were Hasbro to retool the arms and give him a new weapon, they could make an update of the Kenner orignal (with accessory) and a movie-perfect version with a shorter pike in one easy release.
Nikto
The modern-era figure from 1999 doesn't match the 1983 original at all. An entirely new sculpt may not be required, but really all that's potentially salvageable is the head. They may as well go for broke and start from scratch here.
Luke Skywalker (Hoth Gear)
Even though there hasn't been an ultimate super-articulated version of the movie version of the costume, the suprisingly different Kenner figure from 1982 hasn't been touched in the modern line yet. The perfect companion to your blue costume Hoth Han Solo figures, a new Kenner version would have dark goggles, dark brown boots, and a red scarf around his hat and neck. Retro-tastic!
Bespin Security Guard (Black, Arguably Asian)
While an acceptable Bespin Guard was released in 2001, it didn't look a thing like the original. It didn't have a moustache, and it wasn't black. It also didn't have his jacket closed. For this reason, there's not one but two opportunities to do old-fashioned versions of this guard, both of which could be made from a single mold except for the head. Two for one here, Hasbro!
Darth Vader (and the same comments apply to Obi-Wan Kenobi)
While seemingly every possible variation on Darth Vader has been done, there's one action feature which has never been touched on-- the telescoping lightsaber built in to the arm. All that would be required here for a "Kenner" style release would be a new arm with a lightsaber inside and, if they were feeling saucy, the strange over-the-shoulders cape. Which is really closer to being a floor-length vest with something resembling a hood. Either way, it's another way to sell Darth Vader and cash in on that oh-so-delicious 1978 Kenner nostalgia all at once.
TIE Fighter Pilot
Not only has Hasbro still not yet delivered a super-articulated version of the pilot, the 1982 Kenner orignal really doesn't look anything like the movie aside from the fact that it was black. It features a misshapen helmet design, black gloves, little bits and pieces on his costume, and he was pretty stocky. When every possible version of the TIE Pilot from the movies has been exhausted-- which, I should add, it hasn't yet been-- here's another way to redo the classic.
Greedo
While sales of the Vintage figure in 2006 may have squashed any hope for a new version, the 1979 release had a strange green jumpsuit with big green boots. The head could be reused, as could the hands and maybe bits of the limbs. A whole new torso might be worth a shot in an attempt to create the Kenner original.
Snaggletooth
Like Greedo, it seems Kenner designed much of the costume on their own. His red costume seems only to share the color and the belt with an on-screen counterpart, and his head qualified as close enough. It's time for Kenner to go back to the well and recreate the barefoot, gloveless, grey-furred shorty from the bar.
Boba Fett
The no-brainer of the year! With different colored right and left gauntlets, a unique jetpack, no cape, and a blue body suit, this might be the best possible candidate for Kenner-ization. The original figure was fairly off-model from the final film figure, and the 12-inch Kenner figure from the same time was also pretty unique. Heck, there's two versions right here.
Imperial Officer
Despite there being dozens of Imperial Officer figures, none of them replicated the look of the 1980s original with its pressed uniform, gloves, and hat. Hasbro could easily recolor Moff Jerjerrod to make a figure that's close enough, and that's what they're doing in late 2008. But will it be enough? (Probably.)
Hoth Rebel Solier
Simply put, none of the modern ones have been great. Six points of articulation, tops, and height problems are part of a large list of grievances. After the perfect movie-authentic version of the figure comes to be, Hasbro might want to do a version with a brown parka like the original. The fans would appreciate it.
Rebel Commander
To go with the soldiers, a new commander might be nice. Essentially Major Derlin with a dark moustache and a one-color costume, this should be an easy figure to recreate as a repaint of Major Derlin. Heck, the 2007 Target exclusive rerelease is quite close as it is.
Death Squad Commander/Star Destroyer Commander
Despite being one of the original 12 figures, he's always getting the short end of the figure stick. A good version was released in 2007, but it had a black jumpsuit-- Kenner's figure was clearly grey. This could be either a simple recolor, or something a little more creative. The 2007 figure's hat fits perfectly on Officer Cass, which could mean Hasbro could crank this one out with little to no effort.
FX-7
The 1980s version and the 2001 version are so different it really isn't funny. While some of the original Kenner figures are unique due to misinformation or conscious choices in style, this one seems to be chalked up to the technology of 1980s toys not being up to snuff. Were Hasbro so inclined, they certainly could make one with fewer arms and a slightly different head like this original release. "Could" being the key word-- it's a big step back, so it probably would never happen.
Walrus Man
While we've received several Ponda Baba figures since 1997, all were based on the same basic mold, and none of them were as weird as the original from 1979. Green skin, swim fins, a blue rubber diver suit, and some sort of an orange garment make this another twisted parody of the real deal. Were this sold in eastern Europe today, it would probably be viewed as an outrageously goofy bootleg, but because it was a Kenner original, it actually has a limited amount of respect from fans. By reusing some G.I. Joe parts, Hasbro could easily crank out the brightly colored version for the 21st century collector.
Hammerhead
Much like Walrus Man and their Cantina pals, ol' Hammerhead looks very little like his movie cousin outside his head and skin color. While the Kenner original was much thinner than the modern figures, Hasbro could easily make the version in the blue garment without too much trouble-- just take and modify the 1997 mold by giving him a new body and new coloring. Presto-- classic Kenner Hammerhead!
Jawa
Two words: cloth robes. The original figure was pretty cool, but covered by a single cloth garment which rendered all the work of the sculptors invisible. Hasbro could go for a double-dip here, including the original plastic cape as well, appealing to figure fans in a whole new (and goofy) way. However, the 2007 version has a brown jacket/vest that may be close enough to the plastic cape to count for even the most critical Kenner fans.
Yoda
The 2004 Vintage release was close, but no cigar. Where's the big goofy grin, the knobby belt, and the neon orange snake? Some new cloth pieces and revised accessories could make this one a reality lickety-split. And I can't imagine Kenner turning down another Yoda variation.
Power Droid
While similar to the 1997 version, the 1979 release had a blue body and a lot more color. There's no reason Hasbro couldn't replicate the original Power Droid just by using the original mold and some paint. It's so easy, it's almost frightening that it didn't come out with a Jawa four years ago.
BONUS ROUND: Kenner Accessories!
A lot of figures have been released, but lack the unique, original, and/or wacky accessories of the originals. While some have found their way in other figure releases (like the grey Biker Scout pistol), others have never seen a modern update. Here's a quick list of what would still be fun to see.
Paploo's staff
Imperial Gunner's gun (also A-Wing Pilot, Endor Leia, etc.)
Bib Fortuna's staff
Emperor's Royal Guard's staff
Boushh's rifle (with handle)
Squid Head's grey blaster
Nien Nunb's block black blaster
Ree-Yees' gold rifle
2-1B's sharp grey probe
Bossk's gun
Admiral Ackbar's staff
Luke Skywalker's yellow lighsabers
So there you have it! Appealing to old toy collectors has never been easier-- just market the mistakes from the old days. I'm only partially kidding here-- I really do think there's a market for several of these figures, and if there was a burst on the packaging boasting "ORIGINAL KENNER-STYLE WEAPONS!" I'd be excited enough to pay up for some new versions of old figures.
...if any of these happen, well, please accept my apologies or a sarcastic "You're welcome!" in advance. As you can see, there really is no end to the ways Hasbro can go back to the well just for the original trilogy. And if they go back to the well to update barely adequate modern figures like Paploo, Nien Nunb, and so forth, this could go on forever.
Posted byAdam16bit at 11:59 PM 0 comments
Labels: Action Figures, Editorials, Hasbro, Kenner
The Force Unleashed Demo Coming This Week
Monday, August 18, 2008
Hey, here's some good news! Even though the full title won't be out until September, Lucasarts is going to give fans a playable demo of its Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game this week. So far, they have confirmed demos for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, both of which should be available Thursday, August 21.
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: Video Games
Q&A: We Came, We Saw, We Cloned
1. In anticipating of the [recent] Clone Wars release, I do not see much marketing geared towards informing general audiences (i.e. non-SW fans) of Lucas' latest efforts-what gives? Granted I do not watch much television, but I would have expected to see more hype with the movie less than two weeks away. Am I a victim of my own aversion to non-interactive mass media or am I on to something here?
--Steve
I think they're doing exactly what they want to do... from a certain point of view. The marketing machine has been cranked up to fairly under-the-radar levels, but the question is what exactly are we promoting here? That, I'm not so sure of. The film managed to boost the living daylights out of toy sales, so that was a decent success. I assume. It could just as easily have been that the market was starved for so long.
A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about the lack of posters and billboards, and I'd say there's two possibilities. One, that Lucasfilm has indeed dropped the ball and underpromoted this film. (Especially in light of this weekend's box office numbers.) Remember that this "movie" is actually just a glorified television pilot-- the original plan was to air a Clone Wars TV series, and the movie was crafted as a way to kick it off. So what I think may be going on here is that they're probably using the film to promote the television series, and the film itself doesn't necessarily need to make a splash (but anything it does make is gravy) and if it promotes the toys and awareness of the TV show and licensed merchandise, all the better. Lucas' camp seemed less concerned about their DVD trilogy releases, for example, than they were about their Lucasarts game sales. It's also possible it was a huge flop. As I do not sit in the Lucasfilm marketing meetings, it's tough to say-- if the movie really did only cost $10 million to make, the limited marketing and $15 box office gross is probably a good place to be.
If anything it seems like all the "movie without a movie" campaigns we've seen like Clone Wars (2003), Shadows of the Empire (1996), and the aborted Jedi Quest have proven is that you can make a big splash in sales, but you need a movie to make a huge splash. If I'm right, that means The Clone Wars doesn't need marketing, it is the marketing for the entire Star Wars brand in 2008 and 2009.
As far as the actual marketing-for-the-movie goes, I've seen a fair amount of PR-- which is marketing, but free, and that you get someone else to do for you-- surrounding the toy launch. Which generally gets the news to talk up the movie, but that doesn't seem to be the case this time. I've also seen a few TV spots and a very limited poster campaign here in Los Angeles. (Like, I've seen one poster in one mall.)
It's strange to see a Star Wars movie greeted by such total indifference. If you want an idea how little people care, take this into consideration-- Star Trek Nemesis had an $18.5 million opening. That's right-- there's more Trek fans out there who will support their favorite franchise than there are Star Wars fans. This is further driven home by the fact that Nemesis' box office was in 2002 dollars.
2. My question, briefly; have you discovered any way to reliably make either of the animated Grievous figures stand? Sure, Hasbro has given us other wobbly people in the past, but at least all of them can use a base -- not an option here. I'm getting tired of picking one -- or the other, the holo is no better -- up. Any hints?
--Oshram
Basically, you (and by you, I mean all of you, and me) are currently out of luck. It's always possible Hasbro will retool him with foot holes (it happened before with other figures) but who wants to re-buy Grievous? It seems to me your best bet is to prop him up or lean him against something. It isn't a solution so much as it is acceptance of a poor design, or at least a design that doesn't work too well as a figure which can stand up.
3. Hi. This might be a little odd, but I was going through RebelScum's archives to see what kind of holes there were in my collection, and I was wondering if I could get your opinion on a few older items:
-The Theed playsets; How much do they suck? Is there a price so low that they're worth it? Even a little?
-Episode I R2-D2 Carrying Case; Was that Destroyer Droid released in anything else?
-Episode I Flash Cannon; As far as I know, this is not seen in the movie. Is there something you know that I don't?
-Episode I Battle Bags; I was looking at these, and some of them are smaller creatures (pikobis, nunas, the fish), and I thought they were kinda neat. But I can't find anything on how big they are to judge if they're anywhere near figure-scale. Do you know how big they are?
-Mustafar Playset; Kinda the same question as the Theed ones. Suck/not suck?
--Brian
Oy. Well, a good rule of thumb I tend to tell people is that if you don't feel an absence in your collection, there's no need to fill it-- there are thousands of dollars worth of goodies coming in the next 18 months, so unless you're itching to buy something you can save yourself some real money by not looking back.
The Theed Playsets aren't especially good-- they're somewhat flimsy, and the exclusive figures aren't so great. I actually put off getting the larger of the two for years. The smaller one is pretty neat as a way to display a Maul, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan, but they aren't really all that fun. I certainly wouldn't miss them if I never purchased them, but if I had to pick I'd buy only the smaller one.
The R2-D2 Carry Case is one of Hasbro's finer items. I'd actually say it's the absolutely best carry case created for the modern line that wasn't a vintage reissue, too. The little adjustable compartments act like a tackle box for storing figures, and the environment is pretty cool. Figure or no, I'd still suggest getting it. A slightly different ball Destroyer Droid was issued in a Clone Wars set with a "launcher." It's almost a shame Hasbro never reissued it, it's so good I'd like to suggest more fans get one.
The Flash Cannon... yeah, you can skip that. This is a big gun with a red light in it, and Hasbro thought it was worth $10. Is there any doubt as to why the accessory packs all tanked? There's a Gungan Catapult as well, and it's not so great either. Save yourself some money and pass on it. If you can get it for a buck or two, it's amusing enough, but I'd suggest you pick up a Flash Speeder instead. Unless you want to write a column where you examine and/or make fun of toys, it really doesn't serve much of a purpose.
Battle Bags may be neat, depending on what floats your boat. They're tiny, about the size of the 2006 bonus holographic figures. Because I'm enamored with fish and dinosaur toys, I saw these and picked them up on extreme clearance in 2000. There's no articulation and they're about as fun as those little figures you can use as cake decorations. I'd suggest getting them if you can enjoy a nice collectible figure that isn't a 3 3/4-inch scale item... although the fish come pretty close.
Hasbro's 2005 Mustafar Playset kind of sucks-- probably mostly due to safety restrictions and the kind of plastic Hasbro uses these days. One of the things playsets usually have going for them is play value, and this one is built around a single duel and a bunch of armored guys with buckets. You can connect some Battle Arenas and the Deluxe Darth Vader with Medical Table to it, but by itself it's just an OK toy. It's an OK toy, but I would be lying if I said I had a lot of fun with it. The giant pylons that stick out of it tend to fall off thanks to heat and gravity, so I can say you're probably better off without it unless you want to rig up some fishing wire to prop up two of its larger pieces. I personally think it's inexcusable to design a toy that, if left alone on a shelf, will actually fall apart over the course of a week or two. And that's exactly what this set does.
4. Did you get these new vehicles and put them together yet? I was very disappointed, for the cost, that these were not sturdier than they are. I had a heck of a time to get the legs/feet of the AT-TE to stay on the vehicle..everytime I move it one just falls off. Then I got to putting together the Millennium Falcon and one of the landing struts wont stay on. I tried it in different locations without success. All the others stay in the slots I put them in. Do you know if Hasbro would consider sending me a new strut to replace the one that wont stay in?
--Orbles
I did indeed get both, and with both, in the first day, I did suffer some issues of pieces falling off. However, after that, it really hasn't been a problem. If you do have a damaged piece, the good news is that Hasbro tends to be pretty great about replacement parts if requested through their customer service web site at Hasbro.com.
With my AT-TE, I found the middle legs falling off pretty constantly the day I got it. I pick it up, it falls off. I walk up the stairs, it falls off. However since then, I've taken it down the stairs, outside, shot a bunch of video of it, took it back in, put it on a shelf, moved it around some more, and had no problems. The legs are designed to come off so they won't snap (basically, we're seeing fallout of the infamous "drop test" that toys go through) and it seems like some units are more sturdy than others. Also, to employ an old joke, "Doctor, my leg falls off when I do this." "So don't do that." In the past few years we've seen Hasbro try to do more ambitious pieces, but the result is our having to be more careful. Two-piece lightsabers are prone to breakage. Additional articulation means small pegs which can cause arms to fall off. Big toys mean some pieces will have to fall off if certain levels of pressure are applied. It isn't 1983 anymore, and the things you can and can't do with a toy are largely dictated by those horrible parents and their congressfolk who deny us awesome toys because their stupid kid choked on a missile. (IT'S CALLED SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, PEOPLE!)
Oh wait, where was I?
5. Is there a rhyme or reason to which figures go together to form the [build-a-droid] figures? For instance, when I look at the ROTJ wave, it seems that maybe Hasbro has a pattern. Luke, Han, Chewie, and the Ewoks go together. Those four from the wave seem to be kid-friendly (not that there aren't collector friendly as well). The other four, Bane, Yarna, Ak-Rev, and the Removable Helmet Vader seemed to be geared towards collectors (although Vader is a kid favourite, collectors have been asking for such a Vader for a while now). Is this a possible pattern for upcoming astromech waves or am I just reading into this too much.
Also, could you speculate on where Hasbro seems to be going with the 2009 Battle Packs. Are we (hopefully) going to see more "Mini-Rigs" with three figure Packs?
--Damian
The entire build-a-figure concept is done largely to encourage fans to buy deep into the line, and to keep collectors buying them all. As such, I'm sure much of the distribution of who gets what is done to maximize purchasing. I don't necessarily see a pattern-- Luke, Han, Chewie, and the Ewoks are more an example of "one of these things is not like the other." I'm not sure kids are really interested in Ewoks any more than they would be in Bane, as he's a weird looking guy and the others are angry little teddy bears. If anything, I'd say Hasbro may be doing this somewhat randomly, or in such a way that it might get fans to buy one figure that they wouldn't otherwise just to complete the droid. (Or would give them a piece of droid so that they would be likely to seek out the rest.)
With the Battle Packs, it seems Hasbro has decided that this is a great avenue for bigger pieces-- scenery, Deluxe figure reissues, and so forth. The new footprint certainly allows for it, and at Comic-Con they made it known that they feel this is the best way to pack out smaller vehicles. (I can see that. I'd rather have 2 bikes with pilots for $20 than 1 for $13-$15.) I don't know how many mini-rigs we'll see, but we're certainly going to see more in the way of movie vehicles and probably cartoon vehicles too. Here's hoping for some of the Rebel speeders from Marvel's Star Wars #55 and any of those vehicles we saw on the Droids show.
Currently, the plan calls for one of the Rebel transportation units from Yavin IV in the original Star Wars and a lot of Speeder Bikes. Beyond that, nobody's quite sure yet. Market forces tell us that Hasbro can package a Clone Trooper with pretty much anything and see decent sales, so I'd be surprised if Hasbro doesn't crank out new, small clone vehicles as time goes on.
FIN
What the heck happened to Star Wars? Did everybody have plans this weekend? Was the non-marketing machine too weak? Was it the typically slow August box office? By now, you've no doubt heard that not only did The Clone Wars not do too well this weekend, it came in at #3. Apparently more secrecy, very little hype, and no billboards aren't a good way to market a movie that the critics decided was worse than The Phantom Menace, which is something I have a hard time agreeing with. With a $15 million take, that means you can probably estimate that between 1.5 and 3 million people paid for admission to the film. (I'm part of the problem, someone gave me a free ticket to see it last Tuesday.)
The previous three prequels had massive hype surrounding their trailers, giant conventions surrounding their launches, and a pretty decent marketing campaign-- nothing huge, but something. This time around, it seems the only thing we got was another inane midnight toy launch. (Have you guessed I'm sick of those?) It really is amazing what a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago this month, we were all just starting to see leaked, unpainted test shots of Darth Maul. About seven years ago, some people leaked several storyboards for Attack of the Clones to some FTP site and I went through them like a crazy person. For Revenge of the Sith, even though we knew of the climax since 1983's Return of the Jedi novelization, we still looked for tidbits and hints before the film's release. I think that the leaked trailer from Poland was the only non-sanctioned leaked information we saw from this project, and that was greeted by nearly deafening silence.
The reaction to The Clone Wars, minus the midnight stuff, seems to be about on par with the 1985 cartoons and the first Ewok flick. Some of the hardcore are interested but ultimately it seems nobody really cares. I wonder what this means to Hasbro, given almost all their licensed movie toys have flicks which do $100 million or more at the box office, and I'll be amazed-- like, I'm almost willing to make a bet-level of amazed-- if this movie can pass $30 million at the domestic box office. I'm even seeing a lot of fans on the forums say stuff like "eh, I'll wait for the DVD." Wha? I'll wait for the DVD? This is the same fanbase that gave the Star Wars: Special Edition $100 million back in January 1997. This is the fanbase that made huge deals about seeing movies at the theaters and what an important even it is to go see it with your fellow fans. This is the same fanbase that, for reasons I didn't get then and still don't get now, camped out in front of movie theaters for crying out loud. I've often said Star Wars fans are somewhat unpredictable, and I have to say in a way it's good to be reminded of that from time to time.
Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: QandA
Free The Clone Wars Backpack at Toys "R" Us
Sunday, August 17, 2008
If you spend $30 on Star Wars toys this week, the fine folks at Toys "R" Us will give you a free The Clone Wars backpack. Not a bad deal! Check your local store for availability.
Posted byAdam16bit at 6:19 PM 0 comments
Labels: Deals, Toys "R" Us
Star Wars Wal-Mart DVD Deal
If you're one of the two people out there who don't yet have them, many Wal-Mart stores have all six theatrical Star Wars films on widescreen DVD for $13 even, each. As Episodes I and II were out of print for a little while, this might be an ideal time to complete your collection.
Posted byAdam16bit at 6:18 PM 0 comments
