The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[cooleddie74]

Yeah, the VC50 Bespin Han is one of the legends of the Vintage Collection...I'm so glad they repacked him because his first 2011 release was harder to find than a tutu that makes a person look badass and manly. The facial resemblance to Harrison Ford is pretty commendable with this figure...some are complaining that he doesn't have the brown holster strap on his right thigh as seen in photos and the movie, but whaddya gonna do. Hasbro's designers wanted the holster to hang free a little so attaching a strap wasn't really possible on this figure. Still, it's an amazing Han with a pretty good likeness to Harrison and probably the best EMPIRE/Episode V Han Solo we've ever gotten. And if not, he's pretty close.

 

[Roshi]

I still got those:

 

[cooleddie74]

I've always had a soft spot for the original 1983 Admiral Ackbar. Simple. To the point. Goofy looking. The newer versions are startlingly lifelike and accurate, but they just don't have the fun charm of the very first figure from almost thirty years ago. Remember that black, ribbed baton he came with that made no sense? Ahhhh, ya gotta love the old days of the hobby. Figures didn't really look like the characters and half the time their weapons and accessories didn't even come close to matching the movie props...but we loved them all the same and they were an integral part of our lives. They were rugged, simple playthings that could take a horrendous beating.

As much as I adore the modern figures with their lifelike accuracy and 14 different joints, they're the kind of figures that if a kid plays with them a little too roughly the heads or limbs will pop off and you might have a lot of trouble getting them reattached. There are a hundred and one things that can go wrong with a post-1995 STAR WARS action figure. But the original stuff was the kind of toy you could drive a tank over and you could still play with it. The classic stuff was for playing with. The new stuff is for display.

 

[Roshi]

Y'know, I had completely forgotten about that stick/baton!
I think I still have the Emperor somewhere but he's cover in mud...

 

[cooleddie74]

BREAKING NEWS:

The never-before-seen, upcoming Darth Maul Returns Battle Pack based on the conclusion of Season 4 of THE CLONE WARS! This will be a Target exclusive and contain two all-new, from scratch figures(mechno/cyber-Maul and Mother Talzin the Dathomir Nightsister) along with the straight repack of the heavily sought-after and poorly distributed "Armored" Savage Opress from 2011's basic CLONE WARS line.

A unique and brand new Darth Maul with robotic legs? The first Nightsister/Witch to ever get made? The rerelease of a Savage Opress that has attained a near-cult status? This one will sell fast! If you're a fan of THE CLONE WARS as well as Darth Maul, make sure you grab this when you see it!

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Hey, OdoWan...are you familiar with this upcoming Sideshow Collectibles version of Obi-Wan Kenobi?

It's a special release that bridges the 20-year gap between REVENGE OF THE SITH and A NEW HOPE by showing Obi-Wan gradually aging from Ewan McGregor to Alec Guinness. I think it will have two different heads that are interchangeable, one with an older-looking McGregor face where he's starting to wrinkle and get gray hairs(see above) and a second with a younger-looking Guinness face to represent Obi-Wan's slow morph from one actor into the other during his long exile on Tatooine. It's the only collectible that's ever tried to bridge the visual gap between Ewan and Alec by depicting at least part of the character's aging and transition. Whaddya think, man? Pretty cool!

Yeah, I've seen that one. I like it quite a bit. It's part of a new series they're rolling out called Star Wars Mythos. They're actually pretty decently priced considering the going rate of polystone statues these days. I've got so much else on my plate with the Hot Toys Avengers and Star Wars that I probably won't get it, though.

There's also a Darth Maul from the line that they've got up for preorder:
Mythos Darth Maul

 

[cooleddie74]

I saw that one! Badass, isn't he? The Mythos line looks like it might be a home run if it's handled correctly. The Maul and "Desert Nomad" Obi-Wan are my two favorites that I've seen so far...I don't know how many they're planning on making but so far they're off to an amazing start!

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Those two are the only ones to my knowledge that they've shown so far. Even if I'm not buying, I'm still watching this line. I've been very impressed by the first two offerings.

ETA: Oh wow, I'm wrong. Looks like Vader, Boba Fett, and a Gammorean are on the way too:
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/experien...star-wars-mythos&utm_campaign=facebook_042512Linky

 

[cooleddie74]

They should do a kid or teenage Luke using childhood photos of Mark Hamill as a basis and guide. We've seen him as a newborn infant and a young adult, but never as a kid or teen. Since the Mythos line is supposed to feature things the characters did off-screen/in the Expanded Universe lore then it'd be really awesome to see what Luke looked like growing up with Owen and Beru.

Heck, we got to see Luke's father as a nine-year-old kid...why not his son? And at least Luke won't be screaming "yippee"!

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Aaaaah! Just got notice from Sideshow that the Hot Toys Luke is delayed until October. Nooooooooooooooooo!

 

[cooleddie74]

That sucks! But it's still a guarantee you'll get him, right?

Anyways, I'm stoked about the new CLONE WARS Battle Pack with cyber/robotic Darth Maul...Target seems to handle SW exclusives better than Walmart has and is about on par with Toys 'R' Us so with any luck it shouldn't take much effort to find at least one of these whenever they come out. Those Dathomir Witches/Nightsisters are just plain eerie characters and would be a fine addition to any SW figure line...their design is based on original artwork drawn up during the pre-production of Episode I when Lucas actively considered showing "Sith Witches." Those things would have been scary.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Perusing this thread has rejuvenated a long forgotten desire to collect toys.

 

[Davros]

My entire collection of Star Wars toys.

 

[cooleddie74]

^
Hey, one's better than none at all. Besides, the handheld STAR WARS games were pretty nifty and fun for their time. I wish I still had mine, but I played those things so much that they went kaput and belly-up while I was still a kid. Never seemed to hold onto the game shells/cases for some reason. Meh. Oh well. They're always on eBay if I want to relive some of the old thrills.

 

[Davros]

This Rancor Monster giga pet was pretty cool. You fed it people. Once I saw that I had to have one.

 

[cooleddie74]

If that's a Giga pet then it came out after I grew up...never got it, but I'm sure I saw it. If you've made as many toy runs over the years as I and others have you've probably seen at least one of everything. My 1980s handheld games and toys were about as primitive as PONG but man were they a blast for an elementary school kid to fool around with. Back then you had to use your imagination a lot more with electronic and battery-powered games because most of the graphics were so abysmal, but that just made them more fun.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

They should do a kid or teenage Luke using childhood photos of Mark Hamill as a basis and guide. We've seen him as a newborn infant and a young adult, but never as a kid or teen. Since the Mythos line is supposed to feature things the characters did off-screen/in the Expanded Universe lore then it'd be really awesome to see what Luke looked like growing up with Owen and Beru.

Heck, we got to see Luke's father as a nine-year-old kid...why not his son? And at least Luke won't be screaming "yippee"!

But how would you make that a dynamic or interesting statue? Luke working on a moisture vaporator? The point is that his life was dull before the films started, and that's why he was so desperate to get away. I'm not knocking the idea, I'm just wondering what you think they should do with it.

Overall though, I think the Mythos line is a fantastic idea. The movies have been out 35 years. We've long ago gotten into repeat and obscurity when it comes to collectibles. These are something new. We've never seen an Obi-Wan like this, or a Darth Maul like this. They're giving us fantastic looking representations of these characters in ways we haven't seen before, and it's exciting.

 

[cooleddie74]

They should do a kid or teenage Luke using childhood photos of Mark Hamill as a basis and guide. We've seen him as a newborn infant and a young adult, but never as a kid or teen. Since the Mythos line is supposed to feature things the characters did off-screen/in the Expanded Universe lore then it'd be really awesome to see what Luke looked like growing up with Owen and Beru.

Heck, we got to see Luke's father as a nine-year-old kid...why not his son? And at least Luke won't be screaming "yippee"!

But how would you make that a dynamic or interesting statue? Luke working on a moisture vaporator? The point is that his life was dull before the films started, and that's why he was so desperate to get away. I'm not knocking the idea, I'm just wondering what you think they should do with it.

Good points. Didn't think about that. Well, some books and graphic novels had Luke growing up with friends like Biggs and "Windy" and always getting into trouble doing something or other. Have a kid or teenage Luke holding a pair of electrobinoculars and pointing excitedly at something he sees in the distance. Toss in his T-16 Skyhopper helmet if you have to...we don't know how long he raced his Skyhopper before A NEW HOPE begins. He could have been a childhood pilot like his father, so they could toss in a Skyhopper helmet, binoculars or something and have Luke be gesturing or pointing excitedly at something. Meh. They're ideas, anyways. That's a start!

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I could go for that. Man do I wish I had to money, not to mention shelf space, to be able to get all these. This line really excites me. Maybe if I'm lucky (ha!) these won't be hard to find on the secondary market, and the price will drop a bit.

 

[cooleddie74]

Thanks for liking the ideas. Yeah, kid Luke doesn't sound at first like he might be the most exciting or appealing Mythos statue but with a little creativity and using the backstory that does exist and some childhood photographs of Mark Hamill I'm sure they could come up with something that would attract buyers...especially OT buyers. Hell, Hasbro spent most of 1999 selling action figures of Luke's father in a Podracing helmet and holding funky slave tools, so I imagine his more popular and beloved son would fare just as well if not better...especially as a lifelike statue.