The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

[OdoWanKenobi]

Which really blows. If Hasbro tried to pull the same crap with Marvel Universe, it would be the end of the line. That is a collector's line, plain and simple, and collectors will have none of that crap. Mattel's recent endeavors in that scale with Green Lantern and The Dark Knight rises had the same basic five points. It's really disconcerting seeing articulation step backwards. I fear it won't be long until we're back to the days of getting great sculpted figures ruined by action features like we were in the Saga line, or in the Spider-Man 6" line. Heh, remember that Mace Windu with the giant rod sticking out of his back and the rubber arms? Oh man, that one was a low point.

 

[cooleddie74]

Hasbro's hinting something very good and very special is going to replace Legacy/Droid Factory later this year and more than make up for cancelling the new line before it even began, so let's hope that means more figures with great sculpts and articulation.

The Kenneresque, 1978-85 style articulation figures are okay or even great to a point, but if most of the Star Wars line in 2013 ends up containing figures aimed more at kids than at collectors and skimping on the joints because "kids don't care" then correcting the awful distribution problems from last year won't much matter.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I just saw on Big Bad that the Diamond Select "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" Klingon Bird of Prey is available for order.

Also I've still yet to get my New 52 Justice League Superman. This is the longest that BBTS has taken to ship something to me.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

It seems to be a constant in the universe of online toy shopping: The places that charge the most for standard shipping (BBTS's standard shipping prices have always been excessive) also ship the slowest. Superman has been out a month! There's no reason at all that you shouldn't have him in hand already.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Especially when they shipped Batman and Wonder Woman in under two weeks...although given the holidays maybe there were delays. I've never had a problem with them before like this. If it doesn't arrive next week, I'll email them. Not too worried yet.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I am still tempted by the Justice League 7-pack. I noticed looking at it the other day when I saw it at my LCS that Superman has a different head than the regular packed version. The 7-pack has a more steely, determined looking head, while the regular has a smirk. If I see it at a good price, I may pick it up.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I've seen good reviews on it on youtube. Superman does indeed have a different head in the League pack than he does single carded. Not sure why. I was originally going to stop at just getting the trinity, but damn there are some lovely looking figures in this line. I am probably going to get Arthur who looks freaking amazing.

 

[cooleddie74]

That MTT Droid Fighter was a good purchase. I cracked it open to play around with the figures and vehicle and the Hasbro people were right....it does fit into the larger MTT Troop Transport. It goes into the rear droid compartment and deploys from the opening hatch.

The Blue Pilot himself doesn't have much articulation but he's well sculpted and fits well inside the Fighter's cockpit (although the cockpit is probably a wee bigger than it needs to be so the droid slides around a little, but on the bright side there's enough room for a larger figure if you prefer giving the thing a different pilot) and the detailing and stickers depicting the control panel and readouts are pretty good for a vehicle this small.

This thing has very good play value. I'm impressed. They really did a good job designing this Fighter to be interactive with the larger electronic vehicle it attaches to. It's a shame the Fighter is based purely on Hasbro concepts or Lucasfilm concept art and never appeared in Episode I....some small, heavily armed droid fighters swooping out of the skies and strafing the Gungans would have made the Naboo Plains battle even cooler.

 

[cooleddie74]

The official press release from Hasbro concerning the cancellation of this year's Legacy/Droid Factory figure line:

Star Wars fans,

The Droid Factory line which was slated for spring 2013 has been cancelled. We were very excited about this line at its inception and wanted to give fans an early sneak peek when we unveiled it at Star Wars Celebration this past summer. Unfortunately since then, through the course of development, we realized that the price would have to be increased and we felt that the value we were adding with the droid parts was no longer substantiated.

As a result, we have decided to rework our 3.75” figure program to create a line that is on-par with the quality and pricing of the Vintage Collection. Many of the figures intended for the Droid Factory will become available in this new line in the fall. We’ll be able to share more news on this at Toy Fair.

We also recognize that there were many hard-to-find Vintage Collection figures in 2012. So, as we shared last December, we will re-release many of these figures this spring before the Vintage Collection goes on hiatus, making way for some of the most exciting new initiatives for SW collectors in years.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.

Regards,
The Hasbro Star Wars Team

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Well there's the silver lining! It actually sounds like this is going to be a good thing. We're still going to get the figures, and we avoid a price hike. Not only that, but we'll get a second chance at the figures we missed this year. Is Hasbro *gasp* actually learning?

 

[cooleddie74]

Let's hope. After 2012 they can't get much more thickheaded and ridiculous. I'm more than willing to stomach the cancellation of the new Legacy/Droid Factory line if we get just as good if not better in its place.

Like reviving the Vintage Collection for at least one more wave and putting all the new figures sculpted for Droid Factory on Vintage cardbacks? We'd actually get a Yavin Medal Luke, a Biggs and AOTC Arena Padme in her tight white body suit on classic retro packaging.

 

[cooleddie74]

BBTS is listing the Nemesis Enterprise-E reissue as $49.99 I believe.

Does this Enterprise-E come with electronic features? I think I know which Enterprise this is but they've made several different 1701-E replicas and toys over the last fifteen years and I can't recall if the one from Nemesis had any special features that the others didn't.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I believe so...the nacelle's light up...but not sure about anything else, and it has the Patrick Stewart voice chip in it. The Art Aslyum Blog had a Q and A the other day...and stated that it will have "improvements" over the original ship along with a better paint job reflective of a specific version of the ship (I'm guessing Nemesis) there would several flaws with the original ship's paint job according to a couple of youtube videos (I think even one you posted in the the thread for me cooleddie ). I'm just finally excited these ships are finally coming out.

 

[cooleddie74]

That Enterprise-B you or somebody else was discussing earlier in the thread: is that a new electronic model with sounds and lights or a model without any flashy features to add to the cost?

The 1701-B has been one of my favorite Enterprises ever since I first saw Generations over eighteen years ago and I'd love to get my hands on a scale electronic toy of the ship. Something about the Excelsior-class variant has always been very appealing.

 

[Admiral_Young]

These are the re-issues that have been delayed. I believe the blog stated that the Enterprise-B is not merely a repainted version of the previous verison, it's new. Not sure what is new about it yet, but they have stated it won't be the same ship.

The last ship in this line will be the Excelsior, have no idea when that is coming out though. Probably fourth quarter of this year. Art Aslyum also stated they have no idea yet what future ships they will be pumping out. I suspect they'll announce this at Toy Fair or something like that.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Did Art Asylum ever put out a Defiant? I would buy that in a heartbeat.

 

[cooleddie74]

Good thing that the New York Toy Fair debuts on Feb. 9th so we have just a little less than five weeks left to wait for all the cool announcements about the things we like to collect!

 

[Admiral_Young]

I don't think they've done a Defiant. I believe that was asked in the Q and A and we were just given the "we'll see" line. Yeah, I can't wait for Toy Fair next month.

 

[cooleddie74]

I just hope Hasbro unveils a good amount of information about the Star Wars line for this year, because after the cancellation of Legacy/Droid Factory a whole lot of collectors are chomping at the bit to try to understand what the company has planned for 2013.

We know Episodes II and III in 3-D hit theaters after Labor Day, but that's a little more than eight months away and that's often an eternity in toy marketing, sales and collecting. If the folks at the Big H don't have some very good product scheduled to fill the long gap between now and the end of summer then there are going to be legions of ticked-off collectors who might just sit out the year or even quit.

I can't imagine Hasbro wants to risk that. It will only hurt their own bottom line, and that's verboten to most toy companies.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Good thing that the New York Toy Fair debuts on Feb. 9th so we have just a little less than five weeks left to wait for all the cool announcements about the things we like to collect!

Last year's NYTF brought lots of great DC news. I'm hoping this year is just as good. Speaking of which, 2013's figure clubs are starting up next week. Saint Walker and Rorschach will be the first two up for me. I'm excited. Those are characters I've been wanting figures of for a long time.