star wars "saga"

[anarky]

Rollo, I somehow missed your post. They're re-releasing a few of the pilots in a TRU multipack next year. (I thought one was new, but it's Mars Guo, who was released already), and finally getting around to Ben Quadinaros (Vintage line, looks fucking spectacular) and Mawhonic (Wal-Mart exclusive wave, probably the only figure from the wave who'll be HTF since everyone else is either a re-release or looks like they could be re-releases to casual collectors) next year.

No new Anakin or Sebulba. (Well, there's a Padawan Anakin, which ain't the same.)

And no new podracers now, or, probably, ever. It's an extra shame, since I figured packing Ben Quadinaros with his cockpit and a parachute would be the way to go, but we're just getting a short (albeit cool) figure for nine bucks.

[Sleazer]

when are they gonna make Rats Tyrell?

[Senor JabbaJohnL]

Also went back through the SDCC presentation. Going through a second time generated a few questions.
There is a TIE Pilot and Endor Han. Those are just re-releases, right?
Is the Tauntaun new of just a repaint? (not that I need another)
Is General Cracken a background character from ROTJ?

The TIE Fighter Pilot looks to be a re-release of the most recent mold, which started in an Evolutions set in 2008 and has been in a few other sets and ships since then. Some releases have had additional gray or silver details on the helmet, but this one is mostly black, which has been released a few times.

Endor Han is the version from the 2009 Shield Generator Assault battle pack with the coat from the 2006 VTSC version (the battle pack one was basically that figure, with a better head and no coat). It's also available right now in the Blu-ray commemorative sets, which offer nothing exclusive or new (aside from the 2009 Geonosis Arena Battle Droid mold in TPM tan, with the wrong antenna, which seems to also be coming in a Target exclusive Naboo battle pack next year).

They're releasing both Tauntauns this year, it seems. From what I can tell, it's an all-new sculpt, and the only difference between the two is, indeed, that Luke's has a chipped horn. Luke's Tauntaun is coming in a Vintage box as a Target exclusive by itself. Han's Tauntaun is coming in a pack called The Search for Luke Skywalker, also a Target exclusive; it's in the blue Captain Rex packaging, and also includes a Hoth Han with new legs and fabric skirt so he can ride the tauntaun and the beardless Hoth Rebel Trooper that has been released in a few Target multi-packs over the course of the last year. Oddly, the Search for Luke Skywalker pack was shown in a Hasbro image dump sent to the fan sites, but was MIA at Comic-Con, so maybe they're staggering the releases or something.

when are they gonna make Rats Tyrell?

He's coming in the TPM Vintage wave early next year. He was delayed from 2009, when he was replaced by Clegg Holdfast.

They're still holding off on revealing the rest of their TPM lineup for next year. It sounds like there's going to be a separate movie-based line in addition to the already-announced Vintage figures and store exclusives, though what that entails will be revealed in October.

[Rollo Tomassi]

So, have they made all the original Kenner figures in the new line yet?


Also, what's the ratio of new figures being made to old figures being re-made with new sculpts and/or paintjobs. What is this, the tenth Endor Han? The fifteenth Dagobah Luke?

[jjreason]

There was actually a pretty good, factual interview given by Deryl Depriest addressing the ratios. I'll post a link if I can find one, and it looks like I can:

http://echobasenews.com/interview-derryl-depriest.html

[jjreason]

Having a look at a vintage cardback, I'll try & see which old figures haven't been done (if any):

ANH (20 figures): all look like they've been done well enough (though I'm not too picky - maybe the Death Star Droid hasn't been done in chrome or something, not sure)

ESB (30 figures): do we still need a black Bespin guard? I can't seem to recall a modern one.

ROTJ: Not sure about specific late Ewoks, but Wicket, Chief Chirpa, Logray & Teebo have all had modern releases (though Teebo might need to be re-done in the new shrunken format?).

POTF: I believe the particular Imperial Dignitary used for the vintage figure still needs to be redone.

Any others? Bigger, better geeks than me must keep track of this shit elsewhere or perhaps at Rebels Cum but I'm not going looking for it.

[anarky]

ESB (30 figures): do we still need a black Bespin guard? I can't seem to recall a modern one.

http://rebelscum.com/TLCBD50WingEdian.asp
2010. He was quite a pegwarmer, though not on the epic Malakili/Neimoidian/Yarna/Dengar scale.

The Death Star Droid in chrome (MB-RA7) was done as a build-a-droid, IIRC, from a lackluster Revenge of the Sith wave. He wasn't vac-metal, though.

The Ewok question is made more confusing by the "official" name changes since 1983.

[jjreason]

I recall a "matte-silver" one, and the black chrome one, not sure if there were others or not (yellowy matte one from the sandcrawler or was that different?), but a chrome one with black eyes is still missing methinks (not that we'll get it, or that anyone even cares).

I don't have all the vintage Ewoks (I'm missing 2) so I can't really do any good comparisons of the new ones vs the old ones using real figures - I'd have to go online & compare pics. Again, sadly I don't care enough.

[Senor JabbaJohnL]

Also, what's the ratio of new figures being made to old figures being re-made with new sculpts and/or paintjobs. What is this, the tenth Endor Han? The fifteenth Dagobah Luke?

Endor Han is basically a re-release. His coat is apparently a slightly better pattern than the previous versions. Updating old figures is nothing new as they've been doing it since the modern line started, and there can't be too many all-new, never-before-done characters left without going into the super obscure or more into EU.

As for the vintage figures, which ones haven't been updated varies based on what your criteria are. I'll disregard weird color choices, like Greedo's green jumpsuit and so on. I'll divide them into a few categories.

On The Fence
*Death Squad Commander - The same outfit has been made in black, but never gray. It seems that the gray costume is either a trick of the light or a one-off background character; nevertheless, we don't have a gray version of this outfit, nor one with the cord like on the cardback photo.
*Death Star Droid - We have a shiny black one from 1998, a matte tan repaint from the 2004 sandcrawler (re-released in Saga Legends in 2007), a painted (somewhat shiny) purple one from a 2007 Comic Pack with Boba Fett, a matte silver build-a-droid from the 2008 ROTS wave, and a matte black build-a-droid from the 2008 repaint wave. I consider the silver build-a-droid to be an update to the vintage figure, even though the tan version is a more accurate representation of the sandcrawler droid that the vintage figure seemed to want to represent.
*Power Droid - There are a number of GONK droid designs in the films, and there has been one sculpt in the modern line that has been repainted and/or modified, making three versions. None of them are blue or have the same exact design from the vintage version.
*Bespin Security Guard (white) - None of the modern versions have a mustache.
*Rebel Commander - Now generally called something like Hoth Rebel Trooper, none of the modern versions have just a mustache, though some do have a goatee.
*Sy Snootles - We have a Special Edition version, but not a 1983 version with feather and tusks.

Coming Soon
*Rebel Soldier (Hoth Battle Gear) - Coming as Rebel Soldier (Echo Base Battle Gear) this year.
*Barada - We got Barada in a 1998 Cinema Scene and repainted in 2006, but the vintage figure was sculpted like Barada yet painted like Kithaba, who is coming next year.

Completely Unmade
*Nikto - There have been numerous Nikto skiff guards in the modern line, but none in the blue vintage outfit.
*Imperial Dignitary - The vintage character is Sim Aloo. The two dignitaries we've gotten are Kren Blista-Vanee and Janus Greejatus.

Fucking Confusing
*Lumat - The tan Ewok on which the original figure was based is now unnamed, and for whatever reason, the "Lumat" moniker has gone to a black-and-white striped Ewok (who surrounds the heroes after they fall from the trap). The 2007 Graak figure appears to have been originally sculpted to be an update to the vintage Lumat, given his expression, hood shape, and bow and arrows, but he was painted up in black-and-white stripes... much like the modern Lumat. But Lumat and Graak do appear in separate places in the film and appear to indeed be separate costumes. Hasbro recently said that Lumat would be released in 2012 but gave no clarification here, so hopefully it will be an update to the vintage figure.

Then there's all the Droids and Ewoks figures, but don't hold your breath there.

[Ran]

Didn't some website (maybe RS?) repaint a modern Power Droid and Death Star trooper figures in vintage colors for an April Fool's day joke? They were welld done customs. Even though my interest in SW collecing is fading, I would buy both of them if Hasbro did it and put them on a vintage card.

Death Squad Commander was one of the first figures I got as a kid. Somehow his head broke off and my parents fixed him using a screw. Before cable and VCRs were common, one of the networks would play movies like Star Wars and Wizard of Oz once a year. It was somewhat of an event. Every time Star Wars was on tv, I looked for the Death Squad Commander . I'm pretty sure it was just the lighting that made his uniform look gray in the movie.

A long time ago, I made a white Bespin Guard w/ goatee using a Saga Endor Rebel Trooper's head and the POTJ Bespin Guard's body. I would have updated it if the head pegs between Star Wars and GI Joe were standardized.

Ewoks are confusing. Other than Wicket, I never bothered learning Ewok names.

I'm glad you mentioned the difference between the original and SE Sy Snootles, I never payed enough attention to know what they changed.

[anarky]

A long time ago, I made a white Bespin Guard w/ goatee using a Saga Endor Rebel Trooper's head and the POTJ Bespin Guard's body. I would have updated it if the head pegs between Star Wars and GI Joe were standardized.

I did the same thing. IIRC, I had to trim the Endor Trooper's neck because he looked like a mutant. I also took off the overcoat from the (newly Asian) Endor Trooper so he didn't look exactly the same.

[Ran]

Mine was part of a triple head swap. POTJ Bespin Guard on POTF2 Endor troop's body. POTF2 Endor troop's head onto Saga Endor Troop. Saga Endor Troop's head on POTJ Bespin Guard's body. The hats fit well on both the Bespin Guard's and Endor Troop's heads. The Saga Endor figure didn't look bad until you realized it wasn't very poseable and had a lot of wasted articulation points.

[jjreason]

Nice work Mr JJL.

[jjreason]

New topic for Mr JJL to investigate - when did they first suggest the Rebel Technician with small hangar car? 5 years ago?

[Senor JabbaJohnL]

I'm not sure what you mean by "suggest," but the Rebel Ground Crew with Transport was first released in the Scramble on Yavin battle pack in 2009, which also included Garven Dreis (Red Leader) and his astro droid, R5-K6. It's currently available as a re-release at TRU as the Rebel Transport Speeder with Rebel Ground Crew (at least in the States), without the Garven Dreis or R5-K6 figures. There might be slight unintentional paint differences but it's largely the same.

Originally, the Rebel Ground Crew was shown in a mock-up as part of the second wave of Target exclusive accessory packs from 2002. As seen here, he was to have the body of the Imperial Scanning Crew Trooper from the Millennium Falcon carry case (which was later repainted into the Original Trilogy Collection on a basic card) and what appears to be the body of the POTF2 Rebel Fleet Trooper modified to have a different helmet. These three packs never made it out; I don't think any of the accessories that didn't previously exist ever made it out. A yellow ladder was first released with the smilin' 2009 Comic Con exclusive Luke figure and later with Wedge's X-wing, which also had the red one, but there are enough differences in both to lead me to believe that they're different sculpts than what was shown in the mock-up. Oh, and that little box between the two taller boxes in this photo was later released with Darth Vader (Bespin Confession) in 2006. Some of the Gungan stuff would still be cool to have.