Week of: May 21st, 2001

Saturday, May 26th:

Sandtrooper Wave

Target west in Madison had a case of Sandtrooper wave figures on the pegs this morning. This case included two each of: Sandtrooper .0300 card, Obi-Wan Cold Weather Gear .0300 card, Qui-Gon Jedi Training Gear .0400 card, Aurra Sing .0300, Chewy Mechanic .0300, and Leia Bespin Escape .0300. Ray H. was there as well and we split the new figures while I took most of the older ones having only seen them once before on the pegs. The Sandtrooper is a nice figure and comes with a small Imperial blaster, binoculars, and a backpack. But, I am disappointed that Hasbro didn't start with the super-articulated Stormtrooper figure. The Sandtrooper only has the normal six points of articulation plus his arms are molded bent heavily at the elbow so that he can hold his binoculars. The painting on the figure is really nice compared to the original. Qui-Gon has the potential to be a huge peg warmer if Hasbro decides to increase the number of figures they produce. He just looks like a custom where someone took Qui-Gon's head and put it on another figure. Obi-Wan is better. He comes with a backpack, removable helmet, and lightsaber. Although not from any currently published Star Wars lore, he is kind of neat. The detailing is really nice and he looks like you could put him in a Hoth diorama pretty easily.

Tuesday, May 22nd:

Sandtrooper Wave

Paul V. reports finding this wave today at the Wal-Mart in La Cross. This wave includes Sandtooper, Cold Weather Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon Jedi Armor figures.

Lando Wave

Beth reports finding the Lando wave in the Appleton area at many stores including Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart.

Monday, May 21st:

Carbon Freezing Chamber Playset

I got the two playsets that I ordered from the Fan Club last week. Although mine arrived today, others in the area got theirs as early as Thursday. One of them arrived a little beat up, but the other was in near mint condition. This works out well since I plan on opening one up anyway. My first impression is that this playset is nicely done and that it is being sold for the right price. It is cheaper than the motorized EP1 playset. If you are not a Fan Club member, these playsets are now available to the rest of the public at (800) TRUE-FAN for $24.99.

Insider Arrives

The new Insider arrived on Saturday. It is much larger than the last couple of issues have been and it has a couple pages of some pretty cool EP2 images along with some Indy coverage.