Week of: March 4th, 2002

Saturday, March 9th 2nd Posting

AOTC Preview Figures Update

After opening up the figures, I have a few more comments. First, Zam Wesell has a swivel joint on her right arm. Jango Fett actually has an articulated range finder. I couldn't believe it when it actually moved. His jetpack is removable and the blaster bolts can be put on the jetpack for jet flames. The Clone Trooper is worse than I thought now that I have him opened. I bought two of them to open, but will likely return one.

Saturday, March 9th

AOTC Preview Figures

Wal-Mart west in Madison had at least 5 cases of these today. There are four figures in this wave including Zam Wesell, R3-T7, Jango Fett, and Clone Trooper. My favorite is Zam Wesell. She includes a small gun with working holster, a long gun, and a blaster bolt. R3-T7 has a clear dome allowing you to see gears and such inside. He also includes a retractable middle leg and removable electrical effect. Jango Fett comes with two small guns and blaster effects. The blaster effects look like they can be moved to his jetpack doubling as jet flames. I believe his jetpack is removable. He is a one-pose figure because of the extreme leg stance. The Clone Trooper comes with a large gun and blaster effect. He also has an extreme leg stance, but not as bad as Jango's. One odd thing about the Clone Trooper is that he doesn't have any waist articulation. The figures are packaged on cards with huge bubbles. Zam Wesell is on a 0000 card, Jango Fett on 0100, R3-T7 on 0200, and Clone Trooper on 0300. They are a nice batch of figures that really stand out on the pegs.

Friday, March 8th

BoShek Wave

I got my case of these figures from Entertainment Earth earlier this week. I expect this to be the last wave of figures of the POTJ line although some may argue that distinction belongs to the preview figures. Teebo is a nice looking figure having highlights in his fur and swivel joints at his wrists. There are some problems with this figure though. The wrist joints, although a nice feature, look really loose unlike swivel joints on other figures. His fur is uniform in color even though he is pictured with striped fur. His headdress is missing the two "fangs" coming up through the creature's nose. He seems really large compared to other figures, especially Jawas who used the same actors. Lastly, I hope that he stands well since there are no peg holes in his feet. Although that seems like a lot of things wrong, he does seem like a good figure. BoShek is a better figure than I would have thought. His face sculpt is terrific. He comes with a nice removable helmet and a working gun holster. Although the helmet is not seen on screen, many other characters use a helmet like this with a similar outfit making this figure have great customization potential. R4-M9 is a figure that I have wanted for some time. He comes with a mouse droid (same as Death Star Droid pack-in) and his middle leg is retractable. The paint job on the R4-M9 figures that I have is a little inconsistent and some of them look bad. Teebo comes on a 0600 card, BoShek on a 0700 card, and R4-M9 on a 0800 card with warning sticker and a 0800 card with printed warning.

K-Mart Closings

We now know what stores are going to be affected by K-Mart's downsizing. The stores to close include Madison west, Madison south (Monona), Beloit, Fond Du Lac, Grafton, Hudson, Marshfield, and Wausau. I beleive the stores will close on May 6th. This is unfortunate since K-Mart has in recent years been a good source for POTJ figures. Even though previously to the POTJ era, they were at least one more place that sold the figures. Now our retail choices have been diminished further.

Wednesday, March 6th

AOTC Lego Jedi Starfighter

Ray H. reports that Target west in Madison got in some of these today. Their price is about $20.00, similar to Wal-Mart.

Tuesday, March 5th

Eeth Koth Wave

TRU east in Madison got in at least 4 cases of these today. I actually saw an Imperial Officer on the pegs (along with the rest of the FX-7 wave).

Monday, March 4th

AT-ST & Speeder Bike

The UPS guy dropped off the two sets of these that I had ordered from Amazon.com. This is a TRU exclusive, Amazon.com taking care of TRU's online store. Both of the sets that I had ordered arrived in good shape and were individually boxed. The AT-ST is a re-paint of the POTF2 version. Easy enough to tell them apart, but the new paint job doesn't add a whole lot more. The Speeder Bike looks like it is the same as the previous ones, but the box doesn't mention that it explodes. It may be possible that feature was eliminated, but I doubt it. Paploo doesn't have a very detailed paint job. His body is one color while there are a few highlights painted on his face and headdress. They are wrapped in a nice window box with a scene on the inside. The set costs $29.99 both online and in the store. This seems to be priced about right considering that the POTF2 AT-ST sold for about $20 and the Speeder Bike sets sold for about $10. I know that a lot of people never got the POTF2 AT-ST, so this is a good opportunity for them. Personally I would have preferred a ship that has yet to be introduced since the vintage days such as the Cloud Car.

Cheap 12" Aurra Sing

Ray H. reports that Walden Books west in Madison has the Bounty Hunters Masterpiece edition on clearance for $20. This books set includes a 12" Aurra Sing figure. A pretty good price if you can find one.