Wizard World 2003 Report

I made the trek to Chicago yesterday to see the Wizard World convention. I had three basic things in mind when going: to get a silver Boba Fett, to see what Hasbro will be giving us in the future, and to get some autographs. One cool thing Hasbro had was this large Clone Wars diorama.

Silver Boba Fett Figure

There was a large line to get a silver Fett, at least right away in the morning. I have been in worse lines, but it did take over an hour to get through. One thing holding up the line was they were charging $10.00 plus tax or $10.80. This meant that they had to make change for everyone. If you took your receipt to the Hasbro booth, you could get a Boba Fett Unleashed poster and the Clone Wars short story book. The figure was limited to two per person and they were stamping your badge. At the time I was there, they were only letting card-carrying Fan Club members into line; at least I had my card along. Later in the day the line seemed to be gone. I don't know if they sold out or met that day's demand. I'm guessing they sold out since many dealers were selling these things for 2-10 times retail. The figure itself is OK. It is based on the 300th edition Boba Fett, but they painted it silver instead of chrome plating it. This gives the figure more of a pewter finish instead of being chrome finished like the other two silver figures. The packaging is similar to the other two, which I like.

New Figures

There were several new figures that Hasbro was showing off. The first picture shows the new Hoth Rebel Soldier and a red 3PO droid. In the background you can see some the escape pod. The Hoth soldier is pretty plain. It does include a holster and pistol and, I believe, a swivel joint on his right elbow. I have no idea where Hasbro came up with the idea for the red 3PO droid, but it was an easy repaint.

You wouldn't have seen much more of the new Padme Tatooine figure than what my picture shows. I could just barely see her face. This is a case where they could have displayed the figure better.

These are three very well done figures. I wish my picture had turned out better. The Bail Organa figure is a dead on likeness of Jimmy Smits and includes a holographic Obi-Wan accessory. The two Imperial Dignitaries are very nice and I seem to remember them having swivel joints on their elbows.

The waitress droid is well done too. She has ball joints on her shoulders, but don't expect much for articulation below the waist. The concept Stormtrooper is a lot better than I thought he would be. He includes a fair amount of articulation along with the removable shield and Lightsaber. The Lightsaber is pretty different compared to others we have seen so far.

Ahmed Best and Anthony Daniels are captured quite nicely in their respected figures. Although identical except for the heads, the figures do have articulated knees, additional articulation on the arms (I seem to remember ball joint shoulders or swivel joints), and nice looking tables. The Darth Sidious figure is interesting. He didn't look as bad as some pictures I've seen. In particular, his head was covered pretty well by his cloak. But, the sculpting is fairly extreme similar to the Unleashed figures.

The next three figures are from the nightclub scene as well. These three figures are great. This is most likely the best Obi-Wan figure we will get. He has ball-jointed shoulders, knee joints, and a swivel joint at one of his elbows. The only problem I see with him is that his Lightsaber is molded into the figure. I think Hasbro forgot that Obi-Wan actually uses his Lightsaber in this scene. Sleazbaggano is a nice likeness of the character. Both Sleazbaggano and Obi-Wan include a section of bar. The Twilek patron includes very nice detailing that I only hope gets carried into the production figure. She also includes knee joints and a barstool. In the back you can see the Deluxe Luke and Wampa figures plus the backside of General Rieekan.

Now we get to the Clone Wars figures. On the left is Durge. I thought I would like this figure, but it really didn't do much for me. He is just too gimmicky. Next is the new "swimming" Kit Fisto. He is better and includes ankle joints. In the back on the right you can see Anakin. He looks like they just added stuff to the character. I would guess he will be a peg warmer in no time.

You can maybe see Anakin better on the far right of this picture. In the middle is Adriss Ventriss. This figure stands out as being one of the coolest of the Clone Wars line. Very nice and she looks like a normal Star Wars character. On the right is Mace Windu. Although not as bad as the pictures I've seen, he is nothing great either.

On the left is Obi-Wan. Like Anakin, he will be a peg warmer soon enough. The Arc trooper is quite nice. He includes additional articulation and looks good. SaeSee Tiin is in pilot's garb. He has lost part of a horn along the way. Included is a cloth skirt so that he will fit into a Jedi Startfighter. Lastly is Yoda. I wish I knew what the context is for the outfit and accessories.

Then there is Santa Yoda. This looks like it will be a cool addition to your holiday decor. The packaging looks huge. I wonder if it will stay that large considering this figure is meant to be a mail away.

Saga Scenes

This is what the two Geonosian War Room Saga Scenes will look like once put together. The figures look really good except maybe the Banking Clan guy who looks smaller than I expected. The war table looks great.

There were two of the Jedi Council Saga Scenes on display. The one with Mace Windu is out at retail now. The figures all look really nice. The one thing that is a little disconcerting is that the packaged example (not shown) lists that it is one of two. I hope they are making more than two of these.

Deluxe Figures

This picture is of two Deluxe figures. Luke and the Wampa will be sold separately. The Wampa is much better than the POTF version and includes better detailing along with a piece of Taun Taun and part of the cave. He does have an articulated head and maybe waist articulation. It looks like he has a beard, which I don't like that much. The Luke figure looks like it is the same as the POTF version, but includes a second piece of the cave.

General Rieekan is very nice looking and I've always wanted one of these navigation displays. I can hardly wait to get this figure. On the left you see the red 3PO droid.

C-3PO with escape pod is the last Deluxe figure. The escape pod looks like a repaint of the vintage version, but that's OK. C-3PO is generic with a dirty paint job. But, he was painted gold instead of metalized. I hope Hasbro metalizes him or they will really do a disservice to this set. In the background you can see the Hoth trooper and the new Clone Speeder Bike.

Ships and Speeders

The new Clone Trooper and Speeder Bike don't seem that different from the first. The Clone Trooper seems to be the same and the Speeder Bike is only slightly different having a new missile launcher and a light gray color scheme. In the background you can see Durge and his Swoop.

I wasn't impressed by Durge, so having him on a Swoop didn't do much for me either. The swoop was rough looking, possibly because it was a prototype. But it just didn't look finished. Also, I thought this set would come with a javelin, which wasn't present. The Clone Trooper on Speeder Bike can be seen in the back.

The Hailfire Droid is awesome. I can hardly wait to get a few of these. It includes 32 missiles that launch 8 at a time. It is just really nicely done. Since they were showing it as well as the Geonosian Starfighter in package, they should be hitting retail in a few weeks.

The Geonosian Starfighter is done pretty nicely as well. Hasbro did decide to add some extra guns to it, but they look likely to hide well. I wish they had the pilot figure out so I could see him.

They had one of Kay Bee Toy's exclusive Tie Fighters. Although the packaging is nice, they didn't have one out showing off the redesigned back. These are hitting retail now although I haven't seen one yet.

This is Target's exclusive A-Wing. The detailing is really nice and the figure, although generic, at least looks like a human. A couple of dealers had these for sale and Target.com is selling them, so keep an eye open at retail.

Anakin's Jedi Starfighter is interesting. It looks like a cross between a normal Jedi Starfighter, Anakin's Pod Racer, and an X-Wing. The lower guns are on little wings that can fold up.

12" Figures

We all knew that sooner or later Hasbro would make this, now it is a Target exclusive. Leia looks OK, but she is smiling which makes her look too much like Barbie. She does have articulated wrists at least. Target.com is selling these now meaning that they should show up at retail in a few weeks.

These four figures are supposedly shipping now. Some of the dealers had them and it looks like Luke is the shelf warmer. I saw him as low as $15, which is unheard of at a show like this. Luke looks to be the typical rehash figure with maybe a different head sculpt. Nothing to get excited about. Yoda includes a lot of accessories. At least that makes up for having such a small figure at the same price point as the larger ones. The Biker Scout is a re-release of the one that came with the Speeder Bike. I'm sure there are people who wanted to get a few extras of him back then, now is their chance. The Ewok 2-pack looks nice and seems to fit well with the other figures in the wave.

The next three figure sets make up the newest wave of 12" figures. Garindan looks great. I'm surprised that they haven't made him sooner. Ben Kenobi looks like he is a re-release of the original with maybe a new body. The Jawa 2-pack looks bad. Their eyes look like they are glued on buttons and the plastic cloaks just don't fit in with the rest of the line. I don't know why they just didn't reuse the original Jawa figure if they were going to do more Jawas. Better yet, why not a new character all together.

I really think Hasbro is killing off the 12" line. If you look at what is being shown, only a couple figures are new. The rest are either slightly updated or pure re-releases.

Celebrities

There were several Star Wars celebrities doing autographs at the show. Ray Park was the big draw and the only one with a sizable line. He is really nice and outgoing although it doesn't come through well in the picture I took of him with my wife Jenine.

Another really cool guy was Zach Jensen who played Kit Fisto. The dreadlocks really make him look like he was made for the part.

Amy Allen who played Aayla Secura was also on hand as well as Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Shannon Baska (Mara Jade), Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing), Jerremy Bullock (Boba Fett), Warrick Davis (Wicket), Jesse Jensen (SaeSee Tiin), and Leeanna Walsman (Zam Wessel).