Hey, thanks Balok! I love the pre-production pieces you have here & on your blog, to show the transition from concept to actual product. Not to mention all the little cool details & variations in paint apps. Congrats on having them in your collection, I'd love to hear how you obtained them!
Regarding series 2, I assume the line did so poorly they chose to drop it altogether; but I personally would have loved just to get all the new figures shown without the new vehicles, & I wish that would have been the limited focus of a series 2 (though I would not have turned down that Air Refinery either). Good chance of you're like me, you love the assortment of the series 1 figures. But looking at series 2 added to series 1 would have taken it to a whole other level. I wish we had better pics to see the level of detail in these new figures. If the two I obtained are any indication, they did not cut any corners on detail!
TBH, I wasn't sure what to make of these 2 figures when I saw them on Ebay. I thought they were either cheap vending machine knock-offs or half metal / half plastic figures from an obscure toyline. The gun molded into the hand threw me off as well as AR didn't have that in series 1 (except maybe Baron Jolt), & I think that also threw off most other potential buyers. Also the apparent obscurity of the Pre-Toyfair series 2 catalog pics. Took the shot & bid with a few days left & thought nothing more of it should I be outbid. I've attached a pic of the ended auction listing, I'd say I got it for a bargain The only other bidder was bidding in increments up to the end, & I was .11 cents shy of being outbid, so his next bid would have likely won it. Strange but awesome how this all played out, as I would've never researched beyond that had I not won. Once I had them in hand though, other than the molded gun in hand, everything else said Air Raiders figure. As a fan for 30 years now, uncovering something "new" like this was a dream come true. But I still feel bummed at the lost potential with the rest of the series.
BTW, no luck finding anything further from the seller, but feel free to give it a shot if you'd like.