399 replies to this topic

[Tortle]

Images of the next wave of animated Clone Wars toys have been released:

Animated Clone Wars figures at Hasbro.com

They look pretty nifty. I think Durge is the star of the bunch, and Count Dooku looks nice, too. The Clone Trooper is just... there. Not much exciting. And surprisingly, Yoda seems to be the worst of this wave! The sculpt is woeful (the face really doesn't seem to capture the look of the cartoon) and he's small, yet doesn't come with additional accessories.

Also, the lack of articulation really seems evident with these new figures. I hope Hasbro starts following the Justice League example.

-Nathan

[Liokaiserbf]

I just noticed that Count Dooku looks alot like Leonardo Leonardo from the Clerks toon. *L* maybe it's just how the pic looks.

[Tortle]

Cool! I hadn't seen these pictures before. Admiral Ozzel is cool and different enough from the other Imperials to look distinct. But I've never been a big fan of the human extras, so I'll skip him.

Dengar is a definite improvement over the POTF2 version. But I just can't get too excited about it. It's just Dengar.

The star of this wave for me is Bossk. If you compare the new Bossk with the TRU multi-pack one you can see that the new one's scuplt is way beyond that of the old one. I agree that the poses are too similar to show the distinctness of the figures, though. I assume they have the same pose because it was Bossk's only pose in the movie.

Hopefully, they remake all the bounty hunters. 4-LOM and Zuckuss seriously need a resculpt!

-Nathan

Edited by Tortle, 22 December 2003 - 01:52 PM.

[Tortle]

Back to the original idea of the topic...

I was fishing around the Four Horsemen's site, and saw some of their awesome 12" Star Wars customs:

Yak-Face
Zuckuss
Hammerhead

The accessories and outfits are pretty funky, but that's excusable since they're not even prototypes. What's important is the sculpts, which totally destroy those of the Hasbro 12" line.

Check out these two pics to see a comparison of the Hasbro vs. Four Horsemen Zuckuss:

Four Horsemen Version
Hasbro Garbage

Take a look at the eyes and nose vent in particular. God... did Hasbro even TRY to make Zuckuss movie-accurrate?!

My favorite is Hammerhead, though. That thing is effing amazing!

Gee... I'm so glad that Hasbro won the SW license from Mattel...

-Nathan

Edited by Tortle, 07 January 2004 - 09:10 AM.

[Tortle]

And this Han Solo figure has to hold a record for figure created from the least amount of screen exposure ever. Sure there are some background characters, but all you ever see if Han in the helmet.

Regardless, I believe that record goes to both Djas Puhr and R2-Q5 (Imperial Astromech Droid), neither of which, if memory serves correctly, were even seen on screen. The figures were based solely on production photos.

Honorable mentions go to Luke Skywalker (Floppy Hat) (which was based on a cut scene from ANH) and Ishi Tib (based on an alien design seen only from extreme distance in the Rebel strategy room in ROTJ). Any other suggestions?

Anyway, I agree that Madine and Solo suck nuts. I think that Madine's elbow articulation is interesting, though. I'd like to see it on a character that actually does something in the movies. Han is a poorly-timed addition. He should have been released with the AT-ST re-re-release a few years ago.

But they seem to be hitting the Lando figures perfectly! Maybe one day we'll see a "Lando in Han's outfit from the end of ESB" figure. Hell, they've made every single other pointless scene-specific figure.

-Nathan

Edited by Tortle, 12 January 2004 - 12:14 PM.

[Ridureyu]

The Ishii Tib link is broken.

And honestly, characters like Amanaman and Yak Face also earn awards, since you never see them unless you're LOOKING for them.

[Tortle]

Although I guess you could look at it from a positive point of view. It’s just an AT-ST driver, forget the fact that it is Han.

That reminds me... the fact that the TRU Imperial pack that includes the AT-ST Driver is still on the shelves makes this decision even more confusing. Why have so many army builders that are specific to a vehicle that's not even available? Oh well, I guess every scene-specific wave can't be cool.

Check out these detail pics of the next Unleashed assortment, including Chewie, Luke X-Wing, and Clone Trooper. The more I look at that Chewie, the less I like it. Compared to the other two, he looks embarrassingly cartoony.

-Nathan

Edited by Tortle, 13 January 2004 - 07:26 AM.

[Tortle]

(Unleashed) Luke stands out on the shelf from across a large room.

That's not necessarily desirable since the Luke calls attention to itself with its goofiness. I thought the Boba Fett was a sure-win. I'm not sure what they were thinking.

Another weird choice was the Boba Fett Pit of Carkoon for Best 3 3/4" Figure. This Boba is in many ways just a blatant rehash of 300th Boba Fett.

I would award the Imperial Shuttle with the Best Exclusive title, myself. Oh well...

On a separate note, SirStevesGuide.com has posted some coverage of the UK Toy Fair:

Figures

The new style package front is black with stars on it with the original Star Wars logo at the top of the card wrapping around the "blister" where the figure will be placed. The figures shown are new sculpts in the vintage style package (at least that is what was shown on display). Hasbro now classifies the figures as "Rebel vs. Empire" where the Figure # is by being blue or red in color. The current figures that will be available are:

R2-D2 (Dagobah) from The Empire Strikes Back - Figure #4
From Dagohah and has swamp all over him. This was the only figure (actually it was only the package) on display. The card back has a picture of the character and figure with this text next to it:
"Two-stage button! Press briefly for robotic character and light. Press and hold button for robotic "scream" and light."

Following the above were pictures of other figures in that wave. There was also the "Jedi Knights Kids Club" logo. This will be a newsletter type mailing list.

Luke Skywalker (Dagobah) from The Empire Strikes Back - Figure #1
This figure is Luke using the force by balancing himself with one hand. It includes a piece of the swamp as a base.

Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back - Figure #2

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Spirit) from The Empire Strikes Back - Figure #3
Obi-Wan has been updated from his clear blue plastic that was available as an exclusive to a new clear figure but with color. It's difficult to explain but it looked pretty good.

Vehicles

Millennium Falcon - Comes with many new electronics including "headlights," flying sound, missile-firing launcher, hyperdrive sounds and lights (looked really cool), and start-up and cruise sounds. It also comes with the gaming table and hidden compartment.

Overall, not much to get excited about. Yet another R2, Luke in a horrible scene-specific pose, yet another Ghost Ben, and yet another Yoda. If the sculpts of the "yet another" figures are new and updated, the wave might show some promise. But the concept of the figures seems very trite.

The Falcon sounds like it's just a slightly updated version of the old vehicle. I think Hasbro needs to make an all-new Falcon, with an all-new mold, much like it did with Vader's TIE.

I guess I should save my reservations until I actually see the product at the US Toy Fair in a few weeks.

-Nathan

[Tortle]

Here's a first-look at the new Falcon from the London Toy Fair:

Trilogy Millenium Falcon

The toy itself isn't all that impressive because it looks exactly like the same ol' mold. But from what I can see, the packaging looks pretty damned cool! Judging from this and the previous report from SirSteve, it sounds like packaging for the entire line (or, at least figures from the original trilogy) will follow this design. Sweet!

-Nathan

Edited by Tortle, 06 February 2004 - 07:31 AM.

[Tortle]

ArtoosNews.com has revealed a pic of the Unleashed Bossk:

Unleashed Bossk

I'm not quite sure what to think of it. In one sense, it's an overall good sculpt that's not distorted and therefore goofy like Unleashed Chewie. But then again, it looks somewhat comical at the same time.

I'm glad Hasbro is looking to make Unleashed figures of secondary characters, though. Come on, Hasbro... how about an Unleashed Artoo?

-Nathan

[Tortle]

Dude! Concept art for a previously unannounced Unleashed figure has leaked from Hasbro! Check it out below!

-Nathan

Attached Files

•  unleashedproto.jpg   101.14K   20 downloads

[Tortle]

Hasbro has released some images of the Trilogy Collection:

"INTRODUCING THE STAR WARS ORIGINAL TRILOGY COLLECTION FOR FALL 2004!"

The collection is pretty cool so far:


The Good

~The packaging: They did a great job with the basic retro-style packaging. I like that the figures are displayed in a movie environment. The 3 3/4" Vintage Figures line will be featured in reproductions of the original cards. Cool!

~Yoda: I've always thought that most of Hasbro's Yoda figures sucked. The first POTF2 one was good, but virtually all the figures after that one have been horrible. But this one looks absolutely awesome! They finally got him right!

~Cloud Car Pilot: Neat design and good articulation. Does this mean that the Cloud Car will be released, too?

~Lobot: For some strange reason, Lobot has always been one of my favorite characters. I was really disappointed with the action-pose of the POTF2 version, but this Lobot not only looks realistic, but has good articulation as well.

~ANH Luke (soft goods): Soft goods don't always work with a figure (see below), but it looks nifty with this Luke figure and will probably give it some additional play value. The sculpt is pretty nice, too. This is exactly what was needed to keep the fans from groaning about another Tatooine Luke.

~12" Luke: Wow! A 12" figure that actually doesn't suck balls! The smile is a nice touch... it reminds me of the vintage 12" Luke.


The Bad

~Dagobah Luke: Although this figure will probably look nice sitting on a shelf, it's NOT a figure to be played with.

~Ben Kenobi: This is a great example of when NOT to use soft goods.

~Han Solo: Awesome articulation and perfect proportions... ruined by an awful face sculpt.

~Vehicles: The same exact sculpts as those we've had for the past 25 years.


The Indifferent:

~Dagobah R2, Bespin Leia, Spirit Ben, 12" Stormtrooper: Not anything to complain about, but nothing that wows me. I'm a bit disappointed with the 12" Stormtrooper. A lot of it looks like the old mold, but maybe it's been improved a bit.

Overall, I like the line. It seems "fresh", at least... which is something Star Wars has been missing the past few years.

-Nathan

Edited by Tortle, 13 February 2004 - 08:33 AM.

[Tortle]

Yeah, I think that placing an up-to-date version of the character on the card is awesome! It shows how far we've come with Star Wars toys over the years.

I can't wait to see the other figures! If they're as good as Han and Luke, I think I'll be quite happy. Great figures on vintage cards... what more could I ask for?

But to nit-pick: Darth Vader is a somewhat awkward choice for ESB, since his vintage cards displayed scenes from ANH and ROTJ. And I'm not sure what they're going to do with Artoo on a ROTJ card. Basic Artoos weren't available after the periscope one was released, and having the periscope card with a ROTJ logo would be kind of weird since it's based on an ESB scene. Maybe they'll use the POTF85 Artoo pop-up card instead.

I hope they use the vintage variant photos that are specific to the movies, specifically, Chewie's Endor photo and Boba Fett's Tatooine photo.

By the way, my initial assessment of Han Solo was apparently too hasty. As shown in this picture at SirStevesGuide, Han's head sculpt really isn't that bad.

-Nathan

[Soupie]

Off-Topic Post

Edited by Soupie, 17 February 2004 - 12:54 PM.