Remember the great Count Dooku hologram that was supposed to come with the Attack of the Clones Chancellor Palpatine figure? Well, the folks at Hasbro might not, admittedly, but some of us collectors do remember. For a while there was a brisk trade of "prototype" (i.e. first shot) Holographic Count Dooku accessories. (Keep in mind this is a tiny figure, an accessory.)

Why encourage Hasbro to release it? It’s just a cool piece. Why not? It’s not going to spoil any plot at this point. It’s a pretty cool little piece of  plastic. They went through the trouble of sculpting it and creating a mold. Just chuck it in with any upcoming Attack of the Clones or Clone Wars Battle Pack.

Also lost after the Attack of the Clones era were the super cool blast points. We see a little hint of them here and there. (The current Droideka, which is based on a circa-2000 two-pack figure if you check out past Galactic Blogger posts.) There are two that I’m specifically lobbying for, but I like ALL blast effects to animate dioramas and liven up displays.

Allow me to introduce Exhibit A (at right). No, not the Battle Droid. He sucks, as do all 1998-era Battle Droid figures. What I want is the exploding bit! Let’s face it, Battle Droids were meant to be cannon fodder, and with The Clone Wars and other prequel era entertainment, we want more new and exciting ways to kill them off. Painted on lightsaber slashes are fine, but a nice big explosive blast effect really drives the point home. The wanton destruction of advanced technology has never looked so cool.

The blast effects have been fantastic in the past. Snap on lightsaber flares? Cool! Snap on lasers to attach to blasters? Amazingly cool! Exploding bits that can be attached to a sad, sorry platoon of Battle Droids? Drool-worthy, I tell ya.

I hoped, prayed, and somewhat expected that Hasbro would use this simple blast point effect in the recent Betrayal on Bespin Battle Pack (which falls kinda limp without it). It would be a simple nod to us man-child geeky fanboys who take notes and never forget a figure or a cool feature.

My heart sank when I saw the final product. It lacked pizazz (which is something my people know all about). However, I do give Hasbro bonus points for trying to fix their Bespin Princess Leia, but that’s like trying to class up Paris Hilton. (I’m partial to the Princess Leia Collection version except for the headsculpt.)

So, yeah, someone dig these damn blast points out of the storage vault, and let’s see Hasbro put the ACTION back into action figures. Uh… just no action features, please. Nothing ruins a figure quicker. Nothing.

Just to drive that point home one more time. Action features suck. OK… moving on.

Regular readers will surely know that I want the Arena Battle Sonic Cannon that was developed for Attack of the Clones to finally see the light of day.

It’s a cool piece, and it would’ve spiced up the recent Arena Conflict Battle Pack, but no…

I’m guessing the "costing" gremlins would nix this piece even though it was fully developed as an accessory for the Arena Battle playset in 2002. (Sorry if this seems like a rerun rant for those of you who have read Blogger previously.) A cool piece with an action feature, which the kiddies love, and it’s movie-accurate, which collectors love. It’s a win-win.

I’ll stop banging my head against that wall for now.