Merci, Mssr Truffaut, éternellement…

Tying up some of 2009′s loose ends, I think we’ve seen the last of Q&A until Toy Fair 2010. (Save the date — all the sites — will be working hard for you on/around/through St. Valentine’s Day.) I bit my tongue holding back (and hoping) that Imperial Scanning Crewman #2 would miraculously appear, but eventually Hasbro relayed the bad news. Sometimes in passing one of those non-Q&A questions will be answered.

So there you have it. If you’ve wondered… go forth and be creative. Feel free to send in photos (adam@galacticblogger.com) to show your support for the BEST pack-in we’ve had in the entire run of Star Wars toys. [By sending in photography, you permit GalacticBlogger.com to use photographs in the capacity of this Internet blog/column. You retain your ownership and copyright.] Extremely creative Astro-modders may be picked for nifty prize-like things that are cluttering up the GalacticBlogger.com toybox/home-office. [Kids get your parents' permission before doing ANYTHING.]

by Shabby Blue
(GuestBlogger)

The new Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker figure is now showing up in stores along with the rest of the Empire Strikes Back wave.  I’ve wanted this particular version for years, but until now Hasbro has always come short of offering an accurate quality version of this figure.

The original POTF2-era “X-Wing Luke Skywalker” released in 1995 was actually his Empire Strikes Back Snowspeeder outfit with the cold-weather jacket with puffy collar sculpted onto the upper body, but it had a terrible POTF2-era buffed-up body sculpt and limited articulation compared to the current Hasbro aesthetic.

The next incarnation of Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker was in 2004 as part of the Collectible Cup with Figure releases, but this version was just a repaint of the POTF2-era “X-Wing Luke Skywalker” with a new puffy jacket collar piece added to his upper torso.  Still not 100% accurate, and it definitely did not live up to 2004 standards.

In 2006, Hasbro produced a new improved Snowspeeder Pilot when they gave us the Target-exclusive Snowspeeder with Zev Senesca figure.  Zev Senesca had an accurate cold-weather pilot’s jacket which looked much better than the POTF2 version, but he still had limited articulation and an inaccurate style of boots, so his body wasn’t quite perfect when Hasbro re-purposed it for a new Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker kit-bash in the 2007 Target exclusive Battle of Hoth Ultimate Battle Pack.  The shade of orange on the legs didn’t match the upper body, and the boots were not the Hoth style, making this a lackluster upgrade.  They also used the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Luke Skywalker headsculpt, which doesn’t fit the look of the post-Wampa attacked, scarred likeness.

Following that in 2008 we finally got a 100% accurate Snowspeeder Pilot sculpt for Wes Janson and Kesin Ommis in the Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker sets.  Upon seeing those, it was only a matter of time for Hasbro to re-use the new body sculpt and give us a real Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker.

Surprisingly, they chose to sculpt a brand new body from the ground-up rather than re-use the already flawless Evolutions Asst. body.  So now after more than 14 years Hasbro has finally given us the perfect Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker. Or have they??

The new figure has an accurately sculpted Snowspeeder Pilot’s outfit with plenty of articulation, and it works well enough for Skywalker when he’s on Hoth taking on AT-AT Walkers both in and out of his Snowspeeder. However, they overlooked one important detail – a peg hole for his saber hilt. Why include a lightsaber hilt with a peg on it when you can’t attach it to his belt (as seen in the film)? Since this Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker figure is a new sculpt, it’s disappointing that he’s missing this one small detail which would have perfected the figure.

Now moving beyond the idea of a perfect Hoth Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker, let’s consider the possibility of Hasbro re-releasing him in the future as the version we see crash-landing on Dagobah in his X-Wing Fighter.  What’s the difference?  Well he’s in the same Snowspeeder outfit, but now he’s added his brown utility belt with blaster holster strapped to his leg (the same belt/holster we see on his Bespin outfit later in the film). A Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker sporting his gun holster with a lightsaber clipped to his belt would be a nice upgrade from what’s already a great looking figure.  In fact, I was so eager to have this version that I spent an hour customizing my own soon after picking up the new Hoth Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker at Walmart this week.Here’s a few pictures to give an idea of how Hasbro could turn a great figure into something even better:

Putting it together was not as simple as it looks.  The easiest part was putting the 2007 Vintage 30^th Anniversary Collection Bespin Luke Skywalker head on the body and repainting the neck to match his face’s skin tone.  Next I drilled a hole in his belt just above where the saber clip should have been so that the lightsaber hilt could easily plug into it (as seen both on Hoth and Dagobah). 

After that, I cut the Vintage 30th Anniversary Collection Bespin Luke Skywalker gun holster and leg strap away from the rest of his belt so that I could glue it onto the current Hoth Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker belt just behind his right-sided belt pouch.  Before gluing, however, I repainted the belt and holster a matching shade of brown to resemble the belt he wore on Dagobah.

The final step of this custom project was to swap the Hoth Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker gloved hands with those from an extra Evolutions Wes Janson figure because for some reason the current Hoth Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker hands are sculpted at a downward angle that makes holding a blaster gun look awkward.  I assume Hasbro sculpted his hands more for holding the grappling hook/harpoon gun than actually wielding a blaster. The Wes JansonHoth Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker gloved hands are more suited to hold a blaster and are easy to swap onto the arms with a quick boil-and-pop.

So with that, we have a nearly perfect “Dagobah Crash Luke Skywalker”.  The only thing that would make it 100% perfect is glove-less arms since we see Luke removing his gloves almost immediately after crashing on Dagobah in the film just before he climbs out of his X-Wing.  I didn’t want to attempt this type of custom, but the solution would be to repaint the 30^th Anniversary Collection Celebration Luke Skywalker yellow jacket arms and put them on the Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker body.  The ribbed design on the yellow jacket sleeves are identical to the orange sleeves on the Snowspeeder Pilot cold-weather jackets, and therefore requires no new sculpting.

Anyway, enjoy this friendly customizing tip and hopefully Hasbro will take notice and consider it for a future upgrade to their wonderful Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker! [Kids get your parents' permission!]

 — Figures & Vehicles —

This piece started with just a straight rundown of figures from The Clone Wars, but you were there. You know what came out, etc. etc. You can read on, or you can just go be yourself somewhere. Clone, Clone, Clone, Clone, Clone… they’re versatile and ubiquitous. I don’t feel the need to go over markings, skirts, or pretty much any of that. I should also note that when I pick up a figure from The Clone Wars, I open it, look it over a bit, and then put it into storage. I’m a "passive" collector, I guess.

The massive Octuptarra Droid, the Corporate Alliance Tank Droid, and the new Jedi Starfighters all astonished me, and they blurred the line between the animation and the "real" segment just enough to pique collector interest. Then there was the Turbo Tank (Juggernaut).

That picture is worth a thousand words, but I have one niggling problem with the whole damn thing. My "non-animated" Clone Troopers really don’t fit inside. For all of its glory (and it is a magnificent toy) it was clearly made with the "manorexic/petite" animated Clone Troopers in mind. (Would someone, anyone explain to me how/why/when Phase 1 Clone Troopers attained armor with the classic "O||" strike? Is there some retcon that I missed?)

Also, see what you can do about that whole "Glittering Eyes" situation. Me and Glambert are waiting to exchange the non-glittering 4-A7 Droid for a properly glittering version. 

Atlanta is home to some pretty creepy places, like our notorious "Murder Kroger" (as seen many times on Cops). "It’s a grocery store with a deadly twist —
you’ll get shot in the head for your shopping list!" Someone SHOT MY HOUSE when we moved in.

So when Walmart #3709 starts slashing (prices?) get the hell out of the way! I have watched this Padmé Evolutions set with its splash of blood (and, YES, it is REAL blood) waft around the store since its debut. It has been outside to soak up the warmth of the Garden Department, and it has made the trip from Toys to Clearance (without ever being marked down) repeatedly. Back and forth it swanned about, too good for a mark-down.

So when I saw a clearance sticker on it today, I knew the time was right for us to be together. (Jokes about Queens should be saved for my FaceBook, kthxbai.) I was so entranced by the beauty and gore that I forgot to scan the damned thing. I get to the register, and it buzzes up at FULL PRICE. I actually had to haggle the price down, and to top it all off (and seal the deal) I had to exclaim, "And there’s BLOOD SPLASHED ON IT!" I got the hook-up.

I’m cheap, but I’m not about to soil Padmé Evolutions‘ reputation by telling you how cheap she was. How much or how little would you pay for a toy with blood splatter on it?

Walmart #3709 — for bloody, messy shame! Retail FAIL!