Best of Saga 2004

[plo koon 200]

Well I am back! After a very long break and now I have a question for all of you forumites. What is your favorite figure from Saga 2004. I will post mine in while.

[Deoxyribonucleic]

Lando, Jabba's Skiff

what an awesome sculpt, especially a great improvement over the POTF2 figure!

:)

[JediTricks]

Are we counting '04-line figures or figures that actually came out in '04? I ask because Luke Hoth is an '04-line figure but came out in December of '03. I'd say that Luke Hoth is probably the best figure from the '04-line, but Dengar is the best figure I bought in '04. I don't have anybody from the Madine wave yet, but they don't look as good as either of these 2 so I feel safe.

Luke has a great look and decent articulation for a scene-specific figure. I like the figure a lot, even though it's got a few issues.

Dengar is a very good upgrade from the original, this one has much better sculpting, articulation, paint, and accessories. Dengar is a great-looking figure who also seems like he'd be a fun toy to play with.

[B'Omarr Monkey]

Off the top of my head, I'm going to say Dutch Vander.

[DarthQuack]

I would have to say Captain Antilles would be my pick.

[Kidhuman]

'04 had some real nice figures. To pick a certain favorite out of all up until the Endor Wave(I havent got those yet) would be Dengar. Many honorable mentions though to :Dutch, Lando Skiff, Luke Hoth, J'Quille, Rappertunie, Bossk, ANtillies, Dodonna, Tie Pilot, and Tanus.

[Deoxyribonucleic]

'04 had some real nice figures. To pick a certain favorite out of all up until the Endor Wave(I havent got those yet) would be Dengar. Many honorable mentions though to :Dutch, Lando Skiff, Luke Hoth, J'Quille, Rappertunie, Bossk, ANtillies, Dodonna, Tie Pilot, and Tanus.

Now that you named almost all of them, anymore runners-up? hehe ;)

j/k of course :D

[Kidhuman]

Well...Ack Med Baq, rebel soldier, Krin Blista Vroooooom,(whatever his pegwarming rumpo wants to be called) and a few others Ileft off because they arent deserving. :beard:

[plo koon 200]

That is a good question JediTricks. I picked up the first two waves and first wave of Clone Wars Dec. 26 but I think that is close enough to be counted as '04, afterall the Academy Awards count any movie after Dec. 25 as being released the next year. And my favorite is likely Dengar but I have Madine (as well as Lando and Han) and I must say I am also impressed with him. The Tie Pilots articulation is amazing, superior to the Commtech Stormie and it is an army builder. Luke Hoth is cool but too scene specific. Bossk is also okay but I would have preffered a more neutral pose. I think Jabba Luke is awesome and J'quille and Tanus deserve honorable mentions.

[Val Da Car]

I don't know what Madine looks like since I have not seen one.

Actually the Clone Wars line should count since I got most of them in 04.

Best Feature - Swappable arms between Dodonna & Antilles (I ended up with quite a few for Diorama usage)

The whole Jabba's Dias scene building figures were just amazing from a great sculped Lando to Rappertunie but I enjoyed the Luke the best since I was able to compare him to the POTF2 Luke and the sculpting is amazing.

Ozzel is fantastic....him and 3 other Imperials for a TRU 4 pack now you are talking!!!!

I really like the gambles they took but will Madine be the short one due to the OTC line switchover?

[Old Fossil]

I'll have to go along with many others here and give old Dengar my vote, though Jabba's Palace Luke comes in a close second. R1-G4 comes in third, edging out Dutch Vander, who places 4th.

[dindae]

I'm going to go with J'Quille. Definately needed a Whipid. Although I don't think there has been a figure I have liked this year.

[Droid]

Best basic Saga carded figure based on quality: Rappertunie
Best basic Saga carded figure based on me being thrilled they made
the character: J'Quille (really thrilled with R1-G4 though)
Best Ultra figure: Bubo (maybe Jabba)
Best basic Clone Wars Figure: Super articulated Clonetrooper

[Darth Alex]

Best overall figure: CW SA Clonetrooper
Best sculpt: Dengar
Favorite 3 3/4" 'toy': has to be having the Wampa and Luke set up-genius!
Favorite Wave: Dutch Vander wave-5 "new" figures are a great find all together

[mericen]

My number one favorite figure from 2004 is Bossk. Followed by J'Quille, Tanus Spijek, Dengar and Dutch Vander.

[Kidhuman]

Is the CW line part of this? I just used Saga figures. Either way it wont change my vote, just give more honorable mentions then.

[jjreason]

It's been a good year, hence I'll do a top 5 (there's only one stinker in the bunch, so a top 20 would be more like it - but for time's sake......)

1. Luke - Jabba's Palace. My favorite vintage figure redone in near-perfect Saga style. Nothing weird in terms of sculpt or action feature, just a wonderful neutral Jedi Luke with great accessories and better than average articulation. Only a blue lightsaber variant could have pleased me further.

2. Hoth Luke/Wampa combo - unbelievable, but it falls to second.

3. Madine. Another needed vintage remake, and he's perfect. Absolutely perfect.

4. R1G4. Paint detail like we've rarely seen, but he don't do nothin' so he's down the list.

5. Rappertunie. Again, just a fantastic translation from screen to figure.

Dengar and Lando are brilliant too, but I like those 5 the best.

[bigbarada]

In what seems to be a trend for Hasbro, the year just before a movie year usually produces some of the best toys in the line (1998, 2001, 2004), so there are a lot of really high quality figures out there.

The best figure I have gotten this year would have to be the VOTC Han Solo; but I'm thinking this thread is for the Saga line only (will the Saga line continue after the DVD releases?).

So, I pick:

1. TIE Pilot

2. Bossk

3. Dutch Vander

4. Lando Skiff

5. R1-G4

[JediTricks]

CW is not Saga obviously, so it should be exempt, but I also think that CW is not an '04 line since the final wave hit pegs in late November '03. I spotted CW Kit & Sassy Tin & the SA CloneTrooper weeks before xmas (darn kid took that clone though :p).

[Kidhuman]

CW is not Saga obviously, so it should be exempt, but I also think that CW is not an '04 line since the final wave hit pegs in late November '03. I spotted CW Kit & Sassy Tin & the SA CloneTrooper weeks before xmas (darn kid took that clone though :p).


I agree with you JT, except you should of mugged that kid in the lot for the clone. :crazed:

[plo koon 200]

When I was talkin of CW I was reffering to the animated line. And the final wave of the animated line hit in 04.

[Jaff]

I must say that Dengar is the greatest sculpt of that bounty hunter ever, and he looks perfectly accurate in every way.

[JediTricks]

I agree with you JT, except you should of mugged that kid in the lot for the clone. :crazed:
The worst part is, I got the feeling he wasn't actually going to end up buying it, I bet he'd have to choose between it or Spider-man or a Transformer or getting a beating or something and that damn figure ended up in the go-backs.



When I was talkin of CW I was reffering to the animated line. And the final wave of the animated line hit in 04.Those aren't regular figures, so no matter what I think of them, I would not count them here (plus, they're still not "Saga").

[ROTJLuke]

Well, the best figure I bought in 04 was the Jabba's Palace Luke Jedi, but the dengar did look the best I think.

[Tycho]

JediTricks, wasn't I allowed to vote the SA Clone the Best figure in our site's year round wrap-up for 2003? If so, he's definitely '03 (when I found mine).

Anyway, let's take a look at '04. I'll count all but repacks (OTC's) and V-OTCs.


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Hoth Luke - wow! Nice interaction with the Wampa's base. It sort of is hard to rate him because one goes with the other. But a sure contender.

R-3PO - nice. Nothing to write home about. But I approve more protocal and astromech droid repaints.

Hoth Rebel Soldier - uh...yeah. Moving along....


Luke Jedi - awesome. I had to buy him. He's nearly perfect. Something bothers me about him being either thin or flimsy, but perhaps I'm spoiled by He-man-esque figures from the past.

R1-G4 - very glad they made him. Definitely a contender because it was nice to have this salt-shaker finally done.

Bar-2-D2 - it's R2 again, but it's a solid sculpt we always wanted, with great accessories that allow him to revert to a perfectly normal R2 any time you want one.


Rappertune - not very poseable, but a great translation. I love the bright green color I can add to my collection.

Lando Skiff - basically a resculpt. I did not buy him, so I obviously don't rate him that high.

Luke Holo - didn't need him, and I'm on the fence about if he looks good.

J'Quille - always wanted him. He didn't come out as well as the Elom did. Had J'Quille had a large body like Muftak, he'd have really rocked. I'm not sure if he was or was not supposed to.

Elom (Tanus) - awesome! This was a cool alien that came out even better than I thought. I love that he has a tail. It breaks from the 2 arm/2 leg monotony.

TIE Pilot - didn't need him. Looks like any TIE pilot I guess.

Dutch Vandor - OK. I'm into pilots, but a good CARDED and better sculpted Red Leader would have made me feel better.

Captain Antilles - yes! I was stoked to add him to my blockade runner crew. Antilles was worth the wait. A contender!

General Dodonna - great to finally get him and have him neutrally posed. But with Hasbro making him, I was waiting for his backpack with proton torpedo launcher and Yavin airskiff skimmer. Where were those? Instead we got a great and authentic figure. Nice job. Not as exciting as Antilles, but useful.

Ozzel - I didn't want him, but he turned out really well and I figure that if we ever get a really good Vader meditation chamber, I could use him. So I bought him - and picked up a second to do Admiral Palleon as a custom if I need to.

Dengar - beautfully ugly! Just the way he's supposed to be. Finally a good Dengar figure with a backpack. He was a buyer. Now I hope they'll make Jaina and Jacen Solo to fight him one day...

Bossk - I didn't need him either. He looks good. I never spent a long time checking him out though - because I was never going to buy him.


Han AT-ST - whatever. It was done well. I'll give them that. Didn't need it, didn't buy it.

Lando General - ok, it sort of improved on the earlier one. but what's up with the giant holster? A smaller one would have been more accurate. Anyway, again, didn't need it, didn't buy it.

Madine - a nice figure! At last I got the General. For a plain figure, he was really nicely executed.


So the finalists are:

Luke Hoth
Bar-2-D2
Luke Jedi
Elom
Captain Antilles
Dengar
General Madine


Hmmmm..... I'll get back to you....

OK...


It's coming down between Tanus Spijek (Elom) and Captain Antilles.

Some of my criteria are:

Never made before.
Removeable Helmet, cool accessories
ability to win by a tail (quite literally)
sculpting difficulty (regular human or cool alien)....

OK, Tanus Spijek wins because:

Antilles is similar though not exactly like the Rebel Fleet Troopers...

and

We have few Star Wars figures that also have tails, as well as great paint applications to fur, a cool alien sculpt that looks little like most of our other figures, and is a useful alien for "filler" in dioramas, etc. I bought 9 Eloms for my dioramas, for example.


It's a little funny though. Tanus doesn't really hold up to last year's pick for me, the Super Articulated Clone Trooper. Or Ephant Mon, whom I picked in 2002.


Yeah, if I recall, my picks were:

1995 - Han Stormtrooper
1996 - Leia Boussh (I think)
1997- Gamorrean Guard or Slave Leia (not sure)
1998 - Darth Vader with Removeable Helmet
1999 - R2 with rocket boosters (I think, possibly Watto or C-3PO)
2000 - Mas Ameeda (I think)
2001 - Tessek
2002- Ephant Mon
2003 - Super Articulated Clone Trooper
2004 (so far) Tanus Spijek (Luke Jedi's a pretty good figure too though)

Throw in non-recards for OTC, and only the Cloud Car pilot really competes (but not with Tanus, though he has nice accessories).

[JediTricks]

JediTricks, wasn't I allowed to vote the SA Clone the Best figure in our site's year round wrap-up for 2003? If so, he's definitely '03 (when I found mine).When I first read this, I thought "what is he getting at?!?", then it finally dawned on me that you're backing up what I said earlier in the thread. :p So the answer is yes, you did indeed pick SA Clone as the best figure in the '03 wrap-up, I just checked.



Luke Jedi - awesome. I had to buy him. He's nearly perfect. Something bothers me about him being either thin or flimsy, but perhaps I'm spoiled by He-man-esque figures from the past. He is flimsy, and I'm also bothered by the ugliness of his joints.


Bar-2-D2 - it's R2 again, but it's a solid sculpt we always wanted, with great accessories that allow him to revert to a perfectly normal R2 any time you want one. It's not a very good radar eye sculpt, it's the same crummy job from R2-Q5, so I don't think this is a solid sculpt (especially compared to the actual movie prop or even the 12" scale figs).


Lando Skiff - basically a resculpt. I did not buy him, so I obviously don't rate him that high. Whaa? Lando Skiff is pretty snazzy.


Luke Holo - didn't need him, and I'm on the fence about if he looks good. He's not that accurate since his hair should be parted on the other side (since he's basically a reflection in the film). Also, the painted hair didn't come out that nice, but his plastic coloring does have an etherial quality to it which works.


TIE Pilot - didn't need him. Looks like any TIE pilot I guess. Massive improvement from the original, only qualms I had were the eyes on the helmet being too small and the arm being perma-bent.


Captain Antilles - yes! I was stoked to add him to my blockade runner crew. Antilles was worth the wait. A contender! I disagree on this one, the work here is funky, a weak face sculpt and funky arm design


General Dodonna - great to finally get him and have him neutrally posed. But with Hasbro making him, I was waiting for his backpack with proton torpedo launcher and Yavin airskiff skimmer. Where were those? Instead we got a great and authentic figure. Nice job. Not as exciting as Antilles, but useful. Same issues as Antilles, poor face sculpt, funky arm design, this figure didn't work that well for me.


Ozzel - I didn't want him, but he turned out really well and I figure that if we ever get a really good Vader meditation chamber, I could use him. Oh, you are high on the crack I think, this figure turned out not that good at all, wonky colors, putrid face sculpt, and screwy arm articulation. Sounds like the last 2. ;)


Dengar - beautfully ugly! Just the way he's supposed to be. Finally a good Dengar figure with a backpack. He was a buyer. I gave him a deservingly high review, and recently have run into this figure a few times and been tempted to buy another for no reason except he's a great fig!


Bossk - I didn't need him either. He looks good. I never spent a long time checking him out though - because I was never going to buy him. He's good, but nowhere near as good as Dengar. Bossk suffers from weaker sculpting and super-annoying pose/articulation issues.


Han AT-ST - whatever. It was done well. I'll give them that. Didn't need it, didn't buy it. I'm upset that I haven't found this one yet.


Lando General - ok, it sort of improved on the earlier one. but what's up with the giant holster? A smaller one would have been more accurate. Anyway, again, didn't need it, didn't buy it. Working holster seems cool to me, but again, I haven't found him yet. :(


Madine - a nice figure! At last I got the General. For a plain figure, he was really nicely executed. Like his casemates, I wouldn't know. :cry: