NYCC 2012 Coverage

Tamashii Nations 3PO is the piece I jumped right to first. It's still matte, and I hadn't noticed before but the shoulders have a bit too much bulk at the collar end and the main section is sculpted too far in. I am still going to watch its progress though, and I'm curious how it will sell.

That R2 in the display for display only looks pretty good, I wonder why it doesn't have a "pending licensor approval", are they simply not going to be able to make it at all?

AFX with that Thundertank, I don't want to buy statues but man do I want to buy that statue and the minimates that are scaled with it.

Super7's Super Boba Fett Shogun looks like it's coming along nicely.

Koto's ArtFX+ Boba Fett is like "wow wow wow whaaat is going on with those shoulder pads?". Vader FX+ looks thick in the neck and the cape is a bit thick, but the overall sculpt looks quite nice. I have been trying not to want FX+ 3PO and R2, but yeah, that's on my xmas list now - the chrome on 3PO looks great and the lines on R2 are stellar. Jango looks very good too, if the production looks as good I think that might be coming home - it looks as slick as the GG minibust (the one with arms that my sister says is in a "yeah boy!" pose, gee thanks). Holy crap, the big ice cube trays are way better than I expected - I'm likely going to get R2, definitely the Death Star. Light-up chop sabers look alright, I suspect they'd look better without booth lighting blasting them.

Well let's see here . . .

Nothing from any of the listed companies interests me. And if it does, it's above my pay grade (and since I'm currently a full time student . . . it's a very low pay grade).

So . . . yeah, insanely underwhelmed by the presented items.

I've said in the past few months that if the price goes up on hasbro stuff, and distribution doesn't improve that I'd be quitting collecting from them. At this point it looks like I'll be not collecting simply due to a lack of product I'm interested in all together.

2013 is going to be a big money saving year for me it seems.

It's too bad that Hasbro didn't show anything. Last year they had pretty much all of the TPM stuff . . . then again, it was their first year showing anything there (so it's not like this is normally a huge thing for them to show off a bunch), and we seem to already know about everything coming between now and February, so I'm assuming most of the 2013 line is being saved for Toy Fair, then.

I was very surprised that Hasbro made a bit of noise about SW at NYCC and then only brought Angry Birds SW to the show. That was a bummer.

Did they really think collectors would be excited about Angry Birds? I think seeing next year's X-Wing and ESB Slave 1 Vintage exclusives would have been at least something worth checking out. Oh well, I guess they're required to hype the new product, no matter how ridiculous it is.

I have played Angry Birds and I enjoyed it for the most part, however, I feel that the game is too reliant on random luck and involves almost no skill whatsoever. This whole "crossover" thing feels like it's about a year or so too late.

Originally Posted by bigbarada

Did they really think collectors would be excited about Angry Birds? I think seeing next year's X-Wing and ESB Slave 1 Vintage exclusives would have been at least something worth checking out. Oh well, I guess they're required to hype the new product, no matter how ridiculous it is.

I have played Angry Birds and I enjoyed it for the most part, however, I feel that the game is too reliant on random luck and involves almost no skill whatsoever. This whole "crossover" thing feels like it's about a year or so too late.

Did they really think CONVENTION fans would get excited about Angry Birds SW, even if they thought a general audience might?

AB isn't about random luck actually, it's a physics game and requires skill of aim and prediction of behaviors. Unfortunately if you have an iphone screen it's too small to really make that out, when I went from my ipod touch AB to my 4.3" android phone's screen it became more of a skill game. And when I went to my tablet screen, it became a whole new ballgame.

It does feel too late, although Angry Birds Space was not that long ago and an awesome game.

I've only played it on the iPod and the screen is so tiny it's nearly impossible to line up your shots effectively.

So, is there going to be a Star Wars themed Angry Birds game? If not, then this seems pretty arbitrary and pointless. Kind of like those Star Wars themed M&Ms from a few years back.

Hasblo is suck.

Originally Posted by bigbarada

I've only played it on the iPod and the screen is so tiny it's nearly impossible to line up your shots effectively.

So, is there going to be a Star Wars themed Angry Birds game? If not, then this seems pretty arbitrary and pointless. Kind of like those Star Wars themed M&Ms from a few years back.

The game is coming out November 8.

I've only played the original game on an iPhone and I could see it fine. I'll be buying the app, but probably not any of the toys. TRU had the blind bag two-packs the other day, so there ya go.

Originally Posted by Mr. JabbaJohnL

The game is coming out November 8.

I've only played the original game on an iPhone and I could see it fine. I'll be buying the app, but probably not any of the toys. TRU had the blind bag two-packs the other day, so there ya go.

I didn't say that I had trouble seeing the game. I just said it was nearly impossible to line up your shots accurately on the tiny screen, especially when you were aiming at a target that wasn't even on the same screen.

Well, it's good to know that there is a useless game to go along with the useless toys. They'll slap the Star Wars logo on anything these days, I guess.

There seems to be a lot of annoyance about this crossover (not just this site, but several other sites as well). Is it really any different than the M&M's, Transformers, LEGO, Mr. Potato Head, Disney, Muppets, Cars, or any other crossovers? Or is the issue just that there's so much out there already? Is it that the tone isn't serious enough for some fans' liking? I think different games (and other products) can coexist and be meant for different audiences - Angry Birds skews younger and goofier, while things like 1313 or Force Unleashed are meant for more mature, serious audiences; you can like one, both, or neither and keep carrying on. It's not like Lucasfilm or Hasbro are presenting this as the new direction for Star Wars, and it's not taking away from the aspects that you actually like; it's just supposed to be a fun side thing.

All the other crossovers you mentioned (even if they're not all awesome) are with long-established properties that most would consider "iconic." I wouldn't count LEGO as a "crossover" in the same sense as the others. Mr. Potato Head and Transformers are longstanding Hasbro properties, and both have done other crossovers. Disney owns Muppets and Cars, and those are sold only at their parks, IIRC.

I'm not saying Angry Birds isn't cool (I've never bothered to play it, so I don't have an opinion), but it seems an odd choice. On the one hand, they're striking while the iron is hot and people still care to buy zillions of dollars worth of stuff with a cardinal sporting a unibrow--you think Star Wars Guitar Hero would sell gangbusters right now? On the other, Angry Birds doesn't have the longevity (yet, at least), and may never last that long, so this seems sorta akin to making Star Wars Pet Rocks or shirts with Chewbacca demanding to know where the beef is. If SW is merged with something that proves to be a flash in the pan, that cheapens the brand when the other property goes down.

(You could argue that the crossover Furbies were a similar case, but at least those made a little sense.)

Originally Posted by bigbarada

I've only played it on the iPod and the screen is so tiny it's nearly impossible to line up your shots effectively.

So, is there going to be a Star Wars themed Angry Birds game? If not, then this seems pretty arbitrary and pointless. Kind of like those Star Wars themed M&Ms from a few years back.

Yeah, when I played it on my old ipod it was a lot more guesswork, on my ipod 4 with the higher-res screen if I zoom out I can generally make it less of a guess but it's just annoying to fine-tune those shots for the harder levels.

Yes, there is going to be a SW-themed AB game, it's not just all ridiculous merchandising without a context.

Originally Posted by WesleySr

I've played Angry Birds on the PS3 and it is alot easier to play when you can actually see what you are doing. As far as the Hasbro presentation, it figures. I, like alot of others, am about to give up. I hardly collect Star Wars anymore because I can NEVER find anything new. I collect the realistic toys mostly for myself and the Clone Wars for my kids. Luckily for them, I purchased a case of Clone Wars figures (along with some discounted Battle Packs that I missed) from HasbroToyShop and got all of this year's figures except Fox, which I found Friday in an unopened case at my local Toys R Us. This is the first year that I haven't missed a Clone Wars figure since I missed Commander Bly, which I was hoping they would re-release since they re-released Aayla. I think the last thing that I purchased for my collection was Vintage Ben Quadinaros, Daultay Dofine, & Ratts Tyerell back when they first came out towards the beginning of the year. I've not found any new Vintage since then. Needless to say, there won't be much Star Wars under the tree for Christmas this year.

I didn't even know it was on PS3, is it a buck there too? I read they're about to come out with a stand-alone console game with all the ABs to date on it - AB, AB Rio, and AB Seasons - but they want $40!!! That's CRAZY. I found AB difficult to play with a mouse after playing it with touchscreen, so I cannot imagine how it is with a controller.

I fear everybody is about to give up on Hasbro SW, it really feels like they're running it into a brick wall over and over right now. And for Clone Wars, that line is essentially dead in my book, they took all the nifty characters and left them out this year, so it's just boring Jedi and repetitive clones. I LIKE the clones, but they need someone to interact with other than each other. I'm still missing Seripas, and so are most fans, but did they re-release him? No, why make money off an expensive mold when you can release NOTHING instead? I can't even THINK of Hasbro SW that I'd want under my tree right now, the MTT does not impress me and it's horribly overpriced even before TRU jacking it up $50, there aren't any figures or vehicles that are findable and the ones that are out aren't tempting. The line has ground to a halt holding its breath for the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, trying to keep putting fans off until it can get itself together again but each time missing the mark.

Originally Posted by BB

Well, it's good to know that there is a useless game to go along with the useless toys. They'll slap the Star Wars logo on anything these days, I guess.

All toys and games are "useless" from a certain point of view. I can see it being fun if they do it right, AB Space was good.

Originally Posted by JabbaJohnn

There seems to be a lot of annoyance about this crossover (not just this site, but several other sites as well). Is it really any different than the M&M's, Transformers, LEGO, Mr. Potato Head, Disney, Muppets, Cars, or any other crossovers? Or is the issue just that there's so much out there already? Is it that the tone isn't serious enough for some fans' liking? I think different games (and other products) can coexist and be meant for different audiences - Angry Birds skews younger and goofier, while things like 1313 or Force Unleashed are meant for more mature, serious audiences; you can like one, both, or neither and keep carrying on. It's not like Lucasfilm or Hasbro are presenting this as the new direction for Star Wars, and it's not taking away from the aspects that you actually like; it's just supposed to be a fun side thing.

It's getting tiresome, each crossover diminishes the SW brand's impact more and more, to the point where Star Wars is just a cheap branding dressing - see my sig.

Originally Posted by Chux

All the other crossovers you mentioned (even if they're not all awesome) are with long-established properties that most would consider "iconic." I wouldn't count LEGO as a "crossover" in the same sense as the others. Mr. Potato Head and Transformers are longstanding Hasbro properties, and both have done other crossovers. Disney owns Muppets and Cars, and those are sold only at their parks, IIRC.

I wasn't going to count LEGO as a crossover until I remembered that they are now branding non-toys as well, clocks and lamps and tv specials and video games.

I'm not necessarily against Angry Birds, since I did enjoy the game for the most part when I played it. I'm simply against this continuous erosion of the Star Wars brand. What's next? Star Wars Minecraft?

I barely tolerated garbage like the Star Wars M&Ms, Transformers, Disney mash-ups, zombies, Muppets, etc. I think this AB thing is simply the straw that broke the camel's back for me. It's never going to end. They're going to continue to slap the Star Wars logo on whatever happens to be trending at the moment and eventually there is going to be nothing of value left for the franchise.

The Hasbro event was entertaining but it was a little disappointing that there was no other SW products. Apparently they are holding back for Toy Fair.

Originally Posted by SirSteve

The Hasbro event was entertaining but it was a little disappointing that there was no other SW products. Apparently they are holding back for Toy Fair.

I hope that's the case. Because right now what they've revealed for next year just is . . . in terms of what I'm going to buy, it's actualy worse than the episode 1 wave. I only intend to buy one, maybe two figures. The Scout Trooper to replace the defective one that came with my speeder bike, and maybe, maybe, Mara Jade if that is actualy a figure coming out and if I can find her, as I don't have a version of her. Due to no vintage packaging, I will deffinetly not be buying two of these figures (and I would have loved to have had Mara Jade on a vintage card back). Everything else that I know of just holds zero interest for me.