Chicago Summer 2002 finds

OK...... spent today (Fri) at Wizard World in Rosemont and thought Id report in....

I go every year and it seems as if there are slightly fewer dealers selling Star Wars stuff (though there are still MANY selling SW) and the prices are slightly higher than in years past.

The average price for EP2 figures seems to be about $8.00 each.... give or take $1-$3 depending on the figure. There are a few obnoxiously greedy dealers too so be prepared for some sticker shock

I did find one dealer selling many POTJ figures for--I think--4 for $10.... but they were all last years issues...

the one thing that the convention does have is SELECTION. If you are willing to spend the money you can pretty much find whatever you are looking for, vintage or new

Some personal highlights:

I got to compare Bespin Luke peg hand vs. bloody..... bloody wins (pardon the pun) hands down

somebody was selling the Nexu for $10. I think that's a good price (?). didnt buy it though

George Sacul is all over the place... usually for about $80.... but one guy had him for $55

the Hasbro booth was a little dissapointing only in that there wasnt that much new. Last year Hasbro used Wizard World to premiere pretty much the whole last 10-15 figures of the POTJ line and the TIE Bomber and snowspeeder.

THis year they had Teemto Pagalis (sp?)--and I DID like the salvage droid he comes with

They also had the Republic Gunship which may be my new favorite large ship. A little smaller than say the Falcon or Shuttle, but holds multiple figures and looks to be a little easier to "fly" around if you are so inclined

the Gunship piolt figure will come with a turret canon which attaches to the ship (kinda cool) and there will also be a clone trooper with speeder bike in Sept and the bike fits inside the gunship..... but the only look at the bike I got was a small peak on the back of the gunship box

they did not yet have the arena battle playset because it didnt ship yet. They hope to have it tomorrow. They must have used Fed Ex--DOH!

the new anakin tatooine attack (or whatever it is called) coming out soon looks good--maybe my favorite Anakin sculpt yet (but I havent really liked any of the Annies) and the new X-Wing and landspeeder both looked really good but I think Ill be passing on both. Im satisfied with the versions Ive already got. How many times can they keep re-doing these ships anyway?

The acklay looked surprisingly cool too

The Hasbro presentation was both better and worse than last year.

It was a little less organzied and bounced between Transformers & GI Joe (neither of whci hI have any interest in) and Star Wars. They were much nicer this year (last year they had some really whiny ***** moderating the whole thing who seemed to condescend to the fans) but in general, despite "opening the floor to questions" they only talk about whatever the hell they want to and are completley non-commital and evasive about anything beyond what has been officially announced. Bottom line, we still dont know what waits ahead beyond fall 2002

BTW.... the infamously overpriced Brian's Toys was there with a pretty huge booth and, frankly, an amazing collection for pretty rare stuff. But, he is WAY expensive and doesnt bargain more than a couple of bucks

Bottom line: if you want deals, probablyl look elsewhere or wait till Sunday afternoon when dealers are trying to unload merch that went unsold....even then I suspect they might not be that great

Also, some dealers who look like they sell zero toys sometimes have a small bin of SW for OK price.... but ususally it is older POTJ stuff that we all proabbly have already

If you want selection though, you WILL find what you are looking for

oh yeah.... the rest of the convention was pretty cool too. Tomorrow is Stan Lee Q&A. Should be good

hope you have fun if you go

peace out

-Rash Flembar-


:crazed: :crazed: :crazed: :crazed: :crazed: :crazed: :crazed: :crazed: :crazed:

met sir steve today at the show. id have to say the show kinda sucked but hasbro had a good display of new figures

Finally decided to jump in on this. Been hunting relentlessly and have lots to share. I live in the south suburbs and work near o'hare so I tend to cover lots of territory - on my way to work, during lunch, and on my way home - most every day. Usually walmart, kb, tru, target, and an occasional disappointing kmart. Was having the best luck at walmart, but they've been consolidating their displays into less space, so I'm losing hope there.

I focus on the basic figs (only missing Chewie and Obi-Wan right now), but may pick up accessory sets if they look ok.

Since 7/3, been to about 20 or so stores and have seen nothing interesting, other than both of my south-side kmarts (which have been dormant for weeks now) both appear to have received a large shipment of figs. Lots of yodas, dookus, plus some djas & palpatines (got mine there).

Was thinking about going to WW to finish up my EP1 collection, but didn't make it. Will have to wait for another time.

Plan on hitting local walmart near home and at work on my way in tomorrow.

Probably too late but I'll say it anyway for the Stan Lee fans out there--Stan was sick and couldn't make it. So if you're going to meet Stan, don't bother. :(

Anyone hear anything about the Acklay having a production change? Those removable guts just <I>scream</i> for a change. Anything that cool can't be common. If it were McFarlane making it, yeah I could see, but this has got bloody hand Luke written all over it. :rolleyes:

By the way--for those who have the Acklay--how big is it?

The box is VERY deceptively small. Once you take it out of the box and spread the legs the thing is huge. It is difficult to position, some of the legs don't move as nicely as the others, and it also has a problem supporting it's own weight, tends to start "lowering" itself....otherwise I think it's very cool and impressive.

got Ki-Di Amundi and Teemto Pagalies yesterday:crazed:

KIDD: Where'd you find them???

Yesterday, I hit (2) walmarts before work, one target and kb at lunch, and hit (2) more targets and a kmart on my way home. hit another walmart on my way in this morning. no success anywhere.

only need chewie & obi-wan to complete the first 40.

Yea Kidd where? The whole point of this forum is help out others. So, let us know where you scored them so we can get some too.

I know you and Indiana went around and around about bragging and what not. I'm not accusing you of that, but when you post the fact that you found figurse that arn't even supposed to of shipped yet and don't tell us where, it does kind of look like you are bragging. No offense ment or anything, just provide us with a little more info.

Thanks.

KIDD: Why the reluctance to share? Saw your posts on rebelscum, yet you're not revealing the location of your find there either.

Stopped at additional kb, walmart, target, & tru on south side on way home tonight. nothing found worth mentioning.

the reason im being reluctant is because of all the $hit i got earlier in the posts where me and indiana got into it and everyone posted there 2 cents and now im making change!