Rank the years from best to worst for Hasbro Star Wars Collecting

[Tycho]

If I were to rank the years from best to worst, with the good reasons thus far (1995-2006), I'd go:

2005
2006
1999
2002
1998
2001
2003 / 2004
1997
2000
1996
1995

Here's why:


2005 - Shocktrooper, Grievous' Body Guard, General Grievous 4-lightsabers, Darth Vader, Clone Commander, Wookiee Warrior, Palpatine lightsaber attack, SA Clone Trooper, Commander Bacara, Anakin Battle Damaged, Obi-Wan Pilot, Commander Bly, 501st Special Ops Trooper, Count Dooku, Chancellor Palpatine, C-3PO, Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto, Royal Guard (red), Luninara Undulli, Aayla Secura, Mas Ameeda, Tarkin, Ask Aak, Meena Tills, Utopau Warrior, Tion Meddon Pablo Jill, Sly Moore, Theed Celebration Padme, Feltipern Trevagg, Myo, Dannik Jerriko - 33 figures


2006 - Leia Boussh, Bib Fortuna, General Veers, Major Derlin, AT-AT Driver, Gonk Droid, Snowtrooper, General Rieeken, Sora Bulq, Sun Fac, Poggle The Lesser, Scorch, Cody, Utopau Clone, Firespeeder Pilot, Lushros Dofine, Momaw Nadon, R5D4, Hem Dazon, Chief Chirpa, C-3PO, Endor Luke, Rebel Trooper Endor, Rep Been, Naboo Soldier, Dud Bolt & Mars Guo, Gragga, Clone Trooper Kashyyyk, Clone Trooper Geonosis Sergeant, - 29 figures

*** Even if we take out 5 previously released or kit-bashed, repaints, I was surprised to see that 2006 still barely beats the next contestant.

1999 - Aunt Beru, Greedo CommTech, Han Cantina, Wuher, R2 with Holo Leia, CommTech Stormtrooper, Sneak Preview Mace, C-3PO, Vallorum, Darth Sidious, Ric Ollie, Ki-Adi Mundi, Padme Tatooine, Senator Palpatine, Watto, R2D2, Destroyer Droid, Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, Qui-Gon Naboo, Anakin Naboo, Captain Panaka, Naboo Royal Guard, - 23 figures

2002 - Bo Shek, R4M9, Teebo, Sneak Preview Clone, Captain Typho, Jango Fett, R2D2 beeping, Geonosian Warrior, Dexter Jettster, SaeSee Tiin, Clone Captain, Zam Wessel, Anakin Hanger Duel, Jango Final Battle, Endor Soldier, Orm Free Taa, Palpatine, Padme Pilot, Ephant Mon, Teemto Pagales, Clone Gunship Pilot, Watto flying - 22 figures

1998 - Luke Bespin, Lando General, Lak Sivrak, Biggs Darklighter, Wicket / Logray, Ishi Tibb, Zuckuss, Admiral Piett, Vader Removeable Helmet, Death Star Trooper, R2D2 with Datalink, C-3PO with removeable limbs, Leia New Likeness, Ree-Yees, AT-AT Driver, Pote Snitkin, Vader Flash Back, Palpatine Flashback, Leia Dark Empire, Luke Dark Empire - 20 figures

2001 - Aurra Sing, Chewie Mechanic, Leia Bespin Escape, Queen Theed Throne, JarJar Tatooine, Lando Bespin Escape, Obi-Wan Cold Weather, Tessek, Sandtrooper, Bespin Guard, Elors Madak (Duro), Sabe, Vader Emperor's Wrath, Shmi Skywalker, FX-7, Queen Decoy, Imperial Officer, Rebel Fleet Trooper, Eeth Koth, Zutton - 19 figures

2003 - Padme Droid Factory, Tusken Raider, Anakin Secret Ceremony, Boba Fett Carkoon, Aayla Secura, Han Hoth, Yoda & Chian, Ashla & Jempa, Wat Tambor, Coleman Trebor, Bail Organa, Elan Sleezebagano, ARC Trooper, Ventress, CW Mace Windu, Clone Trooper, CW SaeSee Tiin - 17 figures

2004 R1-G4, Luke Jabba's Palace, Bar-2D2, Luke Hoth, Tanus Spijek, Dutch Vandor, Captain Antilles, Jan Dodonna, Dengar, Bossk, General Madine, Luke Dagobah, Yoda Dagobah, R2 Dagobah, Cloud Car Pilot, Lobot, Imperial Scanner Trooper - also 17 figures



1997 - Bossk, Lando Skiff, Admiral Ackbar, Garindan, Tarkin, Ponda Baba, Weequay, Han Bespin, Leia Slave, Snowtrooper, EV-9D9, Gamorrean Guard, Luke Ceremony - 13 figures

2000 - Admiral Motti, Security Battle Droid, Mas Ameeda, Boss Nass, Vader Dagobah, Gungan Warrior, Porkins, Han Bespin, Mon Calamari Officer, Sio Bibble - 10 figures

1996 - Luke Dagobah, TIE Pilot, Luke Jedi Knight, Sandtrooper, Death Star Gunner, Leia Boussh, Luke Stormtrooper Disguise, Momaw Nadon - 8 figures


1995 - R2D2, Stormtrooper, Boba Fett - 3 figures

I listed the figures I liked, not necessarily what I bought as some I didn't need (ie 2006 Leia Boussh) but I can still admire them.

Note, I also think that most years Hasbro was improving all the time. The biggest step backward was in 2000.

So what's your favorite years and why? (ps I used the photo archives at Rebelscum to help me count up my favorites year by year and list them)

[Phantom-like Menace]

Sorry, I don't feel up to making the whole list, but I wanted to agree that 2005 was the best year for Star Wars collecting. The biggest reason is that Hasbro actually made the product available, and in the quantities I wanted to find it. I purchased more figures that year than in any previous year simply because I didn't have to spend every waking hour in retail outlets scouring shelves and being better, faster, and stronger than the next person to earn the prize first.

[Mad Slanted Powers]

No time at the moment to get detailed, but now I'm interested in going through them like you did. As I mentioned in the wave by wave thread, I'd rank 2002 lower, since many of the figures you mentioned don't excite me as much. Once they got past doing all those extreme pose figures, things got much more consistent.

[Tycho]

I'd rank 2002 lower, since many of the figures you mentioned don't excite me as much. Once they got past doing all those extreme pose figures, things got much more consistent.

When you get the chance I'd be interested to read about how you measure them all up yourself.

The funny thing is, out of the 2002 AOTC figures, very few of them were exteme posed figures that I brought up as having liked. Maybe:

Sneak Preview Clone, Jango Fett (very mildly), SaeSee Tiin, Clone Captain (somewhat articulated though), Anakin Hanger Duel (barely preposed), Endor Soldier (slightly, he just wasn't SA), Clone Gunship Pilot (sort of squatted one way), Watto flying (which is how the character usually appeared) - the other figures that I named as having liked from the AOTC era were not at all pre-posed. The ones that were I just didn't name as having liked - Padme Arena, Luminara, Plo Koon, Sneak Preview Jango, Arena Mace Windu, etc. just to name a few.

In the best / worst figure poll thread, I first named 2001 (POTJ) as my favorite year. The best single figures came out of that collection, with other years like '98 Removeable Helmet Vader, '97 Slave Leia and so forth raising their respective years with them, but overall as I counted the ones Hasbro managed to pull off decently, my ranking turned out as I'd listed them above. I was surprised by my own results actually. But yes, P-LM, 2005 really kicked some butt! Hasbro was very consistent across a large and wide-ranging spectrum of figures.

[BlueSnags]

2003 was the worst due to there being almost nothing in the stores all year long.

2005 was the best because it was the exact opposite.

[Mad Slanted Powers]

1995 - Not that great with all the He-Man figures, but some weren't too bad. Just having new Star Wars figures again was a plus.

1996 - Figures started to look a bit better. Started to get some secondary characters. Shadows of the Empire was a great concept, even if some of the figures weren't all that great.

1997 - A larger selection of figures. Still a few buff figures, but a lot of decent figures and some cool characters.

1998 - The quality of figures continues to increase as well as the quantity. We begin to see more articulation.

1999 - Up to this point, I would say each year was better than the last. I'll have to say 1999 is better as well. I liked all of the Commtech and Flashback figures from this year, and Episode I had some pretty decent figures as well.

2000 - The last few Episode I figures had some good and some bad. POTJ started up and we saw some nice figures and cool additions to the collection.

2001 - POTJ continues to have more cool characters and some well done figures.

2002 - The last few POTJ figures are good. Sneak Preview figures are so-so. Much of the initial bunch of AOTC Saga figures are too preposed and have action features that detract from the figure. Some better figures later in the year.

2003 - Still some preposed figures and action features, but not as many as 2002. Also, we begin to see better accessories and stands included with figures. It also seemed like they had a bigger plan with the figures fitting together with the Geonosian playset.

2004 - The last of the Saga figures were all pretty good. Nice updates of older figures, and some long awaited characters. OTC was mostly rehashes, but the new figures in the line were good, and the packaging is still my favorite to this day.

2005 - The Post OTC figures continued to provide figures to be excited about. The ROTS preview figures were all right as well. The ROTS line itself saw a lot of great figures. The return of action features kind of hurt some figures. Some figures like Anakin, Obi-Wan and Mace had kind of a blockiness to the joints that I didn't care for as much though. When they did it more to my liking, we had flimsy figures like Aayla.

2006 - I was really excited about the figures this year. Some really nice updated figures and a lot of characters that hadn't been done before.


So, I would say that each year was better than the last, with the exception of 2002 and 2005. I'm not sure how far back I would put 2002, but 2005 I would probably only put behind 2004. I'd be inclined to put 2004 first, but not as many new sculpts.

2006, 2004, 2005, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999, 2002, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995.

As far as your list of 2002 figures that you liked, I certainly would not include Saesee Tiin or Teemto. I'm not a big fan of Geonosian figures either. I will certainly agree with putting Ephant Mon, Padme Pilot, BoShek and R4-M9 on the list.

[Mad Slanted Powers]

2003 was the worst due to there being almost nothing in the stores all year long.

2005 was the best because it was the exact opposite.

Some good points there. It took a while for me to find stuff in 2003, and then the later stuff was pretty hard to find. I think Bail, Tatooine Padme and the Concept Stormtrooper I had to order from Kebco. That was the only time I ever ordered from there, and it seems they didn't have much after that point.

[LTBasker]

2001 - POTJ's prime, high quality offerings and widely available
2004 - OTC is one of the best things to happen to the SW line despite the majority being repacks, everything was well done and widely available.
2000 - Start of POTJ, awesome quality but lacking offerings.
2002 - End of POTJ, the figures were awesome if you could find them.
1999 - Even though TPM was quite lacking in general, there was some really good quality stuff to come out of the line and only until the end did it get very difficult to find.
2006 - Some really nice stuff has come out but material quality is pretty poor and distribution is horrible.
1997 - Good year to get several figures that were showing an increase in sculpting and quality.
1998 - Same as '97, but several figures were very hard to find
2003 - Not bad, but distribution was became dreadful.
1996 - Good choice of characters but sculpting was occasionally still in the he-man phase
1995 - When the only choice was to find the vintage figures as a young collector, these were so wonderful to hear about.
2005 - Totally. Frickin. Horrible.

[Jaff]

My top three years, and bottom year:

1. 2004. I pick this not only because of the VOTC and OTC nostalgia quality that was awesome but because some of the most exciting classic trilogy figs came out that year. To name a few: An awesome Dengar, Ozzel, Dadonna, Antillies, Vander, Rappertunnie, Dagabah Luke and R2, Cloud car pilot, finally a different Lobot, finished the jedi council circle, A BLUE SNAGGLETOOTH, Hasbro fixed the Ktik Ktak availability issue, Filterpern and Myo, Sly Moore and check out Rabe and Padme Celebration. It was just awesome, exciting, and the stuff was not impossible to find.

2. 1996 - Yeah it didn't have the best figures in 96, but for all of us who missed the SW thing, and collecting, this year made it clear that Star Wars was BACK.

3. 2001 - This entire year was nothing but POTJ, and Hasbro had the best distribution during this year. You could find practically every fig as long as you were up to date monthly, and the figs they were producing was phenomenal. What a year.

4. If I was to pick a 4th year I would say 1998 because I loved the slide figures and I was getting into collecting pretty hard core at this time. Before 98 it was just fun. 98 made me a completist. Which brings me to the year that was my worst.

2002
This year made me turn from being a completist. With the ultra poses and overproduction that damaged years to come. This year made retailers skeptical of Hasbro's reliability. The market was flooded, 2003 was barren, and even today it's hard to find full shelves. There used to be something on every shelf before this year. After this year I saw a mega-difference in figure availability.

[dindae]

Here is my list

2006
2005
2004
2003
2001
2000
1999
2002
1998
1997
1996
1995

I have felt that overall that Hasbro has consistently improved with their product in the main basic line when offering a completely new sculpts with the exception of 2002 which had far too many preposed statues that I didn't like compared to the POTJ line or Ep I figures. Now there has been more garbage pushed out like battle pack and repacks and rehashed figures that have detracted from my enjoyment but that is really hard to quantify and I don't feel like spending that much time in self reflection for this list.