Shmi, X wing Luke, E.W. Vader, and D.S.E. Han reviews

[AmanaMatt]

IMO, the 'how much is too much' or 'too soon' debates are really up to the individual person. To date, I have personally never seen the Duros wave in any store. I saw the Tessek wave once and that was it. I personally would rather pay a little more, hand pic the fig I want (ie, avoiding sloppy paint deco ones) and go home happy. For the amt of time I sometimes would spend looking for this stuff and the gas I wasted...I did the math one time and I spent alot. Also, when I do buy figs from dealers, I do try to go to the ones at F&S that have either: direct accounts (and a couple do) or buy from those that have imported figs from Hong Kong, which was the case with this current wave. I do not promote scalping - all that does is keep the same dudes going. When I do buy from something 'other than retail,' I try to be somewhat responsible - meaning, protecting the hobby itself to some extent.

Let me tell you, from my own personally experience w/ F&S, that most people wait and buy figs for as close to retail as possible. A LOT OF THE DEALERS GET DESPERATE AND WILL DEAL. Now, when it comes to exclusive ships, some may be more willing to pay a little more upfront and avoid having to look in stores. For me, I paid $40 for the Tie Interceptor, which is about $7.50 above retail taking into account what the tax would have been. With that extra money, I was able to hand pick a mint box as well and avoid a big hassle...

For those that can find stuff at retail or who are more patient than I am, I say (and I mean this), more power to you!

[Oilboy]

Kudos to you Amanamatt. I think this issue is one that is fairly unique to the internet forum. You get people from many financial backgrounds who all post and participate in an anonymous medium. While some may think it is ridiculous to drop 15 bucks on a newly released figure, others make more then that an hour(making it a MUCH less daunting venture). In college, when I was making 7 bucks an hour, I NEVER bought anything I couldn't find at retail; Shoot, I didn't even HAVE the oppurtunity to buy the more expensive stuff(Ships, AT-ST, AT-AT). Buuuuuuuuuut, now that I have graduated college and have a NICE job, 15 bucks becomes a trivial amount of money. If I could walk into the local comic shop and see the new figs for 15-20 bucks a pop, would I buy them? You are damn right! And I would be grinning all the way home!

[jedibear]

....out of all the figures you mentioned, I'm really looking forward to finding Shmi. I can't wait to see how she looks standing with Ani. It's also nice to hear that Hasbro is continuing to be consistant with the scaling issue.

[sith_killer_99]

Emperor's Wrath Darth Vader is still one of the coolest, most unique Darth Vader figures ever...ever.

Shim was a great likeness.

Luke X-Wing has been re-hashed many times, but this was one of the best, realistic versions IIRC it was the first realistic and accurate in terms of size, Luke was a little guy.

Han didn't really impress me. The Bespin Capture version was much better.

Overall, this was, and remains one of my favorite lines.