Toy Bender

I’m back from Star Wars Celebration and I gotta tell you, I’m both sleep deprived and wired on caffeine so this is not a good combination. I realize you’ve been waiting for a few updates from me on the whole experience, so I’ll be quick and speedy with one to tide you over.

Hasbro had a lot more to offer than I thought they would, in fact they showed almost all of the figures that will be available in the upcoming year. I took a bunch of pics of the ones that I thought were the coolest and most worthy of Toy Bender’s geek love and will split them up in a series of updates. This first part will deal with…

Clone troopers. Duh, what else did you think I’d talk about?

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Man it’s been awhile since I had some truly clontastic news that got the old clone collecting juices flowing, but the time has come to bust out the ‘ole Clone Watch logo. Rebelscum.com has info on a Star Wars figure wave that was pushed back until later this year. There are a couple of cool figures in the offering, but let me draw your attention to two of the best:

Clone Trooper - Brown Decoration: Uh, okay this one is actually a lame repaint. Remember those army builder three packs from Revenge of the Sith? Well, this guy is the brown one, but with better articulation.

All right, you might have not been as impressed with that particular choice. Well then, how about this one, chumpy?

Mama like!

This is a new super articulated Clone Wars clone trooper, which will sport a muddy paint application and a poncho. Let me repeat that if you missed it… A PONCHO. Hot damn, I’ve never been this excited about a poncho before. Let me say right now that I’m warning all the retailers in my area to order lots of these or else I’ll get super passive aggressive on your ass. Oh the scowling you will receive!

Source: Rebelscum.com

toy, toy collecting, toy collectors, action figure, clone trooper, clone wars, star wars, Hasbro

If you need some more clone trooper figure related info, then head on over to Jedi Insider to check out lots of pics on the Target exclusive Order 66 series of figures and Figures.com also has got an in depth look at most of them. Okay, I realize that this isn’t exactly the world’s most groundbreaking news, but I was fudging around in Photoshop and I wanted an excuse to use an alternate, pratice Clone Watch logo.

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It’s been awhile, but we finally have another:

Star Wars site Jedi Insider has got some pictures of a comic two pack that is virtually guaranteed to be hard to find. I reported on this on January, and only now do we get some packaged pics. Be sure to head over to Jedi Insider for the rest of the sweet pics like this one:

As you can see, this two pack features a pretty standard Obi-Wan and an Arc Trooper named Alpha who is the bad assiest, ball kicking clone ever. Or so I read on the internet, I’ve never read the comic myself. Anyway, he comes with a nifty looking gun and there’s also some sort of disguise in the package that I’m guessing is for Obi-Wan. I’m guessing that the disguise is for Obi-Wan, because again I’ve never read the comic. What’s the release date for these figures? Oh, sometime in 2007. Yep, I’m pretty useless.

toy, toy collecting, action figure, clone trooper, Obi-Wan, Star Wars, Hasbro, comic book

Super awesome Star Wars collecting site, Sir Steve’s Guide has provided all of us Star Wars toy collecting nuts a good look at waves three and four of the upcoming 30th Anniversary line. Head on over there to get a look at what to expect. The biggest surprise?

Boba Fett Holiday Special style! Holy sweetness, it looks like I have to add another Boba Fett to my must have list of ‘07.

Also on the radar is another:

Star Wars.com has a tasty tidbit of clone news for the Target shopper. The big box retailer is going to get an exclusive line called Order 66. In this line will be two packs of Jedi’s and clones. It looks like they’ll be mostly comprised of repaints, but a clone is a clone.

Update: I just got an email from Star Wars.com saying you can get a groovy pin or patch with every order until January 31st (or until supplies run out). Awesome!

toys, toy collecting, Boba Fett, Star Wars Holiday Special, clone trooper, Star Wars, action figure, Target, Star Wars, Hasbro

Here’s a quick Clone Watch update for anyone who’s got a bit of the old clone crazies. The overly priced toy website, Entertainment Earth, is now taking preorders for the second series of Star Wars comic book two packs. If you haven’t seen these yet, these are two packs of figures based off of various Star Wars comics, so basically it’s an excuse to make some expanded universe figures. The most notable figure in this wave for the discriminating clone collector is Alpha One from the Obi-Wan and Alpha pack. If you don’t know who Alpha is, check out this handy Wikipedia article.

Oh yeah, and there’s the two pack that features super popular E.U. Jedi bad boy, Quinlan Vos. I stand by my theory that if you know who he is you like Star Wars too much, and if you are a Quinlan fanboy or girl then you really need to read less Star Wars novels.

toys, toy collecting, toy hunt, clone trooper, Star Wars, action figure, Hasbro, comic book

It’s been too long, my friends. I’ve been itching for some new clone news like a junkie looking for a fix and it finally came via our German toy collecting counterparts at 4-Inches.de. As always with 4-inches, the report is in German and there is no direct link to the news. Those Germans love making things difficult. 4-inches.de is reporting that Commander Neo and a new clone are going to come out in a Battle Pack (Google translated it as Battle Luggage… silly Google) complete with two BARC speeders. The pack is going to be titled as “Treachery on Saluecami” so keep an eye out for it if you like clones, and really why wouldn’t you?

If you go to 4-inches.de, you have to click on the arrow next to the news that says “Commander Neyo / Saleucami Trooper Sneak Preview”. Here’s a pic from the site, but go there to see the others.

I bet that Endor chase would have been a lot shorter for Luke and Leia if they had these guys riding up their tails. Why is that in about twenty years the Emperors troops went from Jedi killing bad asses to guys that got their own asses kicked by teddy bears? I blame Space Liberals.

Toys, toy collecting, action figure, Clone Trooper, Star Wars, Hasbro

It’s that time again, time for another:

I’ve got three items in one post for you today! First up, Sir Steve’s Guide is reporting that our good old buddies from the Republic Commando Delta Squad are available for purchase. It’s an internet exclusive, so don’t expect these to hit stores any time soon.

I also have a follow up on the rant I had the other day about the Lego Clone army builders not being available stateside. Well, it looks like I’m an idiot. I visited the Lego shop today and it looks like you can order them. If you feel lucky, it also seems to be appearing in some stores around the country. Hurry up and get a few before scalpers do.

Finally, Keith, a frequent Toy Bender commentator and fellow 451 Press slave, had a clonegasim over the Master Replica wearable Clone Helmet. I’m not so excited, because if I was then I’d want one really bad and I can’t afford one. Yet somehow if I did get one, then I’d want a full clone suit. Do you see what kind of slippery slope this kind of thing gets you into? Now I must go back to pretending that this thing doesn’t exist, just like the double bladed Darth Maul Force FX lightsaber doesn’t exist.

Toys, toy collecting, Star Wars, Clone Trooper, Lego, Hasbro

Rebelscum.com has a very detailed look at each figure in the fan picked Saga Legends line. This list is handy, because you can tell exactly what version of each figure is coming out so you can plan appropriately. Go there, read it, and come back. I can wait.

I have to question, why out of 1,000 figures that fans could choose are many of them figures that were released in the last few years. Hell, some of them were released this last year. Why do we need a repackaged Leia as Boushh? Who the hell wants the C-3PO from Attack of the Clones? What really boils my blood are the Pit Droid 2 packs. If you really need one of these and you’re not five years old, you deserve a kick in the groin regardless if you are a man or a woman.*

Okay, enough with the negativity. Some of these I can’t be more excited about because you get a true:

The list includes such awesome picks like the 501st trooper and the Shock Trooper with much more articulation and better looking sculpts. The Clone Commander from the Evolutions set is also a very good pick as I skipped out on that when it was released. And what Clone collector doesn’t need a reissue of both the regular trooper and the Clone Commanders from Attack of the Clones? If you say you don’t need them, then I spit in your face and wish you good day.

In addition to the Clone Watch Figures, there’s the going to be super hot Dark Trooper. The Biker Scout and Sandtrooper are decent picks as well, since the Biker Scout saves you from having to open the expensive Saga Collection vintage style package and the Sandtrooper is also another figure from the Evolutions three pack.

My non-Storm trooper/Clone figure pick? That would have to be TC-14, the protocol droid from Phantom Menace that was an impossible find back in the day.

Well there you have it. More reasons to start eating dog food to save money for toys next April!

*In an attempt to get more traffic, I’m going controversial. I like it. I’ve got attitude like Poochie.

Toys, toy collecting, Star Wars, Hasbro, Saga Legends, Clone Trooper

Okay, this is getting crazy. For our third Clone Watch report this week we’ve got another toy sighting at Rebelscum.com. Some lucky punks got a hold of the newest wave of Star Wars figures that blows the crap out of the previous wave. You’ve got a few new clones, one is a Return of the Sith repaint, and another is a holographic version of Commander Cody. The best pick of them all is the Clone Trooper Sergeant from Attack of the Clones. If you’ve been waiting for a new Attack of the Clones version trooper, here’s your chance.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll need to take a break for a little while. All this clone news this week has gotten me over stimulated.

Toys, toy collecting, Clone Trooper, Star Wars, Hasbro

Wow, nothing for weeks in the beautiful world of Star Wars clones and now two updates so far this week. It looks like some lucky chumps are getting the Republic Commando Delta Squad set early! Members of the Reblescum.com forum have posted pictures of the ones they got and they look fantastic. I pre-ordered mine way back in August, so I can’t wait until I get my hands on it. To be honest with all you toy openers out there, these guys look better in the package. The loose Scorch that was previously released as a single figure had some disappointing articulation, especially since his knees didn’t bend at all. The rest of these guys appear to be repaints of Scorch, so don’t expect to pose them in a lot of different ways. If someone has these figures, feel free to comment and correct me if I’m wrong about this.

If you want to get your hands on one of these, do so now before it’s a hot eBay item. You can get it on StarWarsShop.com and other online retailers (retailers you can get a mention here… hint… hint…).

Toys, toy collecting, Clone Trooper, Republic Commando

After weeks of waiting, I finally have a geniuine Clone Watch alert. The first pictures of the Betrayal at Felucia battle pack boxed set are now on the internet. You can find the news item at Rebelscum.net, but the pictures are actually located at 4-inches.de, the famous German Star Wars collecting site. (If you go to the German site, you’ll have to manually click on the Felucia news item.)

I’m a little split on this one. I welcome any new clone news, but I’m not sure if I need a battle pack consisting of 4 Clone Commanders. The nice thing about this set though, is that at least one of the commanders was only available in the evolutions set. If you missed out on that, here’s your second chance to get this nifty clone figure.

Toys, toy collecting, Star Wars, battle pack, clone trooper