Droid factory

During the past year and a half or so of the Build A Droid concept being used for the Star Wars lines, I have gathered up quite a few pieces of droids. I have managed to complete a few of them as intended (and I'm one right arm away from finishing the YVH droid!), and a few that I have cobbled together from disparate droids. That is one of the cool things about the droid pieces, you can use them pretty much interchangeably. It would be cool if you could do the same with pieces from other lines, like DCUC. I'll never complete a build a figure from DCUC, so I have a bunch of random pieces that don't even connect to each other. Anyway, pictured above are the Frankendroids I have made so far. Don't mind the mess.

Since this year is the 30th anniversary of Empire Strikes Back, and so far many of my new toys are Empire themed. That all ties in nicely with my recent discovery of the Empire Strikes Back sticker generator, which I used to make a new header image for my blog.

I'm up to 50 followers now, cool! My 50th follower is soundwave810, who wins a No-Prize.

#6: LEGO Star Wars Snowtrooper Battle Pack

Ever since I heard about this set last month, I've been waiting for Target to re-set their Lego section and stock it on the shelves. By my last trip the other day, they had finally put all the new Lego sets out, and I was able to get this set.

I can never pass up the opportunity to add more Lego Imperial or clone troopers to my collection, so I'm always glad when they do these army builder sets. Especially if Snowtroopers are involved. The set has a little battle station of some sort with a rocket launcher and what I suppose is a command post. There is also a speeder bike, which works pretty well in Lego form. I definitely like it better than the battle station. The figures include two snowtroopers, an AT-AT pilot, and an Imperial officer that I will believe is General Veers.

There is a companion set featuring Rebel forces, if you need someone for your Imperials to battle with. It's a cool little set, and if you want some Hoth themed Lego troopers, this is the way to go.

All my Star Wars toys so far this year have been Empire Strikes Back themed. Appropriate since this year is the 30th anniversary of its release.

#5: G.I. Joe Zartan

Much like he does to the Joes, Zartan has been causing me trouble. I ordered him last month with that batch of toys that was otherwise just Star Wars figures. Unfortunately, when I opened the Zartan, his hand broke off. I've never had that kind of problem with a Hasbro toy before, but fortunately I was able to return it for a replacement. So if it hadn't broken, this would have counted under 2009's count of toys.

There are a couple different versions of Zartan out there, but this is the one closest to his appearance in the cartoon, which is why I went with this one. Let's get my complaints out of the way first. His right elbow doesn't want to bend. I don't want to break it, so I'm not going to force it. The Zartan I had to send back also had this problem, maybe they're from a bad batch or something.

Zartan comes with a good amount of accessories. The biggest one is a tiny version of his Swamp Skier, which the original figure came with. I'm betting this will be the only modern version of it that we'll get, and although it is way smaller than before, it's better than nothing. He also has a backpack that can hold the two masks he comes with: Storm Shadow and Duke. There's also a knife that sheathes on his leg, and a pistol.

Overall, it's a good figure, I just wish the elbow worked properly.

#4: Star Wars Legacy Collection AT-AT Driver

During the same visit to Wal-Mart that I picked up the concept Snowtrooper, I also picked up the AT-AT driver. Now if they really do come out with a new AT-AT, and it doesn't come with a pilot, I'll have that taken care of. It's a good figure! It is as well articulated as just about any other self respecting Star Wars figure, and it looks good. The helmet and chestpiece are removable, which I always dig. There's no way to stow the blaster if he's not holding it, but I suppose that is true to the character.

Maybe I should buy a second if I find more, to have the potential AT-AT's cockpit fully manned.

#3: Star Wars Legacy Collection concept Snowtrooper

I didn't realize the Empire Strikes Back wave was out on the shelves around here, so it was a pleasant surprise to find these figures at Wal-Mart. Of course, they weren't in the regular area for Star Wars figures, they were further down the aisle, on the opposite side at the very end.

I have mentioned my love of Snowtroopers before, so of course this concept version is a must buy for me. There is a different concept Snowtrooper that was released during the 30th Anniversary Collection line, but I never saw one in person, so I missed out. I'm glad I found this one, it's a really cool figure. The armor here is pretty reminiscent of samurai armor which I suppose is appropriate given how much Vader's armor was inspired by that of the samurai. As far as I know, this figure is an entirely new sculpt, and it's well done, filled with detail. Check out the spikes on the bottom of those boots, they're even individually painted.

There was an episode during the first season of the Clone Wars that took place on an ice planet. The clone troopers wore modified armor for the climate, and it looked a lot like this concept Snowtrooper. They haven't made figures of those clones yet, but I'm sure they will eventually, although this figure just whets my appetite.

#2: Star Wars Legacy Collection Boba Fett

While I ordered the concept IG-88, this Boba Fett was also in stock, so I got one. After getting the Jango Fett last year, buying the Evolutions set to get the Boba Fett was ruled out. Even though I already have two regular Boba Fetts, I wanted to get this one because of the removable helmet. This is a slight repaint of the Evolutions version, and I'm glad they released it on a single card. As far as I'm concerned, this is the last Boba Fett I ever need to get. Unless they make one with a rocket launching jet pack. Which I am sure the Hasbro staff is hard at work on right now. Aside from the removable helmet, his cape seems to be an upgrade from those on previous versions. Now he also has a holster for the blaster pistol he comes with.

There have been rumors of an upgraded to Slave I for this year. I don't know how reliable these rumors are, but I guess we will find out. If they are true, it would be cool to have a newer version for Boba Fett to menace Han Solo with.

#1: Star Wars Legacy Collection concept IG-88

I'm not sure why they included a concept IG-88 in the Revenge of the Sith wave, especially when the very next wave is more appropriately themed Empire Strikes Back wave. Ultimately, I suppose it doesn't matter, especially since the entire wave is still pretty scarce. I was lucky enough to catch this figure while it was briefly in stock at Hasbro's webshop, and I still haven't seen it anywhere else.

During the 30th Anniversary Collection a couple years back, there were quite a few concept figures spread throughout the line, and they were usually harder to find than normal and had special packaging. The Legacy Collection only gets four concept figures, but so far it seems like they are hard to find as well.

I really dig the design on the concept IG-88, it's got a very retro '50s sci-fi look to it. If it had less gangly proportions, it could definitely be a guy in a suit from some MST3K fodder b-movie. Not only does it look good, but it's about as well articulated as a Star Wars figure comes. It's also got holsters built into its legs, which is a cool feature. If you can find one, I definitely recommend picking up one of these.

Waiting

No new toys yet for the year, but I have a couple on the way, so I should be updating about them soon. Unfortunately, Hasbro's site seems to employ the slowest possible shipping process.

Although still unofficially confirmed, it is looking more and more like Hasbro will be releasing an updated AT-AT this year. I wonder how big this thing will be. Assuming that it is released towards the end of the year, I know what I'll be asking my family for as a Christmas gift. I'm not sure where I'd put it, though. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Another year of toys

A year ago today, I started this blog as a way to keep track of all toys I would buy over the following year. A year and 150 toys later, here we are, ready for another year of toys. I wasn't expecting to get many readers outside of people I already know, but now I have 41 followers. I'm kind of blown away by that, so thanks to all of you that have been reading! Another pleasant surprise has been that I've got people reading my blog from as far away as Singapore, and as local as my own state. Because of this blog, I've even had a visit from Spock!

I'm not at all surprised that Star Wars toys made up the hugest chunk of all the toys I got last year. It was kind of a surprise that G.I. Joe took second place, but it was a good year for Joe fans, with the classic Joes and the movie Joes in stores. And rounding out third was Marvel comic characters, followed by DC comic characters, and then in fifth were Transformers. If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, I would have predicted Transformers would be higher, but I suppose it's a line that's more about bigger toys rather than quantity.

Here's looking forward to the coming year of toys, I hope you all have a good one!