Big E's Best & Worst of 2005!!!
Posted by: Big_E 12.21.05 12:01am
t's December again and a great year in the world of  Star Wars has come to an end.  In 2005 we were treated to more chapters of the Emmy winning "Clone Wars" cartoon and the release of the final chapter in the saga, Revenge of the Sith.  As can be expected in an event year for Star Wars, the collectibles market was in overdrive.  From Burger King to Target, Hasbro to Attakus you couldn't get away from it even if you tried...and that's a GOOD thing!

There was a lot to celebrate this year but, as can be expected, not everything was a home run.  So here it is, my take on the best and worst of 2005 in the world of Star Wars.

Best

Figure

  • R4-G9 - This little astromech droid was released in the preview wave for the ROTS figures and quickly became one of my favorite droid sculpts.  With a cool action feature to lower the third leg and the nicely detailed planet holograph accessory, he set the bar for droids from here on out including R4-P17 which gets an honorable mention.
  • Wookiee Warrior - Big, bad and well articulated! ROTS promised us a glimpse of Kashyyyk and Wookiees in action and we got it...and we got the figures which kicked off with the huge Wookiee Warrior in the preview wave.  Repacked later in the wave this was the coolest of the shaggy carpet sculpts.
  • Clonetroopers - All of them! Almost.  The AT-TE Gunner was an initial hit but lacked in the articulation area while the rest of the Clones for ROTS were brilliant.  The #6 with his cool, unobtrusive action feature to the #41 super articulated to the incredible Clone Commander sculpt, AT-RT and red and blue Royal Guards.  The Evolutions set expanded on the regular release to make 2005 the year of the Clone.  And there's more to come with the Target and ShopStarWars.com expanded universe Clones.
  • Yoda #3 - This is one of the better articulated Yoda figures.  A ball socket head, ball joint shoulders, swivel hands, separate legs and articulated feet all come together to make a nice figure.  The sculpted cape is a little weak but a quick custom could help him out.
  • Palpatine #35 - Red or blue lightsaber, this is a nice figure with a very detailed outfit.  What makes him stand out though is the perfect likeness to Ian McDiarmid.  I was a huge fan of the Saga Palpatine figure and this one is just as well done.
  • Anakin Skywalker #50 - KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Anakin, as he was referred to, is a very well done action figure.  With replaceable head, arms and removable legs he vividly recalls the end of ROTS as Obi-Wan left him to his fate as Darth Vader
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi #55 - Finally a well done, movie accurate version of Obi-Wan.  With plenty of articulation and a near perfect head sculpt this is a great figure to round out the collection with.  Hasbro even gave collectors a second chance at him by including him in the Wal-Mart exclusive Separation of the Twins set.
  • Mustafar Sentry #56 - This is a very detailed and accurate sculpt of a character only seen on screen for a brief second.  Aliens are always cool and this was one of the coolest of the year.
  • Jedi - Like with the Clonetroopers there were plenty of good things to be said about the Jedi figures this year.  Soft goods, plenty of articulation and neutral poses all came together for many of the figures including Luminara Unduli, SaeSee Tiin, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon.  You can almost forgive Hasbro for the terrible, pre-posed versions from Saga...almost.

Figure 12"

  • Although not released in 2005 the most exciting news was that Sideshow will be taking over the 12" line from Hasbro.  Their first figure, Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker, has already sold out on pre-order and looks insane! 

Vehicle or Playset

  • ARC-170 - There were two classic vehicle designs in ROTS and the ARC-170 is the first.  With a hint of X-Wing thrown in for good measure, this is a huge starfighter with room for three pilots and an astromech droid.  Priced at a decent $30 this sold out almost everywhere. 
  • Jedi Starfighter - I won't narrow it down to one person's ship as the same design made 4 appearances for Obi-Wan and Anakin.  This update to the Saga Starfighter has hints of TIE Fighter thrown in but it's a unique vehicle.  Selling at a friendly $20 price makes it even better.
  • Republic Gunship - Do you hate me yet?  This incredible vehicle makes it's 3rd appearance on my best list.  All of the Gunship sculpts get a special mention including the new Titanium die-cast versions as well as the Attacktix Battle Masters toy.  And rumor has it I'll get to put this on again next year...ah, sometimes these articles write themselves.

Lego

  • ARC-170 - Again, this is a nice vehicle all the way around.  A challenging build, the Lego version is substantial and looks good when complete.
  • Turbo Tank - Every movie release needs a huge signature vehicle from Lego and the Turbo Tank was it for ROTS.  Expensive in the $90 range, it's probably the only way we'll get a Tank toy that you can actually play with.  The inclusion of a Mace Windu mini figure with light-up lightsaber and a bunch of Clonetroopers puts it over the top.

Busts and Statues

  •  Darth Vader - A new Vader bust from Gentle Giants came out this year and he finally has his signature lightsaber.  The high production run may keep his secondary market prices down but more than makes up for it with the coolness factor.
  • Barriss and Luminara Maquette - Expanding on their "finite" line of Clone Wars maquettes, GG released Anakin and Grievous along with this double sized maquette.  Possibly the best looking of the bunch, it's cool to see these two Jedi get the Animated CW treatment whenever possible.
  • General Grievous - Sideshow has their 1/4 scale line of statues out and Grievous was the first prequel trilogy character to be done and they did an absolutely incredible job.  Not only is he huge, he's pissed off and sporting, count them, 4 lightsabers!  Have I mentioned how awesome it is to see Sideshow with a Star Wars license?

Non-Toy Collectible

  • Star Wars Miniatures - Again this year I have to give mad props to the miniatures line from Wizards of the Coast.  Not only did they put out a superb ROTS line but also the fantastic Universe set.  Universe includes some badass Huge characters like scale AT-ST walkers, Hailfire droids and a Rancor.  But the best of the lot is the AT-AT Walker.  At 13" tall and 15" long this nearly perfectly scaled "mini" is great whether you play the game or not.  For $50 it's like buying a MR Studio model, only saving $1000.
  • Food Promotions - Burger King had super deformed toys and watches, 7-11 had cups, Kellogg's had lightsaber spoons and posters and Keebler had cookie jars.  Target released some nice M&M cups, goblets and candy jars and most large retailers had miniature M&M 2-packs of PVC figures.  It was a fun year to collect all these items if you wanted but.

Best Exclusive

  • Lava Darth Vader - For the release of the new ROTS line, Target scored this Vader figure to kick off the theme of lava for 2005.  Maligned by some that didn't like being up at 7:00A.M. on a Saturday morning, this was still a fun figure and relatively easy to get.  Although not movie accurate, like I mentioned, it was a figure to kick off a theme.  And in that, it succeeded.
  • Separation of the Twins - Who would have thought that we'd see babies as action figures?  Well, it was a must and this Wal-Mart exclusive is a fun one.  Bail Organa with a baby Leia and Obi-Wan with Luke were released in early December and also gave us a sneak peak at the new card design for the Saga Collection coming in 2006.

Best Events

  • Celebration 3 - In a year filled with "best events," this was one of the biggest.  Held in Indianapolis again, C3 was larger than C2 in many ways, not all of them good.  The autograph hall was extremely well done as was the fan club hall.  Exhibitors from all over the world were on hand and almost anything you could image was on sale.  George Lucas himself was on hand for some Q&A on Saturday morning an there were plenty of other programming events to be had during the weekend.  We can only hope that we get a C4 for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars in 2007.
  • Animated Clone Wars - The cartoon wrapped up with a perfect lead-in to Revenge of the Sith and quickly became one of my favorite things in the SW universe.  Not only was the storyline well done but I fell in love with the animation style for the characters.  If Hasbro could see fit to give us a full line of animated figures I'd be first in line to pick them up.
  • Revenge of the Sith - Yes folks, 2005 gave us Chapter 3 in the saga and it was a huge success.  By far the best movie of 2005 I also think this is one of the top 2 Star Wars movies.  Although there are a couple of loose ends that it didn't tie up, ROTS did fill in some blanks for us.  And let's not forget the huge space battle, the running lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan or the senate fight between Yoda and the Emperor!  There were so many cool elements thrown in that it takes multiple viewings to catch them all.  And now, with the DVD release (see below), we can finally watch all six films in order.  Pass the popcorn.
  • DVD Releases - Releases, plural.  Revenge of the Sith has already hit DVD and the last chapters of the "Clone Wars" cartoon have just come out along with some new animated-style figures.  A theater movie and the DVD?  Pure heaven!
  • Midnight Madness - Even if you didn't go out at midnight.  On April 2nd we got the third, and most likely last, midnight madness for the release of the new ROTS figures.  Wal-Mart and Toys-R-Us both got in on the hype and although I didn't go out this time, plenty of cash was spent on new toys.  The early morning trip to Target was just as fun, snagging a coupon for the Lava Vader exclusive and buying what I think may have been the only Clone Commander and Pilot in the entire store.
  • PSWCS - Here's a bone for the dog!  PSWCS membership really paid off again this year from the Fan Club booth at C3 to the Summer Social to the toy drive for the 501st a couple weeks ago.  Being a member of a collecting club has those benefits but on a daily basis being able to talk with other collectors, and not having to wade through the crap of a forum, makes the whole collecting experience that much more fun.  Getting together with others for Wizard World in Philly or to play the WOTC mini game or for a monthly meeting always puts a smile on my face and helps smooth over the rough patches (see the worst list) in this hobby!

Worst

Figure

  • General Grievous - Most of them although I hold a special dislike for the #36 exploding body version.  Of all the General G figures this was the one I wanted the most and was completely let down.  The action feature is terrible and he won't stay together.  I could have overlooked the inaccurate paint detail had it been a good figure but it wasn't, earning it the top spot on the worst figure pile.
  • Separatist Droids - I'll use that as a catch-all title for the Super, Destroyer and plain old Battle Droid, including the Deluxe version that came with Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Weak plastic is the main reason but I can't get past the fact that they pretty much suck...and that's too bad for army builder figures.
  • Force Battlers - This new 8" (or thereabout) line of figures aimed at kids raises a "huh," every time I see them in stores.  The execution of some of the characters like Mace and Yoda isn't bad, but the idea of the entire line is odd to me when the Attacktix line debuted at the same time.  They do sell, although very slowly.  But, I can't seem to get behind them as a collector or even by looking at them from the standpoint of a kid wanting to play with them.
  • Unleashed - Although this is a fan favorite line I didn't get very excited by the Obi-Wan and Anakin ROTS figures or the Asajj Ventress.  Although it's coming back in 2006, I'd have been happy with the rumors that it was cancelled and being replaced by the 2" scale version.
  • Jedi Force - I'm going to put this on the list again just because.  I thought it was a stinker last year when it debuted and I still think so.  I truly believe that Hasbro would do better by canceling this line and putting more time, effort and money into the Galactic Heroes line which is immensely cooler.

Figure 12"

  • All of them - All of the Hasbro figures had issues this year.   The Clonetrooper had a terrible helmet and the armor was something Hasbro never got right.  The ultimate Anakin wasn't bad but the high price for a figure that STILL didn't feature the Hasbro super articulated GI Joe body was a huge disappointment.  Shaak Ti and Barriss Offee not having real feet in their boots...the ugly Sidious figure...the Grievous that collapsed under his own weight.  Blah, 2005 was a wreck.  Bring on Sideshow.

Vehicle or Playset

  • TIE Fighter - This Target exclusive gave us one thing fans have wanted for years, correctly scaled wings!  What it also gave us was a mind blowing $42 price tag and buyers remorse.  I shake my head when I see it sitting on the shelf next to my $150 FAO Schwartz Shuttle.
  • Mustafar playset - It's not that it's terrible, it's just that it's not good.  For $30 it doesn't seem to have the playability of the Arena from Attack of the Clones and the fact that it still sits in most stores, others must feel the same way.
  • Battle Arenas - Overpriced at $20 for 2 fixed pose figures on sticks.  Not buying.  And this from the guy that still gets a kick out of flipping my AOTC deluxe Obi-Wan and Dooku at each other.  Sorry Hasbro, try again.

Lego

  • Mini Sets - Or, lack of, I should say.  There were a couple exclusives put out including a TIE Interceptor and ARC-170 at TRU but the full line is on hold or cancelled and that's too bad.
  • Most of the rest of the line for Star Wars.  Expensive and nothing overly groundbreaking besides the ARC and Turbo Tank.  It's not that the sets were terrible, but again, nothing that outstanding.

Busts and Statues

  • Gentle Giant ROTS Busts - What was wrong with them?  There weren't any except Vader which could almost fit anywhere in the Saga!  It's not like a movie release in 2005 was a secret.  They somehow found a way to put out some original trilogy items and expand on their Clone Wars maquette line, why couldn't they have put that energy into movie characters?  Boo.

Non-Toy Collectible

  • European Exclusives - I'm going to put them here since they weren't store exclusives like the next category.  Anyway, Europe got some very cool items for ROTS including Medalionz coins and Crystal Cuts from Cards, Inc. and the Flix-Pix trading cards from Topps.  All very cool items that I would have loved to have seen on this side of the pond.

Worst Exclusive

  • Holiday Darth Vader - The last few years have seen some very cool holiday figures from the Fan Club, Wal-Mart and Entertainment Earth but this year's Vader is a travesty.  A regular Vader figure painted red and put on a holiday decorated OTC-style card is NOT a fun continuation of a cool line.  A regular Vader with a Santa hat, bag of goodies and a Christmas Card would have been.
  • Prices - Target had 5 exclusive figures and they were all $12.99 or higher, ShopStarWars.com had similar prices on 3 more and 2006 probably won't be different.  A protective case on a re-painted figure doesn't constitute a price tag 3 times higher than normal retail.  This was a movie year and the coolness factor made the prices acceptable for most of the items, but going forward Hasbro and the retailers are just milking the collectors.  They better fix this because we, the collectors, are their only reliable sales for the years to come.  Continued high prices invite a backlash.
  • C3 Darth Vader - What?  A Celebration exclusive on the Worst list?  Yep, for one reason; the Celebration 3 store sucked.  I know that's not Vader's fault, but he was a huge draw on the store, and a drain on people's patience.  James Earl Jones recording lines for the figure and the package design were cool enough even with the re-packed figure but not automatically including the star case with the figure, along with those lines, just made it a pain in the butt.  And somehow, it's just not as cool as the C2 Jorg Sacul.

Worst Events

  • Celebration 3 - Did you see that one coming?  As many great things as C3 had going for it the downfall was the crowd.  The entire event was over sold, the store was very poorly run and the GenCon employees did a terrible job of organizing the entire convention center.  And do I need to mention Celebration at Celebration?  Waste of my $15...I could have spent that on strippers.  Volunteers had a lot of bad info and advice, most likely passed down to them (so I can't really place the blame on them), and that didn't help.  If you looked at the Fan Club room or, especially, the autograph hall you could see that a little planning and intelligence went a long way to making an enjoyable experience.  Official Pix stepped up and redeemed themselves as far as I'm concerned; the autograph hall was one of my favorite things from the event.  I want to see a Celebration 4 for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, and I'd even prefer Indianapolis, but for the love of all that's holy, get a new company to run it instead of GenCon.