For those tracking orange saber variants of Baylan and Shin, I received one of each from BBTS. Baylan's date code is 32781, and Shin's is 32831.

@trunks3540  The new R2 is both the ROTJ anniversary packaging and the Galaxy packaging. As far as I know, they're both the new figure and there's no difference between them. Same goes for the new R5- he's getting a single release in this wave, and then re-released with some Pit Droids down the line.

Got my Baylan in, and I think I got the orange saber. It looks a bit darker than Shin's, but still lighter than the red one. Guess it just depends on the lighting. I may attempt the thigh swap on him, but I know as soon as I do, they're gonna announce a deluxe 2 pack. Not that I need the inevitable cloaks, but they are super cool. Decisions, decisions.

Was able to get a PO in for Starkiller from Amazon -- hopefully he comes the first week of Feb which is the expected ship date. 

@trunks3540 It can be found in stores now, be it Target, Wal-Mart etc.  It is the R2-D2 in the Wave with Pre Vizsla, Hera, Huyang, and Marrok.  I don't know exactly which Wave number that is though.  It's also the same new R2-D2 figure in the ROTJ 40th Anniversary Collection Wave 3, with the vintage looking card backs.  The Wave with Luke and Vader.

@trunks3540 IIRC the one from the Mando wave is the same as the vintage-style carded R2 (maybe someone else can confirm this is the best of the R2s?). Nice upgrade from the one I'd been using but I almost bought him twice not realizing the carded and single-packed versions were the same figures. (Both shipped a while ago, had to cancel the second one from Pulse.)

Are Padme and Anakin really Fan Channel-only releases? Saw that on YakFace. At least coming four to a case makes more sense than 1 per. More cases more often with more than one character per case makes a lot more sense for retail flow, so of course, these won't go to retail.

@schizm Yup, they are fan channel.

Why? Anakin I can see, he's kinda niche. Not alot of people liked the portrayel and he's not an exciting figure. But Padme? Everybody and their brother wants that one. Her Tatooine getup would be smarter as a fan channel, and use this more mainstream look for retail.

@trunks3540 Does it really matter though?

All "fan channel" really means anymore is they aren't sold at Target & Walmart.

I'd wager most collectors buy stuff online these days anyways, especially with pre-orders.

Even though you won't find them on pegs at Target & Walmart, they are still offered through BBTS, EE, Amazon (most of the time), GameStop, BestBuy (sometimes), Toys R Us in Canada (I think), Pulse, specialty shops, etc.

I'm all for fan channel exclusives. They're usually a lot easier to get than the big box store exclusives and they help draw sales to the smaller businesses. And while Star Wars is a bit of a different beast because it's kinda just popular in general, I do think that, at least to the average collector or person on the street, there's still a fair amount of dislike of Episode 1. The discourse is slowly changing, granted, but your average Joe may not see a Padme or Episode 1 Anakin and think it's a must get, especially as the prices continue to go up. We sorta saw it happen with Jar Jar (who, granted, is his own separate problem), but still. Everyone has a different definition of "iconic", and to a lot of people, it's the red dress or Tatooine outfit for Padme in TPM. The final battle outfit played a big part, obviously, but didn't get quite as much screen time as the others. Still, I'm sure both will end up selling just fine.

Her sales will entirely depend upon how her hairline turns out in final production. Looks like prototype? Will sell terribly. Looks like Natalie/Padme? Will sell fine.

And yeah - it's not like I see TBS on store shelves. I've seen the Bix Andor wave at one Walmart when I visit my parents, but I haven't seen TBS PFP figures at Target... ever? Aside from the Deluxe releases.

Yea. I was just kinda thinking out loud. I found it odd personally. Not bad, just odd.

And there were quite a few fan channel figures that Amazon proper never got, and alot ofthe 3rd party sellers on there that had them jacked the price up initially. Alot of them went down later. But yea, I know fan channel is easy to get. Again, just found it an odd decision.

So, that Bad Batch trailer.  Did you all see that?  Someone is still alive, and I want a figure of them as they appear in Season 3 STAT!

Posted by: @supercamel-1982

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So, that Bad Batch trailer.  Did you all see that?  Someone is still alive, and I want a figure of them as they appear in Season 3 STAT!

I def want that character as a figure, but that also makes me want

I got the new Mando today. He's a mixed bag. He looks nice. But he functions bad. His new shoulders are hindered by something on the inside that keeps catching so you really have to force them up. And if you display him with his arms up the shoulder armor will just stay in place after a while instead of going back down. His butterfly joints also barely work, the peg seems kinda gummy and I'm not sure if they're actually turning or just bending the peg so it'll eventually break. His chest piece is an overlay on a blank body instead of a dedicated sculpt. His neck is too far different from the old ones so straight head swaps are out of the question (I mainly would do the unmasked head). He can't hold the knife, it's way too small. I also thought he was supposed to be able to store it somewhere but I can't figure out where, so I'm guessing that's a no. His Darksaber is super loose on the hook. It falls off with any movement. He can barely hold that too, mainly because the fingers on his left hand are also gummy. They don't hold any shape but the too far open fist they're molded like. And the right hand is made for the gun, so its also too far open. And the gun is flat. How could they shiny up the armor so much and then make the gun bland flat grey? Its also a new mold. Like, why? The older one was fine, and shiny. So I gave him one of the older ones I have. Single knees. They could've reused the old legs. Would've been better, just add the new armor pieces. Nope. So he can't pose as well and his knee pad just flops around when you move the leg. I had to glue it. Honestly all of his bits needed glue. The chest armor moved too much when you twisted his waist. The stomach piece shifted up when you moved his legs forward or to the side. I mentioned the knee pad. His ankle joints even needed tightening. The cloth cape is trash. Its thinner then paper and attached under the armor on the front. It'll rip easy with any forced tugging. I know we wanted a cloth cape but this is just half assed. Marroks was pretty cool, I thought maybe they learned how to do good capes. I was wrong, this is garbage.

So pros. He looks nice. His armor is really shiny. His head is a solid piece and the helmet looks good, more accurate, not squished. The paint is good, haven't noticed any issues with that. And he fits the rebel10 custom cape I got better because of his chest armor being able to be pulled over top of it. Holds it in place well. The jetpack stays on better, even with the cape. It's got deeper pegs and they're in a different position then the old one. He's slightly bigger proportion wise, slightly beefier it feels like. Especially the armor bits. I just wish they weren't all overlays. The old one had a dedicated sculpt. And less floaty bits. His Darksaber feels more solid then the other ones I have. Less bendy in the hilt. The blade also fits it better, I don't have to bend the peg to get it to sit straight. I did on the last 2.

Still, he's a bit of a letdown. He's fine I guess. Buy I wouldn't consider him an upgrade. More like a side grade. I'm gonna have to figure out how I wanna make the head swappable now. The ball for the neck is smaller then the old ones. And the old neck barbell will not fit in this new neck. Odds are I'll just fill the head with hot glue. That usually works.