The Bespin and Naboo Battlepacks

[DarthEddie]

If this were still 1999 we'd all be going bonkers for the Naboo Battle Pack. But...well...it isn't.

Expecting collectors to love sculpting technology and articulation from the last century is expecting way too much. I thought Hasbro knew us better than this by now? You'd think after 17 years of modern figures that the Big H would know what we want.

[Sybeck1]

MH = Most Horrendous

[DarthEddie]

If we were going to get a Naboo Battle Pack I'd rather see new sculpts of Captain Panaka, a new Naboo Trooper and a new Battle Droid(or Droideka). Or...remember that unproduced 2-pack from around 2000 that would have had Jar Jar squaring off against a Destroyer Droid? The one that never made it any further than a prototype? This one:



I could go for this one, too. If Hasbro likes dusting off and reusing old sculpts in their Battle Packs, why not use one they never used in the first place? Make this Jar Jar and toss in a Battle Droid and a Destroyer Droid. Heck, after more than ten years of waiting I'd buy the thing. The shield and blast/ricochet effects look kinda neat.

[DorkyNed]

I think the Movie Heroes move by Hasbro is a stroke of pure genius. We already have SA versions of most core characters, with a great selection coming out this year as well. So, the adults really should be pretty happy. Hasbro will continue to cater to us until our incessant complaining results in not enough collector-consumers left to support their higher-end line.

In the meantime, they are producing new sculpts in a reportedly kid-focused line as well. All six of the "new" figures in wave 2 of single-carded are just awesome both in terms of aesthetics and action features. I for one, embrace this collection for the additional variety alone. Since I already own great SA versions of Vader, Fett, and Bespin Luke, getting brand new sculpts as aesthetically pleasing as these are very welcome. And being a child of the 70s, I don't mind the incidental nostalgia of the blond Luke or any of the figures in the Naboo pack.

Seems I am in the far minority here, but that Fett looks totally sick! Finally got the helmet right, and at least he has ball-jointed elbows. Will look great on the shelf with all the other figures, including the SA collection.

[DarthEddie]

^
I'll definitely agree with you on one thing. The Boba Fett looks like THE best figure in either of these new sets by a country mile. I think they could single-card that Fett and do pretty well with him. The more I look at him the more I wish he were on a Movie Heroes or Vintage card instead of released in these dubious Battle Packs.

[YAK_Chewie]

I'm of the opinion that I'm so sick of seeing repacks in the battle packs, that seeing new product in there is refreshing, even if it's less that the quality we expect to see in the TVC lineup. That being said,I do think the TPM set sucks and a much better option would have been to throw in that old Jar Jar that never made it out, along with a battle droid, and perhaps a Destroyer Droid.

But the OT set for some reason really reminds me of the old Cinema Scenes back in the POTF2 days. I'd probably support new battle packs with this sort of quality if it was mostly new sculpts - but they'd have to be on par with the Vader-Fett-Luke set... and I may be in the minority, but for some reason I kind of dig the yellow hair on Luke... at least in this instance.

[DarthEddie]

I've been surprised for years now that the Jar Jar figure never made it to retail in SOME form or another. Hasbro is so stingy and cost-conscious most of the time that if it has a mold it will eventually use it(and then reuse it ad nauseam) to recoup its costs. But the company's also been(allegedly) sitting on a Holographic Nute Gunray mold for the better part of twelve years, and the mold may or may not be a copy of the 1999 Nute Gunray figure. It may have had some new tooling. Who knows. But let's not get off on talking about cancelled holographic figures...

[Paulskywalker]

Seems like the tide is turning and Hasbro wins again, maybe their right we will buy anything they make if it's 'new'; maybe they could sell dog muck with a Vader helmet on it and we'd buy it? Something bloody fantastic will have to happen to these before i change my mind!!

[DarthEddie]

If, when I see the Bespin set in stores, it looks a lot better than that photo? I'll buy it. But as of right now the only figure in that set that intrigues me is Boba Fett...and I'm not going to pay more than $25.00 for just one action figure that isn't super-articulated.

[Paulskywalker]

I have a feeling though these were hushed away as they had a bad reception and hopefully will be cancelled!!

I personally don't see the any of the good points you guys are saying such as Fett's helmet, it's just put in the shade by his freaky torso that makes the POTF2 Fett look better; least the POTF2 muscle figure were proportioned all over as such.

[DarthEddie]

Hasbro should just cut its losses and sell the new Boba Fett on a Movie Heroes card. Wave 3 or whatever. Seriously, these Battle Packs are not going to sell well. At least on a MH cardback and as a new figure he'd sell in respectable numbers even if people don't go crazy over him. And let's face it, Boba Fett is gonna show up in a future wave of Movie Heroes anyways. You know it. I know it. We all know it. He's a no-brainer character for that line.

[YAK_Jayson]

You can check out high res images of these sets here.

[darth_sidious]

Wow, that hi res image just made me realize that the Bespin figures dont have knee articulation either - I thought it was just the TPM figures that were bad. I'm skipping both for sure.

Shame hi res images of the Ewok set arent available - thats the only multipack I am really looking forward to.

[DarthEddie]

My interest in the Bespin set just dropped. A lot.

[YAK_Chewie]

Well, these are for kids and parents - I don't think Hasbro's trying to hit the collector niche with battle packs any more.

Vader and Fett always sell well, and Luke has too - I think that set will do just fine. Especially since there's no other Boba Fett figures out right now, and any Luke out is in a different outfit...

The Jedi/Maul set though is going to be in competition with other sculpts of those characters on the pegs... but the ESB set, I think is much better than the Geonosis and Mos Eisley sets that are out now.

At least these are new sculpts... and if I were a non-collector parent who had a son that liked Star Wars, the ESB set would be a pretty easy pick-up. Actually, I will probably get one set for my son of that and one for me. None of the others though, unless he really wants the Jedi/Maul set.