Dear Hasbro,

Please be forewarned that if your Angry Birds presentation at Toy Fair 2014 lasts more than 60 seconds, I will organize a mass walk out.  While I can appreciate that this is apparently a great success for you, know that most collectors are not your audience.  Most collectors would sooner set fire to an Angry Bird toy than purchase it.  Fan sites will use our resources to promote this product within reason out of gratitude to the access you grant us, but please appreciate that this has limits.  Also please be aware of how divisive this particular product is with the collector community and don’t waste our time with things that engender nerd rage.

Respectfully and sincerely,
Chris Swanski
One of your biggest and most loyal fans of the action figure line

The Vintage Collection Slave I is now listed on Amazon for $70.36 down from $99.99.  If you didn’t order before, now is the time.  If you’re like me and pre-ordered, you need to check your order status.  In a first for me on Amazon, my pre-order price did not automatically adjust in accordance with their pre-order price guarantee.  But after a polite two minute chat with Amazon customer service, I received a price adjustment.

Update: Now it’s down to a normal American price of $69.99.

Not to be outdone, our friends at Galactic Hunter have the bases covered too.

Can’t make it to San Diego (like us) or are a hopeless agoraphobe? No worries.  Rebelscum is cranking out the galleries from the floor at San Diego Comic Con 2013.

Arnie from Star Wars Action News drops some news that will be sure to interest our European readership (and we genuinely have some!).

At Star Wars Celebration Europe 2 the most rare items won’t be on the show floor, they’ll only be available AFTER DARK.  The CE2 Collecting Track is excited to announce Collecting After Dark, a Star Wars Collector’s Swap Meet where fans from across the globe can come to trade their Star Wars goods.  Bring your items to sell or trade or add some new stuff to your collection.  From new to vintage, rare prototypes and more, you never know what you’ll find After Dark!  So join us Saturday, July 27, 11:00 PM at the Atlantic Congress Hotel, just half a mile from the convention center. 

The Swap Meet at Star Wars Celebration VI was the spot for collectors to obtain new gems, so don’t miss out in Collecting After Dark at CE2!

Tired of looking at Black Series repacks and retools and characters that have been done to death?  Well Volerk C once again has your cure.  He’s posted the other three new figures from wave 2.  Head over to check out Mara Jade, Pablo-Jill and Luminara Unduli. 

This is all grand, but SDCC better show a new OT figure or I’m going to spit.

Vokerc of Star Wars Figuren has posted visual confirmation of the upcoming Black Series Stormtrooper.  It’s number 13 in the collection, but number 1 in your hearts.

UPDATE:  They added a pic of the 41st Elite Corps Clone Trooper and Episode II R2-D2

For your reading and viewing pleasure, check out our review and full gallery of TBS6 - Darth Maul

Volkerc continues to break news left and right.  I honestly forgot this was coming in the Vintage Collection.  This is getting expensive.

A friendly reminder that the Keepsake Ornament Premiere is tomorrow, July 13th, at your local Hallmark Gold Crown store.  In addition to the limited edition Leia in Boussh disguise ornament pictured below, there is also the very cool At Jabba’s Mercy ornament as well as two other Return of the Jedi themed ornaments.  Unlike Habro, it’s clear that Hallmark has the decency to honor the thirtieth anniversary of ROTJ.

In case you missed it over there to the right, we recently played catch up on the on-line wave for the Vintage Colleciton.  Nothing you have seen at all the other site, but if you wanted to see our take on these figures, click the thumbnails below:

If you wanted to pre-order individual figures from wave 1 of the 3.75” Black Series, toyrus.com has them on sale at 2 for $14.99.

Yup Volkerc.  Again.  Click through to check out pics of the two Imperial Scanning crew 2 packs coming to a K-Mart store nowhere near you (if you live in a civilized area).

At the opposite end of the spectrum from the Toys R Us report below, my local Target managed to create an end cap display to ensure that we never escape the ridiculous glut of Phantom Menace product. When I scanned the Rise of Darth Vader package I was amazed to find that the price was on the display was correct.  And not only have these items escaped clearance, the price scanner revealed there are more in the stock room.  Glory day!  Full sized image after the jump.

There is nothing earth shattering to this report as it has been reported by multiple sources that the new Class II vehicles in the pointing Vader Revenge of the Sith 3D packaging have been popping up at US Toys R Us stores.  With confirmation that they are on shelf in Massachusetts, it pretty much confirms they have made the coast to coast swing.  This particular store also happened to have a Vintage Collection Obi-Wan’s Starfighter still on the shelf, so I was able to compare the two to determine if the new ship is a new mold or not.  Read my findings after the jump.

Click through for the FULL STORY>>