My Most Wanted POTF2 Items (2 Of 3):  Freeze Frame Weequay

The Power of the Force "2" (POTF2) Weequay figure itself is not rare by any stretch of the imagination. In fact it was an epic pegwarmer in the 1997 standard green card line. For 1998, Hasbro kept the basic look of the green card, but added a pack-in film slide. Slides and the corresponding projectors used to be a thing back when pictures were taken on film, and your camera and phone, which was wired to your house, were two different things. Now I take pictures on my phone and stream them to my TV, making the concept of projecting slides as antiquated as oil lamps. For the figures, the "Freeze Frame Action Slide" occupied the spot on the POTF2 card that was previously used for the character inset photo.

I will always remember the Freeze Frame line fondly for the most appealing packaging up to that time, and, more importantly, the exciting character selection. For example, that line offers us the only Episode VI Mon Mothma figure to date. Not all of the figures were newly tooled, however. Figures from 1995 - 1997 were repacked, which is how 1997's pegwarming Weequay ended up on a Freeze Frame card the following year. Like 1997, that 1998 line ended up glutting at retail. Later cases, particularly of Collection 3, to which the Freeze Frame Weequay belongs, had difficulty finding their way into stores, which was virtually the only way to buy figures at the time. Weequay was in the very last case assortment of Collection 3, and was virtually non-existent at traditional brick and mortar stores. It was most commonly found at baseball card shops. WHAT? Let me explain.

I may not have the details on this exactly right as I heard most of it through the grapevine back in the day, but I'm sure the gist is accurate. At the time, Kenner had a bit of a pyramid scheme when retailers ordered their product. You couldn't just order specific lines a la carte. The top of the pyramid in 1998 was Kenner's sports figures, Starting Lineup, which were in demand by baseball card shops. But in order for those shops to order a case of Starting Lineup figures, they had to order two cases of Star Wars (or some system like that). That is how the Freeze Frame figures ended up in sports memorabilia stores, and that is exactly where I managed to snag two of the Weequay figures. It was at a baseball card shop in my local mall. I was on a date at the time which culminated at the T.G.I. Fridays in the same mall (I'm high class like that).

I accidentally left those two Freeze Frame Weequays behind in the booth, and when I realized, I was too embarrassed to go back for them. I was still a relatively young man then, and wasn't comfortable flaunting my obsessive collecting habits in front of the ladies. Now I'd get the girl an Uber and go back for the figures in a heartbeat. So I owned the Freeze Frame Weequay for about an hour and half. It doesn't torment me because, even if I had not left them behind, I likely wouldn't own them today. I sold 90% of my collection in 2005, and they likely would have gone in that transaction. I will own a US carded Freeze Frame Weequay again some day. The prices are actually coming down. They used to fetch as high as $300 on the secondary market. One recently sold at auction for $112.

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