Week of: July 16th, 2001

Saturday, July 21st:

Hallmark Ornaments

Today Hallmark put on sale their ornaments for the year. There are five Star Wars ornaments this year and they are: Naboo Royal Starship, Battle of Naboo (this is a 3-pack of small ships consisting of Trade Federation Battle Cruiser, Droid Fighter, and Naboo Fighter), R2-D2, Jar Jar Binks, and Anakin Skywalker. Most looked pretty nice, but Jar Jar and Anakin just don't seem as well done as the rest.

Friday, July 20th:

B-Wing Update

As an update to yesterday's posting, Shane also reports getting a B-Wing at Target east in Madison. Joe Y. had picked up an extra B-Wing for me (Thanks again Joe!) allowing for a quick review. First, the B-Wing is packed four to a case and is quite large. Actually, they are much bigger than I expected and the box is at least 50% larger than either the Skiff or the Y-Wing. The pilot is basically a rehash of the one that came in the Rebel Pilots 3-pack with only a slight paint change to his gloves. The ship has a weathered paint job along with a couple factory-applied decals that is nicely done. Overall it is a very nice set, but it still seems a little pricey at $39.99. Because of its size, I would think that $29.99 would have been more in line. I would guess that Target will lower its price to $34.99 quickly (maybe to coincide with an ad flier).

Baraboo Report

I was in Baraboo today and the Wal-Mart there had the Ketwol wave while the K-Mart had both the Ketwol wave and the Han remix case.

Thursday, July 19th:

More B-Wings

G reports getting a B-Wing at Target east in Madison today. I also have had a report from Joe Y. that he was able to get some at Target west in Madison on Monday. These are definitely in the area.

12" Kaadu with Captain Tarpals

Target has lowered the price on these to $12.44. I have seen them at this price at Target east in Madison while Ray H. got some at Target west in Madison. This is the final clearance and I expect them to go fast. If you have held off getting one of these, I wouldn't wait any longer.

Ketwol Wave

Shopko south in Madison had most of a case of these on the pegs this afternoon.

Monday, July 16th:

B-Wing

Beth reports that she was able to get a B-Wing at the Target in Appleton (Fox River Mall). This is a Target exclusive and, Beth says, comes in a 24" x 10" box that curves a little on the left side. Target's price is $39.99 which, at twice the price of the Skiff or Y-Wing, will help keep scalpers away.

Figures Everywhere

I was out of town (Fox Valley) for a long weekend. It seems that nearly every store has gotten new figures in while I was gone.

Let's start with some of the more interesting reports. Joe Y. reports getting the new Ketwol wave at TRU west in Madison. This is the first report of these showing up in the area at a TRU. Joe was also lucky enough to get an odd error on the Bespin Guard where the torso in on backwards (ouch). Rebelscum has posted a picture of Joe's figure here.

Ray H. also reports finding the Ketwol wave this weekend. The twist is that he found them at a Shopko. Could it be that Shopko is finally starting to get POTJ figures?

BOBAPHAT28 reports that the Big K in Sheboygan has been getting in multiple shipments of the Ketwol wave and the Han repack case throughout last week. Even after picking up several sets for others, they still have quite a few on the pegs. By the way, the Han repack case includes Han Bespin Capture, Battle Droid with Boomer Damage, Dirty Biker Scout, and Darth Maul Sith Apprentice. Some WEB sites refer to it as the "army builder" case.

Myself, I had tons of good luck. On my way out of town Thursday night, I stopped at Wal-Mart Sun Prairie and picked up the Ketwol wave and one lone Han Bespin. Stopping at the Wal-Mart in Beaver Dam, they also had some of the Ketwol wave. The Target in Fond du Lac had some more of the Han repack case, but the Battle Droids and Biker Scouts were all gone. Friday morning I was heading farther north. The Wal-Mart in Oshkosh had three cases of the Ketwol wave. I was able to get all of the figures from that wave that I wanted there. Next stop was the K-Mart in Waupaca. They had fresh cases of both the Ketwol wave and the Han repack case. Later in the afternoon, I worked my way back to Oshkosh. First stop was the Wal-Mart in Appleton. They had a couple cases of the Ketwol wave and a case or two of the Han repack case. It was weird leaving figures on the shelf that only hours earlier I was getting desperate to find. Target west in Appleton had the remains of the Han repack case. Last stop was at the K-Mart in Oshkosh. Even late in the day they had tons of the Ketwol wave and the Han repack case. Needless to say, I have some extra figures from these cases. If you are looking for any of them let me know.