Week of: August 12th, 2002

Saturday, August 17th

Wal-Mart Cantina Sets

Both Wal-Mart east and west in Madison along with the Wal-Mart in Sun Prairie all got in their exclusive Cantina sets. Beth reports that the Wal-Mart in Escanaba also had these today. These sets include Greedo, Panda Baba, and Momaw Nadon packaged with a section of bar. There are cut-outs on the card that are meant to be used as back-drops behind the bar. Greedo is based on the CommTech version and has the least amount of changes. There are no noticeable mold changes, but his head and hands are painted darker. Ponda Baba has the largest number of changes from either of the previous versions. He now has a removable arm along with new legs that feature knee joints. Momaw Nadon has a new torso and a better paint job. The new paint job makes this figure a lot better than the previously released version.

K-Mart 2-Packs

The K-Mart in Madison had a bunch of their 2-packs today. There are six different versions of these using only six total figures. I wasn't planning on buying any, but K-Mart is having a sale (that ends today) where you buy one and the second is 50% off. This brought their price down to about $7.50 (normally $9.99) which I thought was a good deal.

Anakin Tatooine Attack Wave

Ray H. had picked up a set of these for me when he found them earlier in the week. Darth Maul is figure #42 and is one of the best versions of him yet. But, did we really need another version at all. He does come with two point of articulation in each arm and each leg, a metal Lightsaber handle to work with magnets in his hands, and a Sith probe droid. Anakin is figure #43 and comes with miscellaneous items from the Tusken camp including the torture rack. He also has a "Jedi Power Kick" feature that Ray says isn't that good. They did a good job on his head sculpt depicting him when he is angry.

TRU X-Wing

Joel Y. reports that TRU west in Madison had 10 of these on the shelf this morning. I saw 4 of them on the shelf at TRU east in Madison.

Friday, August 16th

Still More Wave 2 Unleashed Figures

It has been three days in a row for sightings of this wave. This time I found them at Kay Bee Toys east in Madison. They had one Padme and two each of Darth Vader and Anakin. All of them had slightly crushed bubbles and Kay Bee's price is $17.99 making it unattractive to buy them there, but I picked up a Padme anyway. I do not know why this figure is so sought after. It isn't a very good likeness and it is a boring stance considering the line is supposed to have dynamic sculpting. The only thing I can see is fan boys going after it because she is "perky".

Thursday, August 15th

More Wave 2 Unleashed Figures

I was able to pick up one each of Anakin and Darth Vader at TRU east in Madison today. Padme was nowhere to be found. Of the four that I have seen, Darth Vader is the best. He is actually in a pose from the movies unlike the rest.

Wednesday, August 14th

Wave 2 Unleashed Figures

Joel Y. reports that TRU east in Madison had this wave of the Unleashed figures today. But, when I stopped there after work they were all gone. Included in this wave are Anakin, Padme and Darth Vader.

Anakin (Tusken Ambush) Wave

Ray H. reports that Target west in Madison had a few of this wave on the pegs today. This is good news since the only remaining K-Mart in Madison doesn't seem to be getting in any new Star Wars product.