My Star Wars Vintage Collection R2-D2 Dilemma-- RESOLVED!

Well, I finally come to a decision.  And in my usual style of making mountains out of molehills, I decided to make a production out of it.  And believe it or not, I got it all on the first take!  Wow!

My Star Wars Vintage Collection R2-D2 Dilemma

Like most guys my age, I spent most of my childhood collecting Kenner's original Star Wars action figures.  And when I say "collect," I mean pouring over the racks in every toy store even when my allowance was all gone, longingly examining every detail of the entire collection on the back of the cards, saving up my proof-of-purchase seals for whatever free action figure they were offering next, hanging the cards on my bedroom wall... and of course playing with them.

The line fizzled out when I was in high school, and for years after that I would constantly have dreams of finding Star Wars figures again, so when they brought the line back in 1995 it was literally a dream come true.

Nowadays Kenner has been bought by Hasbro, and Hasbro knows how to try and appeal to the collectors of my generation: vintage packaging.  Oh, they've done the occasional Vintage tribute, with three waves of figures in the classic 70's and 80's packaging, but those were all in special plastic protectors, so it wasn't the same.  But this-- this is uninhibited, all-out nostalgia.  The Vintage Collection figures are a combination of old and new designs, and it's not just a one-off thing:  new waves of figures are coming out in this design all year long!  So the shelves look exactly like they did when I was a kid.  It takes me back and makes me feel like I'm 12 years old again every time I see it.

An amazed Fer discovers the Vintage line for the first time,

 with a figure he always wanted as a kid: Dack!

The crazy thing is... even though I've been oohing and aahing at the toys ever since August, I haven't been buying any.

Take Dack here, for example.  This is what I always wanted them to do when I was a kid. I've had dreams of finding this. So again, literally a dream come true.  But... they put out a Dack figure in 2002.  Oh sure, I had to buy a Snowspeeder and yet another Luke Skywalker to get it, but I did, so what's the point in buying another Dack?  Well, just because of the nostalgic packaging, I guess.

See, the problem is that I'm really not a believer in not opening my toys.  Oh sure, I have a few unopened toys, but it's pretty unusual for me. It's become a real Catch-22.  I want the toys for the packaging, but if I take the toy out of the packaging, it becomes just another Star Wars figure.  And I don't want to just keep the packaging by itself; my New Years Resolution for 2011 is to cut back on clutter.  If you've seen my house, you understand why.

And then there's the Mail Away Boba Fett issue:  to complete the nostalgia, they're re-offering the first ever Star Wars Action Figure Mail Away offer-- a reissue of the original Boba Fett figure, but this time with the actual missile-launching backpack that they had to pull in the 70's.  But to get it, I have to open the figures.  But I don't want to open the figures.  But I want to get that Boba Fett.

So I just haven't been buying any.

Then about two months ago, I found the Return of the Jedi R2-D2.  This R2-D2 has the serving tray and the pop-up lightsaber and the sensorscope and an opening compartment on his chest.  I knew I had an Artoo with Serving Tray, so I held off and waited until I checked my other one to see if it already did all those things.  Nope.  I have four different Artoos that do all those things individually, but this Artoo does it all.

And, of course, the next time I went to the store it was sold out.

No big deal, I told myself, I don't really need it.  Which is true enough.  But it's become one of those figures I regretted not buying when I had the chance.

And then when I went shopping at Wal-Mart last night... they had one again.

So I bought it.

Now what the hell do I do with it?

Do I open it?  If I open it, then I'd be tempted to buy four more figures to get the free Boba Fett.  (Time's running out on that deal; it expires at the end of this month.)  I do want to open it, because this Artoo does all those cool things!

But... it looks sooooo nice.  The classic action figure design.  The Kenner logo.  The "Free Boba Fett" sticker.

What do you think I should do?

Oh Boy! Toys!

I don't feel like reviewing TV shows this week.

I found some cool toys on Monday. I found a Spider-Man from Hasbro's new Marvel Universe line, and an X-Men Origins: Wolverine "Comic Series" figure of Wolvie as he looked back when I read the X-Men. Now normally I'd pass on Marvel super hero action figures, but these are in my favorite scale - 3 3/4."


Spidey takes out his frustrations on one of those pesky Jawas.

I was already thrilled about Mattel's DC Infinite Heroes action figures. My favorite scale, and doing characters like Black Adam, Adam Strange and Guy Gardner right off the bat! I became a little less thrilled at the generic sculpting and poor articulation, but they were two bucks cheaper than my Star Wars figures so I was willing to accept the trade off. But now, I can't find anything after the first wave, even though they've been all over the internet for months. Not very encouraging for me to build the entire DCU.

So the idea of being able to build the entire MU to go along with it is a little bittersweet now, because I suspect I'll never get to complete my Justice League to stand toe-to-toe with my Avengers. I even considered not buying them after all... until I found one.

A Stormtrooper is distracted from his duties by Starfire's boobies.

These figures are nice. Hasbro's been doing a great job with the Star Wars figures over the last few years, and Steve tells me they've been doing just as good with the GI Joe figures. Well, they've applied it all to the Marvel Universe line. Fantastic detailing, individualized sculpting (no cheap-out sculpting here, unlike the DCU line) and tons of articulation.

Wolverine's got his quarters down and Green Lantern Hal Jordan waits
for Grand Admiral Thrawn to stop hogging the Pac-Man machine.

So I'm hooked. I really hope I'll still be able to build the DCU with it, but even if I don't, I'm such a sucker for the 3 3/4" scale and they've done such a good job with these figures that I can't bring myself to pass them up.