Hot Toys Star Wars, Missed Out, Now What?

[DarthBakura]

Start with TFA,(Kylo will sellout as well as the others in time) get what you want from WL or just wait for new OT characters. Still got ESB AND ROTJ to go no biggie!

The only one you should be concerned about is Ben Kenobi. As there will be more chewies, Lukes, Hans, etc.

Pretty much this.

TFA is awesome and I'm at least getting Kylo and Rey and BB-8. I would try to get those preorders popping whenever possible and then snag Obi-Wan ASAP. You can still get Leia. And Luke might not be too terribly hard to come by. Chewie will get an ESB version, if Hot Toys has any sense. Vader and Han are obvious.

Personally, I have no use for an Obi-Wan, as the SS version is still great, in my eyes. I do plan on getting it repainted one day maybe, but for now I'm satisfied. The deluxe Vader will also likely be the only Vader in my collection. But I'm definitely gonna be keeping an eye out for a better body suit and perhaps some gloves.

Got my preorders for Kylo, Rey and Leia locked in. Just waiting on Jedi Luke now. Wish I had jumped on Han and Chewie while they were still retail price. Could've almost bought another figure for what I paid extra for the two of them... if you include shipping.

 

[BlueTrooper]

TrackZ - I'm in the same boat. Sort of had my eye casually on the Hot Toys SW line since the beginning but I was winding down from collecting at that point, just picking up the occasional Sideshow figure every few months or so and didn't want to get into another product line. Plus I've been collecting Sideshow from the beginning and didn't think I wanted more of the characters I already had. Plus at around $330-350 AUD a piece and creeping closer to $400 AUD with some of the latest TFA figures, they're not exactly cheap to collect.

Then just when I decided I'd take the plunge and get the Tatooine Luke Ex, it went to waitlist and is sold out everywhere I've looked. I've never had any success with going on the waitlist for figures in the past. I guess a lucky few might have success with it, but it's never worked for me so I'm not hopeful. And I imagine the waitlists on these figures are a mile long. I'll probably end up trying to get the Luke Ex from eBay or just have to settle for the non-Ex. I'm on the waitlist for the Luke Stormtrooper too but I think I was later getting on that one after it sold out than on the Tatooine Luke. I'm not sure why Sideshow keep the waitlists open for so long when there's clearly little to no chance of success. But maybe I've just been very unlucky in the past.

I've just ordered the sandtrooper today so that's going to be my first HT figure. Not really sure where to go from here though. Might get the spacetrooper as that's still available from a couple of places here. I can still pre-order Leia locally but not much good having her on her own, only makes sense to get her to go with Luke at the least.

I'll make do with my Sideshow Obi-Wan, don't need another version of him. Same with Vader, already have the Sideshow versions so will wait and see if HT do another version at some stage. The price, dodgy electronics and issues with the belt and gloves put me off the ANH version. And I'm happy to wait for an ESB or ROTJ Han with hopefully an improved sculpt. I'm sort of regretting not getting Chewie when Popcultcha had him on sale for ~$300 AUD before Christmas. But hopefully we'll see another version at some stage. HT must know there's still demand out there? And they've done all the hard work in developing the figure so it seems unlikely that they wouldn't capitalise on it.

Since I don't want to get too out of control with it all (limited space and funds apart from anything else) and don't necessarily want multiple versions of each character, my thinking was that I'd aim for say 4 figures from each film which should help to spread it out assuming all these figures eventually get made.

eg:
ANH - Luke, Leia, Sandtrooper, Spacetrooper
ESB - Hoth Leia, Han Bespin, Snowtrooper, Vader
ROTJ - Fett, Chewie, Jedi Luke, Scout Trooper

With the Sideshow droids, Obi-wan, Hoth Han, Hoth Luke and Palpatine filling out the ranks. So that's kind of my thinking at this stage assuming I can get a Tatooine Luke since I'm not wanting 30+ Hot Toys OT figures in addition to my Sideshow collection and would rather have some diversity across all three films. Would be nice to have ANH Han to complete the trio but that one's pretty much out of reach now.

I have no idea what to do about the TFA figures. Just getting those 4 ANH figures is about $1300 AUD plus there's Fett and the Battlefront shock trooper later in the year, both of which I'm hoping to get. With TFA, I'm really only interested in the troopers, but I'm not sure what's the best combination. Maybe Jakku, Snowtrooper and Flametrooper would make for a nicely diverse trio? Those are the three I most like the look of and I don't need the squad leader/officer variations. When I saw this thread, I was just about to post something on one of the other threads asking for advice of these.

 

[kazar123]

I somehow grabbed the last obi-wan from toysonfire.ca. So I have the Sandtrooper/Obi-Wan from the ANH line. I'm pretty happy with that since I don't think they will be making more of these figures and I can get ESB Vader, ROTJ Luke, etc...

 

[jutty]

I jumped on the SW boat at the beginning with Bespin Luke,,, so far only have Han , Chewy, Stormy Luke & Sandtrooper,
contemplating on ANH Leia, and ROTJ Boba.
Personally im passing on TFA figure line,, don't get me wrong, there is most certainly some very cool pieces there, but the OT is going to keep us all busy for a while

 

[Malgus]

I have Chewie but I am waiting until Hot Toys releases a Han with regular length shirt sleeves.

 

[TrackZ]

Thanks for the replies and discussion.

A few caveats for me. I'm 39, so child of the '80s and fond memories of OT SW, Transformers, He-Man, G.I. Joe, and so on. I've collected all kinds of toy lines from vintage to new over the years. Settled in not long ago trying to buy into what I considered the "best" representation of given properties. So I've been buying TF Masterpiece since MP10. Have a wide array of 25th anniversary Joe (which I may actually dump for Sideshow 1/6 Joes). Masters Classics as well (although maybe sell for Mondo 1/6 Masters for same reasons).

I had originally been looking towards the Black line and such, but the quality of that quickly went south. I want to step up the quality of my collectibles as well. I have the means to do it. Don't think I want to go all the way up to statues, 1/4 scale, and PF though. That gets even more expensive fast plus that stuff is so big. I'd rather have more characters in my display than less and my interests cover too many properties as named plus comics.

I'm waitlisted on as many of HT items as I could. So Luke EX, Leia EX, Ben, and I waitlisted Han and Chewbacca individually as well as the set. Sounds like relying on the waitlist to convert may not be the best option though.

Starting with TFA doesn't work for me as I may never buy those. OT is my desire. I don't think I'd spring for the Falcon cockpit. It's cool, but so big. I don't want to opt for stuff like the Spacetrooper just cause it's available ideally either. Like other have mentioned, it's the classic representation of major characters that is my focus. That means these core ANH releases for me. I may buy various ESB and ROTJ releases too, but not minor alterations. So like Vader, Chewbacca, Stormtrooper etc. I'd just the one ANH version, but I could spring for a ROTJ Jedi Luke or Hoth outfits.

I think I just need to bite the bullet and pay the eBay prices for now. If waitlists converts I guess I can always resell them at a profit to offset my aftermarket overspending. Seems crazy they don't just make more of the sellouts.

 

[markecho]

Yeah you have run into a problem that old and new collectors have...time. Whether a collector is unsure about what they want or if they just jumped on board, with a lot of the stuff, sometimes the only time to get it at a decent price is at release.

From my experience, you are correct - waitlist is not a good option. From what I understand waitlists convert if others cancel their order or later on SSC finds a few in their warehouse. Also if you are late on the waitlist, you have everyone who is on the list before you, so if there are 50 people on the waitlist, if 1 becomes available, the first person in line gets it. Not sure if you knew that or not already.

I think Chewie will be done again. Stormtroopers and Sandtroopers I could see them doing more of.
But as others said, Obi, Leia Ex and Han (in those costumes) will probably be just this time.

Good luck! and hope you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for them!

 

[Mad Old Lu]

I would avoid the inflated ebay prices if I could. I would settle for the regular Luke instead of paying the extra for the exclusive. It's just the stormie belt with the grappling hook, isn't it? There are plenty of display options for Luke included in the set that doesn't need the belt. You can look through the Luke thread and see that half the people there don't bother with it. What was Leia's ex? Right--the mystery backdrop. Again, I don't think it's essential since you may not even have the space to display it.

I'll put it this way--most (not all, of course) of the exclusives end up in the tray, and it doesn't affect resale value in the future that much (if that's a concern). IMO, it's not worth it to pass on the regulars since they are going for retail vs paying the huge mark up on ebay. I'd say go for the regulars and forget the exclusives.

Keep your waitlists though. If you're okay with just the Bespin Han, then just have patience and wait til he comes out. Chewie is the real wildcard. He's going for crazy money right now, and it's not a foregone conclusion that he will get re-done in the future. A member here who has insider information hinted that this is the only Chewie coming from HT. But who knows, HT may change their mind and make another one since this one has sold so well.

 

[jutty]

I would avoid the inflated ebay prices if I could. I would settle for the regular Luke instead of paying the extra for the exclusive. It's just the stormie belt with the grappling hook, isn't it?

You could always get the Reg luke,then also buy the stormy Luke,,, that way you get to use the (working) grappling hook with the reg Luke PLUS,, you can get a Stormtrooper out of it

 

[TrackZ]

Oh yeah, I expected the SS waitlist is a first-come-first-serve thing. I just WLed this week too so I'm surely back in the line for most. What strikes me as odd though is they that they would take so many WL entries.

They've been selling these level of items for a long time. Surely they have years of sales data and tracked behavior. They should be able to judge popularity and sale figures and only take a slightly outsized pool of WL entries. It's all just a math model. Like an airline overselling tickets for flights to keep the plane full, but not make customers irate.

The EX for Luke and Leia I am less concerned. For those certainly, I could buy the regulars and be good. I probably wouldn't even display Luke with the ST belt and same for the backdrop. So, it's really just Ben, Stormtrooper, Han, and Chewbacca then that I have to aftermarket. Han/Chewie are the only ones that have really taken off at least.

 

[ScruffyNerfHerder]

I've been collecting these for about a year and a half and I still missed out on a couple of figures that I wanted, like the probe droid and stormtrooper luke. There's too much coming out at the same time, couldn't afford to buy everything at once. With both figures, I just wanted to wait a few weeks so money could be freed up and they ended up disappearing. At least we get a second chance with the probe droid, and I'm hopeful they'll re-release luke as a 2 pack with the inevitable stormtrooper han.

TFA figures are very nice, but I just can't see myself investing in them. I'm happy with just my OT figures, I have the most attachment and memories to those characters.

 

[badgeantilles]

Probe droid ugh. Just noticed that one is now sold out. think they were selling that one on sideshow last week. I've preordered Rey and bob and Finn and the trooper, on the fence with kylo since I assume they'll have more versions of him. Not sure whether to go for darth maul or not. So far I've bought all the figures on the sideshow site and figured I would wait until my rewards points would activate before buying more, and of course the other figures sell out before then.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Probe droid still available. It's being re-released but without the snow base. I highly recommend it.

 

[badgeantilles]

You shouldn't have told me that. Now I'll have to get it.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

You shouldn't have told me that. Now I'll have to get it.

It's a beautiful piece. I would suggest you look through its thread here to see what the criticisms were (mostly that it felt light weight, but I don't care about that because it looks stunning) so you can make a more informed decision.

 

[john72tex]

Hi guys, I'm posting here for the first time so I'm another noob on the forum. It looks like I'm not the only one who's missed out on some great Star Wars from Hot Toys. I missed out on the Han and Chewie too. Luckily I was able to score the single OT Stormtrooper last week from a friend who works in comic shop in Florida. I'm guessing $260 isn't bad considering what you find on eBay? I've definitely caught the Star Wars collecting bug again. I've got the ANH Luke EX coming next week and two from the Force Awakens down the road on preorder. I'm trying to decide what I want next. Like people have said here, Hot Toys has put a lot of product out there in a short period. I probably need a Vader and Fett, just weighing the options on them too.

 

[SilverStar17]

I'm in the same boat with you with ANH Han Solo and Chewie. I had the opportunity to get the set at my LCS at retail, but missed out. Now I'm finding that I do indeed want them, but after market prices are too steep for them at the moment.

However, like others have said, there's no doubt they are going to continue on with ESB and RotJ, and most likely more TFA figures as well as the subsequent sequels in the NT, so I presume that once the 1/6 market gets a little more saturated with other SW figures of these characters, the prices of the current ANH ones will curtail. There will be more Hans, Chewies, Lukes, Vaders, etc. Like someone pointed out, the only one I would be worried about is ANH Obi-Wan, being that you likely won't see another OT figure of him in Alec Guinness's likeness (unless they do some sort of force ghost figure of him [highly unlikely] or try and release an ANH Kenobi 2.0 to see if people will bite on it).

I still want ANH Han and Chewie, so I'm waiting for the market to get a bit more saturated before I get them.

From here on out, if there's any figure that you absolutely know you want, generally the best option is to PO it to ensure that you at least get it at original retail. However, it's also a gamble in the sense that sometimes a figure doesn't end up selling very well and the price eventually gets slashed and/or you can pick it up on the secondary market for cheaper than what the initial retail price was.

 

[hokietwo]

Like someone pointed out, the only one I would be worried about is ANH Obi-Wan, being that you likely won't see another OT figure of him in Alec Guinness's likeness (unless they do some sort of force ghost figure of him [highly unlikely] or try and release an ANH Kenobi 2.0 to see if people will bite on it).

I still want ANH Han and Chewie, so I'm waiting for the market to get a bit more saturated before I get them.

From here on out, if there's any figure that you absolutely know you want, generally the best option is to PO it to ensure that you at least get it at original retail.

Yep.

Smoke if you got them on Obi Wan, get ready to pay a big premium because he is headed for Chewbacca level prices now. Saw the last of him at retail get gobbled up tonight and a few $320 and $350 get taken from panic reaction. Crazy chit.

 

[cel3027]

Glad i picked up all of the anh line,han and chewie collector sets are selling for £570-$800.
I nearly passed after reading early comments on here.

 

[Lejuan]

Glad i picked up all of the anh line,han and chewie collector sets are selling for £570-$800.
I nearly passed after reading early comments on here.

Yup, every single one of these bar the stormtrooper was a disaster right up until people had them in their hands. Then all of a sudden they magically transformed into awesome figures. Gotta love the force.