Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer!

If somebody had asked me to name my two favorite toys as a kid I would have spat out, "Star Wars" and "Lego®" without skipping a beat. I loved building things and I loved building Star Wars vehicles even more. Of course this was long before Lego® had the intricate sets that they do today but it was hours of fun either way. I still recall fondly the Tie Fighter I created which held together for months until it met its demise at the hands of Darth Mother.

Of course one can only imagine how delighted I was when Lego® actually obtained the Star Wars license and created the wonderful line of brick-based vehicles and mini-fig characters that we see today. It's bloody expensive though and generally takes a back seat to my collecting. (Lego® makes wonderful Father's Day presents in case you were wondering.)

Back in May I splurged and bought the one iconic Star Wars vehicle I had always been after; The Tantive IV. (It's awesome by the way.) Even though it was on sale it still cost a pretty penny and I honestly thought it would be the last expensive Lego® set I would ever want to buy and perpetuated that thinking as a selling point to my wife. I was wrong.

Hello Lego® Super Star Destroyer! Is that an IG-88 in your command module or are you just happy to see me?

Over 3, 000 pieces, almost 50 inches long and just under 8 pounds of brick with an intergalactic price tag of $399.99. Did I mention it comes with 5 minifigures? Darth Vader, Admiral Piett, Dengar, Bossk and IG-88. Oh, and there's a cool little mini Star Destroyer too. That makes $399.99 seem like peanuts, no? Yeah, well, one can dream. I'm sure I'd have plenty of money to spend after the divorce.

A Fett full of dollars

Obviously the success of last year's "Rocket Firing Boba Fett" figure redemption was enough to make Hasbro think it was worth repeating. I'm not going to say I'm exactly thrilled about the idea of another rendition of Fett but I'm not going to snub my nose at it either. The prototype armour is pretty slick even if it is very, very similar to the Ralph McQuarrie version we were handed during the 30th Anniversary of A New Hope. Still I would have been much happier if they had made this year's redemption program a Vintage Kenner-style Darth Vader. I have the original from when I was a wee lad but getting my hands on a brand new one would be like stepping back in time for just a moment. Sideshow Collectibles is doing the giant 12" version of the vintage Vader but it's just not the same.

Ah, well, Boba in shining white armour will have to do for now. Maybe next year, Hasbro. Maybe next year.

Better late than never!

Well look who finally decided to show up at my door. After months of delay Sergeant Bric, the Hasbro mail-in redemption figure, and his Galactic Battle Mat has arrived safe and sound.

Sergeant Bric made his debut in the Season 3 opener of The Clone Wars titled Clone Cadets where he and fellow drill instructor El-Les, along with Jedi Master Shaak Ti (both of whom had single carded releases this year) tried to whip a merry band of clones into combat soldiers.

Overall he's a pretty decent figure with 12 points of articulation, blaster and working holster. Hasbro skipped on the ankle articulation, which is a pet peeve of mine, but other than that I'm happy that I went to the effort to send away for him. The included Galactic Battle Mat is something kids are supposed to be using to play this year's pack-in incentive game (die, battle stand and accompanying battle card with stats) but it's a big waste of plastic as far as I'm concerned. Any of you kids actually using this thing?

Well now that that's all over with it's time to start saving those UPCs for the Prototype Boba Fett mail-in figure this fall.

Vintage Y-Wing TRU Exclusive arrives

Also hitting the shelves this past week is the Vintage Collection Y-Wing vehicle with improved cockpit details and a now functional droid socket for dropping in your favorite R-Unit. The vehicle also comes with a new Red paint scheme rather than the previous classic yellow application.

New Deluxe Class Vehicles hitting shelves

The newest line of Deluxe Class Vehicles is hitting Toys R Us stores and include some of Hasbro's best Vehicle/Figure combos of the line yet.

Finally you can pick up Castas (one of the remaining ill-fated characters from the Rise of Boba Fett story arc) along with his speeder bike featured in the show.

Also available in the wave are the Republic Scout Speeder with ARF Trooper, Attack Cycle with General Greivous and the Separatist Droid Speeder with Battle Droid.

Toronto Fan Expo 2011

Well, I'm all set. Anthony Daniels will be making an appearance this year and although I already have an autograph from him it will be nice to get one in person. I've had the pleasure of meeting Carrie Fisher, David Prowse and Peter Mayhew at previous Fan Expos and shaking hands with a 4th member of the original cast will be an honour. Mark Hamill where are you? Honestly... you were at SDCC last year. How about visiting TO for a change?

Rumor has it the new K-Mart B-Wing Exclusive will be offered at the FanExpo. I'm counting my pennies. Sorry William Shatner... though I love you to death I'm not forking over $150 for your autograph and there's the B-Wing (and possibly Masterpiece Rodimus Prime) to add to my collection.

It's here!

The Hasbro Big AT-AT is finally on shelves and ripe for the picking.