That is indeed an impressive (if rather terrifying, lol) list of pre-orders, Stryker.
I hope you have made your way through some of them by now at least.... hang in there!
I hadn't commented on this thread until now, because there have been several figures I was unsure as to whether I'd actually end up pre-ordering. This past year has been highly unusual for me in that normally I would have maybe 1 or 2 Hot Toys on pre-order at most, but have ended up with... a lot more than that!
I'd actually been
perfectly happy to be less of a collector and more of a customiser in the last few years. However, for some reason this year Hot Toys decided to announce a whole bunch of 'grail' figures I've been waiting YEARS for...all at once.
I'd been out of regular employment since the pandemic, so I was panicking a bit as to how in the world I'd be able to afford all these. Hence why I didn't commit to everything I wanted until I was truly sure. Thankfully, I do have a job again now and have been steadily playing catch up....
List of all the figures I've PO'd over the last year or so:1)
Hot Toys Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Anakin Skywalker 2)
Hot Toys Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Padme Amidala These two figures are LONG overdue, can't wait to have them in hand.
Even if the Padme is not as perfect a likeness as I'd hoped, it's still an extremely welcome addition to my Anakin and Padme collection.
3)
Hot Toys Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - R2-D2 (due soon)
This one is supposedly out soon....just waiting to be alerted to its arrival. It will be so fun to finally have R2 for photoshoots! Especially my beloved rocket version so I can recreate some Clone Wars hijinks.
4)
Hot Toys Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Obi-Wan Kenobi I had mixed feelings on this one, but that isn't a surprise as I'm super nitpicky at the best of times. On the one hand, it's TCW Obi-Wan to go with my Clone Wars line-up. Means I don't have to make a custom version from scratch, so ....yay! On the other hand, I was admittedly hoping for a re-issue of the previous headsculpt they'd used for the RotS figure, and instead got a new sculpt with moveable eyes. The likeness is arguably 'better' in this new one, but imo it has that typical problem of looking too old. More like the current Ewan than mid-2000s Ewan. I also don't give a crap about moveable eyes on 1/6 figures and feel they are too much extra fiiddling about when posing. So, I'm currently leaning toward swapping the head out completely if I can find something better. (Whether I sell the moveable eye one or not will depend on my mood at the time, lol.)
5)
Hot Toys Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (40th anniversary edition) Darth Vader This one is self-explanatory. One of my ultimate grail figures in this whole hobby, been waiting for this version since I started collecting in this scale. No way was I going to miss it.
6)
Hot Toys OWK Darth Vader (from the tv series that I prefer to ignore)
I had zero interest in this version when it was announced and tried to pretend I didn't even see the thread for it, lol. As you all know by now, I am NOT a fan of Disney's version of Star Wars, and refuse to watch anymore of the endless onslaught of disney series. So why the hell did I PO this? Welp, it's simple.... for kitbashing.
I've been trying to put together a particular custom Vader for years, and needed a base to use that was as close as possible to the Rogue One Vader but with light-up options. I also wanted a Vader that could more easily swap his helmet during photoshoots (some of them are very difficult to remove without damaging). This one had all of those qualities so it seemed silly not to go for it. But as it stands, I will be getting rid of the art box along with several extra accessories that I have no interest in, just so I don't even have to look at them!
7)
Sideshow Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Ahsoka Tano (due soon)
While this line of animated-style figures has been largely disappointing for many collectors (myself included), there's just no way I could pass this one up. I have seen an unboxing video of her already and it's actually not too bad all things considered. The headsculpt isn't how I would have liked (not entirely accurate to the animation design, sigh), but it seems ok for what it is. The fact it's on a tbleague body was a big selling point for me in terms of PO'ing it. (The issues with the crappy Sideshow body was what lead me to cancel my PO for the Anakin figure from the same line.)
and ....
8 )
Sideshow Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Anakin Skywalker (already released a while ago)
I originally had this on pre-order but then cancelled after seeing many negative reviews. I still wanted the figure since I'm fairly completionist when it comes to collecting my faves, but I just didn't want to pay enormous import/custom fees for a figure that was subpar at best. So I waited a long time until I could snag one of these for a lower price from a UK seller. Thankfully, I recently managed to do just that. He's now waiting for Ahsoka to show up so they can have some adventures together (ie: eventual photoshoots
).
9)
ETA: Just went back and realised I'd forgotten one! I also PO'd the
third party TPM Queen Amidala figure!
Bonus: Figures on my wishlist: 10) Don't think I need to mention the recently-announced
Hot Toys Artisan Anakin figure, which I would sell a kidney to acquire at this point!
So that's....
10 figures in total.