The Hunt Is On - US Exclusives

Those of you who are regular visitors to this blog will know that in a few weeks time I'm moving to Houston,  Texas. While I'll still be keeping an eye out for the usual items on my huntlist, there will also be a number of new items available in the US that aren't available in New Zealand.

First up, I'm hoping to add to my Star Wars Lego mini-set collection with 30055 Droid Fighter and 30057 Anakin's Podracer, both of which are available from Toys'R'Us. The latter will go particularly well with a purchase of mine from earlier this year: 9675 Sebulba's Podracer & Tatooine.

      

  (Images courtesy of Bricklink.com)

Rebelscum.com has also recently posted an update about a number of Toys'R'Us Movie Heroes exclusives making their way to shelves later this year. Of particular interest to me is the Yavin Pilot Pack (including Tiree Gold Two, Jek Porkins Red Six, R5-D8 Jek Porkins' Droid, Davish Krail Gold Five, and Mauler Mithel Black Two). These will make a particularly nice addition to my Rebel Pilot and Imperial Hangar displays.

The Hunt Is On - The Vintage Collection 3 3/4" VC101 Shae Vizsla (Old Republic Bounty Hunter) Update 2

Today I braved the cold to check out the Wellington Warehouse, Farmers, and Toyworld stores. Unfortunately there's still no sign of The Vintage Collegetion 3 3/4" VC101 Shae Vizsla (Old Republic Bounty Hunter).

The Hunt Is On - The Vintage Collection 3 3/4" VC101 Shae Vizsla (Old Republic Bounty Hunter) Update

Word on the SWNZ Message Boards is that the next wave of Vintage Collection figures are now turning up in New Zealand stores. There's one figure from my want list in this wave: VC101 Shae Vizla (The Old Republic Bounty Hunter). Here's hoping I come across her soon!

(Image courtesy of rebelscum.com)

Spyware Perimeter Droids Trip Wire Alarms

I've always been a fan of prop replicas and other merchandise that's modeled after equipment from the movies. These Spyware Perimeter Droids turned up at the Wellington Toyworld a few weeks ago, and I've had my eye on them ever since. Today I bit the bullet and picked up this pair for $39.99.

They're based on a pretty cool concept - two fairly screen-accurate replicas of Maul's probe droids which, when switched on, project an invisible trip wire beam between them. Break the beam, and you're greeted with flashing lights an alarm vaguely reminiscent of that of the Imperial Probe Droid on Hoth. Not bad for $40.

The Saga Collection 3 3/4" Bib Fortuna (Battle of Carkoon)

Today I picked up a 3 3/4" Saga Collection Battle of Carkoon Bib Fortuna from the Railway New World Metro in Wellington for only $6.00.

There's a bit of a story behind this figure: Back in 2006 New World Metro decided to dabble in Star Wars merchandise by ordering in a single case of the first wave of Saga Collection figures. They were slow sellers - particularly the Bib Fortunas. By the end of the year only one lonely Bib sat on the peg. This figure didn't particularly interest me at the time so he sat there, untouched, for the next three years.

He eventually disappeared, and a short time later I picked up the exceptionally cool Vintage Collection Jabba's Throne set. As soon as I had this I started to regret not picking up that lonely Bib...

Flash-forward to today, and - by some stroke of luck - Bib turned up on a bottom shelf, reduced from $16.99 down to $6.00. His packaging is a little worse for wear, but since I'm an opener this doesn't bother me at all.

I look forward to finally giving him a home at his master's side!