John writes:

The toy situation here is pretty dismal. I've had the unusal experience of going into several toy stores, asking where the Star Wars figure are, and being met by a blank expression and the question, "What's that?" (I get a similar response when I ask about Transformers, for which the situation is even worse.) Then I explain that it's a popular film, for which action figures are available, and since the film is opening here in 2 days, any self-respecting owner of a toy store should really consider getting some fricking figures, already. To be fair, they are aware of the existence of a film named Star Wars, but tend to be surprised that there is a line of toys associated with it. One worker in a local toy store flatly denied that there are action figures at all, but perhaps I would like some trading cards? There is here, however, at least one Western-style toy store which does have a small, cherry-picked selection of toys. It's not surprising, I guess, that the 3.75" action figures fly off the shelves (except for Grevious and his bodyguard and Obi Wan - so far we've only seen the first selection) while the Force Battlers, Voice Changers, Light Sabers, and vehicles collect dust. I consider myself very fortunate that I snagged one Clone Trooper, but so far haven't found anything else worth getting. (What I'd _really_ like is the Sneak Preview Grevious or Imperial Guard - fat chance.) I've also travelled to Munich, Germany and looked around there. Since Germany is much richer and more western than the Czech Republic, I'd expect better results, but not so. Awareness of the brand is higher, at least. Several toy stores and department stores carry the line, but in very small quantities. I've still only seen the first selection (what's the right terminology? wave? What I mean is, figures numbered between Obi Wan and the Emperor). Obviously, it's been very cherry-picked, and I'm frankly doubtful that they're going to reorder until everything sells, and by that I mean also Force Battlers, which, like in the CR, collect dust. In a way, the retail game in this part of Europe is very different than in the States, and I think there's an unmet demand for importing more American toys, which are generally quite hard to find here, whereas "domestic" European brands, like Lego, Playmobil, and Brio are available just about everywhere, and in quantity. Finally, I've also looked for Star Wars-like merchandise in Vienna, Austria, without much luck, although I was fortunate to run into a specialized comic-book store that happens to have a rich selection of Star Wars action figures. However, in more general toy stores, there's nothing to be found. Anyway, this email has become more of a rant than I intended it to be, so I'll stop here. Thanks for the great site, keep it up. Later.

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