Posted by Mark on April 5, 2005 at 12:53 AM CST
It just wouldn't be the same without a little factory mix up, this time it has to do with the 'thus-far-scarce' Palpatine #35. While some of these figures were found in the wee hours of April 2nd, most of those reported included a blue-bladed Anakin saber. Odd, but whatever...
Well, it seems versions with a red-bladed Sidious sabers are already hitting the shelf. Such a quick turn around would indicate Hasbro actually caught this error early and made the appropriate correction. As quick a change as this seems to have been, it would also indicate the erroneous blue-saber versions should be the rarer of the two. Moreover, could this be intentional? The figure was oddly missing from Hasbro's own Collection 1 wave 3 preview, might there be some other trickery involved here?
Regardless, the fine folks on eBay appear to be pushing the red-blade version as the 'rarest' and asking a pretty penny for them. Red blade, blue blade, if you don't have it they're both rare to you, but keep in mind that this figure has hardly been fully distributed and it remains to be seen which version is least common. In the past two days I've seen three of them, all blue sabers, and until late Monday a red version had yet to be reported.
Like the Tan vested Jedi Luke, or the half circle Boba Fett, this could be one of the more legitimate variations of the Revenge of the Sith line so far. It may also be as intentional as the red and blue Senate Guards #23. If variations make or break your collection, you may want to consider your options carefully, but it's clear at this stage of the game a little more information from Hasbro is in order. Considering the fact that some collectors may be at risk of being gauged over a false variation, it's time for the toy maker to fess up.
Frankly, at this point it better be a variation, I'm not too keen on the idea of having to buy this figure twice over just for a different colored lightsaber...
Our thanks to Shawn B. for the heads up.
