Legacy Collection: Where We Have Come From And Where We Are Going

Jedi Temple Archives is gearing up for the 2013 Legacy Collection lineup! Before you start criticizing us, yes, we're very sad to see The Vintage Collection go to bed for the time being. But we are very happy about the opportunity to build droids again. If you think about it, what better value for our wallets than to get an extra two or three droids to help amortize costs at no extra "charge" per each new case of figures? JTA is looking back at the red phase of the Legacy Collection. We've updated our RDRs and VGs for you and we wanted to make you aware of these updates. We also discuss our thoughts on where we're going in 2013. Come join us as we revisit some goodness from years ago and look ahead to the future!

You may have noticed that we here at Jedi Temple Archives are updating some products from the very popular Legacy Collection toy line. We just recently revistited the Geonosis Arena Showdown sets and now we're looking at the fantastic basic figure line. Just like most of you, we’re very sad to see The Vintage Collection go into hibernation for the next few years or so, but if that has to be the way it is, we wouldn’t pick another substitute other than the Build A Droid pack-in premium to take its place. Legacy Collection indeed returns in 2013 (some info we received implies that we’ll see them before the new year) and before we jump into a new product line and start organizing Droid Factory parts lists and the like for all-new figures, we thought we should back-up a bit and revisit where we came from with this concept as it helps us better understand where we’re going.

Before we begin, we wanted to clarify a few housekeeping things. As archivists, we’re VERY literal when it comes to naming convention and numbering systems and the like, so much so that it sometimes causes more grief than it’s worth. You may see a little more "anal-retentiveness" at JTA than you do at your other favorite fan sites. We apologize for that but it's the only way we're able to keep things straight in an age where Hasbro doesn't give collections unique names any more. That being said, when we refer to “Legacy Collection” we mean the red phase line look specifically. The Legacy Collection with a "The" is the blue line look that ran from July 2008 through June 2009. We view this line as something completely different; a collection unto itself. The blue and red phases even have their own unique numbering convention. We probably have lost your attention now, but it’s important for what we’re doing next. You see, the 2013 Droid Factory line will be referred to as Legacy Collection “2” (or LC2) in our archives.

No matter how you look at it, this is indeed a second phase of the Legacy Collection, whether you see it as a literal “second Legacy Collection – the red line look being first, the 2013 gray line look being second – or the actual second offering of the Build A Droid line as a cohesive whole. We look it as the former, which is the exact reason why we’re only revisiting figures from the red phase for this article. TLC and LC are two different lines for us and since it is LC that returns in 2013 and not TLC; it’s officially “LC2”. Now that we have some organization rules down, let’s get back to why we even worked up this article. It's time to take a look at the fine offerings Hasbro has provided for us in the past because it may offer some clues of what we’ll be receiving in the future.

The number of figures offered each year continues to shrink, sadly. But the good thing about Droid Factory is that it forces Hasbro to produce "x" amount of figures per wave since a droid must be broken down into so many parts per wave. It also will assure much better collector friendly case assortments. At worst, Hasbro will include two of each figure which really is the perfect case ratio for most collectors who like to open one set of figures while keeping one sealed for posterity. And even if they carry forward some older figures, it will just be one or two and not 7, 8 or 9 rehashes like they've done in The Vintage Collection. While Hasbro has pretty much abandoned any future "running change" figures, there are still some unreleased gems that they could finally usher into this new lineup since the packaging will be large enough to house the big accessory and droid parts that Droid Factory so often employs with its figures. We’re looking at you Imperial Scanning Crew and Utai variants! In fact, we got some wry smiles from Hasbro reps at CVI when asked about these exact figures. Take that as you'd like.

Chuck and I have spent quality time updating every last Research Droids Review and Visual Guide in the red phase Legacy Collection line look. Galleries have been doubled, tripled and sometimes quadrupled. Collector Notes have been added to every last review (including an intense breakdown of Build A Droid parts and what basic figures come packaged with certain parts – that was exhausting for the record). Our Visual Guides have all been incorporated into our exciting new and much larger format. In case you're not aware, the Visual Guides now have their own dedicated page. Pop-ups and pan and scan features, while still functional in older guides, have all been updated into the new format for this specific feature. (We're slowly but surely working on the others as well.) Each Visual Guide includes important “quick hit” data points to make the most out of your visit for each figure. Legacy Collection is back! We’re excited. You should be excited! And we can’t wait to start building more Build A Droid figures! Enjoy!

Legacy Collection Wave 1 (September 2009)
        

Legacy Collection Wave 2 (October 2009)
     
    

Legacy Collection Wave 3 (November 2009)
       
     

Legacy Collection Wave 4 (November 2009)
        

Legacy Collection Wave 5 (December 2009)
        

Legacy Collection Wave 6 (April 2010)
       

Note: Some straight repacks of figures from the blue phase of The Legacy Collection that were carried over into the red phase of Legacy Collection have not been included in this report.

We're also not done yet! Stay tuned as we present a revisted look at the Walmart exclusive Droid Factory collection too! That feature is coming soon!

Coming soon from 2013's Legacy Collection!

2013 Legacy Collection Wave 1
Padme Amidala (Arena Battle)
Anakin Skywalker (Arena Battle)
R2-D2 (Droid Factory)
Luminara Unduli
Clone Trooper Sergeant
Geonosian Warrior
Battle Droid (Attack Of The Clones)
Pablo-Jill
Sandtrooper (Corporal)
TIE Fighter Pilot
Scout Trooper
Clone Trooper (212th Attack Battalion)
Build-A-Droid FA-4
Build-A-Droid TC-70

2013 Legacy Collection Wave 2
Mace Windu (The Clone Wars realistic)
Captain Rex (The Clone Wars realistic)
Luke Skywalker (Ceremonial)
Mara Jade-Skywalker
Darth Vader (Bespin Dinner)
A-wing Pilot
Clone Pilot (Phase I)
Biggs Darklighter (X-wing Pilot)
Build-A-Droid R5-X2
Build-A-Droid R8-B7

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