Buying into a new scale

Well, in retrospect I should've known it was coming. 12" scale, aka 1:6. I'd long admired it and somewhat feared the breadth of licenses available in it - perhaps the most diverse range of licenses at any scale. I'd been put off previously by the size, the cloth clothing, the price - but one by one those objections splintered. The cloth clothing of Sigma Six broke that taboo, and scale and size sort of took care of each other - the figures are more expensive, so I can't afford as many. Heh. But what broke my resolve? Well, look for yourself:


Yeah. Star Wars. My bane, my curse: it reignited my interest in 1:18 scale earlier this year, and began what will no doubt be an expensive dalliance with 1:6. Damn you Sideshow! This Jedi Luke Skywalker figure is pretty damned closed to perfect - and others seem to agree. The Sideshow exclusive version sold out in less than three hours the day it went on sale - 1250 pieces. Less than a week later the 6500 regular editions had sold out. I was lucky and preordered from http://www.bigbadtoystore.com before they pre-sold out. I dunno what kind of audience I'm reaching here, but I looked a bit and found a few sites still allowing preorders($49.99 MSRP):

Action Figure Express at $49.99
Dark Figures at $49.99
Most Wanted Collectibles at $49.99
Northside Collectibles at $49.99
Cotswold Collectibles $49.99
Legends Action Figures at $59,99 Canadian(around $50 US)

I've never ordered from Most Wanted Collectibles or Northside Collectibles, but I have the other three, and consider them reliable. If you wait till release, you'll probably end up paying a premium price on EBay - so consider carefully. BTW, I have no connection with any of these sites, you find a better deal take it.