12" Biker Scout & Speeder Bike coming soon

[soxpicks]

Newly announced Biker Scout & ride will be coming out this fall. Pictures courtesy of Nerdist.

Looks like biker can sit similar to vintage figures or stand on the foot pedals.

 

[ThallJoben]

Interesting news. I appreciate this info. I have been wanting a 12" Scout Trooper with Speeder Bike ever since I missed the excellent Target exclusive 12" Speeder Bike w/Scout Trooper back in Fall 2000 (despite searching for this everywhere).

I did not want to spend an arm & a leg on the 12" Sideshow Speeder Bike w/Scout Trooper, so passed on that.

That all being said, I am extremely disappointed that this new 12" Scout Trooper doesn't have articulated news, so he can't sit normally on the Speeder Bike - very awkward - and, this may keep me from getting this toy.

However, I may just get this for the Speeder Bike, and try to get ahold of one of the older 12" Scout Troopers w/articulated knees (Hasbro sold these separately years ago, but I'm sure they're quite expensive now).

 

[getoninja]

speeder bike isn't so detailed like the early 2000s version but I hope this new version is close to the original or true 1/6 scale.
With some mods could be a great alternative to Sideshows or Hasbro's original. And bike and scout trooper have tons of kithasbing potential for different projects.

 

[bobafett14]

It makes complete sense they would redo this. I was actually surprised they hadn't done it over the lat couple years (guessing TFA commanded all the attention recent yrs.) The original could go for over $100 and up on the secondary market. Also this is one of those scenarios where because of the size, heavy S&H tends to come into play and will affect pricing, so if you see them going for $80ish, you usually have to tack on about $25 for S&H as well..

I kinda compare this to the typical release schedule of the 3 3/4" scale At-At every handful of years... once the secondary market gets to a certain point.. it seems to catch Hasbro's attention and htey re-release. One thing that grabs my attention is that in the past they seemed to do a "better" (and I use that term loosely) job on the rehashes... whether it's adding figs, better paint features, etc.. In this scenario the original seems to be a better product (only going by the pics at this point, sight unseen)

 

[bobafett14]

To add to it... I'm wondering if Hasbro will be bringing out (or adding to) the new 12" line. there are a lot of the older (90's) 12" that keep going up in price.. even the more "common" or lower priced ones on ebay are back to the original prices paid or higher... others are really going up in price fast. Heck, even an EPI Qui-Gon recently sold for over $25. You'll see some low priced ones here and there, and some really HIGH priced ones from time to time.. not a lot of rhyme or reason sometimes.

The dewback is starting to go up again to about $50-$70+ s&H, so that's just starting to get back up there. Keep in mind they already rehashed that when the prices peaked before.

Once you start seeing prices going up... here comes the Hasbro re-releases, repacks, etc., ANDthe newer 12" line seems to be less quality than the 90's Hasbro 12" line, so it makes sense for them.

 

[ThallJoben]

bobafett14, I agree with all of your points.

Unfortunately, I was never able to get ahold of the superb Hasbro 12" Speeder Bike/Biker Scout set from 2000 (Target Exclusive), or the also excellent single boxed 12" Hasbro Biker Scout from around 2004/2005 - these were extremely HTF @ retail back in the day. Not surprisingly, both of these are commanding very high prices on the secondary market these days.

This forthcoming 12" Hasbro Speeder Biker w/scout is basically a poor-man's version of these previous Hasbro releases. The Biker Scout has no cloth in the outfit, and doesn't have articulated knees - so it can't sit even on the Speeder Biker correctly; it's basically a large version of the non-articulated POTF2 Biker Scout figure from years ago. Also, as has been mentioned, the Speeder Bike itself is obviously a lot less detailed than the 12" Hasbro version from 2000 - so, the whole set is definitely a cheap down-grade when compared to what we've seen before.

Side note: I realize that Sideshow released a very expensive & detailed 12" Speeder Bike/w Scout a while back, but this is way out of my price range & isn't worth comparing to the Hasbro versions since it's so incredibly high priced....

 

[jedyknyt]

I love my gang of Biker Scouts!!!

][/

 

[ThallJoben]

Great pics., and nice score re: having several of these HTF 12" Hasbro Biker Scouts from the 200X's.

These pics. just prove how cheap Hasbro/Disney has gotten with their new 12" offerings. I.e. - the Hasbro 12" releases from 10/15/20 years ago are far superior to Hasbro/Disney's current 12" SW figures.

 

[jedyknyt]

Thanks ThallJoben...and I agree with your comment about the quality that Hasbro is putting out these days with the 12 inch line (thanks Disney!). I started laughing the first time I saw the picture of this new Speeder Bike w/ Biker Scout and was shocked that the gun could even come out of his hand! He can't bend his knees either? WOW! The lack of quality and articulation has diminished so badly. I don't know how collectors think they are even collectibles! They are great for the little kids though, and that's all that matters. I'll definitely pass on this and stick with my bad *** Speeder Bikes from 2000.

Great pics., and nice score re: having several of these HTF 12" Hasbro Biker Scouts from the 200X's.

These pics. just prove how cheap Hasbro/Disney has gotten with their new 12" offerings. I.e. - the Hasbro 12" releases from 10/15/20 years ago are far superior to Hasbro/Disney's current 12" SW figures.

 

[bobafett14]

I love my gang of Biker Scouts!!!

][/

Awesome!!!!HUGE fan of the Hasbro 12" line from this time period. I thought they had a wonderful assortment, a variety of common characters mixed with some more obscure. Some great 2 packs as well. Sure there were a few dogs (The one Han they did was just god awful) but there were sooooo many gems in this line with very little mention... lots of diamonds in the rough. Plus, at $20 a pop (I bought a good handful on sale for even less... you just COULDN'T beat them. So much fun to collect (I still need a few here and there).

I have LOTS of love for this line. Also, I hadn't looked in quite some time, but holy crap some of the prices on some of them now (especially the later produced ones).

 

[ThallJoben]

Agreed. It was great to get these Hasbro 12" figures @ retail prices during the heyday of the line.

And, even though they go for a lot more now on the secondary market, they're overall still less than their Sideshow counterparts. And, as has been said, I liked the fact that the Hasbro line focused on some of the more obscure aliens/characters like Sebulba, Garindan (long-snoot alien spy from ME Spaceport), Death Star Droid, Channcelor Valorum & the Blue Temple Guard (Episode 1), Captain Tarpals & Kaadu, etc.; Sideshow has still never produced many of these characters, even though their line 1/6" line is 10 years old this year (a year older than Hasbro's, which lasted from 1996 - 2005).

 

[ChibiSchmoo]

So what is everyone noticing here that is going for "a lot" on the secondary market? I've looked into a few that I've sold off (like loose speeder bikes), but am wondering what else I may have overlooked. Keeping in mind here, that some of the exclusives originally were quite pricey to begin with (I think the FAO Schwarz ones might've retailed at $75? for a two pack)...

 

[jedyknyt]

There are quite a few figures that are going for "a lot" more on the open market, but those prices are also deceiving as well, only because most eBay sellers charge an arm, a leg, and a testicle for shipping so it makes the total cost "a lot" more. We all know the shipping cost should not factor into the actual value of the figure. So I guess the term "a lot" is a gray area when it comes to a value. The term "a lot" can mean more to one person than to another, so its pointless to try and argue that, but I digress...

The ones that are going for much more are the variations, like Chewbacca w/Dark Blue Insert (If unopened ones really do exist), the Blue Chest Plate Snowtrooper ($102.77), the OTC Blue Jumpsuit Boba Fett ($185) and the Alternate Head FAO Schwarz Slave Leia w/R2-D2 ($1,000) These are the lowest prices I found.

These are the lowest prices for HTF ones.

Biker Scout...$129+12 SH (saw one sell for $51 w/Free Shipping the other day)
Plo Koon $60 (purchased w/Mace Windu for $100+20 SH) No single ones were for sale.
Luke and Leia Speeder Bikes about $65-$75 w/Free Shipping
Speeder Bike Scout Trooper...$103+$11
Collector Series Boba Fett...$50 w/Free Shipping
OTC Boba Fett...$84.99 w/Free Shipping
Ki Adi Mundi...$35 w/Free Shipping

I do agree with you on the exclusives. They're not worth anything unless they far exceed the retail prices that they sold for at the time (just like any other collectible).
It sucks to see all the FAO exclusives that I paid $69.99 each sell for about $30-$40 now, but those are few and far between, but having the rare variations makes up for that.

So what is everyone noticing here that is going for "a lot" on the secondary market? I've looked into a few that I've sold off (like loose speeder bikes), but am wondering what else I may have overlooked. Keeping in mind here, that some of the exclusives originally were quite pricey to begin with (I think the FAO Schwarz ones might've retailed at $75? for a two pack)...

 

[ChibiSchmoo]

Thanks for sharing your findings. Most of those I never had save the speeder sets. I also noticed that the electronic C3PO/R2D@ two pack could go for a decent amount now too. It's nice to know I can at least make my money back on much of it.

 

[ThallJoben]

Thanks for the detailed pricing info. re: these Hasbro 12" figures, jedyknyt. Good to know. Obviously, a lot of these 12" figures are now more valuable than the retail prices they went for back in the day. Conversely, the over-produced POTF2 (1995 - 1999) & the first waves of EP1 (1999) figures now typically go for less than retail price.

 

[ThallJoben]

Thanks ThallJoben...and I agree with your comment about the quality that Hasbro is putting out these days with the 12 inch line (thanks Disney!). I started laughing the first time I saw the picture of this new Speeder Bike w/ Biker Scout and was shocked that the gun could even come out of his hand! He can't bend his knees either? WOW! The lack of quality and articulation has diminished so badly. I don't know how collectors think they are even collectibles! They are great for the little kids though, and that's all that matters. I'll definitely pass on this and stick with my bad *** Speeder Bikes from 2000.

Agreed. I may still get this forthcoming 12" Hasbro Speeder Bike w/Scout because:

1) I don't have any previous of the Scout/Speeder Bike offerings.

2) The figure/vehicle set looks decent with the figure standing next to the bike (even though it doesn't look good sitting on the bike).

3) The Biker Scout is definitely my favorite armored Imperial trooper from the OT; the design is amazing, and very iconic.

 

[bobafett14]

One note on he prices, you have to realize if you were patient.. you could score most of them on clearances, coupon deals, etc. for less than the $20 retail.

Some of the last of each of the waves are getting decent prices... and some like the Blue boxed gold stripe later release Obi-Wan don't seem to go for much, you don't see a ton on ebay either.

Ewok 2 pack (Logray and Chief Chirpa) goes from $50 and up.. one just went for $89 recently.

An auction for Han trenchcoat, Luke/Yoda, and slave Leia went for $160 recently, not bad avg. out that's over $50ea.
Boss Nass, Mace, and Sebulba just went for $73.. to me that's a decent buy.. I don't think there were as many of those later released EPI 12" made.

The 12" ROTS figs do well... Grievous went for About $70-$80 not too long ago.

Also, on some auctions you have to figure S&H is a bit high due to the size of some items, so while I don't see many 12" tauntauns, and the 12" 2, 3, 4 packs going for as much $$$ on ebay.. I DO see them selling really well at conventions and shows.



So.. not that they are out of the park, but all well above retail. I think the "higher price" of the Sideshow figs actually helped the demand for this line out tremendously.

 

[ThallJoben]

Got this most recent 12" Hasbro Speeder Bike w/Scout @ Wal-mart today. So, these are out. Here's my review:

12" Biker Scout: Good figure, and better than I expected. 5 POA articulation (plus the wrists are articulated), but I knew about that ahead of time. I was pleasantly surprised that the molded ankle holster that had a space for the laser pistol; plus, the backpack was a separate piece, so it looked great. I was never able to get any other version of the 12" Biker Scout. The boots are fairly accurate to to the film (ROTJ) as well. And, though this isn't nearly as detailed as the cloth costumed previous Hasbro versions (or as articulated) it's still a nice figure.

Speeder Bike: Extremely disappointing. Very cheap toy; I was expecting at least a larger version of the small Vintage Kenner Speeder Bike, but this was much less detailed - the thing can't even stand correctly and leans forward when you put it on a table. The "legs" that are supposed to support this are very small & immovable. Very sub-par toy. I guess I've been spoiled by the 12" Speeder Bike/Luke Skywalker Endor figure I got in the early 200X's. Excellent vehicle compared to this piece of crap.

The Biker Scout does not look good sitting on the Bike; it looks much better just standing next to the Bike, if that.

Did I regret getting this? No, since the price was decent & since I really wanted a 12" Biker Scout figure. However, I wouldn't bother wasting your time/money on this if you want a movie-accurate toy.

That being said - in closing, I guess this set is worth getting if:

1) You want a 5 POA 12" Biker Scout figure

2) You don't want to shell out big bucks on a 12" Scale Speeder Bike, and don't mind this cheap version.