By the time you are reading this article, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace will be out and in full swing. You have probably seen the movie by now (or not) and your kids or significant other may be clamoring for the toys, but you have no idea where to begin. That's where I come in. As The Collector Times' self-appointed toy guy I'll be glad to help you wade through this sea of toys.

First, is to where to buy the toys. Most of the toys will be found at major retail stores like Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target, or you can take the chance and pay the extra price on the secondary market or specialty stores, like your local comic store. At the major retail outlets, you can expect to pay anywhere from $7.00-$9.00 for the action figures and $13-$99 for the various vehicles from the movie. The best places I have heard to buy the figures are at Target stores. The one I normally go to has dedicated one whole aisle to the toys and assorted goodies for the movie, and its shelves are always well stocked. You will have a hard time getting some of the hotter figures at major retail stores because of the lower prices, than at specialty stores for the figures. You'll pay a bit more at the comic book stores because they do not have the bulk buying power of major retail stores, but you might be able to find some of the harder to find action figures from the line. You take your chances about the vehicles, though.

The action figures themselves are probably the cheapest thing from the line that you can buy. There will be a total of 38 figures out from the line by the end of the year in three different collections. The initial release of figures was on May 3rd and consisted of 18 figures. Collection One from the initial release, consists of the major characters in the movie. You will probably find these figures the most because they are being shipped 32 figures to a box. The popular figures from this collection will probably be the Battle Droids because there are four different paint jobs (plain, dirty, blasted and sliced) for them and one of each different paint job in the box. These figures will also be sought after because they have multiple joints, and look just awesome, in this author's opinion. Collection Two consists of five figures that are packed to 16 a case. Because of the odd number of figures available in the set and the even number in a case, there's an extra figure in it and that one is C-3P0. I really cannot see a really popular toy coming out of this case, but it looks like Hasbro has put their money on C-3P0 being popular. Collection Three has possibly the least major characters in the movie. Much like Collection Two, this set has five figures and is packed 16 figures a case. It appears that the popular figure is Mace Windu, who ironically enough, is packed four to a case, and from all information I have seen, the third case is the least ordered by most stores.

Packaged with the action figures, is the new gimmick with the Star Wars figures, and that is the COMMTech chip. These chips are specially designed to work with the Electronic COMMTech Reader which is about $20. If you want an example of this technology, go to your local Toys R Us or Target and they have a special one set up that you can hold the figure you want to hear up to the reader and it'll play certain lines that character says from the movie. There's also a length of dog tag chain in with the reader, that I'm not sure what it is used for. I'll find out when I get one in a few weeks. Another good thing with these chips, is that they have a small plastic tab coming out of the chip that you can use to put the figures on so that the chip doubles as a stand for your figures. They are a much more stable platform than just standing them on a shelf.

Also put out in the line, are special accessory sets for use with the 3.75" figures. There are four of them and they each represent a different place that is in the movie. It's good to see this sort of thing making a comeback because I do not think I've seen anything like this since the GI Joe lines of the 1980's.

The vehicles are pretty much evenly available in the stores, with no one being more popular than any other. They have all sorts of vehicles ranging from small one man speeders and the STAP with a Battle Droid repackaged, to the large racers that they use in the movie, and the various fighters that are in the space scenes. The biggest toy of the line has not been released yet, but I'll spoil this one since it's not out yet and I do not think will have much of a spoiler effect. The big toy of the line will be the Queens Shuttlecraft, the ship that looks like a silver aircraft, and will cost (Hold on to your wallets) $100. I have seen some pictures of it and it appears to only hold four figures, but if you're really into the movie, it might be worth it. If not, then just go out and spend about half the price and get the Millennium Falcon, it holds two more figures than that one and costs half as much. Plus it's like blending old and new so you can go nuts all you want.

Other fun stuff that you can get from this line varies from Micro Machines of the various vehicles from the movie as well as larger metal versions of the same thing. The funnest thing I have seen for kids, outside of the action figures, are the little Pod Racers that you can launch for racing excitement. There's also playsets available from the Micro Machines line that can connect together for more fun. These will run you anywhere from about $5 - $20, depending on what it is you want and where you shop.

The best thing to come out for the new line (other than the action figures,) is the line of role playing accessories that they have made. They have blasters that shoot foam darts or make electronic sounds from the movie. The prices on those are about $10 - $15. You can also get toy versions of the lightsabers that the characters use in the movie. They have all sorts of new features not available from the ones put out a couple of years ago. These will cost you a bit more (Range of $25 - $35, depending on which one it is,) so these are more of the "big kids" toys, but they sure look worth it to me.

I really think that if you are a fan of the original movie toys or the re-release of them in the Power of the Force II, then you should have no trouble enjoying these figures as well. You can have hours of fun pitting these figures against the ones you have now, or just putting them on their COMMTech chip and putting them on your computer at home or at work.

My only word of warning is this: do not buy these figures to pay for your child's college tuition. Unlike the other movies, the figures in this line are being produced in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions and the supply will be more than enough to keep up with demand, if you just give it some time. Meanwhile, just enjoy the ones that you get and have them beat up the Ewoks or duke it out with Darth Vader/Obi-Wan/Luke in the lightsaber fight of the century.

(As always this work is to be only put onto the Collectortimes web site and no where else. If I find this on any other web site I am going to take your Mace Windu and open him in front of your eyes, and watch you cry like a small child.)