Stuart Skinner
Sith Lord
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2013
- Messages
- 3,165
Nearly that time of year again when we see who the forum's favourite figure is at his current time. this will be the 6th tournament and as of yet we have never had a figure win the title twice. Obviously personnel changes on the forum and different figures become more important to people over the years so we do see changes in this competition.
Last years champion, Biker Scout, is a figure who in 2014 was disappointing only making it to the second round. But he has steadily made progress over the years until his eventual title in 2018. He was a third round exit in 2015, a quarter finalist in 2016 and runner up as he lost to Princess Leia in 2017. Can the Biker Scout he the first figure to not only win a second title but get back to back championships.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2014 - Stormtrooper
2015 - Boba Fett
2016 - Emperor's Royal Guard
2017 - Princess Leia Organa
2018 - Biker Scout
So far Princess Leia has been the only good guy champion!
Let's take a quick look through the competitors by card release.
THE FIRST 12
Two of the five champions have come from the first 12 release figures, Stormtrooper in 2014 who has been disappointing ever since lifting the title with his best coming last year as he reached the last eight. Princess Leia Organa is the other first 12 winner in 2017, coinciding with the passing of Carrie Fisher, the figure stormed to victory but apart from that success the third round has been her best achievement. Vader performed well in the early years with two semi final appearances and one quarter final appearance but 2nd and 3rd round exits in the last two years has seen him fall away from the contenders. Luke Skywalker has been hit and miss but the most under performing figure from the first 12 has to go to Han Solo, with two third round exits being his best to date.
FIRST 21
The first 21, for me, have hugely disappointed over the years. Yes Fett took a win in 2015, but he's a figure that should dominate being so popular. But for me these are 9 of the best figures ever. Yet the Cantina aliens have only ever seen Greedo go beyond the 2nd round, and that was last year where he fell at the 3rd round. Luke X-Wing should be another who excels, he reached the quarter final in 2015 but has fallen at the second stage in all the other four years. As far as the droids go, Power Droid and Death Star Droid have been very poor although R5-D4 has reached the semis and a quarter on two occasions.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Greatest Movie maybe, but to date no winner has come from the Empire run of figures, yet two have from the Return of the Jedi range. Saying that Hoth Stormie is statistically the most consistent performer and has been runner up on three separate occasions including last year when it looked like third time lucky yet failed to beat the Biker Scout. The worst he has ever done is quarter finals so he always performs in this comp. Beyond that Yoda has reached on three occasions the semis and the TIE Fighter has been to two semis and two quarters, but so many of this range have consistently fallen at the first or second stages.
RETURN OF THE JEDI
We've already mentioned the improving and defending champion Biker Scout, but the ROTJ line has also given us the 2016 champion, the beautiful ERG, although he raced to the victory that year he has failed to do much else with two 2nd round eliminations and a 1st and 3rd round exit. It is rather uninspiring outside of those two though, only Luke Jedi outside of these two has reached the quarters, in fact 18 of the range have never cleared the opening round.
LAST 15
Saying that about the Jedi range, all of these figures except four have never cleared the first round which is shocking. Cannot believe Imperial Dignitary hasn't had a run, perhaps this is his year. The most successful of these figures is Pop R2 with three second round exits, although Imperial Gunner has reached the 3rd round in 2017. The only other two to have played a knockout match are Luke Stormie (2018) and Amanaman (2017).
So that gives us the highlights from previous winners, what about the odds this year, here are the five favourites and a few selected specials.
2/1 Hoth Stormie
3/1 Biker Scout
3/1 Boba Fett
5/1 Stormtrooper
7/1 TIE Pilot
100/1 Ben Kenobi
150/1 Imperial Dignitary
250/1 Sy Snootles
Hope everyone gets involved and votes on the competition from the 1st January as we hunt for the 2019 champion.
Last years champion, Biker Scout, is a figure who in 2014 was disappointing only making it to the second round. But he has steadily made progress over the years until his eventual title in 2018. He was a third round exit in 2015, a quarter finalist in 2016 and runner up as he lost to Princess Leia in 2017. Can the Biker Scout he the first figure to not only win a second title but get back to back championships.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2014 - Stormtrooper
2015 - Boba Fett
2016 - Emperor's Royal Guard
2017 - Princess Leia Organa
2018 - Biker Scout
So far Princess Leia has been the only good guy champion!
Let's take a quick look through the competitors by card release.
THE FIRST 12
Two of the five champions have come from the first 12 release figures, Stormtrooper in 2014 who has been disappointing ever since lifting the title with his best coming last year as he reached the last eight. Princess Leia Organa is the other first 12 winner in 2017, coinciding with the passing of Carrie Fisher, the figure stormed to victory but apart from that success the third round has been her best achievement. Vader performed well in the early years with two semi final appearances and one quarter final appearance but 2nd and 3rd round exits in the last two years has seen him fall away from the contenders. Luke Skywalker has been hit and miss but the most under performing figure from the first 12 has to go to Han Solo, with two third round exits being his best to date.
FIRST 21
The first 21, for me, have hugely disappointed over the years. Yes Fett took a win in 2015, but he's a figure that should dominate being so popular. But for me these are 9 of the best figures ever. Yet the Cantina aliens have only ever seen Greedo go beyond the 2nd round, and that was last year where he fell at the 3rd round. Luke X-Wing should be another who excels, he reached the quarter final in 2015 but has fallen at the second stage in all the other four years. As far as the droids go, Power Droid and Death Star Droid have been very poor although R5-D4 has reached the semis and a quarter on two occasions.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Greatest Movie maybe, but to date no winner has come from the Empire run of figures, yet two have from the Return of the Jedi range. Saying that Hoth Stormie is statistically the most consistent performer and has been runner up on three separate occasions including last year when it looked like third time lucky yet failed to beat the Biker Scout. The worst he has ever done is quarter finals so he always performs in this comp. Beyond that Yoda has reached on three occasions the semis and the TIE Fighter has been to two semis and two quarters, but so many of this range have consistently fallen at the first or second stages.
RETURN OF THE JEDI
We've already mentioned the improving and defending champion Biker Scout, but the ROTJ line has also given us the 2016 champion, the beautiful ERG, although he raced to the victory that year he has failed to do much else with two 2nd round eliminations and a 1st and 3rd round exit. It is rather uninspiring outside of those two though, only Luke Jedi outside of these two has reached the quarters, in fact 18 of the range have never cleared the opening round.
LAST 15
Saying that about the Jedi range, all of these figures except four have never cleared the first round which is shocking. Cannot believe Imperial Dignitary hasn't had a run, perhaps this is his year. The most successful of these figures is Pop R2 with three second round exits, although Imperial Gunner has reached the 3rd round in 2017. The only other two to have played a knockout match are Luke Stormie (2018) and Amanaman (2017).
So that gives us the highlights from previous winners, what about the odds this year, here are the five favourites and a few selected specials.
2/1 Hoth Stormie
3/1 Biker Scout
3/1 Boba Fett
5/1 Stormtrooper
7/1 TIE Pilot
100/1 Ben Kenobi
150/1 Imperial Dignitary
250/1 Sy Snootles
Hope everyone gets involved and votes on the competition from the 1st January as we hunt for the 2019 champion.