So in today's weekly Star Wars review, yo mentioned the new packaging that debuted when the Clone Wars figures were released in their little Midnight Madness event on July 26, 2008. It's a decent design, but there's something else worth mentioning.

The figures shipped for the initial release had metallic blue "1st Day of Issue" stickers on the blister; that you can still find those stickered packs hanging on the shelves in November should give you an idea of just how unsuccessful that particular attempt to create false demand was.

Unintended side effect? It gives those of us out here on the fan side of the industry a clear idea of just how fast any particular store's stock is selling, debunking companies' claims that things sell and get restocked faster than we assume they do. Whenever fans say that a particular line isn't actually selling, and that we see the same figures every time we go, company reps insist we're mistaken. Well, by not only putting big blue stickers on the front of the blister, but also making those stickers part of a definitively limited promotion (shipped for the first day only), Hasbro's shot holes in that: now we can easily track what's been hanging around for months without moving.