The first week was a commanding lead for Emperor Palpatine. This custom Star Wars Mighty Muggs shot out of the gate and jumped to an early lead with a current bid at around $400 USD within the first day alone, and then slowly increased its lead to $700 USD as of today. Other notable collectibles, such as Cad Bane and George Lucas, were up in the running as well, being only separated by around $50 USD. But like a cougar to its prey, the Wampa mighty muggs slowly crept up onto the leaders and pounced on them as the dolls they truly are.

The Wampa started off pretty good as well, while looking at the bidding history we notice that it reached a respectable $170 USD by the end of its first day. It then went into hybernation for the next four days without even causing a stir. But on the fifth day, it lifted its arms, yawned and woke up. It was hungry -- and therefore thought it was high time to go get a $380 snack, increasing its lead to $550 USD by devouring Cad Bane. Then on the sixth day, it was still hungry and decided to eat George Lucas and the Emperor by increasing its lead to an astonishing current bid price of $850 USD... where it currently holds the top collectible bid price as of this posting. But will the Wampa still be hungry? Or did it fill its tummy and now have to take a nap like finishing off a Thanksgiving Day turkey? Only time will tell as we close in on the last seven days of the auction.

You can view all the current custom collectibles by visiting The Empire Muggs Back charity auction. Place your bids today and get a treasured moment that will forever stand the test of time.

What's strange about the Ahsoka Tano Mighty Muggs is that is says it is titled as "Ahsoka, Unproduced Prototype." Ok, so what does this mean really? Does it mean that Star Wars fans won't be getting this anytime soon? Will Ahsoka not make in the final production line before they call it quits? Or is this just the first revision and we can expect to see a better, more complete version in the future?

My guess is that we will not be seeing this action figure anytime soon. I think all of the muggs we see on display at this auction will be exclusive -- meaning don't expect to find any of these characters in production, period! So, if you're an uber crazy fan like, then maybe now's the time to pick this one up? Right now as of this posting, it's selling for $100 -- but I suspect it will go as high as $250 before it's through because I think the fans know this will truly be a collector's item. Get at it if you want it. You can place your bids here.

Thus far, as of this posting, it appears the most highly sought after collectible is a tie between Emperor Palpatine, George Lucas and Cad Bane, which are currently priced at $400 or more.

I would have put all of these on my list of *must haves* as well. They were amongst my favorites too. I also love the art work of Queen Apailana (Robot Chicken Wars) and the 2-1B Medic Droid (also from Robot Chicken Wars) as some of my favs. Which ones do you like best? Let me know in the comments below!

Check out the selection by visiting The Empire Muggs Back official web site for more details on bidding on these wonderful collectibles. Better hurry though, because the auction ends on August 14, 2009.

Check out the video below to see them in action:

So what's the deal? Why are they so friggin' popular?!! Well, for starters, it might have to do with the fact that they are "Made from 100% Recycled Awesome!" -- so if you don't own one of them, then I guess your *awesome badge* just lost a bit of its luster! But let's also not kid ourselves -- these action figures are made out plastic, not recycled materials as some once thought. Yes, sorry to disappoint you kids and collectors, but that is the truth. However, with a small $10.00 price tag, can you really afford not to collect these wonderful plastic toys? And most importantly, don't forget -- they're just so darn cute! Can you resist the charm they have and not crack a smile?

Made from 100% Recycled Awesome!

Mighty Muggs usually release their urban vinyl figures through "waves" and/or "revisions" -- meaning, there is a first wave often containing three (3) or four (4) Mighty Muggs figures. Waves can be revised editions as well, such as wave one can consist of four original action figures, yet wave two can consist of the same four characters from wave one, but perhaps changed one (or all) of the characters in design, or maybe added an new character to the wave. This can be frustrating sometimes, because as a collector, you have to wait for the next wave to see what action figures you don't have... and that can take months! Obviously, Hasbro has done this purposely because some of the waves sell out rather quickly, so they reproduce the hot selling items and keep them around some more. But as a collector, it makes you angry that they keep reproducing the same figures from previous waves.

When they run out of stock, just like everything else, you can expect to pay a lot more than $10.00 a pop on eBay.

Right now they are in high demand and are growing stronger by the day -- and when they run out of stock, just like everything else, you can expect to pay a lot more than $10.00 a pop on eBay; with some currently selling as high $75.00 each! Some of the more hard to get figures (like Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars or the SDCC Iron Man) will likely be outragiously priced -- but that's what happens when they're in demand! When a certain character is high in demand, you can always expect to see a hefty price tag for it.

The end result is always the same though. These are collectibles and many people will do anything to get their kid (or themselves) the much needed item. The smarter shoppers always stay tuned in to when they hit the streets, and you can too by subscribing to our rss feeds or follow us on twitter. And if you're an ebay seller, then I'd stock up on many of these and wait til' Christmas -- because you will make a lot of money when many of the previous waves are no longer available.