Star Wars Battle Bobblers! Like clockwork, Hasbro has new figure concepts that are expressions of characters you know that you like, but not in the format you buy. The big-eyed Battle Bobblers look not unlike the creations of Jim Davis - Garfield and Orson might see these troopers, droids, and aliens as kin.

Galaxy of Adventures! The surprisingly well-made, nicely articulated, and fairly priced line of 5-inch action figures continues alongside the reality of stores phasing the segment out and there being some question as to where you might find it. Hasbro's post-The Rise of Skywalker game is pretty good, focusing on the top-tier characters of today, the classics, and no real cohesion so the toys can pal around terribly well.

If you go to a good site, they'll no doubt put together great galleries with insightful, useful commentary - but since I was unable to squeeze in most of the areas where the good collector stuff was, we don't have pictures of everything.  I'm working on galleries now of some nifty new toys and we also have a text dump of my tweets from the Hasbro Media Day presentation.

Highlights: Walmart has retro Kenner for The Empire Strikes Back, pretty much a lot of it all leaked early, The Vintage Collection showed 2 figures (one reissue, one resculpt), and while there's a lot of interesting product - in every definition of the word - long-time collectors are unlikely to be feeling that this is Their year, even if it's an diverse batch of stuff. 

While there are a lot of product announcements coming up this weekend, only one piece of news really matters.  

And it's a press release. 

Hasbro confirms:   Hasbro and Disney Extend Strategic Merchandising Relationship for Marvel and Star Wars Franchises.   While no date for its end appears in the press release, it does say "The Star Wars license agreement includes the rights to toys and games based on entertainment like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, incorporating fan favorite characters such as The Child from The Mandalorian, affectionately known as Baby Yoda. The agreements are multi-year agreements."

The Pop-O-Matic die - a classic used in Trouble and Aggrivation, to name a few games - is back with the baby.  The baby will own us al.  Can you keep him out of trouble? No.  But it can be a lot of fun to try.  He'll just eat your pets and then pass out after trying to Force-push the dog out of the house.  Hasbro's corporate-approved news mailing says:

In "toys I never thought we'd see" news, here's Star Wars The Mandalorian Darksaber Electronic Lightsaber toy.  It appears in all the very best modern-era television projects and has been owned by several characters - most of which are pretty cool.   Hasbro's copy block says:

Due around Decemberish is this Animatronic Star Wars The Mandalorian The Child Interactive Plush.  Your mom will call it "Baby Yoda Furby."  It wiggles its ears, blinks, and coos - I also to these things but nobody is lavishing any praise on me.  This toy should be about $60 when it hits online and retail stores in Q4, and you should pre-order now if you want one. 

Hasbro says:

Because Hasbro's goal now is to seemingly ensure we get lots of awesome, but incompatible figures spread over several scales let's look at Galaxy of Adventure Ahsoka Tano and a Clone Trooper.  This style of figure is cheap, well-constructed, and fun - but a scattered cast may make it something you don't collect.  (Buy one, they're neat.) Check out the press text and new images.

Oh, you bet it's that time again! Hasbro sent ahead a lot of pictures ahead of their Saturday showcase, starting with Operation: Star Wars The Mandalorian Edition Game.  Here's the Hasbro copy dump with images.

Something old, something blue, this BB Unit (Color-Changing Droids, Droid Factory Line Look)  has it all!  White when warm and blue when cold, you can get your fingerprints all over this guy in a cold room. It's a fun play feature.  Do you need it?  No, but... you kind of do. Read on!

New?  A lot of the late 2019 exclusives were deco changes or accessory changes, and this First Order Elite Snowtrooper (The Black Series 6-Inch)  was a bit of both. Available individually or in a mystery box crate, this clearanced-out Target exclusive took a 2015 First Order Snowtrooper and added a cloak. And some paint.  I wasn't excited about it at full price, but the gift set's hat, pin, and comic made a nice gift set when it was marked down. Read on!

This week in Q&A - Pre-Toy Fair! Do I know what's coming? No comment! But let's talk about stores and other forms of disappointment.

Be sure you send in your questions for next time. Our mail bag is empty. Read on!

The one, the only, the Babu Frik (The Black Series 6-Inch) is who we're looking at today.  I don't assume they can or will make a 3 3/4-inch scale one, so this larger-scale (but tiny) figure is the best bet you've got right now.  Is it worth it? Will you lose it in the couch? Read on!

Today: Rey (& D-O, The Black Series 6-Inch). It's a fantastic figure with exceptional articulation and the best Daisy Ridley likeness yet, plus a small droid sidekick - and she's not too hard to find.  Read on!

This week in Q&A - Troopers! Always in short supply, but why?

Be sure you send in your questions for next time. Our mail bag is empty. Read on!