1. I've been a long time reader, and it was actually your [January 16] "end rant" that resonated with me the most this week. I have felt the same way about all of the movies and shows, I honestly can barely keep track of it all, and I was getting EVERYTHING figure related from Clone Wars First Day figures to about the Force Awakens. I have not even had a chance to catch up on all of the Disney shows yet. I have just gotten back into things again, and so far I have only watched the first two seasons of Mando. That being said, I have started picking up a few of the "Retro Collection" figures, and now that I know that they have made so many, I am feeling crazy about who to get/pass on. I have been reading a bunch of your reviews on some of the Retro Collection figures, and my question is, which ones are your favorites now that you have had a chance to review so many of them? I don't think I will get any of the re-issues, as I have all of them in vintage. I am interested in those vintage making new "friends" though, and just wondering who your overall favorites were? Love the site and have been reading for a long time!!!!!
--Chad

Here's a suggestion that will get you in trouble - considering how small The Retro Collection is, and how many of them are on clearance/at Ross/available cheaply in eBay lots, I'd recommend seeing if you can get them all (or a cheap collection off eBay or another seller portal) rather than picking and choosing. If you're only getting one of each figure (not counting packaging variants) out of the package, the entirety of the actual Kenner line of old and The Retro Collection could fit in under two well-tiered DELTOF cases. Or a small number of long comic boxes, if kept carded.

Having said that, my favorite new releases for The Retro Collection so far have been Grand Moff Tarkin (with the board game), Boba Fett (Morak/armor), Chopper, Boba Fett (Dune Sea/Tusken garb), The Mandalorian (either of the Beskar ones), The Armorer, Ahsoka Tano (either), Tusken Warrior (BOBF), Death Trooper, Fifth Brother, and... I could keep going. Sabine Wren and Hera are also really fun. Grogu delivers the goods, but because he's tiny, neither version is very impressive for the price. The little guy would have been a good board game pack-in.

While the sculpts are much softer than Kenner originals they're all mostly pretty good. At $10-$12 I can see picking up a select few, but I'm seeing a lot of these for $6 and under. I saw one for $3 just on Saturday. Adjusted for inflation, that's less than actual original Kenner figures back when they were still "NEW!" I'd recommend them all if figures could more easily hold their blasters (a problem with some of the reissued 1978 guys) and if the factories could make the sculpts a little crisper, like Kenner did back in the day. They're supposed to be light on detailing, not light on actual detail.

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2. I have seen some incredibly detailed 90s Playmates Trek players on etsy; how do these modular playsets not get their makers in legal trouble for what is obviously an infringement on copyrighted designs? Or is there a loophole that if Quark’s bar, the TOS bridge/ sickbay/ engineering room has never been designed in a certain way as a playset, it’s fair game?

The only reason that I ask is because I’m wondering when fans will use 3D printers and make their own modular echo base, cloud city, theed hanger, etc? As one YouTuber likes to say, “The fans are doing the best work”, and Haslab is just too expensive for some fans to buy.
--Dan

I doubt any of this stuff, especially Trek, is truly "fair game." It may be more trouble than it's worth to stomp on fans trying to make things that a licensor won't push and a licensee won't touch, especially given how Star Trek is in rough shape as a licensed toy property right now. When it comes to fan films (and merchandise thereof) Paramount has really been strict, and they should be. If someone is making Quark's Bar on Etsy - as awesome as it looks - it is unlikely that we will see a company wanting to mass-produce that kind of product.

Disney has been a little selective invoking The Streisand Effect. With tons of Etsy makers, Stan Solo, 3D printer fans and so on, the cost of litigation may be more trouble than it's worth. I can tell you Hasbro is absolutely losing money because some fans would rather buy a $40 Retro Stan Solo figure because it exists and is arguably more charming than a $35 Deluxe Black Series figure - for fans of a certain age. Also at that price and a sliver of a Hasbro edition size, fan product is no real competition for Hasbro product, which is best known for not actually being able to be found in a store at retail price anyway. I would encourage Hasbro to embrace lower runs and make some of that kind of product, but I'm just one fan. I don't have 5,000 4,000 employees to feed.

When it comes to environments, I don't know that Hasbro cares because they have their own problems and they can only make so much stuff in a year anyway. A 3D printed playset - even a good one - is often a little rough and clunky with chunky edges and fibers and a general air of being - not always, but usually - a really nice prototype. The amount of work to sand down the literal rough edges and paint them up combined with the high cost and low runs is probably not worth the effort. If some guy wants to make 40 Blockade Runners, that's not a lot of money. That's an art project. Now if someone is stamping out thousands of figures overseas... I'll leave that to the Mousekattorneys. I've looked at some Jabba's Palace playsets, but the recent Boba Fett's Throne Room that Hasbro made is actually quite excellent and scratches the itch nicely. I just need more than one original trilogy playset every decade.

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FIN

A lot is happening, some of which I think will be in a press release this week. (Or today!) Future events such as this may impact you, in the future.

But last week, we had a Hasbro Star Wars Fanstream that revealed we got another box of prequel Retro figures coming (that's good!) and a lot of new pre-orders that amounted to zero new characters. Which is, obviously, not the reason any of us are here - we want new things. Thrawn but Live Action is the closest to "new." Second closest are the Mando Fleet Commander as a 3 3/4-inch figure and a Destroyer Droid in The Black Series. Nearly everything else was a variation of a previously released product, including a $50 made-to-order Sabine & Chopper 2-pack at Hasbro Pulse. If there are no new-to-toys characters, there are no reasons to collect this line anymore. We have Thrawn at home - in regular red box, SDCC fancy box, and Archive Collection. Live action Thrawn is nice, but do you know what else is nice? Someone they haven't made yet from the other shows and movies. The last thing fans should be asking during a fanstream reveal is "Wait, is this new? I think I already have that."

When I see things like "we're putting the deluxe Dark Trooper on a basic cardback" I'm kind of not even sure what to say, given the previous deluxe pricing. I am glad to be seeing Cobb Vanth coming to Vintage but... as a deluxe? No, not really. I started to part ways with new The Black Series purchases because I want things that aren't similar to what already exists on my shelves, and we're not getting it. I can't say I need "Credit Collection" or "Carbonized" figures rallied my enthusiasm, nor did "we did better face paint" even if it's incredibly impressive. I don't doubt there are people counting on a sense of obligatory completism to drive purchases. (Confidential to Hasbro: I will come back for a 6-inch Max Rebo Band with 1983-style Sy Snootles. But I think my enthusiasm for any new "content" is going to be 3 3/4-inches just because of space and exhaustion. It's good stuff, but do I need a 6-inch Shin Hati or another 6-inch Ezra figure? I'll let someone else pick that one up.)

Also notable: welcome back to the Hasbro Star Wars team, Steve Evans. But readers take note: it takes 12-18 months to impact on-shelf product. He has great tastes so hopefully he'll nudge the toys to something compelling for fans - or even better, ignoring us completely and engaging a new generation. I'd rather the line thrive for kids and without me than wither tying to appeal to every last faction of fan over 30. I've had my fun... and a revival of my fun, more than once. It kind of breaks my heart that there may not be a future for action figures aimed at children. Of course it's also good to not have kids over-marketed-to like we were from 1982 until, well, now.

I'm still on board full-bore for The Retro Collection because it's interesting, small, and while there are a few "just different enough to make you mad" figures. I am left wanting more, and it is not exhausting. I'd pay $10 for fan-made Ahsoka Robes or an alternate Luke Cloak, so $10-$12 for a whole figure is not a lot of money. Conversely, I feel absolutely terrible when I drop $17-$25 for a new version of a guy I already have just to go "well, it's sort of different" in a Figure of the Day review. It's extremely easy to look at the price tag and go "No," and hope that new fans (or fans that missed out) pick up the slack from us older fans who have "been there" and have "done that."

I'm in for The Vintage Collection for a while, but the $27.99 Ahsoka Sabine Wren and the $49.99 Sabine & Chopper 2-pack are certainly making me wonder if that road is about to end for me. What is that extra money paying for? Is it marketing? No, Hasbro are not advertising these items. Is it extra deco or accessories? Maybe. Is it because they know people like these characters and have been probably willing enough to pay to satisfy the balance sheet? That's my guess. And I can't fault them for putting forward a sensible business plan, but it's challenging when I got a perfectly nice $14.99 kid-line Sabine with lots of accessories or a $11.99 Retro Sabine... also with lots of accessories. I don't need perfect figures, as Hasbro's very best aren't Hot Toys-level stuff. They're good, and maybe "good enough" and a lower price point would mean less sticker shock for us olds with hundreds (or thousands) of figures.

If anyone wants my opinion - and nobody does - I'd suggest every toy company take a page from the original Kenner line, and make less stuff. No limited editions, make enough to satisfy the market and then move on. No repaint exclusives. No more 4+ colorways of 6-inch Paz Vizsla. (Packaging variant reissues with no product changes are 100% welcome.) Kenner of old didn't exceed 20 new figures per year. It was manageable, and they frequently cycled old figures and toys back in the line in new or revised packaging, with a burst indicating it was brought back (Dewback, Darth Vader's TIE FIghter) or just an updated movie logo (for nearly every action figure multiple times.) This is preferable, less is more. If it means killing the scales I prefer, I think Hasbro would be better off and fan expectations would be better met with a smaller product offering. Heck, if there aren't as many products to buy, I'd actually buy them all!

--Adam Pawlus

Got questions? Email me with Q&A in the subject line now! I'll answer your questions as soon as time (or facts) permit.

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