1. Hot Toys and Gentle Giant have both unveiled their take on Dark Empire Luke, despite him no longer being "canon."

You think that's a sign that Hasbro would revisit this look sometime...soon?
--Angelo

Hasbro has proven they're happy to throw "canon" out the window for The Black Series or The Vintage Collection, especially when old molds can be deployed.

It's possible - I would place bets on The Black Series more than The Vintage Collection, though. They've been more likely to do Expanded Universe stuff there, especially if it can use existing tooling (or be reused), however the last batch of Fan Channel exclusive comic figures did not do particularly well - a lot got dumped at Ross. Admittedly, they weren't terribly exciting figures either. This year we're getting a Zahn 4-pack with Luuke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, and Joruus C'boath. We could just as easily get a Dark Empire set some day, but those waves have a lot of reused parts - maybe we'll get Luke with a Clone Emperor, perhaps Boba Fett or Dengar or Han Solo, or maybe even a new version of Leia. Given how little new tooling seems to be coming to many figures, I wouldn't say I'm hopeful such a thing would happen but I would've said the same thing about Joruus C'boath about a year ago, and he's coming now.

Disney seems to push certain avenues of product, and it's likely Hasbro is working on it for reveal at SDCC or a later convention this summer. (I don't know. This isn't me being coy, I genuinely don't know.) There are some things being made that Hasbro is just a little bit later to the game on - which I can't specify, but stay tuned, you might know it when you see it. I assume Hasbro would sell more of a "new" Luke than New Show Guy at this point.

Ad: Get New Epic Hero Mando Starfighter and More at Entertainment Earth! Get Free USA Shipping on Orders $79+

 

2. I just received the new R2-D2 labeled VC149. It has the same card back as the old R2-D2 labeled VC149 released in 2019. However, the old one, as reviewed in your Figure of the Day column here, https://figureoftheday.blogspot.com/2019/08/star-wars-figure-of-day-day-2612-artoo.html, is dirty and, I think, a different mold. The only commonality between these two releases is the cardback. Is that right? This reissue is not, in fact, a reissue at all. Are other VC numbers being reissued with different figures?

Relevant to this is that I am a big SW comics fan and in particular Dr. Aphra, Triple Zero & BT-1. I purchased the original black series figures when they were released. They are now being reissued in 2024. Do you think these are (1) straight reissues, (2) just different enough to make you mad or (3) different figures per VC149?
--David

Hasbro listens when fans complain - the Hasbro of today is more likely than ever to make a correction if it's an easy fix and sensible for the budget, like The Bad Batch Clone re-released with the right name on the card. In this case, fans did complain that R2-D2 was too dirty for its first release, and Hasbro reissued it because they love us. Or, it's because they can charge $16.99 for a figure that's pretty much the same as the The Last Jedi R2-D2 which sold for $8.99 but now removes the rocket accesories. If you need this specific cardback, get the new Vintage one, but it's more or less the same as several existing build-a-droid R2-D2 figures.

Comparing both versions of VC 149, the blues are a little different, and the dirt is missing - but they're pretty much the same molds. The 2024 release is the one to get if you're leaving it packaged, and I am tempted to just not open mine because I don't see how it's different. I might need to pick up some other R2-D2s in my stash to do some more comparisons to be sure, but this is one you're probably going to buy just to get this specific R2-D2 on this specific cardback. It's very nice, but at this point you may be best served squinting at your own collection and asking "is it different enough that I'd even notice once I open it?"

When Hasbro does its rerun program, at least for now, they are "the same." This means the intent is to not change anything, but as you know, change is inevitable. There may be a new date stamp embossed in the packaging somewhere. Colors may appear slightly different, because matching a color exactly from batch to batch (let alone five or six years later) is tough to do. Nobody will know for sure if a change is made until a final sample gets in somebody's hands, and my love of variant chasing has been shot down - especially in the bigger size. As such, hopefully someone who wants to burn $75 will get them and post pictures because I just can't spend that much on my own curiosity without higher paying sponsorships.

Become a Patron!

Special thanks to our generous Patreon patrons, especially: JT, Jared, Bobb, Christopher, Daniel, Dan, Tim, Jayson, Matthew, Michael, Robert, Stephen, Todd DrReiCow, Eddie, Jeremy, Mario, and Todd! Thanks for helping us keep the servers on!

FIN

Hey! A Cantina! The HasLab project funded and skyrocketed near the end, blasting past the Nabrun Leids goal despite the shortened funding period. Usually these things are closer to 45 days, and this one was just 30 - with a full funding period I bet we'd have gotten the wolf Arleil Schous, and I hope Hasbro slates him into production somewhere. I'd be more interested in him than another trooper or another Jedi or another human. I would call it a success - it's very expensive, it had two tiers, the figures included weren't all new, and as I said it had less time to do everything without the benefit of a kick-off at Toy Fair or during a hot show or an anniversary. (For the curious, I bought the deluxe model, just in case they decided to toss in a surprise extra like they did with Fire and Holi with Victory Saber.)

One neat thing about this - good or bad - is we can see Hasbro can do two tiers of a big playset if they want. And for a pretty small playset, it got expensive - a lot of it is likely over 100 small glass accessories plus other odds and ends that could probably have been trimmed to keep the budget down, but this is a deluxe fan offering for old people who presumably have a lot of money and few to new Original Trilogy figure pre-orders to compete. New stuff is far and few between, and this is more exciting than a wave of revised versions of existing characters. (No shade intended - after 47 years, New Vader and Not Really New R2-D2 can't hold a candle to Brea or Senni Tonnika.) This was a huge accomplishment. Likely an overpriced, profitable, zero-risk accomplishment, but collectors like me get to cross another "I can't believe they finally did it!" off the list.

So what's next?

The most interesting original trilogy environments remaining are arguably either the Death Star, a Star Destroyer, and/or the Tantive IV Blockade Runner. But we got the hallways of the Tantive IV, and I would argue one bit of Imperial architecture may be as good as any other. I doubt we'd get Echo Base, Bright Tree Village, and while I would be over the moon for a big Cloud City I doubt Hasbro will ever finally do something with a banquet hall or landing platform or torture room. Home One wouldn't be very exciting, we more or less got Jabba's Palace (and I hope they build it out), and Dagobah would be cool to see if not terribly exciting as figures go. Maybe Yoda's house would be a better retail item. As such, I'd hope for something like a Death Star for the 10th anniversary of Rogue One in 2026, and they could deliver it for the 50th anniversary of Star Wars in 2027. They might slide something else in there first - maybe a The Black Series AT-ST would be a big hit with unique Ewoks or AT-ST drivers - but I think 3 3/4-inch environment fans would want a Death Star. But could Hasbro deliver a satisfying experience for $400-$500?

Here's where you're going to hate me. I don't think they can make something satisfying given the standards of the last couple of big playsets, certainly not as a single SKU - they have to make multiple things to make something super plush.

Seeing what we get with the Cantina - a few walls, some chairs, some alcoves - there's not much to it. Fan imaginations for a Death Star aren't going to accept anything less exciting than upsized-versions of Kenner's 1982 MicroCollection Death Star World, and honestly, upsizing the MicroCollection would be the best way to deliver something with reasonable expectations. It would be big, have some fun play features, and it would hit most (but not all) of the major landmarks with the added benefit of having hooks to connect more environments later, possibly at a lower cost (and with fewer accessories and deco hits) than any other method. This set gets you the blast doors, a trash compactor, an elevator, some towers, a big blaster, the bridge and a rope, the tractor beam control, a sliver of the detention block, and some floors - we love our floors - at a relatively low cost. (I bet they could do it for under $300-$400 if it didn't embellish the original toy too much.)

Does it have everything? No - but Hasbro could make hanger base add-ons, a conference room, the full cell for Leia, the computer control room, and whatever else you felt was necessary. And if Hasbro didn't... 3D printing could probably make something good enough so fans could make something visually compatible at a reasonable price. I don't think they would necessarily do an upsized classic toy, but I would assume it would be better than making something too small, too inexpensive, and too incomplete.

Hasbro could put together a "core" package of elements that couldn't be made as retail products due to size, and put out a "collect and connect" thing over time. Maybe HasLab could have the detention block lobby with some cells and trash compactor connected to part of an elevator and maybe some sort of control/command room. Extra cells could be the $100 "deluxe" upsell, perhaps with extra troopers or unique prisoners.* Tractor Beam Control, Swing to Freedom, Docking Bay, and other elements could be sold later - and fudged. Presumably there's a Throne Room we never saw on-camera, and they could fudge a Return of the Jedi upgrade pack too. That's another advantage of going "toy" over full "screen accurate" - you can pretend it has everything. They're not going to make two big full Death Star balls with all the bells and whistles.

Another knock against a Death Star HasLab would be figures. The Cantina could guilt us into buying it with new aliens and humans - admittedly, we didn't get much new in there - but it was something. Other than droids, there's not a lot I'd be dying to get with a Death Star other than Hasbro checking the reference and finding out most if not all clear-domed R3 units we've gotten as action figures were incorrect as can be seen with better higher-res photos making the rounds. (Thanks, M Sipher, for pointing this out to me so I can ruin all our collective days with the fact.) This mean Hasbro can do a new mold and redo dozens of figures that most of us only saw at a distance and from behind. There's every reason to try again and do new ones now, and a lot of money can be made in the process across the entire brand with a new dome.

Hasbro could sell more Stormtroopers in stores, or more Imperial Officers. They could dig out some unmade Rogue One figures, give us an all-new Tarkin, which is a character that would benefit from an improvement. The same is true with Stormtrooper Disguise Han and Luke, or maybe Chewie with new cuffs - heck, our Chewbacca hasn't changed since 2004. A new one would be nice finally. I wouldn't say no to new Darth Vader or Obi-Wan Kenobi figures, either.

From where I sit, the bare minimum floor for a HasLab Death Star would be something that must replicate all the features of all the Kenner Death Stars - that means the MicroCollection sets, the Power of the Force playsets from the 1990s, and the 1970s Death Star Space Station. Obviously there will need to be some picking and choosing over which big cannon you get, or which elevator style, or which chasm, but those are elements that I feel fans will complain if any are absent.

It is also worth noting that our days of expecting the product to be all about the classics is probably over, as new fans come up and old fans age out of collecting everything. The old-school collector is getting older, and as the franchise hits 50 a lot of its earliest fans are hitting 60. The audience will shrink, from bills, responsibilities, or just running out of space after all these years. We're at a point where any one of these things could be the last "classic" one that succeeds and the Cantina shows nothing is guaranteed to fund with all the victory laps. We now know the size of the "one of everything" club has gotten a lot smaller, and also, this line is ridiculously huge in 2024 compared to what it was in 2004. It's amazing to see how many of us still show up with eager wallets.

* - I had to swing back to this, and you know where it's going. We don't know if Leia was the only prisoner on the Death Star - so really, anybody we saw in a pre-Star Wars story could theoretically be in there. My insane picks: Vlix, Tig Fromm, Sise Fromm. We know Jabba had a bounty on them - I assume the Empire may have paid Jabba for them as they had an Imperial Shuttle. Kybo Ren - pirates are a menace. Perhaps there's a deserter trooper, or some made-up alien concept we never got as a figure, or a surviving Nightsister, or something. Use your imagination.

--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.

I'm on Instagram! All Pictures from a GameBoy Camera.