Question #3: from March 8, 2010:

Any word on the Vader funeral pyre? From what I read around the intertubes, fan reaction was mostly positive. But there's been no word on whether Hasbro has decided to actually go ahead with it. Have you heard anything?

--Shane

My answer from 2010 With commentary from 2025:

I vaguely recall reading Hasbro say something to the effect that the current climate was not the right time to make this. Personally, I still think it's because most fans will say "I want that!" as soon as you say "you can't have this" regardless of how good or bad the item is. Now that we're in a period where that new Jedi Luke is out I haven't even heard fans peep about this one, so really, this is one most likely best left in the giant pile of unproduced stuff that most fans will remain blissfully unaware of.

It's a bad item. If fans really wanted it they probably would still be asking about it in the Q&As. Since Hasbro has a lot of other fully-tooled-up items to dump (i.e., the last couple comic packs we're getting as summer convention exclusives) odds are they don't want to spend the money to make a pile of twigs just yet. And frankly, the longer we get from the announcement the lamer this item is going to be, so count your blessings it got canceled so they can devote the resources to, oh I don't know, anything remotely new.

Like anything, I still think fans should petition Hasbro for anything they want. Fans got together to make a Sail Barge happen. If you asked me "what's more likely, a Barge or Vader's pyre?" I wouldn't have guessed a 4-foot dirt boat.

When it comes to exclusives I still think the best policy is to do new figures. Old figures with a new accessory at a high price is quite a lot to ask, especially in today's economy. The set had 2 figures and was $40, back when figures were $9. Figures are $17 today. Presumably a new version of this set would be at least $80, and odds are once the joke is over it'll go back in the closet with the other hundreds or thousands of figures we bought and might not even remember buying. Goodness knows I'm not pointing fingers, I bought all the exclusive ARC Troopers and haven't even opened them all. Well, some separated from the cardback... but you know what I mean.

The great thing in 2025 is that we have HasLab crowdfund projects. Fans can certainly ask Hasbro for this one again and see what happens, but given how much stuff we have from the past few decades I don't find that this feels like the one that "got away." And we did get all the figures - just not the accessories.

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FIN

I wonder if people are still salty over the pyre? Well, eBay has custom ones you can buy. That's something! You can 3D print one at home, too, the instructions are on various sites.

We don't see a lot of fan-made mass-produced items in Star Wars (they're busy with Transformers and G.I. Joe), but the 3D printer world has our back. Granted they're basically DIY garage kits, but it's a start.

We just passed the 40th anniversary for Return of the Jedi, and the 40th anniversary of Ewoks and Droids are coming up in about a week. The 50th anniversary for the original film is under two years away, and we don't have forever. A lot of the hardcore fans from the 1990s are gone - goodness knows some of my friends quit collecting and some just passed away. If there's anything left to do, the sooner the better.

--Adam Pawlus

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