Question #6: from June 21, 2004:

I know that Warner Bros. used to have all the rights to THX-1138, but I've heard that the way that this recent DVD release has come about is that Francis Ford Coppola argued that the rights were still his and was able to help Lucas get the director's cut made. So... any chance we'd see the "droid" cop from THX-1138 as an exclusive or Celebration figure?
--Pete

My answer from 2004 With commentary from 2025:

Regardless of who owns the rights to the movies, the fact is that it won't be covered under any existing agreement with Hasbro. Hasbro has the right to do Star Wars toys and, to my knowledge, no other LucasFilm properties-- not Indiana Jones, not Willow, nothing. As such, there are absolutely no plans for any characters from THX-1138 to be made as toys at this time, nor is their a potential agreement in place to do one.

As luck would have it, Hasbro would go on to get Indiana Jones for a line in 2009-2010 and another one from 2023 which didn't exactly fly either. Fans are always interested in more Lucasfilm stuff, but apparently nobody was interested enough to do licensed THX-1138 toys. Which makes sense, given that I and many of you have seen the movie.

We would get a Howard the Duck thanks to the popularity of Marvel. We would also get some new Willow ReAction Figures from Super7 - the first series made it out, but the streaming show-specific figures were shoved in a locker because you didn't like the show enough. This is a pity, as the show itself was kind of secretly great.

Given the nature of the market today, I don't think it's likely to ever get a collectible THX-1138 toy unless it was a low-run, high-end 1:6 scale figure. Fan-made figures do exist, but I don't know if that counts. If Disney/Warner Bros. didn't push one out for the 50th anniversary of Lucasfilm, I don't think it will happen.

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FIN

Thanks to the Star Wars fan club having its own magazines, a lot of us older fans tend to lump Indiana Jones and other Lucasfilm things together with the big one that makes the toy money. I can understand why, but under the Disney umbrella they're increasingly just a footnote. The Mouse has so many huge properties that it only dusts off and plays with the Muppets when they're probably worried about a trademark expiring or a contract coming up that they need to do something with.

Given Lucasfilm's fortunes since Disney's takeover, it seems incredibly unlikely Lucasfilm is ever going to be more than the Star Wars factory. Disney proper has Pixar and Muppets and Marvel and its own in-house creatives, and it seems their various subdivisions are more or less blessed/cursed to stay in their lanes. If Lucasfilm ever gets sold/spun-off again, maybe things would be different, but I doubt it. As things age, they are rarely given a chance to spread their wings and try something new. And maybe I'm talking about me, now.

--Adam Pawlus

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