1. If you had to pick a Mt Rushmore of clones as best selling figures (they could be released over and over), who would you pick?
--Derek

Captain Rex. There's a massive appetite for multiple versions of this character, and I'm sure Hasbro could re-release a different flavor of Captain Rex every 120 days and it'd do better than the average repaint. I'm surprised he isn't in Epic Hero Series already. Between Phase I and Phase II armors, old Rebels Rex, Bad Batch era Rex, Rex in Stormtrooper Disguise, there's much that can be done here. If properly managed - that is to say, they don't make so many it goes to Ross - Rex could be a fixture like Vader or Mando. I don't know that any other clone could enjoy that distinction.

Boba Fett is certainly a clone they should run forever. And not what you meant to ask for, probably, but I'd put him over the Republic clones.

Commander Gree. He also comes in various sizes with cartoon and movie flavors, and he ain't cheap. I bet he could come back every few years and do well.

Hunter seems to be doing well, and he has more than one costume. Right now, I think he'd be a hit - but I don't know if he'll have staying power.

And to address some others...

Plain basic troop clones, I feel, are nearing the end of their usefulness for a while. They still seem to sell so far but it feels like those who want armies may be getting what they need.

Commander Cody could probably stand some more 3 3/4-inch love but the 6-inch figure was ultimately over-reran, and now I don't think you can sell him in his phase II armor. Maybe they could make a new Phase I figure and it'd be a hit, but I'm not super hopeful.

There are a lot I really like, but I wouldn't put them on a track to keep rereleasing every year or necessarily in every format. I feel hasbro could make a new Captain Rex in every figure scale they trot out and he would perform better than almost any other legacy post-prequel-movie character and isn't Mando or Grogu.

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2. With the successful backing of the Cantina many TVC collectors are now expecting Hasbro to make aliens associated with the Cantina to populate it. 14,737 were sold and it seems like many people bought multiples to either open one and keep one in package or put up for investment purposes so I wonder how many of the 14,737 will actually be displayed and need figures to populate it? So is there really going to be enough demand to warrant creating these aliens to support the Haslab? Would retailers want to stock some obscure aliens when main characters of new media would probably sell better in their stores? Thank you.
--mark

We'll never know how many open their purchases, but one thing I do know is that collectors are increasingly slower to open and play with new arrivals. It took me about a year to open my Sail Barge, and then mine was missing the clear feet to stand up - Hasbro kindly had replacements for me, but that was the last time I waited more than a few days to open a HasLab. Other collectors have shared they still haven't opened one or more of their other HasLab purchases still, be it time or too much of an influx of new toys hitting. With that in mind, I assume there are tons of unopened Razor Crest ships out there from fans who just don't have the space to set it up, and the same will undoubtedly be true of the Cantina. That's not even considering "for investment purposes." Many fans buy toys for a day when they'll open them, and that day quite often doesn't come before "I need to get some money what can I put on eBay today."

If nothing else, the Cantina will make FOMO when it ships next year - so fan-made Cantina playsets may sell, as will the old cardboard pop-up diorama, and people will undoubtedly want some figures. Some fans will want the ones from the playset they missed, some will pull out their old ones, some will fill in the gaps, and anything new on-shelf will no doubt appeal to fans who will start thinking about Cantina stuff right now as the HasLab end. Hasbro knows there's a demand for more aliens, and at least one new (old) alien has been teased. Beyond that, I assume we'll be getting a Whitman's Sampler of reissues with a couple of fresh ones on top so fans don't know we're getting day-olds. (My wild guess: Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba will come back in some sort of multi-pack with 1-2 new guys.)

There aren't a lot of aliens fans are still demanding, especially not in groups. My guess is we'll see a few reruns, it would be great to see the other Duro though. Or Tzizvvt the fly, or Arleil Schous, or Melas, but I also don't know how full the Cantina will be for those who already bought all the figures. (Or how many actually bought all the figures over the years!) I wouldn't mind remakes of the Blue Snaggletooth figure, or "modern" takes on the Kenner Cantina quartet either, complete with incorrect figure-accurate outfits. I know some people are asking for the other humans, but I can pretty much guarantee Hasbro will never make literally every extra from that scene in my lifetime. (And I'm young!)

I assume fewer HasLab Cantinas will be flipped by dealers than Razors Crest, mostly because some people didn't make a killing on that one (and haven't made a return on the Ghost investment yet.) My hunch is that this one may be in shorter supply. But we'll see how it shakes out - especially if fans want one to open, a sealed regular one, and a sealed deluxe one, assuming the boxes will be different.

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FIN

This Thursday marks my 29th anniversary of starting Adam's Star Wars Newsletter in August of 1995. It grew out of my hearing an absurd rumor - that Froot Loops cereal has a mail-in Han Solo Stormtrooper Disguise Kenner action figure - and confirming it during a family crisis. The Han Stormtrooper was the first never-before-made figure of the modern era, the first mail-away of the modern era, and something that - out of context - seems like some jerk made it up to screw with people on the internet. I wanted to make sure people knew it was real, and then wanted to see what else I could find out back when MicroMachines and Bend-Ems were the only toys you were likely to find in stores. We were starved for newness, so every muscular figure, every micro machine, even stuff from Applause with no articulation was received with some interest. We were given THX remastered VHS tapes, and we already owned one or more copies from earlier, and we said "Awesome, we'll take it."

After San Diego Comic-Con we are getting a new playset, some new figures, and we just had another streaming series end with minimal fanfare. The stuff is still popular, but as a franchise Star Wars has long escaped the grasp of hardcore Gen Xers and Millennials, having spread to future generations. This means that exciting and weird aliens are less likely from Hasbro, because moms and people who may never buy a fifth or sixth figure are picking up remakes of remakes. The greatest movies on Earth, there were Sith lords and blurrgs, green aliens piloting an old broken robot, and beautiful armorer forges. STAPs flew over our heads. And as I sat there watching, I had the feeling that something was missing, I don't know what, but when it was over I said to myself "Is that all there is to this toy line?"

A year ago after SDCC, I was surprised by what I saw revealed. Life Day Chewbacca? A Retro 6-pack with Mon Mothma... and Yak Face? (I'd say "The Ghost" but we already got a good HasLab this year, so no complaints.) I would love to be surprised again - anything from the Disney era of streaming is just kinda... it's fine. But it's not exciting most of the time. Maybe it's just me getting old - I hope there are fans in their 20s and 30s who are over the moon for this stuff because when I see that our new reveal is yet another Bo-Katan figure, and I'm already happy with the one I got, $16.99 per figure really starts to feel like a stretch. Admittedly I am generally down after a lot of the big reveals lately - but I am having fun with Epic Hero Series and it looks like a number of 2-packs are on the way with bonus parts. Target has that new Epic Hero Series Vader/Stormtrooper set with an Interrogation Droid an Mouse Droid being stocked right now!

Is that all there is? Is that all there is? If that's all there is, my friends... ...sorry, I've been on a record kick again and Peggy Lee is showing up in the thrift stores. Where was I?

As far as I can tell no Retro figures were shown - I love the line but I would not be surprised if it vanished given The Acolyte and prequels may not be the proper characters for the form factor (I bought them. I will buy $10-$12 Retro figures, always.) I'm excited for a 3 3/4-inch Cobb Vanth, but as a deluxe, the price stings. I can't wait to get the Armor's Forge playset, because it looks like an old playset. The 6-inch pipeline reveals are not for me, and The Vintage Collection is all stuff from 2022, 2023, and 2024 - nothing for the long nostalgia tail. Well, technically there's another version of a Clone Trooper we've bought multiple times. Another take of a Mandalorian Supercommando we already have. And yeah, another Anakin that's probably the same mold as the Anakins we already bought.

I haven't quit 3 3/4-inch yet, but the completist streak ended with the gold figures in 2019 (and Carbonized figures at Walmart in 2020.) When I see 8 new SDCC reveals for pipeline figures, 2 of which are going to be nearly identical to things you already own, 6 are from streaming shows you may or may not have enjoyed, and a whopping zero are from the prequel trilogy or original trilogy, it certainly does feel like you're overdue to leave the party. Like I said, I've been writing about this stuff for 29 years. But even during the prequels, Hasbro threw us a few bones a year to keep the original trilogy fans interested in returning to store shelves to hunt. We got in 1999 we got Aunt Beru and a Sebastian Shaw Anakin, we got Wuher in 2000, Bacta Luke and Ketwol came out in 2001, we got we got BoShek and Djas Puhr in 2002, we got a McQuarrie Stormtrooper in 2003, and 2004 was crazy with J'Quille, Tanus Spijek, R1-G4, Bubo, Dutch Vander, and it didn't stop there! In 2005 we got Dannik Jerriko, Feltipern Trevagg, and Myo! In 2006 we got Hem Dazon and new Endor Rebels! 2007 brought Biggs Darklighter, Elis Helot, M'iiuoom Onith, Hermi Odle, animated Boba Fett, Torture Rack Bespin Han Solo... I can keep going. Somehow, Hasbro always had something interesting for old fans alongside waves of new prequel stuff, new Clone Wars stuff, and new video game stuff. The balance shifted from year to year, but it was rare you went more than a few months before asking "Wait, where are the new toys from the movies that made me a big fan in the first place?"

--Adam Pawlus

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