1. With the Mandalorian & Grogu movie a little over 6 months till release, is it safe to assume the toy line is locked down & in full production mode. I understand you may not be able to share what will be coming but do you think the movie will have a healthy toy release and when do you think we would get our 1st glimpse of toys from the new movie?
--Jeremiah

My hunch is the Disney marketing machine is trying really hard to keep it under wraps until Toy Fair in New York, and that's in February. If Hasbro wants it to be on-shelf for the actual movie then there's a really good chance it's being produced as we speak and that someone in a factory somewhere could leak it.

Is the line locked down? That's harder to answer. Anything coming to shelves in the first half of next year would pretty much have been nailed down months ago, but Hasbro and Lucasfilm have been good at delaying movie stuff post-theatrical windows. The movie is coming in May - how many phases of toys might there be? Probably a few, and I would assume (and do not know) stuff could drip into 2027. We have seen surprisingly little from The Mandalorian streaming series in a big drop - there's never been a big brand statement for the show and collector figures are sporadic. But you can also find masks at Target and Ross right now, so it will be interesting to see the Disney marketing machine try to promote two characters who have been given slow-drip product and promotion over seven years. Will consumers see these products as new, or just buy whatever Grogu overstock is on Amazon for cheap?

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2. I have recently finished my toy room and am getting around to opening 8 years of purchases. Really happy with the quality of the 6” Indiana Jones adventure series figs. They are awesome and, because of the short run, easy to complete the set. And the “build an artifacts” are well done and great pack-ins.

2 questions, any reason we didn’t get a [6-inch Adventure Series] Willie Scott or Mola Ram from [Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]? For such major characters, their absence is greatly missed. And why total disregard to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? I understand they may be a hard sell due to its weak reception but there are those out there that would buy them. If anything just to complete the set. Hell, make the artifact the indestructible fridge and you’d guarantee sales!
--Rich

I would point to Hasbro (or perhaps Disney or Lucasfilm) and their accurate prediction of how the brand revival would do. It's for a much older audience - not in the sense of "maybe some kids will buy it," but more "only adults want this and a lot of them got tired of it in 2009." Disney/Lucas definitely made sure their partners were aware that there was a new movie, but I think ultimately the audience were the same adults from before and they did not do enough to bring new collectors into it to keep things rolling.

Interest in the brand as a deep collection is somewhat limited. It's possible the line would have been better served in the era of subscription services. From a purely economic perspective Indiana Jones is like James Bond, or any superhero. Everybody wants Indiana Jones, and to some extend Mr. Bond or Batman or Spider-Man and to a lesser extent, their amazing friends. Indiana Jones has always been an older-skewing property for adults and older teens. I'm not saying no little kids liked it, but nobody had the chance to collect it and obsess over a big huge toy line like countless other movie series.

As to why there aren't more figures from the less-popular movies, eBay and Amazon tell us a lot. Several figures are 20-50% off, collections of figures are somewhat inexpensive, and even the popular movies didn't have fans show up to buy them. They're beloved movies, but let's be honest - Hasbro is the wrong manufacturer for a lower-interest line. James Bond is hugely popular but not for all ages, and neither is Indy. Hasbro relies on multi-generational appeal to sell this stuff, selling to actual children in addition to your inner child. Indy's not a kid movie, and you can see the product struggled a bit. (I can still buy kid Hasbro product at CVS in November 2025.)

Not every 1980s property some of us loved when we were younger always clicks. I'd love to say "Hasbro could try a HasLab!" but people don't always show up. If I'm being generous I'd say maybe they had waited too long, but I think Indy needs to be a property made by a smaller company - maybe NECA - who has different needs and expectations for this kind of product. But even their stuff is showing up at Ross now, and it's some pretty amazing stuff.

If you want other characters, I think your only hope is for someone like NECA, Super7, Mezco, or another collector-friendly figure maker that does lower runs without shareholder ROI baggage. I assume only a few people can meet Lucasfilm's minimum quote for the license, and odds are Hasbro won't want a competitor to get it either. As such, we're probably not going to see anything else until a potential future movie and I assume you won't get a complete cast of characters for that either.   Maybe Hasbro will make a few items to keep the license active. In their shoes, I'd make an "Ultimate Indy" out of existing parts for $50-$70 with every accessory I could possibly fit in the box, but knowing what I do about Hasbro? I don't think they are likely to make new molds for new-to-6-inch-characters without Disney demanding it, at least not at this stage of the brand.

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FIN

We are out of questions so I have two openings for next week. If you have questions, now is a great time to send them in!

My bill for hosting this site just came in, and just a couple of months after some domain renewals. If you've got a dollar a month you can spare, I would love it if you could kick in $1 a month on the Patreon. I admit I'm not giving a lot of bonus content there - but I will be doing a ton of extra toy reviews at 16bit.com in January as a sort of pledge drive. (And longer, if the money comes in.) I have 38 patrons - I'd love to get it to 50. And if you can kick in $2, that is also nice.

The Tron HasLab ends tomorrow and I don't think it's going to make it. As I write this it's just shy of 1,300 of the 10,000 backers needed. The contents are all pretty solid, but the bundle is probably the wrong way to sell this kind of thing. I hope they decide to carve it up and sell the parts via fan channels, theme parks, or other means. Maybe leave out the display base, and just let carded figures and boxed vehicles fly or fail of their own sub-$200 accord.

And if you're looking to play your old N64 Shadows of the Empire cartridge on your modern 4K TV, the Analogue 3D may be in stock Monday morning, if it doesn't sell out. I've picked up some of their other consoles and am generally pleased with them. Reviews for this one do not seem as positive, but the 8-bit generation is probably not as big on the 32/64-bit generation so take it with whatever grains of sale you want.

Healey Made put up 2 more figures that look like they're doing some great pandering to Kenner fans. It's kind of silly, but I'm probably going to order them shortly. I'd also steer you to scroll down and get an X-Raider, I dig mine a lot. Onell Design also has some 3 3/4-inch-ish figures in stock sculpted by the Four Horsemen and Knights of the Slice Hihglighter Gauss may also be of interest.

Why all the tangents? Not much new is going on this month in Star Wars other than reruns and price increases. Speaking of reruns, the Star Wars The Retro Collection Return of the Jedi 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures Set of 6 is actually in stock. If you want Yak Face and Mon Mothma, here they are. I was in New York the other week and saw Forbidden Planet had them being sold individually if that floats your boat, and also, you're in New York.

--Adam Pawlus

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