1. Adam!!! I know how much you LOVE the random "when is Hasbro gonna make THIS character?" questions... they definitely seem to be your favorite kinds of questions, and as a long-time follower of your work, I want to make you happy with *Another* one!

All sarcasm aside, this *IS* that kind of question, but with a side helping of eyebrow raising:

Where the HECK is Peli Motto, and why does it seem that her absence is more and more noticeable with each passing reveal?

Outside of the titular Mandalorian and Grogu, she's the Only character to appear in all three seasons of The Mandalorian AND Book of Boba Fett (Paz and The Armorer weren't in Mando season 2, Gideon and Karga weren't in Book of Boba Fett... )... the show keeps finding a way to come back to her, possibly past the point of believability... and Hasbro has passed up a few really good options for pack-ins (N-1 Starfighter for TVC and the Peli's Garage droid pack for TBS).

Insult to injury(?) she has a sticker coming on the sticker sheet from the Cantina... and once that set is in our hands, she'll be the only named character to appear on a sticker, but not in plastic (and don't say the shirtless Gamorrean Guards... the piggies do exist, albeit, properly dresssed).

So I'm not asking you "where's Peli" or "when are we getting Peli?" so much as I'm wondering if you know of a reason they seem to be almost actively avoiding her? Because at this point, in a figure series like that includes such riveting figures as "The Client" and "Grogu with boob armor!" her absence is just... really annoying.
--RJ

Star Wars is being treated a lot more like Marvel, which generally means a greater emphasis on main characters. In theory you sell more units to more people, and maybe you do. But a shallow roster of characters makes collecting uninteresting.

Peli is tops of my modern wish lists - Strangers with Candy was great, Amy Sedaris was a great talk show guest and host, and the only reason I can think of for her not getting a figure is some other high-profile Mando show humans didn't sell. Also there seems to be a bias against women in some action figure lines, even for some main characters, but that could just be the toy industry being the toy industry. She would've been a great pack-in with a HasLab (or other) vehicle, I was really hoping she'd make the cut for a Retro wave, and I assume they could've packed her with R5-D4 or some other droids and done some decent business.

That's why it's good to post these questions! Other fans might see it and go "yeah me too" and hopefully start nudging Hasbro or voting for her - instead of figures that already exist - in fan polls. A lot of figures are made because Disney and Lucasfilm say "this is who we're marketing" or "here are the assets you get to see," and the toy makers make what they can see. Hasbro and the rest haven't gone back and made a lot of missing characters later - and some of those that have were deluxe figures that have not always fared well at a higher price point - but we can ask for anything. We might not get it, but the more fuss you make, the more likely it is to get what we want.

So to you I say, make a fuss. Ask Hasbro. Comment on Hasbro employee socials when requests are made for characters. Vote for who you want. I certainly feel like most reveals are kind of a shrug - not because the product is poor, but because I already own those action figures in other formats that tend to be pretty good, or because they're a variation on a figure I already purchased. New characters get me excited, and we're just not getting all that many of those anymore.

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2. It would stand to reason that Hasbro will do some sort of 3 pack to coincide with the cantina as [the HasLab Cantina playset] gets closer to release. Other than the 2 best choices of updated Dannik Jerrico and Feltipern Trevagg (the 2 figures I'm missing), who else would you want to see included?
--Peter

Right now I don't expect any such collection - I hope to be proven wrong shortly.

But as far as new stuff goes? My #1 new pick is Tzizvvt, the fly, because he looks super cool and nobody has one. Tied with him, Arleil Schous - the sculpt exists. Fans want it. Heck, they're probably expecting it! (I assume they'll be real mad if it doesn't get made.) Atheloe would be interesting, but there are oh so many humans I just plain wouldn't miss if Hasbro never got to them. Baniss Keg - or Chachi De Maal - would also be nice to add some day.

My most-wanted "new guys of existing figures" are seeing The Retro Collection get a new Wuher, Garindan, or the Cantina Band (and of course, the above aliens too.) If you're twisting my arm, I bet Hasbro The Vintage Collection of 2025 or 2026 could do some pretty nice things with Muftak, Hrchek Kal Fas (who was seemingly off-model last time). Dannik Jerriko and Trevagg, while primitive in articulation, had great sculpts in 2005 and other than adding swappable heads that cost more money and extra arm joints I won't use, I'm pretty happy with. I'm also pretty happy with the Hammerheads and Momaw Nadons in my collection. The new Hasbro one is better, but I don't know that the ones I have are in any way deficient for my needs. The figures we already own have done a pretty good job - even the weird 1996 Momaw Nadon is pretty great! (Can he sit? Well...)

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FIN

After the constant flow of new Star Wars movie news and cartoons and everything else, it's kind of weird that it's so quiet right now. It's the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens, and I'm not guessing we're going to see a lot of anniversary merch. Andor is just around the corner - that's good! - but we haven't seen a new cartoon in a bit. It looks like Andor will burn off its entire season in about a month, if I'm reading the press release right, meaning it'll probably be a pretty slow year. Given that we used to have a new ship, or action figure, or something nearly every month, it's kind of a weird place to be in a non-movie year. With any luck, we'll hear some fun surprises out of Star Wars Celebration, not the least of which is more news about next year's The Mandalorian & Grogu movie.

This isn't to say nothing is going on. Hasbro's kid line is actually very interesting with a mix of generally good and cheap action figures and lightsabers with some upcoming weird 1990s-esque energy-packed toys. Mechs with clear elements for Mando, Vader, and a Stormtrooper are in the works for the very near future! That line has a SM-33, a really nice Dark Trooper, plus a superb Yoda - you can find these online, I am unsure what retail distribution will look like given the old figures hanging around. They're all worth the $8-$10 each, though. The line will also be getting more vehicles, like an X-Wing and more Speeder Bikes, and I hope a TIE Fighter is on the horizon. Or a Landspeeder. Heck, I'd love to see what an Epic Hero Millennium Falcon toy might be. There are also some nice $10 lightsabers and 12-inch figures of Vader, Stormtroopers, and a new Darth Maul. It might not be what drives collectors to the stores, but it's something recognizable and most important of all for new fans: it's cheap.

There are still a lot of milestones for collectors this year too. The Black Series will add more characters from a number of streaming series - and hopefully classic movies. The Vintage Collection has an honest-to-goodness non-cardboard Cantina coming for the very first time later this year, and some more figures will go with it. The Retro Collection has a six-pack of new figures from the 1977 movie - which is arguably the most exciting thing that isn't the Cantina. There's a rumor going around about a second pack of figures, but what they are, and who will be selling them, and if it's not actually a rumor, remains to be seen. You can probably count on new props and lightsabers too, but we're scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel with Baylan Skoll and relatively few major characters remain on the hilt front. I wouldn't mind seeing a Royal Guard helmet, or a Snowtrooper bucket, or especially C-3PO's head. That would be awesome! And maybe a bit morbid. Maybe they'll finally make a Boushh helmet for Return of the Jedi turning 50 in a few years. Hopefully they don't wait that long, we're all getting a lot older.

Fan expectations - OK, my expectations - are still what they were in the 1990s and mid to late 00s. I was spoiled by an era where everybody bought Kenner/Hasbro action figures, and there wasn't a lot of competition in that space - so you'd get 40-60 new sculpts most years. You'd get themed waves. Everything was largely compatible. While not everybody loved those figures, they had their charms and ewre generally pretty good. Today you've got your pick of multiple scales, and as long as you don't look over the fence into the neighbor's yard, it's pretty good. The Vintage Collection rolls on with a lot of great new stuff like a new Luke and Hammerhead, plus reissues of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba, not to mention a Mos Eisley street. If that's all you buy, it's still pretty good. The Black Series lacks big-ticket figural accessories but still has a lot of 1990s Expanded Universe figures like Xizor joining video game characters and streaming series stuff, if that's your jam, plus a Momaw Nadon of its very own. The Retro Collection has six figures and... look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, anything under 12 seems low and I would really like to see two or three drops of figures at a minimum per year. (Even if they're smaller drops, just keep me engaged.) LEGO has plenty coming, as does Funko, and next year could wind up being a pretty big year with the movie and, I hope, pre-release stuff to get people jazzed. Maybe we'll finally get that Mon Calamari repair guy with the green sweater!

--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.

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