1. As a fan of the Tartakovsky Clone Wars microseries, I see that there are 6 Vintage Collection 3.75" figures with Tartakovsky Clone Wars packaging (3 jedi, 1 battle droid and 2 ARC troopers) and 3 Black Series 6" figures with Tartakovsky Clone Wars packaging (Mace, Grievous & Arc Trooper). All are Wal-Mart exclusives. Is this all of the new releases with a connection to the Tartakovsky Clone Wars series?

-- David

For this year, so far, that's it - just those guys, but more could be coming. I'm not being coy, I really don't know what the plans are.

Of course for longer-term fans, you might know there was a 2D line of figures - several carded figures plus a series of 3-packs - that are close to worthless for being close to 20 years old. Clones, Yoda, Asajj Ventress, Durge, Anakin, Mace Windu, Saesee Tiin, and more are available complete with display stands - and since it's a small (and relatively cheap) line it's quite affordable.

There are also a bunch of movie-style figures from The Saga Collection, the 30th Anniversary Collection, and The Legacy Collection that are worth a look - plus some vehicles. And Battle Packs. Again, you could really make a meal out of it - it's quite remarkable just how much stuff exists for roughly 1 movie's worth of animation, and how impactful something so small wound up being. It would be great to see if Disney-era Lucasfilm could take cues from that and build another big story from something small and awesome.

The rambly conclusion is that The Vintage Collection has a very organized and very focused (and much older, well-to-do) collector base, which is probably how they were able to get things done like the Barge and Razor Crest. The 6-inch line is pushed more, and is in more stores, and is made in bigger numbers - the math just works out that the collectors of the smaller guys have less product to go around, period. When you have less product in the market, prices do tend to go up as people come on board to compete for the smaller pool of stuff. (Also I would argue 3 3/4-inch fans are significantly more hardcore than 6-inch, until someone slips me a memo proving me wrong.)

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2. What's your take on the newly-announced Pulse exclusive Boba Fett's Throne Room playset? For $230, which is just $120 less than the awesome Razor Crest, it looks like just a spiffed-up diorama base, like the Tantive IV Hallway and Carbon-Freezing Chamber playsets. And they didn't even call it "Jabba's Throne Room." It certainly feels way overpriced for what it is; maybe for $100 cheaper fans would be more willing to buy it. And, it only comes with a carded Bib Fortuna.

--Chris

It is what it is - Hasbro found out Vintage collectors are older and will pay more, plus we're seeing more supply chain choking with reduced production and a desire to make higher-priced items, so here ya are. I think it's absolutely better than 3-4 of the basic $50 playsets we've been getting - at least from early photos - with bigger parts and a lot more pieces than we usually see. It's also something I'd like to have, unlike a big Rancor, which if I bought I'd probably not have much to do with beyond dusting it.

I'd have thrown in Boba Fett (and budget allowing, Fennec Shand.) Heck, I'd probably have said "charge 'em an extra $100 and fill it with Gamorreans and other figures from those shows." Part of the problem with the current era of stuff is that it's no longer selling to children, so Hasbro really amps up the paint budget and removes action features - and that can be expensive. It could be a cheaper toy with few to no painted elements (like Kenner's 1983 Jabba the Hutt action playset) too. Hasbro decided to give us more tays, goblets, and chalices than we could ever want, and I think that's pretty dubious. Without figures, these accessories are of little use - they're likely assuming this piece will only sell to people with a large collection of figures, but that's an assumption as well, so who knows.

It really boils down to "do you want this or don't you?" and Walmart's archway-with-two-figures was around $50. I don't doubt Hasbro saw those third-party, 3-D printed accessory makers and said "we can do something like that, but better, and cheaper" resulting in this particular product. As always I'd advise fans to vote with their dollars. From where I sit this was an essential purchase - I've been buying Cantina Aliens, Jabba's Palace goons, and troopers for years hoping for big playsets (or ships) to use with them all. Things like this make other items - like $30 Cad Bane retools and metallic repaint exclusives - seem less and less desirable to me. But someone must love them, they all seem to sell eventually.

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FIN

Be sure you send in your questions for next time. The mailbag is out of on-topic questions, so if you got some, send some in.

Last week I looked up to find supposedly only 4 locations of Kmart remain open in the USA. As of last year, there were about 25 Sears left. (Traditional Sears. Other stores run by or licensed by Sears, that's something else.) While we lament the shift of toy stores to online, and the shift of toy hunting to pre-orders, it's also easy to forget just how much of American retail has just plain gone kaput. Sears and Kmart were huge power players in the 1970s and 1980s, frequently having exclusive items or at least a pretty good selection of stuff (back when a toy line would be 20ish figures per year, tops.) Right now the landscape at retail is ruled by the likes of Target and Walmart, with GameStop carrying quite a bit while Walgreens - once a rising star to figure collectors - seemingly throttling its toy section. Best Buy's dalliances in this area also seem to be shrinking, while online shops like Amazon, Entertainment Earth, and Big Bad Toy Store continue to have quite a bit. (Assuming it didn't all go to pre-orders.)

It's kind of amazing to think about all the places that I remember seeing Kenner Star Wars figures at in the 1980s, and how so many of them are long gone. Back then you could more or less expect to see Luke or Han or Darth Vader in a store somewhere, at least if you hit a couple of shops or maybe a Long's Drugs (and paid a slight premium) you could probably go home with something. It probably says a lot that despite attempts to revive Toys R Us - and while new stores have opened, well, it's not like there's one near you or any new exclusives - nobody out there is currently going and opening a new toy chain, or some flagship toy destination. The last two FAO Schwarz stores I visited were in Midway Airport in Chicago (last time I was there, it was small) and New York (not small, but not exactly a paradise for action toy fans.)

Given what happened with trading cards and comic books - once cheap low-quality things kids could buy for pennies, now premium products for adults - it makes sense that licensed character toys just aren't within kids' reach (or interests) given video games - which also seemed to be trending toward overpriced bloat with limited editions with statues and whatnot - shifted to downloads of varying prices. Cheap games are still abundant, but - and if you'll forgive the digression - while modern toys are being hoarded and preserved mint in the box, as are comics and games, video games largely aren't. Some are being made on demand in low runs, but most are now download-only and are probably going to start vanishing as licensing deals end and hard drives start to degrade. (This, of course, does not account for future piracy.)

So three cheers for physical objects - they won't last forever, but at least you can keep an eye on them. And I'm no fan of digital collectibles myself, but that doesn't mean there won't be a future for NFTs or their descendants. (And pins, pins are nice. But I don't see a heck of a lot of those in stores either.) The important thing is this stuff is still out there for us to enjoy, and while it probably won't last forever, at least things are happening right now.

--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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