1. I randomly checked the Target website for the exclusive vintage Migs Mayfeld figure and was shocked to see it listed as in stock at my local store. I went to that store but there were none on the pegs and I checked around the rest of the toy department just to be sure I wasn't missing it. When I got home I checked the website again and it still said it was in stock. My question is whether stores like Target that offer curbside pickup keep a percentage of a specific figure just for that and put the rest on the pegs or if their inventory system was in error or if they just didn't put the whole case out. I still prefer good old fashioned in-store hunting so am wondering how these new ways to buy figures are impacting this.
--Joel

What Target told you was true - from a certain point of view. Sometimes "In Stock" means "In Stock," not "On Shelf." There are times where the goods could have been stolen or misplaced, or mistakenly listed as available, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were in the back room still.

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2. The Sequel Series is what it is but it seems to me that there is still a treasure trove of figures that could still be made. Considering that Favreau & Filoni are supposedly going to concentrate their stories in the Sequel Era is it reasonable to assume we might see Admiral Holdo or even Rey, Poe, or Finn in the Mandoverse?

--Brian

Looking back at my The Force Awakens figure collection, I have to say just how pleased I am at the all around decent selection of figures we did get. They actually threw us a bone and gave us some weird droids, new aliens, bizarre troopers, and even some neat creatures. Since your email didn't specify what kind of figures you want, I'll just assume the best thing to tell you is "no, you won't get what you want" because I'll probably be correct.

Given the ages of some of the characters, I doubt we'll see them in The Mandalorian or its spin-offs. Maybe we'll see Poe's parents, we could see Holdo recast and played by someone else, but right now that's not where the stories are going. That could change, but aside from Luke Skywalker and Cara Dune we're really not seeing anyone related to the Rebel Alliance or Resistance. I also could be wrong but I assume the First Order-era of stuff is more toxic today than the prequels were at the peak of fan indifference. It's my assumption they're going to eventually keep making post-Return of the Jedi stuff long enough that it'll bump in to the sequels somehow, but we'll have a long way to go before we get there.

By and large, Hasbro isn't just shunning the sequels. Everything is being done in a very superficial way. While we do get occasional original trilogy figures these days, precious few aren't remakes. The Mandoverse and The Clone Wars are likely to be where the kid-driven stuff will go for a while, and collector stuff seems to be giving you the top-of-the-callsheet characters from each project, plus or minus any easy repaints they can crank out from existing molds.

As to appearances of the characters in a prequel (to the sequel) series, Poe is likely a preschooler as of The Mandalorian. Rey and Finn haven't been born yet. If the series continues at its current pace, with spin-offs and such, I doubt we'll get to a place where we'd be likely to see these characters as more than a cameo, and that sort of thing is just kind of tiring anyway. I have no idea how old Holdo is, because like Laura Dern she could be immortal. I believe we'll continue to see winks and hints as to the First Order in the background of other shows, games, and maybe movies. It's possible Disney will come up with a way to recontextualize the sequels much like The Clone Wars did to the prequels but brother, I sat through Resistance and I don't think that's something I want to see ever again.

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FIN

Be sure you send in your questions for next time. The mailbag is out of questions!

Andor show kicks off a week from Wednesday, and with any luck will be pretty good. Tales of the Jedi hits October 26, The Bad Batch comes back January 4, and The Mandalorian season 3 is expected in February. And that's basically where we are now.

D23 came and went with lots of new trailers for Star Wars but not much new in the way of announcements. We got a look at Andor - which, with 12 episodes, could wind up longer than the original trilogy by season one's end - plus Tales of the Jedi and The Mandalorian (which was a trailer previously shown off.) Will it be good? Heck if I know. The speed at which new television is made, without much accounting for merchandise to keep up with it, it's hard to say. You don't know when you have a dud on your hands or if someone just missed the boat anymore until after you've seen most of something.

The hubbub was that the Avatar and Indiana Jones trailers looked good - hey, let's hope - but it remains to be seen how the ramping up of the blue people will do against what will most likely be a great opportunity for some more toys after the last Indiana Jones stuff rode off into the clearance racks. What's particularly interesting is that no new Star Wars movies have come up, and the buzz is hard to read. All signs point to Rogue One not coming out any time soon/ever, and the buzz of the Taika Waititi movie coming in 2023 seems unfounded (or at least incredibly optimistic.) It used to take 2-3 years to make a movie, at least, and if Hasbro isn't already working on toys (and I have no idea if they are) this probably isn't going to happen.

One of the things about Star Wars, especially pre-2018, I always liked was the chance to look forward to something. George Lucas gave us over a decade's notice for The Phantom Menace, and it's fun knowing something is in the works. Also it gives everybody the chance to get ready, rewatch the movies, and generally market the old stuff in between projects. During the prequels, the in-between years were stuffed with neat books, reference materials, even cartoons and of course toys. Hopefully if a movie does make it out in 2023 we'll have some goodies ready to go, unlike the unpleasantly thin offering in 2019 or the non-offering we've been having with recent stuff. I can appreciate pre-orders on some surprise items, but I'm still kind of sore fans don't have access to Boba Fett - even classic Boba Fett - in a quantity where a kid might actually be able to buy one. As far as I know there are no plans of any kind to have Andor or Rogue One toys hitting shelves during this show's run, and pre-orders remain to be seen.

Also worth noting, Ahsoka just cast its Ezra Bridger - so I guess that is arguably a spoiler, but if you see pictures of Eman Esfandi you'll go "that's perfect casting." That's currently set for 2023, as is Skeleton Crew and presumably the next season of Star Wars Visions.

But more importantly, go to Target. The Black Series exclusives Antoc Merrick and Galen Erso are already 50% off, and The Vintage Collection Migs Mayfeld and Koska Reeves are 15% off - your mileage may vary.

--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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