1. I saw on Amazon a DK guide to the Mandalorian months ago. I know that DK usually does quality stuff with the Star Wars titles so I bookmarked it to order it when it was published. Looking the other day I see that DK cancelled the title. Any ideas why they would do this? It seems like a slam dunk for them with the popularity of the series.
--Tom

DK's books are lots of fun - also a handy resource! - and I was disappointed to hear it wasn't coming out as scheduled. Two tweets confirm the cancelation and that of another book, and I would wager it has to do with stuff they want to hold back for on-screen reveals. Or questions about how to address some certain touchy subjects regarding certain characters. Or maybe just stuff coming up in future seasons of the show that they don't want to deal with just yet - although that last one strikes me as ridiculous, given how we have seen much hay made of The Force Awakens' background creatures and costumes that gave zero valuable details about the plot.

I hope they reboot it because they could probably do 2-3 spreads just on Mando's armor, and another 3 on Boba's, and more on Koska's, Bo-Katan's, and so many others. "The big book of costumes and props" would indeed be a marvel.

It could also have to do with marketing - changing things (like the big surprise that was the reveal of The Book of Boba Fett) may be a surprise to licensees just as much as the audience, so perhaps they decided a change in direction was needed due to some assets needing to be kept under wraps for later? It seems unlikely, but the reasoning behind why a lot of things are done - or not done - can be anything from a complicated game of telephone or because one guy just didn't like how something was going.

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2. I am watching the '80s "Ewoks" cartoon on Disney+ now, having seem some of the episodes when they originally aired. I am surprised at how much I am enjoying it (for the most part) - it's really cute and charming. Sure, it's dated compared to current fare, and some of the plot lines are VERY '80s-Saturday-morning-cartoon plots, but overall, it's kind of cool. I love the end credits flute music, and it's just a fun watch, overall. With more people (potentially) exposed to it now, is there even a slight change Hasbro might make a few figures, or even a wave, from this show? They seem to be doing some EU stuff here and there again, so might this be a thing they might consider? I'd prefer them in TVC, of course, but they would certainly work in the Retro Collection, too (I'd prefer they not do them in The Black Series, but that would be better than nothing). I'd love a Malani, Latara, and Kneesaa figure, and some of the other main ones, as well. Realistically styled or animated styled, I think a small wave of these would be really cool.
--Greg

Since Kneesaa (and Wicket) already exist, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see someone at Hasbro contemplating reruns of the numbers are good enough. There was a neat (expensive) line of soft goods at Box Lunch a few years ago, which I would have bought but a) I mostly wear band shirts, and b) they were a lot more expensive than the band shirts. The interest for this kind of product exists - and I assure you, fans have contacted Hasbro letting them know potential interest in new figures or figures based on unreleased prototypes - but it will not at all surprise you to hear there are no known plans at this time.

Like with anything, I implore you to make a fuss, to write letters, to start petitions, and to ask Hasbro directly. It's hard to know what parents are letting their kids watch, but I got four Duloks, Logray, and Wicket I got for peanuts in the 1980s and early 1990s that could use a Morag, Paploo, Teebo, and so on and so forth to go with them. Or, to be frank, reissues of those might also be pretty welcome. (If they repaint cartoon Wicket. He never looked right.)

I wouldn't hold your breath for a lot. It took Hasbro four decades to get us a Jaxxon that doesn't look like the Jaxxon anybody pictured in their heads. It took Kenner 20 years to do Grand Moff Tarkin. It doesn't mean it won't happen - but without a lot of fan support, or retailer support, some things may never come to pass. (Even with rabid, weird retailer support, things still might not happen.)

3. In the spirit of a jilted lover looking at their ex's new paramour, I ask the eternal question “What does 6 inch scale have that 3.75" doesn't?" Vehicle comparability, smaller eco footprint (less plastic), less expensive (no?) to make, and they take up less space?

Where has 6 inch taken the initiative? Is 3.75" scale doomed?
--Derek

Replace 3 3/4-inch with "Mego" or "12-inch like the original G.I. Joe" and you may be on the right track. It may be difficult to fathom, but the last time we had a really big, good 3 3/4-inch line for kids was probably 2016's Rogue One - and it wasn't that big. Things have been kind of light since 2010, so today's teens probably didn't grow up with that scale at all. When I was a kid in the 1980s, I had zero concept of what Mego was when I first saw it at an antique show, of all things - it could've been 5 years old or 50. It was before my time, so I had no attachment to it. Kids born after 2007 or so probably will never have a 3 3/4-inch figure, so they're unlikely to have any nostalgia for it. But they may chase it down for The Clone Wars as they get older. Hasbro did a good job catering to collector tastes, but nothing has really stuck to grow a new generation of kids that want to collect them all in almost a decade.

In the 1980s, if you wanted toys from Star Wars your only choice was Kenner and realistically, it was going to be a 3 3/4-inch action figure. Toward the end of the 1990s, you also had Galoob and LEGO as competition - as time went on, Kenner and Hasbro even brought up new formats to compete and in the long run, you can't have that many choices for toy formats and also have a diverse cast of figures in each scale. Each scale serves a different purpose, and it seems as if Hasbro decided that the 3 3/4-inch figure line - which I believe may well be the biggest licensed action figure line scale ever made - is no longer the scale of record. This is, to say the least, frustrating.

The 3 3/4-inch figure line is indeed less expensive to make, but also less popular. (I'm on phone calls. I see some sales data. You don't have to trust me, but you should.) A $20-$23 figure that's 6-inches tall and always has tons of articulation appeals to the kind of fan who isn't 40/you a lot more than a 3 3/4-inch figure for $13-$15 that may or may not be a rerun of a rerun that can be bought on eBay. The deck is stacked against the smaller line, and the two probably can't thrive alongside each other while still being made by the same manufacturer. They can do fine, but the vocal fans are not necessarily the fans who race out to buy a figure with their wallets wide open.

Each format still has a lot of strong sellers, but if you're just a fan - not a collector, but a post-Gen-Xer fan - the 6-inch format is a lot more appealing for the price. Some people just buy their favorite characters to stand in front of tiny arcade cabinets or with slices of miniature pizza. Also today's fan is infrequently a completist collector - they have some figures, but not hundreds, and certainly not thousands. I'd love Hasbro to keep making everybody in the 3 3/4-inch format (regardless of articulation) but they don't seem to want to do it that way. Complaining to me won't help - but making a fuss on social media, buying the figures (which you're doing), and getting other fans excited would do a lot to help. I assume the reason we're getting the big, expensive HasLab toys is because Hasbro wants to keep the dollars coming in, but has a smaller pool of (frankly, well-to-do) fans willing to put up money. 3 3/4-inch figure collectors are used to spending hundreds to thousands of dollars a year to stay complete - and Hasbro found a way to keep the money rolling in with fewer products being developed.

I assume the fact that dang near nothing goes on clearance for 3 3/4-inch action figures these days doesn't hurt, but that also means it's probably not bringing in as much money just by virtue of the fact there's probably not enough (or, possibly but I doubt it, exactly enough) out there. I would blame the decline of the "collect them all" mantra, which has certainly faded since the package redesigns dropped the upsells in the past decade. And the fact that you may never see a figure on a store's shelf once, let alone more than once. We're all pining for some version of "the good old days" but distribution has been pretty iffy for decades and nobody is ever happy with the precise spread of figures available in a given year. Enjoy your lines while you can - nothing lasts forever.

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FIN

Be sure you send in your questions for next time. We have plenty of questions but we always like more!

It's been a slow week for news, but I did stumble on a Clone Pilot Hawk at Target - they have four The Black Series figures which, as far as I can tell, are not named as such anywhere on the package. I found Anakin a week ago, so now I just need to track down Obi-Wan Kenobi and the ARC Trooper Echo. And how hard could that be? (Presumably, very.)

The Bad Batch continues to be pretty good! It doesn't look nearly as cheap as Resistance (which undoubtedly was expensive, but flat) and seems to be a romp through Star Wars' greatest hits with appealing characters, some neat aliens, and of course surprising voice actors. Cheers to those who guessed last week's big guest star correctly, I sure didn't figure it out until the credits. While there is no plan for a 3 3/4-inch line, it's one of those things where I'd sure love a The Retro Collection vehicle or two and a wave of figures to go with it. Presumably there's good money in retro-style Clone Troopers.

--Adam Pawlus

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