1. "I've had to buy some figures from overseas because Hasbro US never made them here - several Star Wars figures, in fact, never made it to these shores and most fans don't know and don't even realize this."

Do tell!

Are these the pit droid figures, or the Eopie, or something else entirely?
-Chris

There were quite a few, which oddly never got around to being reviewed here. I should work on that when I run out of the new Retro guys.

At the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 there were a lot of figures that got lost in the shuffle, mostly because of the whole 3D movie prequel thing and The Clone Wars suddenly being pushed under the rug. Since someone did the work for me, let's cheat.

The movie line looks for Darth Maul from MH22-MH24 did not come out in America. These lines are fascinating as they mix "kid molds" and The Vintage Collection-quality molds with kid accessories. The Battle Droid and Boba Fett from the Maul packaging are unique and were not released later. The Sandtrooper with light-up blaster came out again on the Yoda packaging. I consider these to be incredibly rare. You don't tend to see them for sale at any price. They're not worth a fortune, but were going for a pretty penny last time I saw one on eBay.

The Yoda line look never showed up here - I got mine from Germany. It was a mix of existing figure repacks and new guys, like a red Battle Droid with exploding action, Grabbling Gun Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a rocket-firing version of Jango Fett from the Evolution/Vintage mold.

The Clone Wars also had a Yoda line look exclusively for Europe. Take a look - some of the differences are minor, but R2-D2 is a mold the USA didn't get. The 501st Legion Clone Trooper with jet pack is unique. Captain Rex has different deco. Anakin Skywalker has better coloring, painted teeth and a new head, and Obi-Wan Kenobi seems to have more saturated coloring. Many of the figures have minor paint differences, but if it's worth your while to track them down I don't know.

These figures were produced in much lower runs and remain obscure, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be expensive if you find them. That would require someone to know that they exist.

Fun story, the final wave of The Vintage Collection from that era - Lumat and pals - almost ended up Europe-only too. A lot of items sometimes get dumped (or unmade) without checking in with potential customers, which is a shame if the molds are ready to go and there are customers who would buy them.

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2. Why is there no R2-D2 in the Epic Hero/Epic World of Action line.? I have not purchased a single Epic World of Action figure because I decided that I would wait until there was an R2 (or BB-8 or C1-10P). Is the reasoning that kids don't like R2-D2, BB-8 or C1-10P anymore?
--David

The character selection process for the kid line seems kind of opaque. I really don't know why someone said "Yes, we should make SM-33 but not any of the kids from Skeleton Crew" or "We should totally make Boba Fett but let's make him from the appearance that seems to be the least liked" or "If you do girls, better hide their faces."

I don't think what people like are what dictates what gets made so much as what sells, what's in the style guide, or what's part of the greater Disney/Lucasfilm marketing plan for the year. The 2024 line was kind of a weird random selection that emphasized Mandalorian-adjacent stuff with a Stormtrooper, Vader, and Maul mixed in for good measure. This year is focusing on the tech of Star Wars as part of a Power the Force campaign which some (but not all) licensees are using as a guideline focusing on the gear, ships, and droids. Given we got a Dark Trooper and SM-33, you can kind of see where things are going.

I'm a little surprised by the lack of R2-D2 as he was a little hard to find in The Vintage Collection last year and in general, is not a character you tend to see in stores (or sitting around.) I don't have hopes that this form factor will last long enough to get to him and his pals, but they're clearly trying to fit in a classic here or there like Chewbacca this year.

As to not collecting it, at this point, I'd say skipping things shows restraint and we should all stop buying things if we don't want them. I've skipped a couple of The Vintage Collection items and given how many things I still need to open, I can honestly say I don't miss repetitive trooper packs and if I never go back and get it, I might be OK. The same may be true for you and this line segment.

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FIN

This was originally posted on a temporary site July 7, 2025.

I got the new Star Wars The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Scale Landspeeder & Luke Skywalker (Tatooine) Vehicle last week from work. It probably perfectly encapsulates my opinion about Star Wars collecting now, 30 years after the relaunch in July/August of 1995.

Functionally, it's very much like previous landspeeders. It brings back the 1978/1995 mechanism of retractable wheels, albeit engineered differently. It has the opening hood, but with fully-painted and sculpted engine parts rather than a sticker. The foot pegs for the droids are gone, now you just have them sit/lay there. The paint job is incredible, and there is no question it is superior to previous releases. It has a little antenna, it has intentionally chipped paint, it's even got that little antenna bobber on the hood.

But the old ones were good too. Toys R Us had a redesigned Landspeeder around 2002, and if memory serves Target got a "toy colors repaint" around 2010. The hood didn't open but it had the rifle clip (also included here.) If you're a new fan, you want this 2025 one. If you want only the very best, you want this one. But if you have the 1978, 1995, 2002, and 2010 releases... maybe you don't want this one.

I totally get keeping things in circulation for the kids, but at $60 it's for dad or gramps. The grille is silver, but not chrome, and the amount of detail is here to justify the price point. It doesn't need an opening hood, or the fancy painted buttons on the dash, and it's am impressive replica of a famous ship that delivers something truly excellent for the asking price. If a prop replica company made something similar it'd be a couple hundred bucks and resin, and I bet it wouldn't have wheels. The only thing I would say is missing is on-board storage for Luke's extra gear, like the poncho. A storage compartment would be nice. (I say the same about The Ghost and its massive empty love handles.)

It's probably more an issue of me than the product, and I am generally glad Hasbro made an easier way to get the new Luke (now just improved enough to make you mad) with the ship. It is everything a fan without 3,000+ toys could want. Heck, you can even fit 1978 Luke in the driver's seat - I love that. (I just happen to have Ryan Silva's old 1978 Luke nearby to test it. Haven't heard from you in decades, hope you're still alive out there somewhere.) Your enjoyment of this item is going to be colored by its newness to your collection, and your ability to enjoy an item trying to deliver the very best in what it can be. Hasbro did almost everything perfectly here, but I'm also sitting here kind of wishing it was an Epic World of Action vehicle instead to get kids on board. But who am I kidding? The kids aren't coming back.

I'd recommend shelling out the $60 for it if you don't have a 2025 Luke yet. I don't necessarily feel I got my money's worth only because I have all the old Landspeeders and they've all been great too. Hasbro has to make bank and there are a finite amount of fancy new ships they can do that might actually sell. Could you even imagine them trying to do a souped-up Prequel ship for big bucks? I think the money is always going to be on the newest of the new ships and the old guard, with stuff in the middle likely getting less love. (A pity, you guys may have missed out on amazing Rebels ships.)

It has me looking forward to the painfully pricey STAR WARS The Vintage Collection Darth Vader's TIE Advanced because I know it's going to be super impressive once I get my hands on it, and the last new tooling for that ship came out in 1997. With repaints. Oh, so many repaints. I shudder slightly to think Hasbro might be considering an all-new Millennium Falcon for The Vintage Collection, and am secretly hoping they just rerelease the 1978 one with improved electronics and maybe sculpted "stickers" rather than paper ones.

So yes, please go get yourself a Landspeeder, if you are lacking of one or just want really nice vehicles. I'd go as far as to say The Vintage Collection and its slow-but-good vehicle output is probably ultimately more exciting than the figures, just because it's a smaller and more manageable array of goods.

--Adam Pawlus

--Adam Pawlus

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