1. [snip] I ended up biting the bullet and purchasing a new TIE fighter and an extra pilot to fit in the cockpit. I wasn't really sure of the purchase until I took it home and out of the box. The figure that comes with the ship has a removable helmet whereas the carded figure does not and he's a bit bigger than his carded brethren, but they both seem to be able to share the cockpit without much fuss. One thing I was wondering if you had heard is if the wings on everyone else ship blast off for no reason if no one is around to help it? It's kind of disappointing that a 40.00 toy that has no electronics has some premature wing ejection problem.
Also and I didn't realize these were coming out until that live stream broadcast of the "unveiling" was the exclusive Disney Store Elite die cast figures. My roommate picked me up the flame trooper and I am very impressed with the detail, articulation and heft of this product. They're not to scale with Hasbro's 6" Black series figures but from my one sample and the pictures I've seen I think I may be making the jump to these as collectibles from now on. Have you checked these figures out yet? If so what did you think?
--Martin

I like the new TIE Fighter - it isn't perfect, though. Mine does pop off easily but so far not for no reason - I just checked on it, as it has been on a shelf untouched for about a week thanks to a recent trip. Everything is where it should be, but I do notice some warping - as such anyone making "struts" to mount the new TIE Fighter, please let me know and/or send me a set for maximum pluggage. Also write in/comment if you've had this problem. My only problem with unanticipated ejection is when I pick up the new TIE like I to the old ones - from the bottom of the pylons, because that's where the buttons are now and after 30+ years Hasbro was kind of jerky to move them.

I have seen the Die-Cast Metal Finn and so far my attitude was "I don't need these." The vehicles and figures I saw at the Disney Store appear to be of an excellent quality and priced fairly - but I don't need them. Should Disney produce characters in this size different from Hasbro's line, I may snag some but right now I really don't want to double-up much. I suspect many fans have an attitude similar to mine - after six movies, there are categories we like and are locked in. (Micro, Hasbro, Black Series, LEGO, etc.) New form factors are not welcome mostly because we've seen so many segments come and go and if Disney does decide to stop the metal figures after one movie, it will all be pretty pointless. I'm still sore Hasbro abandoned Mighty Muggs and hasn't licensed them out to someone like USAOpoly for Monopoly - there's a lot of potential in that mold still. They look close enough to Hasbro's counterparts that I'm guessing they exist mostly as a substitution for those who don't know any better - the Fake Black Series, but that doesn't mean it won't carve out its own niche or, if they can be more consistent about bringing freshness (and supply) to market, they can drink the proverbial Hasbro milkshake. It's a new enough line that there's still some potential in there, particularly if collectors want to be all-in and not fret about Hasbro's absurdly expensive (depending on when you bought) SDCC exclusives that do a fine job of excluding fans from being all-in. Since my nearest Disney Stores are at least 20+ minutes away, it's more of a hassle than sticking with Hasbro stuff. But that's me. I've got a complete Titanium Series collection I don't play with as it is.

The comments from fans have largely been positive, aside from screw-holes in the figures due to their die-cast construction. (It's a lost art.) The way licensing can be set up can sometimes limit the materials you use - sometimes you can use some plastic, sometimes you can use no plastic, it depends on the licensors and how the contracts are written. I have no visibility on this one, so odds are the plastic/metal hybrid format isn't going to be quite as common without Hasbro involved.

 

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2. The new Disney Droid 4-Pack — have any of these been released by Hasbro in plastic previously?
--Paul

Yes and no. Like many things, it depends on your point of view.

R0-4LO - droid debut! New dome mold. It's new to everyone.

R2-Q2 - there have been droids similar in deco and with this name sold, but enough changes to the deco have been made where I would count this as a new droid. The dome pattern has been changed and that's enough for me to say "it's new." It also doesn't match his appearances in the original Star Wars, so I suppose we have to trust that it does indeed appear in The Force Awakens despite using the same name. New deco.

R4-M9 - Hasbro made this one in 2002, but the colors and paint masks are more accurate to the original Star Wars film. If you put it next to previous droids with the same name, this one is obviously very different - plus it uses the build-a-droid chassis, as do all of these. Heavily changed deco, new body mold for this deco.

R5-X3 - Hasbro almost made a nearly identical figure a few years ago with the revived Droid Factory line, but didn't. Tomy did make a mini RC R5-X2, but here's the thing - R5-X2's dome shape is different than R5-D3 (which is the same as R5-D4), so technically you don't have this one at all and it's brand new. This is the first "action figure" to sport this deco, so for all intents and purposes it's new unless you bought US or Japanese RC mini robots - but those can't move their legs, so I'd still count this as new.

3. Quick two-part question: 1) TFA Micro Machines have holes in the back of them like the ones from the 90's-00's did to have a place for the stands to go. So what happened to the stands? Were they orginally planned and dropped due to cost issues? 2) My 2002 electronic Reek and Nexu work as good as when I bought them nearly 13 years ago but my electronic 3 and 3/4 Artoo has long died out as well as some more recent electronic figures I bought which use the same type of batteries and are roughly the same size. What's the deal here? I rarely use the feature so it's not an issue of wear and tear.
--Grant

The good (OK bad) news is that the stands started being phased out a lot longer ago than that - some of the Episode I sets lacked them and even some of the later-era Trilogy stuff came with little swizzle sticks instead. The holes are still there to ensure compatibility with playsets - which I really appreciate - but right now those of us who really want old stands again are stuck until someone makes some, third-party style, like action figure stands. I already need at least 50 or more - who wants my business?

Batteries are one of the banes of my existence. When I can talk to people at toy manufacturers over my fear of end-of-life of my many toys from numerous lines - be it due to reliance on software which will stop running on iOS someday, or batteries - I can tell they stop paying attention as soon as I start talking. One company did hear me and did change their product because (let's face it) nobody wants to buy a toy with an expiration date. I've overpaid for a light-up Sandtrooper and it's my understanding the only way to get the batteries out will be with a hammer and chisel, which makes me feel terrible. In the specific case of your Artoo, I can only assume it was played with a lot before you bought it, or perhaps you had a bad batch of batteries. However, I would still like to suggest you all join me in ensuring Hasbro knows that non-replaceable batteries are a bad thing that can cause problems a year or three down the road as preventing the user from repairing their products is rarely a good thing. If Hasbro could guarantee a substitution could be purchased to replace it, I could see where they're coming from, but that's not the case here.

 

FIN

There's new stuff out there - the first exclusives are hitting from Hasbro for the new movie line, as the Walmart 3 3/4-inch Black Series line has hit here if you've not yet seen it. They're also repacks of things you bought more cheaply a while ago, and no doubt in more interesting packaging. The desert TIE Fighter is also out and about at Toys R Us, and some stores are getting in new shipments of the regular stuff too. If you aren't toy hunting again, this might be a good time to start - between new Amiibo, LEGO Dimensions, and of course Star Wars odds are we'll be seeing a lot of opportunists in the toy aisles in the coming months. Of course, you know and I know that the more of this stuff that gets bought and kept packaged, the cheaper it will be down the road - so it will be interesting to see who bought this down the road. Stuff is out there - reappearing, maybe it's returned, but looking around is still proving worthwhile.

In other news, I'm going through Super Mario Maker. I've made a few levels, but mostly I'm playing others'. Interestingly I think much of it seems to play off as a more benign version of the Stanford Prison Experiment. As an old geezer in the game world, the original Super Mario Bros. was one of the first non-computer games I ever played. Seeing people make either impenetrable gauntlets of death or self-playing stages seems like life is once again wasted in the living, as those in-between levels where some level of exploring is rewarded are far and few between. Having said that, I'm hoping we get Zelda Maker and Metroid Maker, while the Sonic people can just continue playing their mostly rotten franchise in the corner and think about what they've done.

I wouldn't advocate getting a Wii U for it, but it seems the Wii U's strongest selling points are to trade on the love of the now-adult original Nintendo generation. Just this week GameStop got a 3-pack of Amiibo figures featuring Duck Hunt, Mr. Game & Watch, and R.O.B. figures - which, well, that's some potent stuff. Downloadable classics, NES Remix (and its sequel), and games like this are hard to ignore. I also assume Nintendo will be done with the Wii U before things get too interesting, so that's another reason to not push you to snag one. But I am enjoying it.

--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.