1. Hi Adam, do you have any city/regional toy shows that you look forward to each year? Are there specific used/vintage things you look for, or hard-to-find modern things? Any fun finds lately?
--Alexander

Since getting in the business, "this is a fun convention or show to go looking for stuff" has ceded ground to "this is somewhere I have to go for work" - although that can be interesting. More often than not, it's a matter of time and practicality. When I go to New York for work, I always hit up Brooklyn to hunt for records, because there aren't many of my kind of toy stores left in the five boroughs. But when it comes to my own time... honestly I haven't been on a fun trip that wasn't more than a day in the car with the Mrs. since roughly 2017. I do not have good work-life balance.

But, work trips can be good. Sometimes you get a peek behind the curtain at stuff that will never come out - but you don't know it at the time, and can't talk about it when you see it, especially from the more ambitious sides of consumer products. When it comes to conventions with cool exclusives, age and wisdom - or at least budgets and Excel - keep me from making a lot of special trips. I used to make it a point to go to a show to get exclusive toys - but the prices of the flight, hotel room, and any transportation are too high to make a lot of the trips worthwhile. Would I rather go somewhere for a weekend for $1000-$2000 with 8-16 hours in airports or planes... or spend $100-$200 on the exclusive and put some money toward bills and the new Shellac record? It will not surprise you to know the answer involves me recommending the songs "Scabby the Rat" and "Scrappers."

About 15-20 years ago, San Diego Comic-Con was fun to go - especially as a toy journalist. You mad a mix of dealers from other countries bringing in cool stuff that, overseas, was worthless but could be very exciting to someone who didn't have those items. I've also been fortunate enough to peek in a company store here and there and see things that were, as far as I can tell, never released or announced for a couple of bucks. In this era I generally get scooped at any big collector show because someone is usually there first (and not working) or has way more money and is far better at making collector relationships - so most of what I do is absorb trivia and go to work with open ears. And frankly, I'm listening to you guys when I'm in a booth, trying to overhear what people like about the new stuff. Or don't.

My favorite things to look for are surprises - if I've never seen it or heard of it, especially if it's arguably newsworthy, that's the most fun I have at these shows. Seeing things like Varner Studios' booth - that's where Playmates got their sculpting done for the unreleased Star Wars pitch line from the 1990s - are fun because it's less about owning something than it is sharing something with the rest of the world that, even at the show, people tend to overlook.

If I ever gain employment that isn't primarily about looking ahead to new releases I hope to some day better enjoy the stuff I already bought, I might go hunting at shows again. But as I get older, getting rid of stuff also starts to be more appealing to make space for the things I want own and want to see. Just last week I've been opening some Hot Wheels I bought back around 2013. I don't really have budget, bandwidth, or as the kids say "spoons" for the big game hunting in other cities with lots of competition in the same big building - but somehow I'll go to a dozen or two stores hunting locally every week.

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Do you think theres any way figures based on characters from the Galactic Starcruiser could come to the Black Series 6 inch line? Maybe like the Gaming Greats subline? I would genuinely like figures of Gaya and the Rodian Singer and the Astromech. I also wouldnt mind the Starcruiser itself showing up in the Micro Galaxy Line for what its worth. Or will Disney pretend this was a thing that never happened much like the Holiday Special was treated for 40 years?
--Joebacca

I think you answered your own question. I would assume there's almost no chance of any additional figures of any kind being made for Galactic Starcruiser (or any defunct theme park element) and I'm wondering if any inventory of the exclusive 3 3/4-inch droid figures they made will get dumped somewhere that I could buy them. I imagine it's going to get swept under the rug and short of unofficial books or videos that exceed my attention span we won't see a heck of a lot official ever again for this spectacularly ambitious vacation spot/entertainment/live-in dinner theater.

The more important thing to consider, Hasbro isn't making a heck of a lot of figures from any one specific thing anymore - they jump around a lot, there's rarely a good "complete" picture or even a satisfying grouping of figures for most new things. You might get a figure here, and another one in a few waves (or a year or two later), but it's worth considering The Black Series has gone for 11 years and the only buddies Jabba has are Bib Fortuna and a Gamorrean Guard. They're very nice figures, but the slow drip of releases from any one specific thing make it hard to really engage with. For me anyway. Maybe you're happy, maybe the casuals are satisfied, but it's hard to get behind anything that stops at just a few characters... or none at all.

If Hasbro ever does a fan poll again - and lordy, it's been a while - I suggest organizing a group now to be ready to stuff the ballot box. Because that's probably the only way you'd get, at best, one more figure so get that Discord server or Facebook group running now.

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FIN

I'm out of questions! Email me if you have one.

About 19 years ago I moved to Los Angeles (I have since left) to seek fame and fortune - or employment - in the toy business. A lot of people were looking to get into video games, or show biz, me I just wanted to be in toys. A bunch of my friends from college also moved there, as game testers, graphic designers, or anime journalists, among other things. Of my four pretty good buddies, one remains with us - and we were all pretty young, too.

If you've got friends you haven't heard from in a while, reach out - it turns out the real-life person behind Elly Font Art, a free art project I would often distribute when I went to various fan events via magnet and pole, went quiet online about two years ago - nobody could hear from her, and everyone I knew who knew her hadn't heard from her either. Emails and tweets went unanswered, Google came up with nothing but confirming the abandoned socials. Well, we just found out that a social media service served up a friend a "memories" post indicating she had indeed passed a couple years ago - one of the unfortunate things as we get older, we aren't in touch as much when we're on opposite ends of the country, doing whatever it is we're paid to do instead of driving around on a Saturday afternoon to pick up film for a camera and the latest Beast Wars reissues.

I bring it up because it's a weird experience, and one I hope you can avoid. If you've got any friends you haven't heard from in a few months, now is a great time to send them a text, an email, or a box of cookies. Especially a box of cookies. They'll be glad to hear from you.

--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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