1. As someone who began collecting these plastic Star Wars people in 1978, I've gotten pretty spoiled. I always craved more realistic sculpts, more detailed paint apps, and oodles of articulation. What we're getting in The Vintage Collection is a far cry from what Kenner produced back then but given the way prices have been heading, I'm thinking it's too far.

I'm not suggesting returning to the soft-sculpt, 5POA, limited paint era. (We already have Retro.) I'm looking for a compromise between the best that TVC has to offer and what was on pegs maybe 15 years ago.

It would probably vary by figure (for example, Threepio has never been the most dynamic character) so some figures might demand more articulation than others. Same with paint. So if Hasbro were to de-content the figures to reduce the overall price points, what would you consider the Goldilocks spot?
--MisterPL

Blame collectors, they will never let this happen. Things change over the years, but the big shift has been that Hasbro used to have edicts like "OK this toy has to be $4.99 so make the best or most interesting figure you can for that price." And then you get things like Jawa 2-packs, rocket-firing R4-D4, light-up eye port R2-D2, and later suction cup Bespin weather vanes, magnetic boxes, removable hilt lightsabers, and so on. There was a time where the toymakers actually were allowed to be creative with the budget and make what they felt was the best product for the money, that would also sell well. Those days are over.

Now there's an amount of pandering to adult collectors while having to make a plan and stick with it when it comes to the licensor. Even if a company comes to you with a bad idea, it's their IP - you probably need to do it. It's their contract. Similarly, the loudest, most vocal collectors want everything to be super-articulated and generally on vintage packaging with one figure and a very specific layout. There's not a lot of wiggle-room to do anything else if you want the same packaging footprint, an increase demand for improved figures (alternate hands on Vintage, for example), and so forth. They're kind of stuck until they want to make somebody angry.

Is there a Goldilocks zone? No. If you remove literally any articulation, fans will complain. (Will it hurt sales? No idea.) If you try to do a new packaging paradigm, people will get upset. Hasbro probably could make something a little closer to 2002 or 2006 and deliver gorgeous mini-statues or figures that have good - but not super-articulation for under $10. They just don't. Because we'll complain. I think if they released a thematically sound line that was closer to its Spider-Man Epic 4-inch figures we might see some success, but none of the kid offerings show any signs of depth. Star Wars isn't Marvel - if all you make is the guy on the poster, you're not delivering a good fan experience.

I would be delighted to see something closer to 2002 (some statues, some super-articulation, some gimmicks) or even 2006-2007 (fancy accessories, maybe stands, maybe an occasional gimmick, more articulation.) I think what we have now is overkill and the figures don't stay standing any better, either - and a lot of the people who complain about articulation don't open their toys, so you can ignore all of them anyway. I'd love to see multiple classes of product with lower-end figures sold more cheaply or in a 2-pack (to maintain price points), and Hasbro has done some interesting things there. I think they got it close to right with The Force Awakens in terms of what you got for the money but most people won't even talk to you about that era. You got great aliens, droids, heroes, villains, and other freaks and even Constable Zuvio was a pretty good lark for the money. Today? I don't think much of what I buy is "worth it."

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2. My toy display room gets a lot of sunlight, and I was thinking of having a UV coating put on the windows. Do you have any experience with this? I don't know if it's worth the investment, but I don't want all my white plastics yellowing any more than they already will on their own.
--Doug

I don't have experience it, but I also don't know if it's enough - I've seen a lot of recent Transformers from others' collections go yellow despite being kept (so I'm reading) out of sunlight - some within weeks of US landfall. I've seen a lot of figures yellow due to materials in pretty short order, especially Kenner Star Wars bubbles from Return of the Jedi and Power of the Force stuff in the late 80s and early 90s. What I'm getting at is this: this stuff isn't going to last forever.

Your best bet is to keep stuff in dark, cool rooms with the lights off. And don't smoke. And make sure it's dry. That won't be enough - stickers dry out, plastic will sometimes "sweat" out oils over time which can make a toy sticky, and don't get me started on the genuine horror that is Gold Plastic Syndrome. (I've got a G2 Electro I bought new in the 1990s, which to date has not crumbled. I should sell him.)

If anyone out there has experience with UV covering, I'd like to hear it but I'd be willing to bet money it's not going to be enough. Some stuff will turn due to materials, others to environment, and some things are just plain not going to last to the passage of time. Take every precaution you can - maybe keep stuff in cardboard boxes or cupboards with doors - but it's not going to keep forever.

There's something sobering about our toys - like us - aging. I've seen Mego molt. I've seen paint turn bad on The Outer Space Men. But I've also seen people make reproduction stickers and there are a ton of de-yellowing procedures you can do that may or may not be good solutions, although reportedly a lot of them can cause plastics to become brittle too. There's no perfect solution, so enjoy your toys while you can. And maybe consider selling some stuff before its expiration date, especially if it's really expensive.

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FIN

The big news this week: The Ghost is doing fine. Not great, but fine - it jumped to 8,881 backers in a week, and that's great! It also slowed a bit, and people who still need to put their order in (like me) will no doubt add to the number. I'm not sure if the Ahsoka show premiering in a few weeks will do wonders to boost sales, but hopefully it will raise awareness to remind people this exists and they can get one if they want it.

Right now, it has a Fall 2024 release and the language in the campaign makes it sounds like the cardbacks - not figures - are exclusive. And that's good. We want people to be able to get these, or extras if something goes wrong with the HasLab pack-in figures. We just need to see a lot more backers to get those figures.

The Ghost has some stiff competition with the Super7 ThunderCats ULTIMATES! Cats' Lair which is moving right along, almost hitting its goal for production. I saw it in person and it's huge. It's really huge. I don't collect this particular line, but if I knew this was coming I could see wanting to go back and have figures for it. It's impressive - it's like a Toy Fair display in your home. Mortals should not be granted access to such things.

Granted, they can't all be winners. Mattel's Jurassic World The Gates Crowdfund tanked hard, getting 32% with a product that - especially compared to the two above items - was not at all compelling. "Oh but I wanted it!" so many people who didn't pledge said. That's how things fail. You have to show up and support the stuff you want, otherwise it - or subsequent items - will not be produced.

In addition to these, Hasbro dropped hints about another Transformers crowdfund soon. If they want to make delivery for their 40th anniversary they would pretty much have to start now - but last year's Deathsaurus, won't ship until December now. I'm still looking forward to the bird monster with his own toilet, myself.

Toy aisle resets seem to be going on and I don't see a lot new. Locally, Star Wars has had very little to show for itself in Hasbro aisles, but the Mission Fleet N-1 Starfighter tends to be popping up now. It just doesn't seem like there's any widespread availability of characters that aren't Lando or leftover retro Obi-Wan Kenobi figures in a lot of shops, which is a shame. It feels like it should be a good time to buy stuff but the selection is not conducive to any sort of excitement right now.

--Adam Pawlus

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