1. But what are the chances that Hasbro will offer a carded Lirin Car'n to round out the group and add to the Cantina patrons?
--MisterPL

This was left on a comment in a review, so hey, I got space to fill.

My guess is never, or at least not soon. We got the first Figrin D'an figure in 1997 - and it got reissued and reaccessorized around 2007. I bet Hasbro could make a really good Lirin Car'n retool if they were so inclined, but since single-carded Figrin D'an wasn't the best seller (so says the secondary market prices right now) and because Cantina aliens are far and few between? I'm not hopeful.

Having said that, it makes Lirin Car'n the perfect pack-in figure if we ever got a Cantina playset on HasLab or otherwise. From where I sit, the best exclusive figures are ones that are different enough from what you already own that you will want it, but not so different that it will destroy your collection if you miss it. Lirin Car'n is perfect there. I just don't have high hopes for Hasbro to attempt production on any previously unmade character from the original trilogy at this point, regardless of what it is or how popular it may or may not be.

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2. What are the chances for more Droid sets? As a group, collectors always seem to want more astromechs. Personally, I'd love to see Kit Fisto's R6-H5, and it makes my OCD go through the roof that it's the only astromech that was never produced for its matching Jedi Starfighter. I'd also love to see them finish the rest of D-Squad. And then the rest of the set(s) could be sourced from any number of places. I'd also love to see a set of Gonk droids, say the all black version seen on the first Death Star, the Gonk wandering the streets of Mos Eisley, maybe a repaint of the Lars droid with the missing paint apps filled in. They could do any variety of droid packs, and it seems like easy money. They don't need to sculpt anything, just create new deco.
--Matt

Outside the Disney Industrial Complex I do not believe you will ever see a set of 3 3/4-inch droid figures from an existing cartoon again. Hasbro can't even be bothered to keep R2-D2 in circulation, let alone the others. If R5-D4 managed to appear on The Mandalorian without new toys across at least two seasons, I don't think Hasbro will ever go back to the well on droids from a thing that came out 10 years ago.

If what you're asking is "Will Entertainment Earth do them as exclusives?" probably not. The last Droid set didn't sell very well, so once people just don't come out for something it can be really tough to convince someone to do the second, or in this case, fourth iteration of an idea. Also Hasbro has to want to do it, and there hasn't been a new Hasbro Star Wars exclusive for quite some time.

Now that Hasbro is doing "army builder packs" more often, they could, potentially, do some droids. But it might be a while, if ever. If I were in your shoes, I'd write Disney and hope their theme park merchandise crew is up for taking suggestions because I can't remember the last time Hasbro put out a non-R2-D2 astromech droid in one of its lines. Maybe it was the Chopper reissue? I can't honestly remember.

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FIN

Hey, a convention! I'm gathering the tidbits together.

On Friday they announced three new Star Wars movies - given what they are, I've got uninformed movie predictions!

The Dave Filoni Mando-era movie is going to happen. Unless he dies or gets arrested, that movie is going to come out. He paid his dues, he's delivered the work, he knows where the bodies are buried. He knows who the bodies are. This one's gotta happen. (And personally, I'm excited to see it minus the whole "close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian" angle. That's just unfortunate - they could have interconnected stories weave back and forth like a relay race like so many 1990s Star Trek series. There's a whole galaxy out there with new and old characters, and putting a capper on it sets unrealistic expectations and can backfire. (See also: The Rise of Skywalker.)

I predict that the James Mangold 25,000-Year-Old First Force User movie will quietly be canceled unless Indiana Jones is a massive hit this year. It has no competition within two weeks of its June 30 release date. Given what can happen and how public opinion can shift even a success to the pariah bin (critics dug The Last Jedi and so do I), it's possible a fan abreaction can send this one to the dungeons with the mountain of other dead projects. Since it's not connected to anything specific that we know of, you wouldn't miss it if it dropped dead. Rumors of a movie like this have been in the ether for a while. It could be an amazing film to reboot a new franchise, but also, I'm old and worn out - and none of these movies are likely to hit before 2025.

I read a wild rumor a few weeks ago (before this was announced) that the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Rey Movie is Rey... with Grogu. I have no idea if it's true, but it sounds like the kind of thing dictated by marketing plans. I could see Disney using this to shore up the Rey-driven Galactic Starcruiser into something families want to do, especially if the rumor of the green guy is true. I admit it's a cynical bit of speculation, but I could see it happening just to further maximal theme park ambitions and more product - Rey stuff sold really well for a while. I really liked Rey in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, but I left The Rise of Skywalker feeling indifferent for the first time. The last film didn't do much to inform Rey as a person with interesting desired and motivations, leaving us with a hermit whose found family is off elsewhere or dead. It's kind of sad - Return of the Jedi left Luke with his war buddies, and Rey just buried her surrogate family and waved hello to the new neighbor. She deserved a better ending, but also a better third movie. I could see this one getting buried too.

The new TV shows all sound great. The Acolyte sounds a little dull in the new era, but I did love Russian Doll. Skeleton Crew could be good or not - I sat through Willow and saw a game, plucky younger cast wander through some pretty cheap sets with some nice costumes and charming situations. I'll watch it, of course, and I'm excited for Ahsoka because it looks really good from the trailer. Or, it looks like my fan was serviced by said trailer.

It is a ridiculous era of Star Wars given that there's more stuff in development than ever before, and the mountain of stuff that may or may not still be coming (Rian Johnson movies, Taika Waititi movie, Lando series) is still out there too. But - and I mean this with love - the merchandising division better get its act together. I don't think it's good to ask fans to wait 1-2 years for action figure product. Or six months, frankly - if stuff isn't on-shelf when the show debuts (or last season's stuff when the new season starts) you're just wasting a massive toy-selling opportunity. I hope Ahsoka toys make it out this summer!

--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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