1. How do I caption my angst? A rose by any other name would smell as like plastic? I am not bad, I'm just cast that way? Honey, I found my stormtroopers neck? To me an aging collector, the Star Wars "Epic" Hero "4-inch" line looks oddly familiar. Like retro adjacent familiar. Like a little bit of heat gun and we are back to 1978 familiar. Like, why? Is like the Star Wars line(s) is(are) so dead, that the only new idea is going back to the start and slightly improving the castings?
--Dan

In all fairness, Hasbro already did "let's do retro articulation with better sculpts" in 2012-2018. These "Epic" figures actually have toy features on the deluxe ones, and are a little more stylized. It's different - the Stormtrooper is particularly different. This new line isn't necessarily for collectors who have hundreds or thousands of figures - it's a toy scale for new fans.

Up until (heck, and arguably including) The Vintage Collection era we had Movie Heroes and other stuff that provided realistic figures that should appeal to kids and to collectors. Some did, some didn't - and a few years ago someone at Hasbro decided to push reruns in the kid format and declare the format dead with those Celebrate the Saga sets, which paved the way for its exit and new lines like Mission Fleet. Since Mission Fleet didn't quite do what they wanted it to do, now we're getting Epic Hero scale, which has been generally good for Marvel so far. I assume the reduced articulation compared to Marvel is because that's sort of what we always see. Marvel Legends and The Black Series are roughly the same price - but Marvel shares more tooling, and Star Wars doesn't have build-a-figures. I also don't know what kind of royalty payments are at work, but I digress.

If you look at the new Epic Hero kid line, the character selection is made of faces nearly any fan who watches Disney+ will recognize. The "basic" characters exist in Hasbro's cheap 6-inch and 9-inch figure lines (available at grocery and drug stores near you), but this could be problematic as the Epic Hero figures are smaller and more expensive than their bigger counterparts. (Articulation varies, the 6- and 9-inch kid figures don't always have leg joints.) Will fans buy it? Maybe! But I don't think we'll see widespread adoption unless Hasbro puts out a few vehicles (one or two won't do it - see Galaxy of Adventures, 2019) and a the selection of figures needs to be pretty extensive lest fans shrug and stick with existing formats (again, Galaxy of Adventures, that 5-inch line everybody immediately forgot.)

I'm interested in these Epic Hero figures because I like toys, and these look like toys to me. I honestly don't know how they'll do. I knew Indiana Jones didn't grow its audience and would likely not be a megahit. I was fairly sure people were over Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before it came out, and even skipped it despite a 4-inch line being something I was sad we didn't get for the first film. For the stars to align and a new action figure line to take off is a rare, special thing. Playmates' Star Trek figure relaunch just got declared dead without getting a second wave, and I don't think any of the major franchises, except perhaps Doctor Who, are putting out stories that have potential to grow the existing fanbases this year. I hope Hasbro has waves of this new scale to tie in to new shows as they hit screens, because that's where you're going to win. If everything comes out 1-2 years late, or they don't have more in the hopper, it doesn't matter what it is. People are going to move on unless you're putting them in a position to excitedly ask "what's next?" after each purchase.

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2. I'm looking forward to the ANH pipeline wave [of action figures] that was announced for [The Vintage Collection] back in the august livestream. Any idea when it might be available?
--Derek

Sadly I don't - Hasbro has been cagey with dates and has held back on a lot of pre-orders for the last couple of months. Given the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, I assume a lot of product will be shuffled around as shows get moved, reshot, or otherwise put off to later. This could be good news for you, as one would assume figures from a movie from 1977 might be easier to slide out sooner to fill the gaps left by the delays of Skeleton Crew... assuming Hasbro had product intended for launch time. (If they do, I'm presently unaware of it.)

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FIN

It Chrismas. Merr Chrismas. Since this is technically going up Christmas Eve, I don't know if Santa brought me anything. It's been a month of ups and downs - Hasbro layoffs, new Retro reveals (and deliveries), and Deathsaurus.

I remain shocked and amazed that I lived long enough for action figure companies to cater to adults and are bringing back more of the kinds of toys I played with as a kid, with Hasbro doing The Retro Collection for Star Wars and the dear departed "What If?" Kenner Marvel line. And on top of that, Super7 still cranks out Devo, Svengoolie, Vampira, more monsters... it's a good time to have that second childhood. To paraphrase Mr. Burns, I have a lot of toys. But I'd trade them all... for a little more. Sadly I did not get an official Hasbro Vlix this year either. (Although I was anonymously sent a repro, big thanks to whoever you are.) And yeah, I'm worried slow sales across toys and big Hasbro layoffs will result in The Retro Collection going away. But I hope Hasbro does more, even if it's coin card Power of the Force reissues mixed with new guys. Wouldn't that be awesome? Anyway Santa, here's a wish list of what you can nudge Hasbro to announce for The Retro Collection in 2024. I'll buy them. Any one would be great, not even all of them, and certainly not for free. I'm not asking for handouts, I work for a living. Assuming you don't check the tapes let's say I've been very good this year, and also did not eat the cookies that I left out already.

I can't wait for The Phantom Menace Retro Collection set that probably is aimed only at baby Gen Xers and the oldest Millennials - so thank you for that - but it would be great to actually see new stuff that fits in with the millions of genuine 1980s Kenner product already in the market without resorting to a big time jump.

A Droids 6-Pack or two! We now have tooling for R2-D2 and C-3PO - slightly different from the Kenner originals, but that's actually more exciting. I didn't want the pop-up lightsaber mechanism on the cartoon R2-D2, and now, you can make one without it. And should! Fill out that wave by repainting a Stormtrooper and IG-88 to match their animated appearances, and be a mensch - put in Vlix, and redecorate Boba Fett to match his cartoon armor. Who wouldn't love that? Monsters, that's who. 2025 is the 40th anniversary of The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour, so you've got extra time. And with that in mind...

An Ewoks 6-pack! One of the most bewildering 1985 waves, Kenner made 4 Duloks and 2 Ewoks for the cartoon in 1985. So reissue Wicket and Logray, and maybe finally give us Kneesaa, Latara, Teebo, and Kaink. Or substitute in the other unmade figures like Morag, Weechee, Chief Chirpa, Paploo, Chituhr, or Bondo. There's a market - heck, put up a HasLab for $200-$400 with everybody. I've got money. I'd buy two sets.

One wave of new original trilogy sculpts! Look, I would love every old Kenner figure remade, and tons of new guys. But I don't want to be greedy. Wouldn't it be cool to finally put out Wedge Antilles, Garindan, Dagobah Training Luke Skywalker, an Ishi Tib from Jabba's Palace, Endor Dress Leia, maybe one of the Emperor's advisors or the Tonnika Sisters? Well, maybe those aren't as likely, but who wouldn't be excited to add another new face to the Kenner Creature Cantina after 45 years?

One wave of figures from Disney+! I'd still love to see Cobb Vanth, The Client, Paz Vizsla, Daimyo Boba Fett with Removable Helmet, Danny Trejo Rancor Keeper, and Mr. "Count Dooku Had Some Good Ideas" himself, Helgait. Just to name a few. I'd also be thrilled to see Lortha Peel, Haja Estree, Q9-0, Garsa Fwip, the Majordomo, Mayor Mok Shaiz... I mean, those shows are loaded with awesome aliens, droids, and character actors. I've got money. Hasbro has shareholders that want that money. Let's make the world a better place.

A vehicle. Any vehicle. Put out an X-Wing with a carded X-Wing Luke in there - I bet you can find a handy reuse of the figure's body nearby. Give kids a new Landspeeder or maybe even something new like Mando's Speeder or a Blurrg with a companion figure. Or if you really love me, a Gorax would be nice.

A re-reissue wave. Put out some existing Retro figures from 2019-2023 with no changes, or perhaps put them on Power of the Force cardbacks with coins - because I will buy them again if you do. Yoda is still quite expensive on the aftermarket, as is Hoth Han Solo, Sabine Wren, Chopper, the original Darth Vader, and Darth Vader. I also don't think anyone would poo-poo a crack at a non-Canadian retro The Power of the Force Yak Face. Honestly any one of those things would be great, Santa. Just keep the line going. Clearly I haven't handled it going away in 1985 very well.

What I assume is far more likely to happen, Hasbro will probably think about putting the line to bed given the glut of collector product in the marketplace as they're a low-dollar product. Lucasfilm will probably announce more new movies, which will give the stock a pop and make shareholders happy, without necessarily making all of (or any of) those new movies. I like to dream big - but I'm also grateful Super7 put out some amazing ReAction Planet of the Apes figures and Healey Made put out some really slick "plays with" 3 3/4-inch figures that look like they fell out of a Kenner sketchbook from 1986. Action figures for cranky old men in their 40s and 50s can't be terribly lucrative, but I'm still enjoying the ride while it lasts.

Oh and before I go, Santa - if someone, anyone, could put out some new Mini-Rig vehicle, I'd like that.

--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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