1. Adam, do you think it is a safe bet that SDCC Stormtrooper Luke will get a later release this year as an individual figure, much like Aphra did?
--Derek

The scuttlebutt from Hasbro second-hand to me says "yes," I have heard and read that these figures will be sold individually in the future.

Having said that, BT-1 and 0-0-0 individually-carded figures are not yet in the marketplace. Hasbro does have plans and sometimes plans change - if the stars align, I'd recommend you snag the set just to cover yourself.

 

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2. For those of us whose local retailers have kept minimal, if any, stock since the 2018 holidays, what has come and is gone for good in 2019? TVC wave 4? Got my case through EE but looking for a second Leia. Did the Jabba's Palace ever hit brick-and-mortar Walmarts?
--TJ

I cast a wide net. I haven't yet seen many of the exclusives in Walmarts - many are sold through their web site, slowly, and some make it to stores. I haven't seen the Jabba's Palace playset or Lando (Skiff) in stores as of eyt. I haven't seen Yak Face and Klaatu in stores yet, and I have many reasons to assume they did not and probably will not make it to your big box stores. (Many of those reasons are TVC Wave 1.)

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FIN

I continue to toil away on SDCC's Secret Project which I hope will be less secret next week. You may want to see it, but I can tell you right now there is nothing involving Star Wars to be included. I assume it may collide with one or more of your other interests, though, so theoretically see you in San Diego in a couple of weeks!

The Toy Tax issue got a new wrinkle - which may have been smoothed out - this week.

It looks like the China tariffs are going away, and at this point after hearing about what didn't happen with Mexico, it's a safe bet that the Vietnam tariffs - the whole of which would have encompassed the likes of Play-Doh, Pop! Vinyl figures, and Transformers - are also not going to happen. While this may mean little to you as a consumer, actual people with real jobs in the business have to go running around to examine what this means, who will pay for what, and the very real possibilities of several price increases for Q3 and Q4 - so unless something magically changes again, everybody just dodged a bullet and Christmas (as well as Force Friday) has been saved. It doesn't mean that either of those things would necessarily have mattered to you, but that's where we are.

That's good news for the consumer and good news for anyone feeling they might open up a toy store this year. Anyone unable to get LEGO or Nintendo or Microsoft or Sony on board may be in for a challenge, and it's hard to say if there's enough business to keep things moving in some retail areas. My general area has a mall that's decaying plus several Walmarts and Targets that seem to be doing fine, as well as a collector's toy shop, plus a specialty toy store which has sadly weaned itself off the kind of plastic that I typically chase down. I'll go great lengths for plastic figures of all kinds, but when the crunchy toy stores dump Playmobil, well, eh. I don't need kid's books.

--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, and we're down to 2 questions per week until we get overloaded with questions to re-expand back to 3 or more.

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