1. Hello again! With the popularity of the Mandalorian series, and Mandalorians in general, any idea why Hasbro hasn't thought to do one of their 4-figure troop builder battle packs using their pre-existing Mandalorian male or female molds and repainting them to match some of the background characters seen in the show?

They could do more than one pack, including one for the Children of the Watch (maybe 2 of those!), Ax Woves' faction, even Mando's original covert.

Would Entertainment Earth entertain the idea (ha!) of doing an exclusive for these Mandos reminiscent of their pair original expanded universe Republic Elite Forces multipacks?

The concept feels like a no brainer to me… but maybe there isn't enough interest in the broader fandom?
--Harry

The real question is "how excited are you to pay $65-$70 for four repaints?" From where I sit, not very - Axe Woves himself, on a nice fancy vintage card as a Target exclusive, got blown out on clearance. Lesser, similar Mandos sound like a tougher sell given that it seems fewer collectors are excited about the multiple competing lines right now.

Hasbro hasn't been interested in doing exclusives with Entertainment Earth in a while - it might happen again, but it's been a few years since the last Star Wars Hasbro exclusive. At this point I'd be hesitant to do army builder packs given the Disney+ audience isn't quite as big as that for the movies, especially at current prices.

Despite having a ton of stuff in the works, I don't know if the current line has the momentum needed to make army building packs necessary. 20-25 years ago we all wanted figures to populate dioramas or ships or playsets we hoped would some day come. Today, figures exist for their own sake - which kind of misses the point, as Kenner initially wanted small figures to help sell big vehicles or other more expensive toys. I certainly look at today's army packs like "OK so if I get this, what will I do with it after I write the review?" And I don't know anymore - there's really nothing to do other than to put them away.

Personally I'd love to see more The Mandalorian figures, even repaints - droids? Sure. 3 3/4-inch Holo figures at reasonable prices, given they have no paint? Why not. But the Disney juggernaut wants to put out 1-3 shows a year, and we don't have any time to focus on them or grow how much we like them, or to have a product line that can last a year or more like we used to. Until Disney stops pumping out new content, I don't know how much of a future this kind of idea would have, and even then the old guard with money might have retired from the hobby. (Those that haven't already.) But I will say this - I'd rather have your army builder figure(s) than another bite at the Axe Woves apple, which Hasbro is, for some reason, doing soon.

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2. any more word about the Star Wars epic heroes? Specifically if we can get some mini rig like vehicles to join the ranks. I would really hope so.
--David

As of now, I haven't heard anything official about what we'll see or when for the Epic Hero Series figures. Some wave 2 figures are going up for pre-order online like Darth Maul, Bo-Katan, and Moff Gideon. These seem like picks from the licensor - I'm hoping we get a Leia of some sort in here, or a Boba Fett of some sort. New or old, I'm not picky, it'll sell.

If you haven't purchased any yet, I wrote some reviews for you and I would say they're what you wish POTF2 figures were in the 1990s - if a smidgen taller. They still fit in most of the vehicles that I have tried, but it's a tight squeeze. If Hasbro axed its other lines and shifted focus to these full-time, and they kept the prices down, I think it could be pretty compelling (if they could shave down the scale about 1/16.)

I would expect any potential vehicles to follow the same pattern as the figures. That is, I would expect ships which you may have already bought in another format, but now more toy-like. An X-Wing, an N-1 Fighter, a Speeder Bike would all make some degree of sense. Mini Rigs, I think would be unlikely. But super cool - who wouldn't like a mini TIE Fighter or some sort of small-scale Jedi Starfighter Shuttle?

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FIN

So what's coming up for big fan events?

Hasbro will be at WonderCon with multiple panels in Anaheim this weekend. This is new - it's the show that is run by the SDCC people, but not there. This is kind of a huge deal as Hasbro has been pretty picky about where they go, but with no New York Toy Fair in 2024 it may be a substitute event. It has not historically been a big deal for the toy world.

It looks like The Bad Batch will wrap up with its finale on May 1. We had another double-header last week, so unless the powers that be burn it off more quickly you've got about a month and change left to enjoy the encore of The Clone Wars. It's a little slow in moving things along, but that's also how TV tends to work these days.

On May 4, Hasbro will announce The Next The Vintage Collection HasLab already. That seems kind of soon - what could it be? I'm going to bet on a Death Star, on the supposition that it will somehow tie in to Andor Season 2 or a new project hitherto unannounced, with a Blockade Runner as a runner-up. In theory it's deliverable in 2025 - for anniversaries, you've got the 40th anniversary of Ewoks and Droids (so... Vlix), the 30th anniversary of the 1995 The Power of the Force relaunch and also the game Dark Forces, the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, and the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens. It's also the fifth anniversary of The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker. The Monkey's Paw punishment wish for getting another Vintage item soon? I would guess something from either The Acolyte or The Force Awakens, or a non-legacy item from Andor. But what I want is a really robust Cantina playset - I just can't think of a reason to do it this year, as opposed to something closer to an anniversary.

The Acolyte is coming to Disney+ on June 5, 2024. You probably saw the trailer and the figures. I assume and hope they're holding back some amazing stuff, I was not exactly thrilled with the costumes and didn't see any awesome creatures, robots, helmets, or settings. I'm sure it's impossible to cut together a trailer that shows all the cool stuff in a show without spoiling the fun, as we saw Ahsoka give away most of the show up front, but the talent behind the series is good.

SDCC 2024 is in San Diego July 25-28. We expect Friday to be Star Wars day, as usual, with Hasbro and many others in attendance.

D23 - the fan convention event thing - is August 9-11 in Anaheim. There may be Star Wars things there, and tickets go on sale March 26. Hasbro tends to not have a big presence.

There are no specific final dates for Skeleton Crew as far as I know, but it sounds like later this year might be the time to get excited for that.

Looking ahead to 2025, New York Toy Fair is back after skipping 2024. The previously announced New Orleans Toy Fair was canceled - so be sure to go to New York from March 1-4, 2025. Usually it's in the middle of February, so this is new. It will be back in mid-February for 2026 and 2027.

Star Wars Celebration Japan is April 18-20, 2025. I hope this is where we get the teaser trailer for the next movie.

If Star Wars is a little boring to you right now, I can say that I found the premiere episodes of X-Men '97 to be impressive and worthy of recommending. Yes, some of them sound very old and the animation isn't quite what it was - but it's like the Retro figures. They're trying. It's close. If you like that sort of thing, I think you'll enjoy it as very few old cartoons get "new seasons," even if half the cast was replaced and the theme song sounds different.

--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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