1. Why hasn't Hasbro re-released the lovely 3 3/4" Speederbike (that was a TRU exclusive) with Luke and Leia figures?
--Greg

My hunch would be sticker shock - a lot of "made in China" toys from the early to mid 2010s cost a heck of a lot more to manufacture now. Labor, materials, Disney tax, etc. It was orbiting $20 last time about 10 years ago, and that was back when Hasbro could sell you a Scout Trooper on a cardback with a whole crate of extra blasters for $8 or so. Today that figure would be at least $13 so I'd ballpark a straight-up reissue of the exisitng toy to be $25-$35.

Vehicle reissues have been far and few between since the Disney takeover, and we've seen things like the X-Wing climb from $30-$50 to $60 to $100 in the last 10 years. The AT-ST went from $30ish to $60 quickly too. I don't know if this is because of how the products are positioned, licensing fees, or costs to manufacture - or something else - but the pattern is consistent and this stuff isn't getting any cheaper to squirt out using existing tooling.

 

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FIN

So what's new this week?

Cad Bane with Todo 360 6-inch figures are coming to the US in October. Where? I don't think it's official yet but it is indeed coming.

Wave 3 of The Vintage Collection 2020 shipped. Wicket's deco is a bit different with new face fur, new eyes, and a darker brown hood - plus spear tweaks. Anakin, Maul, and Obi-Wan Kenobi all have revised face paint. Anakin and Obi-Wan are mostly just eye upgrades. A lot of Hasbro's reissues have been nods or hints at upcoming Lucasfilm things - so I wonder if Wicket was meant as a wink that Ewoks are coming to The Mandalorian season 2, or if this was a nod to the cameo at the end of The Rise of Skywalker? Either way, it's a decent wave if you missed them before. And even if you didn't.

I streamed Bill & Ted Face the Music, a charming and low-budget sequel to a pair of great movies. It cost $25 million, and 1991's Bogus Journey was $20 million. Still, it's charming - and kind of a sad milestone. My best friend since college Zac died earlier this year, and we were planning on meeting up to watch the movie in Phoenix at Metrocenter Mall, where they shot the mall scenes in the first film. I dragged him there on many a toy run. The mall closed for good in July, and with the pandemic the attached theater (which, admittedly, was not there in that form in the 1990s) is showing mostly reissued older movies - and not Bill & Ted. I think he would've enjoyed it for what it was if we were able to have made it happen - it was a good plan.

--Adam Pawlus

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