If you were lucky, you may have found Leia (Hoth, The Retro Collection) at a Walmart where she's currently exclusive.  (Apparently she may be on clearance despite the demand and lack of availability.)  It's a good figure! She can hold her blaster better than my 1980s originals, so nicely done Hasbro.  The head isn't quite as sharp, but it's still very good.  Read on!

If you're a collector of the original line, this Lando Calrissian (The Retro Collection) may be of interest!  He has a black blaster, a lighter grey cape, and other smoothed-out changes to the figure's actual sculpt.   While some figures are largely similar to the originals, Lando has enough visible changes to be easily noticed as different.  Read on!

In case you missed him 40 years ago, Hasbro brought back Luke Skywalker (Bespin, The Retro Collection) this year. Will you find them? No.  But you can pretend it's out there somewhere, and that you're not more likely to find it at a garage sale once such things become safe again.   The figure has a couple of minor sculpt differences too.  Read on!

It's not real Kenner, but it's close. The Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder, The Retro Collection)  is just the thing for your Mini-Rigs, assuming you still have some.   The figure has a blue lightsaber - which is kind of a big deal - as well as a grapple gun!  It comes in a board game you don't necessarily want, but you definitely want this figure if you're a fan of real vintage figures.  Read on!

Where are those plans?  Etsy!   One of the big questions we've had as toy fans is "When will 3-D printing supplant manufacturing in China?"  As of now it's still not ready for the kiddies, but someone on Etsy is charging $20 for plans for a 3D Printable Life Sized action figure inspired by vintage R2D2.  This is something Gentle Giant showed off as an official Kenner-inspired Star Wars action figure product, so it's unknown how Team Lucas and the House of Mouse will feel about $20 for plans to roll your own high-end collectible.  I doubt the final product would be as good as the licensed item right now, but these plans could prove invaluable as printing equipment gets better.

After 43 years at Kenner and Hasbro, veteran toy designer and the man responsible for a lot of what we love about this hobby is retiring, according to The Toybook and elsewhere.   I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Boudreaux at a few conventions over the years and he was exactly as gracious as you would hope - plus he has tons of stories about the little details on a lot of your favorite vehicles.  

Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Game! Walmart is reissuing Kenner's old Boba Fett, Yoda, Bespin Luke, Hoth Leia, Hoth Han, and Lando Calrissian figures - and pre-sales of some are already sold out. And many of us older fans already own those figures, which are getting more randomized pre-applied "wear" on the card art. So you might be interested in this board game.

Millions have been produced over the years, but there was enough demand that Hasbro made more of Darth Vader (The Retro Collection) in a new format for 2019.  The texture and feel is a little different, and there's a slight difference in the chest paint - and of course, the copyright markings are changed.  Read on!

It's not an original, but it is a lot cheaper.  The Princess Leia Organa (The Retro Collection) is either in a store near you - or for sale online at a shop you may like - right now.  Her grip is loose, the cape feels different, and on my sample the face is a little off-center. It gives her a different personality, and if you just want an old-looking Kenner Leia to keep around you can do worse. Or yellower.  Read on!

The hottest thing 1978 had to offer came back with Han Solo (The Retro Collection)!  And it sold out. But there might be more coming.  Should you get one?  He doesn't like holding his blaster, but otherwise this is pretty great. Read on!

Everything old remains old with Luke Skywalker (The Retro Collection)  - celebrating four decades and a year of existing, this classic yellow-head figure was briefly back in stores provided you didn't blink.  Target had them in the spring, Entertainment Earth had them in the summer, and you  hopefully got one in one of those two releases.  It's a little different, but it's pretty close to the original - certainly better than the 1995 Kenner Classic 4-Pack version. Read on!

They're sold out, but the Chewbacca (The Retro Collection) is pretty cool. It's like the orgiinal, and close enough that if you didn't grow up with it you probably won't notice a huge difference - but the paint, sculpting, feel, and copyright marks give away its modern origins.  Read on!

Hasbro tricked you into buying a 42-year-old board game you didn't want so you could own the Grand Moff Tarkin (The Retro Collection).  It's appropriately old-school feeling, and you can see it borrows elements from the Imperial Commander figure from The Empire Strikes Back line. They even left the gloved hands and painted them in a flesh color, with some modifications to the right hand's fingers to better grip a gun.  Hasbro did a good job here - should you run out and buy it?  Read on!

The very, very long-awaited Grand Moff Tarkin in 3 3/4-inch 1978-style has arrived at Target stores.  Use DPCI 087-06-0431 in-stores or this link for availability.  It's $19.99 and packed in a remake of the "Escape the Death Star" board game, which was produced by Kenner in late 1977 in order to get something, anything, on shelves thanks to its lack of tooling.  It's basically a $7 protective shell around Tarkin's 6x9-inch cardback, pre-punched, faux-weathered, stickered, and complete with a blaster pistol that's pretty darned convincing as almost an original.

Star Wars goes Kenner! Six reissues and one new vintage-style "ReAction"-esque figure are seemingly exclusive to Target, and of course sold out preorders in seconds. Hopefully Target and Hasbro don't pull a Spinosaurus and keep them coming all year long!