a href="http://figureoftheday.blogspot.com/2024/06/star-wars-figure-of-day-day-3147-bespin.html">Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Bespin (Silhouette II).This one is gorgeous - Mattel made a bunch of cars with little designs on them not unlike the old Burger King glasses, and this one comes from a set fo planet-themed cars. This one uses the Silhouette II car, which looks kind of like a single version of the Twin-Pod Cloud Car, and is based on one of the very first Hot Wheels cars. Also the design is beautiful. Read on!

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Luke Skywalker (RacerVerse). I really like this one too - I've been seeing him at Target if you want to go see one in person, and he's worth the six bucks. Sure, there isn't a full X worth of wings, but it's a charming little toy and the kind of thing that's fun to scoot around on your desk. It's more of an actual toy than a toy-shaped collectible, so if you have kids or tracks or race little cars, absolutely go get one of these. And if you're sick of car that's OK, we have one more Friday and that's it. Read on!

a href="http://figureoftheday.blogspot.com/2024/06/star-wars-figure-of-day-day-3145.html">Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Millennium Falcon (Hot Wheels Carships). I picked this one up at 99 Cents Only stores (RIP) a few years ago and opened it a couple of months ago. It's pretty nifty - basically they slapped a racing stripe on the Falcon and slapped a metal ship on a plastic sled with wheels. It's pretty good - if you have a launcher, it'll go pretty far with a slight nudge. It's also one of the faster cars I've got when I tried it in a downhill race, but wasn't fast enough to beat the Slave I Carships toy I got. Read on!

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Hot Wheels Princess Leia (RacerVerse Blockade Runner Tantive IV). It's Wheels Week, and this is the reason why - I saw her in a store and said "wait, what else have I missed?" It's basically a 1980s McDonald's Happy Meal toy, but with the quality of a Hot Wheels car, and also it's a ship you don't see as a toy very much. It's a winner. Read on!

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Hot Wheels Han Solo (Twinduction). It's Wheels Week, so let's go through my stash of cars and see what was sitting around - this one is not the best, but it has some nice graphics on the card and on the side of the car itself. Read on!

The rumors are true - maybe! Walmart posted a listing for a Imaginext STAR WARS Darth Vader Bot 2 Ft Toy Lights Sounds Stormtrooper Diecast Character Key, meaning that two of my favorite things are coming together - Star Wars and Imaginext from Fisher-Price/Mattel. (Could Playmobil be next? I can dream.) A second set is making the rounds on some image servers, and that's a giant R2-D2 with a die-cast metal C-3PO figure. Now if you're paying attention, you'll note a pattern is emerging.

(Oh, and that's an affiliate link, so go ahead and buy something after clicking it and we might get a tiny kickback from the sale(s) to support the site. Please and thank you.)

So far, the leaks have resulted in a giant R2-D2 (with a non-specific playset environment that you could squint and see as a Death Star or Blockade Runner) and a giant Darth Vader (with no obvious playset landmarks) at very high price points. As I write this I haven't heard anything about these through official channels, so I'm just speculating here - but this could be the result of licensing demands, so as not to step on Hasbro's feet.  Historically Imaginext has had single figures, blind-bag figures, 2-packs, small vehicles, medium playsets, and sometimes gargantuan toys as big as a coffee table.   It's the real deal, and you'll probably find some of them at your local Goodwill on the cheap.

Imaginext toys have been around for over 20 years, and have slowly exited most toy aisles - there used to be a big section at Kohl's, Toy R Us had a massive aisle. Right now the line has what's left of Lightyear (on clearance somewhere near you, but good toys), Batman/DC, and Jurassic World. Some non-licensed items also may be out there still, but again, distribution in American stores has been lousy for the last year. I have no idea what exactly we'll see from this line, but so far, we know two things: it's expensive, and it's proof that someone out there believes in playsets and action features in toys, made for kids, again.

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If you  have the 99 Cents Only store chain in your area, take a look inside.  Hasbro's dumping the The Force Awakens MicroMachines head playsets there for $4.99, and Hot Wheels Carships and Character Cars are there for 99 cents - I've seen Royal Guards, the Ghost, Poe's X-Wing, and others I haven't previously seen in circulation at the big box stores much/at all.  Good hunting!

Hot Wheels! Walmart in the USA has a new exclusive assortment of cars for $0.97 a pop.  This batch is based on planets.   It’s the third “$1″ car batch, the previous two focused on episodes and factions.

These are quite nice - while Rogue One iconography is nowhere to be seen, you’ll see some retro graphics on the side with touristy vistas, Tusken Raiders, AT-ATs, lightsaber duels, Cloud City, and more.   You’ll even notice Rey on her speeder on the Jakku one.  If you ever bought the old Burger King glasses, the art style is similar to those.

So far Walmart’s have been the only Hot Wheels sets I’ve been all-in on, thanks to the lower price point and the creative designs.    As a bonus, they all have distinctive card art.   Get ‘em if you can find them!  Designs include Kamino, Mustafar, Tatooine, Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, Endor, and Jakku - and are numbered sequentially in order of appearance in the saga.   At this time I know of no Rogue One tie-in assortment, but we've still got a few more months.

While Hasbro remains silent on their plans for the big show, Mattel rolled out a classic with this one.   A Death Star Trench Race set has 3 TIE Fighters and an X-Wing, but in car form with enhanced deco and electronics.  $50 for four cars in a fancy box - if you can swing it. 

EW, girl, EW.   Over at Entertainment Weekly, you can read the descriptively titled article Check out an exclusive look at the first toys from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  It gives you a look at the $25 Black Series debut Stormtrooper as well as Mattel's Hot Wheels car and a LEGO buildable figure.

If you missed it - and you probably did - HotWheelsCollectors.com will put the Hot Wheels Star Wars Darth Vader Vehicle up at 9:00 AM Pacific for $39.99, plus a few other items.  This is similar to the one for $3.49 at Target, Toys R Us, and Walmart but has slightly different deco and swell packaging based on the lightsaber hilt from the movies along with electronic lights and sounds.  Click here for the full story.

Walmart just got new big bins of Fast & Furious and Batman assortments this week for 86 cents a pop.  It's a good deal.  Later this year, they'll get Star Wars Hot Wheels based on the 6 movies and the 2 most recent TV shows - 8 in all.   Hot Wheels Collectors.com has the scoop.