Star Wars: The Vintage Collection! It was not a big year for reveals. The biggest was a new edition of Boba Fett's Slave I, a long since sold-out formerly Amazon exclusive, now a shared exclusive. The 2020 edition includes a newly-tooled clear display stand and a new paint job that's better than ever, with cool engine lights on the back! It's also a lot more expensive, but not nearly as pricey as the secondary market rates for the original.
If you go to a good site, they'll no doubt put together great galleries with insightful, useful commentary - but since I was unable to squeeze in most of the areas where the good collector stuff was, we don't have pictures of everything. I'm working on galleries now of some nifty new toys and we also have a text dump of my tweets from the Hasbro Media Day presentation.
Highlights: Walmart has retro Kenner for The Empire Strikes Back, pretty much a lot of it all leaked early, The Vintage Collection showed 2 figures (one reissue, one resculpt), and while there's a lot of interesting product - in every definition of the word - long-time collectors are unlikely to be feeling that this is Their year, even if it's an diverse batch of stuff.
Ad: In stock now - Star Wars The Vintage Collection Skiff Vehicle - Exclusive! Hasbro doesn't do a lot of new mold vintage ships, but you can get this one right now.
In stock while supplies last.
Editorial comment - I (Adam) just opened mine and put it together - it's great.
Jabba's palace in 6-inch scale, complete with a Rancor, and the Barge in 3 3/4-inch scale, were on display in full force! Packed with modern and classic figures as well as what we have been informed were custom figures, there's not a lot of new product here - but the diorama itself is pretty spectacular. Check it out!
So how was the Hasbro breakfast here in San Diego? Awesome. But for Star Wars? There's nothing you haven't already seen. Hasbro showed off its Hyper Real Darth Vader and Black Series X-Wing Helmet along with a couple of Comic-Con exclusives. We snapped a few photos, but you've seen these before. New reveals were promised in this afternoon's panel, so stay tuned for more!
What has Derryl DePriest been up to? Since exiting Hasbro, he, Rich Alot, and D. Martin Myatt have started work on a new book! The hardcover Star Wars The Vintage Collection Archive Edition Book covers the 3 3/4-inch line and if the stretch goals hit, some of its black-and-silver siblings. I was waitint a few hours to see if it would smash its goal on the first day - and it has been a very successful Kickstarter. In addition to the book, a really cool poster is coming too. Click here and check it out.
Playsets! Vehicles! Reissues! Retools! Hasbro takes you on a rollercoaster of love for the first 30 minutes of Return of the Jedi in The Vintage Collection this year. Exclusives are coming - some presoldout out before the official announcement - so buckle up for a fascinating and frustrating year!
Apparently Hasbro is on some European tour! Today we got word of another The Vintage Collection figure - Poe Dameron! ...yeah, you got one of these. But you can get another one now! This is the figure last sold as a Walmart exclusive (some of which ended up elsewhere far after the fact.) Check it out.
One of the most requested figures from The Last Jedi is coming to 3 3/4-inch action figures! Luke Skywalker (Crait) is his astral-projected form, mixing in various elements to a fraudulent, younger warrior. He's joined by the Rogue One Imperial Assault Tank Commander, so at least we've got some freshness coming in Summer of 2019.
Hasbro revealed some freshness for us, plus a long-requested return of Darth Revan - yes, the 2007 figure. Finally.
Other new figures include a Rogue One Stormtrooper using the Mimban Stormtrooper body and a helmet from the 5-points-of-articulation figure. It looks good.
Lando Calrissian and Han Solo are on the way from Solo.
Like a phoenix rising out of Arizona, Hasbro Pulse seems to have one once more. The oft-dormant fan site had a bit of a push at the Hasbro Toy Fair press event, and now the Hasbro Pulse Instagram Feed announced a new The Vintage Collection Klaatu (Skiff Guard) action figure render.
This is the first new version of this figure in this costume since the 1990s, updating one of the original Kenner action figures of old to the modern "super articulated" era in time for Hasbro's new Sail Barge - now with over 1,600 supporters. And of course I have a lot more to say about this.
Getting through hundreds of images is time-consuming, so let's cheat. It's time for The Vintage Collection to return like so many seven-year locusts. Here are images from Hasbro's showroom, mixed in with lightly edited tweets from our livetweet Saturday afternoon. You'll see exclusives, main line items, and even a preview of something for 2019. Sound good? Awesome.
Hasbro to fans - "Put up or shut up." Well, not quite as bluntly.
Today Hasbro announced HasLab, it's own crowdfunding site. The goal is to do Kickstarter-like runs for ridiculously great toys for ultrafans, and they kicked it off with the most improbable thing in the line's rich history - Jabba the Hutt's Sail Barge. Yes, a 3 3/4-inch Sail Barge. No, you're not dreaming.