1. We've had [The Retro Collection] figures for one of the rarest [original Kenner and Palitoy-era] Star Wars figures, Yak Face.

But why haven't we been given a Blue Snaggletooth or Vlix?

Is there concern someone might try to pass one off as the real deal?

Or, is Hasbro saving one of these for a special occasion?

--Chris

The short answer is "I don't know" combined with "Am I the only one asking Hasbro for Vlix?"

I don't see much chatter on for Vlix online other than people asking why I keep writing about it. I haven't been able to get anyone at Hasbro to give me a why/why not on Vlix over the past three decades. I have talked about collectibles based on the character at other companies - and I get a lot of eye rolls and people who think I'm joking around once they see a picture. Of Vlix. And probably also of me, I wouldn't make a figure of me either.

Interestingly, Hasbro has manufactured a 2D representation of Vlix on its 6-inch The Black Series Droids Boba Fett's packaging. He also appeared on Sise Fromm's packaging card art.

Similarly, Blue Snaggletooth hasn't been done yet and my hunch is they're saving that one. If you put out a set with Hammerhead, Greedo, a Power Droid, and whatever? Throw in a Blue Snaggletooth, and I'll probably buy at least two of the set, whatever it is. I would not expect it before 2027 or 2028 (or even 2029) for the 50th of the movie, the 50th of the toy line/original release. We also just got the first-ever The Vintage Collection carded Blue Snaggletooth, which I assume will stir a little demand for something closer to the genuine article.

For the past few years I was really, really, really hoping that Vlix would be part of a set of figures around September 2025 because it's the 40th anniversary of the show. Obviously, this did not happen. Maybe we'll get it for the 50th, but eventually you just have to look at how much time has passed how many of the target audience is slowly getting too old to care. I assume there are bigger fish to fry for 2027, and 2035 is probably too late. If a kid watched that cartoon on Saturday Mornings back in the day, they're probably going to be at least 60 by then. A lot of old-school fans are 60 already, and I don't hear from them as much.

I'm hoping to see an appeal to the Star Wars olds for 2027, as a 50 year old might be a grandparent and can buy a set of figures "for the grandkids." (I hope they lean on this in the marketing.) Blue Snaggletooth, Vlix, Luke, Chewbacca... obviously these aren't all the same thing but it might be a good time to let people have a little fun while they can. It's great to see a Yak Face remake, but that program probably should be leaned into harder, earlier, and with wider distribution as the key demo might be in shorter supply if they decide to hold anything back for the 60th. I certainly don't remember much of The Wizard of Oz turning 50 being about appealing to old-school fans so much as the widest possible audience, and it's possible we'll see Lucasfilm treat Star Wars the same way as they're going to be competing for marketing against all the other stuff on deck.

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2. Let's assume the HasLab Gunship doesn't get funded this week. [Chris asked this question 9/1. -AP] Right now, with a week to go, it's about half-funded.

Will this make Hasbro rethink offering us a future vehicle, and go in a different direction like another playset (ahem, Death Star)?

Or, will it dawn on them that we didn't need a slightly larger version of a ship we have multiples of in different releases and decor schemes?
--Chris

People can come up with statistics to prove anything, Chris. Forty per cent of all people know that.

Disney, Lucasfilm, and Hasbro all collaborate on every decision and they all come with different priorities. Marketing initiatives, anniversaries, quarterly earnings, are among the many beats that could be on a list of reasons to do an item, or to do something else. As far as I know, none of us have been in any of the meetings where they make the final call. We can make assumptions, and we can only guess as to motivations.

There are so few HasLab projects that pretty much any one of them is a statistical anomaly. I don't think anything about the Barge other than its coming to pass motivated much about subsequent items.

Hasbro Pulse's HasLab has had great success with Ghostbusters doing both new and classic props. We haven't seen success with Sesame Street (Cookie Monster) or Star Wars (Reva's FX Lightaber), both of which were well-thought-out and nicely prototyped items. We haven't seen many other props for non-ghost-related properties yet, and I can only assume it has nothing to do with Reva's weapon dropping the ball. That one's complicated, and for all I know Hasbro will make future items for the mass (or collector) market instead. I see props as more of a casual fan or costumer item that should be in semi-regular circulation, rather than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

With G.I. Joe they had one 3 3/4-inch item squeak by and then later licensed the whole brand out to Super7. The Super7 Joe crowdfund did not succeed. Would Hasbro have failed with another new $150-$225 vehicle with a gaggle of figures? Maybe. Maybe not! We'll never know, but Hasbro probably would keep it going if the money was good. Hasbro has only tried one 6-inch The Black Series big ticket item, and we haven't seen a second. 6-inch fans may point to the big First Order TIE Fighter, Snowspeeder, Rey Speeder, Enfys Nest speeder, and so on hitting sales bins. Maybe the Rancor was a final try for that whole category for items over $100. We'll have to wait and see, because I don't think an X-Wing or AT-ST would be bad to try.

Given the variety of licenses and products, I can't really draw any learnings so far other than "longer funding periods are best" and "new bonus figures are helpful."

So what about the Gunship? It's the first pure remake of an existing Star Wars item where an entire Old School adult collector audience had multiple opportunities to buy or pass on the toy version from 2002-2013. It's the first prequel crowdfund. It didn't offer new characters... but neither did the Barge, Ghost, or ultimately, Razor Crest. You could carve up the data points any way you want to make a conclusion but I don't think it's possible to do so accurately.

It would be irresponsible for me to point out that many HasLabs are new versions of existing items, just larger. There were already some big (but not that big) Galactus and Sentinel figures in Marvel Legends and Marvel Universe. Kenner made a Creature Cantina in 1979, plus a pop-up cardboard diorama in 1997, and a build-a-bar that ran from 2002 through 2007. 3 3/4-inch fans have a Death Star Space Station from the 1970s as well as Detention Block Escape and Death Star Chasm playsets from 1996. There are other proton pack props and toys in the market for Ghostbusters too, and some very cheap traps and PKE meters. But they still worked. Hasbro produced better items at generally fair prices.

This item is only one datapoint in a sea of information which will be used to select a future crowdfund. Given the uncertainty and wild rumors (and judicial rulings) surrounding imported goods, Hasbro might not want to do anything for a couple of years. On the other hand, a 7-year-old that saw Star Wars in theaters in 1977 just turned 55. He's not going to be a collector forever and it certainly seems like we're going to see annual additions to this category as it's millions of dollars.

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FIN

Now that the HasLab Cantinas are shipping, a lot of other figures are as well. New waves, new gift sets, and of course the very nice Cantina Adventure Set. It has been out of stock - and in stock - a few times in the last week. Get one. It's worth it.

I'm slowly opening it up and prepping it for reviews, and it's great. The diorama is nice and sturdy, and the figures I've opened so far are more or less exactly what I needed. Coming up with a redeco in Star Wars that seems fresh - and also isn't - is a magic trick. They pulled it off nicely, translating many of the 1978 details to figures from the past decade and change. Also I'm happy we didn't get saddled with another full holo figure program. Those were premium-priced with no paint, these are cheaper and look interesting.

The Cantina figures go beyond the requirements to make something decent, and they all make some interesting editorial choice. You could probably have gotten a pretty good Hammerhead without the soft goods, or left out the bonus hands in Walrus Man, or ditch the holster on Greedo. But they didn't. They did give Hammerhead side eye, and Greedo got its lens flares which also look like he's giving you the business. The colors are mostly bright and fun, making these a cheerful update of something we haven't seen in almost 46 years. If you don't have the original Class of 1979, I assume you're going to be pretty pleased with this pack. Also eBay sellers seem to be splitting the sets up for a hefty mark-up, so maybe go order yours early.

If you're shrugging because you want only the movie guys in your Cantina, I'd still recommend these as seat fillers. I would never anticipate Hasbro making all the human Cantina figures, and these guys would get the job done. Also if Hasbro ever wants to do the background humans but swap heads with Lucasfilm or Hasbro employees, I'd say they should do it. We're not going to notice, and at least I personally will not be mad if a Swilla Corey figure just happens to have the face of the head of Hasbro's Senior Manager of Account Support and Compliance. Hasbro did an amazing job getting the faces right on the human skiff guards, and I appreciate that. But even with the Tonnikas, if it meant getting them 20 years ago, I'm not super specific about likeness rights on background actors. Aliens, yes. Big name cameos, probably, yeah. But if Hasbro want to give me a couple of day drinkers from space that just happen to look like Chris Reiff or Steve Evans I'm not gonna whine as long as the costumes match the movies.

I know I've been cranky, and things like these make me less cranky. With all the new flavors of Star Wars, it's nice to get toys from the movie called Star Wars. I'm still seeing unsold Kelnacca figures and lightsabers on the shelves of Walmart, but very little (if anything) from the original trilogy other than the occasional gaggle of Lando figures. There are logistical reasons why there's a glut of some figures (looking at you, deluxe solid packs) and I think the fan demand for premium perfect versions of everything online has resulted in only hardcore fans buying a lot of this stuff. It's generally not impulse-priced, but with the Cantina Adventure set we are getting a pretty good deal.

While 2025 was pretty light for Retro, The Vintage Collection seems to be having a good year. If you look back at the line since 2010, very few years brought out many new characters - we've been in remake territory for quite some time. The new 3-pack Sandtrooper is nice, I'm digging the Tonnika sisters, I don't mind the Bantha getting its first full new figure since 1998, and the all-new Landspeeder - while not a huge improvement - is still very good. The Thrawn dudes 3-pack? Also nice. If you were a collector in the 1990s, and you like upgrades (and 5 very special demakes) you'll probably leave the year reasonably satisfied. Focus on what you got, and not on what doesn't exist - it's pretty good. Even The Acolyte figures are good. Osha seems like she'd be right at home anywhere in the toy universe.

--Adam Pawlus

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