Q&A: Star Wars Disney Droids, Europe Excemptions, and Display That Collection

By Adam Pawlus — Sunday, May 15, 2016


1. After the Walmart exclusive 3 3/4" Black Series line was made available (even more) exclusively in the UK, will it also be available in the rest of Europe? For example in Germany?
--Philipp

I have absolutely zero insight/connections to the general European market. Based on how Hasbro in Europe distributes its various toys and exclusives (some items aren't exclusive that are exclusives in the USA, or some waves get skipped over entirely) I would advise you to make a deal to import them. Shipping isn't terrible and hopefully someone will sell them online for a not-terrible price. Heck, I can't even find them in the USA myself as of yet.

 

 

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2. [In a recent Q&A] You wanted to see how thousands of figures are displayed. I have 85-90% of all the figures, arranged by year of release. Expandable spice shelves are a huge help, as are the slat walls from a out-of-business Blockbuster Video. Total room size is 15 feet x 25 feet, but the collection is in a space 16x15.

--Steve

That ain't bad - thanks for sharing, Steve! If anyone has an easy-to-set up, expandable solution for thousands of loose figures, please keep those coming.

 

 

 

3. Hey Adam, looking for a pic of the 2016 Disney [build a droid] domes and bodies. You may have answered in a prior Q&A, but can't find it. You don't need to wait til next Q&A. Just point me in the right direction, thanks!
--BC

As far as I know, there are no new-for-2016 parts bin Droid Factory pieces. This quartet hit in December, and R5-M4 came out a few days ago as the "just different enough to make you mad" train continues. If there are new ones since this last batch of 4 domes, I have not yet seen them.

At some point soon I'll try to get a checklist put together - after all, there's a lot to keep track of - but until then, send me any updates if you out there in toy land see anything.

 

 

FIN

My mailbag is empty! Send in questions if you got them.

It looks like - and it's possible I could be wrong here - mainline figures may be done until the next movie. New shipments of existing figures will still happen, but I think we've seen all we're going to get until the next launch, short of a surprise late exclusive. (Heck, I'm still looking for Han/Leia/Phasma at Walmart.) Things like Nerf Lightsabers are going on clearance, so I'd say if you see something marked down don't wait on it. Get it. You never know what Hasbro decided didn't stick when we saw multiple styles and scales thrown against the wall last September, but it's a pretty safe bet that not every product in every format will survive - especially seeing how full Target's The Force Awakens aisle is of lesser, non-action figure product. I'm not saying we won't see those little boxes from Spinmaster again, but if I were a betting man?

We've got Celebration Europe coming up, and I don't expect much out of that. Sadly the new paradigm for movie toys seems to have sucked anticipation out of them completely, at least as Disney-branded stuff goes. Heck, Warner's too - it's not like we saw a lot out of Batman v. Superman prior to it appearing on the shelves. So I guess let's all sit back and wait for something to happen, because Disney seems pretty intent on killing Star Wars collecting as a hobby between movies. I'm not saying there has to be a wave every two months, but the slow-drip strategy for Hasbro Marvel toys didn't seem to bolster collector enthusiasm, meanwhile Transformers has been having a decent drip of collector stuff while the lines realign. Seriously, the last wave of normal retail Generations toys was in February, but since then we've seen a couple of big online only combiner boxed sets, one Legends-class ($10) toy, and another shared exclusive looks like it's about to go up for grabs later this month. Since Toy Fair, Star Wars has had couple of metal helmets and 3-old-figures-1-new-one Takodana Encounter. Meanwhile, Transformers should reboot in August (if not earlier) and Star Wars hasn't had an officially announced date yet, but if it isn't September I'll go get a hat and eat it.

--Adam Pawlus

Got questions? Email me with Q&A in the subject line now! I'll answer your questions as soon as time (or facts) permit.