1. The EE Republic Elite Forces were great. Any stories you can share on how that came about? (Its 15-year anniversary is coming up. The TVC Bo-Katan and Death Watch/Mandalorian Commando body molds could make for an awesome update...wink, wink.)

--TJ

This one came from Hasbro mostly finalized - a couple of colors changed slightly and a couple of logos on figures were tweaked a bit per some comments we made, but this is a story I'd love to know more of - the heads under the helmets are Hasbro (and I believe Lucasfilm?) people, like Derryl DePriest is Dred Priest, Isabet Reau is Elizabeth... something... (I never met her so I am unsure.) I believe Mij Gilamar is the head of Brian Wilk but the name is a nod to James Gilmer, who as far as I know has nothing to do with the franchise other than being a pal of Star Wars scribe Karen Traviss. I would love to know the stories behind all the figures but I wasn't able to get a lot of people to talk when the figures came out, and now most of them have found employment elsewhere and out of my contact range.

It was also very pre-Disney. Lucasfilm seemed to be pretty good about the toymakers being toymakers much of the time (but not always, according to some anecdotes) so they got to play around a bit and making original characters - Mandalorians, no less - was the kind of thing I was pretty surprised to see approved. But approved it was, and we got to sell them! They were awesome. I'd love to see more figures like that instead of Credit Collection or Carbonized figures myself, but I would wager that "metallic version of guy you own" will likely continue to outsell "weird new original repaint of something you've never seen before."

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2. The brick-&-mortars in my area all get aisle and/or endcap figure displays for tentpole theatrical films like The Batman, Encanto, Jurrasic World, etc. Wal-Mart even had a large floor display for Top Gun: Maverick a couple years ago even though it was delayed, but we don't see similar for streaming shows. Any insight into if retail buyers are adapting to streaming shows as a main form of media consumption or are theatrical releases king for the foreseeable future (insert COVID caveat)? Does it hurt the Star Wars brand that future content is streaming and not theatrical?

--Tim

It's possible our parents may ask why there aren't many record stores left and why good bands like The Beatles aren't front and center and who is this Ty Seagall guy is in the bins. (He's great, get his records.) Tastes change with time and Star Wars is not currently the center of the pop culture universe.

Right now it seems most new movies have an in-store toy display for a week (or a few weeks) that empties out and goes away as a new license takes the spot over or if the toys sell through. Previously Top Gun was mostly Lanard stuff which were Walmart exclusives, if memory serves Mattel held their Matchbox stuff back a bit longer. This sort of display statement is usually a pretty important part of marketing just about anything, because the toys remind people there's a movie to go see and sometimes the movie sends people to stores. Similarly back when print still mattered, magazine covers could drive interest too. Remember magazine racks? The 20th century was a lot of fun.

The movie window launches for Star Wars in particular certainly feel like they've been in decline for the theatrical movies since The Force Awakens, ending with the simultaneously brilliant and disappointing Triple Force Friday in 2019. (That's the one for Jedi: Fallen Order, The Mandalorian, and The Rise of Skywalker that had a smaller overall release rollout combined with splitting it between three big-ticket event launches.) By most standards it did pretty well - Mando and the game stuff mostly blew off the shelves, while people didn't really get the new movie stuff. I tend to blame branding since "new" Star Wars stuff since and including The Last Jedi rarely actually slapped the movie logo on their respective boxes - it just says "Star Wars" much of the time. While accurate, it's not exactly reminding people there's a new movie to go see especially if all the stuff looks alike to the average consumer who isn't already absorbing all the marketing stuff.

A Disney-specific challenge with streaming launches is that the dates are a lot more fluid. Theatrical movies require strategic theater bookings months or years in advance, while Disney+ seems to change their launch strategy on a whim. Hasbro (and Chinese factories) can't just magically get stuff made and on-shelf, and those retailers need a lot of coordination to make a Force Friday-sized event happen. Personally I'd probably try a one-two punch of pre-orders for new series stuff during a launch window (like they're doing now) with a "sneak preview" figure on-shelf as possible with the launch of the first episode, joined by related product from existing stuff - the "spoiler toys," as it were, or a sensible offering. So with Andor coming up in a few months, I'd have loved to have seen a wave of The Retro Collection based on Rogue One as you could probably fudge the details in a way where it fits, and you could probably toss some guys from that movie in The Archive Collection figure assortments - assuming the dates were known in advance.

Having said all of that, I'm seeing a lot of stuff on clearance pretty quick too. I'm seeing Lightyear markdowns at Target, The Batman at Walmart, and an avalanche of Jurassic World: Dominion stuff everywhere that makes me think that we're going to see epic levels of clearance within a few months. There's just too much stuff right now, and I sure as heck am not in any mood to buy a $100 battle gift set. But $40? Or $25? Maybe. Hasbro hates risk, and right now they're probably in a prime position to not get burned too much in the coming year. But we'll see.

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We're almost 10 months away from Return of the Jedi turning 40. Feel old now? Well, I do - as a kid, that was my favorite movie for toys. I liked the Ewoks, but one of my go-to favorite figures was Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Disguise) with that awesome helmet, and Admiral Ackbar, because I love alien figures. Not much changed, I still love these guys. The hope is that Hasbro will do another round of Kenner reissues, but who? Who? And will they do another board game to goad us into paying $20-$50 for a new sculpt or fancy repaint, like Tarkin, Snowspeeder Luke, or Remnant Stormtrooper? (I can hope, it's still cheaper than the Kenner Bootleg guys.)

With The Empire Strikes Back wave, Hasbro played it safe - Boba Fett, Yoda, and Lando Calrissian were the new characters, with Hoth Leia, Hoth Han, and Bespin Luke rounding out the cast. (I would have picked Bespin Han Solo, but that's me.) No second wave came up for either of the first two films, but Amazon did get a 2-pack of Dengar and IG-88 - two pretty cheap and common figures - as reissue exclusives for late 2022. I'd like to once again put out there that Bespin Han Solo might make good sense, too, as he had that outfit on a lot more than the Hoth parka.

There are no known official plans for Return of the Jedi Kenner-style figures next year, but here's my wish/guess list anyway. I am assuming they will not release The Power of the Force 1984-1985 figures because they've been hesitant to use that trade dress, and also that they'll skip Ewoks because we've had precious few collector-focused Ewoks since the Disney takeover.

Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight): In the 1980s, Kenner would probably keep him in circulation for his appearances on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. He'll sell well, and he's a cool figure with a whopping three accessories. Even if you have the original, you'll probably still think about buying a new one.
Biker Scout: Appearing in The Mandalorian as well as Return of the Jedi, he should be a slam-dunk if they make more of him. You'll probably want one because your old childhood one turned a little yellow or has some scuffed-off black paint.
Gamorrean Guard: If Hasbro doesn't plan to do Boba's new Gamorrean henchmen, reissuing the 1983 original makes a lot of sense - just grab him and pretend they got some clothes.
Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Disguise): A favorite, with two cool accessories, and he'd probably find a way to fit in with the other armored new figures from The Mandalorian or maybe even the upcoming Lando show. That's still coming, right?
R2-D2 (Sensorscope): I assume R2-D2 is a "it's now or never" figure at the sluggish clip of reissues, and there's a Droid movie in the works for Disney+.
C-3PO (Removable Limbs): See above. He's too important to skip, and arguably also an upsell-able figure with new movies and shows.

The Max Rebo Band (reissued) would make an amazing retailer exclusive for somebody, too. Will it get made again? I wouldn't bet on it. So many old Max Rebo figures have faded limbs, I'd love to see a new blue one.

They'll never do it, but I'd love them to re-release two 1983 accessories. The Jabba the Hutt Action Playset with throne, collar, and Salacious Crumb would be a fun one - it was clearance fodder in 1985, but I got mine for $6 and love it to this day. (Adjusted for inflation, I assume the once-$12 toy would be at least $40.) Also, the Speeder Bike - it's small and cheap and we got one in the 1990s for $10. With a figure, I assume that would put it at $20-$25 if not higher.

The anniversary celebrations for the original Star Wars was nothing too special, but we did get a few nice figures in cool packages. The Empire Strikes Back's 40th got us a pretty hefty line-up including Kenner retro figures, Boba's helmet, a string of reissues and repacks, and a lot of special and weird The Black Series figures like a Probe Droid, a Wampa reissue, and a Luke/Yoda set that, while awesome, certainly cost fans more than it needed to be. Maybe next year we'll finally get that Wicket, or some henchmen for Jabba beyond the one Gamorrean Guard and Bib Fortuna. I'd vote for Klaatu, the Wooof flavor. I also have to wonder if there's an appetite for a 6-inch 8D8 now that he was on The Book of Boba Fett voiced by Matt Berry.

...and maybe we can finally get that Sim Aloo Imperial Dignitary for The Vintage Collection. But we've only been asking nicely for one for over twenty years, why should we finally get this one after all this time?

--Adam Pawlus

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