1. Isn’t Hasbro Star Wars mildly screwed for 2026 if the centerpiece of the Battle to Geonosis does not fund?

--Daniel

I don't think they are.

Anakin and Obi-Wan are Anakin and Obi-Wan, and presumably have got to be coming, and will sell without support from a HasLab project. I don't necessarily believe a Gunship will make or break peoples' desire to buy other new Geonosis stuff. Looking on eBay, a lot of old Geonosis-themed product can be had quite cheaply, including the Gunships. Yes, the TVC one is expensive - but the original 2002 version, which has very similar deco, is $200-$300. And you can have it next week. If new figures and playsets and vehicles inspire fans to want a Gunship, in the sliver of a chance the HasLab doesn't go through, fans can get one for a similar or lower price.

What could we get for Geonosis? If you look at the full Return to Tatooine line-up, here's what we got:
1x HasLab Cantina Playset (so, the Gunship)
1x TVC Landspeeder
1x TVC Mos Eisley playset (we could get an Arena or War Room playset)
1x Deluxe TVC Hammerhead (we could get a figure with cannon or floating prison)
1x TVC Bantha (there are 3 creatures they could remake)
1x TVC Wacky Cantina Kenner set (I assume there will be no Geonosis equivalent)
8x TVC Basic carded figures (including Obi-Wan, Han, Luke, and Chewbacca... not exactly thrilling new characters)

If we never got a Cantina, the line-up for 2025 would probably be the same, and about as well-received. Heck, I think Hasbro missed out selling us new Cantina aliens to go in our Cantinas this year.

The Return to Tatooine was basically a couple of waves' worth of basic figures and a few exclusives - they left a ton of meat on the bone here. If Hasbro underproduces 8 basic Geonosis figures because they decide they're not worth the risk, are we any worse off than we were for distribution this year? You can't exactly find any of these guys in an actual store.
Just looking at Geonosis, there's not much I'm itching to get. I can name a few items I don't have, like the Picador or the SPHA-T vehicle, but I would probably not count on either. New versions of Attack of the Clones Anakin and Obi-Wan are inevitable. We've got a good Jango and Dooku from last year, and the Clones are likely to be the same bodies again. Hasbro could redo Padme or a Nexu, that might be interesting. I could go the rest of my life and never see another new Clone figure and be very happy, but I can see reason to do new Geonosians like Sun Fac or Poggle the Lesser in addition to soldiers. I love Wat Tambor, but I can't say I'm unhappy with the 2003 one I have. I know some fans want a new Nute Gunray, but that seems unlikely to get made. It would, however, be funny if Hasbro finally made a Holographic Nute Gunray we were denied 25 years ago from the other movie.

But do we want new versions of this stuff? That's the big question. I love The Empire Strikes Back, but if you said to me "2029 is the return to Hoth!" I would probably respond by asking "Why?" There are things we don't have, but Hasbro did a great job making most of it already. Hasbro made a lot of obscure Geonosis Jedi. We got Nicanas Tassu. Do you even know if he's in your collection? I've got Joclad Danva, Roth-Del Masona, Sephjet Josall, Roan Shryne, even Sarissa Jeng. And Que-Mars Redath, Khaat Qiyn, and Selig Kenjenn. There are a lot.

To say Hasbro did a good job making figures from Attack of the Clones is an understatement. There are a lot of super-expensive scarce figures out there, and I'd be willing to bet that Hasbro's current team wouldn't want to put them out due to the fact it's unlikely anyone actually remembers they got produced. And I mean collectors as much as anyone else.

So no, I don't think the Gunship itself could impact a 2026 Geonosis-themed product suite's success. It would have to succeed or fail on its own merits. I have no doubt Hasbro is working on the best-ever sculpts for these guys. I do doubt a ton of fans will want to replace many of the existing figures they've owned for up to 23-24 years and never once thought about upgrading... but today's line is probably run smaller anyway.

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2. What do you imagine the 1985 mocked-up-but-never-made Blockade Runner would cost in 2025 dollars? Same quality of plastic, same level of paint (or not) and stickers for markings and details. I’m imagining a world where we get a Retro Collection “Alderaan Corvette” HasLab. The base offering is the ship we almost got 40 years ago, along with Retro versions of Captain Antilles, a new Leia in a gown (not a disco pantsuit) with her hood up, and an R2 with a little port Leia could put the Death Star plans.

Then Tier unlocks...Retro Bail Organa, Obi-Wan and Yoda, along with an alternate sticker sheet to give it blue markings instead of red if you want the prequel version from ROTS (this is why we don’t call it the Tantive IV...).

Final tier unlock? General Leia Organa, Rey, and Nien Numb from The Rise of Skywalker, since the ship (allegedly THE ship from A New Hope) served as the Resistance flagship in that film.

One HasLab, three trilogies, minimum engineering, proper toy, scratches the itch for people (like me and you) who want a Tantive IV...but I feel like, in today’s marketplace and economy, this would need to be sub-$300, if not sub-$250. COULD it be done?
--RJ

The original Blockade Runner model could be as big as a Millennium Falcon. I'm not sure. The last Kenner Falcon we got was $50 in 2005 and that had really nice lights and sounds. In 2025 money, that's at least $85.

I imagine it would be $250 or more, because that's what HasLab and Mattel Creations seem to think a big project should cost. I have little reason to believe Hasbro wants to do Kenner crowdfunds. They should! I'd love to see a $500-$1000 lot of Kenner ships, figures, and other things based on old prototypes. It doesn't have to be a low-dollar proposition, you can just decide on a price point, and make me enough stuff to go "I'll take two." If Hasbro wanted $450 for a Kenner-style Blockade Runner, Captain Antilles, a Strangle-happy Darth Vader, a slightly better gaggle of Rebel Troopers, and let's say a couple more droids? I'll find the money.

Does the market exist? I don't know that the audience is necessarily there for Retro, but it could be activated if there was an accessible entry point at retail. (For example, give Target an assortment with Vader, Stormtrooper, Yoda, and Boba Fett with a cardback poster checklist of the line thus far. Make it fold out if you have to fit the text from 20 countries in there, we saw it in 1998 with the Expanded Universe cardbacks.) I think if you make an effort to rile up the old fans one last time, while saying to younger fans "here are the holy grails that made this hobby what it is," you have a chance of success. If we keep getting 1 box of figures per year, I don't think it can succeed without additional assistance. (If that means R1-G4, Gargan, and Vlix figures packed in, or other obscure Kenner prototypes made reality, it could make a difference. I see official versions of those as "money is no object" purchases.)

The catch with this line - and everything I see on closeout - is that there's very little of it. You're never, ever going to rile up collectors with a line that starts and stops at 6 figures. I'm seeing most of the Skeleton Crew stuff showing up at Ross for 75% off. There's no reason to buy a Jod Na Nawood if he's the only 3 3/4-inch figure being made, and I'd go as far as to say that if you can't flip over a figure and see at least 4-5 more related figures? Maybe you shouldn't bother.

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FIN

I had a whole thing about the Gunship (in short: keep voting with your dollars and don't feel bad if people are implying you can't afford it if you just want to save your money for something else) that I wrote and axed. A juicier discussion is to be had about a new LEGO Death Star that is reportedly $1,000 and contains elements from Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, and Rogue One figures. It's even got Sim Aloo in it, and I have to assume they're taking a shot at Hasbro with that choice. Hasbro has made no plans known about when, how, or if they'll do a big Death Star, but it's a rumor about which we can't stop thinking.

So why bring it up here? Fans keep asking "What might Hasbro do with a HasLab Death Star" and I would point to this to say "this is what $1,000 gets you with LEGO." I doubt Hasbro can deliver a playset with half the level of rooms or figures for that price, without concessions. This is not a knock at their skill, but let's look at history. The Cantina is basically one big single-floor building (hold the floor) and it's $400-$500. The Barge was $500. If you bolt the Cantina to the Barge, it's a huge amount of plastic and several rooms and alcoves... but it's still not going to match what LEGO did.

Reportedly the LEGO monster is $1,000. It's even got a Shuttle landing bay, and it's a pretty good diorama that has most of what I think fans would want in this kind of a toy from Hasbro. It's round, it has many rooms, and it's squat. It has everything to give you the feeling of the biggest Death Star ever. As LEGO has done a few Death Star toys, I hope fans see it and want it.

There are limitations in what you can expect a company to make. You can't replicate a small moon in its entirety for home use, and what you get is a pretty amazing dollhouse. I don't see R2-D2 and I can't tell if it has the room where Darth Vader and Tarkin blow up Alderaan in front of Leia. There's nowhere to tractor in the Millennium Falcon. But other than that, it puts a lot of nods to most of what you saw on-screen in the movie. It's the best one yet and I assume LEGO is already working on ideas of how to do an even better one in 10 or 15 years. Nothing is so perfect everybody will love it, but if I was in the market for a LEGO set that costs more than a MacBook, I'd give this a shot.

I think LEGO was smart in making something that's more "toy/display piece" than "set replica," and I think Hasbro (hello if you're reading) would have to do the same. They could also just upscale the 1982 MicroCollection Death Star World (I would be happy, pay $400-$500), or do an annual series of "Death Star Room" playsets you could tab together over time. Problem is, 50 years on, we don't necessarily have a lot of time.

Hasbro has never confirmed they're doing a new Death Star. (Multiple comments have been made over the last 30 years about Hasbro whipping up concepts for Death Star toys beyond the first two sets in the 1990s. And some fans may have seen things.) With the 10th anniversary of Rogue One in 2026 and the 50th anniversary of Star Wars in 2027, they've gotta be working on it. As fans, we also have to compare what Hasbro is offering in 2025. A Republic Gunship remake is $450. LEGO has a whole dang Death Star for $1000. Not all fans are devoted to "just figures" or "just LEGO", and a few high rollers are very likely going to buy LEGO's offering now and potentially skip a Hasbro item unless it offers something more than "we finally made your Sim Aloo after three decades, $1200 please." (I'm just assuming there will be a handling fee to make us gasp.)

Fans probably need to look at the LEGO offering and get a really good glimpse at what Hasbro can and can't do. LEGO's set made compromises with smaller rooms and more stuff in a tighter space, which is kind of impressive and probably kind of vexing. Nobody's ever going to get a perfect scale Death Star and the very best interpretation of that location has to allow for some give and take to make it a "real" place for your toy box. Hasbro's probably incapable of a financially viable 1:18 scale series of rooms that connect to make a big round wall-mounted display. (But they may be thinking about it.)

I pulled up the Cantina pictures from the 2024 HasLab... and it looks great to me. I had the Gunship on one tab, and the Cantina on the other side of the screen, and comparing the two makes me very excited to get my hands on Dr. Chalmun's 3-D House of Scum and Villainy. And if the Gunship is $450, I just can't conceive of Hasbro concocting the Death Star of my dreams because I don't even know how the heck they could pull it off.

Unless Hasbro comes out and states their future Death Star plans, which were not in the main computer, I assume at least some of you are going to buy the LEGO one. A bird in the hand, and all of that. Collectors are getting older and money is getting tighter. It's going to be quite interesting to see who shows up for what as competition gets fierce for middle-age discretionary nerd income. I'm currently holding out for a Hasbro Death Star, but if this monster is still around in 2027 and we haven't heard anything? Maybe LEGO would be fun.

--Adam Pawlus

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