Adam's Star Wars Newsletter #002 **************** CONTENTS I. We Must Repeat II. The New Hasbro Announcements III. The New Hasbro Releases IV. The Other 6-Inch Star Wars Action Figure Line V. Disney+ Streaming Series VI. Fin **************** I. We Must Repeat We had a response! That's not nothing. This may or may not be an ongoing newsletter due to interest, mostly because this style of reporting is way more interesting to me than the whole "let's do a post, put up images, and repeat" angle from most of the 21st century. For this reason, any promoting you may do of this tremendous waste of time to your friends is greatly appreciated. Right now we're going to try to time these with new Hasbro product announcements, as this is a more interesting way to catch you up with reveals than by merely parroting press releases. For me. I'm trying to entertain myself here, too. Your pal, Adam Pawlus **************** II. The New Hasbro Announcements What have you missed since last time? A number of these will have pre-orders going live Wednesday, May 5 at 1:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 AM Pacific. The Black Series 6-Inch Action Figures Regular Figures __ Omega (The Bad Batch) Walmart Exclusive __ Imperial Clone Shock Trooper (The Bad Batch) __ Vice Admiral Rampart (The Bad Batch) The Clone Wars (Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary Collection). Target exclusives, May on-shelf. URL: https://www.starwars.com/news/hasbro-star-wars-the-black-series-the-clone-wars-exclusive __ Anakin Skywalker (Season 1) __ ARC Trooper Echo __ Clone Pilot Hawk __ Obi-Wan Kenobi (Season 1) Gaming Greats (GameStop Exclusive) __ Flametrooper (Jedi: Fallen Order) __ Nightbrother Warrior (Jedi: Fallen Order) Roleplay and Prop Replicas __ Mandalorian Death Watch Helmet (GameStop Exclusive) The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures __ ARC Trooepr Echo (repack, PulseCon exclusive) __ Offworld Jawa __ Republic Trooper (The Old Republic, Fan's Choice rerelease) __ Teebo (rerelease, former Toys R Us exclusive) Link to pre-orders at sponsor Entertainment Earth: https://bit.ly/2RuhSHB The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures (Walmart Exclusive) __ Death Star Droid (redeco) __ Luke Skywalker (Battle Poncho, new head with dedicated helmet) __ Tusken Raider (redeco) The Retro Collection __ Boba Fett (Prototype, Target Exclusive) Also, Disney leaked a new Pride/rainbow/Crayola-inspired 3 /4-inch robot for the theme parks you probably won't go to any time soon. Droid Factory (Disney) __ R2-RNBW **************** III. The New Hasbro Releases What is showing up in stores or shipping out now? The Retro Collection Wave 1 - Kenner 3 3/4-inch Action Figures Despite rumors to the contrary, no known remixes of Wave 1 exist - it's one of everybody except Mando at two per case. The final figure is exclusive to a board game that costs $50. __ Cara Dune __ The Child __ Greef Karga __ IG-11 __ Kuiil __ The Mandalorian __ Moff Gideon __ Remnant Stormtrooper (exclusive to Hasbro Pulse/Disney exclusive Mandalorian Monopoly game) The Remnant Stormtrooper in the Monopoly game sold out at Disney's online shop and commands a hefty premium sans game on eBay. Buy it on Pulse. I was originally going to wait for a deal, but $90 for just the figure makes me think $50 for just the game with the figure will ultimately prove the safer deal. **************** IV. The Other 6-Inch Star Wars Action Figure Line Since 2015, Hasbro has had a 6-inch line of action figures that cost about $5-$7, sold mostly internationally. You may never have seen them, because assortment B3946 haven't been sold in any big box or toy US retailer before 2021. The first ones showed up in Mexico and Australia in 2015, with others trickling out over the years. The Mandalorian and The Child just showed up, and while they're cheap - they're like the biggest, best Happy Meal prize you could ever hope to get - they're scaled to nearly fit with The Black Series. In the United States I've seen some of them in Big Lots, Family Dollar, and in 2021 Walmart. Here is everybody that has been released to date that I could find evidence of having existed - there may be more! You can find reviews of some at this URL: http://figureoftheday.blogspot.com/search/label/Value%206-Inch%20Action%20Figures The Force Awakens Line Look (2015, came in two distinct window box styles depending on the region) __ Darth Vader __ Finn __ First Order Snowtrooper __ First Order Stormtrooper __ Kylo Ren Post-TFA Line Look (2016, open tray) __ Darth Maul __ Darth Vader __ Han Solo (SW, Ford) __ Kanan Jarrus __ Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) __ Rey Rogue One Line Look (2017, no known US release, window box) __ Darth Vader __ Death Trooper __ Kylo Ren The Last Jedi Line Look (2017, window box) __ Captain Phasma __ C-3PO __ Darth Vader __ First Order Stormtrooper __ Rey Solo: A Star Wars Story Line Look (2018, window box) __ Chewbacca (Solo) __ Han Solo (Solo, Alden) Black and White Line Look (2019, no US release until 2021 and no known US release for Chewbacca, window box) __ C-3PO __ Chewbacca (Solo) __ The Child (S1) __ Darth Vader __ First Order Stormtrooper __ Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) __ The Mandalorian (S2) I may be missing some variations. I have personally never seen the Chewbacca in the USA. I've seen Han Solo (Solo: A Star Wars Story) twice, both in conference rooms in 2018 and 2019, but never in a store until April of 2021. I got a Death Trooper from a reader in Canada. I've still never seen Chewbacca in person. Due to the lack of nomenclature on the packaging, it may be impossible to find them on eBay or other marketplaces - the line has no official name. As such I would advise searching by the SKU - the assortment being B3946, and the individual numbers can be found on the boxes when you search online. A lot of European eBay sellers include the SKU in the names, which should be helpful for those looking to add to their character-focus collections or anyone wanting good, cheap, sturdy figures for kids. You know, like you did 40 years ago. **************** V. Disney+ Streaming Series A reader asked "Just how many Disney+ shows are in the works?" 2021 The Bad Batch (animated, pilot movie streaming now) Visions (animated) The Book of Boba Fett 2022 and beyond The Acolyte Ahsoka Andor A Droid Story Lando Obi-Wan Kenobi Rangers of the New Republic As we have seen with the movies, there's no guarantee all of these will be made in this exact format. Star Wars: Detours has never been officially released to the public, and Josh Trank's unseen movie project was replaced with Rogue One during preproduction. A lot can happen. **************** VI. Fin I'm working with a friend of mine to set up an actual email list for next time. So retro, so hip. I hope you're all continuing to be safe, getting your shot if it is safe and appropriate for you to do so, and getting whatever plastic suits your fancy. I stayed up and watched the pilot movie for The Bad Batch which was over 70 minutes of exposition and explosions - with some surprising cameos and a thumb in the eye of continuity. "Everything is canon!" in the New Disney Canon is, obviously, wrong with numerous contradictions, as illustrated by this week's latest new story. I wouldn't count on anything in print being as highly regarded as those trying to sell it to you would say, but until it's rendered factually wrong, does it matter? Jeremy Parish and the Retronauts crew put together a pretty great podcast episode on Return of the Jedi, covering the movie and its video games. You can find it here: https://retronauts.com/article/1731/retronauts-episode-374-return-of-the-jedi More new stuff is coming and pre-orders on the May 4 reveals are expected May 5. Good hunting. --Adam ****************