A blast from the past! The First Order Snowtrooper (The Black Series 6-Inch) has been tweaked and rerelased a few times, but this is the original and least-adorned version. It's shiny!  It's cheap!  You can probably find one... provided you can wait a few months to get to a store, or order online now.  Read on!

Did you miss Walmart's exclusive Star Wars The Black Series Carbonized Collection First Order Jet Trooper Toy 6-inch Scale Collectible Action Figure? That's a mouthful, and I only saw it in stores a couple of times.  Walmart.com has it now for $20.88, much cheaper than the roughly $25 it cost me last fall.  Get it while you can!

It's C-3PO! This original trilogy-specific version is dirty and has removable limbs - this is probably the Version To Get, if such things matter to you.  Assuming this Amazon Exclusive is still available to you at a price that you want to pay.  Read on!

You know him, you love him, you know he's not quite accurate to the TV show.  But IG-11 (The Black Series 6-Inch) is pretty great - the deco is phenomenal, the bandoliers are good, but the hands and a few other details aren't quite right.  He can stand and hold his blasters, though.  Is it good enough to buy?  Read on!

After 43 years at Kenner and Hasbro, veteran toy designer and the man responsible for a lot of what we love about this hobby is retiring, according to The Toybook and elsewhere.   I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Boudreaux at a few conventions over the years and he was exactly as gracious as you would hope - plus he has tons of stories about the little details on a lot of your favorite vehicles.  

From last year's line, the BB-8 (Galaxy of Adventures 5-Inch) is a cute, big-eyed droid and part of a 3-pack with R2-D2 and D-O.  Retail stores cleared them out but you can still get them online!  Read on.

The Providence Journal has confirmed that Hasbro has closed its offices due to the Coronavirus threat.  COVID-19 has turned grocery shopping into the new toy run of 2020, with soap, meat, toilet paper, and Kleenex assuming the roles of Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts and Funko Pop! Vinyl Chase figures.  Hasbro's offices have undergone routine, deep cleaning and now the Rhode Island toy maker will begin working from home.  Hasbro's offices are to be closed for the rest of March.

The Providence Journal has more:

A new head and a new cape aren't a lot to go on, but Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (The Black Series 6-Inch)  turned out pretty well.  The red lines are nifty and the cape hangs well - with two optional hoods.  Is it any good? Yes! Do you need it?  Maybe! Read on.

Target's exclusive The Mandalorian (Carbonized Graphite, The Black Series 6-Inch) has been in short supply, but a new run started to show up a few weeks ago. I hope you found yours, because the silver elements look fantastic.  Read on!

It's red and small! The Sith Jet Trooper (The Vintage Collection) is one of the enemies at the end of the very popular non-playable video game The Rise of Skywalker, and comes complete with two blasters and a jet pack you can't remove.  Read on!

Star Wars: The Vintage Collection! It was not a big year for reveals. The biggest was a new edition of Boba Fett's Slave I, a long since sold-out formerly Amazon exclusive, now a shared exclusive. The 2020 edition includes a newly-tooled clear display stand and a new paint job that's better than ever, with cool engine lights on the back! It's also a lot more expensive, but not nearly as pricey as the secondary market rates for the original.

Big vehicles! The surprisingly Snowspeeder with Dak Ralter is the highlight of The Black Series 6-inch collection this year - and there's a lot of good stuff. After 2 waves of The Empire Strikes Back reissues and improvements on 40th anniversary cards, a Probot, the baby The Child, and some other odds and ends, a $120 vehicle-with-new-character-figure seemed impossible. Yet, here it is.

Star Wars Mission Fleet! Rising plastic costs have been a strike against good toy vehicles since the 1980s, with Hasbro having to find clever or different ways to make smaller or different ships for your figures. In 2020, the next attempt is Mission Fleet - a series-spanning line with original trilogy, prequel, and TV-based ships. There don't seem to be any Disney-era movie items in here, it's just Lucasfilm-era stuff and The Mandalorian. It's neat.

Is it Man... or The Mandalorian? Neither - The Child has taken over Star Wars! Collectible figures, action figures, a board game, plushes, 2 kinds of electronic doll things, and more are on deck this year as is The Darksaber. Other character announcements were sadly in short supply, but at least it looks like the future of Star Wars is, indeed, the children.

The Bounty Collection (previously/also Baby Bounties) collectible figures will be sold in 2-packs and individually - packaging hunters, take note. If you like variants this is for you.

Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Game! Walmart is reissuing Kenner's old Boba Fett, Yoda, Bespin Luke, Hoth Leia, Hoth Han, and Lando Calrissian figures - and pre-sales of some are already sold out. And many of us older fans already own those figures, which are getting more randomized pre-applied "wear" on the card art. So you might be interested in this board game.