The rumors are true - maybe! Walmart posted a listing for a Imaginext STAR WARS Darth Vader Bot 2 Ft Toy Lights Sounds Stormtrooper Diecast Character Key, meaning that two of my favorite things are coming together - Star Wars and Imaginext from Fisher-Price/Mattel. (Could Playmobil be next? I can dream.) A second set is making the rounds on some image servers, and that's a giant R2-D2 with a die-cast metal C-3PO figure. Now if you're paying attention, you'll note a pattern is emerging.

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So far, the leaks have resulted in a giant R2-D2 (with a non-specific playset environment that you could squint and see as a Death Star or Blockade Runner) and a giant Darth Vader (with no obvious playset landmarks) at very high price points. As I write this I haven't heard anything about these through official channels, so I'm just speculating here - but this could be the result of licensing demands, so as not to step on Hasbro's feet.  Historically Imaginext has had single figures, blind-bag figures, 2-packs, small vehicles, medium playsets, and sometimes gargantuan toys as big as a coffee table.   It's the real deal, and you'll probably find some of them at your local Goodwill on the cheap.

Imaginext toys have been around for over 20 years, and have slowly exited most toy aisles - there used to be a big section at Kohl's, Toy R Us had a massive aisle. Right now the line has what's left of Lightyear (on clearance somewhere near you, but good toys), Batman/DC, and Jurassic World. Some non-licensed items also may be out there still, but again, distribution in American stores has been lousy for the last year. I have no idea what exactly we'll see from this line, but so far, we know two things: it's expensive, and it's proof that someone out there believes in playsets and action features in toys, made for kids, again.

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If you  have the 99 Cents Only store chain in your area, take a look inside.  Hasbro's dumping the The Force Awakens MicroMachines head playsets there for $4.99, and Hot Wheels Carships and Character Cars are there for 99 cents - I've seen Royal Guards, the Ghost, Poe's X-Wing, and others I haven't previously seen in circulation at the big box stores much/at all.  Good hunting!

Hot Wheels! Walmart in the USA has a new exclusive assortment of cars for $0.97 a pop.  This batch is based on planets.   It’s the third “$1″ car batch, the previous two focused on episodes and factions.

These are quite nice - while Rogue One iconography is nowhere to be seen, you’ll see some retro graphics on the side with touristy vistas, Tusken Raiders, AT-ATs, lightsaber duels, Cloud City, and more.   You’ll even notice Rey on her speeder on the Jakku one.  If you ever bought the old Burger King glasses, the art style is similar to those.

So far Walmart’s have been the only Hot Wheels sets I’ve been all-in on, thanks to the lower price point and the creative designs.    As a bonus, they all have distinctive card art.   Get ‘em if you can find them!  Designs include Kamino, Mustafar, Tatooine, Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, Endor, and Jakku - and are numbered sequentially in order of appearance in the saga.   At this time I know of no Rogue One tie-in assortment, but we've still got a few more months.

While Hasbro remains silent on their plans for the big show, Mattel rolled out a classic with this one.   A Death Star Trench Race set has 3 TIE Fighters and an X-Wing, but in car form with enhanced deco and electronics.  $50 for four cars in a fancy box - if you can swing it. 

EW, girl, EW.   Over at Entertainment Weekly, you can read the descriptively titled article Check out an exclusive look at the first toys from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  It gives you a look at the $25 Black Series debut Stormtrooper as well as Mattel's Hot Wheels car and a LEGO buildable figure.

If you missed it - and you probably did - HotWheelsCollectors.com will put the Hot Wheels Star Wars Darth Vader Vehicle up at 9:00 AM Pacific for $39.99, plus a few other items.  This is similar to the one for $3.49 at Target, Toys R Us, and Walmart but has slightly different deco and swell packaging based on the lightsaber hilt from the movies along with electronic lights and sounds.  Click here for the full story.

Walmart just got new big bins of Fast & Furious and Batman assortments this week for 86 cents a pop.  It's a good deal.  Later this year, they'll get Star Wars Hot Wheels based on the 6 movies and the 2 most recent TV shows - 8 in all.   Hot Wheels Collectors.com has the scoop.

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Toys R Us' new Star Wars resets are giving both sides of an aisle over to the space opera, providing close to Episode I-levels of real estate devoted to our favorite toy line during a period where, frankly, that's just confusing.   But the advantage here is there's a lot of room to fill and the Star Wars Hot Wheels Death Star Battle Blast is in stores now.  It's $14.99, has an X-Wing car, and... that's about it, really.  See the image I took with a Nintendo 2DS, after the jump.

After making its star debut at SDCC, the Hot Wheels Life Sized Darth Vader Car is now featured in a commercial sporting all its dark side prowess. Check it out after the jump and view our Hot Wheels SDCC Image Bank here.

In the never-ending arms race between Mattel and Hasbro for coolest collector exclusive at Comic-Con, one thing Mattel tends to really nail well is packaging.  How can you take a $1-$4 die-cast metal car and make it $40?  Easy - make a nice box, like this Darth Vader Die-Cast Metal Car revealed at the USA Today today.

Has Mustafar frozen over?  Sponsor Entertainment Earth posted two assortments - Hot Wheels Star Wars cars and Track Sets - with no pictures as of yet, but a September release date.  Mattel's first step into a larger world should prove exciting, as they have made die-cast metal vehicles from numerous licenses in many forms.