This week in Q&A - Big Walker Vehicles! They're a staple of Star Wars, but are we to see any this year? The Vintage Collection - soon to be a topic we won't discuss here, because it's kind of the same thing. Also Kylo Ren redux - are we getting too much of a decent thing?
And send in your questions for next week. Read on!
I had some time, so I threw up some more prototype pictures of the Landspeeder. Maybe you didn't see them, maybe you did, but here they are again with more angles. A panel for The Black Series was rescheduled from the web times, and I caught a livestream of it. As far as I can tell, there were no product reveals in the stream - so let's gawk over this Landspeeder some more!
I just snapped a few more (or better) shots of items the other day. Maybe you've seen these, but if not here's another look. (No, not another Luke.)
The Titan Hero Series Yoda is a great mishmash of his design from The Empire Strikes Back and the prequels, including his snake and cane from the Kenner era plus a lightsaber from the not-as-old era. I've felt that these 12-inch scale figures have been generally great - their only real shortcoming is my preferene for Original Trilogy-era characters, of which there have been precious few at this size. The production sample of Yoda looked so incredible that for $10, I'd strongly recommend everybody give him a good look when he hits stores in a little while.
You may have seen this from San Diego Comic-Con, but it was mobbed by people in a tight booth. At HasCon, there was more space between things, so you don't have to worry about being crushed alive from all sides while trying to look at an action figure. Also notable, many figures in the diorama were customized and a Luke Stormtrooper has an alternate, wet head. I was unable to find out if it's coming out or was just a thing for the booth, but the important thing tonight is that you can see it after the jump.
So there aren't any more new vehicles on display, but it's worth noting that the Wampa with Luke Skywalker is sized similarly to the recent Probe Droid with Darth Vader and Bala-Tik with Rathtar - and should be in that same assortment later, you lucky so-and-sos. I'm happy to see so much new stuff from The Empire Strikes Back, and the Wampa looks nice in particular. New figure 2-packs, including BB-8's dark friend, are there too.
Hasbro revealed a few goodies at SDCC already, but there are more items yet to show. Actually, this might be it for the year - I don't know, given how quickly the Han Solo movie will (allegedly) be released. The gamut of Force Friday II products were shown, but you've seen and hopefully already bought those. Here, you'll find new 2-packs, single figures, and newish creatures. No new vehicles were displayed at this event.
While there's not much here you haven't heard of or seen teased, it's worth a look! The Vintage Collection is back, and an exploded prototype of the Imperial Hover Tank shows an incredibly high piece count for the vehicle, which is sure to have a price to match. Snoke is here with his gold bathrobe and slippers, and massive head wound, and missing jaw chunk. Who does he think he is, Karloff? Read on for more!
HasCon is on in Rhode Island right now - but it's pretty much over for the day at this point. The morning greeted guests with 90+ minute waits for exclusives, but otherwise fairly few crowds. Traffic is brisk, seating is plentiful, and it's a genuinely pleasant show to navigate. And our coverage begins here with shots of some full-size props seen on the show floor. Toys and more are incoming. You'll want to keep checking back, particularly if you are on the west coast and bored at work on a Friday afternoon.
You have to squint, but user @maro254 posted a bunch of advance looks at HasCon on Twitter. Of note was a post showing the Star Wars area with some newness - you can make out the 3 3/4-inch Vintage Hover Tank, a bunch of cardbacks, and what appears to be a 3 3/4-inch vintage Snoke! Take a look - and we'll have more later.
According to CNBC: Toys R Us hires law firm as it explores possible bankruptcy filing. The toy seller had some restructuring over the past couple of decades while some of its competitors started to loose its shine. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Sears and Montgomery Wards were a couple of power players in toys. They're gone. Then Kay-Bee and Kmart took over - which are gone, and not doing well, respectively.
Hopefully it's no big deal, but toys are an increasingly tough sell as the speculator's market of the 1990s is over, modern children move to games faster, and collectors eventually fill their homes.
It's Star Wars so of course there's a new Darth Vader - this time packaged with the Probe Droid. It's packed 1 per carton of 4 toys, the other 3 being Rathtars, so these tend to sell out quickly. Particularly since it's the first new Original Trilogy thing in a while. Should you get one? Read on!
Because things are fine, StarWars.com posted A Statement Regarding Star Wars: Episode IX. Director Colin Trevorrow is out, after directing Jurassic World and Safety Not Guaranteed (largely positive) and the new Book of Henry (largely negative.) A key quote:
"Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ."
No new director is known, but at this point I'd start putting money in big names and former Lucasfilm collaborators.