Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Princess Kneesaa (Ewoks Cartoon, The Vintage Collection). This is a redeco, with slightly different gear - one hood is missing. But you get a bag and a coin that you didn't get on the last release. The packaging is nice, at least. Read on!

This week in Star Wars Q&A - New Movies and big toy launches! And X-Wings - do we need more? Probably!

Be sure you send in your questions, the mail bag is empty. Read on!

If no news is good news, the Wall Street Journal has news. Hasbro’s CFO Sharpens Focus on Cost Savings as Toy Shoppers Pull Back does not necessarily sound like great news, although if Hasbro is reading I'll take care to remind them that The Retro Collection has minimal parts, fewer elements to assemble, and relatively simple packaging.

The article says: "[Hasbro CFO Gina Goetter] pointed to the company’s recent review of Nerf products, noting that the company analyzed everything from the thickness of the plastic it uses to the type of packaging, and compared those costs to competitors’. At every step of the Nerf production process, the company found, it was spending more than its rivals, Goetter said."

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Tusken Chieftan (The Black Series). He uses parts of the old Tusken Raider from about seven years ago, but most of what you'll actually see are new parts, with new robes, and some decent paint.

Mega-publisher Electronic Arts is experiencing massive layoffs this week. According to the Beeb, there was a Star Wars game cancelled as EA cuts 670 jobs. That's a lot of jobs. Recent games have received a fair amount of praise as of late, but canceled Star Wars projects are everywhere lately. They write:

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Sabine Wren (Epic Hero Series). This is the one that you might actually find in a store near you, and she has a decent array of gear - but no blasters. She is a deluxe release, so they're charging more for her (backpack, shield) but it's still a pretty nice figure and feels like a durable toy. Read on!

This week in Star Wars Q&A - Cartoon-style figures for The Bad Batch - should you get your hopes up? And Pilot Season - will your E-Wing get what it needs?

Be sure you send in your questions, the mail bag is empty. We have no questions for next week's update, which may mean I get a break. Read on!

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: R4-Series Astromech Droid Black with Silver. This was a later droid bin part from the Disney theme parks - and it looks a lot like a Hasbro dome, but doesn't have a perfectly matching body. It's also not too expensive on eBay if you can find it. Read on!

Via Variety: Disney Strikes Deal for Sony to Take Over Its DVD, Blu-ray Disc Business. From TFA: " As part of the deal, Sony will market, sell and distribute all Disney’s new releases and catalog titles on physical media to consumers through retailers and distributors in the U.S. and Canada. Disney will continue to manage its own digital media, like premium video-on-demand."

Some stores like FYE, Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart still carry some physical media while Best Buy retail stores are in the process of phasing it out. In many markets, local media and record shops might be an even better bet as the once-ubiquitous 5-inch digital versatile disc is increasingly a niche product, albeit one that has enjoyed a much longer and arguably stronger life than VHS.

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Mon Mothma (The Retro Collection). Why does she have a blaster? I have no idea - most figures in the 1980s would have, but Anakin didn't, so it's probably just for fun. Read on!

This week in Star Wars Q&A - Vehicular line-plotter! Can we expect more 1990s ships? Should you give up your worldly collection and follow Retro exclusively? And what would you want to see? I'd support that cult - but maybe just grab a few to start with.

Be sure you send in your questions for next time, mostly so we can keep this going another decade or so. Why not? It's something to do. Also, Happy Presidents Day. Read on!

Ad/sponsored link (so if you click and buy something, we may get a share of the sale): Amazon posted a new STAR WARS The Vintage Collection Escape from Order 66, The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano & Droids 3.75 Inch Collectible Action Figure 4-Pack today. Ahsoka may look familiar, and you may have other versions of R7-A7 (animated, Celebrate the Saga, or Disney droid), but CH-33P and RG-G1 are new here.



Escape from Order 66 comes in a big box with 4 carded figures inside, similar to other recent Amazon exclusives.

The set is $69.99 and due this summer. Click here to order.

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Tusken Raider (Dark Robes and Stripes, The Vintage Collection). Sometimes new deco is all you need to refresh a character, and I love having new guys to build out this group. Read on!

Some of the most common questions we get here at Galactic Hunter, the finest toy news site 2002 had to offer that for some reason hasn't been shut down yet, is "When am I going to get a toy of this thing?" Well, the answer may be "not soon" because articles like Hasbro cuts half of its SKUs as sales fall 23% in Q4 were being forwarded around today.

From the article:

"For the full year [2023], Hasbro’s revenue fell 15% to $5 billion from $5.9 billion a year earlier. The company saw an operating loss of $1.54 billion, including $1.3 billion of impairment charges related to divesting eOne, as well as nonrecurring inventory costs and royalty expenses."

"Hasbro’s full-year outlook anticipates revenue for its consumer products segment will be down 7% to 12%. The company also raised its cost-cutting target to $750 million from its previous goal of $350 million to $400 million by the end of 2025."

What does it mean, you ask?

Via the Star Wars Galactic Hunter Figure of the Day Blog: Cad Bane (The Black Series). This is the one from The Book of Boba Fett, so there are a lot of differences between him and The Clone Wars' "live action" figure from a few years ago. For example, there are no rocket boots... but it's still a blue Duro in a hat and a duster, so to a lot of fans it's not obvious that it's a completely new sculpt. Read on!