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1. As a collector of vintage and Retro Star Wars figures, I find the offerings from unlicensed figure makers like Stan Solo Creations, Procustom Figures, and The Next 17 really appealing, and I own quite a few of their releases. Stan Solo, in particular, has helped me “complete” my vintage collection without breaking the bank, thanks to reproductions of expensive original figures like Artoo-Detoo with Pop-Up Lightsaber and Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Disguise. I also enjoy their takes on characters Kenner never got around to making. Yes, some can be a little pricey, but to me, they're injection molded and painted little plastic men, and they're close enough to make me happy to own them instead of paying a fortune for the originals.
What's your take on these unlicensed figures? I'm curious how you feel about their place in the collecting hobby, especially when they offer affordable alternatives to pricey vintage figures or bring previously unmade characters to life. Would only an official Hasbro release satisfy your Vlix fix?
--David
I wrote many paragraphs which I deleted, so let's just say "it's complicated." I think this market is what happens when you make a line of figures but don't pump out stuff fast enough, and fans get bored and go "I bet I could do that." I have written about a number of Stan Solo Creations figures that I've bought. I've come close to buying The Next 17, but international shipping stopped me from picking up their Ephant Mon and a few others. An anonymous person sent a reproduction Vlix to my workplace which was forwarded to me, no return address. (Thank you, whoever you are.) So I have one, but that Vlix started to secrete a clear oily substance so I had to take it off display lest it do anything weird to Sise and Tig. And I keep almost buying Stan Solo's Tonnika Sisters.
More than anything, I'm a toy collector. Star Wars is my favorite kind of toy, so I want things that look, feel, and are produced to be toys for kids. But I would buy a book covering fan reproductions/customs in a heartbeat, and if there was a good web site obsessively covering the topic I'd read it every day.
Other than the Vlix ooze - which has happened to real Kenner figures too - they're impressive things. Stan Solo's figures feel like the real thing, and I really do wonder how one can be a fan, and go to a factory, and say "copy this" and get such good results. They're not all perfect but they're very good and I'm incredibly fond of his original designs. "Custom" Tall Red Snaggletooth, R2 repaints, Shadow Stormtrooper - these are really something. The Black Death Star Droid? Detail's a little soft, but it looks superb. If you're looking to populate playsets or cover a wall with carded figures, these blend right in.
I assume they're made in toy factories that make other mass-produced toys for the American market. I assume the standard of quality is very high. I do not know that they are safety tested, and I keep a lot of toys within reach of my desk. (There are over 50 figures on my desk now.) For that reason, I don't keep them around me - they're in display cabinets, in another room.
I love seeing a Vlix figure up close, but it's not "real." It's close. I want to thank whoever sent it, because I got to move his arms and legs and get a rough idea what a real one might be like if I ever got rich or if Hasbro made one. (Neither seems likely.) If Hasbro stopped making The Retro Collection, I would probably be buying many more figures from these guys just because they're very good and I like them. But we have also seen Hasbro make their own takes on Han Stormtrooper, R4-M9, and Garindan. And we've seen Hasbro reproduce Yak Face, R2-D2, and C-3PO again. Also, well, there's the potential legal issue. I'm not a lawyer, so I'll leave that there.
Are they cool? Without question. Are they a substitute for toys I can throw in ships or play around with and not worry about scraping the paint since they were cheap? Not really. There's also the issue of what Hasbro might make. I bought Stan Solo's Garindan because I thought the ship for Hasbro making one had sailed - and then Hasbro made one this year. If you asked me if Hasbro would reproduce Yak Face 10 years ago, I'd say "no, never" and I've got Hasbro's on my desk. It's a weird place to be to have options, and right now I'm mostly going to opt to wait to see what Hasbro makes before buying too many more custom figures. (I can't imagine Hasbro will make a Gargan. I could imagine they might do R1-G4 some day though.)
2. I was sorting through early 2000s figures the other day and was wondering how many Fans Choice figures were there?
--Mike
It turns out this thing is a whole dang project. You're making me wish I followed through with my idea of ripping off Chunklet Magazine, but for toys. This question was a late entry and I think I either need to build a web page with links and data and stuff, or if someone already has one, please point me to it. I tried crowdsourcing my data with some folks for feedback and was not able to get any, so you out there will need to fact check me to keep me honest and/or correct my faulty memory and/or research.
I don't think anyone out there has a complete clearinghouse of information relating to the last 25ish years of votes. As such, maybe we all need to start digging up stuff, I have a few partially finished articles that focused on the first five fan votes and some of the "losers" that did or didn't get made. Like Nym. Remember Nym? Of course you don't. It's easy to overlook how much of the old and original internet is just plain gone, 404'd out of existence. There's a lot of stuff in magazines, but I don't have a full archive of those either - hey, sometimes you had to pick money or toys?
How about we all work on this together? I'll put together a "Fan's Choice" page with links and data and such, but this is something that absolutely needs to be put together in a way so people might be able to find the facts and info. Because over 24 years, it's a lot to remember. And even more to forget!
So, don't consider this definitive. This is just a rough draft.
3 3/4-Inch - New (let's say) Figures
1. Ellorrs Madak
2. Amanaman
3. Ephant Mon
4. McQuarrie Concept Stormtrooper
5. Captain Antilles and General Dodonna
6. Darth Revan
7. Bastilla Shan
8. TVC Darth Maul
9. TBS Mara Jade
10. Doctor Aphra
Others?
3 3/4-Inch Reruns/Fan's Choice
1. OTC 2004 Imperial Trooper Scanning Equipment
2. Saga Legends 2007 Biker Scout
3. Saga Legends 2007 Clone Trooper Covert Ops
4. Saga Legends 2007 Pit Droids Orange, Red, Cream/Off-White and with different mold variants, too
5. Saga Legends 2007 Clone Trooper Officer Red, Yellow, Blue, Green
6. Saga Legends 2007 Dark Trooper
7. Saga Legends 2007 Clone Commander Neyo
8. Saga Legends 2007 Imperial officer
9. Saga Legends 2007 R4-I9
10. Saga Legends 2007 RA-7
11. Saga Legends 2007 Sandtrooper Clean, Dirty, Really Dirty
12. Saga Legends 2007 Shadow Stormtrooper
13. Saga Legends Utapau Shadow Trooper
14. Saga Legends Zev Senesca
6-Inch
1. Darth Revan
2. 6-inch Black Series Jaina Solo
3. Dagobah Luke
Archive vote in there somewhere?
Some annoying commentary:
The first labeled, official Fan's Choice figures include Ellorrs Madak, Amanaman, Ephant Mon, McQuarrie Concept Stormtrooper, a tie between General Dodonna and Captain Antilles, and then Darth Revan. The actual top vote-getter from that last round was actually Quinlan Vos, but he was already in production.
In 2009, fans voted for Bastilla Shan. I'd say that's where I break from fans in terms of agreeing that they should be allowed to have a say in voting. In 2011, Darth Maul won. It makes sense fans wanted a better Maul, but it also showed fans stopped asking for new characters when given the chance. In 2012, it was revealed that this 2013 Mara Jade would be what we "asked" for. The hair is very silly. At least Doctor Aphra turned out better when it was her turn to be a new voted-for figure shortly after that one.
There were a few Fan's Choice polls for reissues if memory serves, like the 2004 OTC Imperial Trooper with Scanning Box. And a ton of Saga Legends rerun guys, which is the kind of thing Hasbro should probably do more for reruns in The Vintage Collection.
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FIN
As alluded to in #1, one thing that makes me cautious of buying reproduction figures is the fact that Hasbro's are generally cheaper and easier to get. In some cases, I prefer Hasbro's. The Hantrooper turned out extremely well, and Stan Solo's very good Garindan is basically a carved-up POTF2 figure. So Hasbro's is also very good. The "plays with other toys" market has been around forever, with Major Matt Mason being joined with The Outer Space Men, or 1980s G.I. Joe having to contend with The Corps, or Jurassic Park competing against dinosaurs since they're public domain. With Star Wars big companies write giant checks for the rights to make an action figure - and then some fans just make their own. I feel like this is a topic worth exploring by someone with more expertise in this space, or who has the time to conduct a lot of (off the record) interviews.
Price is a touchy and relevant subject, as the line (let's say, with sarcastic quotes) "matures." The kids are now older, grayer, and want figures with all of the articulation (even if they never use it.) They don't want to pay it. We can't expect 2026 quality at 2010 dollars, and I can't say the latest waves of guys aren't technically impressive. A second head on Zam Wesell, lots of paint on Saesee Tiin, it's nice. Not sure where Agen Kolar's brown coat is, but otherwise, the figures more or less delivered the goods as expected at prices that seem to be where things are going. I saw some fans comment that this month resulted in 9x figures for $270 if you're a completist, which is the same math I was doing when I said "no" with 5x Christmas figures a couple of years back. It's my feeling there's a prequel kid grown up, and a completist group, but that the completist group is kind of less interested in continuing the ride. May I be proven wrong. They're doing some pretty neat stuff, but I guess we all find out there's a point when the product matures into something that isn't what the immature me who started buying toys wants. These aren't toys. They're cool, they're well done, they have everything fans ask for but maybe fans don't know what they actually want. (See above, Fan's Choice around 2010-2015.) The Stan Solo stuff certainly looks very interesting in light of a $30 official figure. Sure, you could buy the greatest Zam Wesell ever, but you could also buy the worst Oola and heck if that isn't potentially more fun for those with an old Kenner Jabba the Hutt playset.
I'm super glad prequel kids have a crack at this stuff. And I also have the HasLab Republic Gunship I bought at the last minute sitting near my doorstep, in the box, as I drag my feet opening it. It's not that I don't care - but I got a lot of Gunships. I got more Gunships than most people. (I have all the old Hasbro Gunships.) The same thing in a new scale or with improvements is thrilling to some fans, but I'm still a toy collector. I know the quasi-sarcastic line about what toy companies are doing is "sell adults the fleeting joy they had when they were children." From where I sit, that requires surprise, discovery, tactile clicks and surprising mechanisms. If The Black Series integrated RFID-powered lightsabers in arms or some magical element, I'd probably have purchased some more The Black Series figures. I just want to engage with figures that engage me back.
--Adam Pawlus
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