1. Are there any Star Wars vehicles, figures, or playsets that were developed but never released—especially some that most fans might not know about—that you would have loved to see?
--Mark

A bunch. Kenner and Hasbro have had elves coming up with all kinds of concepts, some make it to the sketch stage, or kitbashed models, or even close to completion. But, for whatever reason, some things didn't happen. In 1998, Kenner was pretty open about saying there was a glut of product on-shelf and some things got the axe because the market didn't need it. Aisles in 1998-2000 were pretty stuffed with late-1990s Star Wars, like comic shops are today.

There are some big playsets - some truly, amazing playset concepts - which as far as I know never got out and haven't been seen by more than a handful of people. As such, I can't talk specifics but if you thought it was weird that Hasbro or Kenner never made a big Death Star, they've been trying. A lot of fans have reported seeing different models over the years, so we know they're thinking about it over there.

I would've loved to have had a Blockade Runner Tantive IV of some sort, but I'm guessing that ship has sailed. Hasbro has done a generally very good job getting some form of playset or vehicle out there for us, and I think if you take a step back and look at the entire collection you'd mostly agree. The HasLab Cantina is pretty good. Boba's Jabba's Palace turned out good enough. The big AT-AT and Millennium Falcon are very nice, and probably would be worth revisiting for new fans. I'd personally really love to have a Death Star or some sort of big Cloud City, but outside of crowdfunding I doubt either is viable. Hasbro's modular playsets in recent years have also been pretty good, although I do look at the Endor Bunker as a "what am I supposed to do with this?" kind of a toy. It's not good for much of anything, and if all a figure can do is be posed in front of it I feel we don't need it. But things with chairs, or trapdoors, or rockets, or elevators, those could be fun.

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2. Depending on the success of the next 2 new Star Wars movies & the re-re-release of Star Wars "A New Hope" in 2027, would Hasbro consider giving Star Wars toys a rest for end of 2027/2028 to "reset" the line or do you think there is "no end in sight" of seeing Star Wars toys made? (I.E. Vintage & Black Series). Would Walmart & Target ever say "We are good for now" and make the entire line a "Fan Channel". Truthfully, I like the hunt BUT if I can just buy what I want of Hasbro Pulse, EE, Amazon and have it shipped to my home, save me alot of time
--D

Star Wars is forever, and if Hasbro ever decides they're finished I know dozens of other companies will pounce on it. Will they succeed? Who knows. But my guess is Hasbro will always keep stuff coming and in circulation, as long as they are in business, so Lucasfilm and Disney will never give it to a competitor. Mattel took the 3-inch die-cast vehicle segment, and now nobody's doing anything with it.

In their shoes I'd probably want to give The Vintage Collection 1-2 years off (with a suitable 3 3/4-inch replacement in a non-classic packaging form factor.) I'd also rename The Black Series because a) it's still a terrible name, and b) SEO doesn't need another Black Series Darth Vader competing with the previous dozen Black Series Darth Vaders. It could be the same kind of product, but just calling it "Lightspeed Collection" or something else might help people be able to find more specific things on Google or eBay.

The Walmart I go to the most still has over 8 unsold 2021 The Vintage Collection Lando Calrissian figures. We are long past due to let store clearance do what it does so toy shelves can start fresh. Old product clogs the distribution pipes and prevents new stuff from showing up or being put out.

But to answer your question - no, I don't think we'll ever go more than six months without new product shipping under Hasbro's stewardship of the license. They have to make Grogus and Lightsabers, which don't sell to anyone who reads this but do seem to sell to others. I would not be surprised if there was a day where collector product was no longer stocked, but my guess is that it would be brief and there would be other items to sell. I can't imagine Disney would sit still with a complete lack of kid product.

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We are out of questions for next week. Send 'em if you got 'em!

Distribution for The Mandalorian and Grogu toys seems, well, spotty. Long gone are the days where it was an event with people afraid of fines for breaking a street date that, as far as I know, nobody has ever proven. I'm starting to see actual toys on shelf at one of the nearby Walmarts. That's progress!

I don't think we're in any danger of seeing the line come to an end, but I think we're seeing what Hasbro is doing price it out of most mass market stores wanting to stock it. We'll see what happens with Mattel's $10-ish Masters of the Universe movie line, its similarly priced DC line, and its 2027 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. Walmart and Target really pulled back on bringing in "collector" priced Masterverse and to some extent the slightly cheaper Origins figures, but you see plenty of their very popular and very good WWE and Jurassic World stuff - which collectors also buy. If anything, I would say the kid lines have more variety and more interesting toys in them, but I'd rather have a brand-new dinosaur than my 50th triceratops (now with added articulation.) It is rare that I go to a store and don't see Mattel's kid figures, and also its Hot Wheels and Matchbox products, in abundance.

What Mattel does that's really admirable is that its current WWE and Jurassic brands. The product for both kids and collectors are the same scale. You can buy an Ultimate Edition or a Main Event figure, or an Elite Collection figure, and they'll all more or less match up on the shelf. The Jurassic dinosaurs are as in-scale as they're likely to be, with the occasional exception made for bigger (or sometimes cheaper and smaller) toys of the bigger sellers. I admit, I'm kind of jealous of them. Mattel experimented with 7-inch Jurassic and 3 3/4-inch won out. Mattel does have other kid scales for WWE, but pretty much everybody is in one of its many 6-inch lines. Personally, I'd love to see Marvel switch over to nothin' but 6-inch and Star Wars be nothin' but 3 3/4-inch, but I imagine I'd get burned at the stake due to the last 13 years of The Black Series collecting.

I'm really excited to see what Mattel does with its new DC Comics plans. (Heck, I've seen some of it.) I don't know if kids are going to pounce on it or not, but it does feel like their plan is to engage with a wider variety of participants. It may sound silly, but I bought that weird gold-faced "Revenge of Skeletor" figure at Walmart for ten bucks. It was new, and impulse priced, and you know what? It's bigger and better than Hasbro's Epic figures for roughly the same price. (Yes to wrist joints, no ankle joints.) Whose stock price will do better? Stay tuned, true believers!

--Adam Pawlus

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