Monthly Archives: March 2023

The Walmart-exclusive ARC Commander Havoc is nice to own after 15 years, but it’s boring now. And it is expensive. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

Gentle Giant (via Diamond Select Toys) will feature four exclusives at ExCel London next week. The exclusives will be available at their booth (S200) during the convention. Here are what’s up for grabs:

• Trapper Wolf Mini Bust (1/6 Scale)
• Boba Fett Statue (1/7 Scale)
• Jaxxon Statue (1/7 Scale)
• General Obi-Wan Kenobi Statue (1/7 Scale)

Limited quantity’s will be available daily during the show.

With their usual 4 week delay Nielsen have finally added the first season 3 episode of The Mandalorian to their weekly streaming charts! And the series enters the charts in 5th place on the general charts and in 3rd place on the original series streaming charts with 823 million minutes.

How does that compare to previous Star Wars series and The Mandalorian seasons? Contrary to other reports out there The Mandalorian season 3 actually added viewers compared to the season 2 premiere!  Click through for the details!

Are Din and Grogu still popular? Spoiler: yes.

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The good Doctor Hemlock gets a character poster from last week’s episode of The Bad Batch. Click below for the full poster.

JTA sponsor Crazy Collecting has added the latest pre-orders from the last few weeks to their site. Click through to browse their new additions.

We just launched our Pre-Orders for The Black Series Pyke Soldier individually and for any amazing collector that is looking to Army Build! We also have The Black Series Luke Skywalker & Grogu 2 Pack up for Pre-Order, along with the TVC Cad Bane.

In case you forgot, yet another new Star Wars series will be released shortly. Young Jedi Adventures will be released on May 4th, it’s a series set in the High Repulic era targeting pre-schoolers and it features Yoda and a roster of brand new kid characters.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said Hasbro is “bullish” about the new show, which means they will invest quite a bit into a new toyline. And in the first wave of toys revealed by Gizmodo today there are also various Hasbro offerings. But also toys from Lego and Mattel.

In fact, a sneak preview of the series was released in the form of three shorts (all less than three minutes long) on YouTube earlier this week. So what exactly will Hasbro be offering and what is my first impression of Young Jedi Adventures? Click through for the details!

Mattel plushies of the three young Jedi

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It’s a question that has occupied the Star Wars fandom ever since The Force Awakens was released, and even more so after The Last Jedi: how much do people, and here we include all people, i.e. not just the hardcore action figure buying demographic, like the new Disney Star Wars movies? Some believe almost everyone surely hates the movies. Others claim that only a vocal minority dislike them whereas most regular people like the movies.

Well, let’s try to settle this debate once and for all! Rasmussen Reports conducted a representative survey in the US among adults in March 2023 and asked them the hard question: do you like the Disney Star Wars movies better, about the same or less than the original movies made by George Lucas?

On top of that I will also try to once and for all settle the question about how many male vs female Star Wars fans there are. And I will also use another survey to shed some more light on which age groups in the US are the most avid Star Wars fans. Younger people? Older people? How many Gen Z kids like Star Wars vs people who watched the original movies almost 50 years ago?

The results may surprise you!

Click through to find out how popular the Disney Star Wars movies really are and how different age groups and genders view Star Wars!

Do people like Rey? Do women like Rey?

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As we enter the second half of season three of The Mandalorian it’s now obvious what the season endgame is. The plot moves forward a little bit and Bo-Katan finally gets a new mission, Din Djarin meanwhile is only along for the ride, rumors have it he has regular self help meetings with Boba Fett twice a week about playing the second fiddle on your own own show. But no, “The Pirate” was mostly fun, but it also once more underlines an essential issue that plagues all of Disney Lucasfilm Star Wars. The bad joke that is the New Republic. I think we need to talk about that.

Meanwhile The Bad Batch released its season (series?) finale. The final episodes didn’t turn out at all like you may have expected them to. Instead, everything ends on a bleak cliffhanger and we witness one major death (maybe, it’s Star Wars after all). Now we can only hope The Bad Batch will not end up on Bob Iger’s $3 billion chopping block, despite what must be high production costs and very low ratings. Anyway, the final three episodes (last week’s episode included) are well worth watching. I plan on reviewing all three final episodes later this week.

But for now let’s talk about the latest adventure of Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian. Read my spoiler review and let’s have a chat about what I think is the biggest sin in Disney Star Wars.

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

It’s time for another round of micro pre-orders. Click below for links for this week’s The Vintage Collection Tusken Raiders set and The Black Series Pike Soldier. 

• The Vintage Collection Tusken Raiders (Hasbro Pulse)
• The Black Series Pike Soldier (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Amazon has the TVC The Bad Batch 4-pack on sale for $44.20, limited-time deal. Click here for the product page.

This week’s official Mando Mania page reveals The Black Series Pike Soldier as seen in The Book of Boba Fett. Click here to check out all the rest of the licensee reveals on the main Mando Mania Week 5 page.

As part of Mando Mania week 5 Comicbook.com has revealed the next troop builder multipack: Tusken Raiders, Featuring 4 ‘unique’ decos. Click through for the full reveal.

Pre-orders go live tomorrow at 1 PM Eastern on Hasbro Pulse, and at a later date on ShopDisney.

The Mandalorian Chapter 20 – The Foundling Character posters are out. Click below to check out Jedi Kelleran Beq and Paz Vizsla.

We finish up the Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary Retro Collection wave with the Biker Scout. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

Fans attending Celebration Europe next month can find the return of the popular Collecting Track Medallions. You can pick these up free for attending the various Collecting Track panels (one per panel). Get more information over on their Instagram and Facebook pages. Click below for the entire run of 20 pewter Return of the Jedi character medallions. Click through for the complete list of sponsors. 

Sadly, due to a personal conflict, JTA cannot provide on-site coverage this year. We’ll post relevant collecting news as it becomes available. Keep an eye on our friends across the pond Jedi News who will be on site for full coverage.

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This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Amazon currently has The Black Series Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary Boba Fett on sale for $16.79. Click here for the product page.

Update: This deal is no longer available

Today we look at Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) from the Retro Collection. Um, OK. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

The next two cards from the weekly Topps Star Wars Living Set are now out. Featuring the iconic blue starfield and the impressive artwork of Kris Penix, check out Yoda (#397) and Lagos (#398). Each Tuesday, two new cards will be released and be only available for one week. Click here to view the entire Star Wars Living archive, including individual print runs.

It’s our 4500th RDR today! And we’re celebrating that with a great product review! Wow. The Speeder Bike & Scout Trooper set is better than expected. See why you need this set. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

Click below to check out this week’s The Bad Batch character poster release: Captain Rex.

To recap: rumors of Damon Lindelof (with Justin-Britt Gibson) writing a new Star Wars movie, with two times Academy Award winning documentary maker, and director of two Ms Marvel episodes, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said to helm the movie, appeared a few months ago. More details were added as time went on, such as who the lead actors are (chances are they are gone now, since they were attached to Lindelof, at least the male lead was attached to Lindelof), but then earlier this week it was reported that Lindelof and Britt-Gibson quit, but that Lucasfilm is still pursuing the project.

And now reputable trade magazine Variety revealed the name of the new writer attached to the project. It’s the guy who co-invented the game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”. If you believe it or not. The writer, Steven Knight, also created the BBC hit series Peaky Blinders, which is distributed worldwide by Netflix. So what other things has Steven Knight done? Click through for a few more details!

UPDATE: Steven Knight will be quite busy apparently, since the trades report that he is supposed to write the completely unnecessary and pointless Vertigo remake (Hollywood really needs to think long and hard about what they are doing), with Robert Downey Jr as (executive) producer and maybe even starring.

“Who Wants To Be A Writer For Lucasfilm” would be a great idea for a new game show, but with a twist, the loser gets the job and the winner is let off the hook!

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The Han Solo (Endor) figure from the Retro Collection line is not bad. But did any of us need another version of this Han Solo ever again in our collections? (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

“This is the way!” is the catchphrase on The Mandalorian. But as it turns out the series may have actually lost its way. The latest episode “The Foundling”, was definitely not a highlight, despite a momentous fan service moment. In fact, The Bad Batch entirely blew The Mandalorian out of the water this week with its latest episode that not only saw the return of Echo, but also featured Crosshair, Senator Chuchi and had a Grand Moff Tarkin cameo, as things ramp up for the season 2 endgame. So the new Bad Batch episode is definitely worth your time!
The Mandalorian on the other hand seems to be wandering aimlessly in the desert, with no clear direction, no clear goal and plots that more often than not make little sense. This week is all about a space dragon monster thing that kind of eats Paz Vizla’s son Ragnar, the very Unlucky. So the Mandos go after the monster to rescue the kid. Andor this is not. Maybe Andor is more of a curse than a blessing, because now everything will be compared to it, when it comes to acting and plot. And as much as I hate to say it, The Mandalorian season 3 falls short in almost every category so far.

Why exactly? Read my spoiler review for “The Foundling” and let’s discuss the latest adventure of Din Djarin and Grogu!

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Pre-orders are now available for the latest The Black Series and The Vintage Collection figures from yesterday’s Mando Mania announcements. Click below for pre-order pages:

• The Vintage Collection Cad Bane (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
• The Black Series Luke Skywalker & Grogu (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)

Other Entertainment Earth pre-orders (10% off all in-stock orders, plus free shipping on orders over $59):

• The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures Wave 2 Case of 8
• The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures Wave 2 Set of 4

Poster collectors can pick up the Season 3 The Mandalorian poster today at 12 PM Eastern on Disney Movie Insiders for 400 points as part of this week’s Wednesday Wins campaign. Don’t forget, if you need points you can pick some up on eBay! 

Now let’s look at the Princess Leia Organa (Boushh) figure from the Retro Collection line. Do you know this figure’s secret? (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

Chances are you have heard of that Damon Lindelof Star Wars movie set to be released in late 2025. The movie has a director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani woman who made documentaries about trans people in Pakistan (plus a few other documentaries) and directed two Ms. Marvel episodes (so, zero actual blockbuster movie experience), the movie is said to have found its two leads: two poc, male and female. The movie is supposed to be set in the post sequels era, i.e. it exists in the continuity of the sequels. Now while Lucasfilm, wisely, hasn’t officially announced anything, a reputable source, Jeff Sneider, spilled the beans about the Lindelof Star Wars project a while ago and he added more and more details as time went on. But now the story has taken a not very surprising turn….. Click here to read more!

A Lucasfilm producer – symbol photo

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We still need to talk about the last The Bad Batch episode: “Pabu”. It’s yet another filler and the archetypical “false paradise” episode where the heroes find a place that tempts them to stay for good.
“Pabu” is by far my least favorite episode this season, which is saying something, since we already had quite some filler episodes this season. Well, there is one major development in “Pabu” at least, so that’s something.

So let’s talk about season 2 episode number 13 out of 16. Or 29 out of 32 overall. And chances are there will never be an episode 33. We will see. Click here to read my spoiler review and let’s talk about “Pabu”.

Mando Mania Week 4 has revealed another new addition to both The Black Series and The Vintage Collection. The Black Series has added Luke Skywalker and Grogu, and The Vintage Collection has added Cad Bane. Both additions are from The Book of Boba Fett. Cad Bane is featured on the main Mando Mania release page, and the Luke Skywalker & Grogu set is previewed exclusively at Fandom.com. 

Pre-orders start tomorrow at 1 PM Eastern.

Well, the Endor Bunker is released and comes with a cool interpretation of Nik Sant. The verdict is still out on this playset, but it’s better than we thought. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

Here are the latest character posters from The Mandalorian Chapter 19 – The Convert: Elia Kane (Amnesty Officer G68) & Dr. Penn Pershing (Amnesty Scientist L52). Click below to check them out!

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Walmart.com has another deluxe The Black Series price drop, this time Wrecker for $17.40 via third party seller. Free shipping on orders over $35. Thanks to JTA reader Chris for the alert!

JTA sponsor Crazy Collecting checks in with their latest in-stock arrival:

I wanted to give your readers a heads-up that we just received a limited amount In Stock of the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Darth Vader 1:6 Scale Mini-Bust by Diamond Select Toys/Gentle Giant. Also, collectors can still use the Code STAYINGPOSITIVE in all caps for 10% off their first order through us.

Visit the product page right here.

We get to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Return Of The Jedi with 5POA action figures. But what the heck happened to the characters in this newest wave? Check out Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard) in the Retro Collection line. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

This is not your ordinary Force FX Lightsaber! How does it compare to Hasbro’s Force FX version? Today we have a full review of one of DamienSaber’s Force FX Dueling Lightsabers. Not to spoil it for you, but it didn’t disappoint! Click through for our full review!

The next two cards from the weekly Topps Star Wars Living Set are now out. Featuring the iconic blue starfield and the impressive artwork of Kris Penix, check out General Pong Krell (#395) and Todo 360 (#396). Each Tuesday, two new cards will be released and be only available for one week. Click here to view the entire Star Wars Living archive, including individual print runs.

Here we go again. We get to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Return Of The Jedi with 5POA action figures. What the heck happened to the characters in this newest wave? Sheesh! Check out The Emperor in the Retro Collection line. (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Walmart.com currently has The Black Series Boba Fett (Throne Room) for $11.88. This is sold through a third-party seller, but at a great price! Thanks to JTA reader Slibocker for the alert!

Update: The price has been jumping up and down, so keep an eye on it. 

JTA sponsor Crazy Collecting has added the recent Tusken pre-orders from both The Black Series and The Vintage Collection. Click below for direct links!

• The Vintage Collection Tusken Warrior
• The Black Series Tusken Chieftain

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

This Spring’s Walmart Collector Con has started. Click through to check out the pre-orders from the various lines. Pre-orders tend to roll out a little at a time, so we will post direct links to any relevant Star Wars pre-orders in this post. If any previous exclusives go back up for pre-order, we will also list them here. 

• The Black Series Clone Commander Jessie
• The Vintage Collection ARC Commander Colt

The latest The Mandalorian episode takes quite a left turn and is not at all what you’d expect it to be. To put it bluntly, The Mandalorian pulls off a The Book of Boba Fett and becomes an entirely different show with “The Misadventures of Dr. Pershing” for one episode. It’s also 56 minutes long, but Din Djarin is only featured in the first and last 5 minutes or so of the episode. So there’s lots to talk about. Click here to read my spoiler review and let’s discuss the latest episode of The Mandalorian!

Also, today’s The Bad Batch episode is an easy skip. Don’t bother with it unless you are a diehard fan of the series. A short review for that episode will follow eventually.

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Pre-orders are now available for the latest The Black Series and The Vintage Collection figures from yesterday’s Mando Mania announcements. Click below for pre-order pages:

• The Vintage Collection Tusken Warrior (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
• The Black Series Tusken Chieftain (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)

Other Entertainment Earth pre-orders (10% off all in-stock orders, plus free shipping on orders over $59):

• • The Black Series 6-Inch Action Figures Wave 12 Case of 8
  • The Black Series 6-Inch Action Figures Wave 12 Set of 4
  • The Vintage Collection Assortment 2 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures Wave 1 Case of 8

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Walmart’s Spring Collector Con starts tomorrow morning (March 16) at 10 AM Eastern. They are dropping more than 45 exclusives across the different brands, including The Black Series Jesse. If they do as they have done in the past, they may also re-open pre-orders from some of their recently sold-out TVC The Clone Wars exclusives. 

We’ll post updates and pre-orders as they go live starting tomorrow at 10 AM Eastern. You can also keep an eye on the Walmart Collector Con page for updates. 

Better late than never… it’s high time we talk about the most recent The Bad Batch episode. It’s this season’s second solo Crosshair episode, meaning the Bad Batch are completely absent and instead the episode focuses on the sole Clone Force 99 trooper who decided not to defect and to stay loyal to the Empire. But what has that given Crosshair in return? “The Outpost” is a pretty tragic tale about the clone who abandoned everything, because he only wanted to be a soldier who follows orders. Until he reached his breaking point… “The Outpost” is yet another of those The Bad Batch episodes you can watch without having seen most of season 2, in fact, if all you watched is the previous season 2 Crosshair episode and remember the basic events from season 1 you’re good to go. The episode is absolutely worth your time!
Read my spoiler review for the episode by clicking here and let’s discuss the latest The Bad Batch adventure!

Week 3 of Mando Mania brings us one new reveal from both The Vintage Collection and The Black Series. The Vintage Collection is adding the Tusken Warrior, while The Black Series adds the Tusken Chieftain. The Toy Hideout has the exclusive for the Tusken Chieftain. Head on over for more images and details. You can check out the rest of today’s announcements at StarWars.com.

Update: These will both be available for pre-order 3/15 at 1 PM Eastern. 

Mayday is the latest character from The Bad Batch to get a character poster. Click below for the full image.

The next character poster from The Mandalorian Season 3 features Peli Motto. 

Check out the latest ARTFX release from Kotobukiya, Darth Maul from The Clone Wars. Click through for product information and images.

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The next two cards from the weekly Topps Star Wars Living Set are now out. Featuring the iconic blue starfield and the impressive artwork of Kris Penix, check out Captain Canady (#393) and BNI-393 (#394). Each Tuesday, two new cards will be released and be only available for one week. Click here to view the entire Star Wars Living archive, including individual print runs.

The official site has revealed the badge art for the upcoming Celebration Europe event next month. Created by digital artist Alice X. Zhang, this might be the best Celebration badge art to date, forming a nice collage when all pieced together. Click through for complete details.

As expected, the third book in the From a Certain Point of View series has been announced and will be released on September 5, 2023. Like the other two releases, the Return of the Jedi version will feature stories during the timeline of the designated movie. Get the full details on the Random House website.

We finally have “most of” Figrin D’an And The Modal Nodes in The Vintage Collection. We won’t complain much here, but we don’t understand why they did omit a major player in the band. Is this worth the $90 it commands? (more….)

Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 14!

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Hasbro’s eBay store has several deals, including The Black Series Saw Gerrera for $13.60 and The Black Series Archive Princess Leia Organa for $11.60. Click here to browse their store for other deals! Spend more than $15 to get free shipping.

If you no longer see the deals, they are probably sold out! 

After a somewhat shaky start last week The Mandalorian returns to form with its second season 3 episode “The Mines of Mandalore”. Din travels to Mandalore to bathe in the “Living Waters”, so he can redeem himself. And what we get is a fun adventure with some comedy, great action, haunting scenery and mysterious creatures. Grogu gets his first proper solo mission as well! And Bo-Katan proves once again that she is a formidable fighter, but also has a more softer, kinder side to her. “The Mines of Mandalore” is well worth your time and I bet that most fans will have lots of fun watching the episode! This is The Mandalorian fans have been waiting for.

Read my spoiler review by clicking here or on the banner and let’s discuess the latest adventures of Din Djarin and Grogu!

You probably never really pay attention to it anymore, but before each and every Star Wars Disney+ series we get this short Lucasfilm Star Wars helmet montage. The entire sequence is very dark, helmets all flash by very rapidly and as mentioned, chances are high you barely pay attention to it anymore.

Now each and every series does have its own slightly different version of this helmet montage, i.e. the sequence of the helmets and even the helmets included in the sequence slightly differ between series like The Book of Boba  Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, The Bad Batch or The Mandalorian.

Until now The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and The Mandalorian had one thing in common: the inclusion of BB-8 and Kylo Ren featured in the short intro sequence (The Bad Batch only has helmets from the Clone Wars era). Not anymore though. Click through for more!

Vader from the Lucasfilm Star Wars intro

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Mando Mania continues this week with a variety of new releases, including a new wave of Retro Collection figures from The Book of Boba Fett:

• Boba Fett (Dune Sea)
• Cad Bane
• Fennec Shand
• Grogu
• Krrsantan
• The Mandalorian
• Tusken Warrior

Check out some of the other reveals at StarWars.com.

The latest novel release is out today: Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, set between Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor. Pick this up at your local brick and mortar, or order on Amazon.

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Pre-orders are now open for The Bad Batch Tech (TMS098) and Wrecker (TMS099) Sixth Scale figures. Click below for the Sideshow Collectibles pre-order pages.

It’s that time again folks! I enjoy participating in @SWTVC’s March Madness bracket each year. You helped make these brackets by making top 25 lists of figures you wanted to see in TVC. Between Facebook, Instagram, and several other sites, almost 1000 lists were compiled, the figures ranked, and the bracket seeded. It’s time to see if you can predict how this season of voting will go (or just pick your own winner)! Click here to download the 2023 March Madness bracket. Fill it out and post it in the comments of this article. Most importantly, be sure to follow @SWTVC or join the Star Wars The Vintage Collection group on Facebook as the actual voting will take place in polls there. 

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Rounding out The Bad Batch 1/6 scale collection from Hot Toys is Wrecker (TMS099). As the final released member of Clone Force 99, Wrecker gets assigned TMS099 (Nice touch, Hot Toys). Get all the details and images after the jump!

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Hot Toys is finishing out the squad from The Bad Batch today, starting with Tech (TMS098). Click here for complete details and gallery images.

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With The Mandalorian on Disney+ now The Bad Batch takes somewhat of a backseat, so reviews for the animated quasi sequel to The Clone Wars will always follow in the days after it is released for the remaining couple of episodes. However, as it turns out I actually liked the latest The Bad Batch episode a bit more than The Mandalorian season 3 opener. If you gave up on The Bad Batch before I cannot fault you, season 2 has been filled with pointless episodes about nothing and the only good episodes were without the Bad Batch as main characters, or they were even completely absent, and here I talk about the one Crosshair episode and the Senator Chuchi two-parter.
However, it seems The Bad Batch will shed some light on Palpatine’s secret cloning project that is still ongoing decades later when the now Imperial Remnant is after Grogu. Metamorphosis shows us the very beginnings of this project. The episode also has some space horror / Alien vibe and later quotes good old Godzilla. In short: Metamorphosis may very well be worth your time actually! And once again, you needn’t have watched a single season 2 episode to tune in, if the last episode you watched is the season 1 finale, then that is all you need.

So read my spoiler review for Metamorphosis and let’s discuss the 11th season 2 episode of The Bad Batch!

Check out the latest character posters from The Mandalorian Chapter 17 – The Apostate, featuring The Armorer and the Anzellan Droidsmiths.

Republic Commando Scorch gets some screen time on the latest episode of The Bad Batch. Click below to check out his character poster.

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.

Bestbuy.com has several The Black Series figures reduced and on clearance. Click here to browse the selection.

JTA sponsor Crazy Collecting has just received a restock of some recent The Black Series waves. Take some time to check out their latest stock, and first-time buyers can enjoy 10% off their entire order.

We got some characters like Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Omega, Fennec Shand, Ahsoka, and the list goes on! We also have another fantastic opportunity for any amazing collector who is looking to Army Build with Figrin D’an! We still have the Discount code available for any first-time buyers through us that will allow anyone to save 10% off their entire order using the code STAYINGPOSITIVE in all caps.

There has been an awakening to the reality of the horrible state of Star Wars (which has been this way for quite some time). Even Thomas, the man in perpetual denial about the state of the IP and merchandising, wrote two recent articles, finally admitting how dreadful things are. They were so accurate and sharp that readers thought they were mine. I digress. In one of those articles’ discussions, I mentioned that Star Wars is metaphorically Bernie Lomax from “Weekend At Bernie’s.” Then, for fun, I began Googling images of the film and became astounded when I found a still which allowed me to create the most flawless meme of the condition of the IP and hobby. This is the next “Distracted Boyfriend” meme, y’all. (more….)

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The next two cards from the weekly Topps Star Wars Living Set are now out. Featuring the iconic blue starfield and the impressive artwork of Kris Penix, check out Lortha Peel (#391) and Luke Skywalker (#392). Each Tuesday, two new cards will be released and be only available for one week. Click here to view the entire Star Wars Living archive, including individual print runs.

Denuo Novo has opened up pre-orders for their 1:1 Bo-Katan Kryze helmet. Details and pre-order info after the jump!

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Before you immediately skip this article because Funko does not interest you: you want to read this. Because Funko’s brand new earnings report for 2022 potentially tells us a LOT about Hasbro and Star Wars. And how Hasbro may try to dazzle and misdirect people with lots of smoke, mirrors and glitter when they talk about “record sales” for Marvel and “sales growth” for Star Wars. You certainly remember Hasbro’s proud announcement about these things? Well, Funko’s earnings report sheds some light on what “record sales” and “sales growth” can actually mean…

We don’t talk about Funko all that much here, because Funko Pops apparently appeal to a different demographic and not the middle-aged somewhat grumpy collector who got his or her first Star Wars action figure in 1978. However, Funko’s recently released 2022 results shed some very interesting light on the collectible market and the challenges they are facing. In fact, it may (and certainly does) even provide some context for Hasbro’s earnings report from a while ago. Because what is happening over at Funko is almost certainly also happening at Hasbro.
And the headline gives you a good indication of what is currently going on at Funko. It’s nothing good. And they had record sales even, their sales in 2022 are up by 29%, yet that all means very little… Click through for the full story!

Record sales!

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So here we are, the biggest Star Wars series, the biggest Disney+ series actually, is back with season 3: The Mandalorian. The series that single-handedly saved Star Wars merchandise from the abyss back in 2019.

Not too long ago a major event like this would have coincided with the reveal or even launch of several new toys and figures. But what do we get in 2023 from Hasbro? Nothing. Instead they revealed an overpriced exclusive glitterized nonsense repack. So what is going on? What are Hasbro’s plans, what is the strategy when even the single most popular piece of modern Star Wars entertainment does not receive a product launch or at least a livestream with reveals featuring figures from the current season? Click through for more!

Not available in a galaxy near you

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Hot Toys has revealed the next series in their Cosbi Bobblehead Collection (Series 3). These are a fun take on the bobblehead tradition. Click through to check out the entire series.

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Today marks the return of The Mandalorian! That means The Bad Batch which also dropped a new episode today will follow later, maybe next weekend. But the focus will now be on The Mandalorian, the single most successful Disney+ series. Can the returning Din Djarin and Grogu reignite the magic after being absent for close to 15 months? Not counting their odd inclusion in The Book of (not) Boba Fett.
Would it shock you when I say I kind of liked the current The Bad Batch episode (Metamorphosis) somewhat better than The Mandalorian season 3 opener? Now why is that? Well, read my spoiler review and let’s discuss the return of Din Djarin by clicking here or on the banner!

An awkward reunion for Din Djarin and the Armorer

LEGO has just listed a new 630-piece Executor Super Star Destroyer (75356) set, priced at $69.99. Click here for the product page.