Author Archives: Caleb

This once European, and now US online, exclusive (?) is starting to show up overseas (Hong Kong). Our friends over at JediBusiness have posted some photos from Facebook detailing the wonderfully printed faces of these figures. One thing we weren’t sure about was whether Darth Vader received the photoreal treatment, but wonder no more! Find the answer here.

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While Brickseek isn’t always reliable when it comes to inventory quantities, it’s usually pretty good in letting you know the price of an item in store (if it’s there at all…). It looks like Walmart has begun marking down Vintage Collection figures. Most stores in my area are $9.87. Let us know if you find figures at a lower price point in the comments!

46 figures… and at least 10 are Snoke. Any bets on how long it will take to clear the pegs?

A lucky fellow by the name of Josh B. shared via instagram last night that their local Target stocked the pegs with the new Han Stormtrooper. The figure is supposed to have a street date of May 12th, so what witchery was used to purchase this, we can only guess. The face printing for Han looks quite wonderful, and notice the silver painted end-cap on the E-11 blaster (that very well may be a new/retooled mold). This figure was found in Orange County, CA.

A lot of news surrounding Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge attraction has surfaced in the last couple days. Earlier we posted about the upcoming merchandise you may find in the streets of Batuu, but there is so much more to the land than just what you can buy. TechCrunch was able to interview Disney Portfolio Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, Scott Trowbridge, and he provides us with some amazing insight into the world of Galaxy’s Edge. If you were wondering what their thought process was behind creating a new planet, you’ll want to read more.

“This place, Black Spire Outpost, is an opportunity.”

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The Star Wars comic universe is getting quite expansive. I am a fan of the few series I’ve read, especially the Darth Vader comics with Doctor Aphra, and I am looking forward to the upcoming Galaxy’s Edge series. Even though there are so many comics, it seems unlikely that Hasbro will be pushing a new comic 2-pack line any time soon. That doesn’t mean that comic characters are out of the question, of course. What would be the best way to introduce these characters? Click through for more…

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All these Black Series Mudtroopers showing up at Target have me like… Full Story

Wow, lots of news today, and even more to come tomorrow with Hasbro’s NY Toy Fair panel. JJ Abrams tweeted today that the filming for Episode IX has come to a close. Hopefully that means we’ll get a trailer and a title soon!

Insider posted this video yesterday on the face-printing tech Hasbro uses. It’s quite fascinating. They show examples from Marvel Legends and The Black Series 6″. No mention that TVC has started using this tech, though. Take a look!

I am in the process of building a Mimban Lieutenant costume, and am therefore in a dedicated mudtrooper builders group on Facebook. One of the members recently finished their costume and was approved by the 501st. As a final touch for his build, he commissioned a custom cardback through Karbonite Kustoms using himself as the image. Not only would it be awesome to have a Kenner card of myself, it’s basically the coolest trooper around. When I saw this I was stunned. Hasbro, please. Give us this figure ASAP! Special thanks to Ricky R. and Karbonite Kustoms for sharing the images!

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The kid from Customs for the Kid, Elias, has been nominated as action figure customizer of the year at Toy News International. We’ve collaborated in the past with Customs for the Kid and Peak-OB1, who focus on The Clone Wars figures that Hasbro has yet to give us (but should). If you wish to cast your vote in favor of Elias, click here and register to vote. Voting ends 2/3, though, so register and vote today! You may even win their giveaway…

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Darkside Toys has listed the European Exclusive wave of Vintage Collection repacks for pre-order. I’ve been including these in my overall list of TVC figures being released this year, but perhaps that skewed the results a little since they are European exclusives. No images of carded samples of these figures (or the 41st Clone Trooper) have been spotted as far as I know, so hopefully we’ll see them at NY Toy Fair. If you live in a European country and missed out on these figures, here is your opportunity to get them!

Season 4 of Rebels was available yesterday for free online, so my wife and I got to binge watching it. If you haven’t seen the Rebels cartoon… go watch it right now. The story is incredible, and along with the Clone Wars cartoon, we get some pretty incredible insights into the mystical lore of the Jedi religion. Something Rian Johnson knew George Lucas cared about since the inception of Star Wars. Click through for more…

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Dorkside Toys has the wonderful 4th wave of The Vintage Collection in-stock now, and with free shipping (US residents)! You can purchase them here.

Uh-oh… You may want to check your email if you ordered the Mimban Stormtrooper that was available yesterday. Thankfully mine already shipped, but some people aren’t getting so lucky. Thanks to Mike H. for sharing this image with us.

“We’ll do better next time.” No, you probably won’t!

Where do action figures go after they don’t sell at 5-below and Ross? They go to Liquidator’s Discount Center in AZ. I found these the other day and feel I can safely dub Finn as the least wanted action figure (dare I say more than Zuvio?). That title is being challenged by Force Link Rose, though. Jason D. posted a picture on Facebook of several pegs of Rose Tico for full price at Disney World. Have you ever seen anything peg-warm so hard? Do you have a challenger for the least wanted action figure of 2017-18? Let us know in the comments! Full Story

My local target has just finished their action figure reset, and it is rather sorry. They had the new archive figures in stock (I let some sixer friends know). Unfortunately, the 3 pegs of Vintage Collection figures that were present before the reset are now relegated to just 1. Fellow Council of Collectors members, what can be done? Full Story

If you’re still in need of this First Order Flametrooper to complete your TLJ line-up, it is only $7 on Amazon right now. Not too terrible for a trooper that can hold his weapon with both hands, although having joints would be much better!

Who’s that? Vickie Stratford was the Design Director for Star Wars from 2009-2011 (um, the golden years!). If you have any reserve about that time period for Star Wars action figures, just take a look at the Shadow of the Dark Side lines, and the early Vintage Collection Series.  With TVC in full force and The Clone Wars returning for it’s final season, she would be a magnificent fit to run the brand today.

She worked alongside Derryl DePriest and the two appeared together at the celebrated 2010 Toy Fair. From what we’ve seen, we’ve logically concluded that she might be returning to the Star Wars team to replace Steve Evans as the new Director Of Product Design “for one of the most wonderful brands in the galaxy!” Let us know what you think in the comments!

Ms. Stratford when she appeared at a 2007 BotCon during her tenure over the Transformers Brand. Picture from tfwiki.

This topic seems to come up fairly frequently in a Facebook Group that I’m in, and has been the topic of recent conversation on some other collecting sites too, so I wanted to share my thoughts about articulation. These thoughts come from the last conversation I had on Facebook about it about a week ago.

Personally, I am all for super articulation, but I understand that sometimes it can get in the way of a good sculpt. In this article you’ll find the reasoning behind my desire to have Hasbro give all their figures full articulation, as well as some possible advice for future production of The Vintage Collection figures. Click through for more!  Full Story

Diorama parts maker Hole in the Ground Productions just released two new items today. I’m very impressed by the turnaround time on these as the prototype was just posted a few days ago on Facebook. The conference table is a whopping 10 inches in diameter!! According to the announcement, “the decals are not done yet for the conference table so if you order before they are, the decals will be mailed out later.” Hopefully with the ‘garbage masher’ door we’ll eventually see some trash compactor walls to go along with it! Click here to check out their shop!

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I went to Walmart late at night for some groceries, and of course meandered (first thing) over to the toy section. Christmastime is always fun because there are a good 5-10 pallets of new inventory waiting to be stocked. After searching through the pallets to see what there was, I found several boxes of goodies… and baddies! Click through to find out more.

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If you love these little guys, here’s a nice sale for you to build up your flock!

For starters, this article by the New York Times has some stunning shots of Galaxy’s Edge, but nearly just as incredible is the amount of money Disney is investing in their theme parks. Around the world, expansions to Disney Parks are being built, and Galaxy’s Edge (the coolest of them all) is only one of them. Click through for more… Full Story

Crazy that back in July the Mimban Stormtrooper TVC figure hit eBay, and since then, there has been only one store report from Australia that this figure has even touched retail pegs (and they don’t even have Walmarts). Yet, on the eBays, there are plenty available if you want to pay the price. If you’re wondering where on earth this figure is… It’s still in China since that’s where 135 of them has been sold from! Again: Hasbro, you are already killing us with the repacks, at least distribute the few good figures you choose to make!

A new website just went live, called Hoardar. It’s intended as a social media platform specifically for collectors. Instead of having many sub-groups of collectors, Hoardar brings together the entirety of the collecting community. It’s a place to share photos of your collection, buy, sell, and trade with people in the “community of interesting things“. Right now it is fresh out of beta, so I’m sure many updates will be coming! What are your thoughts on having a new platform for your  ̶h̶o̶a̶r̶d̶i̶n̶g̶  collecting? Let us know in the comments.