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Tune in February 26th at 11 AM Eastern for the next Star Wars Fanstream.
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Luminate, a Nielsen competitor who have been releasing streaming charts for some time now, released their year end streaming market analysis a while ago and their report – among other things – offers a lot of insight into how Star Wars is doing on Disney+. And in more general terms how Disney+ is doing, at least when it comes to original streaming content.
And for the first time ever we get numbers in this report for shows like Skeleton Crew and even The Bad Batch!
As you probably know Skeleton Crew never made either the Luminate or the Nielsen Streaming Charts. Nielsen have finally released their charts for the week in which the Skeleton Crew series finale was released – and it did not make the top 10 once again, making it the very first Star Wars live action show on Disney+ never to crack the top 10 original series charts.
But how bad was it really? Luminate’s report does include numbers for the first five episodes of Skeleton Crew (all the 2024 episodes) plus numbers for The Bad Batch which released earlier in 2024. And what do you think the #1 original show on Disney+ was in 2024? And how does it compare with the competition?
Star Wars in 2024
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Earlier today Hasbro released their numbers for Q4 2024 and also for the full year. As expected Chris Cocks is full of praise for himself and Hasbro and sees the company on the right path. He wants to transform Hasbro into more of a games company, not really toys anymore, they also want to go more into (digital) gaming, no surprise, with how successful the licensed D&D title Baldur’s Gate 3 was and how much money on the phone Monopoly Go! is making for them. And Cocks even announced a new strategy “playing to win!”. One aspect of this new strategy is to appeal to kids ages 13+, of course Hasbro feels the effects of the smartphone and video gaming, and the cut off age for certain toys is getting ever lower. This is where games and the entire Wizards of the Coast branch are supposed to succeed. And yes, for the full year Wizards grew again, while consumer products (aka “toys”) revenue greatly declined by 12% for the full year.
Revenue overall declined by 17% for the full year, much of that can be attributed to the sale of eOne (Hasbro got rid of their entertainment branch), but even without that revenue still declined 7%. Total earnings for 2024 were $4.1 billion, vs $5 billion in 2023. But profitability is up, operating margins are pretty good and Hasbro owned inventory (aka unsold stuff languishing in a warehouse) is also greatly reduced.
What do I hear you say? Star Wars? What about Star Wars? Click through to find out…
UPDATE: now with earnings call transcript and a few insightful words about Star Wars from Hasbro (nothing positive)
Getting smaller year after year…
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The latest Droid Factory release is now in stock. Click here to order R2-BNE.
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Walmart has another round of markdowns for The Black Series figures. Take advantage here:
- IG-12 & Grogu – $9.96
- Darth Vader – $8.49
- Jod Na Nawood – $12.34
- The Mandalorian (Mines of Mandalore) – $8.09
- Grand Admiral Thrawn – $12.09
UPDATE: Some of these deals are now dead.
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Walmart has the Micro Galaxy Squadron Battle at Boonta Eve Battle Pack marked down to $13.00. Click here for the product page.
UPDATE: Deal is dead
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PSWCS.org, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society (PSWCS.org), is excited to announce their 15th charity medallion in support of Special Olympics PA. Click through for the full press release and ordering details!
Tags: Charity, Collectible Coins, Darth Maul, Medallions, Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society, PSWCS
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Earlier today Disney Parks revealed on their social media accounts that a rather famous Star Wars character will finally come to Galaxy’s Edge.
And it’s none other than Luke Skywalker.
So much for “Galaxy’s Edge should be a living thing, not a Star Wars museum about the past, and Rey and Kylo will attract all the fans”.
I suppose several Disney execs still rue the day they decided not to recreate Tatooine for their Star Wars themed shopping mall.
In other news: the now defunct Star Wars Hotel will be converted into office space.
Source: Disney Parks on X
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Amazon has their exclusive The Black Series Jedi: Survivor 3-pack on sale for $47.24 $43.39. Thanks to JTA reader Jon for the alert!
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Get ready for another holiday-themed droid from the Droid Factory line. The pastel-colored R2-BNE celebrates Easter and will go up for order on February 16. This is also currently available onsite at the Disney Parks. Can’t wait? There are plenty posted on eBay right now.
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It’s time to examine The Black Series [Phase IV] Princess Leia Organa figure from A New Hope. See it in our Research Droids Reviews today. (more….)
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Let’s finish looking at the first wave of The Vintage Collection for 2025! The Clone Trooper Lieutenant (Teth) from Ahsoka is pretty much what you’d expect. See it in our Research Droids Reviews today. (more….)
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Let’s continue checking out the first wave of The Vintage Collection for 2025! We now have a definitive version of Anakin Skywalker from The Clone Wars, but officially based on the character’s appearance from Ahsoka. See it in our Research Droids Reviews today. (more….)
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Let’s check out the first wave of The Vintage Collection for 2025! Who is this? Next up is a character from Star Wars: Andor. Let’s check out Dedra Meero, which reuses many existing parts. See it in our Research Droids Reviews today. (more….)
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Let’s check out the first wave of The Vintage Collection for 2025! Let’s check out Jedi Master Indara from The Acolyte. See it in our Research Droids Reviews today. (more….)
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Let’s check out the first wave of The Vintage Collection for 2025 with the classic Luke Skywalker from A New Hope. It’s imperfect, but you’ll be glad you added it to your collection. See it in our Research Droids Reviews today. (more….)
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Star Wars is celebrating 2025 with a year-long campaign: Power the Force. Head over to StarWars.com for more details.
Power the Force is a year-long campaign showcasing some of the saga’s iconic ships, favorite characters, memorable droids and, of course, lightsabers. In addition to even more new LEGO Star Wars sets coming soon, Power the Force will feature collectibles, apparel, and toys across a host of brands, including Hasbro, Funko, Citizen, Jazwares, RSVLTS, RockLove Jewelry, Topps, and more. And keep your Jedi senses honed for some surprises along the way!
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Third time’s the charm? The Rey Palpatine movie, tentatively titled “New Jedi Order”, has found yet another new writer. This after Damon Lindelof and his writing partner were let go over creative differences, then Steven Knight was tasked to come up with something, yet according to reports Lucasfilm didn’t like any of his treatments, so he focused on other things more worth his time and moved on… but Kathy won’t give up that easily, Lucasfilm has now hired yet another screenwriter as per The Hollywood Reporter, so this is pretty official!
And the new vict… I mean writer is George Nolfi! If you wonder “who?”. Nolfi has written seven movies in total so far. Among them several pretty average and forgettable ones. His best known works are the very average (some would say bad) “Timeline” (the movie based on a Michael Crichton book), then there’s Ocean’s 12, and he also wrote two pretty good Matt Damon movies, The Bourne Ultimatum and The Adjustment Bureau, the latter is like Timeline the only somewhat more fantastical movie where mysterious guardians of the timeline try to prevent a romance between Damon and co-star Emily Blunt. But Nolfi has never really worked on an all out scifi/fantasy movie before.
Nolfi is also a director, his most notable work as a director is The Adjustment Bureau.
So he has experience, he knows how to direct and to write (and produce) movies. Nolfi certainly has the qualification and at least the two Matt Damon movies are even pretty enjoyable. But let’s see where this is going. I am saying it once more: if Disney really let Kennedy make her Rey movie, even more so with a non-director like Obaid-Chinoy at the helm, they are more foolish than I already think they are.
Also, since Nolfi has worked a lot with Matt Damon previously… could this mean he’s joining Star Wars as well? Now we only need Ben Affleck!
Post your humorous thoughts in the comments!
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It’s been a while since I talked about rumors, well, this time it’s more “leaks” than “rumors”, one of the sources is even The Hollywood Reporter. So no YouTube shenanigans really this time, more like credible leaks about upcoming things! Of course this article will be spoilerific to the max, so if you are allergic to spoilers please avoid! Click through for all the rumours and leaks!
You are about the enter the Star Wars Rumor Zone!
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Pre-orders are now open for the latest The Black Series & The Vintage Collection reveals. Click below for available pre-order links:
The Vintage Collection
- Baylan Skoll (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
- Shin Hati (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
- Mandalorian Super Commando (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
- Clone Trooper (501st Legion) (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
- Battle Droid Builder Pack (Hasbro Pulse)
The Black Series
- Anakin Skywalker (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
- Clone Captain Rex (Entertainment Earth • Amazon)
Full Cases Via Entertainment Earth
- The Vintage Collection Wave 22 (Includes Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, Mandalorian Super Commando, & Clone Trooper (501st Legion))
- The Black Series Wave 2 (Includes Anakin Skywalker & Clone Captain Rex)
Tags: Fanstream, Hasbro Pulse, livestream, Pre-Orders, The Black Series [Phase IV], The Vintage Collection
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Today’s Hasbro Fanstream featured a quick update on the Haslab Cantina (parts are starting to roll in, first shots of figures revealed), as well as several new additions to the line.
TVC figures revealed today:
- Baylan Skoll (VC355)
- Shin Hati (VC356)
- Mandalorian Super Commando (VC353)
- Clone Trooper (501st Legion) (VC240 Reissue)
- Battle Droid Builder Pack (Pulse/Disney Store)
Preorders begin on January 23rd at 1 pm ET with availability Spring 2025.
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Skeleton Crew just ended on Disney+ so it makes perfect sense for Hasbro to make a livestream all about the Ahsoka series! That’s next level marketing!
Two (one really) new Black Series figures were revealed today, and nothing more, no pipeline reveals either.
- Anakin Skywalker from the World Between Worlds Flashback
- Captain Rex (using the new clone body) from the same flashback scene
Preorders begin on January 23rd at 1 pm ET, they say availability is “spring 2025”! Happy hunting! Will you get any of those? Since I have all the Captain Rex I need I will only get Anakin. He looks pretty good. And that’s all folks!
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The year is still young and we are treated to the first Hasbro Star Wars fanstream already! The event starts at 11 AM Eastern. What are your predictions?
I will update this post with a link to the video once it is available (usually a few minutes before the stream begins), so refresh the page a few minutes before the event to see the link to the video or to watch the embedded stream after the jump! Or just head over at the Hasbro Pulse YouTube channel for today’s event and watch it all there!
The stream is now live, the event will kick off soon! Watch the stream here or click the YouTube link above!
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Hasbro has announced their first Fanstream of 2025 for tomorrow, January 22, at 11 AM Eastern. Tune in here or on their YouTube channel.
Attention STAR WARS collectors! The Hasbro STAR WARS Fanstream is happening tomorrow, January 22nd, at 11:00am ET on the Hasbro Pulse YouTube channel. Join the Hasbro Star Wars team as they unveil some exciting new figures from STAR WARS The Black Series and The Vintage Collection.
Get ready for a galaxy of surprises and updates you won’t want to miss. Set your reminders and tune in tomorrow!
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Amazon has re-added their exclusive deluxe The Black Series Emperor Palpatine & Throne. Click here if you still need it!
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Toy Reviews
