Kessel Mine Escape - SW [S] - Playsets (Exclusive)

It’s no secret that the Star Wars line is in serious trouble. And Walmart appears to be the retailer that is “suffering” the most with Star Wars. At this point, we don’t know if it’s Hasbro’s fault or Walmart’s fault, but Walmart’s retailer exclusives have all been a nightmare to secure. Each expected release either hit shelves MONTHS after their original expected date, or they still haven’t arrived to date. After an inexplicable delay, the Walmart exclusive Kessel Mine Escape playset is finally now available to those that want it, and it made its retail debut at Walmart.com. As of this review post, it hasn’t arrived at any brick and mortar stores yet. The Kessel Mine Escape is much more compact than the Vandor-1 Heist playset. (But the Vandor-1 Heist playset is much more enjoyable to interact with and display your figures. In our opinion, Hasbro approached the Kessel Mine Escape playset in the wrong direction. The playsets should remain just that. And when it comes to the characters, they should come in the form of action figures and NOT painted on two-dimensional drawings. Why is Hasbro torturing us with “painted on” droids and nameless Wookiees? These should be pack-in figures or future basic figures in the Force Link 2.0 line. It’s beating a dead horse to keep bringing up these points, but it’s annoying to see the same mistakes made over and over again.

Of particular note, droid DD-BD is shown on the product’s packaging but is nowhere to be found on the actual playset. Is that a future figure coming down the pike, or did the artwork on this set change before release? Anyhow, we hope that Hasbro gets all of the characters featured on this playset released someday. They’re all beautiful characters that deserve to populate the Star Wars [Solo] line. This set retails for $39.99. For that price, there should be three pack-in figures in this set. Why does Hasbro go so cheap on their products? Imagine how interest would pique for a set like this knowing it would be the only way to secure three of the unique droids from the Kessel mines? With how poorly this exclusive has been distributed, it may arrive on clearance at Walmart’s brick and mortar locations. In fact, it’s likely at this point. If the price doesn’t scare you away and you decide to purchase it, you’ll likely enjoy it. Putting this playset together is easy. Hasbro’s instructions are mostly clear and concise, and it doesn’t take too long to erect the fixture. Unlike the Vandor-1 Heist playset, you’ll see a lot more characters added to the walls of the Kessel Mine Escape. It affects the play value of the piece. You’re forced to work with the characters Hasbro decided to add.

It goes without saying that the scene of which this playset is based was one of the most exciting sequences in Solo: A Star Wars Story. It makes complete sense why Hasbro would craft a play area that focuses on the events of these scenes. But this was the perfect opportunity to get many of the droids from these scenes out to the basic figure line. And we get another unwanted Han Solo figure as our pack-in here. Why would Hasbro decide to repackage another terrible Han Solo figure, with a slightly different paint job this time around (including dirty boots), and then anticipate collectors are going to be happy with it? (We’re not.) The set isn’t without its merits. It is large and does house quite a few action figures if you’re so inclined to add them to it. The playset is pretty sturdy for cardboard, and there are enough plastic elements like display stands worked into the structure to secure the figures you choose to display. Han Solo may be another boring repacked figure, but he comes with some cool accessories including an eight-piece tripod cannon, a blaster pistol, and coaxium canisters which make the repetition of the figure a little more worthwhile. Overall, this is an average to above-average retailer exclusive. We wish things were different for 3.75” figures, and we know this is an example of how things shouldn’t be in the modern line.