Tag Archives: Fans’ Choice

We saved the best for last! Let’s finish up looking at the 20-year-old Star Wars “Saga” line with a gem in this unprecedented lineup. Today, we’re concluding with 2002’s Star Wars “Saga” [Phase I] Ephant Mon (Jabba’s Head Of Security) (’02 #45) [Fans’ Choice #3] figure. Check out the new review template, the all-new Photo Gallery, the rewritten review, and the other content we updated as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the line that supported Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones.

Sigh. I shouldn’t have walked away from Hasbro Pulse’s Fan Fest online event saying “Why does Hasbro hate The Vintage Collection collecting community so much? Why are they completely disengaged from its needs?” But I did. And between the sorry repacks confirmed, to the desperately needed repacks they’re dangling over our heads, I understand why people are fleeing from this scale left and right. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the announcement of the re-released Han Solo (Endor) figure. Does Hasbro store any record-keeping of their releases? Do they go to discount outlets? Do they have any indication of what fans want? (more….)

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Hasbro Pulse is gearing up for their next Fans’ Choice poll. This time, fans will be voting for which figure to bring back in The Black Series Archive collection. Click here for details.

Hasbro: please help a community out once again. This is the ONLY version of Shasa Tielon the market today. It’s a Micro Machines figure for Pete’s sake! (I thought I saw a LEGO mini figure yesterday, but it seems to have disappeared). This character is prominent both in Jabba’s palace as well as The Khetanna. So please make this figure a reality for The Vintage Collection? She would make a great release and we need more female aliens in our collections! They’re not complete without her!

Hasbro: please help a community out. This is the ONLY version of a Tonnika Sister on the market today. It’s a Micro Machines figure for Pete’s sake! We know you can make ONE of the characters now, so please do it for The Vintage Collection? She would make a great Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive (or something) too! She is an iconic addition to our cantina dioramas. It’s not complete without her!

It’s always good to be proactive, isn’t it? Is there ever a time when planning for things ever turned out negatively in the end? Well, maybe, but stick with me that’s its a good thing for this post. JTA is getting inundated with store reports that show evidence that The Vintage Collection is on clearance at so many stores (both Walmart AND TARGET). Some of the prices are as low as $5 each. We even have a report from barely-alive Kmart that they have them on sale (clearance) too. I had an epiphany that retail is dead when it comes to Star Wars. I am completely serious about this. It’s not about what stores get and don’t get any more. It’s about the changing times. Because of these clearance trends, I have a suggestion. (more….)

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Hasbro, you should read this post. Seriously. You should. So click through for more.

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Steve Evans revealed via his Instagram account the upcoming Fans’ Choice Dr. Aphra figure. Click below for the Instagram post.

We’re continuing our discussion about what figures Hasbro should probably focus on for The Vintage Collection. Our next topic up for discussion is The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. We’ve enlisted the help of famed customizer Peakob1 and his readership add their voices to come up with a great cast of options. So now, we want our readers to check out their suggestions and continue to add to the list of character ideas for this great and rich period of Star Wars. Remember, this great cast of characters would be figures done in realistic style for The Vintage Collection. Click through for more!

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Check out the all-new and amazing Jaina Solo (Legends) The Black Series [Phase III] six inch figure in tonights Visual Guide update. Click below for our full Visual Guide page. You can also check out our extended gallery in notes on this figure in our full review.

If you’re NOT currently collecting the 6″ line, Jaina Solo (Legends) may change things for you. See why she is probably a must-have for your collection regardless of your focus, in our Research Droids Reviews today! Be sure to leave your own thoughts in our comments section, vote in the poll or even leave comments about it on our Facebook page. Click the banner below for the direct link to the review! As always, you can also send your own personal review requests via email if you’d like to see something that we didn’t cover yet.

A while ago, we suggested that there needed to be a “greatest hits” line for The Black Series 6″ line. Figures like Anakin Skywalker and others command hefty premiums on the aftermarket. In recent Hasbro Q&As Hasbro has also admitted that it’s something they’d like to do to get those older figures out again. Because we’re seeing them tomorrow, we thought we’d compile a list based on your own wants and desires. So, in the comments, let Hasbro know what 6″ figures should be part of a “greatest hits” assortment. Remember, only previously released action figures count in this tally.

Entertainment Earth has updated their product page with a couple of images of Jaina Solo. What a fine figure she is indeed!

We all heard Design Director Steve Evans from Hasbro state that he has a good idea of what characters he would choose if Hasbro were to make an anniversary line of 6″ The Black Series figures for Episode V. If you haven’t, it’s from our Hasbro Q&A where we teamed up with Victoria’s Cantina for SDCC. Be sure to check it out. (more….)

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As you know, longtime collectors of the modern line are in desperate need for a modern update to the puppet version of Sy Snootles from Return Of The Jedi. But now that The Vintage Collection’s back, why not give us updates to the whole band in glorious Kenner inspired packaging now? Perhaps redo Max Rebo so that he better resembles how the creature really is thanks to Pablo Hildalgo, (stubby lower body). We think that since Hasbro is thinking more outside of the box that this might make for a great 2018 store exclusive somewhere, so can you please make it happen?

We’re continuing to keep the conversation going! If you listened to the Hasbro Q&A (which was a team effort between JTA and Victoria’s Cantina – check it out HERE), you clearly remember Hasbro saying something that was as loud as clashing cymbals. It was also very heartwarming to fans of The Vintage Collection. When asked about working aliens/patrons from A New Hope (Chalmun’s Cantina) and Return Of The Jedi (Jabba’s Palace/skiff guards) into the planning of TVC they said “Absolutely, that’s kind of one of the main reasons we brought [The Vintage Collection] back. It is.”. (more….)

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I have had time to digest Hasbro’s presentation during San Diego Comic Con and I have distilled what concerns me and what elates me. While a 6” Maz Kanata is literally the VERY last thing I would ever want in my Star Wars collection personally, I have to admit that the rest of the presentation was Hasbro’s best in years. It certainly was far from perfection, but it’s a start and I want to be hopeful as I can. That being said, I do have great concerns. Adam Pawlus has already expressed his concern that The Vintage Collection smells like it might be dead on arrival. And in all honesty, part of me has similar reservations. But my hope outweighs the negatives at the moment. In an effort to keep thinking positively, I needed to itemize the pros and cons of what Hasbro has planned thus far. So, let’s talk about what will work and what absolutely won’t work so that we can clean up the negatives. Hasbro, please listen to this advising. We really know what’s best for The Vintage Collection. (more….)

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It seems that Hasbro is in a position with The Black Series 6″ line that they will be playing forever “catch up” with it. There was already such a vast cast of characters “out there” before the line even began in 2013 that trying to represent even a diverse range of everything is proving overwhelming for them. (more….)

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There are ten (10) specific things I have been obsessing about that I want to see get done when the return of The Vintage Collection comes this Spring 2018. (A lot of it has to do with the original Kenner line.) While it would be wise for all of us to not count our chickens before they hatch, TVC’s return is likely to be a scaled down version of what we encountered between 2010 through parts of 2013. However, there is no reason why Hasbro can’t make most of their existing tooling budgets, parking lots, checklists and brainstorming to help us complete modern releases of the figures we grew up with as kids. Doing this will benefit everyone involved in the Hasbro/collecting community universe. While this unofficial Top 10 list of mine is really “all over the place’ with regards to what it covers, you will notice that it hones in on one repeated topic: getting those original “Collect All 92” out/completed in this line and offers suggestions on how to do it. Please click through and be sure to leave your own two cents in our comments. We have to keep the conversations going about The Vintage Collection. It’s the most important thing Hasbro has done for us in over half a decade.

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Wow, this one almost bypassed us! We don’t hang out on social media so we don’t know how many people out there are finding this, but it appears that the Darth Revan wave is making its way to Walmart. JTA reader and friend CS E. saw a bump in his local Walmart inventory of The Black Series [Phase III] figures so he went to check out what the store got. What he found was the Darth Revan wave. (The Darth Revan included was the new one though (cape tuck)). The AT-AT Driver was also the Driver and not Pilot. So this is clearly a new-old case. And they were 9.84… not bad. It looks like this wave might fall under “too much too late”. Sad. Be sure to let us know if you’re finally finding this wave at your local Walmart. This may be one of the few store reports that this wave is hitting there. I haven’t heard otherwise.

If you recall, we informally polled our readers asking what currently existing 3.75″ super-articulated action figures they’d like to see re-released or added for the very first time to The Vintage Collection when it returns this Spring 2018. These figures would receive NO UPDATES or REFRESHES as they would be STRAIGHT REPACKS. (We’ll get to easy retools/kit-bashes at another time.) Now we’ve loosely compiled the results and came up with a solid list of 125 frequently requested characters. Click through for more….

Darth Revan has been removed from Hasbro Toy Shop. This is a strange occurrence. Click the image below to see the proof. Special thanks to JTA readers James S. for the alert!

If you recall, we informally polled our readers asking what currently existing 3.75″ super-articulated action figures they’d like to see re-released or added for the very first time to The Vintage Collection when it returns this Spring 2018. These figures would receive NO UPDATES or REFRESHES as they would be STRAIGHT REPACKS. (We’ll get to easy retools/kit-bashes at another time.) Now we’ve loosely compiled the results and came up with a solid list of 125 frequently requested characters. Click through for more….

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