San Diego Comic-Con 2013 has now come to a close and we here at From 4-LOM to Zuckuss are taking a look at what we learned. Hasbro’s Star Wars panel this year consisted of equal parts revelations and confirmations. And as expected due the close scheduling of Celebration Europe 2 left some questions unanswered. Friday’s hour long panel began with the first thirty minutes devoted to Angry Birds merchandise leaving only about 25 minutes for the multiple action figure lines.
Confirmations
In the weeks leading up to SDCC multiple items were previewed/revealed by various sites online such as Flyguy.net and Starwarsfiguren.com. Most of these items were confirmed by Hasbro in their presentation. The following items were officially announced:
X-Wing Fighter
This The Vintage Collection vehicle is a Biggs Darklighter repaint up Luke’s updated X-Wing released in the Shadows of the Dark Side packaging 2-Pack. Biggs’ Red 3 fighter will be a Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive.
Republic Gunship
This set features new deco/stickers causing it to stand apart from Hasbro’s numerous previous releases. In addition to including two gun turrets previously released only in a battle pack it comes packaged with three figures – Yoda, a Clone Pilot and a Clone Trooper – all appearing to be repacks. This Episode II vehicle, making its The Vintage Collection debut, will be a Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive as well.
Scanning Crew Packs
K-Mart will be the home for these two vintage “Special Action Set” themed sets. They feature parts of the actual scanning box/device shown by Hasbro some time ago but never released.
Ewok Assault Catapult
K-Mart will also feature this additional set based on the vintage accessory set of the same name from the 1983 Return of the Jedi series. This set features two so far unnamed/unidentified Ewoks. Now the interesting thing to point out is neither of these two Ewoks are the same the one in earlier images featuring a spotted Ewok.
The Black Series – Wave 2
Six figures were confirmed for the second wave of the collector focused The Black Series: #09 R2-D2, #10 Pablo-Jill, #11 Luminara Unduli, #12 41st Elite Corps Clone Trooper, #13 Stormtrooper and #14 Mara Jade Skywalker. Now R2 and Pablo are Episode 2 based most likely as they were originally slated for the Droid Factory line which would have been released around the time of the now cancelled Attack of the Clones 3D theatrical release. Luminara and the 41st Trooper are Episode III based but the Elite Trooper appears to be missing some of his grey-colored unit demarcations (as featured on the Sideshow 12″ figure below).
The Stormtrooper of wave two appears to be a new sculpt and a potential troop builder. Mara Jade was the winner Hasbro’s last Fan Choice Poll but the figure fans voted for was a Jedi version. Clearly this figure despite the inclusion of her married name is a new sculpt of her Emperor’s Hand appearances and not that of her as a Jedi. If fans had any doubt on which side of the force this figure is on, one need only to look at the color of her lightsaber.
Slave 1 Boba Fett’s Spaceship
Not as significant of a confirmation was the Fett Family’s spaceship. This is Amazon’s first every Star Wars action figure exclusive and has been up for pre-sale for a couple of weeks (and just recently dropped their price from $100 to $70). This is a The Empire Strikes Back repaint from the Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack from The Clone Wars “Shadows of the Dark Side” series. Click here to pre-sell this vehicle.
TIE Interceptor
Another Amazon exclusive that has been available for pre-sale is simply a reissue of the previous version just in The Vintage Collection packaging. This vehicle unlike Slave 1 who is available August 15th, is currently set to be released September 15th. Click here to pre-sell this vehicle.
Revelations
Droid Factory
What may have been the most surprising reveal of Hasbro’s presentation was another of Amazon’s exclusives. Five of the figures from the canceled Droid Factory series are coming on carded on their originally planned Droid Factory cards. The five figures will be: 212th Battalion Clone Trooper, Black Squadron Tie Pilot, Sandtrooper, red Battle Droid, Sun Fac and joining them will be an actual Build-a-Droid itself, FA-4. These figures will be come packaged individually but sold a set for $59.99 and include Build-a-Droid pieces to put together a realistic version of The Clone Wars movie droid TC-70. To pre-sell this set click here.
Saga Legends – Wave 2
Hasbro debuted images of the second wave of the kid-targeted and limited-articulated Saga Legends series: Boba Fett, Captain Rex, Stormtrooper and Clone Commander Cody. Other than Boba Fett from Episode V and the Stormtrooper from ANH the other figures in this wave come from The Clone Wars animated show. Each of these figures appear to be new sculpts.
Saga Legends – Wave 1 of 2014
What was surprising was a “sneak peak” look at two figures from Hasbro’s first wave of 2014. Jedi Knight Luke is a brand new sculpt whereas Obi-Wan from The Clone Wars appear to share parts with The Clone Wars pack from the upcoming Mission Series sets.
Mission Series – Wave 2
The second wave of these environment themed 2-packs also made their first appearance. They include a Tantive IV with (C-3PO and R2), a Mandalore set from The Clone Wars show with Obi-Wan and Darth Maul and finally a Death Star set with Han and Chewie. If these are the final shots of these figures then this wave is sure to have a few hit and misses such as 3PO has a matte instead of shiny finish and Solo’s sculpt might be one the of the best to date.
Finally what may be the most surprising is the color schemes of Maul’s outfit. Upon research he does wear grey during his final appearances on The Clone Wars but never did it “photograph” so brightly and distinctly grey.
Saga Legends Vehicles
Slated for a fall release is the second round of Class II vehicles in the new kid-targeted scale. They consist of an Empire Strikes Back repaint of Slave 1, a blue repaint of the just released Episode III Jedi Starfighter and a yellow Clone Wars repaint of Obi-Wan’s Episode II Jedi Starfighter previously released in the Star Wars Movie Heroes “Yoda” series.
Unanswered Questions
This year Hasbro choose not to have a Q & A session at the end of their panel. Where this is usually for the toy company it is understandable as we already know that they are holding back information and reveals for next week’s CEII. Outstanding questions we may or may not have answered in the near future include:
Droid Factory
The future of the 3 remaining but unseen figures announced for the Droid Factory series; A-Wing Pilot, Mace Windu and Captain Rex. Even though we are getting a new Rex in the Saga Legends line it is very unlikely that this is the same figure as planned for the Droid Factory series because that series was meant to be super articulated unlike the Saga Legends line.
Also unknown is the future of two remaining Build-a-Droids announced for the Droid Factory series: Jabba’s R5-X2 and Mace’s R8-B7 Astromech droids.
Future of The Black Series
With the lack of free or promotional give-aways (i.e. coins, proof cards, posters) at SDCC this year, makes us believe that duration of The Black Series is unknown at the moment. With new movies and television shows on the horizon it most likely will not be until Toy Fair 2014 before we learn anything about the future of these two lines (if not addressed at CEII). However the future of the Saga Legends line looks to be about the a year as our friends at Star Wars Collector.com learned in their Q & A found here.
For a complete and up-to-date list of all upcoming and announced action figure products make sure to click on “Gold 5’s Report” at the top of the page. Also make sure to “Like” us on Facebook to stay informed on all Star Wars action figure related news. A special thanks to Galaxy of Toys for some images. For more press images head to Star Wars.com by clicking here.
This is a very unique time for collectors as we will be learning more about our favorite figures from a Galaxy Far, Far Away next week as there will be another Hasbro panel at Celebration Europe II. If you are planning on attending we would love to hear from you. Send us a message on our official page at Facebook.com/4LOMKUSS to learn how you can be apart of From 4-LOM to Zuckuss.