Breaking away from the typical pattern of Tuesday announcement/Wednesday preorder, Starwars.com announced their “bonus” Bring Home the Bounty a day early this week. The Hasbro offering this round included a new deluxe figure from The Mandalorian: Boba Fett (Morak). This figure was originally announced with the following price:

STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION BOBA FETT (MORAK) Figure
(HASBRO/Age 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $26.49/Available: Fall 2022)
STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION 3.75-INCH scale classic figures and vehicles feature original vintage-inspired packaging and Kenner branding. This STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION BOBA FETT (MORAK) figure is inspired by Boba Fett, the legendary character in STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN, and once the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy. This collectible figure features premium detail and design, collector grade deco, and is highly articulated with a fully poseable head, arms, and legs. The Vintage Collection action figure comes with 4 entertainment-inspired accessories. Available for preorder beginning 1/25 at 1pm EST. See StarWars.com for more details.

This followed up the next day with the correction from Hasbro:

Following the reveal of the STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION BOBA FETT (MORAK) Figure we wanted to share an update regarding the figure’s pricing and preorder availability. Unfortunately, there was an error with the original pricing information communicated yesterday. Please see below for the information on this figure, including the updated corrected $20.99 SRP, and let us know if you have any questions.

  • STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION BOBA FETT (MORAK) Figure

(HASBRO/Age 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $20.99/Available: Fall 2022)

Available for preorder beginning 1/25 at 1PM ET exclusively at Target.com

Things were a bit more confusing when the figure sold out within one minute at Target.com to only then return to pre-order status about an hour and a half later to which it then sold out for good in about 30 minutes. For those who missed the presale, this figure is not due until the Fall of this year causing some to splurge on eBay.

We were fortunate to get an order in on the second round of presales. Hasbro, as always, has provided us with official images of the deluxe figure. It is still unclear what qualifies a figure as “deluxe” in this new line expression as the four accessories (blaster, pistol, helmet, and backpack) seem fairly typical for a basic carded figure to include.  This lack of clarity has caused quite a few collectors this week to reignite the conversation of pricing and value, especially in the light of word that price increases across most of Hasbro’s action figure lines are looming once again. This would be the second price increase in as many years.

There was some hope with the official announcement that Hasbro has extended its Star Wars licensing contract with Lucasfilm for an unannounced period of time, that there might be a price decline or at least stagnation. The licensing fee for the brand has been one of the biggest topics of speculation for the reason behind the continued increasing price of Star Wars action figures.

While 2006 does not feel that long ago for long-time collectors such as us when you look at the offerings of the time versus today, it is quite staggering. For example, in 2006, Hasbro released 5 figure multipacks which retailed for $20 apiece. Simple math brings that to an average of $4 a figure for figures which were mostly repaints such as is the Boba Fett (Morak).

Understanding that inflation is a factor, we looked at $20 from 2006 adjusted for inflation and that would give you $27.66 in 2022. That would make the average cost of each of the 5 figures be $5.53 or in other words still about $15 less than the current Boba figure. Now we do know that we are still living in a pandemic on top of a shipping crisis and that Chinese factories are now charging more for their services but it still seems extreme when compared to the basic line of Vintage Collection figures and to those figures from other companies whose prices have not soared the way Hasbro’s have been of late.

We’ll end the way we typically do and encourage fans to support and encourage Hasbro to produce a cheaper, less articulated, and more kid-friendly line of 3 3/4″ figures so the line can return to providing more droids, aliens, small vehicles, and background characters for kids and collectors. As the premiere world-building line for the past 40+ years, this is something that we would like to see return to the heritage scale of Star Wars figures.

Until then, may the Figures be with you!