Its been a fun roller-coaster of rumors and news over the last few weeks! As we have now met the cast for both Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars Episode VII and celebrated our first “official” Star Wars Day last Sunday, we are starting to speculate once again about the what the future holds for the franchise and our beloved action figure line.
So our first question was inspired by an image Paul Bateman (concept designer and student of Ralph McQuarrie) recently posted comparing Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness to the recently announced Ep VII actor Domhall Gleeson. Could we see the return of some familiar Force Ghosts? Would they appear to all Jedi or just Luke himself? Time will tell of course but in the mean time who else do you want to return for Episode VII?
Our next question centers around the competition for our pocketbooks. As long time collectors know, this has been a very unusual year for action figure collecting; we are approaching mid-May we have a not been offered a single store, convention or mail-away exclusive, seen little to no advertising for either The Black Series or the Saga Legends line and will see very little product on the shelves until the Fall. This can only lead one to question Hasbro’s strategy for letting so much time and dollars slip by while collectors twiddle their thumbs for new product. Even we here at From 4-LOM to Zuckuss, despite our 3 3/4″ focus, have found our dollars being spent on Legos and even more recently at the Disney Store. We had a blast taking the kiddos to the “Ways of the Force Event” and found a great appreciation for the new talking Stormtrooper and plush Bantha. Combine Disney Store exclusives with the recent rumor that Mattel has gained the Star Wars licence for their Hot Wheels line, Hasbro runs the risk of losing collector dollars in the future by not keeping them interested in the present. So our question is do you as a figure collector find yourself becoming less engaged with Hasbro figure collecting this year?
And finally with Star Wars Rebels set to take off this Summer and Fall, many collectors are already pining away for better quality figures. The series is currently set to debut in the limited articulated Saga Legends style but many collectors prefer the articulation of The Black Series and The Vintage Collection before that. The chances of Star Wars Rebels figures appearing in The Black Series or whatever name the Episode VII line chooses will most likely be inevitable, so the question we want to know is will collectors put their money down for new figures with 5POA this coming Fall or will they speak with their dollars by not purchasing them in order to motivate Hasbro to up their articulation? Either way, we here are all in on all forms of articulation and cant wait until the new line appears!
Until next time,
