All right boys! Everyone have their Star Wars Black series 2 yet? Most of them? Boba Fett — am I right? If the mysterious* bounty hunter is giving you trouble, then run over to Twitter and check out the contest Fwoosh is currently running. Then come back here and read this article that should bring those who live under a rock up to speed on all the goings-on with our favorite 6-inch scale Star Wars figures. Well, okay, our only 6-inch scale Star Wars figures.
All Tweeted up? Good. Okay, as it stands right now, there hasn’t been a huge amount of info, given that it’s been four months since the original Star Wars Black 6-inch Rundown. Let’s be honest, this is Hasbro we’re talking about. Unless it’s a big convention or toy event, we’re not going to hear much. That’s not to say nothing ever happens in between, but the company is usually pretty tight-lipped. But there have been some finds and some promo pics, so let’s get right to it.
First of all, new promo pics of series 3 were released around New York Comic Con. Suspiciously, “Revenge of the Sith” Anakin was missing. This lead to speculation that it is a three-figure wave. Had Hasbro learned from the Sandtrooper (read below) and was going to pack the Stormtrooper two-per-case? Maybe they just forgot to include Anakin in the promo shots? Will the caped crusaders capture the conniving crooks?
Just making sure you’re paying attention. I’m running wild with the questions in this article as a means of plausible deniability, so get used to the question marks, just so later I can either say, “See, I told you so!” or “I never said that! I merely posed that question!” Anyhoo, here are the pics:
Mmmm, Stormtrooper. I need 5 of you. Or 50.
But in the long run, no, Hasbro isn’t going to heavy pack the Stormtrooper, or make another run at Boba Fett, who is proving to be a fast-moving figure. They aren’t even repacking the Sandtrooper. No, they are slipping Han Solo in again according to the preorder info at BBTS and Entertainment Earth. Han again. One wave after his initial release. Now, on first learning this, it may seem to be an insane idea, but upon further thought, it’s not as insane. It gets downgraded to “Whu-what?”
Phillip J. Reed and Poe Ghostal discuss the possibility that Han is being included again because Chewbacca may be released in Series 4 (we’ll talk about that further down). This may indeed may be true. But does that mean we’ll see another run of R2s before C-3P0 sees pegs? Slave Leia again to go with Jabba? Why not wait until Chewbacca is actually released to wheel out Han again, giving a little more time than just one wave? Never mind, I hereby upgrade this decision back up to insane.
Going back to the promo pics of the new characters in Series 3, and the line in general, if I have one thing to complain about, it would be the eyes. Surprised much, Obi-Wan? Why so sad there, Luke? Realize you’re holding your blaster in the hand without a trigger finger? And we already have a Han and Leia that have slight wonkiness to their peepers. What’s weird is that the eyes on the final release Darth Maul look better than the original promo shots. What is the deal with that? Back on point, though — eyes. Yeah, they’re bad, while everything else about these figures ranges from good to spectacular. Gentle Giant has it going on in more ways than one.
Next, some Internet sleuths uncovered a list on Hasbro’s customer service site that may just be the next figures to appear in future waves. The list is as follows:
Chewbacca
TIE Pilot
C-3PO
Darth Vader
Luke Skywalker – Jedi
Clonetrooper (AOTC)
Jawas
Jabba
Speeder Bike
Sandtrooper
Why another Sandtrooper (actually two with different asst. numbers) is listed is up in the air. Could it be a different color pauldron? Maybe different weapons? Alternate dirt deco? Maybe it’s just that he’s proven to be very popular. He’s sold out several times at all the big toy retailers. He’s still $17.99 on Amazon while the rest of series 1 (Luke, Maul, and R2) is marked down to $9.99. Holiday clearance? Overstock from having to replenish the sold-out Sandtrooper? More than likely.
Again, Anakin was missing. From Series 3, from this leaked list. Did they nix this Anakin altogether and are planning an Episode 1 Anakin with removable podracer helmet and sound chip? In the not-so-immortal words of Darth Vader:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Jawas? Plural? A two-pack maybe? Three-pack?
Jabba and the Speeder Bike are welcome additions, but may be hard on our wallet. I can see these as test-the-water items just to see if the market is there. Then future items could be the Tauntaun, the Wampa, and maybe the probe droid? B’omarr Monk? How awesome would a Dewback be? Rancor may be pushing it. Realistically though, I don’t see the deluxe size getting too much more deluxe than those.
As for the rest of the list, you can’t know the joy and excitement that each and every one of these brings to me. Well, actually, you probably do. If the line were to end after these were produced I could possibly be happy with what squeaked out with only two exceptions. I would still need “A New Hope” Leia and “The Phantom Menace” Qui-Gon. Don’t get me wrong; I want everyone. But if, IF, it had to die an early death, I could find a way to continue my existence. Or at least find a different shiny toyline to buy. But I’d rather buy this one. You hear me Hasbro?
Maybe?
*I don’t really count the fleshing-out of Fett as a child, the trauma of seeing his dad beheaded by Nick Fury and dropping guitar power chord bombs in the middle of space and all that. You are more than free to recognize it, though.
