Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017

[Jeff]

I have to admit, it's only one day in and we've already had a few more surprises than the last few shows combined it seems like - especially Disney kicking out piles and piles of new droids.

Today was the Hasbro Designer panel, but I didn't see too much coverage of it.  Sounds like it was more about looking back at 40 years of Kenner/Hasbro Star Wars and talking designers favorite items and such with Mark Boudreaux and some others.  Hope some video of that gets posted eventually as I'd like to watch it.

The main Hasbro panel takes place on Saturday...

Hasbro Star Wars
April 15, 2017, 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM (ET)
Location: Behind-The-Scenes Stage - W304, 3rd Floor

Join members of the Hasbro team as they discuss the popular Hasbro Star Wars line. Attendees will get an in-depth look at Hasbro’s latest action figure offerings. Word on the Holonet is there may also be a few surprises, including a special product reveal.  From Hasbro: Steve Evans, Design Director, Star Wars; Joe Ninivaggi, Director, Brand Strategy and Marketing; Aditi Raturi, Global Brand Manager, Marketing & Development; Bill Rawley - Product Design Manager; Steve Bono - Senior Design Manager, Star Wars; Mark Boudreaux, Senior Principal Designer, Star Wars.

[Nicklab]

The Commander Gree reveal was a total surprise.  And all of the Disney Droid Factory reveals?  OMG.  I better start saving for when I go to Disney with the family this fall.

[P-Siddy]

The Commander Gree reveal was a total surprise.  And all of the Disney Droid Factory reveals?  OMG.  I better start saving for when I go to Disney with the family this fall.

That's what I'm thinking.  Hopefully the stock for those protocol droids will be plenty.  And I wonder how good the Sand Crawler will look and if I can sneak it past the wife. 

[Jeff]

Today's Black Series 6" reveal - Grand Admiral Thrawn

Image below courtesy of @JediMoses.  Looking forward to seeing what they saved for the panel/after panel reveals.

[Diddly]

Oooh, that looks to be based on the original EU design too!

[McMetal]

Lol, I was just thinking ewww, that doesn't look anything like the Rebels character. I don't see the point in this. I thought Disney had put an embargo on all the non-canon EU stuff. Odd choice.

[Jeff]

Panel Reveal - Tarkin with Interrogation Droid

[Jeff]

Jaina, Tarkin in the booth -

[Jeff]

I've got a bunch of stuff going on right now (working on last of fan vote stuff!), be sure to check out the JediDefender Twitter Account, where we are sharing pics from forum member JediMoses as he passes them along via Twitter!

[McMetal]

Awesome! Dr Ball M.D. looks a little off, but I love it!

They are really revealing a ton of stuff down there...

[Darby]

Tarkin and Jania look great. Look forward to struggling to find those. 

[GrandMoffNick]

Lol, I was just thinking ewww, that doesn't look anything like the Rebels character. I don't see the point in this. I thought Disney had put an embargo on all the non-canon EU stuff. Odd choice.

None of the 6" stuff has had a "cartoon" feel to it. Sabine, Kanan, etc.

[Brian]

Decent showing from Hasbro at Celebration, at least in line with the smaller reveals we've been getting lately. We knew we wouldn't see Last Jedi stuff, so no surprise there. The deluxe Black Series speeders, Gree, Thrawn, Tarkin, Jaina, the BF TIE Pilot, etc. all look good. Plus, the return of the vintage collection! Also, although I doubt it is very popular here, our daughter is pretty excited for the Forces of Destiny stuff.

Honestly my main disappointment of the weekend was that they didn't finally show us the TFA Luke figure(s). They have let us know it is being worked on for a bit now, thought we'd at least see the 6" one.

[Nicklab]

Despite the lack of new 3.75"figure showings, I definitely felt a sense of relief after SWCO.  There was so much doom and gloom after the tepid Toy Fair showing that I think a lot of people were wondering what kind of future there might be for the line.  But these 6" figure showings and the return of TVC have restored a decent sense of optimism.

I think this is just part of the step by step rollout that Star Wars and the retail partners take part in to keep interest going year round.  The next big events are about 3 months out, and those are D23 which is followed a week later by SDCC.  And then 6 weeks after SDCC we've got the launch of the line for THE LAST JEDI.

Granted, we have to wait until 2018 for the re-launch of the Vintage Collection.  And aside from some repacks, I think that should be a pretty good line.

[Jeff]

Honestly my main disappointment of the weekend was that they didn't finally show us the TFA Luke figure(s). They have let us know it is being worked on for a bit now, thought we'd at least see the 6" one.

"TFA Luke" probably looks a lot like "the start of TLJ Luke" so I am not surprised that they are holding him back for D23 or SDCC.  Like Nick said, I'm sure they had to hold back some stuff for that.  Have to keep the collectors engaged all the way to Force Friday II after all...