2023 May the 4th Hasbro Livestream

[Jeff]

Point of Clarity - The "May the 4th Livestream" is actually on May 3rd so the pre-orders can happen on May 4th.

Wednesday, May 3rd @ 11am ET.

#StarWars fans! Celebrate #StarWarsDay early with a special #MayThe4th Fanstream on WED, MAY 3rd at 11am ET on our YouTube channel! Don't miss this #Fanstream as it has everything to prepare you for pre-orders on #MT4. Grab your helmets and lightsabers, and tune in!

[Matt_Fury]

I would hope they would finally reveal the Haslab Ghost project but I think they might hold off for SDCC or Pulsecon for that.

Instead we'll see about a dozen Imperial Officers, Clone and Mandalorian repaints.  Some of which will be wanted.

[Jeff]

I am hoping that they finally open up orders/pre-orders on Piett, Hunter, ROTJ Vader and Bunker Raid Han at Pulse. 

Seems so weird that we can pre-order R5-D4 from the first wave of 2024 but can't pre-order/order Piett or Hunter yet from Amazon/Pulse and those figures have started shipping from EE.

[Rob]

What happened to the announcement that they weren’t going to be doing preorders all the time.  If they open those up… it would seem that it’s still preorders for almost everything.

[Jeff]

What happened to the announcement that they weren’t going to be doing preorders all the time.

They said "taking a break from pre-orders" and then proceeded to do pre-orders for almost everything that came after that one time/livestream.  Your guess is as good as mine what happened there.

The only guess I have is that Hasbro was maybe trying to toss EE  (or other small guys) a bone or some sort of exclusive order window?   EE put up pre-orders for Hunter, Piett, Andor Clone Trooper, and Starkiller last month but no one else did (Pulse, Amazon, etc).  Maybe it was all some sort of way for Hasbro to halt pre-orders for everyone else and let EE get first crack at putting them up for pre-order/order?

[Nicklab]

I don't know quite what to expect in this next livestream.  Perhaps some of these upcoming TVC waves will get fleshed out a bit more - like the waves with Luke (Jedi Academy) and the other with R5-D4.  Right now those cases are listed with the following codenames along with the 2 x announced figures:

1 x LUKE SKYWALKER (JEDI ACADEMY)
1 x SW VIN DUBOIS
VC???  “Dover”
VC???  “Downey”
VC???  “Driggs”
VC???  “Drummond”

1x SW VIN ACEQUIA
2x SW VIN BANCROFT
2x SW VIN BASALT
1x SW VIN BELLAIRE
1x SW VIN BLOOMINGTON
1x R5-D4 (The Mandalorian)

I think if we get 2 or 3 of these figures announced that would be a positive development.  Perhaps there will be some TVC 1.0 re-releases that are ROTJ themed, like Ewoks or perhaps Orrimarko (part of that scarce online only wave).  But I guess we have to wait until Wednesday to see.

Beyond that?  I think the livestream might feature more Black Series announcements this time around.  And that's just because the SWCE panel was so heavily stilted towards the Vintage Collection.

[Jeff]

Pre-Order tomorrow, 1pm ET.

I will add the full press details when I get them.

Mainline OWK Grand Inquisitor:


TVC Ewoks Carded 2-Pack:


Also a Target exclusive Deluxe Luke/Grogu pack...

[Rob]

Oh wow.  I like all three of those.

[Matt_Fury]

The Inquisitor really stands out for me.

[Nicklab]

I can't say I'm surprised by the balance of Black Series vs Vintage Collection in this livestream.  SWCE was loaded with TVC reveals, so it's not surprising that Hasbro would swing the pendulum the other way.

The Wicket & Kneesa 2-pack is novel.  And it goes along with the general theme of the DROIDS figures.  Let's just hope these ship relatively according to schedule.  The price does seem a little steep though.  I think I might just get one of these EWOKS sets and call it a day, because I have not opened any of the DROIDS figures.

The Grand Inquisitor looks pretty true to his appearance in the OWK series.  I'm sure that some 3D printer is already working on a replacement head that's more true to his appearance in REBELS.  I've seen some Black Series versions that look pretty amazing.

I really like what's included in the Luke Skywalker & Grogu Deluxe set.  It seems to offer a good deal of value for what's included.  But it seems like Hasbro is walking a tightrope and engaging in the double-dip here.  They offer up the basic figure first in an appeal to carded collectors.  And then almost a month to the day they offer up the Deluxe version.  I see the appeal for carded collectors.  But when Hasbro first did this with the Tusken Warrior I was frankly a little bit annoyed.  I'm still slightly annoyed now.  Because I am trying to be more judicious with the way I place my orders.  This whole scheme is messing with that.