Jayson's notifications of when products have arrived in the U.S. have never been quite so relevant before now.  Because everything that arrived up until about a week ago (and cleared customs) should be shipping at the original prices.

But I look at everything that I've received or found in stores over the past few weeks or found in stores, and almost everything has MADE IN CHINA on the packaging.  The only exceptions were the Epic World of Action Scout Trooper with Speeder bike and SM-33.  Those were produced in Vietnam.

I'm wondering what Hasbro might have to say about this at Star Wars Celebration.

I now have most of the wave in hand, and it's pretty good.  What I noticed only recently though is the complete lack of any main characters.  I know this is a Fan Channel wave, but it's something that struck me as odd.

CHOPPER - I always liked this paint scheme on Chopper when he would infiltrate Imperial facilities.  And this release, the 2-pack with Sabine, as well as CH-33P following the AHSOKA version of Chopper all made it very clear that Hasbro was trying to maximize their return on investment for this new droid tooling.  But Chopper has so much personality as droids go that I can't resist getting him.  I got mine at GameStop, but my Amazon order is still MIA.

AURRA SING - The updated deco looks really good.  And I can appreciate the alternate cardback - especially since the actress is back on the autograph circuit.  I'd really like to get this version of Aurra Sing signed.  What troubles me is the fact that Hasbro left out the case with the lightsaber hilts that was included in the original release.  I'm glad I have that version because that accessory alone is a personal favorite.

LT. CALLAHAN - I think the figure looks great and true to the character on screen.  I'm glad that Hasbro went with a new character like Callahan, but I am fully aware that the reason why is directly linked to the release of the E-Wing vehicle.  A ship without a pilot is pretty pointless.  Now if Hasbro wants to complete the scene, and make Sabine with her speeder bike?  I am all for that!

SNOWTROOPER - I bought a case of them, and I think it's a fantastic step forward from the VTSC version.  I was expecting Hasbro to make the most of the new tooling, and they didn't disappoint.  The troop builder 4-pack already leaked.  I'm expecting a deluxe version with an E-WEB within the year.  And hopefully we get the officer at some point, too.


DR. EVAZAN - I held off on ordering this one.  I have the original release, and I didn't feel a great sense of urgency to get this re-release, photo-real paint or not.  I'll probably pick it up soon.  But I don't know if I would even open the new version.

It's funny - the Macy's TRU stores are probably better than the standalone locations.

But then I hear that TRU Canada is closing a number of their locations.  They had been hanging on, but the prices are ridiculous.

The paint on the vest and shirt look significantly better on the new version.  But this is still one of those re-releases where I'm on the fence about getting it.  This was clearly done to augment the Haslab Cantina release since it's a lower cost option than making some all-new Cantina aliens.

NICE!  Amazon still has a July 3rd shipping date for this. The margin I had previously set for guess-timating Hasbro's delivery dates had been about 6 weeks.  But this seems more like 10 weeks if this is for real.  I guess once you get a tracking number you'll know for sure.

Is it bad that I never ordered this set?  I think I will at some point, but I didn't feel a tremendous amount of urgency to get it.

I was thinking that the $19 was almost certainly tariff related.  Hasbro Pulse has the benefit of them cutting out the middle man, so I think they can eat the tariffs for the time being.  I think Hasbro recognizes that raising prices could create a really negative perception issue about the company really fast.  The short-term loss of the tariffs VS the long term prospects for the company have to be weighed carefully.