This isn't so much about the future of Star Wars, but more about Hasbro's recent past:

The more I think about it, the more I start thinking that between the G.I. Joe - Retaliation line (and the associated movie), along with the Battleship movie might be partially related to the current state of things we're seeing from Hasbro in the Star Wars line.  I get the sense that Hasbro getting itself involved (more directly) in the movie business may have been an unwise move, and it may have cost Hasbro a serious ammount of money.  You may recall that Hasbro has been trying to get more involved in generating their own media, like movies, television series, etc.  Is it possible that this foray into a new business has had a major impact on their toy business?

Look at the movie track record:  Battleship was a major bomb.  It cost some $200 million to make the movie, and it only grossed $65 million in the US.  The international numbers were not impressive.  Not a rave success for Hasbro Studios, by any stretch of the imagination.  Seeing how this movie was a partnership with Universal, I don't think Hasbro Studios was left completely holding the bag, but they probably dealt with a significant loss in the tens of millions of dollars.

And then there's GI Joe - Retaliation which essentially got pulled from it's original release date last year.  It sounds like the movie had major problems and needed to be seriously overhauled.  All the while the toy line was released and then there were rumors swirling that the product for the movie was going to be pulled from the shelves.

And then there was the news from the investor conference call that preceded Toy Fair.  Hasbro's CEO called on their various units to cut costs and to cut the number of SKU's for each license.  Lo and behold, we saw that the Star Wars line has been scaled back considerably with a focus on serious cost cutting.  Coincidence?  Hmmmm.

Another potential explanation is that the current ownership of Hasbro might be looking to sell the company.  Extreme cost cutting like we're seeing is occassionally the hallmark of a company trying to make themselves look as profitable as possible to a potential buyer.  All of this is food for thought on the state of things now and in the near future.

The Barriss angle is interesting.  She was after all one of the Jedi who had been introduced in Attack Of The Clones whose fate we never witnessed in Revenge of the Sith.  There was an Order 66 scene featuring Barriss in the comic adaptation of ROTS, but not the film.

I also really liked that smaller gunship.  It was almost like a cross between a Republic Gunship and a TIE Interceptor, but with the cockpit of the Virago.

That is so ******* cool.

I LOVE the folks at NECA.  They just get it.

TVC figures marked down to $4 at WalMart stores in my neck of the woods.  And $4.99 at TRU stores.  Amazingly enough I managed to score a red bandana Kithaba at the TRU clearance price!

Hmmm.  Primary antagonist?  Given the storyline of DOFP, I would think that Dinklage might be voice acting.  The Sentinels are the primary antagonists in the future part of that story.  Is it possible that they might introduce a character like Master Mold as the guiding force of the Sentinels in the future?

***EDIT - According to THIS ARTICLE, Dinklage is likely to be playing Bolivar Trask, the scientist who invented the Sentinels.


The story definitely becomes more complicated with how the movie storyline has dealt with Cyclops, Jean Grey, et al.

BTW, Qui-Gon Jim...love the Puck idea!

Read a little bit about the possible realignment that might be in the works for the NHL.  There's a proposal on the table for the league to be split into 4 divisions, similar to the NFL.  And it may just benefit Winnipeg, too, since they have a pretty grueling travel schedule with the current conference/division structure.

There's also a good deal of talk about what's going to happen with the Coyotes.  The cities that seem to be in contention for the relocation of the failing Phoenix team are Quebec City, Seattle, or possibly Toronto.  The Toronto market seems to be the one city in Canada that could truly support a second team.

The carbonite block is getting some love in 2013 (6" SDCC exclusive, 3.75" pack-in with the Amazon Slave I), but you can't somehow squeeze a new "I'm about to get frozen" Carbonite Han Solo figure into the Black Series 3.75" line to go along with the Amazon set?

+1

How about a real Yavin Ceremony Han Solo, too.

+1 to this as well



And might I add....

How about offering up a VC50 - Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) kitbash as a Mynock Hunt version?  We all know that this particular figure spent far too little time gracing the pegs.  So how about one with the oxygen mask and a pack-in Mynock?  How about it Hasbro?!?!

The Vader set with the Seeker Droid looks okay.  As for the others?  The Jango sculpt actually looks pretty decent.  And I'd like to see more of the droids.  Otherwise, I'll just wait until I see these in stores.