2024 HasLab - TVC Project, Coming Soon!

[Nicklab]

The "paywall", in this context, refers to a specific figure being exclusively available to one Haslab release.  At $400 or $500, that's a potential obstacle that might prevent people from getting a figure that they want.  I don't think it's out of line to call it that among the collecting community.

[Jeff]

Whether you call it a "dick move" or a "paywall", the exclusive pack-in figure tactic has been part of the game for a long time.

I have empathy for collectors who end up in the spot of wanting the tier/pack-in figures but not wanting the Cantina.  Trying to decide whether to invest $500 to get the figures hoping to recoup some of that cost two years later by selling the playset parts is definitely not ideal.

Lucky for me, I'm not in that spot.  I'm fortunate enough to be standing here with $596.05 in hand, ready to buy ($50 Pulse Premium renewal + $499.99 DLX version + plus taxes).  As the wise poet-philosopher Tom Petty once said, "the waiting is the hardest part".  Let's get on with it already, Hasbro!

[GrandMoffNick]

I don't actually think the Tonnikas will be a part of this. So this would then be a unnecessary discussion.

But to me it's too extreme. Of course this tactic has been used forever. But the long term collectors have clamored too long for these figs to have them a part of a $400 item.

Maybe there are other examples and because I either didn't care or bought the item, I'm being unreasonable.

Or maybe I'm over thinking what the Tonnikas mean to people.

[Dave]

I see both sides of this issue where people want the Tonnikas and they should be a semi-normal release.  It'd be great if they made them a general release, but if that were going to happen it would have happened a long time ago.  Its never going to happen.

I think this might be Hasbro's only way to "sneak" the verbotten Tonnikas in to an offering since the cantina is a customer direct HasLab "fan holy grail" item that isn't a normal commercial item. 

Sure it'll stink for figure collectors and carded collectors, but I'm like Jeff in that I'll likely back whatever they offer around the HasLab cantina and if we end up getting a truly exclusive figure (not just a deco/card variant) then I'm okay with that assuming its something controversial like the Tonnikas that we would otherwise never get.

[Rob]

Tonnika's would be a PERFECT Pulse exclusive...

They'd be available to purchase widely, but also not at any major retailers so any weird 50 year old notion that they're whores wouldn't be something Target would care about...
It would tie in with the Haslab...
They could re-use most of the sculpt so it's right in line with their efficiency goals...
They could charge a small fortune two figures and people would still gobble it up...

It's a no brainer, they just have to stop being babies about it.

[P-Siddy]

Tonnika's would be a PERFECT Pulse exclusive...

Somewhat similar to the Sabine and Chopper set that finishes off the Ghost... Not included with the Cantina, but available on Pulse for a limited time.

[Rob]

That’s exactly what I had in my head when I was writing that.  They could do two packs of unmade cantina weirdos and sell them like crazy.

[EdSolo]

If you want to believe the story of the actresses never giving their rights to Kenner/Hasbro and wanting "millions" for them, then Haslab would be the only option for Hasbro to recoup the cost for the figures.  I have always had a hard time believing the story considering the obscure background characters that have been made over the years.

[Rob]

Years ago I asked one of them about it T some convention and she said she love to have an action figure made of her.  The other one had already died I think. 

Could be fluff, but she was asked about it all the time and always said go for it.

The Star Whores thing is the only plausible explanation I’ve heard but also Hasbro wouldn’t ever talk about it, like it would have been so terrible for someone like Depriest or Evans to just say, we can’t touch that one with a ten foot pole because of some inappropriate backstory jokes from the 70’s.

[Jeff]

Years ago I asked one of them about it T some convention and she said she love to have an action figure made of her.  The other one had already died I think. 

The one you asked is the one who died in 2007 - Christine Hewett.  At C3, she was more than happy to tell everyone that she wanted a figure.  From our old 2005 topic on the Tonnika sisters:

I asked the actress that was signing autographs what the deal was with the rights and all that stuff.

She said that it was never true for her, but that the OTHER actress was witholding rights to the likeness.  She also said that she'd gone to the Hasbro guys the day before to let them know that they had permission to make the figure in her likeness.  She implied that they all but told her that they were going to go ahead and try to make ONE figure - then everyone could buy two.

Is there an echo in here, Rob?!   

As for the bar, yeah, the Hasbro rep I chatted with at their booth confirmed that the U-shaped portion will be coming (as part of an overall 3-piece Cantina set), and that the distillery would definitely be included too, which was great to hear.  He said the sets were essentially ready to go, and that they were just waiting for a retailer to pick them up as an exclusive.  They wouldn't elaborate on any of the figure choices for inclusion though, and made it sound like that part of the set may still be up in the air right now.  I obviously pointed out that the Tonnika sister would be an obvious choice, since that where she was standing in the movie.  Though I'd prefer it if she was single carded instead.

One staff member from another site said that his friend had already seen these items back in Asia, so it sounds like they're very much already finished, and just sitting around waiting...

That would also seem to mesh timing-wise with what the Hasbro guys told me last year at Comic Con, which was that the rest of the bar was definitely on the way at some point soon...  So just a question of being patient and waiting it out.

I also pushed the obvious Hem Dazon/Arcona idea on them, and they said that it was indeed an obvious choice, and would unquestionably be coming sooner or later.  So no worries on that figure either, other than your patience level. 

I have never been able to find all of the pieces of the puzzle, but here is my best guess after putting together all the parts to which we have access (and finally willing to disclose some things I promised to keep quiet almost 20 years ago at C3).

Hasbro looked into making Tonnika Sisters figures in the early 2000s.  I believe they were going to be part of the Cantina Bar piece sets at first.  During the approval process for those sets, that's when it was discovered that for some reason (oversight, lost paperwork, something) LFL did not have licensing/merchandising release paperwork for them.  The sisters were put into the parking lot on hold.  At Hasbro's urging, LFL went to work trying to secure the paperwork they needed to approve the figures. One of the sisters (Christine Hewett) signed off on the new paperwork.  Everyone figured it was just a matter of time to get the other one (Angela Staines) to sign off.

So then we get to 2005.  Celebration 3.  JediMAC and I were in the Hasbro booth pestering Derryl DePriest about obscure background figures we wanted (this was the height of the quest for ICMG).  Derryl basically told us off the record that the Sisters were finally coming.  Most likely with the Central Distillery bar piece that we needed to finish off those Saga/OTC Cantina bar piece sets.  You can see Matt being coy with his post above.  I was not so coy with mine...

in private at the booth they sure did a LOT of hinting that the Tonnkia Twins may have something to do with the upcoming Distillery and U-Shaped bar pieces... 

And then, nothing.  No distillery.  No Sisters.  No updates.  Eventually Hasbro said 'don't bother voting for them, we can't make them' when it came to fan polls.  Over the years, it became clear that even though Hasbro was ready to make them at multiple points in the 2000s, LFL stopped it.  The licensing/merchandising paperwork looked like the primary thing to blame.  We knew they got one sister to sign off, but the other was status unknown.

Eventually Victoria from Victoria's Cantina dug a little further.  According to her interview in 2017 with the unsigned sister (Angle Staines), it wasn't "millions of dollars" that was the sticking point it was ONE FIGURE.  $5.

"Angela confirmed some of the rumors, including that Lucasfilm lost the paperwork they needed to create merchandise in her likeness, and that when given the opportunity to sign again, she questioned the benefit she would receive in doing so. She was disappointed that after signing the release, she would still need to pay for her own figure. She explained that she thought it would be fair for them to send her a sample, and ultimately refused to sign. Since Lucasfilm could not get her to sign the new release, Hasbro could not create a figure of the character. The other actress who portrayed the other sister, Christine Hewett, sadly passed away in 2007. She did sign the new release Lucasfilm provided her shortly before her passing, yet a figure of that Tonnika Sister has not been released either."

So, because LFL didn't want to change their boiler-plate release form to ensure Angela got a free figure in the early 2000s, she never signed.   

Victoria met with Angela again in 2018 and claimed that Angela started to understand what it meant to fans and would sign now if given the opportunity.  Victoria took the news to Hasbro in 2019 who said they'd tell LFL.  But, it sounds like it went nowhere.

The elephant in the room is of course a LOT has happened in the world between then and now.  The biggest being Disney buying Star Wars/LFL.  There are so many rumors about Disney/LFL shutting the door on figures for any SW characters that make women out to be sexual objects (All the Slave Leia stuff and then most recently the talk of no Oola with the BS6" Rancor for example).  The sisters with the "Star Whores" history are definitely starting out on the wrong foot if those rumors are true.

I'm not saying it'll never happen, but it sure looks likely that our best chance to get them has come and gone.  Maybe this HasLab will surprise me though.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk on the history of the Tonnika Sisters.

[P-Siddy]

Thanks for the history lesson, Jeff.  I've heard some of this stuff, but some regarding the cantina set, I hadn't.  I think the Star Whores/Disney sale might have taken the Tonnikas off the table, but I often wonder if the sisters would show up in the Mandoverse as something cool/different than what that "joke" picture that someone did in the 70s, would that change their mind?  No idea, but I think if we get a cantina Haslab, this will be the time we get them.  If not, I don't think we'll never getting them.

It's weird to think that we got Oola, Hutt Slayer Leia, Slave Owner Watto, and drug dealer Elan Sleazbaggano once upon a time, but that was before Disney took over.

[McMetal]

Yeah great stuff Jeff, thanks. Did not realize we were that close at one point. Even one of them would be better than nothing at this point.

After their comments about the Goblin Queen and Mephisto during the GR HasLab not being something they could do at retail so that was their only option, The Sisters seem like they could fall in the same category.

There’s not a lot left that would get hardcore collectors very excited anymore, but that would do it.

[Dave]

I think the Star Whores/Disney sale might have taken the Tonnikas off the table, but I often wonder if the sisters would show up in the Mandoverse as something cool/different than what that "joke" picture that someone did in the 70s, would that change their mind? 

I know there was hope that when VW was doing Star Wars themed ads and included "Tonnika Sisters-like" people that would create an opportunity to do something like this. 

[Nicklab]

I have a little bit to add to the story.  I went to Rhode Island Comic Con back in the fall, and was going to this party they were holding at the official convention hotel.  I saw some people recording a podcast and one of them looked pretty familiar.  When we were leaving they were still there.  And I realized just who it was I recognized - DERRYL!  I had dealings with him when I reported for a couple of collecting sites, and he was always pretty genuine in our interactions.  I remember hanging out with him at Star Wars Celebration in LA in 2007.  We had both been imbibing, and he was explaining the whole prototype swap meet that was happening in the lobby of our hotel that night.

But back to RICC!  At first the conversation was mostly just to catch up.  Whether or not my gf was impressed that I was acquaintances with this former Hasbro exec was beyond me.  But the conversation turned to the Tonnikas, and this whole situation that had been going on at this point for decades.  He was well aware of it all.  I distinctly remember at Star Wars Celebration III in 2005 when the guys from Sandtroopers brought one of the Tonnika sisters actors - Christine Hewitt - to the Hasbro panel to ask about getting the Tonnikas made.  And Derryl had to look down at the table in awkward silence.  Fast forward to 2023 - he had left the company years earlier - and even now he could not say exactly what the issue was.  But the essence of it seemed to be that the Tonnikas were essentially blacklisted by Lucasfilm.  I pitched the theory about the whole "Star Whores" bit, and the current climate around the objectification of women.  He seemed to think that was likely not the issue - despite the situation that developed following the release of the Black Series "Huttslayer" Leia.

There were indications at one point in time that Hasbro *MIGHT* be able to produce one of the Tonnikas because they could get the aforementioned likeness rights.  But that did not seem to get Lucasfilm's position to change.  He summed things up by saying that the licensing people at Lucasfilm that he had worked when he was with Hasbro had not turned over in a long time.  And they seemed to have a long memory, and he felt pretty certain that LFL's position was almost certainly not going to change. 

Taking all of this into account?  I don't feel overly optimistic about them being part of the Haslab.

[Rob]

Years ago I asked one of them about it T some convention and she said she love to have an action figure made of her.  The other one had already died I think. 

The one you asked is the one who died in 2007 - Christine Hewett.  At C3, she was more than happy to tell everyone that she wanted a figure.  From our old 2005 topic on the Tonnika sisters:

I asked the actress that was signing autographs what the deal was with the rights and all that stuff.

She said that it was never true for her, but that the OTHER actress was witholding rights to the likeness.  She also said that she'd gone to the Hasbro guys the day before to let them know that they had permission to make the figure in her likeness.  She implied that they all but told her that they were going to go ahead and try to make ONE figure - then everyone could buy two.

Is there an echo in here, Rob?!   

As for the bar, yeah, the Hasbro rep I chatted with at their booth confirmed that the U-shaped portion will be coming (as part of an overall 3-piece Cantina set), and that the distillery would definitely be included too, which was great to hear.  He said the sets were essentially ready to go, and that they were just waiting for a retailer to pick them up as an exclusive.  They wouldn't elaborate on any of the figure choices for inclusion though, and made it sound like that part of the set may still be up in the air right now.  I obviously pointed out that the Tonnika sister would be an obvious choice, since that where she was standing in the movie.  Though I'd prefer it if she was single carded instead.

One staff member from another site said that his friend had already seen these items back in Asia, so it sounds like they're very much already finished, and just sitting around waiting...

That would also seem to mesh timing-wise with what the Hasbro guys told me last year at Comic Con, which was that the rest of the bar was definitely on the way at some point soon...  So just a question of being patient and waiting it out.

I also pushed the obvious Hem Dazon/Arcona idea on them, and they said that it was indeed an obvious choice, and would unquestionably be coming sooner or later.  So no worries on that figure either, other than your patience level. 

I have never been able to find all of the pieces of the puzzle, but here is my best guess after putting together all the parts to which we have access (and finally willing to disclose some things I promised to keep quiet almost 20 years ago at C3).

Hasbro looked into making Tonnika Sisters figures in the early 2000s.  I believe they were going to be part of the Cantina Bar piece sets at first.  During the approval process for those sets, that's when it was discovered that for some reason (oversight, lost paperwork, something) LFL did not have licensing/merchandising release paperwork for them.  The sisters were put into the parking lot on hold.  At Hasbro's urging, LFL went to work trying to secure the paperwork they needed to approve the figures. One of the sisters (Christine Hewett) signed off on the new paperwork.  Everyone figured it was just a matter of time to get the other one (Angela Staines) to sign off.

So then we get to 2005.  Celebration 3.  JediMAC and I were in the Hasbro booth pestering Derryl DePriest about obscure background figures we wanted (this was the height of the quest for ICMG).  Derryl basically told us off the record that the Sisters were finally coming.  Most likely with the Central Distillery bar piece that we needed to finish off those Saga/OTC Cantina bar piece sets.  You can see Matt being coy with his post above.  I was not so coy with mine...

in private at the booth they sure did a LOT of hinting that the Tonnkia Twins may have something to do with the upcoming Distillery and U-Shaped bar pieces... 

And then, nothing.  No distillery.  No Sisters.  No updates.  Eventually Hasbro said 'don't bother voting for them, we can't make them' when it came to fan polls.  Over the years, it became clear that even though Hasbro was ready to make them at multiple points in the 2000s, LFL stopped it.  The licensing/merchandising paperwork looked like the primary thing to blame.  We knew they got one sister to sign off, but the other was status unknown.

Eventually Victoria from Victoria's Cantina dug a little further.  According to her interview in 2017 with the unsigned sister (Angle Staines), it wasn't "millions of dollars" that was the sticking point it was ONE FIGURE.  $5.

"Angela confirmed some of the rumors, including that Lucasfilm lost the paperwork they needed to create merchandise in her likeness, and that when given the opportunity to sign again, she questioned the benefit she would receive in doing so. She was disappointed that after signing the release, she would still need to pay for her own figure. She explained that she thought it would be fair for them to send her a sample, and ultimately refused to sign. Since Lucasfilm could not get her to sign the new release, Hasbro could not create a figure of the character. The other actress who portrayed the other sister, Christine Hewett, sadly passed away in 2007. She did sign the new release Lucasfilm provided her shortly before her passing, yet a figure of that Tonnika Sister has not been released either."

So, because LFL didn't want to change their boiler-plate release form to ensure Angela got a free figure in the early 2000s, she never signed.   

Victoria met with Angela again in 2018 and claimed that Angela started to understand what it meant to fans and would sign now if given the opportunity.  Victoria took the news to Hasbro in 2019 who said they'd tell LFL.  But, it sounds like it went nowhere.

The elephant in the room is of course a LOT has happened in the world between then and now.  The biggest being Disney buying Star Wars/LFL.  There are so many rumors about Disney/LFL shutting the door on figures for any SW characters that make women out to be sexual objects (All the Slave Leia stuff and then most recently the talk of no Oola with the BS6" Rancor for example).  The sisters with the "Star Whores" history are definitely starting out on the wrong foot if those rumors are true.

I'm not saying it'll never happen, but it sure looks likely that our best chance to get them has come and gone.  Maybe this HasLab will surprise me though.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk on the history of the Tonnika Sisters.

Amazing and also somehow completely believable. 

At least I'll have some Stan Solo Kenner-Style ones before too much longer.