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!

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.

Yes but I'm not a casual collector. I am clamoring for the Tonnika sisters. I don't want a playset for $400. It would be a dick move to then stick them in a set that costs $400 when they (not that they are gonna make them) finally do make them. All they are doing is annoying one of the people that still buys most of their product. One of the few people that doesn't think everything they do is already a dick move. I don't have to be on an extreme budget to not want the cantina.

I keep wondering if Steve Evans came back and wasn’t thrilled with the design (and maybe the parallel tie-in offerings) in some way or other and is just overhauling the project more than switching it from Haslab to preorder.

Dabney Coleman has passed away.