Back in the old days, I'd be learning all the names of the aliens at the Vandor sabaac table (Therm Scissorpunch!) so I could put them on my JD wishlist and dream of figures for them.  These days, I don't even bother. 

Nods vigorously. I was making wishlists up until now. Which is a shame, because this is by far the most 'toyetic' film of the Disney era. If this were 2005ish, we'd be complaining about there being too many figures (but not really).

Figs like Therm, Galacus, Weazel, any number of Qu'ra's, Mud Troopers, droids, I can go on... deep sigh.

I like the idea of Rey's parents being no one, at least thematically (I'd still have made them Han/Leia myself) but I agree, Kylo is almost certainly lying. He's deliberately manipulating her worst fear, and tearing down her defenses, simply to capitalize on their very tenuous relationship. I don't know what the out would be for Rey, in terms of parentage; Luke is off the table. At least I think that would be too much last minute revisionism (I suppose I bought Luke/Leia being siblings just fine...). Han and Leia make the most sense, but while Kylo may be lying, we would have to again do enormous heavy lifting now to retcon this. Bringing it back to the Solo movie - Qi'ra - maybe, but this will be a Darth Maul level HUH? for the general audience in IX. So not sure.

I've avoided posting in this thread and any general thread on Solo for this reason. I no longer enjoy fandom, on really any level. The discourse has become so toxic, and dishonest, that it doesn't serve to risk conversations about things you enjoy or didn't turning into opportunities for people with (in some cases) a moneyed interest in twisting the conversation toward negativity or very often, outright hatred. That's not the case here, obviously, but my passion to engage has been greatly diluted.

I approach things from my own experience as a fan, going back to the Starlite Drive in in 1978. I approach from it being a writer. As a creative person, I like to engage with the conversation in regards to the story and mechanics of it. I approach it from being a human being, living in a world that is bigger than me, and in which SW is only a small (ok, big) part. It seems to me the Paul Harrison's of our community and the other malcontents referenced before approach from an angle where they are the sole propeitors of a world that is so small it fits inside their closets or garages and in which they are the gatekeepers. Any one in charge of it - Kathleen Kennedy, JJ, RJ, George Lucas - are simply imposter kings meant to be taken down.

There is nothing healthy, and nothing worthwhile, in their behavior. It has so many intersections with larger concerns in our society that probably merit conversation, but this isn't the place. I love SW. I like what I like, don't like what I don't like, like Jesse said, and I want to have fun with it. If I can't, I won't. I also won't let people like Harrison get away with his behavior when it comes at the expense of our credibility and our integrity. We're better than him and we need to show people that SW and collecting isn't a gutter where bigotry and misogyny run the shop.

Sorry, only the rathtar is being rereleased.  Forever.

FOR-EV-ER.

You almost have to appreciate the novelty of how throwback it is - how many TRU holo exclusives were there? Yoda, Grievous... I'm forgetting somebody. But yeah, totally agree it's a huge pass (not that we'll ever see it, unless it goes to Ross etc.). Nothing to get worked up about. Target and Kohl's do these every year, and there's been something like this since pretty much the beginning.

Around 2010 or 11, I was at WM on my lunch and there was a kid looking for Plo Koon among the CW figs. He noticed me looking at the toys too, pointed to the TVC figs and said 'the old ones are there.'

The only kids I have seen buying SW since have been buying Lego.

I'm not too surprised on the Trooper. A little, but I think - around here anyway so grain of salt - the fact that you find four or five of him on the shelf with one or two Jyns is very telling. Either collectors no longer army build, or it's only scalpers feasting on this line so far. Probably the latter. Around here it's pretty regular for the 'hot' figure to always be gone. So lately Tarkin, 4-LOM or the Mimban Stormtrooper. Everything else sits, until collectors buy it down, and then the process repeats.