Regarding the price point? It's interesting that the Target exclusive Axe Woves got rolled out at $16.99, and people thought that was just Target pricing an exclusive figure a little higher. But no - it's the harbinger of Hasbro hiking the price on TVC figures to $16.99. At this price point there should be more new sculpts in this line. The trooper repaints are getting out of hand.
Everything I see Hasbro doing regarding the Star Wars lines tells me that new TVC figures ought to be around $25, no joke -- like, if the current tooling went away and they had to start from scratch, every TVC figure would cost $25 (Unless it was a Deluxe figure, they would still be more.) Be it the complexity of their construction and paint apps, the ever lower order quantities they can sell as the brand struggles to retain relevance as a kids toy, or the licensing fees being squeezed out of them by Disney, we are kind of lucky the line got rebooted in 2018 and luckier still that it seems to be maintaining a foothold in stores.
My hat is off to the fact that they can work some brilliant budgeting math to get figures out at the prices they currently do. It is all precipitated on the repaints of previously released figures, the rereleasing of figures, and yes the near constant trooper rereleases. I think there is a machine in a factory in China that has had the Stormtrooper tooling in it for 4 years straight now, running 24/7, trying furiously to subsidize the line with all the repaints and rereleases they can get out of that tooling.
But what running decisions through that equation means to the line has become very clear now: Troopers and "part-swap friendly" designs will always get preference over one-off characters when it comes to new tooling. In 2022 I don't think there was a single new figure that was designed as a one-off...even the Dark Troopers came out immediately as a Deluxe release and as a battle-damaged version in the Exclusive multipack.
I enjoy seeing new sculpts as much as the next collector, but I have embraced that not only are they are going to be few and far between, but that they are going to be more and more sourced from the Disney "entertainment" and are going to be less and less anything I want to collect.