Judging from the way they've done 6" Black Series army builders, I could easily see them making a Target exclusive Darktrooper (at 1 per case).

I gotta say, this most recent Star Wars Livestream this week was a bummer. In the first Star Wars reveal livestream in ages, only a handful of new items were revealed, most of them being repaints or resculpts. Meanwhile, feels like there's Marvel Legends, Power Rangers, and Transformers livestreams every week where there are new items revealed by teams that are clearly having fun with the products and invested in their fanbases. I dunno why it's bugging me so much.

I just don't see how Macy's/TRU will have a toy department that is even half as good as Target/WM.

It'll be nice if there are other alternatives to our limited brick and mortar options today, but I don't think its realistic that this will be successful.

Just stocking toys in general and having them on shelves available to purchase gives them the win over Walmart 

Some good choices for sure. I missed out on Skiff Lando (that wave never made it to even the collectors stores here), so that's a definite buy for me. With 3PO, I'd guess they'll release the updated one from the Disney packs, the one that uses the 4-LOM articulated body (which would be an upgrade from the original 3PO).

Hasbro Pulse just emailed me that the Luke figure is now delayed until November 1. The craziness continues!

I did see those, and thank goodness they're 7 inches because now I'm not as tempted to buy them since they won't fit in with any other lines I collect. That said, what an odd selection of characters. Nothing really goes together outside of the Itchy and Scratchyland robots. This feels more like something of a "Wave 3 or 4" selection of figures, if that makes any sense. I kind of wish they'd have just started out with the regular Simpson family.

I got an email notice from Target overnight that I had to approve a delay for my preorder of the exclusive Galen Erso and Blue Leader figures, otherwise they’d cancel my preorder. I went ahead and approved. The new ETA is September 16 according to the Target App.

I've been under the assumption that there are two factors currently hurting the hobby:

1. The cost of licensing that Hasbro has to pay Disney just for Star Wars alone
2. The commercial failure of the Sequel Trilogy and its merchandise

We know that Disney increased licensing costs back in 2012 or 2013, and I want to say Hasbro recently signed an extension? Then you have to factor in the rising costs of production, materials, shipping, etc. All of that adds up to a pretty penny, and since Hasbro, LEGO, and other merchandisers have taken a bath on Sequel Trilogy items, I can totally see Hasbro playing it easy and only producing a specific number of figures to guarantee that they sell (and for a profit), and don't hang around clearance aisles/stores for years like Jyn, Cassian, or anything from Last Jedi.