San Diego Comic Con 2014

[Muftak]

Who ever asked for a new Chewbacca?  (Looks around)

I keep asking for a ESB Chewbacca with Threepio sculpted to his back...but yeah, this ain't that.

[McMetal]

Well, I just woke up with clean underpants, so I call shenanigans on that BS. 

Looks like some really nice looking stuff, and a few decent surprises in there. Random thoughts:

Rex, Doom and Gree all came out very well...the paint jobs are rough but i realize these are just crude samples.

Commander Wolffe looks terrific too, but what happened with Commander Thorne? No mention or sightings?

I am literally buying every Jedi Temple Guard I can get my hands on. That is an insanely cool sculpt, if only he could bend his elbows!

For Rebels, I think the only real "new" stuff they hit us with was the Troop Transport and that Sabine/Stormy 2-pack, but that is fine, there was a lot of focus there overall and I am looking forward to seeing these on the shelves this Fall. Everything they showed off looked cool, nice color palettes, and man, that AT-DP driver rocks!

So much 6" love! (yesthatswhatshesaid) Holy mother, the TIE Pilot is off the chain...that guy is gonna fly off shelves. The Wampa and Tauntaun deluxe sets were likewise outstanding. They do seem to be getting better with the human sculpts. That Han Stormtrooper is just an amazing piece of work. And the helmet fits!

Count me in for the Shadow Squadron exclusive, it's only a question of how many can I restrict myself to buying. That's a cool idea, I could really army-build me some of those Black Stormtroopers....

Nice that we got confirmation of the Emperor, but no mention of 3PO? Does this back up the speculation that he will be the Jedi-Con exclusive?

I can't say I'm disappointed, I didn't expect too much this year, definitely not underwhelmed. Or overwhelmed either.

[Jesse James]

Yeah I'm not disappointed either, but not cartwheeling...  It's ok.  It's not been a big shock or anything amazing is all.  And I'm not upset with that, but I'm not impressed either really. 

[Darby]

Haven't seen too much reaction on it, but in addition to the outstanding 6 inch offerings, the Saga Legends/Mission Series stuff I thought was excellent. The Wicket/Biker Scout in particular I thought sculpt wise may be the best representation we've ever seen on these guys. Bossk/IG-88 also very, very good. IG-88 and the AT-AT Driver honestly were positively 1998, though IG's figures have all more or less been similar, outside of the neo-vintage release. I personally enjoy these quite a bit and feel they're getting better all the time.

[Jeff]

Our Q&A is in....

Where at?

You can listen to our Q&A with Hasbro's Star Wars team on our new Soundcloud page.

Jump on over and take a listen to what Hasbro had to say about those newly announced 6" figures, the new Star Wars Rebels toys, the mythical parking lot, 3D printing plans, and more!

[EpicGon]

About the 3.75 new Black Series:

-Leia Yavin offers the slimmest sculpt and best face sculpture, the rubor on her cheeks depicts here as a cute young lady.

Wish Hasbro won´t altere so much the paint job for this figure till they get her into shelves.

-The clones Rex and Doom are nice too, wish they have removable helmets and paintes soles on shoes.

-Ducth Vander updates face and helmet but omit some details on left arm: the patch over glove and cilindres are plain orange scult; while Hoth Wedge looks with updated painted gloves for an reussed body.

- Dagobah Vader, the  Luke head is more appropriated for a toy cause is on a neutral expression, in contrast to the potj version wich spotted a rictus of death.

[Nicklab]

Some general thoughts on the Black Series 3.75"

Yavin Leia looks pretty good.  I appreciate the update to a figure that hasn't been done in some 15+ years, and that's about all I have to say there.  I would've preferred another version of Leia if given the choice.

The mystery of Hoth Han in the 3.75" line?  I'm thinking that might have been a case of mistaken identity.  Someone probably saw that on a list and assumed that the 6" figure was actually a 3.75" figure.

Chewbacca?  I've said my piece, but I think it bears repeating.  Chewie is a tough character.  Simply because he really doesn't have any costume changes.  A detention block breakout version would have been more interesting than this one.

The Clone Commanders are pretty cool.  Rex looks adequately battle-worn.  And the hash marks to denote his droid kills are a nice touch.  Commander Wolffe is probably the star here, because his helmet and look are the most unique of the bunch.  I hope that helmet is removable!  As for Commander Doom?  It took a while for me to recognize that this Clone Commander was from the lost episodes.  When I saw him there I didn't make the connection.  But seeing the figure?  Clearly, whoever designed this particular Clone is a HUGE Marvel/Doctor Doom fan.  I mean, this is just an over the top homage to everyone's favorite despot from Latveria!  After that?  I guess we're left wondering what became of Commander Thorne, who either didn't make the cut or may have been put out there in an effort to discover any leaks.

Dagobah spirit Darth Vader is a nice update.  The POTJ figure was pretty awesome in it's day.  But that figure came out about 13 or 14 years ago, and I think the aesthetics have passed that one by.  The one question I have after seeing this one in the Hasbro display case?  Does the head come off?

Gold Leader / Dutch Vander seems like a case of going back to re-do the notable Rebel Pilots from the Battle of Yavin.  The original version of Gold Leader wound up towering over many an X-Wing and Y-Wing pilot.  I guess now I can customize the old version into a Rosey LaRose figure!!!

[Jesse James]

I didn't really care for most of the Legends/MIssion Series outside the IG Concept Droid/Devronian set, and the AT-DP Pilot.  The rest I feel are inferior to the previous figures they have or I'm just not into their animated looks where applicable...  Oh and I did like Phase I Gree there, and will buy him.  I'd love to customize that into a poseable trooper.  Just wish the helmet were removable.

I'm ok with the Black Series 4" figures they showed, but it was about as exciting as the past waves of 4" TBS figures have been, so yeah...  It is what it is.  That said, I loved the Clone Commanders and they make me wish for a Phase I Rex, Phase I Cody, Bly, the aforementioned Gree Phase I, some of the recurring troopers like Fives and Echo, etc., etc., etc.  I'd love realistic updates of one and all of them.

I thought the Rebels Vehicles were the highlight (still from Toy Fair) for me, haha.  The Stormtrooper Transport ultimately underwhelmed me some, and didn't come close to generating the buzz (for me anyway) the AT-DP did.  I'm glad they made it though.  It'll work as something and I still will be buying one.

6" doesn't interest me (though I will buy Bossk I believe), however I think the detail, quality, and effort is obvious.  It's a well done line, I just prefer 4" scale and will go down with the ship as it were.  If I were NEW to the hobby?  I'd be all over the 6" right now, and I think that's what the main goal is...  If you're new you're bound to gravitate to that, and they want new blood in this line.  If you're old school you may also gravitate to it but I think they know they won't get everyone to move over.  I think they're getting many though.  They also mentioned kids taking to the line and that's important, and surprising.

I think our Q&A had some interesting insights and answers...  A big thanks again to Darth_Anton (Anthony) for taking time out of his con time to go do that, and photos.  Also a big thanks to solrac (Carlos) for taking time out of HIS time as well to take photos.  Both guys have been a blast to collaborate with again on SDCC Coverage for us.  And they're always super mellow about helping out.  No stress or anything, they just seem to always get it done and are always so concise and thorough.  It's really amazing!

[Muftak]

Comic-Con impressions:

Unimpressed by the 3 3/4" TBS offerings...I need new characters that aren't clone repaints to get me interested. I might pick up the Ceremonial Leia somewhere down the road but beyond that, nope.

6" TBS is still not tempting me. Shadow stuff before C3PO is not a good indicator of a line they are trying to hit all the key notes on.

Happy with the Rebels stuff. Looks like a good kids' line, with vehicles and everything going for it. I hope they (and the show) do well. Especially liked the handling of the female/potential pegwarmer characters: put 'em in a two pack with a trooper and hopefully the two together will make the purchase happen. This almost feels like Hasbro is really trying for a change. I like the Troop Transport...I had one as a kid and this looks like a good update. The icing on the cake would have been a brainwashing unit, but its absence is understandable.

Regular Legends/Mission stuff was kind of boring. Bossk and IG-88 are great figure choices, but underwhelming after so many years...Wicket and Scout Trooper will be coming home with me, though, that Wicket is fantastic. The only star for Legends was the Temple Guard--I don't want it, but it looks so good I might buy it when I see it.

[Jesse James]

I totally brainfarted on that Temple Guard.  He's shaping up to be easy to customize.  He'll need a totally new lower body, but I can see making the upper body articulated fairly easily...  I'm definitely down for him to do some work on him myself.

I loathe the "Robe stuck to the leg" style of these though.  I feel that just looks so bad to me.    I think he'll be a popular figure though, even for people NOT buying into these.  I think he's going to sell.

[EpicGon]

The mission series: Wicket and scout are a blend of old and new design, with most effort of paint job done on the ewok than on the trooper.

The scout ressembles in his limbs the vintage 1983 figure, with the adittion of grey mouth.

I see the rebels at at driver has the points on jaws mask for the fisrt time on a 3.75 interpretation. In some photos those pins of his helmet look silver, which is more character accurate. I wish not to wait until december to pick it and compare it with my poft2 at at driver.

Finally, we are now some basic paint jobs are due to crisis and cheap line, but this is a unique chance of new 5poa sculpts, so let´s imagine what would happen if they have painted all them the wasy hasbro kenner did with its POTF2 line.

As SL snowtrooper, stormie, biker and at at driver the modeling is fair for scale, but the lack of detail in paintjob gives the sensation that we are looking at black and white photos.

[Darth_Anton]

It's a little weird that this year I was a bit more excited about the 6 inch line than I was about the 3.75, though I don't think I'm going to commit myself to pick everything up in 6 inch like the 3.75. It will be interesting to see how well all those 3.75 clones will do and if it'll help boost 3.75 sales.

OUt of everything shown, the things that gave me that special tingling feel were the At-DP, the troop transport and the 6 inch shadow trooper set.

[Jesse James]

Clicky

More image updates to our SDCC Coverage!  Again, Solrac and Darth_Anton knocked out extensive image galleries and information, so a solid thanks to both of you!  Great coverage, yet again.

[Brian]

I was watching the Hasbro presentation via SWAN's podcast this week, and it really drove home the point how boring the exclusives are this year - pretty much across the board.  There are a couple exceptions (the Walgreens Fett, and the Shadow set at Target), but other than those, everything is pretty lackluster.  Not a big deal necessarily, but I remember when exclusive stuff was a big deal - and often times quite cool (It wasn't that long ago I was chasing down vintage boxed Taun Tauns, snowspeeders, etc.)  Almost everything else offered is something we already have, repackaged, or something that we can get at every other retailer anyway (like the ship/figure sets).  Again, not a big deal, just an observation.