It's interesting to see how the tournament shook out. The support for The Bad Batch, with the exception of Omega, was pretty strong, with some lasting to the Elite Eight and Final Four. And the big news is what happened AFTER the Finals. Mara Jade is announced as the winner, and hours later Hasbro announces that Asajj Ventress, the runner up, is on the way this year to the Vintage Collection.
And Hasbro went on to reveal two more characters that were in the bracket tournament on the date that the tournament results were announced. I don't know about you, but this doesn't seem like a coincidence. What's even more interesting is that a figure that is in the same case as the newly announced Asajj Ventress, Carson Teva and Agent Kallus is the re-release of Ponda Baba. If you recall, Ponda Baba was announced on February 26th and made available for preorder on February 27th. But for 3 figures in that wave to be held back for a month and announced the day after March Madness 2025 ends seems a little too coincidental. Hasbro has made it clear that they follow the tournament every year. Did Hasbro just want to look good here? I'm having some difficulty giving Hasbro the benefit of the doubt because this looks calculated on their part.
As for what might have been? This is what the 2025 bracket matchups would have been in the first round if Ventress, Carson and Kallus had been removed in light of their pending release. The characters that would have moved up in the rankings were Shaak Ti, Mon Mothma (ANDOR), and Princess Leia (Ewok Village).
1 vs 64 THE STRANGER vs PRINCESS LEIA (EWOK VILLAGE)
2 vs 63 WRECKER vs MON MOTHMA (CORUSCANT SENATOR)
3 vs 62 CROSSHAIR vs SHAAK TI
4 vs 61 LUTHEN RAEL vs KB
5 vs 60 BAZE MALBUS vs YOTTS OREN
6 vs 59 TECH vs GALACTIC MARINE
7 vs 58 ECHO (THE BAD BATCH) vs CAPTAIN REX (REBELS)
8 vs 57 ARLEIL SCHOUS vs 2-1B
9 vs 56 C-3PO vs EZRA BRIDER (PERIDEA)
10 vs 55 PELI MOTTO vs PYKE SOLDIER
11 vs 54 PONG KRELL vs KELLERAN BEQ
12 vs 53 SAW GERRERA vs AMANAMAN
13 vs 52 SIM ALOO vs GENERAL GRIEVOUS
14 vs 51 TWO TUBES vs PADME AMIDALA (GEONOSIS)
15 vs 50 BODHI ROOK vs FIFTH BROTHER INQUISITOR
16 vs 49 MARA JADE vs MARROK
17 vs 48 DRYDEN VOS vs SUPREME LEADER KYLO REN
18 vs 47 OBI-WAN KENOBI (ROTS) vs MON MOTHMA (ROTJ)
19 vs 46 SAVAGE OPRESS vs KI-ADI MUNDI
20 vs 45 OMEGA vs BEN SOLO
21 vs 44 SECOND SISTER INQUISITOR vs JECKI LON
22 vs 43 PALPATINE (SITH ETERNAL) vs ENDOR REBEL COMMANDO
23 vs 42 JEDI TEMPLE GUARD vs EV-9D9
24 vs 41 SM-33 vs GARINDAN
25 vs 40 NEEL vs DASH RENDAR
26 vs 39 CHANCELLOR PALPATINE (JEDI ARREST) vs BOSSK
27 vs 38 AT-AT DRIVER vs FOZEC
28 vs 37 PLO KOON vs EZRA BRIDGER (REBELS SEASON 1)
29 vs 36 QI'RA vs PIRATE CAPTAIN BRUTUS
30 vs 35 DARTH MALAK vs SHASA TIEL
31 vs 34 THE CLIENT vs FROG LADY
32 vs 33 CLONE COMMANDO vs QUI-GON JINN
