On Saturday, I made a rare appearance on the Last Figure Standing livestream with Tim (Bossk’s Bounty), John (SWTVC Facebook page), and Chris (Here). The discussion got me thinking about how both LFS and March Madness start out with a blank slate, and the initial figure submissions are basically collectors listing their most wanted figures, essentially with no restrictions. This differs from Hasbro fan polls (remember those?) in which we are given a handful of figures to choose from, which likely were already in the “parking lot.” If memory serves (and it rarely does) most of the candidates eventually made it into the line regardless of the results. So the cool part of these fan generated polls is that we collectors dictate the characters that make it into the competition.
Anyway, when I look at the slate of characters in the opening rounds of their respective competitions, I pretty much feel that I would be interested, to some degree, in just about every figure listed. Obviously, some more than others, but there are a rare few that would be a hard no from me.
Now, when left up to their own devices, Hasbro comes up with a lot of random choices. The majority of what is released would most likely be on want lists of some significant portion of the community. But Hasbro can’t just give hard core collectors exactly what they want, when they want, at the price they want. There are lot of hidden factors that go into the decision to green light a figure. It could be based on budgeted slots, tooling availability, factory scheduling, timing, store exclusive opportunities, marketing research, and maybe some direction given by Disney or Lucasfilm. In the end, we often get a mixed bag, with reactions to Hasbro’s reveals ranging from joy to disdain.
But my thought here is that for the reasons listed above, Hasbro will occasionally release a figure or item that was something essentially nobody asked for. When it was revealed, this (oddly named) Mandalorian Shriek-Hawk set was most assuredly one of those items. I doubt anyone had this on their want list. Most likely, this set was a relatively easy one to put together, with a bunch of tooling re-use making it possible. Does that make this a bad set? No, it certainly does not. The figures are quite good, and look great. They serve as backgrounders to flesh out your collection of figures from The Tribe. In that sense, they’re kind of the like the Mandalorian version of the prisoner skiff guards. In fact, they actually appear in multiple scenes, and I believe even have a few brief lines during combat operations in Nevarro City.
So while I never would have asked for these characters, and even now that I have them in hand, there are probably 50 figures I’d want before this - I’m not going to complain at all. I’m happy to have these figures. While many collectors may be “Mando’d out,” I feel like I could handle a few more just to help round out the clans from The Mandalorian. While I’m not sure how successful they’d be, I think we need a few kids - especially Paz Vizsla’s son - since he was the one that these four rescued (which maybe could be re-used for a young Boba Fett?) Maybe a few more of Axe Woves’ privateers (I know one is coming with the Light Cruiser Hallway). And I would definitely like to get those nomad Mandalorians that were living on the surface of Mandalore, including Badger from Breaking Bad.
The figures? They’re good. They are a hodgepodge of existing tooling, a few retooled parts, and some accessories. Along with some new paint apps, the mix results in what ultimately appears to be some fresh takes on the Mandalorian figures. There are some new codpieces and kamas, along with a tweak here and there. No removable helmets here, which makes sense since that was The Tribe’s thing. Each helmet has an articulated rangefinder, or whatever the stubby one is on the fourth Mando in the pics above. Each has a holster to hold the matching pistol. Each has a removable jet pack. The one thing about this set that is disappointing is that it only comes with one rifle. In the scene where The Tribe liberates Navarro City from pirate control, this team of four hits the ground each carrying one of these rifles. So for the purposes of the second to last image, I borrowed 3 more rifles from my collection of Death Watch Mandalorians.
This is a nice set. Did I ask for it? No. Are there other figures I want more? Absolutely. Did Hasbro give me something I never knew I wanted? It would seem so. And here’s the best part: For once, Hasbro finally gave us a crew all at once. We have all 4 members of this Shriek-Hawk team, and along with Bo-Katan, Din Djarin, and Paz Vizsla, we have the entire rescue party. It’s a crew we didn’t ask for, but it’s kinda neat that we have it.