A 180 Degree Turn for 2024?

You may be expecting a figure gallery and review, and you'd be very correct to do that. However, due to technical difficulties (which are commonplace for me these days), I am unable to provide the normal Monday content. That's probably not a huge loss, because the only figures I have in the queue right now are the re-packs of the Luke X-Wing and Stormtrooper. Great figures, of course, but not a ton of newness. But I just said we're not doing a review, so stop asking about it already.

Instead, we're going to take a look at the rest of 2024 for TVC, as it would compare to the first 7 months that are in the books. Products slated for the coming months are, of course, subject to changes in the production and shipping schedule, but we'll look at what's on tap for now.

To begin, let's look back at 2024 so far.

For basic figures, I count 4 waves so far this calendar year, according to my order history with site sponsor Entertainment Earth. The list below is what EE numbers the waves, and I put them in the order in which they shipped out (your mileage may vary):

-"Wave 4" - 3 repacks/retools/repaints (Cassian/Finn/P1 Clone), and 1 new figure (Dooku).
-"Wave 17" - 5 repacks/retools/repaints (Manadalorian/Ahsoka/Axe Woves/Grand Admiral Thrawn/Grogu - if you count the repacked figure with a new pram), 2 new figures (Mandalorian Fleet Commander/Huyang - which had some glaring negatives)
-"Wave 5" - 2 repacks/retools/repaints (Mandalorian Judge / Cal Kestis) and 2 new figures (Kanan/Ezra)
-"Wave 18" - 5 repacks/retools/repaints (Captain Rex/Darth Vader/Stormtrooper/Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot)/R2-D2) and 1 new figure (Princess Leia Organa).

That's 4 waves consisting of 21 figures (15 repacks/retools/repaints, 6 new figures). Of those 6 new figures, 4 were amazing, 1 was ok (the Mando Fleet Commander was then immediately retooled/repainted into the Mando Judge), and 1 was a rare disappointment in its execution (Huyang).

Additional items aside from the basic line we've gotten so far in 2024:

Deluxe:
Jango Fett - new - solid offering, and a fan request.
Zeb Orrelios - new - great offering, another fan request. This one comes as Hasbro releases various members of The Rebels team, to support The Ghost.

Multi-pack:
Phase II Clone Troopers - Begun, the Clone repaints have. I'm a fan of this set, although I wish the ratio leaned more towards the 501st.
Escape From Order 66. A pleasant surprise of a set. The droids are a delight, but the inclusion of the Ahsoka repack, while completely logical, is underwhelming.
Captain Enoch and Thrawn's Night Troopers. A terrific set, consisting of an outstanding Captain Enoch, and a surprising amount or retooling to recreate the Nightsister magic ribbons on the stormtroopers.

Vehicles: None
Playsets: None
Beasts: None - and the drought continues...

Overall, a rather lackluster 7 months. Chris has pointed out numerous times some of the challenges that have beset TVC, particularly the writers strike that delayed some of the Disney plus media. This seemingly forced Hasbro into "Plan B" mode, where they were rushing a lot of repaints, repacks, and minor retools into the line at the expense of new tooling. If you look at it that way, I would say that Hasbro did a decent job of providing a sense of newness to the character offerings while under these constraints. But while the lack of newly tooled figures in the basic line is front and center, we did get some excellent offerings in the deluxe line. Interestingly, it looks like Zeb will be the last non-bubble deluxe figure, as Hasbro is switching on the fly to a numbered, large cardback w/bubble format going forward. To offset the decent deluxe and multi-pack releases, we have gotten zero vehicles and playsets so far this year, which is a real bummer for the world-building line.

Overall, I would rate this part of 2024 as a C- for TVC. The lack of new tooling, and the heavy repaint/repack offerings have really put any excitement on ice. For me, no playsets and vehicles is particularly weak.

But now let's look at what Hasbro might fit into the remaining 5 months of 2024:

Basic Figures:

Wave 19: 3 new figures (Osha Aniseya w/Pip / Mae (Assassin) / Jedi Master Sol, and 2 repacks/retools/repaints (HK-87 Assassin Droid (Arcana) / Dark Trooper)

Wave 20: 1 new figure (Ahsoka Tano Peridea) and 4 repacks/retools/repaints (Mandalorian (Imperial Base) / Bo-Katan (Plazir-15) / Jet Trooper / Grand Admiral Thrawn)

In the two waves scheduled to still ship in 2024, the ratio of newness is a bit better, as we are getting 4 new figures and 6 repacks/retools/repaints. In those cases, according to the EE assortment listings, there are still a total of 4 unknown figures. So the ratio could still improve.

Aside from the basic line, we are getting the following scheduled for 2024:

Deluxe:
Leaving behind the windowless box packaging and switching to a large format TVC card, we've got the long anticipated Cobb Vanth figure, a fan favorite and new sculpt.

Multi-packs:
Sabine Wren & Chopper - 2 repaints
X-Wing Pilots - retools
Mandalorian Shriek Hawks - retools

Beasts:
Blurrg (with The Mandalorian) - all new beast, with a desirable repaint of Din Djarin)
Jabba the Hutt (w/ Salacious Crumb and 8D8 without elbows) - coming about a year after Boba Fett's Throne room, to help the OT crowd a bit. This one comes with 2 carded figures, including the much desired character of 8D8 and his much derided elbow-less sculpt.

Playsets:
Moff Gideon's Light Cruiser Set (w/Mandalorian Privateer) - A solid looking modular hallway with a "meh" army builder.
Armorer's Forge (w/The Armorer) - a terrific looking set, with a retooled Armorer figure.

Ghost (w/Hera, Ezra, Kanan, Zeb) - It's almost time for last year's Haslab to ship, along with 4 figures.
Patrick E-Wing (w/KE4-N4) - another ship, this one comes with the astromech - pilot sold separately.

Hasbro has pipelined 15 figures so far by my count. 5 of them are likely part of the 2025 Return to Tatooine push, but some of the rest could still find their way out before 2024 is out:

Anakin Skywalker (Ahsoka)
LT. Callahan (Patrick E-wing pilot)
Baylan Skoll
Shin Hati
Clone LT
Dedra Meero
Yord Fandar
Indara
Mauldalorian
Obi-Wan (nomad)

A few of these are likely some of the 4 remaining figures slots in the 2 case assortments yet to ship. Some might sneak into 2024 in some other format, while the rest will slip back into 2025. But if you threw a dart at 5 of those characters for 2024, they would likely be new/mostly new figures.

So for the last 5 months, we're getting a much improved new tooling basic figure ratio, a deluxe figure in the preferred bubble/cardback format, 3 multipacks, 2 vehicles, 2 beasts, and 2 playsets. The last bunch have a total of 17 figures. There are rumors of a TVC Pulse Con exclusive, as well.

So I'd give the rest of the year a B+. Is it a dramatic turnaround? It's decent, if not overly dramatic. The newness and various formats that were lacking in the first part of the year seem to be hitting much more strongly in the next few months, and that's a welcome relief.

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