Bantha Skull Q & A:  Episode 1

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions. There were lots of good ones, and we're going to tackle the first three today. If your question doesn't get answered, don't despair. We may get to it in a future episode. For now, let's get to the questions!

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What is your position on the now dead 5POA line? Did you guys like it? - MAHSMonster07

Chris: I'm glad it's dead, and if it were up to me, I would adopt Mayor Adam West's policy of encasing its coffin in concrete to prevent it form making a zombie-like return from the dead. I think the return of 5POA circa 2012 was a huge factor in the near demise of the entire 3.75" scale in the mid twenty-tens. A lot of people think that bringing back the 5POA line would be a good way to get "more". That's not how it works. The tooling budget wouldn't change, so it would effectively take away from the super articulated Vintage Collection. So while it might net a few more figure releases per year overall, it would come at the expense of some super articulated figures. So from my perspective it would mean fewer TVC-quality figures per year. A HARD pass on that.

The best thing that has happened to the 3.75" scale is that it's now one line with one standard of quality (with respect to newly tooled figures). Having multiple lines with multiple standards of quality in the same scale just confused the market place. We as a community stepped on this landmine once, and it almost brought the whole thing down. We don't need to step on it again.

Mission Fleet is perfectly fulfilling the role of an affordable line for kids, particularly with the vehicles. Let it do its job for kids, and let the 3.75" scale be the adult collectible that it has been for some time via TVC.

Bret:. 5POA was the second worse thing that has happened to modern 3.75" Star Wars collecting, trailing behind the [forced] rise of 6". At some point after The Last Jedi and Solo, collectors finally told the world that 5POA should die a miserable death, and retailers (and Hasbro) finally listened. Let's never discuss the possibility of the return of 5POA. It was a plague on our hobby.

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Is there a truly 'definitive' Vintage Collection figure now that Hasbro has finally updated their hip articulation or do they all need to be remade now? - Coleman Miller

Chris: Whether or not a figure is definitive depends a lot on the nature of the character it represents, so I think there still are definitive Vintage Collection figures. If we look at VC57 - Dr. Evazan, that figure has swivel hips and wrists, which is dated by today's standards, but that is enough articulation for the figure to do all the Dr. Evazanny things I need. It remains definitive. Contrast that with VC35 - Mace Windu, which has the same articulation. That's not enough to capture the essence of that character, so it definitely needs a resculpt. Even if we look at other main characters, it greatly depends on the specific version. I don't need VC03 - Han Solo (Echo Base Outfit) to be brought up to modern standards because Han does so little on screen while wearing those duds. He mostly sits there and berates a poor Treadwell droid. On the other hard, the tooling for VC62 - Han Solo (Endor) should be melted down with extreme prejudice. That figure deserves the all new treatment, and it needs it in a hurry.

Bret:. What Chris said. Not even every debut characters or figure that is receiving an update to a decades-old sculpt needs the full treatment. I love the VC132 - Saelt Marae figure and the character was in dire need of a modern update, but I definitely didn't need it to have the Jedi Level Articulation that it got. But as we probably can all agree, it's a character-by-character decision that we wouldn't necessarily trust Hasbro to make in the same way that we would always like. So while the costs are high and might eliminate the possibility of an additional accessory or an extra figure in the annual budget, I'd rather Hasbro err on the side of too much articulation than not enough. My rule of thumb would be that figures need the articulation necessary to perform the tasks we see on screen, plus some extra for fun. For example, the Emperor's Royal Guard just stands there, but a 3.75" statue would be an unacceptable insult. Just about every figure needs ball jointed knees and ankles to stand, sit, and pose. But rocker ankles and the extra hip articulation isn't generally necessary unless the figure is a main character, a Jedi/Sith, or a trooper.

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What should the next Haslab be? - Binary_Son

Chris: I'm a firm believer that when new media crosses over with the nostalgic appeal that the Vintage Collection is made for, you've struck gold. It appeals to new and existing fans. So my answer to this is simple:



Bret: Death Star, Cantina, or Jabba's Palace. Nothing else really makes much sense until those are taken care of first.

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And that concludes Bantha Skull's first ever Q&A. You can keep adding questions in the comments of this article, plus we'll continue to mine the original submissions.

In case you missed it last night, don't forget that the Boba Fett (Morak) goes up for preorder at 1PM ET today.

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