Chris And Bret React To SDCC ‘25 Vintage Collection Reveals

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We typically like to have these reaction articles up before the preorders go live, but the official images arrived late Friday night, and I have a dog that wakes me up between 4 and 5 AM everyday to take him for a walk (I would have it no other way). There was no way I could have done my part Friday night (Bret "Night Owl" Nomadscout could have his part completed a full six hours before he went to bed). I was starting to hallucinate little green men who multiply when you get them wet while trying to publish the PR pics. Hopefully late is better than never. So here's what we think we think. -Chris

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Chris:

Like the rest of the Vintage Collection world, my first reaction was that it's a little off. It gives the appearance of being a little too stocky. The hair seems a little too big. In an effort to capture the iconic Ford sardonic smirk, the face comes across as a little too puffy as that pose pushes the cheeks out a little. Finally, the wrists look like they were transplanted from Fat Bastard. But I am utterly unworried. I had a similar reaction upon first seeing VC344 - Luke Skywalker, and I can tell you right now that is probably my favorite figure in the history of 3.75" Star Wars figures. I love it so much that I've put it in displays where it doesn't belong just so it meets my gaze as often as possible on a daily basis.

Like a painting from the School of Pointillism, PhotoReal falls apart with these close up photos. Reality is a pure curve. Artificiality is a stepped curve, and when zoomed in too far, all you see is those steps. I'm sure once this is in hand, the illusion will work powerfully. As I've mentioned repeatedly, I'm a function over form guy, and everything I'm seeing says that this figure will be a joy to pose. I hope I'm not jinxing things, but if I review this Han Solo, I can already call it a 9 out of 10. I ordered a case form EE, 2 from Pulse, I have 2 coming via the case assortment, and once Amazon pulls their head out, I'll order another there. The only reason I haven't ordered more is that this is all supposed to hit in October. This assortment is "all bangers", and I'm finding myself ordering the individual figures by the CASE! That's a formula for divorce. I'll probably order another case of these at some point.

Bret:

I had the same reaction at first glance. It just didn't look right. Still doesn't. But like Chris, I'm not concerned, because these figures tend to look better in hand. And I also bought a solid case on top of the 2 individuals that are included in the wave case I had already purchased months ago.

This reveal reminded me of the Endor Han debacle that we won't soon forget. The community responded to that abomination with forceful unity, and Hasbro heard it loud and clear. Thankfully, we will never again have to suffer the scourge of a main character's updated figure that is based on a decades old sculpt with a few retooled parts stitched on. We can all rest easy knowing that the most iconic Star Wars characters will always get the full modern treatment going forward!! WHAT A TIME TO BE ALI-...

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Chris:

Man. The fact that Hasbro chose to go with a partial tool bothers me more than the fact that it's a partial tool. I've accused Hasbro corporate of aggressive cheapness in the past, and it feels the same here. How much more would it have cost to fully tool a new mother loving Chewbacca? CHEWBACCA! Morgan Elsbeth gets a 100% newly tooled figure, and that character is recognized by 1% of the human population. Meanwhile Chewbacca is recognized by Amazonian tribes who have had zero contact with the Western world, but this is when Ebenezer Hasbro decides to meter the amount of coal that goes into the fire? It's just a bad look. But I have to keep it real. Like Palpatine's return, somehow the arms from the 2004 Chewbacca still function really well. It was the knock-kneed lower body that undermined that sculpt. Fixing that alone makes it a worthwhile upgrade, but the scowling expression limits it's usability. I ordered 4 via EE, 2 via the case assortment, 2 via Pulse, and I'll get one more from Amazon at some point.

Bret:

...This is outrageous! It's unfair! How can you be an OT main character and not get an all newly tooled updated figure? Sigh. SIGH!

To be fair, I've been a fan of the 2004 Chewbacca figure since...2004. Sure the legs are a bit wonky by today's standards - and probably were wonky by about 2010 when TVC launched. But it really is an outstanding figure, and did its best to hold its own for over 20 years. Mighty Chewbacca, you have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Order. Now... it is finished. Well, not quite. The upper body remains intact. My biggest problem with the body at this point is the lack of ball jointed wrists, and the wild hair on the hands looking silly when the wrist is turned any way that battles gravity's effect on it.

Chris mentioned the roaring portrait being a bit limiting, but I can only assume Hasbro will do what they did with the previous mold and tweak it to represent almost every iteration of Chewy we see on screen: Roaring, peaceful, slicked-back hair, parted hair, snowy hair, dirty hair, windy hair...the possibilities are limitless!

Anyway, Hasbro should have done Chewy better, but it's probably still going to be pretty great. I bought a case.

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Chris:

This is nothing new as far as sculpting goes. It's a repaint of the VC269 - Clone Trooper. Bret "5 stahs" Nomadscout gave that figure a 9 out of 10, but if you read that review, the major point of contention is the paint applications on the removable helmet. This Shock Trooper has the non-removable helmet that was first featured with the Phase II Clone Trooper 4-Pack. The paint applications on this Shock Trooper are, for lack of a better word, perfect. Yes, the figure lacks battle damage, but battle damage on army builders can be a negative. It can break the illusion if every trooper has scoring in the exact same spot. I ordered 4 from EE, 1 via the case assortment, 2 via Pulse, and at least 2 more from Amazon (if and when). I will order more if I can so long as I can avoid the the "October massacre" my credit card is going to suffer when all this stuff hits.

Bret:

No complaints here. It's an expected release, of course. Not from a "leak" standpoint, but simply because we fully expect Hasbro to crush the tooling on this new Clone Trooper from overuse. Not a problem, just a fact. Each time a repaint is revealed, there will likely be a general sighing shoulder shrug from the community with a simultaneous knowing and mildly approving nod. It's a great sculpt, and moving on from the removable helmet is a good thing. The only tweak that might work is a graduation to fully swappable helmets and clone heads, instead of the almost always wonky removable helmet. As many in the community have already mentioned, it's interesting that Hasbro continues to go with the less desired source material for the card art. Most collectors would have probably preferred an ROTS card with a live action-inspired image. On the other hand, this upgrade brings us another step closer to completing the climactic set piece of The Clone Wars on board The Tribunal. A handful of shocktroopers guarded Darth Maul's prison cell as he was locked inside the Mandalorian sarcophagus. And now that I mention that, I would very much like Hasbro to make that sarcophagus. Oh yeah, and the Y-Wing in 501st colors.

Anyway, I ordered a case of this guy as well. 3/3 here. Technically, it's 5/5 if you include Obi-Wan and the Stormtrooper carry forward. I've purchased at least a case of every figure included in the wave. That wave is fire, as the kids say. It may go down as one of the greatest ever.

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Chris:

We've already had our reaction to this on Thursday when The Imperial Communique (Anthony) posted the photos to his Instagram account. If you don't know, Anthony is also the man behind the Platoon Systems action figure stands (reviewed on Bantha Skull HERE). If you don't follow the Imperial Communique, you should (You Tube, Instagram, X).

If you follow Hasbro bellwethers, you probably expected some form of Jedi Spirits multi-pack. All the signs were there. The Black Series got one. We had a new Old Ben sculpt, and we had a new Anakin Skywalker headsculpt. We had the perfect storm for a "low tooling" repack. What none of us expected was the swappable Sebastian Shaw headsculpt for Anakin. I'm not an OOT (Original Original Trilogy) purist, but for me, the spirit Anakin forever looks like Sebastian Shaw. The mere concept that Anakin would get to revert to his younger form in the afterlife after two decades of utter despotism seems like the perfect motivation to turn to the dark side. Ben has to spend eternity in his sixties, while Anakin is a king jerk for most of his life and gets to spend eternity in his twenties? That dog don't hunt. I'm thrilled to add a Sebastian Shaw spirit Anakin to my collection. I only need two of this set, but hope to get three.

Hasbro, don't miss the golden opportunity to give us an Anakin Skywalker on a replica POTF card.

Bret:

As a general rule, I prefer new characters to updated figures. I typically don't feel that my displays get nearly as much improvement with incremental upgrades to existing items as I do when I get to add in a never-before-made character. I can't tell you how excited I am for the Tonnika Sisters. Not because they've been a grail and it was great to finally bust through the red-tape that was holding these figures back, but just because I am ADDING to my collection. It's why I was so disappointed that we missed out on Arleil Schous. I like the updates to Wuher, Greedo, and Nabrun Leids, but I'd rather give all three of those up just for Arleil.

That said, I just described how pleased I was with Han, Chewy, and the Shock Trooper "upgrades". I make an exception for my general rule when it comes to main characters, and Han and Chewy are pretty outdated as they are when compared to the incredible advancements shown by modern TVC figures. And while I'm not jumping for joy over the clone, I am eager to move on from the skinny clone scourge that has plagued my collection since VC45 debuted.

I wouldn't call the 3 characters involved in the Jedi Spirits scene as "mains". Obviously they are all main characters, but this appearance was brief, and not as important as getting them in their main duds. Of course, as Chris mentioned, this was a "low tooling" repack, so it was inevitable. But I am nevertheless excited about it, because our existing spirits are complete nonsense. They have nothing in common as far as design. Yoda dates back to the POTF cinema scene, Obi-Wan is from OTC, and Anakin is from TAC. They're all over the map as far as concept, styling, coloring, articulation, and outfits. So the time is nigh to correct this injustice once and for all, and I'm all for it. The Sebastian Shaw headswap is unexpected and awesome. I just hope these sets aren't impossible to get.

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Chris:

I've said on a couple of livestreams that I'm done with big HasLabs until Hasbro announces a Death Star due to space concerns. Then when Hasbro was showing the sizzle reel for this Gunship HasLab, I'm quite certain my wife, listening from the other room, thought I was having an affair. There were lots of non-verbal grunts of joy combined with several utterances of "Oh my God". I was blown away. I was all in, and couldn't wait to back. I learned from the Razor Crest that the flight stand mitigates my space concerns. The stand has a small footprint. I can put it on top of a bookcase or table and let most of the volume of the ship hang into the otherwise un-utilized open space of my Star Wars room.

We all know that the response thus far has been tepid at best. I've never felt more let down by the Vintage Collection community. I feel like we (collectively) don't know what we're being offered. If you already think we have "this", you're wrong. What you have is a toy made for children. "This" is so hyper-accurate that I'm pretty sure Lucasfilm could film it on a blue screen and none of us would be the wiser. You're going to be seeing a lot more articles about my thoughts on the subject over the next 42 days. I've backed one so far, but two more are in my future.

Bret:

I'm with Chris on this to a degree. There is no doubt this is a masterpiece. Hasbro has proven time and time again that they will blow us away with the attention to detail in such items that will make this more of a replica than a toy. It wasn't lost on me when I saw the campaign image comparing the size of the Haslab gunship to the existing gunship. The labels on the image named them "LAAT/i Gunship Haslab" and "2013 Republic Gunship Toy" respectively. Yes, Hasbro was making a point to declare the earlier release as a mere "toy" when compared to the Haslab design. I didn't watch the livestream in real time, and only got to see the campaign and imagery late Friday night. I was impressed with the thing, no doubt.

But...

...I feel this was a bit of an unwelcome turning point for the Haslab model. I will disagree with Chris in that, I do indeed have "this" already. In fact, I have 8 of "these" already. I've been around long enough as a completist to own all 7 releases, plus for some reason, a second one from ROTS 2005. Without trying to be dramatic, I feel this Haslab offering has somewhat betrayed the original plan. This is most definitely not a "dream" item for me. And while not all Haslabs can be dream items for everyone (The Ghost wasn't a dream item for me either), I can at least see all of the past TVC Haslabs being dream items for a sizable chunk of the community. To me, a dream item is something that seems so improbable as to be a virtual impossibility. As I type this, I can turn my head and see all 8 of my gunships on my shelves, and I even have 2 of them (both AOTC releases from 2002 and 2013) sharing a shelf as they create a perimeter around the Jedi survivors and deliver Clone Troopers into the inaugural battle of the Clone Wars. I can, right now, enjoy an outstanding and very real 3.75" display that represents the exact on-screen moment in AOTC for which this Haslab campaign promises to transform my dreams into reality. I don't have to dream it, I'm looking right at it!

The Haslab LAAT/i is a gorgeous piece, and no doubt would be a wonderful addition to any collection. I just wasn't dreaming about owning an upgraded version of the gunships I already have. I am not bothered by the price, or the timing, or the tiers, or any of that. I am also 100% in favor of a PT-related Haslab. This just wasn't my first choice for such an effort, and I feel a little bit let down by what I perceive is a breach of the Haslab "covenant".

Chef's Reaction: "F- it. I backed 3."

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Chris:

Like it. Like it a lot. Don't love it. I 1000% support 2026 taking a PT beat, but, like many others, I wish it were centered around Order 66. But I get the reasoning here since the HasLab is the tent pole upon which the rest of the year's theme is propped. Even though I would absolutely love a Palpatine's Office HasLab, it's hard to imagine a "slam dunk" HasLab that could support an Order 66 theme. I think the Cantina shows that it's hard to get everyone on the same page when it comes to a playset, whereas ships have a universal understanding of what they should be (i.e. what you see on screen is what you get). The saving grace is that a lot of the Jedi figures I want for a ROTS beat also double for AOTC.

As Bret's excellent work on the Geonosis - Arena Battle Scene-It feature shows, there's still some items we're missing from that scene, some of which may be low hanging fruit given the year's theme. Of course, how robust those offerings ultimately become depends greatly on whether or not we Get to the Gunship. That catchphrase for this year's campaign was coined by Jayson from Yak Face. It's in the spirit of the now-memed "Get to the choppa". If any of you can use your AI prowess to make that clip Star Wars themed for "Get to the Gunship", I promise to put the full reach of Bantha Skull behind promoting it.

Bret:

I'm all for the PT support. I've long held that the OT should be the priority, since it's been over 15 years since any meaningful attention has been given to the main characters. We got the whole Jabba thing nailed down pretty good, and I love it all - the barge/skiffs/palace are the centerpieces of my collection. And I'm thrilled about Return to Tatooine. But it was high time we got Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Obi-Wan updated into TVC. But the PT isn't far behind, as the bulk of Hasbro's attention over the past decade plus has been geared towards animation and Disney-era media. I will also state that (to paraphrase the late, great Norm McDonald) I am not for the mawkish when it comes to anniversaries. I really have no care for Hasbro to "celebrate" any particular anniversary save the most important one in all of Star Wars, which is 2027. I'm not interested in any of the others. So I am supportive of a PT emphasis between now and then, and I'd probably be supportive of another emphasis after 2027.

In the meantime, Hasbro has probably chosen the focus of the 2026 PT tribute to be simultaneously great and terrible. The choice makes perfect sense, because the Geonosis scene is probably one of the best action sequences in the entire saga, when you have hundreds of Jedi battling thousands of battle droids in an arena while monsters are running amok - only for everything to be completely upstaged by the arrival of Yoda and the Star Wars version of the Air Cavalry, introducing the Clone Troopers into battle for the first time and ushering in the fabled Clone Wars. It was just missing "Ride of the Valkyries" playing in the background, but I'll happily accept Mr. Williams' compositions instead.

That's all well and good. However, the problem is that this is also one of the most well-fleshed out scenes in the 3.75" world. The "Scene Its" that Chris referenced above show how little there is left to do. Almost every Jedi with a frame of recognizable screen time exists as a figure, and we have all the clone variants, Geonosians, droids, beasts, vehicles, etc. Can many of them use an upgrade? Sure. But again, I'd rather Hasbro cover something from the PT that is more in need of support. Like Palpatine's office, the Senate, Theed Palace, Mos Espa, the Jedi Temple, etc. I'd even take a new Petranaki Arena, though we have one, because it's really just a glob of melted chocolate with silly action features that make it almost unusable in a modern setup.

So if Hasbro is going for Geonosis here, I really hope we get some things that we've been missing completely since 2002, such as an Orray w/cart, a proper Nute Gunray and Rune Haako, a functional arena balcony (at least), the couple of CIS leaders we are missing (Tikkes and Rogwa Wodrata), the Geonosian Sonic Canon, Sar Labooda (probably the most prominent arena Jedi that doesn't exist as a figure), the clone mobile command center, and a properly-scaled (sorry, Ghost!) Sheathipede-class shuttle. If Hasbro gave us even just one or two of these, I'd be thrilled. But if Return to Tatooine is any indication, we're likely in for mere upgrades to stuff we already have available.

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So that's what we two knuckleheads think. We know you've been sounding off on these subjects since last Thursday, but don't be afraid to throw your two cent in again below.

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