Chris And Bret React To The 12/11 Fan Stream Reveals

We got an entire Fan Channel wave revealed yesterday, which is much appreciated. The wave consists of one 100% newly tooled figure, one partial tool, and two repacks. This is pretty standard for what we've come to expect from Fan Channel waves. By the rules of OCD nerd-dom, let's discuss them in VC number order, starting with the best reveal first. -Chris

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Chris:

First, this figure looks absolutely amazing. I would like to direct you to our own gallery of hi-res press images, but as of the time of this writing, we don't have them. Instead, you can see them HERE. It thoroughly outclasses the previous Poggle release which was 2006's TSC 018 - Poggle the Lesser. Just compare the paint applications on the head to see how badly the new figure outclasses the former. My only reservation about this figure for TVC in general is that I have vivid memories of stores piling up entire pegs filled with that 2006 release. It did not sell well. We have much lower production numbers these days, so I'm hoping there is enough collector interest to prop this up in 2026.

On a personal note, the Battle of Geonosis theme is letting me down a bit in the early going. I feel like we're dancing around the periphery too much so far. I'm happy to finally get a Shaak Ti with ankles, but she's not exactly at the forefront of the scene. Ditto for Poggle (and Coleman Trebor with the Gunship). We're dancing around the edges of the scene too much. I hope we start digging into the meat of the scene soon. But I get the purpose of this Poggle. It's tooling can be reused for a basic Geonosian Warrior which is assuredly coming. It's just that neither Poggle nor the base Geonosian grunt were very high on my personal want list. In fact they weren't on it at all, but I do see the value now comparing it to the 2006 release. Having said that, words can't possibly express how much I wished this slot went to a new Ki-Adi-Mundi.

Bret:

As Chris mentioned in the intro, (the new:partial:repack ratio) is pretty standard for what we've come to expect from Fan Channel waves. Not only that, a redo of an existing figure that I neither need nor want has also become par for the course. Obviously, a 2026 Poggle the Lesser will make the 20+ year old version seem childish and quaint. As we've come to expect, today's figures are miniature works of art. I assume this will be an amazing figure in hand, and I'm sure I will have more of an appreciation when I see it in person. Nevertheless, swapping out the figures in my display when TVC Poggle does arrive at my doorstep will barely register on my Wow Factor scale. To be clear, I own a scientific instrument that measures Wow Factor to 4 decimal places. I assume that after removing old Poggle and adding new Poggle, it might need that ten thousandths digit to get a reading. I'm way more interested in the tease of a new arena balcony than I am about the Poggle figure. Do I already have a balcony? Sure. But it's both comically and horrifically bad. And it would be necessary to properly display all the new re-made figures from that scene - unless of course we get a truly new Nute Gunray, or a redo of a couple of epically miserable existing figures in Rune Haako and Kid Boba.

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Chris:

Apparently a sub-theme of this wave is updating figures from The Saga Collection. The last and only previous time General Veers was released in the modern line was in 2006 as TSC 007 - General Veers. That was one of my favorite releases in the modern line, and I've kept a carded sample to this day. It was particularly fun because the armor was removable, so you could recreate Veers's scenes aboard the Executor such as when Vader told him to prepare his troops after embarrassing Ozzel over his opinion on the shield generator. Or when he told Veers that Ozzel was clumsy and stupid mere moments before strangling him via FaceTime (man, he hated that guy).

This Veers does not appear to have removable armor, which is fine by me because it appears to be much more accurate. I'm all about accuracy. But because of that, an O96 opportunity was missed. As many of you know, the vintage Kenner Imperial Commander film out features Veers in his dress uniform on the Executor, but the figure itself is not Veers since it's wearing a black uniform. It's one of those O96 figures that needs two releases to be checked off in the Vintage Collection (one for the film out and one for the figure). Because this figure cannot be stripped down to dress grays, the vintage Kenner film-out could not be used. Too bad. And don't even get me started on the vintage Kenner Canada carded General Veers.

So I get why they had to go with a Battle of Hoth card. I just wish they didn't repeat the Kenner / Vintage Collection AT-AT Commander card. We already have this film-out in TVC. This would have been a great opportunity to do a Veers specific card from the cockpit of Blizzard 1. This will probably keep me from going long on carded samples of this figure. I think I'm going to order this wave by the case assuming each will be two-per. I'll probably roll the dice that one of them will be mint. I'm thrilled to get the figure though. It is a little cruel, however, that Hasbro is going deep on AT-AT figures without making the AT-AT available. Many active collectors don't have the TLC/TVC AT-AT, and they are priced out of the very high prices on the secondary market.

Bret:

Like Poggle, this is going to be another great looking figure that will run circles around its predecessor, as well the VC05 generic AT-AT Commander figure (although to a slightly lesser extent). I have zero interest in the card situation, but if there was an opportunity to please carded collectors at no cost to my own collecting habits, then it is a bit of a bummer if there was a miss here. I am a bit disappointed that we don't get a regularly dressed Veers for the Vader scenes, but that's probably an easy opportunity for a head swap on the existing (and slightly sub-par) Imperial Officer body. Maybe such a Veers could get thrown into another 4-pack with three other desired officer figures - aside from Tarkin, who should definitely be on his own card. I agree with Chris, however, in that making a removable armor version would probably sacrifice quality and accuracy, so I'll be satisfied with this version.

But again, I'm not thrilled with a redo of an existing figure. To be fair though, Veers could definitely use an update, and I were making a list exclusively for redos that I want, Veers would definitely be significantly higher on the list than Poggle. Like probably several hundred places higher. So while I wish there was more newness, I'm not going to be too upset about this particular effort.

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Chris:

I don't know how much needs to be said here as this is a repack of the Greedo that came with the Cantina HasLab. It's a 10 out of 10 figure by every stretch of the imagination. This time it comes on the exact vintage Kenner card. As a carded collector, I'm am absolutely thrilled to be getting that. The vintage Kenner Greedo has a special place in my heart. My sister got me that figure as a gift for no special occasion. It wasn't my birthday or Christmas. It was just a random gift. As the Simpsons established, brothers and sisters are natural born enemies (especially older sisters and younger brothers), so this thaw in the sibling rivalry was the equivalent of Grover Dill saying hi to you.

I have high grade carded samples of every basic carded Greedo released in the line to date (POTF, CommTech, OTC and VTSC). I will be thrilled to add this to the mix. In addition to the assortment case I plan on ordering, I'll probably also grab a couple collector grade samples off of BBTS. I also want another one loose. I kind of want to create a secondary Han/Greedo alcove display outside of my main Cantina display. Finally, I'm glad those that did not back the HasLab win get access to this great figure.

Bret:

Repacks do not generally concern me, unless they are army builders, but being that this one was locked behind the Cantina, I'm happy that it's going to be available for those that missed it. I also think it's one of the best figures I've seen - even though it's an update to a figure that I thought stood up quite well over time and had no desire for a redo. Greedo looked great in marketing photos before the Cantina arrived, and he did not disappoint when I had him in hand. Like Chris, I will likely set up a little Han vs. Greedo alcove vignette somewhere. So this way, I won't have to crack open another Haslab version. Plus, there were like 16 Greedo's in Mos Eisley, so a few more never hurt anyone.

Am I excited about this release? Not at all. But I'm certainly not upset about it. I'm glad such an important figure will be available in wide release.

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Chris:

This is the other repack from the wave. The Snowtrooper Commander was "pre-packed" in the Stormtroopers of The Empire Special Action Figure Set 3-pack. Unlike Greedo, the Snowtrooper wasn't firewalled behind some difficult to acquire and/or expensive set. The Stormtroopers of the Empire set did initially sell out, but was replenished a little while later, and easily available. In fact, you can still buy it right now HERE. Personally, I already have more than enough of the Snowtrooper Commander loose. The timing on this may be unfortunate. It's hard to imagine this being a brisk seller.

The real appeal is to carded collectors (which makes me imagine Bret will just write "pass" for his reaction). So what about that card? I initially thought the pill color was hot pink, which was a little jarring, even though I love hot pink. The reason I thought it a tick out of place is that I associate that pill color with the Return of the Jedi line, and in specific, Lumat (and later the POTF Yak Face). But upon further review, it appears to be more of a light purple and closer to the pill on the Power Droid. Regardless, I love anything that reminds me of the muscle car era "safety colors." The card is stunning. I will be picking up a pair of collector grade samples from BBTS.

Bret:

Pass.

Eh, it's a nice figure and Hasbro paid a lot of attention to the necessary details that differentiate it from the basic trooper. But I already picked up a pair of the Imperial Trooper 3-packs, so I have no need for more. If I buy a case, I'd get it by default, but this figure may be the reason I skip a full case, and cherry pick the singles instead. I get that Hasbro benefits from tooling re-use, and the commander's specific sculpting limit those opportunities. But I don't see why this figure needs a release now. Maybe if they waited 2-3 years, it would be more desirable. Who knows. I'm not a marketing expert. I am, however, an expert in wanting figures that I don't already own. So I will flex that expertise and skip this figure.

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Well, that's what we think. What about you? Sound off below.

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