How To Court Prequel Trilogy Fans To The Vintage Collection

Posted by Chris on 03/14/25 at 07:05 AM Category: Vintage Collection

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We've been having this discussion in the comments a lot lately, and I thought it would be good fodder for an article. I, along with dozens of others, have been advocating for a larger presence of PT figures in TVC. When I ranked #MakeTheMains in THIS ARTICLE, I had Revenge of the Sith second behind A New Hope. Obviously A New Hope is having its run in 2025 (minus C-3PO which is approaching white hot criticality). Therefore, in my opinion, Episode III should be up next.

My advocacy for this comes doesn't stem from personal wants. As I've written several times, the kids who grew up with the PT are aging into their prime adult collecting ages now. Tapping that market would be good for the overall health of TVC. Right now, the Black Series is the line that is offering all the opportunity for those collectors. Painfully, the current Walmart Collector Con is tugging on those exact nostalgia strings by offering 6" figures in replica 3.75" packaging to woo those exact fans:

If and when TVC strikes back and starts offering definitive versions of PT main characters, I contend that figures alone will not be enough. In a vacuum, a 1:12 figure is objectively better than a 1:18 figure. In general they are better detailed and more posable. Head to head, a TBS figure is going to win the battle over it's TVC counterpart more often than not. But that is not the be-all and end-all argument. If it were, Hot Toys would have sent all of Hasbro's offerings packing a long time ago. As we all know, the unsurmountable advantage TVC has over TBS is that TVC unlocks vehicles and play sets.

If and when Hasbro gives PT mains their day in the sun, it must coincide with a vehicle release if we are to attract any new PT collectors to the line. It's something only TVC can do effectively. Of course, Hasbro did try this at the end of TVC 1.0:

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Those vehicles sold terribly, but attributing that to the source would be a massive misunderstanding. They were all repacks. Some of them had already been released several times, and recently. It's hard to imagine many collectors who did not already have them in their collections at that point. That is why they failed. It is absolutely no reason to not attempt a PT vehicle today.

I personally feel like the stars are aligning for the perfect opportunity to release something for which I have previously advocated. We have a new Episode III Anakin coming. Hasbro could give that a new head sculpt with the pilot's headset, and pack it in with an all new ETA-2 Jedi Starfighter that is on par with the recent Mando's N1. Unlike 2012, enough time has passed that there should be renewed demand for such a vehicle as the fan based has turned over a time or two in the past decade plus. If Hasbro paired an incredible new vehicle with other PT mains, I'm confident that TVC can pick up some of that disposable income from PT kids who are now entering their thirties.