In 2021, TVC Never Rains, But It Pours

Posted by Chris on 09/04/21 at 07:05 AM Category: Vintage Collection

https://www.banthaskull.com/images/news/tvc_pours.jpg

First, let me state the obvious. The reason for the recent flood of deliveries is the global shipping crisis, which Mr. Nomascout covered in depth HERE. This isn't the result of a production blitz by Hasbro. Many of the items pictured above were probably floating somewhere off the Port of L.A. for weeks or months. Regardless of the reason, I have to say this was neat.

It was reminiscent of fall of 2009 when the waves became "stacked" and were showing up at a brick and mortar at a blistering pace. It felt like every week a new wave was showing up. Boy, what I wouldn't give to experience that again. Specifically, the sense that going to Walmart or Target on a toy hunt was more likely to be productive than not. I can vividly remember my wife calling me from Walmart, and she found the Empire Strikes Back wave with Luke Snowspeeder and the Concept Snowtrooper only a few days after it was first reported being found on the west coast. I was in disbelief. That hadn't happened prior, and hasn't happened since.

So this week I got to experience a miniature version of that 2009 product onslaught. Sadly it was courtesy of online orders and not the thrill of in-store acquisition. In relatively short time span, I received the following items in this order:

Solid case of Offworld Jawas (Entertainment Earth)

Gaming Greats Purge Troopers (Entertainment Earth)

Walmart 50th Anniversary figures (Walmart)

The Ahosoka Tano case (Entertainment Earth)

What makes this even better is the variety of sources: OT, video games, Clone Wars and The Mandalorian. This has been fun, and for a moment, it feels like the good old days. I pray that the volume of TVC figures continues to increase. Ideally, seven or eight main line waves per year strikes the perfect balance of keeping the hobby engaging while not overly burdening our wallets. The only problem with all these deliveries is now I have to photograph them. I'm probably going to start with the Tusken Raider. Don't give me any guff about not leading off with the Ahsoka and Maul figures. I'M OLD! I GET TO START WITH THE OLDER SOURCES.