My Reactions To the SDCC ‘22 Hasbro Star Wars Panel Reveals

Our reaction article should have come sooner than this, but we simply had too much other content to get to first. We couldn't in good conscience bump the review of the incredible new Stormtrooper in favor of this. So here it is in just under a week (pats self on shoulder).

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I think I'm one of the few people on the planet that is not in the least bit phased by the $200 price tag. [Editor’s note: Neither am I.] Prior to it selling out, the 2020 version was being sold for $158 on Hasbro Pulse. That release did not come with a pack-in figure. The best part of this release is the included Tython Boba Fett. Estimate adding $11 for that loose figure (and that's being generous). That would bring the total to $169 for the 2020 price plus an uncarded figure. Thus, $200 represents a $31 price increase in two years. In that same time, the coffee grounds I buy have gone from $14 to $18, which is an even bigger jump percentage-wise. I'm not happy about it, but I've grown numb to the recent "order of magnitude" price increases. I don't mean do downplay it either. This price increase is a significant amount. I'm just not surprised by it.

I was planning to pick up a second Slave I to display in landed mode next to the upcoming Boba Fett's Throne Room, so I preordered this right away. If all you want is the figure, don't worry. Hasbro gave every indication that it will be re-released somewhere down the road. [Editor’s Note: Hasbro bends over backwards to get as much mileage as possible from of their figure tooling. If I recall correctly, they went out of their way to explain that Antoc Merrick was a one-off exception. Otherwise, just about every other TVC pack-in has eventually been made available later on. See Exhibit A: Klatooinian Raider, below]

Click HERE to order Boba Fett's Starship (sponsored)

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I hate to seem like an ingrate, but I really wanted a "scrapper" version Cal from Bracca as he appeared in Fallen Order. This figure is sourced from the sequel, Jedi Survivor. Once that game comes out, I will probably view Fallen Order as passé much like how I said that I had moved on from Season 1 of The Mandalorian by the time the Kuiil figure was released. So, given the choice between being a little too early or a lot too late, Hasbro made the right call. The more contemporary a figure's release is to the media, the better. I just hope someway, somehow a Bracca version can be slotted into Gaming Greats (along with a Second Sister).

Click HERE to order Cal Kestis (sponsored)

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You had me at Luke. I'm a complete sucker for Luke figures. If you aren't dreaming about teaming this figure up with the previously announced Deluxe Dark Trooper (sponsored), you're doing it wrong. Based on what we know, the biggest problem with this figure is the name. It's clunky. This release is sourced to the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian which was titled "The Rescue". THAT would be been a much better subtitle as many have said.

But the biggest overall problem is what we don't know. How much of this figure is new? If Hasbro's timeline of 18 months for figure development is correct, adding rocker ankles to VC175's lower body would have sufficiently satisfied fans when this figure was budgeted. However, over the course of that year and a half, the new G.I. Joe-style hips have become the standard. Fans will be disappointed if this Luke release falls short of that.

Click HERE to order Luke Skywalker (Imperial Light Cruiser) (sponsored)

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I was today years old when I learned that there is an "i" before the "n" in "Klatooinian". That changes everything. This figure was originally the pack-in for the Best Buy exclusive AT-ST Raider. A number of fans wanted to add this Klatooinian Raider to their collections, but did not want to buy an $80 vehicle just to get it. Now that AT-ST Raider fetches twice as much on the secondary market, so this figure has become even more inaccessible. Making it available individually carded is a wise move on Hasbro's part and a kindness to the fans who refused to pay the high entry fee for acquiring a Klatooinian Raider.

Click Here to order the Klatooinian Raider (sponsored)

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I am very worried about this release. A lot is riding on it. Through the Q&A, we learned that this figure will not be 100% newly tooled. As with the above mentioned Luke, using the lower body form the Solo based VC124 - Han Solo figure might have been passable when this figure was originally put on the board. But in the intervening 18 months, if the figure does not have the new style hips and rocker ankles, the fans are going to be disappointed. This is likely our last chance at a definitive Han Solo buck. If it misses the mark by using dated tooling, I'm going to be heartsick. I am anxiously awaiting the actual product reveal of this one. I pray to the Force that Hasbro nails this one.

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This was far, far, far and away the biggest news to come out of the SDCC '22 panel presentation. We're finally getting an update to Admiral Piett for the first time since 1998's POTF2 Freeze Frame Captain Piett - NEARLY A QUARTER CENTURY AGO! This update has been requested for ages. Piett is one of the few (only?) named Imperial Officers to appear in two Original Trilogy movies. He also took first place in our informal Empire Strikes Back Readers’ Choice Poll. We had to conduct an informal poll because Hasbro decided that the Vintage Collection had to sit on the sidelines for the Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary celebration. (No, I will never get over that.) But perhaps the bigger news is that a definitive Imperial Officer buck opens up the opportunity to release literally dozens of other Imperial Officers.

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This is the second most exciting announcement from the panel, but it's bittersweet. The sweet is that fans have been begging for a return of smaller vehicles to the line in general, and the Speeder Bike specifically. This is phenomenal news. The bitter is that while the Speeder Bike will be 100% newly tooled, the Biker Scout sounds like it will only have minimal new tooling. Fans would very much have preferred the exact opposite. Collectors would have been perfectly satisfied if the 2012 Speeder Bike were re-released as is, but there is no amount of partial tooling that can salvage the 2007 Biker Scout mold. That figure absolutely needs a 100% newly tooled release and is surely going to appear in our next #MakeTheMains feature.

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