My Two Issues With The Vintage Collection R2-SHW

The astromech slot in my Antoc Merrick's X-Wing has been sitting unoccupied since I've opened it. It don't like incomplete things. Not having Blue Leader's nav droid is like only having one Knight of Ren or one Inquisitor, and that would just be crazy talk, right? RIGHT? So I was thrilled when R2-SHW was announced during Hasbro's Celebration livestream, but there are two specific nits I need to pick:



Why is "BAR2-D2" resurfacing lately? A lot of sculpts from 2010 are aging into obsolescence, but VC25 - R2-D2 was an iffy figure right away in 2010. It tried to do too many things, and managed to fall short of nearly them all. It's best when posed on the deck of the Sail Barge launching Luke's lightsaber. I really wish Hasbro would retire this sculpt especially when being used for general purpose (i.e. non-bartender) astromechs. For me, the R2-D2 from The Last Jedi line is the definitive astromech sculpt, and I wish Hasbro would use it more.



Story time, kids. Back in 2010, you couldn't order solid cases of individual figures. For a retailer, the only way to purchase a specific figure was to buy the particular case assortment. This meant that each individual figure did not need to be profitable. A figure could be a "loss leader" if another figure in the assortment was highly profitable. This is exactly why "BAR2-D2" was released in wave 3 of The Vintage Collection. It was to offset the cost of the Gamorrean Guard, which reportedly lost Hasbro money. This was doable because the figures were only available via a solid case assortment from Hasbro. So every time they sold a Gamorrean Guard at a loss, the also sold a "BAR2-D2" which made extra profit. In other words, this small figure was a cost saver.

When we fast forward to the days of solid cases, the Gamorrean Guard was re-released, but because there was no less costly figure to compensate, the price was $2 more than the standard main line figure at the time. So if they price can go up for a more expensive figure, wouldn't it be fair that price come down for a "cost saving" figure? On the flip side, R2-SHW is a shared fan exclusive, which means a lower product run. Lower production runs mean a higher cost, but it just feels like that should be offset by how small the figure is. This is a long way of me saying that I feel like R2-SHW should have been no more expensive than the current mainline price of $15.



None of this matters because I still ordered three of this figure. I absolutely, positively had to have it. CURSE YOU, HASBRO. You win again.

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