Nomadscout Reacts To SDCC ‘26 And Stuff!  (Part I?)

Look! I'm doing a thing!

We've gotten some reveals over the past couple of weeks, with a bunch hitting by the end of last week at SDCC. So I'll share my thoughts. Mind you, I haven't been as engaged as I normally would be, so feel free to rake me over the coals if I forget that Embo really should have an articulated crotch to recreate that pivotal scene from The Clone Wars.

Before I get into that, I wanted to mention that I finally watched The Mandalorian and Grogu this weekend. I'll say it again, I didn't skip it in the theaters because I was against the film itself. I wanted to see it. I just have lost any interest in going to theaters. That magic is gone for me. So I eagerly watched it at home at the earliest opportunity that I had. I've avoided spoilers as much as is possible, although some it was impossible due to the toy availability. Nevertheless, I was only aware that there was a Hoth-like skirmish, The Bear voiced gladiator Rotta the Hutt, and Sigourney Weaver and Amani were in it. I really didn't know much else.

Overall, my wife and I both enjoyed it. Although at one point, I think it was was when Grogu and the Anzellans travelled in their tiny ship to Nal Hutta, my wife laughed and said, "This movie is silly!" But she meant "cute silly" not "bad silly." I came away from the film, as probably many others did, that it felt like it was unnecessary to be on the big screen, and would have been perfect as Season 4. Nevertheless, it was fun and I liked it a lot.

I found it interesting that having so many of the toys in hand, and seeing the Mando related reveals recently, it made me feel more invested in the film, the details, the characters, the vehicles, and the locations from a toy perspective. Seemingly returning to the oft asked for days of yore where we could buy the toys in advance of the media release made it a more enjoyable experience. For the last decade plus, I've either wished I could have a figure or toy from the film (and eventually learning full well it was unlikely), or worse, I've been utterly disinterested in a potential toy altogether (for the same reason). This time, I had several figures in hand, and when I saw them on screen for the first time, I had rekindled, just a little, that child-like feeling of "Ooh! I have that guy!" Or, "I was wondering what this vehicle was all about, and there it is!" Granted, it wasn't anywhere close to the same types of feelings I had when I had waves of figures, vehicles, playsets, and beasts prior to each prequel film, but there was definitely a bit of that going on for me.

Anyway, I wish Hasbro could do more of this, but I think a lot of that magic is forever gone, or at least reduced, ever since Disney felt the need to squash anything that could be perceived as a spoiler.

With that, here are my hot takes on the SDCC reveals:



The Mandalorian & Grogu

I saw these reveals before I saw the film on Saturday. I knew about Rotta and Amani, but I had no idea the INT-4 was a thing. When the toy was revealed, I thought it was kinda cool. A concept toy turning into a live-action vehicle, just like the Imperial Troop Transport. When I saw it on the screen, I gave out a little whoop of delight, even though I knew it was coming. And that's the key there - even though I had it "spoiled" by the toy, I still found it one of coolest nods in the film. My wife asked me what my reaction was about, so I had to pause the movie and explain. (She was unimpressed.) Aside from reinforcing my belief that visual spoilers (not to be confused with plot spoilers) enhance the experience. And even in my recent state of disinterest, I still got a little jolt of why I love Star Wars. Anyway, the warlord figure seems cool enough, as does the modern take on the INT-4.

The Amani figure is also neat (I know it was revealed a little earlier). Like many of you, my initial reaction was more about how that probably means a new Amanamananaman is most likely on the way. I was never into the EU comics and stuff, but I was aware that Amani were some kind of vicious, half-civilized, warrior race. Seeing this come to pass in live action was pretty cool as well. I don't specifically remember any one Amani wearing the harness/skull getup - I remember them essentially being clothing-less as they swam around the palace pit, as well as the swamps. Either I missed this outfit entirely, or Hasbro made the figure with preproduction art from LFL that changed too late. If that's the case, it's a pitfall of putting out toys early, but still worth it. Of course, it's entirely likely that I just misremember what I saw in the movie, and it's completely accurate.

And finally we got Rotta the Hutt. Frankly, I didn't think this was going to happen in TVC. So when the reveal happened, I was that much more interested in the character on screen - and that was before I found out The Bear voiced him. He looks pretty awesome. And after seeing the film, now I want the Twins, as well as the gladiatorial Dejarik beasts. I also need the Anzellans and their tiny ship - as silly as they are. Also, now I'm bothered that TVC Embo isn't included with his dog thing.

Overall, I give the Mando inspired reveals a 9/10. Part of that is due to the quality of the reveals, but also the fact that I witnessed them at almost the same time I watched the source material for the first time. Ratings of the actual figures and toys still to come, of course.





Battle of Geonosis

Full reveals of the trio of mains from AOTC is certainly positive. I can't say I was doing backflips as I was when they revealed the OT mains. That's not because I don't think these characters deserve their updates, because they most certainly do. The #Makethemains campaign may have been born for the OT characters, but they certainly applied to the PT as well, at the very least. But let's face it - while there is no doubt they needed updates, the gulf between the OT mains we just got and their most recent predecessors as compared to the gulf between the PT mains here and their most recent predecessors is quite different. The OT figures were embarrassments in a modern collection. The PT mains, while absolutely not up to modern standards, are much more compatible on a shelf today. It's simply not as big of an upgrade, and so for me, it's not nearly as exciting. Nevertheless, the mains from the OT and PT deserve updates more often than every 15-25 years. Revealing them as part of The Battle of Geonosis makes perfect sense. Now was as good a time as any.

As for the droids, I feel kind of the same way, although perhaps even less so. Of course, I just unboxed the Super Battle Droid and Battle Droid army builder 4 pack, so we've all been there, done that. The Super Battle Droid is excellent, and looks unchanged for the carded release. The Battle Droid is painted as the commander variant, which I had complained earlier that it should have been included in the 4 pack. Still, they may help some collectors that didn't want to spring for the 4 pack.

All said, these are good figures, but they all seem to be repacks/repaints/retools of figures we already have. I'm going to give these reveals a 7/10, mostly because there were definitely no surprises here. But they are all arguably necessary for BoG, so I can't really complain. I just wasn't blown away by anything.

Okay, so as this is getting long, I'm going to hold off on some additional thoughts. I may or may not have the interest to follow this up with Part II, so I left "Part I" with a question mark in the title of this article. I will close by saying that I enjoyed M&G, and I more-or-less enjoyed the reveals mentioned above. Besides, my IG algorithm tells me that I am unable to mask my disinterest in the hobby anymore. For the better part of the last 2 months, my feed was nearly 100% Knicks content. A combination of the passage of time and the arrival of SDCC suddenly changed that to about 50/50 Knicks/Star Wars. So I guess I have to grapple with what I'm going to be doing going forward.

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