Random Vintage Collection Thought: This Exciting Line Is Boring In One Respect

Posted by Chris on 10/14/21 at 07:05 AM Category: Vintage Collection

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There's an outstanding chance that the title of this article will give people the wrong impression. The "exciting" part will be ignored, and there's a potential for readers to latch on to the "boring" phrase. So let me state unequivocally that I hope the Vintage Collection outlives my time in the hobby. I want the black and silver in my life so much that I should become a Raiders fan and listen to The Autumn Wind on a loop. I want Congress to pass a law that TVC should be the Star Wars main line in perpetuity.

There is a massive amount of excitement within TVC with the Gaming Greats sub line and the recent announcement of the Droids carded figures. The fact that those two things exist make me think that I've been unknowingly enrolled in the Man Child Make A Wish program. The only thing that puts a damper on this amazing time in the hobby is that it's essentially become a basic carded figure line. Even the multipacks now are just several basic carded figures in one package. Don't get me wrong, that's an outstanding concept, and in no way am I saying it should go away. It's invaluable for bolstering the carded offerings, but other platforms shouldn't be ruled out.

No sir, not only do I want perpetual TVC, I want it to spread its iconic packaging to other expressions. One already exists in The Vintage Collection, but has gone dormant, and the other would be a hugely welcome addition.

Special Action Figure Sets

What happened to these? It's not like they are an artifact of the TVC 1.0 era. There have been a quartet released in TVC 2.0. There was 2018's Doctor Aphra's Comic Set, 2019's Luke Skywalker Jedi Destiny Set and the Cave of Evil Set, and 2020’s 501st Legion ARC Troopers. This year, the expression disappeared from the line like Andy Dufresne. We are already onto 2022 reveals and it looks like the Special Action Figure sets are giving 2021 a miss.

The Special Action Figure sets were such a legendary part of the vintage Kenner lineup that they should still have a continued presence in TVC. One that makes too much sense is a Purge Trooper Special Action Figure set. We have the single carded Elctrostaff Purge Trooper, but I want the other three flavors (Commander, Electrobaton, Electrohammer). I don't need them single carded since that itch has already been scratched. Gimme all three in a Special Action figure set and be done with them.

Comic Packs

Of all the product expressions that have gone by the wayside in the 3.75" line, Comic Packs may be the one that I miss the most. Not so coincidentally, they disappeared with the advent of the Vintage Collection mainline in 2010. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Can you even imagine how amazing a Vintage Collection Comic Pack would look? Stunning double racetrack packaging married with an amazing comic cover as a background, say The Rise of Kylo Ren #2. Then a minimalistic low profile bubble houses a young Jedi Master Luke Skywalker figure and one of the other Knights of Ren.

To test the waters, Hasbro could even execute this concept without investing any new tooling dollars. The VC131 - Luke Skywalker could be repainted and given any one of the existing brown robes, and it could be packed with the existing VC155 - Knight of Ren figure. It could give Hasbro an easy path to reintroducing the expression.