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Whether we like it or not, by now most people should acknowledge that the 3.75" scale is not Hasbro's #1 focus. We could argue that it's still a vital part of Hasbro's grand plan, but for now, Sixers generally have a leg up when we play The Reveal Game. That's okay for now, because while many TVC collectors are fed up at this point with the slow drip of product, much of which they perceive to be underwhelming, I do feel like TVC is (slowly) gaining momentum. I remain VERY cautiously optimistic that collector enthusiasm will help close the gap and "balance the scales". Now, to be clear, in a perfect world, I don't want to balance the scales. I want to "demolish the scales" under the sheer weight of the overwhelming greatness of the one true scale. But that's just me, and that's just not happening any time soon. So the best bet is that we at least bring modern TVC in line with Hasbro's TBS offerings. That said, obviously Sixers got more reveals yesterday than TVC.

The real issue is that in order to balance the scales, Hasbro still has a LOT of work to do to catch up from the recent dark times. Fans are clamoring for so much different TVC product from sources that had been largely ignored over the past 5 years, that it will take a long while to catch up. The Sixer product line is more nimble right now, and able to produce more figures that seem relevant to current media. But as TVC fell so far behind, we're asking for The Ninety-Six, and more OT characters, and more aliens, and more troopers, and more multipacks, and better repacks, and more vehicles and beasts, and completing the crews, all while adding in niche figures. Properties like The Mandalorian, The ST (for better or for worse), The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Bad Batch have gotten barely any attention from Hasbro in 3.75". And before we can even come to grips with this, we're about to get hammered by Cassian, Boba, and Obi-Wan, along with about 39 other media events over the next couple of years. It's simply too much to be able to catch up quickly. Hasbro is in the unenviable position (perhaps self-inflicted, or perhaps in large part due to Disney influence) of having not enough time, resources, and budget to catch up fast enough to please any collector. They try to sprinkle in a little bit of everything, and it seems to generally fall flat among a lot of collectors.

So what did we get yesterday? We got 4 outstanding figure reveals, 3 outstanding pipeline bits, and an outstanding Razor Crest update. Basically, it was outstanding. The bitterest nerds out there will complain that these figures are months/years too late, or Sixers already got some of them, or they got more reveals, or whatever. Sure. But go cry somewhere else and let the rest of us have a moment of joy!

Kuiil is obviously long overdue, but he's coming at about the same time as the Razor Crest. From the pictures, it looks like he'll be worth the wait. Now it just makes me want a Blurrg even more. But the real winner for Razor Crest fans was The Mythrol. Another incredible looking alien from Season 1 that interacts with The Crest, helping us feel better about Hasbro's promise to get us most of the figures that interacted with the ship. As a bonus, he even comes with a Season 2 accessory. That's pretty killer, right there. Both of these figures had me do a little giddy squeal when I saw the images.

Another figure that is popular NOW, is Bo-Katan. And while a lot of collectors have wanted her since The Clone Wars, this is the realistic version modeled after Katie Sackhoff. And the real gem here is that there's swappable heads, instead of a removable helmet. That's a great move, by Hasbro. And finally, we got the LONG REQUESTED Echo Base Trooper. Again, the complainers will say this should have come out years ago, but here it is.

As for pipeline reveals, we are finally getting 2 more OT fan favorites that have been requested for as long as anyone can remember. No images yet, but just confirmation that Bib Fortuna and Lobot are coming should be very welcome news for almost anyone who isn't one of the worst people on Earth. And as if that weren't enough, we're getting another environmental piece, in The Mandalorian Navarro Cantina. Again, no imagery, and no indication of what figure would be included, but it seems a good bet it would be a trooper of some sort. While the previous 3 playsets in the line haven't been perfect, they definitely are an important contributor to the health of the line, and a key indicator that Hasbro understands the necessity of world-building in the 3.75" scale. This was even further affirmed by some of the Sixer news. They're getting an Antoc Merrick, but due to the fact that he is grossly over-sized, it's not practical for him to have a proper ride. That is left to those of us privileged to collect the one true scale. And to further hammer it home, there was the interesting announcement of an upcoming Sixer Haslab, but that it would definitely NOT be a vehicle. While it may be some other kind of piece that supplements the Sixer figure line, such as an environment or a beast, it further illustrates the superiority of TVC when it comes to world building. I'm sure whatever the Haslab product is will be pretty great for Sixers, but I'll take the Sail Barge and Razor Crest over whatever it turns out to be, sight unseen.

On the heels of the surprise Gaming Greats announcements and with these new items that should unofficially bump previous reveals into November or December 2021, it seems like Hasbro is doing what it can to help catch up, give fans a little of everything, and, perhaps most importantly, give us MORE. Is it enough? Absolutely not. But I'm liking where things are going.

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