SDCC Deep Thoughts

I'm doing this article because I was short on time this weekend, and didn't have time to do a figure gallery and review. Also, I'm at a serious disadvantage because I was VERY BUSY this weekend and paid almost zero attention to the SDCC reveals as they happened. In fact, I had a moment to check this site to see Chris's updates and had completely forgotten there was stuff going up for preorder. I took just enough time to place my orders with the emotionless keystrokes of someone who was too preoccupied to actually absorb what he was buying.

So I haven't read a whole lot of commentary, and even as I write this, I haven't dissected every official image as I normally would. As such, I'll give what amounts to my initial feelings about these reveals.

Ahsoka Tano (Peridea): It's not just an alternate look for the titular character, it's important towards filling out the Ezra Escape from Peridea / Zombietrooper scene. Looks great to me. But there's a huge flaw that's hard to get over: there's no cloak. I look forward to paying 50% more for the deluxe version that comes later. Interestingly, the Black Series version didn't come with one either, but screw that line!

Grand Admiral Thrawn: I think the headsculpt is pretty great, but Chris complained to me that he didn't have the "dad bod," and simply reuses the existing officer base figure. I don't know that we could have expected much different, but collectors are a demanding bunch. With limited resources, we all draw our lines in the sand. I'm annoyed at the missing cloak for Ahsoka, but not really at the missing gut here.

Jetpack Trooper: Another variant of the awesome VC231 stormtrooper sculpt, but at this point we're kind of desperate for the hip upgrade. I'm not bothered by it (yet), so I'm a fan of this figure. I'm not attached to the jet trooper concept, but I love whenever we get more figures from the Cal Kestis video games. I pre-ordered several.

Cobb Vanth (Mandalorian Armor): The deluxe line is getting a makeover/throwback. The Maldo Kreis ice spider Mando came with the carded bubble look which seemed to be one and done, but it's been resurrected by the Hasbro team, and seems to be the way going forward. The figure itself looks great, and it's nice to finally have a Timothy Olyphant in the line. It seemed that this took quite a long time, as it was a fan request forever, but here we are. It seems possible that we'll get a non-armored Cobb Vanth in TVC at some point, maybe even as a pack in with his Anakin podracer engine speeder thing.

The Armorer's Forge: I'm really excited for this set. Probably would have been better two years ago, from the Navarro Covert, but here we get the version from the third season. I never knew the name of this planet, but from the parenthetical on the carded Armorer figure, we now know the planet is called Lakeside (pronounced Lah-keh-see-duh). Thanks, Hasbro! Anyway, the forge is pretty awesome, and comes with a bunch of accessories and set pieces that really bring it to life. But it's not just the accessories, it comes with a beskar-shirted Grogu!

The Blurrg and The Mandalorian (Arvada-7): Like the forge set and Cobb Vanth, this one is probably past the prime window for collector desires. It looks great, and I'm happy to be adding it to my collection. The included Mando figure is a mixed bag. It's got the missing variation of the beskar right shoulder armor, and also includes upgraded hips. But somehow, unless it's not too late to change, it's coming with non-rocker ankles. Madness!

While not specifically part of SDCC, just a few days prior, Hasbro offered up a few more items for pre-sale:

Moff Gideon's Imperial Light Cruiser Hallway (w/ Mandalorian Privateer): This is a set that I think is a great addition to the line. Would I have preferred a Star Destroyer or Death Star themed hallway? Maybe. But so many figures from The Mandalorian work with this set it's something that can definitely upgrade your displays. You could do any number of setups: The women warriors working their way through the hallways, Din Djarin's duel with the Dark Trooper, Din Djarin's duel with Moff Gideon, the Dark Troopers falling to Luke Skywalker, etc. You could take some liberties and use it for the hallways of the transport ship that Din, Bo-Katan, Axe Woves, and Koska Reeves. I'm looking forward to it, particularly after Emily's showcase video. The privateer isn't the most exciting pack-in, but I at least prefer a generic army builder to a named character. It would have been a good opportunity to include a single carded Dark Trooper, rather than using that as a main line release.

The Mandalorian (Imperial Base): Like the Blurrg Mando above, this figure has updated the hips. Unlike the Blurrg Mando, it seems to also include rocker ankles, as demonstrated by Emily in her video. That makes the Blurrg version all the more puzzling and frustrating.

Bo-Katan Kryze (Plazir-15): This one has the slight, but welcome, change to the shoulder armor. Just like the Blurrg Mando, Bo-Katan has her Beskar replacement shoulder armor. This one has the mythosaur skull (or "Bantha skull" for you OG's). A slight change, but these figures harken back the previous days of small, but important, outfit variations.

And finally, we got our pipeline reveals. Eight upcoming characters were announced for TVC:

Indara and Yord Fandar: Not a fan of the show, so I'm not dying for these figures. I'd probably rather have about 75 other figures before these two, but whatever. It is important to keep new media characters in the line, although too many of them end up with no context. We probably need about 7-8 other figures from the Acolyte to "complete" the crew.

Dedra Meero: Long requested from Andor, I'm happy, as are most collectors. The female officer sculpt can be re-used a few times as well.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: From the final scene where he says, "Hello there" to kid Luke. Cool outfit. The show wasn't great, but I do hope we get a Luke/Leia set.

Phase I Clone Trooper Lieutenant: Not excited, but it was inevitable. Not sure I care about it coming from Ahsoka. It would be just as well to include all 4 colors in a troop builder set.

Maul Trooper: Not a huge fan of this release either, but I guess Hasbro will just repaint the TCW-based figure we got recently. Meh.

Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati: The internet has wanted these 2 figures for over 15 years. FINALLY, we're getting them. We waited almost as long to get these guys as we did to get the Tonnika Sisters.


Overall, this past week we were shown 5 basic figures, 1 deluxe figure, 1 beast w/figure, and 2 playsets w/figures - while also getting 8 pipelined figures. It's a big haul considering the current climate. I'm happy with most everything, although some of it is a little ho-hum. I'm not really upset about anything that was shown. As Chris pointed out to me, we're getting some big stuff this year, even if 2024 started out with a bunch of repaints. The figure budget may have gone to the 2 playsets (Cruiser/Forge), 2 beasts (Blurrg/Jabba), and vehicle (Patrick E-Wing) - all of which come with pack-in figures of their own. If you include The Ghost from Haslab, it's shaping up to be a decent year that is making a strong push after a weak start.

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