Special Action Figure 3-Packs Should Still Have A Place In The Line

In 2019, Hasbro amazed the community by introducing the "box-in-a-box" concept where individually carded figures are placed inside outer boxes. It's a brilliant idea, and should be a mainstay in the Vintage Collection so long as the line exists. It has become an invaluable tool in broadening the offerings in the figure lineup. I feel there is a downside, however. It seems like all multi-packs are now going to this format at the expense of the Special Action Figure 3-packs.


The first two box-in-a-box offerings where the Skiff Guard Multipack and the Jabba's Palace Adventure Set. The latter made extreme sense since it contained two Original 96 figures that needed to be carded. The former also made sense because the figures feel like natural continuations of the vintage Kenner line. Had the Kenner line continued long enough, Vedain as Nikto Skiff Pilot, Vizam as Nikto Gunner, and Brock Starsher as Tube Face would have assuredly cracked the lineup. The Skiff Guard set being single carded felt natural and organic.

This does not mean that every multipack needs to or should go this route in my opinion. Some offerings make perfect sense as the classic Kenner "Special Action Figure Set" 3-pack. The problem is that it's one of those, "I know it when I see it" things, and there is no hard and fast rule that I can come up with. Maybe it's if the offerings are so far off of what we would have seen in the vintage line. I just know in my gut that the Jedi Survivor set would have been much cooler as the classic 3-pack.


I don't need any of those figures on individual cards. Not having them on a Vintage Collection card wouldn't feel like a massive void the way Count Dooku and Hammerhead does. I could have happily gone to the happy hunting ground without a single carded Riot Scout Trooper. Regardless of my vague "reasonableness" standard for when a figure does or does not need to be individually carded, I hope the classic Special Action Figure 3-packs still have a place in this line especially if it helps keep the price down on multipacks of more esoteric offerings.

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