The Vintage Collection Lando Will Be a Big Litmus Test for Us

There is a lot riding on the upcoming Vintage Collection Lando Calrissian, which was revealed yesterday. I feel that the credibility of the hardcore collector community is at stake.

I would define "hardcore collectors" as those who visit fan sites, social media pages, or podcasts, so you may count yourself among those ranks as you're reading this. I also believe we’re only a fraction of The Vintage Collection's consumer base. We are an important segment, but hardly the only segment. This Lando Calrissian figure will go a long way toward determining the degree of our importance.

In recent years, I would say that a new Episode V Lando Calrissian was one of the most requested figures coming out of the collector community. If it were in the style of a sugar free gum commercial, we could say, "9 out of 10 collectors agree that a new Lando figure is needed," with that 10th collector being a certifiably insane killjoy. Lando placed third in our informal Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Poll. There was downright apoplexy that Lando wasn't announced at the 2020 Toy Fair for the 40th Anniversary of Empire, and the anger and disappointment reached new heights following the absence of a forthcoming Lando to coincide with Carbon Freeze Chamber Adventure Set reveal.

There are no excuses. This is an overdue update to a core Original Trilogy character. The figure looks absolutely amazing. This should check all the boxes. If the figure fails to sell well, I would be hard pressed to blame Hasbro if they started deemphasizing the wants of the hardcore collectors and focused more on endless variations of Mando and Baby Yoda. Let's not let that happen. Let's support this figure like our collective reputation is riding on it, because I believe it is.

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