Hasbro Exploring New Ways to Disappoint Collectors?

Last week we posted some publicly-available Wal-Mart SKUs and product names for what appears to be the next repack wave of the 3.75” Black Series.  In the comments, we added what we assumed were 5-POA two-packs:

55187086 SW E4 DC LUKE X WING AND TIE PILOT
55187087 SW RI DC UNI PILOT AND SHK TROOP YELLOW
55187089 SW E5 DC SNOWTROPER COM AN AT AT DRIVER
55187090 SW R1 SHORETROOPER CAPTAIN AND BISTAN

On closer inspection, these do not all appear to be equal.  Based on listed packaging dimensions, the last item listed there very likely is a 5-POA 2-Pack.  This is good(ish) news, since Bistan was conspiculously absent from the first batch of Rogue One items.  While the 5-POA basic line hasn’t been a huge hit with discerning collectors, it’s got its merits, and the detailing and paint operations on the more recent figures is quite good.  In my opinion they’re still a tad overpriced for what they are, and they will never ever be a replacement for high-quality articulated figures, but they’re not the worst thing Hasbro has ever done.  That brings us to the next point.

The first 3 sets are marked “DC”.  While obvious speculation was that Star Wars was merging with the DC comic Universe just in time to deliver Batman vs. Superman vs. Darth Vader, this may be incorrect.  The other irregularity was the packaging dimensions: 2.56 x 6.69 x 5.51 Inches. This is significantly different than our existing two-packs ().  Our friendly investigative automaton remembered/discovered that these were very similar dimensions to the Die Cast (DC!) figures rumored back in June and maybe sort of available on amazon.

So what does this mean?  It means that there are probably two-packs of Die-Cast figures coming.  We can’t say for sure that these are being made by Hasbro, though they are definitely in sequence in Wal-mart’s Inventory with other Hasbro Star Wars items.  As for scale, it’s really hard to say.These dimensions are almost the same as the dimensions listed for the Die-Cast Han Solo on Amazon that may or may not still be coming. 

The bigger question is, why?  Who are these for?  Are they for kids or does Hasbro think this is what collectors want?  The Disney Elite series (or whatever it’s called) seems to have some followers, but it is almost universally agreed that the non-armored characters don’t look great in metal.  This may be an extremely limited line (possibly one set per movie), but it seems pointless at best.  Hasbro’s done the metal figure thing before and it wasn’t successful enough to keep going.  Is this just another attempt to squeeze some money from people who can’t help buying anything with the words “Star Wars” slapped on the top, or is this a new direction from a company that is struggling to find a workable way to meet the demands of fans of a multi-billion dollar franchise?  I can’t speak for everyone, but I really can’t imagine any version of these that I’d consider buying.  Instead I’ll just hold on to my money and remember when things collecting Star Wars figures was fun.

Alea Iacta Est