Daniel Knox
For what seems like an eternity, Star Wars toy enthusiasts were under the impression that the Tonnika twins, two fleeting characters from the iconic cantina scene in A New Hope, were the only ones who were strictly off-limits for toy production.
While Hasbro remains tight-lipped about whether this was indeed the case, we can perhaps infer from Chris Reiff of the Star Wars team’s statement, “We’ve certainly made them, and we’re thrilled to have had the opportunity. It’s a tremendous amount of work to undertake these projects and to deliver something truly special.”
Tiers in the Reign
The crowd-funded cantina stirred up some controversy by offering two separate tiers, a strategy that was partly an experiment to gauge whether fans preferred open displays for shelf display, or a more complete set, possibly for tabletops rather than shelves.
“You can’t offer two-thirds of a ship,” Reiff explains. “But in this case we could offer two-thirds that covers the core aspect of the cantina. It’s hard to say the price point of a HasLab is an entry price point, but it’s a more accessible price point for many fans, and then the deluxe option for those who really want to go all out.”
“The future campaigns are unpredictable,” adds his colleague Jing Houle. “It also provided us with valuable insights into what fans are seeking.”
Could it be a Death Star, perhaps? They both chuckle, knowing full well they wouldn’t spill the beans at this point.
“It’s valuable research for everything,” Houle diplomatically states. “We gather all the information we can.”
Floored by the Answer
The cantina playset does not come with a floor. Would they consider offering a printable download for one? The answer is a resounding no, and for two compelling reasons. “We didn’t want to restrict the layout for people,” Reiff explains, “Keeping it modular as we did allows people to arrange it in various ways. Then, for our photos, we used a plain board as the underlay to achieve a nice neutral tone, and I think the result is stunning. You don’t even notice it in the shots. And I think that’s a great option for fans to just be able to pick a neutral tone sheet, of chipboard or anything, and place it underneath.”
Will more cantina-related figures be returning to stores to help populate the diorama? After the obligatory disclaimer that they can’t discuss anything unannounced, Reiff adds, “You have seen how we have continued to support HasLabs in the past in an ongoing fashion, and I don’t see any reason why that kind of plan changes for the cantina.”
Houle chimed in that they even announced Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) during the crowd-funding campaign, so fans knew they were on the same wavelength.
Kicking up a Din
Besides A New Hope, The Vintage Collection will be expanding the universe of The Mandalorian with a Blurrg, at last, and the Armorer’s Forge. And yes, that Blurrg will go where it belongs, with Reiff revealing, “We took the 3D files from Lucasfilm and we scaled them to the Vintage Collection scale for the Blurrg, and made sure it would fit in our Razor Crest.”
A new Mandalorian will also be specially designed for riding it. Deluxe Cobb Vanth also unveils the new packaging style for the future — where oversized Vintage Collection figures had been coming in boxes recently, they’ll now appear in extra-wide blister cards.
For The Acolyte, the team was somewhat taken aback, along with the audience, regarding which characters survived and who met their end. (Survivors Bazil and Vernestra were just announced, but will take some time). Houle shares, “Obviously, we worked closely with Lucasfilm on many of the figures that we produced, and which ones to make, but there were definitely some moments where we were just as shocked as the fans.”
Looking to the Horizon
The carded Archive Collection, while not officially “sunsetted,” has been taking a backseat to boxed rereleases, and fans can expect this trend to continue. “Doing the box figures in that new packaging that we did, that’s also very historic and nostalgic for us too,” says Houle.
Reiff adds: “Archive was answering the ‘I want the figure’ request [and] not necessarily a packaging thing.”
This brings us to the convention exclusive: Darth Maul on his Episode I Sith Speeder. Why limit such a high-profile character to such a restricted release? The devil is in the details, quite literally. Reiff explains, “We are releasing Maul widely, but this variant of Maul with the soft goods and the speeder felt like the right way to celebrate with the throwback package for the speeder. And the Speeder’s the addition here, really. The soft goods are the way to allow that figure that is widely available to work better with the Speeder.”
Houle adds, “Maul’s really popular, but having that vehicle that you can see at the con, and do the deep cut with the packaging and celebrate the [25th] anniversary, everything about it is great, and there will be some limited quantities available online afterwards.”
What about the tenth anniversary of The Force Awakens next year? (Feeling old yet?)
Reiff is typically evasive about things not announced. “We’re still working on stories in our plans for things, so more to come on that as we go, but I think ten is not an unreasonable number to celebrate. Do we do it, or do we wait for something later? That’s a decision we make as we build out the line.”
Take a look at more from the Hasbro Comic-Con Star Wars display in the gallery below:
