What if other toy companies made 1:18 scale Star Wars figures?

 Competition makes us better. Take for instance the jerk who beats you into the office one morning. You wake up earlier the next day to be the first. You know you do! Look at the most watched TV programs, at least in the United States. It's sports. Football (not that Soccer sport!), basketball, baseball, hockey. Competition is fun to watch. For comic books (well sales have plummeted lately) you have Marvel & DC. Movies have various studios making movies vying for your money. Heck, toy companies have it to. Mattel has Masters of the Universe, Barbie & Jurassic World. Playmates has Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Star Trek. Hasbro has not only Star Wars but also GI Joe and Transformers plus Marvel toys. McFarlane is knocking it out the park with DC Toys (the Walmart Exclusive Jean Paul Valley Batman from issue 500 looks INCREDIBLE!), and now doing Super Powers (figures under $10, vehicles under $30, good value!). Hasbro has competition at least in the 6 inch (1:12) scale with SH Figuarts. So today I'm making the case for why Hasbro needs a competing 1:18 scale to make that line better.

Now, let's go back to 2013. Hasbro debuts the 6 inch Black Series figures. The first few waves were, well, hits and misses. Mostly misses. SH Figuarts starts making 6 inch figures, adding different styles of articulation and extra accessories like hands, heads, weapons, etc. Now SH Figuarts figures are hard to get in the US and are pricey. I have one and it was more than what I'd normally be comfortable paying but haven't splurged since. So Hasbro wins the price war. But around 2019-2020 just as the world shut down, Hasbro upped their Black Series game. Butterfly joints got added to figures, better sculpting and pinless joint articulation is becoming standard in Hasbro's Black Series. Adding better sculpting, paint apps, and Hasbro is closing in on the SH Figuarts style quality. You can spot the differences, but with the upcoming Hasbro Mandalorian Luke & SH Figuarts Mandalorian Luke there isn't much difference in articulation, at first glance. But, a competing toy line inspired Hasbro to do better at 1:12 scale. Imagine how similar competition at the 1:18 scale could be?!

Now before I begin the company run downs, these are just what I think these companies would do if they had the Star Wars 1:18 line. This is based off of what they have done or are doing right now. Just speculating for entertainment purposes.

1. Mattel

If you've seen the Hammond Collection for Jurassic Park/World then you've seen how good a job Mattel has done with 3.75 inch figures. But, as you know the price point for Star Wars is higher than Jurassic Park/World so the prices would be in line with Hasbro's. I feel Mattel would be the perfect company to do aliens (Mos Eisley Cantina & Jabba's Palace especially) based off their incredible dinosaur sculpts. This could be a great way to get a new Rancor, Tauntaun or Bantha too. Mattel has deep pockets and a complimentary VC style line could get out figures collectors have been asking for, and Hasbro allowing Mattel to use Vintage Kenner style cards would help out drastically. Mattel could make the collector compatible figures and do a good job at it. Add in a big name character from some video games (Luke, Han & Leia from Battlefront 2, Cal Kestis, Merrin and Second Sister aka Trilla from Jedi Fallen Order) and Mattel could compliment Hasbro by offering figures they can't or won't get to. Villains like Dooku & Morgan could be made for your VC Obi-Wan, Anakin & Corvus Ahsoka to do direct battle with. Also those missing Rogue One & Solo figures could get made. Maybe a vehicle like a Jedi Fighter or Clone Tank could get made as well. For collectors, Mattel would deliver.

2. McFarlane Toys

McFarlane doesn't have a lot of 3.75 inch stuff. Some Spawn figures and classic Hollywood monsters, that's it. But looking at how they are replicating the 1980's era Super Powers cards on their interpretation of that line has them on my radar. McFarlane toys deliver good sculpts (not too impressed with Super Powers now but waiting on other figures to come out) and while 3.75 scale isn't what they are known for they could deliver some good figures. The detail on their 3.75 Spawn and movie monsters were good. Articulation was basic for the late 1990's to early 2000's but the sculpts were great. But I would only see them doing limited figures. Maybe they could deliver signature ANH versions of Luke, Han, Leia and Ben Kenobi. But because they are a smaller company I would only expect 4-8 figures per year. I don't think collectors would support that, so McFarlane for that reason would bow out.

3. Spin Masters

Another small company but their 4 inch DC heroes line has been good. With their Batman and Black Adam film toys they show they can pay attention to detail in sculpting. But what Spin Masters could do is create durable toys. My young nephews haven't broken any toys of theirs. And they rough play. The cloth capes are good material, and stay with the figures quite well. But to make durable figures the articulation needs to be no more than 12 POA. Collectors may not like this but kids possibly would. Especially paired with kid friendly vehicles, Spin Masters could make the 3.75 inch kid friendly toys Hasbro tried and failed to make. The good news is Spin Masters could actually do a good job with that, their figures fit in the vehicles. Playsets could even make a comeback. While collectors demand realistic looking toys, kids would be happier with toys that look close enough to what was on screen. Like the Vintage Kenner toy vehicles. This would be the only way to get lots of figures and vehicles but they might not be compatible with Hasbro VC figures.

4. Jazwares

They already have the new Micro Collection style vehicles, but have you seen what they're doing with the 4 inch Fortnite line? They're doing a very good job! While the sculpts are quite cartoon like, they do closely resemble the source material. I feel they could so something similar for 3.75 inch Star Wars figures. Animated style figures like Clone Wars, Rebels and Bad Batch would be perfect to get that style of toy out to retail and collectors. While the VC versions are done in realistic styles, Hasbro at a time did animated style figures. Those 2008-2010 Clone Wars toys are still popular with many collectors. Animated style figures do have a market, and say what you will, Disney's Galaxy of Adventures figures could get a new life, same with Clone Wars & Rebels while getting new 3.75 scale Bad Batch figures. Jazwares does good with super articulation but to match Hasbro's style could take a lot of work but it could be done. Vehicles are possible but would be done as frequently as Hasbro does which wouldn't be a lot.

5. Playmates.

Playmates has done it all, but their 3.75 ventures in the past didn't go well, which is why they are not quite last. Now, I enjoyed their 2009 Star Trek toy concepts, like figures coming with pieces to build up the bridge playset or transporter playset. But the cheap corners (3 body styles, poor plastic quality) doomed what could have been a good line. I won't talk Terminator Salvation but their T-800 figures were actually quite good. But only having Sam Worthington's permission to use his likeness and not Christian Bale or Common's likeness permission terminated (pun intended) that toy line. But Playmates has shown they learned from their mistakes. They have held onto the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toyline for years, and won't let it go. Their new 5 inch Star Trek toys look good, so do their Karate Kid/Cobra Kai pack in figures with the TMNT figures. If Playmates put money into sculpting and improving the quality of plastic they could make a great 3.75 inch toy line. Adding building pieces for playsets could be done for a Throne Room Playset, and get us those elusive Imperial Dignatary figures getting made. Even a Home One Playset with Mon Mothma, main and Home One versions of Luke, Leia, Chewie, and Lando could make for interesting toys. And give collectors a realistic shot at getting long wanted playsets done.

6. Super7

A complaint that Vintage Collection collector's have is with the Retro Collection. In their minds, Hasbro's Retro Collections take away tooling money from the Vintage Collection (there is proof of this). Well, Hasbro can silence that argument by farming out the Retro Collection to Super7. They have been doing 1980's Kenner style toys for years! Alien, Firefly, and Terminator were their first forays into retro figures. Now they make Star Trek The Next Generation, 1984 Dune figures, and GI Joe. For Super7 making Star Wars figures could get them wider orders and get more of their figures in stores. The knock is the $20 price, but since Hasbo makes about 6-12 figures a year in Retro style, I say let Super7 have this line. But let's make those unproduced Droids figures, and figures like Tarkin, Veers, Rieekan, Mon Mothma, Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter from the OT era too. Even modern figures from the Disney Trilogy and new media. This would be welcomed by VC collectors and for Retro Collection ones as well. And yes I should have had them at 7 but I wanted to subvert your expectations, LOL!

7. Bandai (model kits)

Model kits sound weird, but go to a local hobby store and you can see the 1:12 snap together models that are fully articulated. So why not do the same for 1:18 scale? Model companies make different scale models! Making super articulated figures yourself may be a pain in the butt (arthritis is something I have which is why I can no longer do those), but the reward of putting something together is one that gives you a sense of accomplishment. But there would be a problem: plastics used for these models are brittle, and don't tend to do well when stored with other figures (RIP Bandai R2-D2, who got damaged being stored with my Black Series figures). But this could be a way to get figures like Hammerhead, or even Morgan Elsbeth. But like McFarlane Toys don't expect a lot of "figures" per year. Adding another feature like making a 5 POA version of the figure too would be a good idea. But these would be cheaper since the one doing the labor is the buyer.

8. SH Figuarts.

They do a competing 1:12 scale line and rock it. Imagining what they could do in the 1:18 scale! These could be superior to what Hasbro does figure wise, and maybe offer what Hasbro can't: delivering definitive versions of OT figures. Hasbro needs to make new toys from the new shows while also doing OT figures. But Hasbro can't do it all. In slides SH Figuarts. While US availability is limited, I think the US online retailers would find a way. Let's face it, the only way definitive ANH versions of the main heroes could get done (and make collectors happy) would be by SH Figuarts and there would be no doubt that they would be definitive versions. Now paying $40-$50 per figure at this scale may be much, but with SH Figuarts offering more accessories devoted collectors wouldn't mind.

So there you have it, companies that could do a good job making 1:18 scale Star Wars figures and maybe, just maybe push Hasbro to make more while setting the bar high. Hasbro has been knocking it out the park lately with new Vintage Collection figures. Imagine how good they would be if they weren't the only game in town.