Where's The Mandalorian Merchandise?!

 The 3rd season of The Mandalorian began last Wednesday and for those thinking this is a spoiler review, or any review, it isn't. I haven't seen it yet, although I hope to in the near future. Navigating through social media to avoid spoilers can be tricky, someone spoiled who died in Avengers Endgame a while back and I was ticked at that. But at least Hasbro rolled out some new products for the upcoming season, right? Right?!

No. They didn't. Hasbro very quietly rolled out VC 181 for preorder on Hasbro Pulse. The VC Rescue set that has cloth capes for Gideon and Mando, plus Grogu and a battle damaged Darktrooper is still up on Pulse. Now, nothing against VC 181. It's a great figure. And yes, a new N1 Starfighter is coming to the VC later this year (at $131.99) and that will possibly (maybe) come with a figure (probably Din Djarin). But so far, that's it. No word if the Black Series will repack Din Djarin, or Moff Gideon or even if there will be any Season 3 characters coming. Grogu with his pram is set for later this year, too. So what's the deal?! This is the highest rated Disney Plus show for crying out loud!!

I have a couple thoughts as to why. First, 2023 is a big anniversary year. Return of the Jedi turns 40. The Clone Wars Micro Series turns 20. The Clone Wars TV series turns 15. And on an unrelated note we are a few weeks away from the 30th anniversary of The Last Command, which completed the epic Thrawn Trilogy, and in the minds of many, including this writer, the one true sequel trilogy. Because of those anniversaries (minus The Last Command) Hasbro has a full plate. The Black Series and VC are heavily focused on Return of the Jedi. The VC has some Clone Wars love to give to. Other than the ROTJ stuff I'm not keeping up with the Black Series except for when my Mara Jade figure ships. So Hasbro may have already had a full bag, and just couldn't squeeze in a couple more Mandalorian series figures.

The other thought is not so optimistic. When the Obi-Wan series debuted, figures were out in time. Obi-Wan, Vader and Reva. Sadly, you can still find some Obi-Wan and Reva figures on pegs next to Bespin Lando (figures come 8 to a case, Lando was 3 per case, which is why he's still on racks. Reva was 2 per case I believe, along with Obi-Wan. Vader was 1 per case). That these figures "didn't sell" may be what you see but my previous comment in parentheses explains why they are still on racks. Maybe Disney and Hasbro felt gun shy about going all out again for a streaming series. That, admittedly, could be a reason why there isn't new Mandalorian merch ready to go at the moment.

Then there's collecting backlash: there is already too many Mandalorian figures in both VC and Black Series. In the VC, there are more Mandalorian figures than figures for The Empire Strikes Back. I haven't and won't count the Black Series numbers, but they have more figures than the VC does for The Mandalorian. Are collectors tired of all things Mandalorian? Read the comments on collecting sites and some are. I'm close, I like getting all sorts of interesting Mandalorian figures! Their armor is cool and the new articulation is incredible! But, the lack of A New Hope versions of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Ben Kenobi is quite disappointing. A new and improved Bespin Luke, Death Star 2 Luke, and not to mention Cantina aliens or Jabba's Palace dwellers would be nice. There are of course supply backlog as some products have gone out early (ROTJ Retro, VC Light Cruiser Luke, Cal Kestis, etc) while some products are late in getting out (in the US the Endor Bunker and AT-ST with Chewbacca, other countries are getting these products now). And the Black Series ROTJ carded figures are also on a slow release.


But it's also repeating history. The previous streaming series, Andor, had nothing ready when the show launched. Now granted, the show isn't as "toyetic" as The Mandalorian, but that's just what Hasbro did. Some Black Series retail exclusives for Andor came at about the same time. Just now are we getting Andor figures for the Vintage Collection (Cassian Andor, Vel Sartha) with Imperial disguise Cassian and the incredible looking Phase 2 Clonetrooper coming soon! So maybe Hasbro is playing the waiting game, see what's out, who's in it and then making figures. It took us a little over 2 years to get a Mandalorian Ch 16 Luke Skywalker, so maybe Hasbro is waiting to see how the season plays out before making any big announcement. But they also have a full plate already, either way, collectors have to play the waiting game. But only time will tell if they get tired of waiting and move on. Either way, Hasbro is in a no-win scenario.