Figure Sources I'm Not Burned Out On & 1 That I Am

 Recently, on the BanthaSkull collecting site, Chris, one of the writers, wrote about VC figure sources he was getting burned out on. I get it, Hasbro does a lot of repacks and repaints of some figures and it can wear out VC collectors. Chris was burned out on ARC Trropers/Clone Commanders who used the VC 45 sculpt, and Battle Droids using the VC 78 sculpt. I'll post a link to his article at the end of this post.

Now, I do have something that does burn me out regarding the VC. And I will get to that, but the purpose of this post is what I'm NOT burned out on. Of course anything overdone can burn me out, but I wanted to make something positive, although the end of this post will be the "negative". But I want to focus on what Hasbro could go back to the well on when it comes to the Vintage Collection.

1. Mandalorians

2022 was the big year for Mandalorian figures! The Death Watch Trooper, Mauldalorian, and Death Watch Airborne Trooper highlighted the year for the VC, and while the well is close to being tapped, Hasbro has cooled it off so far for 2023. But, Moff Gideon in his all black Mandalorian outfit wouldn't be a bad idea, just paint the Mauldalorian buck all black, add his new mustache free head sculpt and swappable helmet.

2. Imperial Stormtroopers

The VC 140 sculpt is one of the best ones Hasbro has done, even in the new age of the barbell hip joint. It has been utilized for other figures like the Mimban Stormtrooper (VC 123, which actually came first), Remnant Stormtrooper, and the Shadow Stormtrooper from Battlefront. The Artillery Stormtrooper and the recent A New Hope Stormtrooper, with the added holster to make him now screen accurate, are very clever re-use of the VC 140 buck.

3. Jedi Knights and Sith Lords

Jedi are really what get me excited about collecting. A chance to get repacks last year of AOTC Obi-Wan, Anakin and Mace Windu excited me, same with getting Aayla Secura, Barris Offee and Luninara Undili. But of course not just Jedi from the Prequel Era, but also the OT and beyond. Luke Skywalker, Ahoska Tano and finally Cal Kestis have been popular new releases that collectors have quickly gobbled up.

Sith Lords haven't gotten a lot of VC attention, VC 200 was a repack of an older Palpatine figure, but it succeeded because all old man Palpy needs to do his hold his cane and sit down. He does that perfectly! But with the VC Dark Times Darth Vader from the Obi-Wan series, Hasbro hit a Grand Slam! Vader is getting new use from Return of the Jedi, and an upcoming 2 pack with a damaged helmet, along with presumably the Obi-Wan series standard Ben Kenobi figure. Darth Revan is coming soon, and if it's as good as his 6 inch counterpart, it should be incredible! Now we only need Count Dooku, and the VC will FINALLY have all the movie screen Sith Lords.

4. Bounty Hunters

If the VC is a world building scale, and various aliens are the true signature of the line, so are the bounty hunters. While Din Djarin and Boba Fett reign supreme in this category, it's actually an area Hasbro hasn't done a lot of lately. VC 1 is Dengar, and the most recent non Boba or Din bounty hunter is IG-11, although you could make an argument that Fennec Shand (to me she's an assassin) is a bounty hunter and her figure is the most recent one. In the Empire Strikes Back the scene with Vader addressing them on the bridge of the Executor. There are also lesser known bounty hunters like Greedo who haven't gotten a Vintage Collection figure. IG-88 also has yet to make a single card, but was part of a 3 pack. More of these figures, and a Greedo and new IG-88 (could be made utilizing the IG-11 buck, just needs new hands and a different paint job) are huge collector needs, and repacking Dengar, 4-LOM and putting Zuckuss on a single VC card would also be a good idea.

5. Legends/Expanded Universe Figures

I'm in the minority on this, but if it wasn't for Timothy Zahn's Heir To The Empire novel, I wouldn't really be as big a Star Wars fan as I am now. Most of the adventures I have inagined have all been post ROTJ anyway! When the POTF2 came out with the Expanded Universe line, I was thrilled! The Expanded Universe has also come into the Vintage Collection before. Nom Anor was in the VC 1.0 wave, VC 2.0 has given us Dr Aphra, and several other figures from video games in the VC. Recently, Hasbro repacked Shae Vizla, but gave her a new head sculpt. Starkiller from Force Unleashed got repacked recently as well.

While we are getting Grand Admiral Thrawn on a Rebels card coming soon, but you're going to tell me Mara Jade's 3.75 Black Series figure doesn't belong in the VC? I wouldn't mind a Clone Palpy from Dark Empire I, his dark side adepts from DE2, the Jedi Knights from the Jedi Academy Leviathan miniseries, and Kyle Katarn from Jedi Outcast and the Jedi Academy video game. Having 1 or 2 of these figures come out every year is a reasonable request. And while we have gotten some figures repacked and painted to match the Clone Wars Microseries one glaring omission has been the Microseries Asajj Ventress, who would technically be an Expanded Universe figure.


What I'm Burned Out On:

Cutting corners on main characters.

This irritates a LOT of collectors. The Imperial Light Cruiser Luke had new sculpted legs, but the ball socket hips instead of the barbell hips, which could have been added. The upcoming Endor Han Solo utilizes parts from a 5 year old figure. The less said about Endor Leia the better. The good news is Hasbro seems to be listening. The upcoming Jedi Academy Luke will have barbell hips, a big plus! Hasbro made a new Darth Vader from head to toe and it may be the finest figure ever made for the Vintage Collection. Boba Fett has great new versions of his Disney Plus appearances, why can't Han & Leia get the same treatment? I dont mind reusing parts to make supporting characters like Tessek (Squid Head) or Bib Fortuna. But to take that same approach with Han Solo, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi is unacceptable! If ILC had the new barbell hips I could be okay with reusing most of the VC 175 sculpt. Main characters make money. Hasbro has the right idea with Boba Fett and Vader. But what about Bespin Lando? Packing that figure 3 times in an 8 figure case was a big mistake on Hasbro's part. Which is why you can still find him. With the A New Hope versions of Luke, Han and Leia are popular collector requests for the Vintage Collection, the biggest fear of collectors, which is 100% legitimate is that Hasbro would cut corners to give us these figures, and if you upset collectors one too many times, they will stop buying.

Thanks for reading! Please share this link on your social media so I can get more readers! And the link to BanthaSkull's article is right here:

https://www.banthaskull.com/story/news-figure-sources-im-burned-out-on