Hasbro Pulse Livestream Recap from Feb 26th

 Photo credits Jedi Defender and Yakface from X. 

Another Hasbro Pulse livestream happened this past Wednesday. More Black Series news than Vintage Collection news, but some possible disposable income can be dispersed. I'll go into both series reveals, and offer my thoughts. Plus I got in my new Anakin Skywalker figure, and I'm impressed with it, even in the package. That review will come next week. 

BLACK SERIES REVEALS 

I'm not into this scale anymore, however there are some very good figures that were shown. Some are repacks, while a couple are all new. 

Wal-Mart Exclusive 20th Anniversary ROTS

March will see Wal-Mart's "collector con" and they will have figures on ROTS style cards from 2005. Plus, ROTS is coming back to theaters in April, so head to starwars.com for all the information on theaters playing it. But now onto the figures: 

1. Commander Cody

He looks to be a repack, but this is a nice look at the back of the card too. I believe the helmet is of the removable, not swappable variety. And he comes with a Darth Sidious hologram and his standard blaster. 

2. Count Dooku

Looks to be a straight repack of the one a couple years ago, so if you missed out on that, here's your chance to get this one. Not a bad Sixer figure, worth getting if you can. 

3. Kit Fisto 

Kit gets some updated weathering on his face and head, and it looks like his upper body has some paint apps as well. A slight change over the previous release. 

4. R2-D2 

R2 has some additions: notably the booster rocket leg attachments. This is the new R2 body, and the first time a PT accurate R2 is in this scale. I predict this will be the one that sells out first. All of these will be available to preorder next month from Walmart.com

General Black Series Figures

1. Cassian Andor in Pilot Disguise

As seen in the recent trailer, this is a new sculpt, something the Hasbro team emphasized in the livestream. The helmet is removable, and I can see a new update for the TIE Pilot down the line. But you don't exactly have a vehicle for him to pick loot in this scale, do you?! 

2. Director Krennic

Repack. But an improved head sculpt and paint applications. I'll stick to the one I got for $8. 

3. Moff Gideon in Darktrooper Armor

Another all new sculpt emphasized during the livestream, Gideon appears as he did in the season finale of the 3rd season of The Mandalorian. The helmet is removable, the head sculpt is all new, and he comes with a blaster, a fully extended staff and a collapsed one, which he's holding in the unhelmeted picture. Not a bad looking figure, really. One I would consider getting. But the last one is my favorite. 

4. Praetorian Guard

This is a slight repack of the previous Praetorian Guard figure, but with a new helmet sculpt (the upper body looks to be from either the Sith Trooper or the Sith Airborne Trooper). He comes with 2 new weapons so you can recreate the sacrifice of Paz Vizsla from the S3 Mandalorian finale. Honestly, I wouldn't mind getting this figure, it looks incredible. All of these figures individually are up for preorder next month, but the wave is already up for preorder at Entertainment Earth. 

Phase II 501st Clonetrooper Helmet

The only role playing item shown. I don't know if it's good for cosplay but it looks to be a great display piece. Available at Gamestop, I didn't pay attention to when it was up for preorder. 

VINTAGE COLLECTION REVEALS 

Pipeline Reveal: Luke's Landspeeder 

This is an all new sculpt, and was "leaked" on a poster from a German Comic Con a few weeks ago. There was no physical model shown, just this image. My guess is it will be up for preorder after May 4th. 

Figure Reveals

1. Ponda Baba 

Ponda Baba gets repacked, and I'm glad they didn't skimp on the accessories of the original VC figure. There appears to be more facial detail, but the head still looks off scale. Either way, he was hard to find originally where I live, and his 3.75 Black Series repack never made it here, either. His drinking buddy Dr Evazan is shipping soon, so you have an essential Cantina patron making a return. 

2. Imperial Armored Commando 

He's a deluxe figure, and comes with all the accessories he needs. I do hope he gets a standard single card release, or a 4 pack because at $25 he's the same price as a Sixer. This is likely Hasbro wanting a better bang for their buck so they can utilize the buck for something else later on. I'm still on the fence about getting this, but definitely would if a 4 pack had been announced along with this. 

3. Hammerhead aka Monaw Nadon

And here's where I'm simultaneously excited and pissed off. This is a figure I have wanted in the VC for a VERY long time. He's my favorite Kenner era alien, and I have a couple of his "modern" era figures. It's cool that he comes with a lot of accessories, including his POTF2 style blaster, the Stormtrooper blaster his Kenner version had as well as the cup and staff his Saga version had. Heck, I'm using the Saga Hammerhead as a background Cantina patron when I get that set up. He's even got a swappable hand. Neat! 

But what pisses me off is that his recreated Kenner card is on a Deluxe size card. An alternate image should have been used here. That way, in the future, this figure could get repacked on a standard sized card and THAT figure could go on his proper Kenner style card and he could make the Original 96 crowd happy. Likely that figure would get the cup and Stormtrooper blaster as the only accessories. But, nope. And the higher price point means he won't be in my carded collection either. So my only carded aliens will be Yakface and Ree Yees. It's a bummer. But since I like ending on high notes after a low point:

The Return To Tattooine poster is filling out nicely! Come on Sandtrooper, and Garindan (the guy who snitches Ben and Luke to the Empire)! 

Thanks for reading! A special thanks to Chris and Nomad at BanthaSkull for allowing me to post this link in the comments section! Please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!