Hasbro Pulse Reveal Thoughts & Fan Expo NOLA Haul

 Hasbro Pulse had their 1st livestream this year, and there was good news for both the Vintage Collection and Sixer Scum (lighten up, Sixers), aka Black Series! One Black Series reveal in particular caught my interest. This past weekend I made it down to Fan Expo NOLA, and while I didn't exactly get a lot of stuff when it came to figures, I did make some great comic book finds, plus a bootleg Blu Ray set that Disney should have already released. So today's post will cover all of the reveals, and all the hauls! 

BLACK SERIES REVEALS 

Watto, Taun We and a Geonosian Warrior are coming to the Sixer line in a fan channel wave. Yes, all that is good. But I'm not interested in that. What I am interested in is below: 

Images from Yakface. Lord Starkiller, from the alternate ending of The Force Unleashed. And this is the version I've wanted in the 3.75 inch scale forever. I've been tempted to spend the $200 customs of this figure go for on eBay. But he comes with 6 lightsabers, swappable hands and wired capes. This figure simply looks amazing and I'm expecting him to be near the $45-$50 range when you take in taxes and shipping. He could POSSIBLY be worth that price. Since he's from Legends, he's a strong potential buy. But this would be a definite VC buy, once he's made. 

VINTAGE COLLECTION CANTINA PATRON 4 PACK REVEALED

And VC collectors lost their sh*t over this one. You really can't be happy, can you?! I admit disappointment being that they aren't on cards in a 4 pack, but for one of them I understand it. But before I look at all 4 figures revealed, here is who I would have put in the 4 pack: 

1. Arliel Schous 

2. Bo Shek

3. Hem Dazon

4. Leesub Sirln

Not a bad mix, in my opinion. Arliel had been a collectors favorite since the Cantina HasLab. Bo introduced Ben to Chewbacca, Hem is the 1st alien we see in the Cantina and Leesub is another hard to find Legacy Collection figure that could have used an update. But, here's who we got instead:

1. Arliel Schous 

2. Garindan

3. Labria

4. Chalmun 

And now for a detailed look at the figures, plus my thoughts. 

1. Arliel Schous 

If the Cantina had the full length of time of a standard HasLab, Arliel Schous would have been reached as he was the final tier in the campaign. But, he wasn't reached. That didn't stop collectors from putting him on March Madness and Last Figure Standing lists either. Now, we finally get him! And the reaction to him by some collectors was...anger. SMH. I can get being upset over not being on a card, but after all the whining about not getting him, you finally get him and whine. Star Wars collectors, everyone! To be honest, I hadn't heard of him before the campaign began, and yeah, he kinda grew on me. Personally, I'm glad he's going to be available to get. And hopefully other figure's who were HasLab tiers get a shot to get released one day. 

2. Garindan

This figure was also controversial with collectors. And I kinda agree with that. He doesn't really belong in the Cantina 4 pack. But, from a Hasbro perspective, he actually makes sense. Hasbro is assuming collectors bought either the Cantina, or the Streets of Mos Eisley Playset, or both. If you only bought the Streets, then you need Garindan. And while he likely went into the Cantina for a drink in between doing snitch duty, he wasn't seen onscreen doing that. As someone who will display many characters not in ANH in the Cantina, this one makes sense. At least to me. While he would probably have been better if put in a carded 2 pack with a Sandtrooper, I'm happy he's included. He's a figure that was needed, and that is something that collectors can agree on. 

3. Chalmun

The name of the Mos Eisley Cantina is Chalmun's Cantina. And here we have Chalmun. After being referenced in the Star Wars Holiday Special, he makes his debut as an action figure, and is seen officially for the first time. He also sports a dashing mustache like a certain Baron Administrator of Cloud City, and is the first Wookiee to wear pants. Chalmun can work the Cantina bar when Wuher is unable to. So he can be a bartender. Chris from BanthaSkull has been on a campaign to get EV-9D9 to get made. If a bartender was needed, she would make sense. She is the bartender when Din Djarin dropped in. But not being on a card, or on a ROTJ card would probably be seen by some collectors as an insult. So it's best in this instance that Chalmun gets the call. While he also hasn't made an onscreen appearance in a movie or TV special, he's obscure, a Wookiee and he's a different one at that. As someone who likes Expanded Universe figures, and wants more of them, Chalmun is a great choice. And in searching for him in my blog (click on the magnifying glass and type a character name, and you're off!), I had him as a tier for an original proposal for a Cantina HasLab. But he's coming to the VC! Now it's time to get Ackmena into the VC! Probably my only chance to ever get a Bea Arthur action figure into my collection. I've even noticed some March Madness submissions have been edited to include her. 

4. Labria

Now this is more like it! I don't think that there were any complaints about Labria being added to the 4 pack, except that he isn't on a card. Frankly, he's a cool looking character. And if you look him up on Wokepedia, he has an exotic alien name (Kardue'sai'Malloc). I really need to pay closer attention the next time I see ANH because I need to know who he's sitting with, but I can say from this look, they nailed him. Perfectly! It also looks like from the sculpts of all 4 figures that we have parts that can be used to make more characters in the future. And the next Devaroninan on my wish list (besides Sian Jeisal from the Legends Republic comic series) is Vilmar Grakh (also from the Legends Republic Comic Series), who aided Quinlan Vos back in the Legends days. 

FAN EXPO NOLA HAULS

1. Kenner Dengar

There isn't a sense of dread when you complete a collection, it's actually satisfaction. Because you don't need to spend time hunting something down, and I can finally recreate the Kenner Era Bounty Hunter scene from ESB. I'll still buy some Kenner figures, I'd like another Greedo, and another Walrus Man, but it's not a pressing need. Now I need Hasbro to make Mara Jade and Thrawn in Retro. Plus all the Droids figures that were made, and the ones not made from the 2nd wave. 

2. Other Items

I didn't buy any of these items, but there are a few I regret passing up. All Spaceballs related. Spaceballs the cup, Spaceballs the light switch, Spaceballs the coasters, even Spaceballs the cutting board! There's also Mount Rushmore statues of Horror Classics, OS Star Trek, and OT Star Wars, Sith Lords, etc. 

3. Vintagr Marvel Comics Star Wars Haul

When I saw these comics, I immediately grabbed them up. These issues are the debut of Shira Brie, aka Lumiya. The covers indicate they're from the UK, but the interiors are as if they were from the US. No bonus material or anything like that. I just need issue 63, since issue 62 has a cliffhanger style ending. But that's not the only Lumiya haul: 

Duel With A Dark Lady is one of the best individual issues of the old Marvel run. Sadly, no comic book vendor there had issue 97, so the story is incomplete. But getting all these issues for only $90 was a great deal. The only individual issue I really want is issue 92, The Dream. It's my absolute favorite single issue of the Vintage Marvel series. 

3. Infinities Return of the Jedi

Only the Infinities versions of ANH and ROTJ are worth reading, in my opinion. Infinities ROTJ is quite good. The what if here is, what if Han was still blind, and what if Threepio lost his head? It's an entertaining read, but it's also a standalone that has nothing to do with the past Infinities series. Plus an all white armored Vader/Anakin is a VC figure I'd like to see one day. 

4. Batman Year 3

Everyone knows Batman Year One updated Batman's origin. Year 2 introduced the villain who inspired Phantasm in the animated movie, with art by Todd McFarlane. Year 3 is more of a Dick Grayson/Nightwing story. But it takes place after Death In The Family, and Batman is still emotional after the death of Jason Todd. Anthony Zucco, who had the Flying Graysons killed is up for parole. Here we get a "Year One" for Dick Grayson as his relationship with Bruce begins to mend, somewhat. It isn't Batman who solves things but Nightwing. And this series was what launched the Dick Grayson/Nightwing Legend that the character has now become. 

5. Bootleg Blu Ray's

Before I begin, for the record, if Disney made an effort to put these things out in a timely manner, I would buy them. In a heartbeat. My hauls here were all 7 seasons of Clone Wars, plus the 2nd season of Andor. I had bought Andor S1 from the same vendor before, so I knew the transfer would be good. For CW, it's all on 3 discs. Only 1 disc for Andor seasons. The menu is simple, and once the episode ends, it doesn't autoplay the next one. The same vendor also had the Despecialized Editions of the OT. He offered me the Acolyte free of charge but I had to say no to that! So now I can finally watch all of Andor, and then Rogue One. And with the entire Clone Wars series, I can do that plus Rebels. Once Disney puts these out on Blu Ray, I'll buy them. But until then, I'll enjoy the Blu Ray's. But if you get them, you need a Blu Ray player because it won't play on a video game system. 

RECENT VC HAULS FROM WALLY WORLD AND TARGET

1. Wally World 

I had the 501st Clonetrooper on my best VC figures of 2025. I finally found my 2. Obi-Wan and the Mauldalorian will be custom possibilities, but I'll need to dremel the sleeves on Obi-Wan of course. But not as much as I did the previous time. The custom I'm going for is for a custom Luke. The Mauldalorian might be a custom Maul. 

2. Target

I found these 2 yesterday, along with the Sketch Series He-Man (not pictured). Padme is an incredible figure, with an incredible head sculpt, down to Natalie Poetman's mole on her left cheek. I had 3 pre-ordered, with one being used as a custom Leia. Now, I can do an older version of Padme, as I have some grey paint. One of my Clone Wars Anakin's will get some grey paint on his hair for an Elseworlds or Infinities versions of Anakin and Padme. I'd already consider Padme for my best of 2026, although it's a short list at the moment. Her card is amazing, and will go well with my carded versions of Obi-Wan, Anakin, Mace and Count Dooku. 

The Stranger is a good figure. Except when doing the head swap. I pulled the barbell out when I put on the helmet, so I needed to boil and pop to get the normal head on. So when my preorder arrives, that one will keep the helmet on. The soft goods are nice, but I won't use them for this figure. On the plus side, my Revan figure will now have a normal head for an unmasked version. And I'll have another helmet to use for a custom dark side user or Knight of Ren. 

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