Over a month after Force Friday, members of the Hasbro team came together at New York Comic Con to discuss the future of Star Wars toys. Surprisingly, there were a few new figures unveiled, including a few from The Force Awakens.
The company is really excited by how well the 6” Black Series figures have done, calling the line the bestselling Star Wars products around the world. The series is the first collection of 6”-scale Star Wars figures in the history of the franchise and has been running for two years already. While traditional fans might be turned off by the scale – and the lack of highly articulated figures in the 3.75”-scale – it’s clear that many have embraced the line.
The Black Series was the main focus of the panel. Hasbro showed off three figures that had never been announced before. A Resistance Trooper looks like it will fit in with the Rebel troops of the Original Trilogy and the ace sculpt is based on an actual extra in the film.
Up next was pilot Ello Asty, an alien character that we know nothing about. Lastly, Hasbro surprised the small crowd by unveiling Han Solo from The Force Awakens. Noticeably, the company had stayed away from creating figures of the older Original Trilogy, but it doesn’t look like it will take them long to fix that.
Hasbro also announced that it isn’t completely abandoning the older films for the Black Series. Princess Leia in her A New Hope outfit is coming and will mostly feature soft-goods material to recreate her famous white outfit.
Other figures shown off were the First Order TIE Pilot, General Hux and Snowtrooper. The company also showed off the prototype designs for Darth Revan and Sabine from Rebels, two characters that won a fans’ choice poll.
The rest of the panel didn’t feature much else. They did show off the early designs for a figure based on the Seventh Sister, the villainous character Sarah Michelle Gellar is voicing in Rebels season two. A line of mini helmets, as part of the Titanium line, was also announced.
There was a short Q&A session after the panel, with fans focusing on the lack of super-articulated 3.75” figures. Essentially, we just have to buy the stuff they actually do make, otherwise, we won’t see super-articulated figures in that scale again.
all photos by Daniel S Levine