I think I speak for a large portion (all?) of the collecting community when I make a direct plea to Hasbro and by extension, to Lucasfilm Licensing, to put a merciful end to the piecemeal preorder process of figures from the same wave/case assortment. This request applies to Vintage Collection and Black Series preorders alike.

Now I, and other rational collectors, fully understand there are instances when secrecy must be maintained in order to prevent spoilers or full-blown character reveals from upcoming media (movies, live-action series, cartoons etc.). Figures like those should be and most often are kept in the same case assortment. Holding figures back and issuing onesie-twosie preorders for figures across multiple months is puzzling to put it mildly – especially for those which have already been announced via official pipeline reveals and from media that is years, sometimes decades, old.

What is the rationale for delaying a preorder for a single figure from a wave (I’m looking at you 332nd Company Clone Trooper) when some U.S. collectors are already sitting on over SIX DOZEN preorders? Where is the incentive to blindly order a case of figures not knowing what is fully included in it? Is the assumption “it’s Star Wars, so they’ll buy it regardless” the underlying reason? If a case is up for preorder/solicitation, I doubt they are still trying to work out the case pack as to who is included and how many. That info would have to be mapped out from a budget/tooling amortization aspect, no? Is it because they are sometimes short on things to reveal so they space things out to keep collectors engaged and begging for more?

Whatever the answer, collectors are worn weary from this practice and would rather be subject to full product reveals, adequate preorder windows (pertaining to exclusives, obviously) and timely delivery of said products. Yes, there is a worldwide shipping issue for many collectibles, but Hasbro’s most faithful, though wavering, Star Wars collectors in the U.S. seem to be suffering the most from the backlog of orders placed in 2021. But that is an article for another time.

Does not knowing what is coming in cases prevent you from ordering? Do you wait it out until all are revealed but risk getting in too late and not having your order filled? What are your thoughts on the matter? Leave a comment below.