Bret over at BanthaSkull.com has a great post this morning summarizing the timeline of the Haslab Mos Eisley Cantina campaign and gives some great points on why it was a success in the face of some unprecidented and unpredictable challenges.

Today at 5pm ET, we will be taking part in a livestream discussion for the launch of the Vintage Collection Last Figure Standing Fan Event. We will be joining Tim from Bossk’s Bounty, Chris from Bantha Skull, John Miko from the SW The Vintage Collection Facebook Group to discuss our personal top 10 submissions for the poll. I will update this post with the livestream link when available.

Livestream link

Today marks the launch of a new fan site generated figure poll for the Vintage Collection. Read on for the full details.

WHAT IS IT?

Last Figure Standing is a figure poll coordinated across several fan outlets to include, but not limited to:

• Yak Face
• Bossk’s Bounty
• SW The Vintage Collection Facebook Group
• Bantha Skull

Other outlets will be signing on as well.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?

There has always been a major flaw with Hasbro’s Fans’ Choice polling. Let’s look at the most recent Fans’ Choice poll. I can’t find the final results, but to the best of my recollection, Dr. Aphra won with something around 29% of the vote. How can that be called the “Fans’ Choice” when 71% of the fans wanted something else? Moreover, if you look at the broader categories, 36% of the fans wanted a figure from the Original Trilogy, and 35% wanted a figure from animation. Aphra benefited from being the only publishing figure in the top six, and I’m not trying to pick on the most recent official Fans’ Choice poll. This problem has persisted throughout the history of the Fans’ Choice.

Last Figure Standing seeks to correct this by conducting a mock Fans’ Choice in a series of elimination rounds until there are only two (like American Idol!). The theory is that as figures from the same category become eliminated, the votes would go to another figure from that same source. Plus, this will ensure that the winner gets more than 50% of the vote.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

For the old Fans’ Choice polls, Hasbro asked fan sites to submit top 10 lists collected from their readers. We’ll ask you to do the same. You’ll submit your top 10 most wanted figures via Google form HERE. These are unranked. Each figure you name gets one point. From there, we will assemble a community Top 10* list and proceed to the open voting. It will consist of four rounds:

• Round One: You will be allowed to pick up to 5 figures from the community top 10. We will eliminate the bottom four figures.
• Round Two: You will be allowed to pick up to 3 figures from the top 6. We will eliminate the bottom two.
• Round Three: You will be allowed to pick up to 2 figures from the top 4. We will eliminate the bottom two.
• FINALS: Pick your favorite of the final two figures, and the Last Figure Standing will be declared.

We’re planning to make an event out of this, and for each round, we will do a live elimination show where you can see if your favorite made the cut or not. Hopefully we’ll get some special guests to participate in this.

* Starting with a round of 10 is not set in stone. If the data dictates, we may pivot to a top 16, which would necessitate adding a round. The subsequent rounds would be of 8, 4, 2 and 1. The primary reason for doing this would be if the Top 10 becomes too monolithic (i.e., all OT as one example). We really want the open voting to start with figures spanning multiple sources.

IS THIS TRYING TO REPLACE MARCH MADNESS?

Absolutely not. This is meant to compliment that poll. We still want everyone to participate in March Madness (and will be pushing for you to do so). We’re merely trying to take another approach to the data. No one poll is perfect. The way you get closer to perfection is looking at the results from multiple polls. There is bound to be a lot of intersection between the results of Last Man Standing and March Madness. Where that happens, Hasbro should have high confidence in those candidates. Where the polls diverge, it will be a fun topic for debate in the community.

Going forward, we are going to move Last Man Standing back to September to give some space between the fan polling. Unfortunately, due to personal schedules, coordinating this inaugural Last Figure Standing earlier was not possible, and we apologize for asking you to participate in two polls so close together. This less-than-ideal scheduling will be a one-time thing.

Got it? Alright. Please CLICK HERE to submit your Top 10 most wanted figures. We need your help.

Also, make sure you follow the Last Figure Standing Instagram page.

Finally, we will be doing a livestream tomorrow night on the Bossk’s Bounty YouTube channel at 5PM EST to celebrate the launch. I hope you’ll join us. Who knows? We might just be announcing some prizes that randomly selected participants can win.

Only entries on the Google form will be counted, but please feel free to post your Top 10 in the comments for the sake of discussion.

Article reposted from BanthaSkull.com

Hasbro has issued a statement today that windowed packaging will be return to the Black Series lines (and others) later this year. Thanks to Bantha Skull for the alert.

We wanted to share an update on packaging for Hasbro’s 6-inch-scale figures. Based on your feedback, we will be re-introducing windows and blisters to our 6-inch fan figures beginning later this year, into 2024 for select products across our portfolio of brands, including, G.I. Joe Classified, Power Rangers Lightning Collection, Star Wars Black Series and Marvel Legends. This will eventually expand to all new 6-inch figure releases.

The new windows and blisters will be made from bio PET or recycled PET helping us achieve our priority of meeting our fans’ expectations for extraordinary packaging and superior design while still developing packaging that minimizes waste and the use of virgin plastic.

Thank you again for being one of our biggest fans and for your continued support of Hasbro.

Today’s big reveal with the repacked 6″ scale Han and Greedo with a  flimsy cardboard diorama just illustrates for so many of us, how out of touch Hasbro is with the market.  We don’t care about cheap cardboard settings for figures, and we sure as heck aren’t looking to spend our money on repacks of pegwarmers just for the sake of different packaging.

For a refreshing look at how Hasbro ought to be managing such display pieces, head on over to Banthaskull.com and check out the amazing work of Boutross77, who does this sort of thing right.  Chances are you’ve seen his work before, but today felt like a good time to look back at one of his finer diorama pieces, dubbed the “Hero Booth” from the cantina.

Personal note:  My fingers are crossed that someway, somehow, Disney takes over the playset/diorama rights in the 3.75″ scale from Hasbro and starts to deliver on a concept that clearly Hasbro is completely clueless on.  This whole post is certainly a “personal note,” so please pardon my passion on this subject. 

After an unsuccessful Cuusoo campaign last year, fans of the Sandcrawler now have an official set to budget for coming this May. An image from the upcoming LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded hit the web via Flickr a couple days ago which confirms a leak from back in December by Chowren Toys. The UCS Sandcrawler (75059) includes a ton of play features and several mini figures including Uncle Owen and a complement of disgusting Jawas. Look for the price to be in the $300-$400 range here in the US.

Thanks to Chris S. from BanthaSkull for the reminder.

Our friends at BanthaSkull.com are reporting the discovery of Clone Wars midsize vehicle 2-packs that are being sold as “Special Value Offers” at Toys”R”Us. Head on over for the full details.

Be on the lookout for the illusive Mandalorian Assault Transport as it has turned up in these value sets as well.