Nevarro Cantina - TVC - Playsets

Sigh. There will probably be a large group of collectors that will feign praise on The Vintage Collection Nevarro Cantina playset. They’re partly right and justified. But they’re also allowing Hasbro to pull the wool over their eyes. Because the Nevarro Cantina playset isn’t an item that feels like it has value, and the pack-in figure is an insult to injury. Sure, we get three basic walls to the Nevarro Cantina. The nice thing about them is that there are multiple ways to snap them together to create various environments of the Nevarro Cantina. But the three same walls get boring after a while, and you’ll quickly discover that one or two arrangements work best for displaying figures in or recreating the various scenes from the Disney+ series. The design is excellent. It comes with a bar and two barstools. And then you get a fantastic array of different alcoholic beverages to place on the bar. Hasbro made them very colorful. They included various colored carafes and clusters of thin bottles. They also added a bar glass, perhaps for the Imperial Death Trooper (Nevarro) figure to enjoy once done wreaking havoc on the denizens of the Nevarro Cantina. Overall, Hasbro included an adequate amount of accessories to spruce up a rather dull playset. But we wonder if it’s enough for something so tiny (as evidenced by its packaging) yet comes with a high MSRP of $52.99. Oh, and may we state the obvious, please? Where the heck is a Chalmun's Cantina playset based on Episode IV?

Admittedly, the Nevarro Cantina looks best when filled with the various characters from The Mandalorian. Hasbro has gone beyond the call of duty to create new action figures to give us characters to populate environments like the Nevarro Cantina. Whether adding Din Djarin, Moff Gideon, IG-11, or an Incinerator Trooper, we have plenty of exciting options to make this playset all it can be for the many characters released in The Vintage Collection. For us, we’re struck by the packaging art of the Nevarro Cantina. It’s evident that Hasbro attempted to latch onto the nostalgia of the original Kenner Cantina playset released in 1979. The oranges and yellows used to decorate the artwork capture all of that ancient magic, and if you’re a packaged collector, it’s going to be challenging to pass on this set for that reason alone. But we also have to be clear that Hasbro is giving us less stuff for more money. Remember the 2019 TVC Jabba’s Palace (Adventure Set) Walmart exclusive. We got a lot more “stuff” in that set, and it was cheaper. We got two exclusive carded figures inside of the box too. So why is Hasbro going so cheap on us with the Nevarro Cantina? It’s difficult to fathom why they thought an Imperial Death Trooper (Nevarro) figure was the best inclusion for collectors. Did any of us need to see this figure ever again in The Vintage Collection? Anyway, we’re overall disappointed with the perceived value Hasbro had for this set.

The pack-in figure here is the Imperial Death Trooper (Nevarro) (VC220) on a card with The Mandalorian entertainment logo. As you know, the character design is based on old Ralph McQuarrie concept artwork. Making their debut in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, they served as bodyguards to Director Krennic but worked for Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian. We received The Vintage Collection Imperial Death Trooper (Carbonized) figure, a Walmart exclusive, with the same character photo as this new release. Strangely, we received the “carbonized” version before the general release. Hasbro omitted the figure’s pauldron/ammunition belt combination piece and placed it on a card, and called it a day. With all of the possible aliens Hasbro could have released with the Nevarro Cantina, we find it bothersome that they didn’t look beyond the obvious of an Imperial Death Trooper to interact with the playset. With an impressive 29 points of articulation, the Imperial Death Trooper (Nevarro) figure accomplishes most positions and poses you desire. The figure is blessed with primarily ball-jointed articulation, which allows it to look mobile and agile on your display shelf in your collection. Hasbro worked in the articulation into the tooling that you almost can’t see it. We now have two Imperial Death Trooper figures in the basic figure lineup, and that is as stupid as its inclusion as a pack-in to this playset.