Tag Archives: Disney

That’s right! After all the rumors of 4k versions of the entire saga coming for quite some time now, Disney+ shows up and says “SURPRISE!” The entire Star Wars saga (minus Solo and The Last Jedi which are licensed out currently) are available in 4k and also apparently with Dolby Atmos. I know where I’ll be for the next 24 hours, how about you? Now, we can only hold out hope that when they come to Blu-Ray we get our fabled theatrical releases as well. You can sign up for a free trial and see the first two episodes of The Mandalorian if you are still on the fence. 

You can sign up for a free trial of Disney+ right here!

P.S. Despite being scheduled for a 9 am EST release, The Mandalorian is live and we’ll have reviews coming!

Check out these new character posters for The Mandalorian that was shared on the Star Wars official facebook. We can see The Mandalorian, Cara Dune, Greef Carga, IG-11 and Kuiil. We’re getting so close and if you’re not quite sold, we’ll be doing reviews of each episode so you can check it out and those who watched can have a discussion. Disney+ begins streaming The Mandalorian on November 12th! Click each one to get a closer look.

Good morning everyone! I hope this week was successful in satisfying your itch for collecting. I was able to add a few new pieces to my collection, so please click through to check it out and share your week in Star Wars in the comments!

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According to a story by the Hollywood Reporter Disney has struck a deal with Tencent’s “China Literature” platform, which is the largest e-book and online reading platform in  China.
As part of the deal 40 Star Wars books will be translated into Chinese for the first time, but the deal includes one more, much more important thing. Click through to read more!

Stan Marsh tries to write a script

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Tonight we are updating our The Black Series [Phase III] Visual Guide with the addition of The Mandalorian (94). Click below to check out the full Visual Guide. You can also read our full review of this figure right here.

Let’s check out The Black Series [Phase III] The Mandalorian figure. It’s pretty awesome. Find out more about it in our Research Droids Reviews today! Be sure to leave your thoughts in our comments section, vote in the poll or comment about it on our Facebook page. Click the banner below for the direct link to the review! As always, you can also send your review requests via email if you’d like to see something that we didn’t cover yet.

There is an interesting article on Cinemablend that reveals just how much Hasbro is still holding back from fans when it comes to Rise of Skywalker toys that are being released on Triple Force Friday. Cinemablend spoke with Mike Ballog, Hasbro’s Senior Director of Global Marketing, and he said this:

We have clear conversations about what can come out when, and what needs to stay under wraps. We work around things with that in mind. At least from a Hasbro stand point, [the product on display is] maybe 30-35% of our full line.

In case you wonder, the conversations are with Disney of course, who apparently keep Hasbro from releasing toys when it would make the most sense. For example, could the almost complete lack of Knights of Ren action figures mean that these come with accessories that would spoil the plot? Why is there no Dark Side Rey figure? Lucasfilm leaked her a while ago. Let’s hope Hasbro still has some nice things in store for collectors, because not all that many figures will be released next Friday.

Read the full article on Cinemablend!

Not available as an action figure on Triple Force Friday

The Disney+ panel not only released the first official public trailer for The Mandalorian, but also officially announced the long-rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi series. 

The Disney+ panel was the first to announce an all-new Star Wars series in development, one that many fans have been asking to see since the closing scenes of 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, electrified the audience when he emerged following the announcement of his involvement in a new series taking place eight years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, where we last saw Obi-Wan delivering the infant Luke Skywalker to his Tatooine homestead.

Click through for all the details from the Disney+ panel at D23!

While not directly related to toys or the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker, there are a few Disney news I thought are worth sharing. The first piece of news is about what to expect on Disney+ later this fall, including what Star Wars content you will find, as we now have a more definitive list of what movies and shows will be available. And then Disney has smashed a record. Which one? Click through to find out more!

Artist’s impression of Bob Iger’s morning routine

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The Original Trilogy Collection STAR TOURS line featured the fourth and final wave of action figures from Disney’s STAR TOURS attraction. Let’s finish up with MSE-1T in our Research Droids Reviews today! Be sure to leave your thoughts in our comments section, vote in the poll or comment about it on our Facebook page. Click the banner below for the direct link to the review! As always, you can also send your review requests via email if you’d like to see something that we didn’t cover yet.

All relevant details about Disney’s streaming service were revealed yesterday. And Disney+ may be an offer that many won’t want to refuse! Click through for all the details!

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Let’s check out another STAR TOURS figure. DL-X2 might be the oddest figure of them all. Learn more in our Research Droids Reviews today! Be sure to leave your thoughts in our comments section, vote in the poll or comment about it on our Facebook page. Click the banner below for the direct link to the review! As always, you can also send your review requests via email if you’d like to see something that we didn’t cover yet.

One year after the Walt Disney Co. announced the $71.3 billion merger, it’s official. The deal, which closed Wednesday at 12:02 a.m. Eastern time, reshapes the media landscape and makes Disney an even greater entertainment behemoth. In bolstering its trove of characters and stories, the acquisition also puts Disney in a stronger position to take on Netflix and other streaming companies when it launches its own service, Disney+, later this year. (more….)

Star Wars News Net reports that an Obi-Wan Kenobi series will come to Disney+. According to SWNN, Obi-Wan would be a limited series with up to six episodes. However, there is no official confirmation yet, so treat this as a rumor for now.
But if there will be an Obi-Wan series, it would show that Disney and Lucasfilm do listen to fans, since many in the fandom asked for more live action Obi-Wan for quite some time now. It may well be that Disney feels that a movie might be a risk, after Solo flopped at the box office, not knowing perhaps if general audiences would like to see an Obi-Wan movie as well. By making Obi-Wan a Disney+ series the production will not only have a somewhat smaller budget, but Disney can also be certain that Star Wars fans will now have one more reason to subscribe to the service. Obi-Wan would be the third exclusive Disney+ Star Wars series on top of the all new season of The Clone Wars. What are your thoughts? Would you be happy about a limited Obi-Wan series? A series does give more time to develop characters and plot than a movie. Which is certainly one of the advantages of a tv show, whereas a movie would probably have been pretty much focused on action only. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Obi-Wan is in a good mood

Earlier today Disney released their Q1 2019 numbers. Disney’s fiscal year begins at the end of September, so their Q1 2019 numbers are actually for the 2018 holiday season. I will just make this quick, no detailed charts etc since Hasbro is due to release their numbers this Friday and I will go more in depth here. Star Wars was brought up in the Disney earnings report and please click through for the details. And yes, it’s always the darkest just before dawn.

Rey’s tears have not run dry yet

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Director Taika Waititi (Thor 3, What We Do In The Shadows) talked about working on The Mandalorian during a panel for the upcoming tv show What We Do In The Shadows, based on his movie from a few years ago. Not that much was revealed but he gave some insight into how it’s like to work for Star Wars. He also hinted at a potentially big scene in the upcoming series. Click through for more details!

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With the perplexing case assortments and character selection of Hasbro Star Wars toys, fans have surmised that perhaps Lucasfilm is more involved in the process than expected. How many of us wondered why a case assortment contains the characters it does, or why other characters get released in every scale and format possible. But now a three-year-old video of Kathleen Kennedy speaking at the “The Most Powerful Women” event for Fortune has resurfaced and interestingly reveals what many have speculated. It is an interesting and illuminating video. And from where we stand it seems to have had an impact on merchandising of the new Disney Star Wars films. Let’s take a closer look at what Ms. Kennedy said.

The faces of the Disney Star Wars franchise

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Our next Galaxy of Adventures wave 1 Visual Guide update features Darth Vader (The Villain). Click below to check out the full Visual Guide. Make sure to also swing by our review for a detailed analysis of this figure.

We are going back and filling in wave 1 in our Visual Guides from the Galaxy of Adventures line. First up is Chewbacca (The Copilot). Click below to check out the full guide page for this figure. Make sure to also go back and revisit this review and discussion right here in our review database.

Jon Favreau loves to tease… and this time he posted a photo of an R5 unit from The Mandalorian on his Instagram!
I wonder if this could be R5-D4? Only with a functioning motivator this time? I compared the photo with my Bandai model kit of R5 and even with how R5 appeared in the movie and the color scheme seems to be identical, however this R5 unit appears to show some more wear and tear than the R5 we meet in A New Hope. But it’s many years later, so who knows what he went through. Maybe some droid experts out there can shed some more light on it. Anyway, it’s photos like these that build up anticipation for the show!

Skippy?

Website adage.com lists companies that are known to have booked airtime for the upcoming Super Bowl in February. And one entry is quite interesting. Filed unter “entertainment” the website says: “Walt Disney will air an undisclosed number of spots in the game.” With no further details, while all the other entries have detailed info on who made the spot and even some basic details about the spot.
What is it that Walt Disney could possibly air? Ok, there are upcoming Marvel movies, but we’ve had trailers for them already. Maybe there will be some last minute marketing for the Captain Marvel movie, which is released in March? But why keep that a secret? Or maybe, just maybe, we will get to see a first teaser for Episode IX, arguably the most important Disney movie in 2019? I believe the Super Bowl would be the perfect time to release the Episode IX teaser. We’ll know very soon!

The Walt Disney Company released its proxy statement for the full year 2018 last Friday, January 11th. And it may surprise no one to learn that Star Wars earned less money for Disney in 2018. I took this opportunity to not only look at the current report, but also at past reports, to see what has been going on. So click through for a more detailed look and some insight into the reasons for decreasing revenue. Straight from the Mouse’s mouth!

Rey has just read Disney’s annual report for 2018

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Lately I’ve been thinking about the future of Star Wars, both as a whole and more particular as something that makes people buy action figures. The ultimate question is: will Star Wars either fade away, become less significant once the people who grew up with the original and prequel trilogy move on, or will Star Wars find new love and enthusiasm in a new generation, despite a much more competitive environment than we had 20 or 40 years ago? Click through for some musings and for which I hope will launch a fruitful discussion about the future of Star Wars!

Mythological kids playing with mythological Star Wars toys

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Up next for the Star Wars [Resistance] Visual Guide updates is Major Vonreg. Click below to check out our Visual Guide of this figure, and click here to check out our full review.

It’s our final year of Research Droids Reviews! A new year means new figures! Let’s continue with Major Vonreg which is another beautiful action figure from the Star Wars [Resistance] line. Be sure to leave your thoughts in our comments section, vote in the poll or even comment about it on our Facebook page. Click the banner below for the direct link to the review! As always, you can also send your review requests via email if you’d like to see something that we didn’t cover yet.