If I had written this article the day of the announcement, it might have looked pretty ugly, not that this post will be much better. But in all seriousness, what’s the deal with making The Vintage Collection Stormtrooper from A New Hope a Walmart exclusive? (more….)
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Click below for pre-order pages for the Walmart Collector Con exclusive The Vintage Collection figures:
Update: Several are now showing ‘out of stock’, including the Stormtrooper and R2-D2.
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Walmart Collector Con is set to launch tomorrow morning at 10 AM Eastern. Here are the links for the upcoming The Vintage Collection exclusives expected to go live at that time:
Note: Until the links are activated, they will default to the Collector Con home page.
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Our friends at Banthaskull.com have revealed another Walmart exclusive The Vintage Collection figure. Head on over to their site for the full reveal of the Original 96 Stormtrooper. This figure will also be up for pre-order on March 24th at 1 PM Eastern at Walmart.com, as part of their 2022 Collector Con.
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Hasbro revealed more Retro Collection and The Vintage Collection specialized figures today, including prototype and carbonized figures. There are also more Original 96 figures to add to the line, including the reveal of VC200. Click through for the detailed breakdown and discussion. Here’s a summary of what was announced:
The Vintage Collection (general release) (Pre-order September 9, 1 PM Eastern)
The Vintage Collection Troop Building Set (Pre-order September 9, 1 PM Eastern)
The Vintage Collection Carbonized Figures (Walmart) (Pre-order October 7, 1 PM Eastern)
Retro Collection (Target) (Pre-order September 9, 1 PM Eastern)
The Vintage Collection Pipeline Reveals
UPDATE: Details and images added
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Welcome to another entry in our The Vintage Collection: The Ninety Six column. Hasbro recently committed to collectors that they will be “focusing” on characters in The Vintage Collection that fall under “The Ninety Six” banner. If you’re new to this, it means that there needs a modern counterpart for every classic Kenner figure. Between 2020 and 2021, Hasbro’s made an admirable effort by focusing on these characters. But there is more work to be done, and we’ll figure out where we are step by step.
We’re right in alignment with Hasbro in our vintage Kenner database. There are 21 figures under the STAR WARS banner, 29 figures under THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK banner, 31 figures under the RETURN OF THE JEDI banner, and 15 figures under THE POWER OF THE FORCE banner. (Sy Snootles, Max Rebo, Droopy McCool, and Blue Snaggletooth brings the number to an even 100 figures.)
Read our assessment, and then be sure to add your thoughts into the comments. Let us know if you agree or disagree. If you’re a customizer, show us your custom definitive figure in the comments as well! Who knows? It might give Hasbro some ideas.
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Gentle Giant has added two new Star Wars pre-orders to their website: Star Wars Rebels Kanan Jarrus Mini Bust and A New Hope Stormtrooper Milestone Statue. Click below for pre-order pages and additional gallery images.
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The Stormtrooper Star Wars Toybox figure is finally here! Check it out! (more….)
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This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.
ShopDisney.com has the next wave of Star Wars Toybox figures. Click below for the order pages for Darth Vader (19), Stormtrooper (20), and General Grievous (21).
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Check out our sneak peek of The Vintage Collection Carbon-Freezing Chamber playset, complete with the entire cast of The Empire Strikes Back, both modern and vintage Kenner, and a few cameo appearances, like Willrow Hood! The review is coming soon!
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Our friends at StarWarsFiguren has some quick pics of The Vintage Collection Carbon-Freezing Chamber playset. The pack-in Stormtrooper figure is VC171. Check them out!
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JTA reader and friend Scot G. pointed out to me yesterday that the back of the Jango Fett Toybox figure shows two upcoming releases which look to be the standard Episode IV Stormtrooper and the Mandalorian!
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You saw our The Pathway To The Vintage Collection Special Report published on August 6th. Now we’re revisiting the figures that set The Vintage Collection in motion. Let’s continue moving ahead with 2004’s VOTC Stormtrooper figure in our newly updated review, complete with new text and photos and Visual Guide. This figure changed the plateau of the 3.75″ basic figure line for years.
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Our next The Black Series Visual Guide update features the latest in carbonized technology. Click below to check out the Stormtrooper (Carbonized). Make sure to also check out our full review of this figure over in our review database.
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So Hasbro can make a box “vac-metalized” but can’t do the same for the figure inside of it? The Black Series [Phase III] Stormtrooper (Carbonized) figure has a box that’s more silvery and shinier than itself. What’s up with that?! (more….)
Thank you for reading Research Droids Reviews: Season 12!
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In 1984, a new packaging design of Star Wars packaging was introduced for the European market. A cost containment initiative, the new packaging sported three languages of the Return Of The Jedi logo for a “one size fits all” approach. Although a “three-logo” design was created for The Power Of The Force line (as evidenced on some ‘boxed’ toys), it wasn’t carried over to the basic figure line’s card design. They continued to use the three Return Of The Jedi logos instead. Although the word “Trilogo” is found nowhere on the packaging, the term is universally adopted by all Star Wars collectors to describe this line of figures.
Today we revisit Stormtrooper. The Stormtrooper’s Trilogo card art varies quite a bit from the standard cart art image of the Kenner release. Plumes of bright orange and yellow smoke as well as blackened areas were airbrushed onto the image. The altered card art came from a 1978 Kenner Toy Fair catalog so that the figure could be seen against the background image. The new detail added to the card art provided the background for the figure in the catalog The packaging also comes with the name Stormtrooper (Garde Imperial) printed on the name “pill.” The review’s Collector Notes are updated with this information. See the full card art and additional notes by revisiting 1978’s STAR WARS Stormtrooper figure HERE.
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The Star Wars “Saga” line gave us “Troop Builder” sets. Let’s check out the Stormtrooper Troop Builder Set which was a Fan Club exclusive in 2002. See 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.
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Let’s finish up The Original Trilogy Collection! We’ll begin with the Walmart exclusive Darth Vader Carry Case (with two exclusive action figures). See more again 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.
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JTA’s The Power Of The Force “2” Silver “Jubileap” Celebration continues! Let’s look at the awful Stormtrooper from the “Freeze Frame” line. It’s the focus of 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.
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Let’s continue to check out the four Large Size Action Figures from The “Vintage” Original Trilogy Collection. Next up is the Stormtrooper, which is Hasbro’s best effort of this character in this scale. Be sure to look at the vintage Kenner packaging too! It’s the focus of 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.
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They’re GOLD! Let’s continue to check out a series of sets intended to celebrate the Skywalker Saga. Let’s move forward with the Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) (Darth Vader/Stormtrooper) two-pack. It’s the focused of 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.
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This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, JTA may receive a commission if you click and make a purchase.
Entertainment Earth also has the pre-order page up for the newly revealed The Mandalorian Remnant Stormtrooper. Click through for the pre-order page.
The Remnant Stormtrooper and all of the TVC repacks can also be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.
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The Collector Series Stormtrooper was a huge disappointment. See why this is true 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.
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Check it out! Witness what happened when something “synthetic” took on something from “nature.” Special thanks to JTA reader Ben for sending over this image from a Reddit thread. I found it particularly interesting and thought it was worth sharing.
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It looks like Amazon has gotten their stock of the newest wave of The Vintage Collection. You can find Chewbacca, Lando, Phasma, and the Praetorian Guard as well as the repack wave all for retail price ($12.99). However, it would seem they are having some difficulty keeping enough VC140 Stormtroopers in stock to meet the demand. That’s caused the price to soar up to $23+. Yikes! Luckily you can still pre-order the best stormtrooper figure ever for $13.99 at Entertainment Earth.
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