Hot toys Snowspeeder Pilot Luke Skywalker

[Chronos1919]

From what I've learned of it after the fact, it seemed overwrought, unwieldy and soap-y.

There were some truly great stories, like the Thrawn Trilogy. My wife isn't a big Star Wars fan and even she read through that series and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The thing with the extended universe, to me, is that it continued past the OT with quality stories that maintained the core of the characters we became invested in from the films. The Disney ST worked too hard at killing off the remnants of the OT while stealing all of the story beats from it.

 

[ZE_501]

There were some truly great stories, like the Thrawn Trilogy. My wife isn't a big Star Wars fan and even she read through that series and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'll give it a shot.

The thing with the extended universe, to me, is that it continued past the OT with quality stories that maintained the core of the characters we became invested in from the films. The Disney ST worked too hard at killing off the remnants of the OT while stealing all of the story beats from it.

I don't think much about the ST anymore. I consider it a total narrative failure and barring some pretty cinematography, an artistic one as well. Its commercial success is irrelevant to me and I'm long over trying to convince its adult fans otherwise.

After actually trying to write a synopsis for a better ST myself as a logical exercise, it became apparent to me that it should never have been attempted in the first place; in the real world it was too late and there was no way to ratchet up the conflict without undoing the closure we got in ROTJ and cynically knocking down the OT heroes.

The Mandalorian works because it takes the textures and the world-building and generally provides us with something entertaining and interesting without sucking the OT dry; although if I see Tatooine one more damn time I'm gonna ineffectually say bad things about the showrunners.

 

[Wor-Gar]

STAR WARS: The Saga of Tatooine

 

[Chronos1919]

I think a ST could have been but it needed to feel more organic and also feel like the OT actually had an impact. When we're re-introduced to our heroes from the OT, Luke is a failed Jedi hermit, Han & Leia have split and Han & Chewbacca are back to smuggling, and Leia is once again leading a rebellion. At the end of RotJ the Empire was defeated, aside from whatever remnants remained, yet somehow in a relatively short period of time a new First Order has risen and taken control and the rebel alliance has either dissolved and/or shrunken down to nothing.

Every single OT hero either stayed the same or regressed. Their character growth was for nothing. We also got a new Death Star, a new Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine is risen from the grave. There's still a lot to like from the ST but boy does it feel like they didn't try their damnedest to make it what it could have been. Just watch the behind the scenes series with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau. Those are two passionate and intelligent people that made a great TV series based on the existing SW universe. I'm sure those two could have done a much better job with the ST.

It would also help to have a Kevin Feige to keep everyone in check and make sure everything jives well between movies. That should have been Kathleen Kennedy but clearly she has been found wanting.

 

[user 64404]

Mark Hamill is far too old to reprise the role of Luke in Mando and I doubt they'll recast him. The first season takes place five years after RotJ.

Also... Kenobi.

Luke is the main hero post-New Hope, he is definitely going to be recast eventually in the next few years, we all want to see the adventures of jedi knight Luke Skywalker. One of the great things about Star Wars is the possibility to change actors for younger or older versions.
Old Han is Harrison Ford but Young Han is Alden Ehrenreich just like Lando's Billy Dee Williams\Donald Glover, Luke is definitely going to be recast in the future for the mandalorian Era.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I only watch the parts that Tatooine is in.

 

[davejames]

I think a ST could have been but it needed to feel more organic and also feel like the OT actually had an impact. When we're re-introduced to our heroes from the OT, Luke is a failed Jedi hermit, Han & Leia have split and Han & Chewbacca are back to smuggling, and Leia is once again leading a rebellion. At the end of RotJ the Empire was defeated, aside from whatever remnants remained, yet somehow in a relatively short period of time a new First Order has risen and taken control and the rebel alliance has either dissolved and/or shrunken down to nothing.

Every single OT hero either stayed the same or regressed. Their character growth was for nothing. We also got a new Death Star, a new Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine is risen from the grave. There's still a lot to like from the ST but boy does it feel like they didn't try their damnedest to make it what it could have been. Just watch the behind the scenes series with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau. Those are two passionate and intelligent people that made a great TV series based on the existing SW universe. I'm sure those two could have done a much better job with the ST.

It would also help to have a Kevin Feige to keep everyone in check and make sure everything jives well between movies. That should have been Kathleen Kennedy but clearly she has been found wanting.

I found the ST worthwhile for the story of Rey and Kylo, and as a chance to revisit the original characters again (whose messy and complicated lives post-ROTJ I found much more fascinating than if they had all lived happily ever after).... but otherwise I have to agree that the movies didn't do a good job of expanding or developing the SW universe as a whole, and making it something that captivates the imagination in the same way as the OT and makes you want to explore more of that world.

But then I might just be getting too old now for that kind of thing anyway. Lol.

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

But then I might just be getting too old now for that kind of thing anyway. Lol.

Don't be so hard on yourself Dave, it didn't work on the youngsters either

Where is that new enthusiastic Star Wars audience anyway?

 

[Rzeznikk]

Unfortunately we'll never know. There's a very frustrating lack of transparency with these things. Likeness approval, licensing issues, Harrison Ford's previous mistreatment of his own Hot Toys figure... those are all good guesses.

The Ford mistreatment one doesn't seem that far off base to me. You see so many images and videos of celebrities holding up HT figures from characters they've played and showing enthusiasm and enjoyment of the product. Ford acted like a child for a bit of shock value. Then again he's incredibly disconnected from the character, franchise, and fan base so it's not a surprise.

Harrison has absolutely no say on any type of approval for merchandise. George made sure of this when he had the actors sign off their likenesses for the OT.

Carrie Fisher actually joked about it in one of the documentaries. Saying every time she looks in the mirror she "owes George a couple bucks"

So I dont believe the hold up is with Ford. My guess (and this is just speculation on my part) is they want to nail the likeness (or at least to the point where it passes approval by Disney) so they can reuse the sculpt over and over again like they seem to be doing with Leia and Luke.

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[Hoody999]

Harrison has absolutely no say on any type of approval for merchandise. George made sure of this when he had the actors sign off their likenesses for the OT.

Carrie Fisher actually joked about it in one of the documentaries. Saying every time she looks in the mirror she "owes George a couple bucks"

So I dont believe the hold up is with Ford. My guess (and this is just speculation on my part) is they want to nail the likeness (or at least to the point where it passes approval by Disney) so they can reuse the sculpt over and over again like they seem to be doing with Leia and Luke.

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Yep probably this. Snowspeeder Luke is the OT offering at the moment. Don't forget as well that they have the PT figures, Mando AND Clone Wars figures. So unfortunately OT is taking a bit of a back seat while they strike with what's hot.

I'm sure they probably have the year broken down into X number of Star Wars figures and Y number of Marvel figures, and some others. So with PT, Mando and Clone Wars taking their share, along with Covid, maybe we'll only get Han next year now ?

Definitely the long game here.

Jack Bauer, feel free to wade in here any time.

 

[davejames]

I mean they released a Bespin Leia of all things. No way we're not going to get an ESB Han as well at some point.

 

[TaliBane]

If it weren't for the Internet and forums like this, with companies churning out novel product aimed squarely at us ... how many of us would give much thought to Star Wars, roughly 40 or so years after the fact?

It's not that I didn't have affection for the franchise, but I've spent decades not giving it much thought at all beyond a casual reference here and there.

I didn't 're-discover' it until 2011 after the PT was long dead and gone from my mind, save a lightsaber duel in TPM. Disney failed to recapture the original magic in part because it's a different world now.

A couple of more generations and Star Wars will fade from popular consciousness. If Disney keeps flogging it, it'll just blend into the saturated entertainment landscape more so than it already has.

Wow - I rediscovered SW in 1993 at a Rose Bowl swap meet market (bought a carded ROTJ Kenner Gammy) and haven't stopped since. I guess I had ten years off then.

Only EU I was ever exposed to was Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon (was that even the title?) and I feel like I must have read Han Solo at Star's End but can't remember a single thing about it, so maybe I'm imagining it. There was also some 486 computer game that I never thought of as anything but a what-if story set in the same universe. Some guy doing stuff for the rebels...?

From what I've learned of it after the fact, it seemed overwrought, unwieldy and soap-y.

Sounds like the aftermath of Lando visiting a Mexican restaurant.

I found the ST worthwhile for the story of Rey and Kylo, and as a chance to revisit the original characters again (whose messy and complicated lives post-ROTJ I found much more fascinating than if they had all lived happily ever after).... but otherwise I have to agree that the movies didn't do a good job of expanding or developing the SW universe as a whole, and making it something that captivates the imagination in the same way as the OT and makes you want to explore more of that world.

But then I might just be getting too old now for that kind of thing anyway. Lol.

People seem to forget that the OT was deeply connected to something really important socially that was emerging in the 60s and 70s so to simply reboot it in a totally different era is just to embrace the shiny trinkets and ignore its beating mythic heart and power. There's not one iota of the ST that feels like it deeply connects to a social movement or even moment - it is homage via shallow imitation I suppose, though that was enough to get a few nostalgic eyes to tear up.

 

[momaw]

Harrison has absolutely no say on any type of approval for merchandise. George made sure of this when he had the actors sign off their likenesses for the OT.

Carrie Fisher actually joked about it in one of the documentaries. Saying every time she looks in the mirror she "owes George a couple bucks"

So I dont believe the hold up is with Ford. My guess (and this is just speculation on my part) is they want to nail the likeness (or at least to the point where it passes approval by Disney) so they can reuse the sculpt over and over again like they seem to be doing with Leia and Luke.

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My gut feeling is the issue isn't the Han figure or likeness at all but rather they are trying to get Chewie right. I can guarantee* you that when they do announce Bespin Han it will be alongside a new version of Chewie with possibly another two pack.

*guarantee not a guarantee

 

[chrisstbh]

My gut feeling is the issue isn't the Han figure or likeness at all but rather they are trying to get Chewie right. I can guarantee* you that when they do announce Bespin Han it will be alongside a new version of Chewie with possibly another two pack.

*guarantee not a guarantee

Busted 3PO backpack with Chewie deluxe will be the first and only 3PO that HT puts out

 

[TaliBane]

All of this points up the very poor level of engagement Hot Toys has had with collectors/customers. Hasbro has always been great at fan engagement (Sideshow in its SW 1/6 heyday too) - showing development, doing Q&As, giving some insight into what's coming, even if it wasn't 100% correct and had some issues.

Hot Toys has had a few Howard interviews and other minor stuff, but is pretty much 100% opaque in terms of what it has planned SW-wise. Maybe it's a China cultural thing, even though HK seems far more Westernized than the mainland.

With 1/6 being much, much smaller than what Hasbro does, you'd think HT would engage with their fanbase more.

 

[fantasticfrog]

Momaw, you may be onto something. A new two pack would be incredible and Chewbacca definitely needs an update.
I wonder if anything new goes up for preorder this week, as they released so many last week?

 

[heon123]

My gut feeling is the issue isn't the Han figure or likeness at all but rather they are trying to get Chewie right. I can guarantee* you that when they do announce Bespin Han it will be alongside a new version of Chewie with possibly another two pack.

*guarantee not a guarantee

Christ, well that's gonna be another 5 years.

 

[Rzeznikk]

My gut feeling is the issue isn't the Han figure or likeness at all but rather they are trying to get Chewie right. I can guarantee* you that when they do announce Bespin Han it will be alongside a new version of Chewie with possibly another two pack.

*guarantee not a guarantee

Busted 3PO backpack with Chewie deluxe will be the first and only 3PO that HT puts out [emoji38]

Momaw, you may be onto something. A new two pack would be incredible and Chewbacca definitely needs an update.
I wonder if anything new goes up for preorder this week, as they released so many last week?

This is also something I've speculated on. There's been a two pack with A New Hope. A two pack with Force Awakens. But then they broke that tradition with Solo and skipped Chewie release.

Also if they are doing ESB they HAVE to do Bespin Escape Chewie with Threepio on the back. [I actually had bought two Chewies just to do that specifically, but ended up using my second Chewie to make my Kessler Werewolf)

So would they do another two pack WITH Threepio as well? Deluxe two[three] pack perhaps?

I know they are coming just not 100% sure how they will offer them.

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[Rzeznikk]

Also, I mean if the wait is for Chewie, then why no Endor Han then? They got Luke and Leia out the gate, why not finish off the trio for Jedi? Then save Bespin Han and Chewie [the best] for last?

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[momaw]

This is also something I've speculated on. There's been a two pack with A New Hope. A two pack with Force Awakens. But then they broke that tradition with Solo and skipped Chewie release.

This is something that has made me more confident in my prediction. I?m sure they delayed offical announcement of Solo Chewie because they hadn?t got him quite right (the one in pics definitely looked better then TFA Chewie and marketing him as a Snowgear variant helps with likeness issues hidden below a more mussed up hair style and googles). The lack of Chewie PO contributed to lower preorder numbers on Han so they shelved Chewie as a Solo release and continue to try and get him right for a Bespin or Hoth release.

Obviously this is pure speculation

Also, I mean if the wait is for Chewie, then why no Endor Han then? They got Luke and Leia out the gate, why not finish off the trio for Jedi? Then save Bespin Han and Chewie [the best] for last?

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I think after Solo HT have come to the realisation Han sells better when there is a Chewie fig available. So again no Endor Han without a Chewie for the market. Endor Han and Bespin Han could be released very close together.