As San Diego Comic-Con 2019 officially opens tomorrow, the internet prepares for a tidal wave of previews, announcements, news, and other eye-candy to ogle. Much of this comes from Hot Toys and the Sideshow Collectibles booth.
It’s important to remember, however, that our excitement faded to a dull, questioning curiosity, and then a sullen pining as we realized some announced 1/6 scale figures may never make it out of the “Coming Soon” category.
We’ll be counting down the top figures we wish would go into production across different licenses this week as SDCC 2019 marches on. Today, we’ll start with my personal favorite: Star Wars.
Here are the top 5 figures I wish would go into production, but, as of yet, haven’t and may never do so.
5. Solo: a Star Wars Story Chewbacca
Shown last year at SDCC 218, Solo Chewie was immediately intriguing. If we were going to get Solo: a Star Wars Story Han, he needed his buddy, his co-pilot, his best friend, counterpart, and partner in crime smuggling. Alas, we were given a full announcement for Solo Darth Maul a year later and we still haven’t heard about Solo Chewie.
Now, I have the ANH Hot Toys Chewbacca and I love him. The fur is stellar, the facial likeness is far better than the TFA or TLJ version, and the bandolier and bowcaster accessory are all you need. He also pairs nicely with my Stormtrooper Han Solo.
But for those who missed the boat on ANH Chewbacca, don’t like the TFA or TLJ head, and don’t want to pay ebay aftermarket prices, it would have been nice to give them another Chewie! I mean, Han has two different figures (regular and Mudtrooper), plus his regular figure has a deluxe version. Are you telling me it is unforeseeable that there are fans who might want to buy and display the classic duo next to each other?
Again, do I need this figure personally? No. It would be tempting if it came out, though. He’s different enough that I’d consider it. He has what I consider “younger” fur, his blaster from Tobias Beckett, a different bandolier, and some sweet Vandor goggles!
Sigh. Maybe someday.
4. Solo: a Star Wars Story Range Trooper
The Range Trooper was another SDCC 2018 announcement. Each of the Rogue One trooper releases sold out and now demand sky high premiums on the secondary market. Now, was that a product of high demand or low supply? I have no way of knowing. But, what I do know is that trooper collectors are a particularly dedicated and motivated sub-set of Star Wars collectors. Also, Sideshow churned out clone after clone after clone back in the day and everybody ate those up. Why release another slightly different original trilogy Stormtrooper and not a brand new design? Yes, yes, I know the ROTJ Stormtrooper is a complete re-design based on ROTJ designs and production. But still, I bet most people want Range Trooper levels of variety in their trooper collection.
Before release, those fur shoulder pads could use some weathering. They look like down feathers in the shot above. Matte those down, dirty them up, and you’ve got a solid looking figure! Who doesn’t want a white blaster in their line-up? Also, that iridescent gold visor is the icing on the cake of this Trooper design. You don’t get to appreciate that detail to the same degree on the Black Series 6″ scale.
3. Rogue One: Assault Tank Commander
If I’m going to argue that the Range Trooper from Solo needs an imminent release because of how much it appears fans love Rogue One troopers, then this Rogue One Trooper deserves even more consideration. The Stormtrooper Assault Tank Commander was shown off all the way back at SDCC 2017. What we have here is a variation of the ultra-cool Scarif Trooper design. Sometimes I think Hot Toys gets side-tracked by the big name characters, releasing multiple versions of Jyn Erso when they have the opportunity to get people hooked on building an awesome trooper variant collection.
2. Princess Leia (Endor Version)
Endor Princess Leia was also shown off at SDCC 2017. Now we have multiple Leias already: Hoth Leia, Bespin Leia, and event The Last Jedi Leia (which I’m not sure many people were shouting for).
But, Leia is one of the essential, first and primary members of the rag-tag rebel protagonist group from A New Hope. If Luke has an Endor version, the other Skywalker sibling needs one to go along with that as well. Han too, but we’ll talk after Leia.
1. Poe Dameron
Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron was teased as a sixth scale figure back in October of 2017. A prototype of the figure even made its way to Tokyo Comic Con in November 2017. Then, radio silence. We hot Rey, Kylo, BB-8, even an evil BB-9E, Leia, Han, Chewie, and so many trooper variations from the new trilogy. But one of the main protagonists? Poe? Nope. Maybe Hot Toys could have made one less trooper variant and put Oscar Isaac’s figure into production. Maybe that’s not even the issue. We all know Star Wars figures are subject to the whims of the Disney license approval process.
I suppose all I’m trying to say is try to keep your emotions in check when all those big reveals come this week. It’s not ours until it’s up for pre-order. Even then, it’s not ours until it’s in our possession.
Tomorrow we’ll check out the land of lost Marvel Hot Toys!
More later! DrunkWooky out!
