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Surprise Star Wars toys win the week and Baby Yoda is larger than life again
Welcome back to Important Toy News, the SYFY WIRE column that shows you all the best and coolest happenings in the world of amazing toys and collectibles for the week.
So, keep your gloves and masks within reach, get ready to shop (online, due to the coronavirus, of course), and get ready to jump back into that (still virtual) toy box with your resident, if not favorite, Toy Journalist. Because man, with Star Wars at the wheel, it’s been one hell of a crazy week in toy news!
A GREAT, BIG GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
On March 31, Hasbro announced that it was Star Wars Fan Celebration Day, and the rest of us hanging out in quarantine shrugged and said, "Sure, that sounds awesome! We’ll take it!" And like Robin Hood throwing coins to the poor, we were showered with a whole delicious slew of brand-new Star Wars toy announcements all at once. Included in this tsunami of galactic delights were:
Behold! Star Wars The Black Series Carbonized Collection Boba Fett and Stormtrooper figures. While I only have a picture of the Fett Man up there, so as to not gum up this column with a big ballistic blast of bandwidth, both of the figures in this lineup are fantastic.
Adhering to the standard 6-inch Star Wars The Black Series size and sculpt, it’s the paint that sets these apart from the rest of the lineup. They are a touch more expensive (going for $26.99 on BigBadToyStore, as opposed to the typical $19.99 price tag) because of the extra detailing and metallic paint finish.
You can preorder Boba Fett here, and pre-order the Stormtrooper here. Each figure comes with a pistol and blaster rifle, and both will ship in June 2020.
The next Star Wars figures announced during the Star Wars Toy Explosion Extravaganza were two new additions to the Vintage Collection.
The Star Wars Vintage Collection are 3.75-inch articulated figures, created in the size and scale of the original Kenner action figures that started it all. Clone Commander Wolffe from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and K-2SO from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are on their way to this amazing toy line, shipping August 2020.
And yes, you better believe this robot lover already preordered K-2SO — like, more right away than "immediately" could ever be. I really love that Commander Wolffe comes with a helmet and two weapons. It's seriously a great value for what you’re getting. K-2SO comes with just a blaster, but you know … robot.
Each of them costs $13.99 and can be preordered from Entertainment Earth by clicking on the toys’ respective names.
The next toy on the list is an absolute delight for all lovers of Ewoks, and yes, there are tons of you out there! For the first time in the Star Wars Black Series toy line, we are seeing Teebo from Return of the Jedi.
While the toy is semi-articulated (four points) and comes with a weapon, I personally think it’s still a little odd that this figure is 6 inches tall. So, we have our human characters that are about 6 inches tall and now we have an Ewok that is 6 inches tall? I guess Teebo is not to scale with the other figures? I’m confused.
Anyway, the only Black Series figure I have that’s actually larger than 6 inches is my IG-11 figure, which is likely about 7 inches or so. There is no preorder information for Teebo yet, but according to the original press release, he will be available at most retail locations in fall 2020 ... once they open up again, of course.
PROTECT HIM
And speaking of IG-11 and toys from The Mandalorian, wow, do we have some new surprises for you!
The first version of S.H. Figuarts' Mandalorian hits retail this May (September for the Deluxe version), and it has just announced the updated armor version of The Mandalorian as well as The Child, aka Baby Yoda. They are not on the official website yet, but images are loose of the IG-11 Nanny Droid as well.
As with the tradition of Bandai's S.H. Figuarts, these are priced higher than your normal run-of-the-mill Star Wars Black Series figures. These are much more detailed and poseable. Not to mention, they come with so many more accessories. In S.H. Figuarts tradition, they will likely cost somewhere around $71 for Mando and IG-11, and if Baby Yoda is released separately, he will probably go for $45-$50.
There is no preorder information yet, but keep your eyes on your favorite online toy store and they will pop up before you know it.
THIS IS THE WAY
Onto the next toy release from The Mandalorian! We're checking out the new, non-exclusive version of the Star Wars The Black Series Heavy Infantry Mandalorian!
Released last year as a Best Buy Exclusive, the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian figure is making its second-wave rounds as a standard purchase for those of us who didn't get him. This figure is 6 inches tall, is fully articulated, and comes with a weapon.
It will come out June 2020 and you can preorder him for $29.99 from Entertainment Earth.
**COOING NOISE**
We’re nearing the end, my locked-up toy-loving friends, and I’ve saved the best for last. Sit around the virtual campfire. It's storytime, kids.
All righty — so, do you remember a few weeks ago when we discussed Hot Toys’ 1:6 scale Mando and The Child Combo? Well, in that article I’d referred back to when Sideshow Collectibles dropped the news of its life-sized Baby Yoda figure and mentioned there were rumors of Hot Toys making its own lifesized Baby Yoda (about 14.5 inches). But it seemed funny that a company that works together would have competing figures.
Well, forget all of that, because these two companies that work together officially have competing figures! (Well, in all fairness, Sideshow’s is actually a statue.) Meaning: Hot Toys has made a fantastic poseable figure.
Upon seeing this toy, I straight-up contacted my comic book dealer (also a Sideshow and Hot Toys vendor) and asked him to transfer my preorder credit from the Sideshow to the Hot Toys piece. I’m not even kidding — it looks that good and comes with the silver ball and necklace accessories. I paid the extra $60 (the Hot Toys toy is $409 over the Sideshow's $350) and boom, it was done.
Online preorders for this little cutie are currently sold out, but if you talk to your local comic shop owner, they might be able to hook you up. Besides, we need to give our brick-and-mortar stores some online love during these strange, strange coronavirus-induced times.
