This past month has been a good one for those of you that are both toy
and Star Wars fans. At midnight on April 23, the first wave of Star Wars toys
and other merchandise was released to the public. On one hand I am kind
of let down, but on the other hand, I'm glad they decided to cut back on the
amount of items that they released. Most stores, when the Phantom
Menace toys were released, dedicated a whole aisle to all the merchandise that
was being released. This time around, most stores only have half an aisle (or
less) for the merchandise. The types of merchandise that have been
released have also changed. Last time, not only did they have action figures and
vehicles, but also inflatable furniture and God knows what else that was
totally useless. After all, who wants to sit on a chair shaped like
Jar-Jar Binks?
As with most toy lines put out these days, most toys have to have a
gimmick. Last time it was the hit and miss CommTech chips (which I
personally liked), and this year they have strayed away from the fancy
technology and gone back to put the action back into action figures.
Some of the figures have a special action. Take, for example, the Jango Fett
figure. He comes with a grappling hook that shoots out from under his
right arm. Right now, I'm a little disappointed with some stores. They
still have the figures priced like they have the CommTech chips. At my
local Target, they have the figures priced at $6.99 while most stores like
Wal-Mart or Toys R Us have them for about 50 cents or more less.
Being a GI Joe fan, this news was totally unexpected and vrry welcome. It
seems that Hasbro have listened to the fans and have hired Larry Hama
to write the file cards for the new action figures starting with the fourth
wave. I nearly jumped with joy when I heard this. You see, when the line
was re-launched back in the late 90's the file cards were back, but they
were not the same. There were file cards, but they lacked that special
something. Take a look at these links for an example of what I am talking
about:
The one on top is the original file card for Storm Shadow from way back
in 1984. Note that it blows away the one on the bottom that was
released this year. I personally cannot wait for the new cards to come out
because a whole new generation will get to see what they were really like.
It looks like the late 1980's and 90's are making a come back in the toy
industry. Not only with GI Joe, but also with the Tennage Mutant Ninja
Turtles. Mirage Studios has renewed their license agreement with
Playmates Toys. I don't know if this is signaling a re-launch of Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles or just keeping the license active for the sake of keeping
it.
That looks like all for this month. Look for more next month (hopefully).
