Star Wars The Black Series - Phase I
Hasbro
2013 - 2014
Today's a big day for Star Wars fans across the United States - Tis the day of a little movie known as Star Wars: The Force Awakens hitting movie theaters. We don't personally have any plans of seeing it on opening day, but will definitely be catching an early showing this weekend. For those of you hitting your local theaters, May the Force Be With You!
For those of us waiting out the crowds, we're here to give you a hand by scratching that Star Wars itch you may be feeling. In honor of the new film, we're presenting one of our most recently made requests from readers - The Black Series Phase I (and in the post below, Phase II).
When Hasbro announced the end of The Vintage Collection, fans were outraged. It was one of (if not the most) popular current lines of Star Wars figures to hit toy isles, and fans were still eagerly buying up all the figures they could find.
Fortunately for fans, Hasbro had a plan - The Black Series. The figures were touted as a line designed for collectors in mind, and would be the first Star Wars series to introduce a six inch scale figure. However, Hasbro wasn't saying goodbye to the 3.75 inch style action figure that made them so popular over the past 30+ years. Far from it. Hasbro was ready to launch with a wave of standard sized figures to coincide with the release of the six inch style ones.
Padme Amidala*Clone Trooper Sergent*Anakin Skywalker*Biggs Darklighter
Luke Skywalker*Darth Vader*Biker Scout*Clone Pilot
R2-D2*Pablo-Jill*Luminara Unduli*41st Elite Corps Clone Trooper
Stormtrooper*Mara Jade*Merumeru*Clone Commander Neyo
The 3.75 line ran for five waves, and though there were some gems to be found, many were figures that fans had already purchased time and time again. As a result, the "newer" figures quickly gained momentum on secondary markets, while the remainder quickly became peg warmers.
Vizam*Darth Plagueis*Mace Windu*Bastila Shan
Luke Skywalker*Yoda*Toryn Farr*Snowtrooper Commander
Dak Ratler*Darth Vader*Jabba's Skiff Guard (Brock Starsher)
Ree-Yees*Wedge Antilles
When Hasbro announced the six inch line of figures, they explained to fans that not only was it their goal to produce higher quality figures in a larger scale, but to also provide new fans with an opening to an all new series that they could get into from the start. The line launched to great success, despite the $20.00 buy in price tag per figure.
Each character contained a variety of accessories - All screen accurate. The sculpting of each figure was also spot on to their onscreen counterpart. In short - The six inch line was a collector's dream come true.
Luke Skywalker*Darth Maul
Sandtrooper*R2-D2
Princess Leia (Jabba's Slave)*Boba Fett
Trooper characters and of course Boba Fett were immediate sellers for the line, and skyrocketed in price on secondary markets - Much to the dismay of many collector's who couldn't find them in stores. Eventually supply started to catch up with demand, but not before many fans got taken to the cleaners by scalpers.
Greedo*Han Solo
Stormtrooper*Obi-Wan Kenobi
Luke Skywalker*Anakin Skywalker
Chewbacca (number 13) was initially planned for a release in Phase I of the Black Series, but ended up being delayed until 2015. The end result was a hole in the series since no figure was produced to fill in for the missing number 13.
Chewbacca (Cancelled)*Clone Trooper
The SDCC Boba Fett with Carbonite Han was technically the first six inch figure to be released. Fans who couldn't attend the convention were left paying upwards of $250.00 - $300.00 to obtain a set. Prices would eventually drop when Boba Fett was released on retail shelves. Though the SDCC version occasionally sells for $250.00 today, it typically hovers between $150.00 and $225.00.
Boba Fett and Carbonite Han (SDCC)
Though this brings us to a conclusion for the Phase I Black Series, keep reading below for Phase II!
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.
No comments:
Post a Comment