Every February, toy companies and collectors gather in New York City for Toy Fair, where all the manufactures reveal a number of their upcoming toy lines for the year. Basically, it’s like Comic-Con or E3, except for toys, and like those conventions, there’s often a few surprises that are announced. One such surprise involved ‘Star Wars’, and it’s pretty up there with the news of standalone movies and J.J. Abrams directing ‘Episode VII’.

Ever since 1977 when Kenner started making ‘Star Wars’ action figures all the way until the present day where Hasbro handles the toys, the figures always only came in two sizes. There were the 3.75-inch figures and then there were the 12-inch figures. Now, for the first time ever, there’s a third option, as Hasbro has introduced a brand new line featuring 6-inch scale figures.

The new line is known as ‘The Black Series’. These figures will feature a higher level of articulation than any other ‘Star Wars’ figures that have come before them. They’re scheduled to hit shelves in the fall and will retail for $19.99 each. You can check out pictures in the gallery below of the first wave, which appears to include Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, C3-PO, R2-D2, and a Sandtrooper:

It’s a smart move on the part of Hasbro to release these new figures this year. Not only will the public be demanding more ‘Star Wars’ merchandise after the announcement of more movies on the way, but just about every character that you see in the films has they’re own 3.75-inch figure already. With a new size now available, collectors are more likely willing to dish out the cash for the same characters again.

Also, ever since I’ve started buying toys again for little nieces and nephews, I’ve noticed that these toys are so much cooler than the ones that I had. The Luke Skywalker actually looks like Luke Skywalker! It’s really amazing what sort of technology they apply to these collectibles and/or playthings (depending on how you look at them). I might even consider picking some up for myself -especially if they decide to go for a Millennium Falcon scaled for their size. It’ll probably set me back a whole paycheck, but it would be worth it, right? But only if it came with Han Solo and Chewbacca.

What do you think of Hasbro’s ‘Star Wars: The Black Series’ line of action figures? Are you planning to pick up the whole first wave? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

 

Source: Collider