Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary 'Star Wars' Action Figures
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of Lucasfilm by the legendary George Lucas, and Hasbro, the toy line that makes Star Wars toys, has decided to go all out for the celebration. The overall theme is to recreate various iconic moments from the franchise throughout the entire history of the company, but with some changes.
It doesn’t matter what era of Star Wars you, the fan, love most; Hasbro has been behind the fandom for a good while. Recently, we had Hasbro Pulse Fan First Friday, in which the action figure and toy masters revealed special products. Plus, Hasbro also let the fans know about more collectibles that are in the works, but the stages are very early at the moment. In a statement, Lucasfilm Senior Vice President of Licensing and Franchise shared in a statement:
“Consumer products have always been an integral part of the Star Wars fan experience, and they remain a constant force in pop-culture today. To commemorate Lucasfilm’s 50 years of storytelling, we look forward to honoring this consumer products legacy and bringing to life brand-new products, games and publishing offerings that celebrate our future with Lucasfilm’s exciting feature films and Disney+ series ahead.”
Per press release,
"Lucasfilm was founded in 1971 by George Lucas. Films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones took the world by storm and revolutionized visual effects, sound design, animation, and other groundbreaking filmmaking techniques. The artists and technicians of Lucasfilm have never stopped innovating and continue to influence the film industry today. The Mandalorian is currently one of the top series on Disney+."
The Lucasfilm 50th line pays tribute to the classic Kenner toys line in two ways. For the 3-3/4 inch Vintage Collection, Hasbro did a single-carded update of all 96 original figures. And with the 6-inch Black Series line, they’re re-decoing some realistic sculpts in colors and costumes resembling the original toy colors from back in the early days.
Here is Ben Kenobi with the vinyl cape, extra-white hair, and opaque lightsaber blade! Maybe keep this one in the package, since those old capes ripped easily.
Other new entries in the Black Series line include an Elite Squad Clone Trooper from the upcoming Bad Batch series, as well as The Phantom Menace-themed repacks/redecos of notable characters from the prequel trilogy such as Qui-Gon Jinn, a battle droid, Mace Windu, and...Jar Jar Binks! With Jar Jar, he noticeably comes with less accessories than the deluxe version, while Qui-Gon’s head got more resculpted and photo-printed to be more Liam Neeson-like.
The Vintage Collection’s adds “classic 96” figures from all eras of Star Wars, including the updated Endor Leia, AT-ST Driver, and Paploo. Meanwhile, the new Lucasfilm 50th figures include never before seen sculpts of The Clone Wars season 7 Ahsoka and Maul. For Maul, the action figure was based on Ray Park’s head sculpture, and the face was slightly adjusted just to emulate the animation more.
However, Hasbro has many Black Series figures currently still in the works. The Black Series features several, from multiple time periods like The Bad Batch's Tech, The Clone Wars' Aurra Sing, The Mandalorian's Zero and Koska Reeves, and General Lando. The Vintage Collection, meanwhile, will add a new classic Lando and IG-11.
Note: So far, the Lucasfilm 50th anniversary program appears to apply only to Star Wars. So to any fans hoping for Indiana Jones or Howard the Duck, or even Willow toy news…we’ll see what happens in the future!
Available for pre-orders at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.
Source(s): Lucasfilm, StarWars.com, SuperheroHype