The Father Who Must Be Killed
MOCK UP, NOT ACTUAL PRODUCT (YET)
OK, so here we have Funeral Pyre Darth Vader, which I’m willing to go on record as recommending as one of my Top Ten Dead People as of July 2006. Only The Force knows how many fang-toothed Ewoks perished due to Luke Skywalker’s arsonist tribute to his father, but we know that Hasbro has taken this to heart and hearth. (What? I only get so many hearth jokes!) Here is our hero setting his father free from his mechanical shell. (It’s OK… no… I can go on.)
When I die, I hope someone will do the same for me (and take out a few acres of Ewoks, too). Seeing this remarkable piece inspires me… I think to myself, "How would I proffer this as if it were the beginning of a whole new series of action figures dedicated to collectors?" I gave this at least 35 minutes of clear thought as I wandered around Target at the Edgewood Plaza here in Atlanta (symbolic that it, too, was burnt to cinder) whilst being followed very indiscreetly by the Asset Protection guy. (I would have only been in the store for ten minutes if I hadn’t known that my presence was helping genuine shoplifters in this troubling economy.)
Then it came to me —— 2 Be Scene —— a series that our friends at Hasbro have already unwittingly started. (The name 2 Be Scene is just a throwaway, as mocked-up as the image.) Offer up figures and a piece of scenery that collectors could use to make memorable vignettes from the entire Star Wars saga. Hasbro made one for Comic-Con last year, they just didn’t know it – The Emperor’s Transmission. Re-tool that Emperor to be the "Monkey Eyes" version, and put these two in a case. (I know that there’s some rotocasting machinery that is dormant.)
Don’t do heavy runs — if you missed it, well, sorry… [Blogger's Note: If this is offered up down the road, we want MONKEY EYES EMPEROR, and nothing else will do.] Now we have Luke Skywalker lovingly torching his dead nemesis’ father’s corpse. They don’t all have to be grim or "scary" — Princess Leia and Wicket sitting on a log. Two Gunners and their respective cannons (Death Star; Republic Cruiser; Confederacy Cruiser).
Don’t turn this into a kid’s line or a troop-builder line, just keep it simple. Characters and a big piece of memorable scenery.
P.S. If the idea takes off, I want that prototype!!! <smirk>
August 8th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Hm, if they did a subline like that, I think my interest would largely be influenced by price and whether the figures were otherwise improvements on those I already have of the same character. Of the ideas you mentioned, I’d be most interested in the Death Star gunner set.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:03 am
The cannons, as seen in A New Hope and Revenge of the Sith, are simply pieces to add "cool" to the concept, but I cannot imagine an Original Trilogy collector (who are almost exclusively adults) who wouldn’t want the Funeral Pyre piece or a proper hologram of The Emperor with the monkey eyes (bonus points if they roll around a bit). There are a lot of great sequences that don’t have gunfights or lightsabre duels.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
How could you NOT love a set like this. And if Hasbro needs some marketing advice, first they must (and probably do) realize this is almost a "collector" exclusive. They could release it on the 30th ann. of ROTJ, but that’s over 3 years away and none of us want to wait that long. Therefore i would suggest an exclusive, offered at SWShop.com and Hasbro.com. Low production run, a BIT of a premium price ($25 instead of $20), and maybe another figure or two of other funeral attendees. And then work on those original Death Star cannons and gunners. A remake of the original Death Star play set gun that I had as a kid in 1978, but larger and more film accurate. Matter of fact, as mentioned by the author of this article, Hasbro could indeed begin a series of SWShop and Hasbro.com exclusives with "Battle Packs" exclusively aimed at collectors. Damn now I’m starting to get worked up over here……..