For all the galactic lovers out there please know the stars are still within reach, even many months after the launch of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Funko has kept the flame burning bright white hot when it comes to envisioning some of your favorite, and more obscure characters from the film with its infamous Pop! line. The distinction that this series has among the thousands of their creations floating in space is that each comes with a standard black base with the indelible franchise logo emblazoned upon it. Though, what you might not know are there are various exclusives floating around that might not make it into the general mainstream or might be as elusive as FN-2187 (that was exclusive for a limited time at Target).
If you simply look on the back of the latest boxes you might note that a few figures are forthcoming, and this is after two waves from Episode VII already to date! The next wave is due in July, though in between waves fans and collectors alike have been treated to some random releases from your neighborhood Walgreens. Yes, the purveyor of toothpaste, diet pills and more candy than in an old fashioned sweet shoppe has been vending from the Washington state based toymaker for about a year now. Their focus has primarily been on Disney-related franchises (predominantly Marvel and Star Wars).
Anyhow, if you looked on the back of the box (at top) you would have noted a few figures that have not yet seen the light of day, and we are unsure of the expected due date and they include: Blue Senate Guard and 4-Lom. Will they be general releases or exclusives from Gamestop, Hot Topic, FYE, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, Toy Wars or elsewhere?
BOUNTY HUNTIN': Of course, these have become more sought after, especially after the most recent subscription boxes from Smuggler's Bounty, the Funko/Star Wars box, delivered to your door once every other month. Each of those boxes includes a Pop or two (and the occasional 'Chase' figure - the craze has resurfaced for the service!) and other items, all exclusive to the box alone, not available commercially otherwise. There have been four boxes since last Fall including figures: Captain Phasma (metallic), Chewbacca (flocked), Red Snaggletooth (and Blue Snaggletooth as the Chase) among others. Without being too much of a spoiler, a few of the most recent are pictured above (and one, the only in the entire history of this series, does not come with the previously mentioned black base, and is instead much more dynamic overall).
LUKE, YOU ARE OUR ONLY HOPE (?): Oh, and did you know there will be, get this, three (count 'em) new Luke Skywalker Funko figures! Now, if you are a collector of such things you may already have him on Tattoine, Hoth, X-Wing Pilot, as a Jedi -- or if you were an early adopter (or gray market enthusiast) you may even have the rare Luke decked out inside a Stormtrooper armor. There's a Luke for everyone - except the Force Awakens variation (what, too soon?)! That said, there's always time for a Holographic version and maybe even a mechanical hand variant.....
For hardcore completists it's an expensive prospect to "collect 'em all"! If you missed out on the Holographic version of Darth Maul, the blue-striped 501st Clone Trooper or last year's SDCC Leia (among a handful of other rarities) you are probably out of luck unless you have beaucoups bucks to shell out via eBay, etc.
And aside from the 100+ standard Pops, store exclusives and convention limited editions and variants there are also the sets of duos and trios (there are four to date). So instead of watching the stars, if you want to fill your already bulging shelves you need to keep your eyes on the prize wide open. Or, better, yet, you can just focus on a subset like droids only, for instance! Even with those you have to stay alert (Dorkside Toys, Star Wars Celebration...). Collecting these takes a certain shrewdness, an adaptability for the market, especially if you are on a budget, but still love any/everything Star Wars. And so many did before and after you.....
