As someone who started collecting in 2020, seeing the 2017 toy hunt was priceless. It’s amazing how far the technology has come, the digital sculpting and 3D-print prototyping has been such a game changer.
Without those collectors during the dark times we would not be in the golden age we are in now, so with that being said. Thank you to all the collected during that dark time. Long live 1:12 scale. We are eating good as of late. Thank you OotB for the history lesson!
I remember these! ha ha ha! great vid! hey guys, can I ask a question? Do you think Hasbro will release a Black Series Ezra like from Ashoka with the beard etc, or are we stuck with the Rebels version you think? Wondering if I just grab the one thats out now ot wait...cheers
I remembered seeing wave 1 back in the day and picking up Slave Leia and putting it back down. I didn't start collecting until photo real came in... but my first figures were Jyn, Cassian, Krennic, Island Rey, Finn, Lando, and anniversary Darth Vader with the display stand, all for under $10 from Tuesday Morning. I managed to get walgreens exclusives Clone Commander Obi-Wan and 3PO from a location they still had 3 Obi-Wan (i remember looking for the one with the least blush), Kennan, and 3 more 3PO on the top shelf, and towards the bottom shelves it was just full of Jyn and Cassian. To this day i still see them at various Walgreens. My first photo real was Tarkin, new from Walmart. True story... once i started collecting, i just ordered a loose BB-8 from ebay. I found Unmasked Kylo at a Walgreens, actual dust on soft cornered box... i akso went on ebay, bought i loose helmet, replaced the head... put it on the shelf
My first figure was I think the FO stormtrooper. I bought it to just have on my gaming desk. Now I have such a big collection lol I didn’t know it would come to this. I didn’t own any figures really maybe some halo McFarland figures but that was it. I saw the original figures at GameStop and was like that’s cool. But I passed. I’m super happy that I got into this line. Things were bad in the beginning when I started but it’s amazing now.
My first black series figures were Jango and the FO snow trooper back in 2018, I didn't start fully collecting until 2020 but even then I noticed there was a heavy lean into ST back then
My first figures were Kylo and the first few FO troops, and while most of them don't hold up well, they still got me into the line. Started with the snowtrooper officer and the addiction spiraled from there lol
I bought that first Rey for BB-8. Even so I waited untill I could get one with a half decent paint job on Rey's face. Poor lass. I didn't pay full price. I still like Constable Zuvio. Imean the elbows barely bend, but the sculpt is good. I enriched it with some dark washes on the skin and clothing. It brought the detail out a treat.😀 Poor X-Wing Poe keeps his helmet on since he was disfigured in a crash. Not enough Bacta to fix his face.😢
Constable Zuvio isn't a bad figure at all really. They just aren't in the movie and peg-warmed for an eternity, lol! Thanks for watching, Jonathan. -Justin
I started collecting Star Wars toys again with force awakens I got rid of most of those red box black series figures but I’m not really a fan of the sequels anyway, the only Rey black series figure I have now is Dark Side Rey which is a pretty cool figure. I got rid of some of my Rogue One black series figures as well but I still think that K mart exclusive Jynn Erso with the poncho is awesome kept that one
Definitely the early black and red boxed figures was a very dark time. Mostly because Hasbro, encouraged by Disney I'm sure, just kept repacking the same figures over and over thus the market became supersaturated with the same figures with slight variations. I myself started collecting around 2017 I believe. And I only purchased aliens and droids, the two R2/R5 Toys R Us exclusives were early purchases and badly under sized, Chewbacca from Solo, IG-88 he's definitely one of my favorite droids but terribly scaled. Then a friend got me Lando from Solo I don't care much for the figure but I started collecting the main line after that. And now my wallet cries alot because the line is so amazing now. The black and red boxed figures definitely got better over time as you both stated, second half saw great improvements and more variety of figures added to Black Series Figures. Thanks guys for sharing more of the black series figures history, I'm glad you started to cover this segment of the lines development. Take care and I'll see you Sunday, Tom
Hey Tom! We started to see that glimmer of hope around 2018 I wanna say. We actually started getting more non-Disney characters like Captain Rex, 4-LOM, etc. Glad you enjoy the series! Appreciate your support. -Justin
My first ever black series experience in 2019 the GameStop worker told me it was way too late to get into the black series lol. Cal kestis and black series both still going hard
Funny enough, imperial atc driver as a Target exclusive was reaaaaally hard to find in France, still to this day, he is not common and hard to find under 30$ ! Love thoses retrospectives and can’t wait for the next one !
I was shocked when they rereleased Jyn in the current packaging, I get she's the main character of a movie but she used to be everwhere. As for the Rey, I actually liked her especially for how nice BB-8 is.
The fugly was strong with this wave 😅. That force Friday was pretty damn fun though and the hype was real during that first wave of red box. ...what crap figures for the most part haha. So glad the line has evolved 10 fold since these. Thanks for the fun video and the editing was great had me laughing pretty good.
Love the throw back clips!. I like the self deprecating humor you guys have about your old selves. Seeing the excitement you had when looking for new figures is really cool!.Very good series of retro look back videos. Great job guys!. Thanks as always for sharing. 👊☮️
Really great video, guys. Love the Rick Grimes meme in the beginning. Interestingly, this era was the only time I can remember stores here standard-stocking the black series. Either hasbro changed something, or the poor sales scared Norwegian toy stores lol. MAN I LOVE SEEING OLD OOTB CONTENT
I've been collecting this line since the start, and honeslty it was rough pretty much its whole run before around 2020 I think? The distribution was so bad that I usually had to rely on friends that traveled for work to find certain figures, especially in the orange & blue line era. Not to mention the paint & engineering. A lot of those red box figures felt like bricks. I'm glad that the line has come as far as it has these past few years.
I remember those days it was a time to be alive. The hype was real and I remember on vacation having my parents stop at a Walmart the morning after force Friday. I made out good and I was happy. But compared to now the figures are absolutely better. And I remember the prices way better than now
My first two figures were Cassian and Jyn on clearance at Walmart for $5/each in 2018. I think if the nearby Walgreens stores have any Black series, it will be those two at full price.
I thought there was a 3rd variant of kylo. The original, the textured cape, and a shorter robe with rotated stitching. I got one for under $10 and used the soft goods on my Mafex. Worked really well. I will say, it was a great time for army building. I wish I had gotten more ACT pilots, hovertank pilots, and scarif troopers. Back then, I just didn't know I'd enjoy it so much. I really want definitive attempts at Finn and Poe
Maybe you're thinking of the K-Mart exclusive one? Or maybe the one that had an Adam Driver head? I only see two variants listed on ActionFigure411. Who knows though! Thanks for watching. -Justin
Oh come on how exciting was that first wave? The start of the red and black box line was amazing times - remember the tie fighter hitting? Wow. At the time I was really happy with the figures in that first wave - we hadn’t even seen the movie at that time and had no idea who Rey or Finn were. What WAS the dark times was around 12 months later when toys r us in the U.K. was swamped with weird knockoff looking versions of that first wave with bad paint apps and qc issues - those were seriously crazyily bad - there were hundreds of them - not sure what happened there
I picked up the entire rogue one re-release wave and saw some of the original release figures at walgreens and it's night and day. I might pick up another chirrut figure if I find him in the bargain bin just to do a custom donnie yen figure.
Sadly I still don't find any figures I care about in stores, literally just endless pegs full of Lando. There are some great looking figures but I don't like having to order them online.
I have few of those crappy figs, repainted them for acba since i dont care sometimes when i mix characters, sometimes i take those pics in a"alt universe" or "what if" style 😉
@OutOfTheBasement still full price, 45 AUD. toy world almost never puts on sales. Although currently they have alot of left over flame troopers for $19 Australian. Its like a fever dream there haha.
@@OutOfTheBasement I rebranded on TH-cam and Instagram for my very small Miniature Painting Instagram lol. Maybe someday I’ll make videos on TH-cam but I know how much time it takes to be a content creator. Wookieroro has been gamer tag ever since I was like 9.
Good episode. But like you guys pointed out it was only the dark ages in retrospect. At the time, those of us collecting were loving life, except for the terrible face paint apps. I think Hasbro felt overwhelmed that they needed to get all the figs out for the new films all at once to strike while the iron was hot, and that's why the diversity of releases sucked. Despite all the horror stories from this period there were some awesome figs that I still love the design on today, like K2SO. Given this episode, do you think they'll ever redesign some of the ST figs like Poe and Finn with current tech/engineering?
A lot of this stuff kept me away from the series until around late 2019 early 2020, though I have sifted through and got a few that I like from the red and black era.
Love the intro 😂😂 would kinda like to get a couple figgys from ep7 (cause in my mind i choose to not acknowledge episodes 8&9 ever happened, honestly cant tell you what happens in them)
Yeh I remember going to TRU and target 2015 about once a week and seeing same garbage over and over... I'd actually be happy to find the Finn stormtrooper or phasma or xwing pilot Asty it was so bad... It drove me to collect the disney elite series which was just as bad 😅😂
It's March 2024 and I STILL see Force Awakens peg warming the shelves of my local store! Of course the OT and Prequels stuff fly of the shelves in no time...
Depends on the OT. Ewok Village Leia, ESB and ROTJ Lando, Figrin D'an, etc. They were all pretty big peg-warmers. It's a shame though. OT is king. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement it's the minority though. I didn't buy those OT figures either. What's unacceptable is that Rey and Finn are respectively the main and supporting characters of Force Awakens, and Jynn and Cassian are the main characters of Rogue One as well. The same can be said about Old Luke in the Last Jedi 3.75in line. That one still is a peg warmer to this day!
Looking at these early red box waves and comparing them to the early galaxy era box waves, it’s just night and day. The people who hate the line now would be absolutely LOSING THEIR MIND back in the day.
I remember when TFA wasn't even out yet the figures released at Toy R Us. I was so Hyped to find Kylo Ren. The promo pics of Kylo were so bad ass...what a dis appointmenting character. Sigh 😢
I was able to get BB-8 by himself off eBay for about $7 dollars with free shipping. I've thought about getting Rey just to get BB-8. I'm glad I have him now.
I was looking forward to this! Now listen, although I agree with everything said, that 2015 was the year when I got into collecting TBS line and so I have a nostalgic connection to it. The hype around TFA was insane. Great episode my friends. I'm looking forward to the next one. 😃
We try to see the positive in most things. Like the Gregory Titus artwork was awesome on the red/black line. The hype for TFA was so cool to experience! Thanks for watching, AD. -Justin
Crikey 😬 I only started paying attention to the action figure market in 2022 and this is oddly fascinating lol 6:55 that Andor must feel slightly different now tho 😂
Can confirm it was bad. Been collecting the line since 2014 and I literally select picked during 2015-2019. If I look at my collection I might have boughten 3 figures in those years.
We stayed up until like 5am securing those figures from Walmart and woke up the next morning and immediately filmed, lol! Definite bedhead status. -Justin
Oh man these were dark days. Bad quality figures with terrible paint application. Poe dameron looked like a hobo, finn had terrible face sculpt and bland colors, jyn and cassian guarding the pegs, the first order trooper looked great but those elbows... And finally Rey... Rey... That dang "where's rey" hashtag that cost even more money. Of all these old figures, I only retained finn's head for a custom to do john boyega justice and constable zuvio. He was a peg warmer but I now unironically keep him as a reminder of the downward sequel trilogy. Guava enforcer was pretty cool
Rought time for collecting, for sure. I have a conspiracy theory; in short, an inside job. TVC and 3.75" weren't around much in other lines. 2013, TBS comes along and people are eating it up. Some people got moved to SW team around 2014/2015. Red Box line was released with tons of figures everywhere (My WalMart got in 40 cases of the Rogue One wave when it came out). As TBS starts to "fail" over the next 2 years, magically TVC is launched again and a new idea called HasLab begins with a TVC item. Major TVC sympathizers on the team, for sure at this time. But TBS doubled down in 2019/2020 and things started to turn around (better characters, new design team, new designs). Out of the ashes that was the red box line is now what collectors have in TBS. Again, there is no fact to what I say, I have been collecting TBS since 2013, but I have seen the best and the worst of it from its inception to today. I just looked at the timing of everything over the first half-decade of TBS and it all just seemed too much of a coincidence to me. Almost like some wanted it to fail and it persevered.
I feel you're being a little harsh on the old red line. Of course Disney was going to flood the market with the new movies coming out. I was fine with that. The blue line was the low point for me. Red line got better as it went along. 2018 got photo-real and it got really good then.
When Disney bought Star Wars, they bought all of Star Wars. There should always be a balance. The first 30 figures of the red/black boxes yielded only two figures that weren't from new Disney media. That is simply ridiculous. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement I'm not arguing that they heavy for their new titles. They still do that. I'm saying the figures got progressively better with each wave. The red line introduced butterfly joints, deep cut elbows, digital face printing. I don't think the figures were all that bad. They were just condensed into the new titles.
This video specifically focused on the first wave though, and the fact that at least the first half of the red/black box line was severely overproduced and peg-warmed for years and years. The figures got better, but it wasn't until about three years later in 2018 when we got photo-real and stuff like that. @@joebrech5373
@@OutOfTheBasement I thought that must be the case...but I'm watching this about five minutes after getting out of bed! Brain wasn't quite working yet as it hadn't had it's caffeine infusion
There were certainly some great figures released in 2018 but the problem was Finn, Constable Zuvio, Jyn, and Cassian were still rotting the pegs by that time. They were truly overproduced! -Justin
Even though I was still in school and at the time collected few and far between; I remember seeing the pegs full of these dreadful figures. I also still sometimes find them today. Even if I was not fully dove into the line yet, I remember the struggle of variety and quality. Majority of collectors of the line nowadays agrees that we are in a golden age. Anyone that disagrees does not understand what it took to get to where we are now. We should be grateful for the amount of Variety and popular choosing. Absolutely love the return of the series and await more. Keep up the work.
Glad you enjoyed the return of the retrospective! I was dreading making this video but it actually turned out to be a pretty fun filming session and edit! Appreciate your support! -Justin
We’ve entered the Dark Times, we’ve certainly come a long way in the lines history. Glad to be in a good spot these days and it seems to only be getting better! Great video boys
Gotta defend Zuvio! Actually cool figure and nice design just mostly a bad paint job! It is smaller than most other BS figs and makes nice back ground aliens.
I honestly still have problems with the black series line but not with the character selection. Exclusives and online only preorders are ruining the hobby for me. Everything is exclusive, difficult to get, and way over priced compared to 2015-2018
I can only speak from a US perspective, but what consumer goods haven't raised in price since 2015-2018? Especially post-pandemic. Again only from a US perspective, but the line has been significantly easier to get. Especially online distribution and inventory. What exclusive has been impossible to get recently? I've been able to secure pretty much everything I've ever wanted from the line. If you're having trouble with exclusive pre-orders, I'd suggest joining our Discord. Nobody misses out in there. People are always in there sending links, notifying of restocks, etc. -Justin
Love watching your guys videos But with that said How many of these figures did you buy lol I’m not a great fan of the new movies well the last three .lol
I think the solo figures are good . 100 times better then them other figures.. so if I had to pick out of the batch and only from the batch I would buy the solo figures hands down lol hey hope you have a great weekend and keep the awesome videos coming !!!
I didn’t start to collect black series until photo real. I couldn’t justify a larger figure with such horrible face paint applications at their price point. 3.75 was far superior. Up to that point I only purchased toys r us crait photo real Rey followed by Grievous & Rebels Ahsoka red/black.
I think there’s still a prejudice that the line is “crumbling” but it is indeed because of that wave and the overproduction of anything for The Force Awakens and Rogue One... and a few people fearmongering or showing their insecurities having a loud mouth. And I say that because even TVC has been through hell, coming back with Solo of all things. It’s literally the reason I skipped what should have been the definitive RotJ Han Solo… using the legs of Young Han from 2018. Yes, I’m picky and I’ll refuse to buy a bad figure of a core character. I’m glad TBS has gotten definitive, improved versions of R2, 501st, Ahsoka and THAT Malgus. At this point, it comes down to calling out where the brand and executives allow regression and stupid mistakes to slip through because it is our money… and hopefully they can put more for the value. (If only they could give Vader the new legs the figure deserves… and I’ll beat that horse until it is done, and I’ll be the first person to praise and buy it if I have to)
I don't how you survived making this video. Any character with a "human" face looked rough. I still debate which would be better: an empty shelf or display the sequel trilogy figures?
Very sorry that we failed to mention the beautiful and iconic artwork of Gregory Titus! Easily the best part about the red/black box packaging.
It is sorely missed. At least he's so on the Archives for now
I'd love to see a black series iceberg at some point, I feel like you guys can pull it off really well
Seeing the old red line makes me appreciate my figures a whole lot more 😆
Same!!! 😂 -Justin
As someone who started collecting in 2020, seeing the 2017 toy hunt was priceless. It’s amazing how far the technology has come, the digital sculpting and 3D-print prototyping has been such a game changer.
A lot of collectors started in 2020! It is insane how far the line has come. Thanks for watching, Luke! -Justin
When did the Black Series start using photo-real/digital sculpting for the faces?
@@matthewk4912 not sure about the sculpting but the digital face printing started around 2017 I believe.
@@matthewk4912I think the wave with Rey, DJ, Tarkin, Captain Rex in 2018 from the last jedi. The Solo figures from the year had them.
Dark Times for Black Series yes, but The actual Dark Times for us old farts was '85-'95 where there was zero SW products.
Very true! 😂 -Justin
Without those collectors during the dark times we would not be in the golden age we are in now, so with that being said. Thank you to all the collected during that dark time. Long live 1:12 scale. We are eating good as of late. Thank you OotB for the history lesson!
Very true. And during the time it was still fun. Thanks for watching, Volts! -Justin
seeing this red line makes me tear up tho its so nostalgic lmao
I mean I can see that! It's pretty old. -Justin
I remember these! ha ha ha! great vid! hey guys, can I ask a question? Do you think Hasbro will release a Black Series Ezra like from Ashoka with the beard etc, or are we stuck with the Rebels version you think? Wondering if I just grab the one thats out now ot wait...cheers
I would be surprised if they never released that look of Ezra! -Justin
I remember getting a jyn erso with an awful painting on the face and I'm so glad face printing became a must in this line
Yep it truly saved the line! -Justin
I will say that the rogue one troopers were great and i bought so many tank troopers. They are so cool
I agree! -Justin
The worst part is that I like those sequel characters, and we're just not going to get good renditions of them for a long time.
Yeah they should at least do a newly sculpted Finn and Poe from ROS! -Justin
I remembered seeing wave 1 back in the day and picking up Slave Leia and putting it back down.
I didn't start collecting until photo real came in... but my first figures were Jyn, Cassian, Krennic, Island Rey, Finn, Lando, and anniversary Darth Vader with the display stand, all for under $10 from Tuesday Morning.
I managed to get walgreens exclusives Clone Commander Obi-Wan and 3PO from a location they still had 3 Obi-Wan (i remember looking for the one with the least blush), Kennan, and 3 more 3PO on the top shelf, and towards the bottom shelves it was just full of Jyn and Cassian.
To this day i still see them at various Walgreens.
My first photo real was Tarkin, new from Walmart.
True story... once i started collecting, i just ordered a loose BB-8 from ebay.
I found Unmasked Kylo at a Walgreens, actual dust on soft cornered box... i akso went on ebay, bought i loose helmet, replaced the head... put it on the shelf
Thanks for sharing your story, Tenucha! Appreciate you checking out our video. -Justin
My first figure was I think the FO stormtrooper. I bought it to just have on my gaming desk. Now I have such a big collection lol I didn’t know it would come to this. I didn’t own any figures really maybe some halo McFarland figures but that was it. I saw the original figures at GameStop and was like that’s cool. But I passed. I’m super happy that I got into this line. Things were bad in the beginning when I started but it’s amazing now.
That's how it starts! I also started with a FO trooper but it was the Snowtrooper Officer. Thanks for watching! -Justin
I began collecting most recent Black Series releases, and I doubt I'd get any from the majorily mid-late 2010s
I wouldn't recommend it, haha! Thanks for watching. -Justin
My first black series figures were Jango and the FO snow trooper back in 2018, I didn't start fully collecting until 2020 but even then I noticed there was a heavy lean into ST back then
My first one was the FO Snowtrooper Officer from Toys R' Us! Thanks for watching, Kurtis. -Justin
My first figures were Kylo and the first few FO troops, and while most of them don't hold up well, they still got me into the line. Started with the snowtrooper officer and the addiction spiraled from there lol
I like the design of the First Order Snow Trooper better than the Empire Strikes Back one.
Same! My first Black Series figure was the FO Snowtrooper Officer. -Justin
I bought that first Rey for BB-8. Even so I waited untill I could get one with a half decent paint job on Rey's face. Poor lass. I didn't pay full price.
I still like Constable Zuvio. Imean the elbows barely bend, but the sculpt is good. I enriched it with some dark washes on the skin and clothing. It brought the detail out a treat.😀
Poor X-Wing Poe keeps his helmet on since he was disfigured in a crash. Not enough Bacta to fix his face.😢
Constable Zuvio isn't a bad figure at all really. They just aren't in the movie and peg-warmed for an eternity, lol! Thanks for watching, Jonathan. -Justin
I started collecting Star Wars toys again with force awakens I got rid of most of those red box black series figures but I’m not really a fan of the sequels anyway, the only Rey black series figure I have now is Dark Side Rey which is a pretty cool figure. I got rid of some of my Rogue One black series figures as well but I still think that K mart exclusive Jynn Erso with the poncho is awesome kept that one
Yep I want crazy with the red/black box figures after seeing TFA in theaters! Got rid of almost all of them. -Justin
My first figure was a death trooper when rogue one came out. I remember the dark times, that’s why I mostly collected troopers at the time lol
I remember being so excited for that Death Trooper! -Justin
Definitely the early black and red boxed figures was a very dark time.
Mostly because Hasbro, encouraged by Disney I'm sure, just kept repacking the same figures over and over thus the market became supersaturated with the same figures with slight variations.
I myself started collecting around 2017 I believe. And I only purchased aliens and droids, the two R2/R5 Toys R Us exclusives were early purchases and badly under sized, Chewbacca from Solo, IG-88 he's definitely one of my favorite droids but terribly scaled.
Then a friend got me Lando from Solo I don't care much for the figure but I started collecting the main line after that. And now my wallet cries alot because the line is so amazing now.
The black and red boxed figures definitely got better over time as you both stated, second half saw great improvements and more variety of figures added to Black Series Figures.
Thanks guys for sharing more of the black series figures history, I'm glad you started to cover this segment of the lines development. Take care and I'll see you Sunday, Tom
Hey Tom! We started to see that glimmer of hope around 2018 I wanna say. We actually started getting more non-Disney characters like Captain Rex, 4-LOM, etc. Glad you enjoy the series! Appreciate your support. -Justin
My first ever black series experience in 2019 the GameStop worker told me it was way too late to get into the black series lol. Cal kestis and black series both still going hard
Hahaha it’s never too late! -Justin
Funny enough, imperial atc driver as a Target exclusive was reaaaaally hard to find in France, still to this day, he is not common and hard to find under 30$ ! Love thoses retrospectives and can’t wait for the next one !
Haha that's interesting! Thanks for watching. -Justin
Yup.... they sure have come pretty far from where where now! Also absolutely love the intro😅-Tom
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. -Justin
Hearing Justin discussing the red and black boxes and peg warming in general always makes me laugh. I can hear the PTSD in his voice.
😂😂😂 truth! -Justin
I was shocked when they rereleased Jyn in the current packaging, I get she's the main character of a movie but she used to be everwhere. As for the Rey, I actually liked her especially for how nice BB-8 is.
Thanks for checking out the video! -Justin
The fugly was strong with this wave 😅. That force Friday was pretty damn fun though and the hype was real during that first wave of red box. ...what crap figures for the most part haha. So glad the line has evolved 10 fold since these. Thanks for the fun video and the editing was great had me laughing pretty good.
Force Friday was so fun back in those days! Wish they'd bring it back. Thanks for watching, Fig! -Justin
That Chewie is so much better than the screaming Chewie from the earlier waves.
No way! 😂 That Chewbacca is cursed. -Justin
Agree to disagree. I don’t like the open mouth “insert cookie here” Chewbacca. Take another look at the head sculpt.
Love the throw back clips!. I like the self deprecating humor you guys have about your old selves. Seeing the excitement you had when looking for new figures is really cool!.Very good series of retro look back videos. Great job guys!. Thanks as always for sharing. 👊☮️
Thanks Mark! It’s always so weird to think we’ve been at it so long we can include our own clips into a restrospective. -Nate
Really great video, guys. Love the Rick Grimes meme in the beginning.
Interestingly, this era was the only time I can remember stores here standard-stocking the black series. Either hasbro changed something, or the poor sales scared Norwegian toy stores lol.
MAN I LOVE SEEING OLD OOTB CONTENT
What's up, Norsky! Appreciate you checking out the new video. I wouldn't be surprised if your toy stores got scared off, lol! -Justin
I've been collecting this line since the start, and honeslty it was rough pretty much its whole run before around 2020 I think?
The distribution was so bad that I usually had to rely on friends that traveled for work to find certain figures, especially in the orange & blue line era. Not to mention the paint & engineering. A lot of those red box figures felt like bricks. I'm glad that the line has come as far as it has these past few years.
Yeah it used to be rough out here. -Justin
Do the Hee Hee troopers ever ask Ani if he's ok? 🤔
I hope so! -Nate
This is around the time where I stopped collection figs I didn’t start collecting again until 2021 in terms of getting more than 1 fig a year
That makes perfect senes, honestly! -Justin
I remember those days it was a time to be alive. The hype was real and I remember on vacation having my parents stop at a Walmart the morning after force Friday. I made out good and I was happy. But compared to now the figures are absolutely better. And I remember the prices way better than now
I do miss Force Friday! -Justin
My first two figures were Cassian and Jyn on clearance at Walmart for $5/each in 2018. I think if the nearby Walgreens stores have any Black series, it will be those two at full price.
What is up with them maintaining that full price all these years later?!? -Justin
I've been wondering that for the better part of the past five years.
There's a few Walgreens that still have them. Luckily some of the others actually got the Kenobi wave with Vader and Reva
Yep I still see them from time to time. Good ol' Finn, Jyn, and Cassian! -Justin
I never even noticed this figures when they had them like this in red background boxes.
The red/black boxes were around for around 5 years! -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement I know once I started to catch up I started to look them up can't get over how bad head sculpts were especially Ray.
I thought there was a 3rd variant of kylo. The original, the textured cape, and a shorter robe with rotated stitching. I got one for under $10 and used the soft goods on my Mafex. Worked really well.
I will say, it was a great time for army building. I wish I had gotten more ACT pilots, hovertank pilots, and scarif troopers. Back then, I just didn't know I'd enjoy it so much.
I really want definitive attempts at Finn and Poe
Maybe you're thinking of the K-Mart exclusive one? Or maybe the one that had an Adam Driver head? I only see two variants listed on ActionFigure411. Who knows though! Thanks for watching. -Justin
Oh wow I forgot that there was an unhelmeted one. Probably.
I got Finn, Phasma, Poe Dameron, and Rey, all MOC for 5 bucks, total, at Goodwill in 2016...
Nice! Thanks for watching! -Nate
Oh come on how exciting was that first wave? The start of the red and black box line was amazing times - remember the tie fighter hitting? Wow. At the time I was really happy with the figures in that first wave - we hadn’t even seen the movie at that time and had no idea who Rey or Finn were. What WAS the dark times was around 12 months later when toys r us in the U.K. was swamped with weird knockoff looking versions of that first wave with bad paint apps and qc issues - those were seriously crazyily bad - there were hundreds of them - not sure what happened there
Did you watch the video? We talk about almost all of what you’re saying. How exciting it was the time, etc. Thanks for watching! -Justin
I can’t believe I was getting all of these red and black box figures. Looking back, that was a lot of money I could’ve saved.
So much money we could have all saved 😅 -Nate
I bet the people who complain didn't collect in 2015
💯
I picked up the entire rogue one re-release wave and saw some of the original release figures at walgreens and it's night and day. I might pick up another chirrut figure if I find him in the bargain bin just to do a custom donnie yen figure.
Haha thanks for sharing! -Justin
There is still a captain zubio (however you say/spell that) at my Walgreens today
Yep I believe it! 😂 -Justin
Sadly I still don't find any figures I care about in stores, literally just endless pegs full of Lando. There are some great looking figures but I don't like having to order them online.
Yeah that definitely sucks not having more reliable shops in your area. At least you can get them online these days! -Nate
I have few of those crappy figs, repainted them for acba since i dont care sometimes when i mix characters, sometimes i take those pics in a"alt universe" or "what if" style 😉
That's totally fair! Thanks for watching. -Justin
At my local toyworlds there's still a tone of these figures on shelves just covered in dust 😂😂
Damn. How much are they still trying to sell them for? -Nate
@OutOfTheBasement still full price, 45 AUD. toy world almost never puts on sales. Although currently they have alot of left over flame troopers for $19 Australian. Its like a fever dream there haha.
I recently pikced up #2 Rey for $5. I debated getting it even at that price, but the BB8 is what sold me on it. :)
Nice! -Justin
Thanks for the shout out on finding those peg warmers haha. I think they are still there.
Haha is that you with one of the photos from the Discord? Your name might be different. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement I rebranded on TH-cam and Instagram for my very small Miniature Painting Instagram lol. Maybe someday I’ll make videos on TH-cam but I know how much time it takes to be a content creator. Wookieroro has been gamer tag ever since I was like 9.
One of my local toy stores still has rey's and constable zuvio's and every time I go they somehow still have not moved
Yep are they full price too? Haha. -Justin
Good episode. But like you guys pointed out it was only the dark ages in retrospect. At the time, those of us collecting were loving life, except for the terrible face paint apps. I think Hasbro felt overwhelmed that they needed to get all the figs out for the new films all at once to strike while the iron was hot, and that's why the diversity of releases sucked. Despite all the horror stories from this period there were some awesome figs that I still love the design on today, like K2SO. Given this episode, do you think they'll ever redesign some of the ST figs like Poe and Finn with current tech/engineering?
It was indeed fun at the time! I'm surprised we never got a photo-real Poe, Finn, etc. I think ST fans deserve them! -Justin
A lot of this stuff kept me away from the series until around late 2019 early 2020, though I have sifted through and got a few that I like from the red and black era.
That's cool! Thanks for sharing. -Justin
Love the intro 😂😂 would kinda like to get a couple figgys from ep7 (cause in my mind i choose to not acknowledge episodes 8&9 ever happened, honestly cant tell you what happens in them)
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for checking it out early. -Justin
Yeh I remember going to TRU and target 2015 about once a week and seeing same garbage over and over... I'd actually be happy to find the Finn stormtrooper or phasma or xwing pilot Asty it was so bad... It drove me to collect the disney elite series which was just as bad 😅😂
Omg the Elite Series was so bad! 🤣 -Justin
Funny you say that about working at the theater for return if Star Wars I did too for Episode 1
That's awesome! Such a cool thing to be part of. -Justin
I got the Fin figure and others peg warmers 😂I agree with you but I keeping it for the historical context
Fair enough! -Justin
It's March 2024 and I STILL see Force Awakens peg warming the shelves of my local store! Of course the OT and Prequels stuff fly of the shelves in no time...
Depends on the OT. Ewok Village Leia, ESB and ROTJ Lando, Figrin D'an, etc. They were all pretty big peg-warmers. It's a shame though. OT is king. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement it's the minority though. I didn't buy those OT figures either.
What's unacceptable is that Rey and Finn are respectively the main and supporting characters of Force Awakens, and Jynn and Cassian are the main characters of Rogue One as well.
The same can be said about Old Luke in the Last Jedi 3.75in line. That one still is a peg warmer to this day!
“I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Twice the pride, double the peg-warming! -Justin
There is still a Finn figure at a Walgreens in my town. I just saw it a week ago. It’s 2024. But they want $25.99 for it now. lol 😂😂😂
Yep same for me! Jyn and Cassian as well. -Justin
I’m seeing that blade runner clip every where now… loved that scene.
Such a great film! 🙌🏻 -Justin
Looking at these early red box waves and comparing them to the early galaxy era box waves, it’s just night and day. The people who hate the line now would be absolutely LOSING THEIR MIND back in the day.
Night. And. Day. 100% agreed! The community would absolutely melt down if we were transported back to 2015-2018. -Justin
I remember when TFA wasn't even out yet the figures released at Toy R Us. I was so Hyped to find Kylo Ren. The promo pics of Kylo were so bad ass...what a dis appointmenting character. Sigh 😢
I remember the Kylo hype as well! Thanks for checking out the video. -Justin
I’m glad I only collect Troopers essentially , I am however prone to buy exclusives and Vaders 🚀
We all love a good trooper! 👍🏻 -Justin
Black series is such a good line. It’s increase in quality is impressive and I hope it’s price hikes stabilize
Same! Thanks for watching as always, Bodie. -Justin
I picked up that Rey Last year. Not a good figure but i really wanted BB8. Is this only way To get it?
Yep I'm pretty sure it's the only time they've ever released it! -Justin
I was able to get BB-8 by himself off eBay for about $7 dollars with free shipping.
I've thought about getting Rey just to get BB-8. I'm glad I have him now.
I bought a Cassian at Walgreens in 2020
Nice! -Justin
These will definitely never be in my collection. There is so much better to fill my shelves with! Though a BB-8 would be okay...
Totally understandable! Most people avoid these like the plague I'm sure. -Justin
I feel fortunate I wasn’t collecting during the dark ages. This is a reminder of how good we have it now even though we need more OT aliens
I’m hoping Figrin last year and Hammerhead coming soon is a good sign! We definitely need more though. -Justin
Great show! Those were some dark times.
Indeed! Thanks for watching. -Justin
Still see Rogue One figs at my local Walgreens😂
Same! Absolutely nuts. -Justin
I was looking forward to this! Now listen, although I agree with everything said, that 2015 was the year when I got into collecting TBS line and so I have a nostalgic connection to it. The hype around TFA was insane. Great episode my friends. I'm looking forward to the next one. 😃
We try to see the positive in most things. Like the Gregory Titus artwork was awesome on the red/black line. The hype for TFA was so cool to experience! Thanks for watching, AD. -Justin
Crikey 😬 I only started paying attention to the action figure market in 2022 and this is oddly fascinating lol
6:55 that Andor must feel slightly different now tho 😂
Yep it was truly insane. Jyn, Cassian, Krennic, Finn, and Constable Zuvio by the absolute dozens at very store!!! -Justin
The box art was great and the highest selling point, way better than what was inside.
Yeah the design was great...but 112 standard releases led to some fatigue. -Justin
The red box chewbacca is not the same figure as the blue line - it was shorter too. At the time it was considered an improvement
There’s no way that was a different sculpt for the main body/legs/arms. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement headsculpt was different sorry
Can confirm it was bad. Been collecting the line since 2014 and I literally select picked during 2015-2019. If I look at my collection I might have boughten 3 figures in those years.
Yep it really was that bad! Even if they released new figures it'd be hard to find them because TFA and Rogue One were still peg-warming. -Justin
My local drug store still has Finn on the peg for FULL price. Ugh….
Lol love that! -Justin
I wouldn’t mind a completely redone First Order Stormtrooper.
That'd be neat! -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement maybe for 10tg anniversary of TFA in 2025?
I think we know why we haven’t gotten any Finn or Poe updates.
They're probably afraid to touch the ST again. Last one was Darkside Rey I think? -Justin
Great video guys.. really enjoyed it!
Thanks for watching! -Nate
I started last year so i got into it at a great time.
That is true! -Justin
in that one clip Justin looks like the type of kid to steal your Adderall prescription 😅
We stayed up until like 5am securing those figures from Walmart and woke up the next morning and immediately filmed, lol! Definite bedhead status. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement haha too good 😅
Oh man these were dark days. Bad quality figures with terrible paint application. Poe dameron looked like a hobo, finn had terrible face sculpt and bland colors, jyn and cassian guarding the pegs, the first order trooper looked great but those elbows... And finally Rey... Rey... That dang "where's rey" hashtag that cost even more money. Of all these old figures, I only retained finn's head for a custom to do john boyega justice and constable zuvio. He was a peg warmer but I now unironically keep him as a reminder of the downward sequel trilogy. Guava enforcer was pretty cool
Never forget that infamous photo of the Poe Dameron with a unibrow! I'll have to find that pic. -Justin
The reissue of Rey had very different paint apps on the face
Oh really? Were they any better? I actually don’t remember which version I had. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement yeah it was better but Island Journey Rey’s photo real was the game changer figure for sure
Rought time for collecting, for sure. I have a conspiracy theory; in short, an inside job. TVC and 3.75" weren't around much in other lines. 2013, TBS comes along and people are eating it up. Some people got moved to SW team around 2014/2015. Red Box line was released with tons of figures everywhere (My WalMart got in 40 cases of the Rogue One wave when it came out). As TBS starts to "fail" over the next 2 years, magically TVC is launched again and a new idea called HasLab begins with a TVC item. Major TVC sympathizers on the team, for sure at this time. But TBS doubled down in 2019/2020 and things started to turn around (better characters, new design team, new designs). Out of the ashes that was the red box line is now what collectors have in TBS.
Again, there is no fact to what I say, I have been collecting TBS since 2013, but I have seen the best and the worst of it from its inception to today. I just looked at the timing of everything over the first half-decade of TBS and it all just seemed too much of a coincidence to me. Almost like some wanted it to fail and it persevered.
When did TVC come back? I honestly can't remember. Interesting theory and thanks for checking out the episode! -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasementTVC came back in 2018, so development would’ve started around late 2016, early 2017.
I feel you're being a little harsh on the old red line. Of course Disney was going to flood the market with the new movies coming out. I was fine with that. The blue line was the low point for me. Red line got better as it went along. 2018 got photo-real and it got really good then.
When Disney bought Star Wars, they bought all of Star Wars. There should always be a balance. The first 30 figures of the red/black boxes yielded only two figures that weren't from new Disney media. That is simply ridiculous. -Justin
@@OutOfTheBasement I'm not arguing that they heavy for their new titles. They still do that. I'm saying the figures got progressively better with each wave. The red line introduced butterfly joints, deep cut elbows, digital face printing. I don't think the figures were all that bad. They were just condensed into the new titles.
This video specifically focused on the first wave though, and the fact that at least the first half of the red/black box line was severely overproduced and peg-warmed for years and years. The figures got better, but it wasn't until about three years later in 2018 when we got photo-real and stuff like that. @@joebrech5373
They can’t give them things away at Ollie’s
Oh I'm sure! -Justin
Wasn't Darth Maul the first prequel figure in the line? Or were you referring to the Red Box era?
Just referring to red box. Of course orange and blue line had plenty of prequel figures. Thanks for watching Gillman. -Nate
@@OutOfTheBasement I thought that must be the case...but I'm watching this about five minutes after getting out of bed! Brain wasn't quite working yet as it hadn't had it's caffeine infusion
Haha no worries we’ve all been there! -Nate
Don't sleep on 2018 man.
There were certainly some great figures released in 2018 but the problem was Finn, Constable Zuvio, Jyn, and Cassian were still rotting the pegs by that time. They were truly overproduced! -Justin
I have chewbacca archive i think he looks good
Not bad! -Justin
Even though I was still in school and at the time collected few and far between; I remember seeing the pegs full of these dreadful figures. I also still sometimes find them today. Even if I was not fully dove into the line yet, I remember the struggle of variety and quality. Majority of collectors of the line nowadays agrees that we are in a golden age. Anyone that disagrees does not understand what it took to get to where we are now. We should be grateful for the amount of Variety and popular choosing. Absolutely love the return of the series and await more. Keep up the work.
Glad you enjoyed the return of the retrospective! I was dreading making this video but it actually turned out to be a pretty fun filming session and edit! Appreciate your support! -Justin
We’ve entered the Dark Times, we’ve certainly come a long way in the lines history. Glad to be in a good spot these days and it seems to only be getting better! Great video boys
Before the Dark Times...before the Empire. I was dreading making this video but I'm glad we did! I want people to see. -Justin
Compared to most released at the time Zuvio is probably one of the better figures 😒
Totally! It wasn't half-bad. Just clogged the pegs for an eternity. -Justin
Gotta defend Zuvio! Actually cool figure and nice design just mostly a bad paint job! It is smaller than most other BS figs and makes nice back ground aliens.
We'll be talking about the wave that Zuvio is in next video! Definitely will be doing some mild defending. -Justin
I honestly still have problems with the black series line but not with the character selection. Exclusives and online only preorders are ruining the hobby for me. Everything is exclusive, difficult to get, and way over priced compared to 2015-2018
I can only speak from a US perspective, but what consumer goods haven't raised in price since 2015-2018? Especially post-pandemic. Again only from a US perspective, but the line has been significantly easier to get. Especially online distribution and inventory. What exclusive has been impossible to get recently? I've been able to secure pretty much everything I've ever wanted from the line. If you're having trouble with exclusive pre-orders, I'd suggest joining our Discord. Nobody misses out in there. People are always in there sending links, notifying of restocks, etc. -Justin
Love watching your guys videos But with that said How many of these figures did you buy lol I’m not a great fan of the new movies well the last three .lol
We had a good chunk of them back then. We liked TFA and Rogue One enough but after that we slowed wayyy down on ST and Solo stuff. -Nate
I think the solo figures are good . 100 times better then them other figures.. so if I had to pick out of the batch and only from the batch I would buy the solo figures hands down lol hey hope you have a great weekend and keep the awesome videos coming !!!
I didn’t start to collect black series until photo real. I couldn’t justify a larger figure with such horrible face paint applications at their price point. 3.75 was far superior. Up to that point I only purchased toys r us crait photo real Rey followed by Grievous & Rebels Ahsoka red/black.
Thanks for sharing your story! -Justin
Well im glad i waited to start collecting
Honestly you should be glad! -Justin
I think there’s still a prejudice that the line is “crumbling” but it is indeed because of that wave and the overproduction of anything for The Force Awakens and Rogue One... and a few people fearmongering or showing their insecurities having a loud mouth. And I say that because even TVC has been through hell, coming back with Solo of all things. It’s literally the reason I skipped what should have been the definitive RotJ Han Solo… using the legs of Young Han from 2018. Yes, I’m picky and I’ll refuse to buy a bad figure of a core character.
I’m glad TBS has gotten definitive, improved versions of R2, 501st, Ahsoka and THAT Malgus. At this point, it comes down to calling out where the brand and executives allow regression and stupid mistakes to slip through because it is our money… and hopefully they can put more for the value.
(If only they could give Vader the new legs the figure deserves… and I’ll beat that horse until it is done, and I’ll be the first person to praise and buy it if I have to)
Vader does indeed need new legs! I'll be right there on that hill with ya, lol. -Justin
You guys need a good strong drink or some blue milk after this episode. May the force be with you hahaha
I'd be down for some blue milk while filming! -Justin
It’d be a nice touch ha
That intro! LOL
Haha glad you liked it! -Justin
I don't how you survived making this video. Any character with a "human" face looked rough. I still debate which would be better: an empty shelf or display the sequel trilogy figures?
It was painful to research. ActionFigure411 is a great source, but just seeing the sheer amount of Disney figures in a row. Oof! -Justin