This past weekend at Star Wars Celebration Japan, Hasbro lifted the lid on what’s coming this summer to its toylines in a galaxy far, far away. The reveals highlighted some of the best of what Star Wars can be—deep cut favorites, new takes on classic characters—and above all offered a much-needed reminder of the joyous silliness of what collecting action figures can be.
The celebration, metaphorically and literally, couldn’t have come at a better time. After a few grumblings about who was and wasn’t getting spotlights among Hasbro’s toy picks lately, and the looming uncertainty hanging over collectors and toymakers alike thanks to Donald Trump’s back-and-forth trade war with the rest of the world, Hasbro and fans alike needed the reminder of why we’re all interested in this hobby in the first place… and they might have got it in the form of an unlikely star of their Celebration lineup.
To talk more about the reveals, Hasbro’s relationship with the Star Wars community, and how the company is beginning to respond to the fluctuating concerns over U.S. tariffs, io9 spoke to Hasbro Star Wars team members Chris Reiff and Jing Houle on the show floor in Tokyo, Japan. Check out our full interview below.
James Whitbrook, io9: Just a few years ago, the thought of you guys opening a news panel immediately with Expanded Universe figures felt like it would’ve been impossible. What’s led the design team to start embracing that side of Star Wars recently?
Jing Houle: I feel like we’re being more expansive, we’re being more creative with things like Turgle and Dash. And I love that the team is bringing forward these ideas, and this creativity, and the fans are receiving it well. Fans have been telling us about figures and characters from the EU for a while, and asking for them, and I think that we’ve shown that Hasbro was willing to do them, especially as we understand that there’s paths for different people.
Like, maybe there’s new shows that come out, and we want to do those, and then there’s the nostalgic, and deeper cuts, and publishing, and we want to do those. And then there’s gaming in between, and we want to do those! I think there’s a lot we’re willing to explore because we know that there’s a lot of fans for a lot of different things right now.
io9: Dash was one of the big announcements right out of the gate here. That’s a character that there were so many different interpretations of during Shadows of the Empire—comics, the game, card art. Can you talk about the inspirations you drew on to create the sculpt for the figure?
Chris Reiff: That’s exactly it—it’s inspiration from all those different sources, because we wanted to do the definitive Dash, and trying to figure out what that is when you have so many different ones really takes an artful eye and a really talented team. I know Eric [Franer] and Tom [Rego]—Eric being a designer, Tom being a sculptor for Black Series—I know that the two of them went back and forth and looked at a lot of different references, and really talked about how to blend everything into one and make a new unique portrait, because in Black Series we get to do real versions of these things.
It’s one that a lot of people have been commenting on and asking about, but it’s not based off of anybody. It’s based off of all the Dashes, and trying to figure out what Dash looks like [to us]. I Feel like they did an amazing job, and now that’s going to be the definitive Dash, because it’s the most real one.
io9: You’ve started exploring Shadowswe’ve seen Heir to the Empire figures like Joruus and Pellaeon. Are there other EU areas the team is interested in exploring in the future, or are you sticking to these circles for now?
Reiff: I think all those spaces are on the table for us, so it’s a matter of finding the right time and the right theme to support them. We’d love to do every bit of every Expanded Universe thing. On the canon side, we’ve got some great High Republic figures that we’ve touched on in various lines—like, we’ve got [Jedi: Survivor villain] Dagan Gera, that’s a great High Republic style character, but he’s in the Gaming Greats line. We’ve got the Acolyte characters in there, that’s a great example of that too.
But I think in terms of the classic stuff, the anniversary is going to be good times to visit those ideas, it’s a great time to be doing that stuff in the next few years.
io9: I’m glad you mentioned The Acolytebecause that’s a show Hasbro really supported with a lot of figures across Black Series and Vintage Collection. With the unfortunate news that we aren’t getting season two, fans were worried we might not see any more figures from you going forward, missing out on characters like Qimir. Even with the show not continuing, is it a series you are all interested in still exploring at some point?
Houle: Never say never, right? I feel like we’re willing to revisit a lot of things—we’re visiting prequels heavier right now for the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith. But I think in general, knowing that fans have been asking about [Qimir]knowing how popular he is… he’s definitely on our minds.
io9: As good as it is to see what’s coming down the pipeline, one thing collectors are starting to have to grapple with right now, and have concerns over, is the situation especially for U.S. fans with tariffs at the moment. From Hasbro’s perspective, obviously much of this is still in flux right now, but has the political situation started impacting decision-making—not just from the business standpoint, but as something the design team is thinking about?
Reiff: That’s the thing as well—we have the same questions. Most of those decisions are above our pay grade, and we’re dealing with it all as it comes along. I’ll say we’re committed to the stuff we’ve got in the pipeline and what’s going forward. There are no signs of that changing, principally, with what’s happening. But yeah: I think we’ll figure it out with everybody else, the collector’s too. We’re on the roller coaster with you guys too.
io9: Pivoting away from the serious, let’s talk silly. The other big Black Series surprise of the panel was Turgle in the Jedi pack. Those are games the team has visited a lot already, and we’re getting more, but why was the design team like, “Yes, now we do Turgle”?
Houle: There was a request [from Hasbro’s partners at Amazon] for a larger pack, a pack that size. And we opened it up to the team and asked what they wanted to do, and that started it all rolling in, Turgle and Skoova Stev. I think Skoova Stev came first! And then the possibility of Turgle worked out, and it started snowballing.
I really wanted mullet Cal to be a reality in the Black Series too. I would give huge, huge kudos to Eric Franer, and Tom Rego, on the development team. They’re gamers, you guys know, the whole Black Series team—they’re all huge fans. Eric was definitely pushing for Turgle and Skoova Stev. We have a lot of gamers on the team, so I think they were all cheering in their head as they were all like, ‘this is happening!‘. This is actually going to be a thing!
And I love the reception to is, because it shows how fun it can all be. We’re having fun, there’s silliness—this is such a fun pack for us to make, and I love that we were able to show it here.
Reiff: It’s the fact that Star Wars isn’t all Death Troopers and Darth Vaders. There’s Turgles and Skoova Stevs. It’s a galaxy of characters! It’s a really wide spectrum.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
