Star Wars: Galaxy Of Adventures

“The Force is strong with this one.”

Star Wars has been a cash cow ever since the first film hit screens back in 1977. There have been countless books, TV shows, comics, and more that have been available for over four decades. Toys have always been a massive part of the brand and make up a huge chunk of profits for it, Disney, and George Lucas. The toys have sold well to children (and adult children like myself) from the beginning, so it puzzled me a bit whenever Disney, Star Wars, and Hasbro announced that a new line of toys and video shorts would be released that specifically targeted at younger audiences. This line, dubbed Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures, began in 2018.

The series features short animated episodes with stylized animation that is blended with live action moments from the films. Each episode lasts between one and two minutes and includes narration that gives a brief summary of key characters and moments in the Star Wars saga. The first season was used to build up to The Rise Of Skywalker film. A second season, focusing on the sequel trilogy, was also released. The final episode, released on October 28, 2020 in the United States, was Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was the fifty-fourth episode in the series. No word has been given on a potential third season. Disney officially lists the series as “pending” according to a number of sources but nothing else has been mentioned about the series.

Part of the reason that the series is in limbo might be due to the lukewarm reception of the show itself and the coinciding toy line. While both were very popular, they weren’t “Star Wars” popular. The toys have moved slowly off of store shelves and many of the first figures in the line can still be found hanging on pegs at Walmart (which had exclusive rights to the initial toy line). Around Christmas last year, tons of the figures were found in stocking stuffer bargain bins for five bucks each. Seeing this reminded me of the time when Hasbro repacked underselling The Clone Wars toys in “Bonus Value” eight packs at Walmart at Christmas time. If I remember correctly, those packs started out at $19.99 and, at least in my area, they warmed the shelves until well after Christmas where I managed to pick many of them up for under ten bucks apiece.

I’ve seen the Galaxy Of Adventures figures in stores recently selling for $3.99. Just after Christmas they were going for $2.50 on clearance. Their initial price point was around nine dollars. I’ve picked up a few of them over the last couple of months and I have to admit that I rather like them. Each figure is surprisingly well articulated and comes with an action feature that differs from figure to figure. For example, the Han Solo figure features a “Sling and Blast” attack feature where Solo’s right arm flicks the blaster into a shooting position. Darth Maul comes with a “Dual Sith Strike” feature that has him twist his lightsaber which can be split into two pieces. Each figure comes with at least one accessory as well. Some, such as Kylo Ren, come with two accessories (removable cloak and lightsaber). All of the figures have highly stylized features that look similar to the characters on the animated series.

I don’t know if Hasbro will continue making these figures nor do I know if the series will ever have a third season. The series is pretty good but older fans may not care to watch as it’s simply a condensed version of stories from the films. The figures are definitely cool and deserve to get into the hands of little kids and adult collectors, but I believe that the original price point made a lot of parents and collectors shy away from the figures. Five dollars seems to be a more reasonable asking price for this line of five inch figures. Some of these figures have arrived on eBay at the standard bloated prices that scabbers sell them for in the hopes to cash in on desperate fans. I wouldn’t pay more than five to ten dollars for these figures, and I’d only pay ten bucks for a figure that I really want to own.

I do recommend snagging a few of these figures for your collection. As I’ve already mentioned, they stand roughly five inches tall but they are scaled somewhat as you can see the in the Han and Chewie photo above. Darth Maul is especially short, but he’s to scale compared with the other figures in the line. Keep an eye out on clearance shelves for these guys. You might just walk out of the store with a Boba Fett for under five dollars.