Five POA are MIA: Who’s buying Star Wars action figures?
Triple Force Friday is on its on October 4, when the big toy releases from three different Star Wars properties become available. Missing this year however is a venerable mainstay of Star Wars toys, the five points-of-articulation figure. What does this mean for collectors and toys in general?
October 4 marks what has become a standard practice since Disney took over Star Wars, “Force Friday,” when the toys associated with an upcoming film become available. This year, fans will be seeing “Triple Force Friday” as toys and collectables from the filmThe Rise of Skywalker, the TV show The Mandalorian, and the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order all hit stores.
Recent reveals have shown a number of items targeted toward collectors, but missing where the standard actions figures with five points of articulation.
The f5 POA figures harken back to the old days of collecting when the toys were definitely geared toward children and playability. The Kenner corporation trail-blazed the 3 3/4″ (or roughly 1/18th scale) action figure, allowing for vehicle playsets that would be feasible to put in stores and reflect the movies. (For a great look at the original vintage line, please check out the Star Wars episode of The Toys That Made Us!) .
When Hasbro eventually inherited the line, it began in the ’90s with the “Power of the Force” 5 POA figures, but eventually started making more complex figures. Its “Vintage Collection” maintained the scale, but added articulation previously associated more with the G.I. Joe line.
Eventually Hasbro began to create “The Black Series.” These figures changed to a six inch (1/12 scale) figure aimed-and priced-more toward adult collectors. When The Force Awakens came out, the box store kid market was considered again, and 5 POA made a reappearance. This primarily meant a lower price point as action figure prices had crept up along with inflation and oil prices for plastic production.
Each Disney Star Wars movie has had a line of 5 POA figures, but the toy market has changed as well. One could point to the fact toy sales have dropped, but action figure sales have maintained or grown…but not Star Wars action figure sales.
It’s become a regular sight at retail to find “peg warmers” going back perhaps two film releases in the 5 POA line.
Adult collectors seem more geared toward the 6-inch Black Series figures, or the higher price point 3 3/4″ Vintage Collection (which will see five figures released on Triple Force Friday), but collectors have been cold to the 5 POA. Hasbro did make an effort to gear the figures to kids with the “Galaxy of Adventures” line which re-packaged 5 POA figures in a new display, and tied the line to the delightful series of short cartoons aimed at a younger audience. Despite that, those plastic cylinders seem to be sticking around on shelves as well.
So, this year, the 5 POA will be appearing only as gold-plated anniversary figures commemorating the Skywalker Saga, but nothing for TROS, The Mandalorian, or Jedi: Fallen Order. The Galaxy of Adventures line will now be a 5-inch, stylized set of characters aiming at that younger audience.
It is hard to say in a changing market whether the 5 POA will return, or for that matter if they need to. With a majority of adult collectors seemingly saying good riddance (though on most message boards with harsher language) and kids more interested in Jurassic World action figures, perhaps it is time for the 5 POA to join the G.I. Joe on a hiatus from toy shelves.
They have returned before, however, and I am willing to bet the nostalgia and relative ease of production will get them back on shelves in some capacity. Until then though, some collectors will be waiting to have a Cara Dune scaled to our Constable Zuvio. It seems a bit of a slight not to be able to complete a sequel trilogy collection in the same style of figure.
Next. 4 highlights from Star Wars’ Triple Force Friday reveal. dark