Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,072: Grogu (and Luke Skywalker, The Black Series)

GROGU & Luke Skywalker
The Black Series The Book of Boba Fett Deluxe Figure
Item No.: No. F8345
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #07
Includes: Yoda hilt, Yoda lightsaber, Luke lightsaber, backpack, frog, wrapped gift, box, clear stands, bolt stand, rock formation, training remote
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $44.99
Availability: July 2023
Appearances: The Book of Boba Fett

Bio: To help him hone his skills and understand the ways of the Force, Grogu trains with a new Jedi Master: Luke Skywalker . (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Click here to buy it at Walmart now!

Commentary: It is rare that you hear about a toy in a store because you can hear some guy complaining to his girlfriend about the price. This Luke Skywalker and Grogu pack - a slam-dunk from a product development perspective - rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way at $45, as it's basically a $25 figure with a $10 smaller figure with a $10 upcharge. Is it cool? Yeah. If Hasbro didn't make it, would you probably complain? Eventually, yes. Given that you get a rocky base, a training remote, a few lightsabers, a chest, a little chainmail packet, and some other goodies, it's a lot of stuff in a box - but "a lot" does not equate to "visibly worth the asking price." Little accessories are awesome, but fans don't clock those as a true value-add after the numerous price increases in recent years.

Hasbro has sold fans many Grogu figures in The Black Series, most of which were "accessories" in deluxe action figure sets with obligatory mark-ups. Like many, this one has moving arms and a moving neck - it also looks pretty much like everything else you've seen despite having a new pose. He can plug in to a clear plastic effect part so he looks like he's jumping to dodge training remote blasts, and it looks great. Hasbro did a nice job here, but I would say that adult fan collectors probably have all the Grogu they need right now. It might be interesting if we saw some unique, expressive, non-articulated figures as cheaper accessories, because there isn't a whole heck of a lot that's different about this figure. It's by no means bad - it's just that you had multiple chances to get something nearly identical.

I have heard a number of fans lament that a lot of products seem to exist not for fans nor collectors, but rather Internet toy photographers. This would probably serve as evidence for this. You can pose Luke with the little package of armor, or showing Grogu the lightsaber, or pulling out the little box, or any of a number of scenes - but they're not fun, and the parts are easily lost without a storage mechanism included in the set. It would be great to see more emphasis on storage, be it in the figure or tucked in an accessory's alcove, mostly so the fan is not tasked with finding small baggies or boxes to store all the extra accessories they will never look at once this figure goes on a display shelf.

This set is a great package for a new fan. It's a spectacular entry-level product that shows off what this line can do and probably will convince a few fans to try collecting this line since you get a lot of cool stuff in a box without a lot of chasing things around. At $35 (the rate on Amazon as I write this) I'd go as far as to say it's an excellent set for the price - but at regular retail it's hard to really make a case that it's worth the asking price.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,072: October 12, 2023