New York Toy Fair 2020: The Black Series News

2/23/2020 Toy Fair The Black Series

This article is part of our New York Toy Fair 2020 coverage, you can find Hasbro and Disney press releases and press photos here: New York Toy Fair 2020.

The Black Series @ New York Toy Fair 2020

Hasbro had all soon-to-be-released Black Series 6" figures on display, along with previous releases, Mandalorian figures and the over-the-top fantastic Snowspeeder with Dak Raltar. Let's just dive right into what was new and newish!

Entirely new Black Series figures/vehicles on display included:

• Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder Pilot) (pre-order here on Entertainment Earth)
• Hoth Rebel Trooper (pre-order here on Entertainment Earth)
• Probe Droid (pre-order here on Entertainment Earth)
• Dak Raltar with Snowspeeder (the figure was announced but not on the show floor) (pre-order here on Entertainment Earth)
• The Child (from The Mandalorian) (pre-order on Entertainment Earth)

Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder Pilot) will be released single carded in Hasbro's Black Series 40th Anniversary Of The Empire Strikes Back Collection. This is a cool looking figure with a cardback which was never done in the original Kenner toy line. Luke will come with a removable helmet and his lightsaber, but unfortunately there won't be a harpoon included. 

The Hoth Rebel trooper will also be released in the 40th Empire Collection and it will include a second exchangable face so you can army build it, and have the figures look different on the shelf (you can get about 8 different looks out of this one figure, goggles down/up, scarf on/off, 2 different faces etc...). The additional face can be stored inside the Hoth Rebel Trooper's backpack, watch the video below to see how it works.

The Black Series Probe Droid is the 3rd Black Series Deluxe figure and it looked great in person. It includes a Hoth-inspired base so that it can "hover" above ground. The Probe Droid packaging features the classic Empire Strikes Back logo which looks cool. You can pre-order it on Entertainment Earth now, it ships already in March or sooner. 

The Black Series Baby Yoda/The Child was on display for the first time. It's going to be released in a "Porg-style-type" packaging and it's going to include a frog, a knob and what appears to be a soup bowl. Because Baby Yoda is small it'll be cheaper than a regularly-sized Black Series figure and cost $9.99 (EE has it up for pre-order).

The show-stealer (move aside Baby Yoda!) was the Black Series 6" Snowspeeder. The attention to detail, which the Black Series is known for, was on full display here. It is a true 1:1 scale interpretation of the T-47, it has opening air breaks, removable battle damage on one side and the harpoon has an about 18" long cord which can retract into the vehicle. The Black Series Snowspeeder costs $119 on Amazon (you can get it here) and other retailers (it's a great price when you consider that a single Black Series 6" figure already costs $19.99). This by the way is the only way how you can get a Black Series 6" Dak Raltar figure, there are currently no plans to release him single boxed.

The 40th Anniversary Collection

In addition to the above mentioned Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder Pilot) and Hoth Rebel Trooper figures, Hasbro will also release following figures over the course of the year to celebrate the 40th Anniversary Of The Empire Strikes Back (the links (sponsored) will take you to Entertainment Earth if you want to pre-order them):

• R2-D2 (new dirty paint deco and never released on a Dagobah card during Kenner days)
• Lando Calrissian (photo real update)
• Luke Skywalker (Bespin, entirely new head)
• AT-AT Driver (repack)
• Tie Fighter Pilot (repack)
• Princess Leia (Hoth, repack)
• Yoda (repack)
• Han Solo (Bespin, repack)

• You can get a full case of wave 1 on EE (one of each)
• You can get a full case of wave 2 on EE (one of each)

Besides a lot of focus on the 40th Anniversary Of The Empire Strikes Back, the Black Series line will also see new additions for the prequels and sequels. All of those figures were already revealed last year at several different European conventions, but Toy Fair gave attendees the opportunity to look at them up-close in person.

All the figures on display looked great overall, stand-outs were Clone Commander Bly, Count Dooku and Jedi Master Plo Koon, they looked REALLY cool.

If you want to get any of those figures, again, check out Entertainment Earth. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker from Attack Of The Clones were on display, Obi-Wan however was only inside the packaging, and Anakin at some point was moved so that it was impossible to get a good picture of him. In person however, they both looked nice.

Even though there weren't any new Black Series 6" figures on display from the Mandalorian besides Baby Yoda, there was still a full display at the show. The top row featured the Vintage Collection, but right below were the Offworld Jawa, The Mandalorian, Cara Dune and IG-11 in their Black Series packaging. 

The number one topic at Toy Fair 2020 was Baby Yoda, and with that of course The Mandalorian TV show. With that much hype surrounding the tv series it's safe to assume that The Black Series line will see additional figures based on the show in the future.

To sum it all up, Black Series 6" fans have it good, this is clearly where Hasbro's Star Wars focus is. The photo real face printing tech really pops on some of the figures and Plo Koon and Count Dooku in particular stood out with their great head sculpts.

The Snowspeeder looked amazing, and the timing of the release is perfect to celebrate the 40th of Empire. Add to that all the awesome throwback Kenner-inspired cardbacks for The Black Series line, and it's a great start into 2020 for Black Series fans. Vehicles in The Black Series line are hard to pull off because of the size, so it's great that Hasbro is giving it another shot with the Snowspeeder. It's an aggressive price point at $119.99 (which also includes a figure) and hopefully it'll sell well enough so that we see more smaller scaled vehicles that can fit on shelves in the future.

Just like with the 3.75" Vintage Collection, there will be a lot more reveals over the coming months and throughout 2020.

For the full coverage of New York Toy Fair 2020 have a look here: New York Toy Fair 2020.