Serial Consumer celebrates and interrogates Evan’s relationship to franchised media and his addiction to purchasing its licensed products.

This past week was a light one for collecting but a big one for future prospects. Hasbro hosted a pre-Father’s Day announcements livestream on Wednesday. In that stream, they announced 12 additions to the 6” Black Series line, my preference for collecting.

This included eight figures from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story:

  • Cassian Andor
  • Jyn Erso
  • Bohdi Rook
  • K-2SO
  • Chirrut Îmwe
  • Baze Malbus
  • Galen Erso
  • Blue Leader

and four Archive Series figures:

They also previewed some releases for later down the year:

I already own several of the Rogue One figures and see no need for upgrades, but of this large number of announcements I fully intend on purchasing Cassian Andor, Bodhi Rook, K-2SO, Galen Erso, Blue Leader, Obi-Wan, Leia, 501st Clone Trooper and all six of the later releases. Many of these were on my want list from my Mandalorian S2 series of Serial Consumer. Good for me!

I also started reading through my Doctor Aphra omnibus, moving past the initial phase of the series as written by Kieron Gillen and into the Si Spurrier era. Not a big fan of the stylistic shift. Gillen remains one of the best writers in comics; although Spurrier is good, he doesn’t quite measure up. It’s still pretty enjoyable, though, and really ramps up connections to the larger Star Wars franchise when Spurrier arrives, featuring Hera Syndulla and Doctor Evanzen. I’m enjoying it.

This Ain’t a Clone Clubhouse

Battle Scars is the first half of a two-part midseason finale of sorts as we gear up for the next half of the show. It resolves two important questions: What will happen when Wrecker’s chip activates and where the hell is clone Captain Rex? Rex, for those new to the animated side of things, is sort of the clone. He was Anakin and Ahsoka’s close friend and the leader of their respective Clone Corps, the 501st and 332nd, respectively. The 501st has a long history with the franchise across both canons and even appears in Revenge of the Sith. You can tell them apart because their armor bears blue markings.

Rex has the largest role of any clone in The Clone Wars and makes a grand reappearance in Rebels. Canonically, he also fights in the Battle of Endor as part of Han Solo’s Forest Trooper squad. Fans hope he will show up in the Ahsoka show played in live-action by Temuera Morrison. I really do hope for this still. There’s a lot of fantastic story to be told with Rex. His moments in the Siege of Mandalore when facing off against his brainwashed friends and brothers are powerful science-fiction storytelling. Bringing him into The Bad Batch was inevitable and this season has, in some ways, just been a waiting game to see how he’d show up. I want to know what a Clone like him does after the fall of the Empire, too.

It was a good bet that he’d appear at just the right time to help resolve Wrecker’s headaches by teaching the Batch how to remove their chips. I’m glad that arc has come to a head and presumably resolved so that the story can move on to other conflicts, particularly the implied return of Crosshair next episode. Rex leaves the Batch with the promise of appearing again when they need help or calling on their aid when he finds himself in a sticky spot. The Galaxy is a dangerous place for Clones now.

It’s also nice to see the junkyard planet Bracca make an appearance. One of the best parts of the video game Jedi: Fallen Order (which I mostly disliked) was the invention of a world wholly owned by Scrappers taking apart the old ships used during the Clone Wars. The idea that a galactic war would result in so much industrial refuse that an entire planet would be needed to rip it apart is wildly interesting to me. I’m also always down to see more Venator-class cruisers. Star Destroyers have nothing on them.

Plus, a trash planet means trash monsters. Name a more iconic duo in Star Wars than dirty water and tentacles. I’ll wait.

What I’d Buy:

This week, like many, has been pretty light. The only new figure I would plunk some money on is a version of Rex in his gunslinger poncho. I already own Rex in his regular armor. All they’d have to do is sell me a version of the same figure sans helmet, but with a soft-goods poncho and a little more weathering on the armor.

I’ve never said I’m proud of my habits.

6” Gunslinger Rex — $20