At my core, I was a Star Wars kid. A happenstance find in a Children's Palace in 1978 lead to an obsession that lasted nearly 5 years. I played with 3 3/4" action figures because of Star Wars. My obsession with G.I. Joe was a direct result of them supplanting Star Wars as my preferred toy. This was due to a few factors. But, the greater accessories, improved articulation and greater variety of vehicles were the driving force to my transition to G.I. Joe. Despite that, I have a soft spot for vintage Star Wars figures. Once upon a time, I planned to get a complete set of the original Kenner run. But, as I got the money to do so, I found that I was far happier using those funds to build out my burgeoning G.I. Joe collection. That became my focus. I ended up selling off my vintage Star Wars figures as I didn't have enough to display and was fine with the 2000's era versions of my childhood favorite characters. The Star Wars Retro line, though, has scratched that old itch for vintage Kenner type Star Wars figures. And, I've acquired far more of those releases than I ever figured I would. My main impetus to get deeper into the Retro figures, though, is that Hasbro started producing Kenner style figures of characters we never got back in the '70 and early '80's.
In this year's set of 6 figures, there was one stand out for me: Garindan. Ever since I was a kid, I felt that Garindan was a major miss from the Kenner line. He was more important than Snaggletooth or Hammerhead. And, his affiliation was known...he was a bad guy. Not having him as a Kenner figure always seemed like a miss.
My parents got a VCR very early in the 1980's. My dad's best friend gave us his as he was more impressed with his new, BETA player. So, we had a VCR much earlier than most of my peers. My dad also had a work friend who had HBO when that wasn't something most people even knew about. My dad spent an uknown, likely LARGE, sum of money to buy a blank VCR tape and gave it to his friend who recorded Star Wars from an HBO broadcast. So, we had our very own copy of Star Wars that we could watch whenever we wanted. And, we got more than my dad's money worth out of that tape. We watched it well over 100 times. We were still watching it into the early 1990's. It wasn't until LucasFilm produced an updated trilogy boxed set in 1995 that we finally replaced that worn tape. (Oddly, the HBO broadcast cut a few seconds of dialog in the Death Star Control Room. It wasn't until I saw the 1995 tape with it restored that I even knew it existed. To this day, that scene seems more out of place to me in a Star Wars viewing than any of the Special Editions changes.)
Seeing the movie so many times lead me to appreciate many of the small characters who had not gotten vintage toys. I had reveries of a release of Han and Luke in Stormtrooper disguises, Grand Moff Tarkin, Biggs, Sandtroopers, Rebel Fleet Troopers, Cantina Band Members and, yes, Garindan. When I was young enough to still be playing with Star Wars figures, I wanted them all to fill out my adventures. When I grew out of Star Wars figures, I still wanted the figures for the memories they'd have created during my younger days. I just assumed that I'd never get to have most of these characters in plastic form. But, then, Hasbro brought back Star Wars figures in 1995. The first two waves were all updated versions of characters that Kenner had also released. But, as 1996 progressed, Hasbro started to break out a bit. We saw some new renditions of major characters. And, Shadows of the Empire brought some great figures that had never been made before to the Star Wars line. 1997 took this even further and released a handful of characters and outfits that had never been released before. Among these was the first ever release of Garindan.
Something about this Garindan fascinated me. Mostly, he was the first release of a new character that was on my childhood wish list. There was something about filling this decade+ old desire that made Garindan more important than he could ever be. And, when I got the POTFII figure in 1997, he did not disappoint. Sure, he just stood there with a communicator sculpted into his hand. But, in 1997, this was light years ahead of Kenner's figures. It showed all that was possible with Star Wars. I placed him in a place of prominence on my small, Star Wars shelf. And, there he stood, representing everything that Hasbro's return to Star Wars could promise. Over the next couple of years, I picked up a spare Garindan or two. Toys R Us sold a bunch of overstock figures for $3 or less. So, it was easy to snag an extra to have around. I never used him. But, he would often be among any figures that were on display. Eventually, though, all my POTFII collection was put away. And, most of it sold in 2007. I didn't keep the POTFII Garindan.
The reason for this, though, was because in 2006, Hasbro had produced an updated Garindan figure. This release featured substantially upgrade sculpting and articulation. His proportions were better. But, the real value was his accessories. Garindan included a soft goods cape. The material was light years ahead of the Episode I cloth gear that I had appropriated to my Joes. It was light but held its shape. It form fitted to Garindan's head and shoulders. It gave the figure incredible depth. Along with that, Garindan came with a new blaster that was more in scale with him. And, he had a removable communicator that he could hold. For no reason, Hasbro sculpted a perfect belt holster for him to hold both is pistol and the communicator. Post Prequels, Hasbro did some great things that drove value. And, this Garindan figure could never be a character who lived up to the level of detail and care that Hasbro put into his figure.
When I first saw this Retro Garindan, he elicited the same excitement as that first release from 1997. But, upon looking at him in the early photos, he seemed off. Mostly, this was just due to the quality of the 2006 figure. That figure was so perfect that no other rendition could really live up to him. Upon that realization, I was able to reconcile the Retro Garindan. And, in hand, he's better than I anticipated. He's kind of wonky. But, all Kenner figures were. He looks like a figure Kenner might have made in 1979. (Though, his blaster seems out of place and doesn't fit with the aesthetic of figure. It should have been a Han blaster or Bespin blaster.) The colors are good, the cape is there. And, the figure has the required hand communicator that is essential to his character.
I didn't know Garindan's name until the dawn of the internet. I never called him Long Snoot. I don't like that moniker for him. But, had he been released in 1979, Kenner would have called him something like that. And, you'd have sad, pathetic collectors screaming about how Hasbro's The Vintage Collection release of him that used a name placard of both Long Snoot and Garindan ruined their childhood. Being anonymous worked for Garindan. His look was distinctive enough that you could describe him to any fan with ease. He would have made for a great action figure. I'm sure Kenner's reasoning for their selection of the 4 Cantina aliens exists out there, somewhere. But, even as a kid, I questioned why someone like Garindan didn't get a figure while Snaggletooth did.
Next year is the 50th anniversary of the release of Star Wars. It is every collector's hope that Hasbro commemorates such an occasion with ample toys. The 40th anniversary (which, I swear was like 18 months ago....) didn't get a ton of fanfare. But, the 50th appears that it's going to be a bigger deal. At the 2026 San Diego Comic Con, Hasbro offered a teaser image of how many figures could be released in the Retro line in 2027. I counted 28 slots with an additional 3 large blobs that could be beasts, playsets, multipacks or even vehicles. In short, next year is going to be intense for Retro collectors. With that many possible releases, it has left me daydreaming of a perfect lineup. Questions, of course, still abound.
Will the 2027 releases be restricted to only Star Wars characters or will we see figures from all the movies?
Will we see remakes of classics or will they be all new figures?
Will they be released as single cards, boxed sets or a combination of both?
These questions and many others will be answered throughout the remainder of the year as we get closer to the actual release dates. Until then, I've let my mind speculate away as to what I'd like to get. I'm perfectly fine with updated versions of Luke, Han, Ben, Leia, Vader and Chewie. With proper sabers, soft goods, useful hands and improved heads, they would be a great capstone for the Retro line. (Yeah, we got a great Vader in the Kenobi line. But, he's the least likely character to get excluded from a release.) Beyond that, there are various Cantina denizens that would be fun to own after 50 years. A Biggs and even another pilot wouldn't be terrible. But, really, I'm hard pressed to come up with 27 figures that are left from Star Wars that really need to be made. Along with Tarkin from a few years ago, we've gotten at least 11 all new figures from the first movie in the last two years. That filled a lot of holes. And, the characters left are extremely obscure or rather boring.
But, if you get some Cantina band members, an updated Jawa, a real Imperial Navy Trooper, Porkins, Motti and the Elvis looking guy who was hanging out at the Cantina, I'll probably get them all. And, I'm kind of in a place where any Retro figures are that nostalgic nectar that I'll imbibe. So, I'm looking forward to 2027 and really hoping that the Retro figures continue both their relatively affordable price and their widespread availability.
In recent years, it dawned on me that Garindan is modeled after a medieval plague doctor. Before they became a common, clichéd Halloween costume, plague doctors weren't something that most people were aware of. So, Garindan was a design that was alien, but had enough familiarity that you bought into his plausibility. It was that grounding design that helped make the aliens so remarkable. There was thought and purpose behind Garindan's look. And, it was spent on a guy who had a few seconds of screen time and just two lines...spoken in an alien language.
Collectability wise, these figures are out there. Target didn't have the glitches that plagued the 2025 set. And, these 2026 boxed sets seemed to show up at retail stores in numbers while also not selling out online. So, there should be ample time to get them. Last year's set is now available for less than retail. (You should get another one. The 2025 set might be the best Retro boxed set Hasbro's ever going to do.) There's no indication that the 2026 follow up won't follow the same path. A week after I bought these, Target had them on sale for $10 cheaper. And, that didn't bother me. I'm happy with the set and the price I paid. That's the mark of a good product.
