By Keith Johnson
Don’t forget the Fett!
Today is the long awaited release day for the Boba Fett single and the seemingly unrelated Marvel Battleground.Plus, Why is Marvel Battlegrounds good news for Hera Syndulla read on.
As with previous versions of Disney’s infinity, I bought infinity 3.0 on day one. Actually, having the luxury of living 10 miles from Disney World, I bought the starter pack on day “minus one”. This was a neat little trick that I learned (too late for version 1 & 2). Apparently Disney releases all infinity products one day early, on property at Disney World (and presumably Disneyland.) I bought the WiiU starter box at Once Upon a Toy at Disney Springs (previously; Downtown Disney, Disney Marketplace, Disney Village.) The rest of the collection was my usual mix of stores to take advantage of each retailers individual promotions.
Disney releases their new Infinity line right as school starts each fall. The initial release includes a starter set for each game platform, an additional playset or two, and a collection of companion figures and power discs. Disney has changed their Powerdisc strategy each year but they stayed true to form releasing additional figures and play sets throughout the fall. As in previous years I did all my research on which Star Wars figures, sets, discs, etc were being released where and when.
The starter set came with Twilight of the Republic, a Clone Wars era theme and two additional Clone Wars single figures available, Obi Wan and Yoda. The four Rebels figures (WTF? no Hera!) were each a timed exclusive for specific retail chains (retailer exclusive for 30 days).
The second wave in October included the next Playset, set in the New Hope era, called Rise of the Empire. It included Luke, Leia and the game piece. Two additional Rise of the Empire figures, Han Solo & Chewbacca, were also included in the October release. Confusingly, Darth Maul (I-III & Clone Wars) and Darth Vader (IV-VI) were then released but according to the game they are NOT part of their corresponding play sets. There’s a secret reason that this might be a VERY good thing (more later).
December brought The Force Awakens playset, adding Ray, Finn, Poe, and Kylo.
So what’s with Boba Fett? Where does he Boba fit? Well…
Up until TODAY fans of the Bounty Hunter who play Disney Infinity were left with two bad choices: buy the $100+ “Saga Bundle” or buy him as a single on eBay for $50+.
The “Saga Bundle” was an expanded starter bundle that added Rise of the Empire and Boba Fett to the starter set but it was only available for the PS3 or PS4 version. We didn’t have a PS4 (or 3) when Disney Infinity 3.0 was released, we had WIiU and that’s the version that I bought at Disney on day -1. By day one I realized Fett was not coming out in 2015 so I decided to pick up a Saga Bundle. Target had $25 off $100 on release day, making the set $85. I figured I could sell Boba Fett for $50 (which I did on day 2) leaving me a starter set for my future PS4 (I was waiting for the SW edition PS4 of course) and I still got to play the Rise of the Empire set one month early.
As the second and third wave rolled out, I still didn’t hear anything about Boba Fett. The $30 profit was nice but if I had know it would be almost 7 months I might have just kept him. I bought another Saga Bundle in December when Best Buy had it for $75 but I never opened it. I really thought they would eventually release Fett but he never came out, until TODAY! So rejoice and play on Fett fans!
By the way, remember I said that Maul and Vader not being part of the ‘Republic’ or ‘Empire’ sets could be a good thing? As you know, fans of the show were doubly slighted there was no Rebels Playset or Hera figure. Well, Vader was on Rebels Season 2 and it was just announced recently that Maul is joining Rebels as well. And, maybe they are not part of Republic or Empire because they are part of an unannounced and upcoming Rebels Playset! (This time they better bring the Hera!)
This would not only make sense but has precedent. Also released today was Marvel Battlegrounds. Battlegrounds is a Marvel themed game piece that allows you to play all those cool marvel figures from Infinity 2.0 in an all new game on Infinity 3.0!
We can be sure that there will be a Rogue One playset timed out with the movie but my guess was that since Rogue One and Rebels take place in vaguely the same era (between III & Iv) that we will see a Rebels game piece and Hera figure sold as a Star Wars Playset to play on the next iteration, Infinity 4.0 when it comes out next year. This would be a great opportunity to introduce Rebels to the uninitiated Star Wars fans who bought infinity 3.0 for the more familiar charecters and want to use them in a game next year.
I said “was my guess” because I just learned from an article by Mike Minotti March 1, 2016 on venturebeat.com that Disney is not releasing the presumptive sequel to 3.0, in fact the Marvel Battleground playset also released today heralds in a new consumer friendly era where we will not have to buy a new edition and lose the use of our old games just to play the new ones. According to the article there will be at least four new playlets next season and all will work on 3.0; one Pixar, One Disney animation, One Star Wars and one Marvel. The first of those, Marvel is Battlegrounds, released today. Presumably if theres only one Star Wars playset to come, it’s going to be Rogue One but if there isn’t going to be an Infinity 4.0 and today’s set counts as one of those four then its a safe bet to say that there will be more than 3 more total. My money is on a Rebels set to be announced for the fall. Fingers crossed Rebel Legion!
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Keith Johnson
REPORTER
Keith is the proud patriarch of a Star Wars fan family of four. Born and raised in Chicago and the north shore suburbs, Keith describes his life as a progression of moves ever closer to Walt Disney World. Close enough now to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from his back yard, Keith currently divides his time evenly between family and volunteer work for eNable. Specifically, Keith is one of very few permanent, active volunteers working for the Enable Community Foundation. ECF is the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports, coordinates and directs a worldwide group of volunteer e-Nable members who give away 3D printed prosthetics to kids and veterans. Keith & family are up on most local Star Wars connections and frequent the Central Florida theme parks and festivals. They are fans and collectors of all things Disney or Star Wars, from LEGO to Infinity to Star Tours to Clone Wars & Rebels. Expect some great footage and short interviews of WDW Star Wars events and celebrities.