Happy May 4th! Today is of course Star Wars day. While not much at retail has changed, we did receive one surprise from Entertainment Earth, with the announcement of a pre order for Admiral Piett! Take the jump belo and place your pre order for this fantastic figure now!

Official street date for the Target exclusive Black Series "SOLO" Chewbacca was May 1st. There are reports coming in from across the US of collectors finding Chewbacca in stores. Be sure to check your local store ASAP. This figure has it's own DPCI 087-06-9531 and retails for the standard $19.99. Be advised! There are also reports of "Error" figures packed with a gun that is missing the slide lever. No word yet on how wide spread this problem may be. So if you find one, take an extra few seconds to verify it is not missing the slide lever.

Here we are, a full 10 days after the street date "Launch" of Hasbro SOLO: A Star Wars Story products. Yet many collectors are running into the same problem. WHERE is the new product? Friday came and went, with little to no real excitement or product availability. Target stores were a bit more on top of things, with larger dedicated shelf space and new merchandise being available. Almost all retailers only received one or two cases of figures, leading to quick sell outs, or being scooped up by scalpers. Even basic 5 POA figures were limited to only one or two cases on pegs.

With the current Disney model of one new movie a year, it is totally understandable that Hasbro is under extreme pressure to keep up and stay ahead. It takes 12-18 months from concept to retail. This may very well explain the lack of characters available, but does it also mean product availability has to suffer? We all know Hasbro lost the "Jurassic Park" license to competitor Mattel. Hasbro's last attempt for JP movie toys was absolutely dreadful. While the current JP property model is NOT one movie a year, that obviously means they have a much longer lead time to get product on shelves. Lots of product. With articulation and action features. Judge for yourself as you look at the images below from a typical Walmart Store. See the difference between dedicated retail space for the upcoming movie "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (which is nearly full) versus the retail space dedicated to the upcoming "Solo: A Star Wars Story". (Still no 6" figures, no Vintage Collection and only two pegs for basic) Also, on a side note to Hasbro. Seriously, HOW MANY TYPES OF LIGHTSABERS DO WE NEED?

While we await for the scale over-priced Haslab offering of a scale Jawa Sandcrawler, click below for an impressive video of what you can do with the OTC version if you happen to own it.  Thanks again to Bill at CreatureCantina.com for the link!  United We Find.

Hasbro is constantly looking for ways to strengthen fan relationships and connect with the passionate Star Wars community. We're thrilled to share that Hasbro Pulse is celebrating the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story by launching its first-ever fan unboxing contest.  The winner chosen will not only be adding this piece to their collection, but Hasbro is also inviting them to come to Hasbro HQ to unbox a new product from The Black Series line for the first time.

Official rules to enter the #HasbroBlackSeriesUnboxingCont​est can be found here and the submission deadline ends at 11:59pm ET on 4/18. Be sure to check the @HasbroPulse Instagram on 5/25 when the new The Black Series product will be revealed! Also, if fans are interested in adding to their Hasbro collection, Solo: A Star Wars Story product is now rolling out at retail until the movie's theatrical release on 5/25.

It's no doubt beginning to be quite to take to not only handle the Saturday crowd at C2E2 but endure the walking.  Click below for a quick photo gallery of what is the biggest day of the convention in terms of attendance.  Thanks again to the staff at ReedPop for an amazing, well run show that included a new incorporation of security.  Kudos to staff and volunteers for making Saturday morning, easier than last year.

With the return of the Vintage Collection for 3 3/4 inch action figures, we are happy to announce Figure Shield has a protective case now available for this line!  Click below to keep the dust and more important UV rays from hitting your figures.  Make sure to mention where you heard about them Troopers, United We Find.

In the latest Han Solo trailer you will see just a glimpse of some of the action promised next month, click below for a 45 second preview of what director Ron Howard says "will not leave you disappointed"!

We've got some fun stuff this week.  Get excited. We have a bunch of new Han Solo: A Star Wars Story items and they are now for sale. We have also added a very rare Han Solo figure to our vintage inventory.  Plus we have just added ungraded 20/21 back figures and much more in our newsletter.

As sad as it may be, the toy release of the Solo figures from Hasbro might be the worst debut yet.  It appears many Target and Walmart had the date of 4/15 when it was supposed to be 4/13!  How did you do in your hunts?  Please drop a line in the forums or our Facebook page. United We Find!

The largest pop-culture event in Chicago took place last weekend downtown and needless to say we have determined C2E2 still holds the title! While there was no exclusive available for Star Wars fans, the amount of new and older Star Wars product on the floor made it more than worth the trip.  Click below for our first photo gallery from Friday!

Fans who tuned in to American Idol got a chance to see the second Solo trailer and what a treat it was!  I must say I'm a little more optimistic after seeing the second clip, click below in case you missed it! United We Find.

It's been quite an interesting year so far for collecting.  This year at New York fans had the opportunity to see Jabba's Sail Barge and the new Haslab project that launched.  While we have all dreamed of owning this item forever, it's just not something we can get behind as much as we'd like to see it come to production and our collections.

In a time when Star Wars is making strides to be "all inclusive" I find it repulsive that fans will miss out on this based upon their geographical location or income status.  We also feel like this is opening a nasty can of worms for collectors who do this for fun, not because they are rich.  It's been nearly five years since Hasbro has done anything with the 3 3/4 line and it's a shame that they feel 60 days is long enough time for regular people to come up with that sort of disposable income.  Hopefully they will come to their senses and give everyone a fair shake to own the coolest toy they've ever made.

Early reveals ahead of Toyfair show some upcoming items based on the Han Solo story. We get the report via our friends at Yakface.com who have not only some early peaks at the upcoming 6" Black Series line, but also some new figures from the basic 5 POA line. Click through for more information, as well as details on an all new, yet very familiar vehicle.

From all of us here at Sandtroopers.com, Here's wishing you all the best for 2018!

Happy New Year!