The second wave of the 40th Anniversary 6” Vintage Card Back figures is slated to hit shelves in early June with some collectors finding them on the pegs right now! With that in mind, it's time to start thinking about how you are going to attack this next wave of Black Series figures.
When preparing for a Toy Run, which includes budgeting, I always start with a little prep work to make sure I am making the best choices in a fairly crowded collecting market. Spreading out your purchases by slowly picking up figures can go a long way if you are trying to budget your collecting funds. A strategy I often use is to try and predict which two figures are going to be the most elusive and concentrate on them when they first hits shelves. This strategy worked well on Force Friday when there were limitations on how many figures you could buy.
Other than pure luck, one of the important things to keep in mind when prepping for a Toy Run is case ratios (how many of each figure is shipped per cases of 8). The case ratios for the first wave of the 40th anniversary Black Series figures seems to have played a part in creating the difficult to find figures in wave 1, with R2-D2 and Han Solo being short packed with only 1 figure shipping per case.
Unlike the first wave in the 40th Anniversary series, which consisted almost entirely of repacked figures (Vader was the only new figure), we are getting three unreleased figures in wave 2: Jawa, Death Squad Commander, and Tusken Raider. All of these figures will move directly to the top of collectors must have lists but the 2nd wave has a much more favourable case ratios with two of the three new figures being shipped 2 per case.
Here is the case pack ratios for wave 2 of The Black Series 40th Anniversary figures:
(2) 40th Anniversary Jawa
(2) 40th Anniversary Death Squad Commander
(1) 40th Anniversary C-3PO
(1) 40th Anniversary Tusken Raider
(1) 40th Anniversary Stormtrooper
(1) 40th Anniversary Chewbacca
The Jawa and Death Squad Commander shouldn’t be too difficult to find but they are brand new figures so they will be highly sought after. Hopefully the higher shipping numbers will match the demand from collectors.
The C-3PO is a repack of the EB Games/Gamestop exclusive that is still kicking around on the pegs at my local shops. Completing the set with R2 is a must, but I don't expect this figure to be too hard to find.
Chewie was one of the peg warmers from the first TFA wave and he might end up carrying that distinction again with this wave. This version of Chewie was last seen in the first phase 2 wave of the Black Series (#04 - Blue Card) with a slight variation also found in the in the first TFA wave.
The Stormtrooper is a repack from an early Black Series wave (#09 - Orange Card) that may prove to be a difficult to find figure in wave 2. Collectors that missed this figure in its initial release may pick up more than one to complete both loose and carded collections. The Stormtrooper could be the wild card of this wave so make sure to pick it up if you see it!
It looks like the Tusken Raider will be this waves R2-D2 as it is the only new figure shipping 1 per case. It has been reported that this figure will be re-released with the Emperors Royal Guard/Lando wave in standard Black Series packaging later this year, but if you see the vintage card back version buy it!
A lot of collecting comes down to luck and being in the right place at the right time but having a plan never hurts, especially if you don't have endless funds. My priority for this wave will be the newest figures, especially the Tusken Raider, but I may grab the Stormtrooper up front and not take the risk of missing it!
Which figures in wave 2 do you think will be the most elusive? How do you attack The Hunt? Let us know in the comments below!
Thank you for reading,