Confirmed by Funko earlier today, and shown in GameStop store signage for the upcoming May the Fourth festivities, the four Star Wars Pop! Vinyls rumored to be exclusive to GameStop here in the US are actually exclusive. Yes, all four… Han Solo [Hoth], Chewbacca [Hoth], R2-B1, and Figrin D’an.
This is what we know/ have been told:
1. Prior to April 16th, these four Pop! Vinyls were available for pre-order for a release date that day. On 4/16, the release date was changed to 5/4 (or May the Fourth, the unofficial/official Star Wars Day) and pre-orders stopped. That was our first inkling that these might be store exclusives. Previously, only one was actually labeled as exclusive in the database, that being R2-B1. NOTE: Pre-orders are no longer available, so don’t expect to be able to go into stores this week to snag yourself a set.
2. These figures will debut at GameStop IN STORE on May the Fourth… IF there are any left from pre-order fulfillments. Some stores simply might not get any for regular retail sale. The production runs are not known, nor are the amount of pre-orders that happened. Some customers are being told by employees that they should not be surprised if they get to stores on Monday and there isn’t any stock on the shelves. Additionally, there is no indication that these will appear online through GameStop’s website.
3. The will rumored to be not reissued. This is a one run-and-done deal, according to managers at GameStop. These are special releases for May the Fourth and not meant to be a regular releases on the shelf.
4. Currently, two of these four GameStop exclusives in the US are available online at Popcultcha, an Australian retailer. R2-B1 and Hoth Chewbacca (known on that site as Snow Drift Chewbacca) can be ordered and are considered “IN STOCK” at the time of this article posting. Click here to order.
Also, you can order all four including Hoth Han Solo and Hoth Chewbacca from Forbidden Planet, a UK based retailer, and are currently up for pre-order. You can order them here.
5. People might say “but Figrin D’an was in the Toy Fair catalog!”… I myself used it as an argument, until the Funko reveal of the newest Star Wars series this summer showed that instead of Figrin D’an in that set, it’s actually one of his band members Nalan Cheel. Personally, I hope we get the other three members this summer.
So, here we have it. Like it or not, GameStop will have exclusives. Congrats to those who pre-ordered these guys, as I am sure they will be hard to track down. For the rest of us…. May the Fourth be with you…
Matt Norris