Swords and Spaceships

So that's it then. Toys R Us went into liquidation today, effectively the end of the big box toy store in America. Apparently, in Canada the chain is staying afloat, but who knows for how long. I'm kind of saddened by this, but for other reasons. Mostly that my niece and nephew will probably never know what it's like to go into a store like Toys R Us and be overwhelmed by the size of it all. And that 33,000 working people lose their jobs. That's the worst part. And now the founder of the chain has passed away. I'm sure it's heartbreaking to watch a bunch of vultures swoop in and destroy the company you worked your entire life to build. I'm indifferent as to what this does for collectors. My local TRU closed after Christmas 2014, and though I made several trips to the Cedar Rapids or Des Moines locations since, I don't think I've actually purchased anything at a TRU store since the GI Joe 50th Anniversary line offered the Battle Below Zero set. Or...

Big Damn Barge Hasbro revealed this bad boy at Toy Fair this year, Jabba's Sail Barge scaled for your 3.75" Star Wars figures. 4 feet long, and enough space for all the Jabba's menagerie figures you've collected since 1983. It's incredible, and possibly could be another jewel in the Star Wars crown. It's an interesting experiment- Hasbro is seeking 5000 backers in the US only (so far) at $500 each to get one of these that will ship in April 2019. It's a Kickstarter model, and therefore Hasbro wants their money April 4th of THIS year. Otherwise, it doesn't get made. I can't blame Hasbro for mitigating their risk by asking for their money now. $2.5 million is a lot of money, and I'm willing to bet the tooling costs more than that. I'd love to have one, obviously. I think the window is too short, but if they made it too long, it wouldn't happen. If there was an option to split up payments, I'd be in already. The GI Joe Collector...