1/6 Hot Toys - CMS016D58 Doctor Aphra (Marvel Comic): 0-0-0 (Triple-Zero)

With Disney Star Wars floundering lately, maybe Aphra could be their Deadpool equivalent of shaking up the status quo and be an edgier side of Star Wars? While Star Wars is undeniably aimed at kids (of all ages), that doesn’t mean everything needs to be. Andor certainly wasn’t for kids. Heck, Aphra and her droids are Disney creations so they should own up to them and embrace them for what they are. They can be kept in check if they hang out with Mando for an episode or two but if they had their own series or movie then maybe lean into an MA or R rating. A hard PG-13 could probably work though.

So at first I was like "this is a dumb move for Hot Toys to make one of the duo limited... why would you kill sales on BT like this? May as well make both limited".

But in all honesty... It was all pretty smart.

They are somewhat obscure characters but mostly use existing molds. So they would be cheaper and easier to produce, but there isn't a clear indicator of how well they would do for Hot Toys. You are also asking folks to commit to 2 figures (for the most part), so that makes it even riskier for them to produce and sell them as you are asking for customers to spend over $500 on a pair of comic book inspired repaints..

Best solve is to make one limited. Get hype going... quick sellout. We honestly have no idea how well Triple Zero would have even sold had it not been a limited release with the hype surrounding that.

Now Hot Toys is pretty much guaranteed to sell at least 2K of the companion piece. They can gauge the preorders and the number of Triple Zero produced to set production number on BT. No overproduction stock to sit there and destroy your profit margin.

And for fans, they honestly did us all a favor by not making BT limited as well. Imagine how much it would have sucked to score Triple Zero and then have to fight AGAIN to preorder BT? I am very thankful I can just order BT to go with Triple Zero with no additional hassle.

Lastly... a bit of sneakiness to benefit Sideshow. Put BT up first and get orders. Then release Triple Zero after as a limited. When folks miss Triple Zero and now go back to cancel BT... Sideshow gets to keep $22 NRD on all those orders if I am not mistaken?

Pretty smart all around.

Buttmunch said:

Heck, Aphra and her droids are Disney creations so they should own up to them

Click to expand...

Just how naughty and nasty is this Dr Aphra?

Buttmunch said:

With Disney Star Wars floundering lately, maybe Aphra could be their Deadpool equivalent of shaking up the status quo and be an edgier side of Star Wars? While Star Wars is undeniably aimed at kids (of all ages), that doesn’t mean everything needs to be. Andor certainly wasn’t for kids. Heck, Aphra and her droids are Disney creations so they should own up to them and embrace them for what they are. They can be kept in check if they hang out with Mando for an episode or two but if they had their own series or movie then maybe lean into an MA or R rating. A hard PG-13 could probably work though.

Click to expand...

I agree with this take.

What makes it into PG-13 these days is very different from 20 years ago. I think we could easily get the murderbots into that framework.

And even then, to be colorfully dark doesn't mean it needs an R rating. I don't know if Star Wars needs that anyways.

There's a couple of things about Aphra I find interesting from a business standpoint for Disney.
-Her story is different than what we've got before, interesting, and can be sold in a pretty engaging manner.
-You can easily serialize her stories as adventures in the Star Wars universe with the occasional push to progress and overarching narrative. In other words, there's room for show writers to work, but also ways to pad out a series
-She'd be a female, minority lead that I feel would be less open to scrutiny (because there's always going to be THAT vocal audience who can't accept either of those things)
-Vader, especially because Hayden is on board again
-Merch. Can you imagine how many Glub Shittos Disney can develop for all the locations you have Aphra go to? Bars, cantinas, underworlds, ancient planets. I can see this being very lucrative in that regard.

But honestly, I think the coolest catch is simply the idea of a space Indy who works with Vader while exploring the criminal underworld feels like a pretty solid hook.

I like the Deadpool analogy to be honest. You can easily modify how intense her presence is based on where she's being used narratively as well. She's flexible in that regard and thus a good tool for Disney.

Again, the more I think about it the more it just makes too much sense to do it.

Wor-Gar said:

Just how naughty and nasty is this Dr Aphra?

Click to expand...

Not in a sexual way at all, but she's a real piece of work. She is a betrayer par excellence. She seems really nice and friendly, she does funny stuff. You like her. But if it suits her purpose to abandon or strand you, she will. If it suits her, she'll kill you. Or kill your significant other, in order to incite in you a murderous rage that suits her goals.

She CONTINUALLY does self-defeating things that serve her in the moment, but that ensure she will not have a happy life. She knows this, yet she still does them. She repeatedly says that there is no happy ending for people like her.

VADER LIKES HER. He does not admit that. But he does! There is no other excuse for the amount of times he lets her live. Except that one time he shoved her out an airlock... but tbh, she had that coming.

She's very conflicted, and that makes her interesting. That, and her giant box full of tookas that explode when she repeats a particular catchphrase. Endlessly resourceful.

Indiana Jones but he sells the Artifact instead. Super simplifying but that how I sell her character to friends.

Ramatuelle said:

Not in a sexual way at all, but she's a real piece of work. She is a betrayer par excellence. She seems really nice and friendly, she does funny stuff. You like her. But if it suits her purpose to abandon or strand you, she will. If it suits her, she'll kill you. Or kill your significant other, in order to incite in you a murderous rage that suits her goals.

She CONTINUALLY does self-defeating things that serve her in the moment, but that ensure she will not have a happy life. She knows this, yet she still does them. She repeatedly says that there is no happy ending for people like her.

VADER LIKES HER. He does not admit that. But he does! There is no other excuse for the amount of times he lets her live. Except that one time he shoved her out an airlock... but tbh, she had that coming.

She's very conflicted, and that makes her interesting. That, and her giant box full of tookas that explode when she repeats a particular catchphrase. Endlessly resourceful.

Click to expand...

Very wonderful write up, entirely accurate and makes me want to re-read her stories!

Wor-Gar said:

Just how naughty and nasty is this Dr Aphra?

Click to expand...

Rama’s summary is great. I think it just depends on how graphic they want to get with the droids and the violence. Again, they are Disney original characters so they only had so much they could get away with. I think Disney tries as hard as possible to pretend sex doesn’t exist in any of their properties

I heard someone else call her Belloq as opposed to Indy so that’s probably a good way of characterizing her. Maybe a good antithesis to Wanda Syke’s character on Bad Batch.

Buttmunch said:

I heard someone else call her Belloq as opposed to Indy so that’s probably a good way of characterizing her.

Click to expand...

Futurion said:

Huh? Sideshow has no business in Europe. It's for the US only, really.

Click to expand...

Sideshow used to have distribution centers in Europe but closed them a long time ago. They still possess the HT distribution rights for Europe. Local Euro retailers are resellers, with many sourcing from Hong Kong resellers to indirectly get stock. These issues inflate the price of Hot Toys in Europe. Most Europeans are better off ordering from places like One Sixth Kit. I think they’re pretty much SOL on these exclusives unless they sit up until 1 am to 3 am to jump into the virtual queue at Sideshow or deal with HK resellers.

We've gotten all these versions of 3PO except the one I want. (ANH)
Yes, its a sneaky repaint with another name.

She looks and feels like a Star Wars "Harley Quinn" to me -- the cheesy-grinned bad-girl that gives fanboys their first... well, you know.

“Hey now! Watch the glow stick mista V!”

Buttmunch said:

“Hey now! Watch the glow stick mista V!”

Click to expand...

That's totally where this Doctor came from. Disney wanting a Star Wars 'Harley'.

Wor-Gar said:

She looks and feels like a Star Wars "Harley Quinn" to me -- the cheesy-grinned bad-girl that gives fanboys their first... well, you know.

Click to expand...

NOT AT ALL. Aphra bows to no man. She does not fangirl anyone, not even Vader. There is a world of difference between the two, for instance Harley is many degrees less lethal. Aphra disarms you with her ordinary appearance: cute, but no knockout as far as looks.

Vader does have some regard for her. But Vader is no Mistah J. Haha, not a bit.

I’m happy there is so much love for Aphra here. Is she the future of SW?

choombaz said:

I’m happy there is so much love for Aphra here. Is she the future of SW?

Click to expand...

We could be so lucky! No, instead we will get the much beloved [*snicker, tee-hee*] "The Acolyte." Can't wait!

*annoyed sigh*

Ramatuelle said:

NOT AT ALL. Aphra bows to no man. She does not fangirl anyone, not even Vader. There is a world of difference between the two, for instance Harley is many degrees less lethal. Aphra disarms you with her ordinary appearance: cute, but no knockout as far as looks.

Vader does have some regard for her. But Vader is no Mistah J. Haha, not a bit.

Click to expand...

I dunno. Those two pictures above sure make her look visually as a Harley KO. Disney would love to have a female SW character as instantly popular as Harley. And I suppose there are some that would say there's great depth to Harley as well...

choombaz said:

I’m happy there is so much love for Aphra here. Is she the future of SW?

Click to expand...

I'm guessing, however she started out, she'll become more and more like Harley. The masses have spoken, and will speak again...

Wor-Gar said:

I dunno. Those two pictures above sure make her look visually as a Harley KO. Disney would love to have a female SW character as instantly popular as Harley. And I suppose there are some that would say there's great depth to Harley as well...

Click to expand...

Those are issue covers. For what Aphra is really like, look inside the books. There is nothing the least bit va-va-voom about her, she never wears revealing slinky outfits, she does not have huge breasts nor is she titillating in any way. She does not have luxurious flowing locks, her hair is smashed flat under a leather pilot's helmet. Nor is she fixated on one particular and highly flawed man.

Aphra is all over the Empire, doing shady stuff for her own benefit. Occasionally Vader directs her, but other than that its all about those profits. This character has been around a while, if they wanted her to be Harley v2.0 that would already have happened.