It was 1999 before the third wave of Exclusive Premiere’s Babylon 5 collection hit the shelves, and by that time, it was also obvious that this toy line was in trouble. With more than enough first and second wave figures still taking up shelf space, Toys R Us stores declined to carry the third wave, which now became a Diamond Comics exclusive. Diamond Comics carriers had been the only place to find the earlier waves’ variant figures; now they were the only place to find any of the new figures at all.
Again, articulated legs were scarce; Lyta and Lennier were permanently rooted to their spot. The figure of Dr. Franklin was one of the best likenesses achieved in the entire series of B5 toys, but his neck rotated from the collar up (unlike Sheridan, Ivanova and Garibaldi, whose necks rotated from the base of the collar), giving him a sort of bull-neck appearance. Garibaldi was one of the most eagerly-awaited characters in the B5 toy line, though his plastic alter ego came out looking something like Ed Harris after downing a stout glass of lemonade (!).
Not seen in the above photo is a fifth figure, not a variant, but an entirely new character: a very detailed Shadow Sentient creature. The Shadow Sentient was included with some collector’s edition packs of the B5 collectible card game, as well as being available as a separate item very briefly. That figure is so intricate that it has its own entry to accomodate the additional photos necessary to really get a good look at it.
A fourth wave was planned, consisting of Captain Lochley, Bester, a Gaim, a Pak’ma’ra, and a Drazi, but not long after production started, Exclusive Premeire gave up on the Babylon 5 action figures. They weren’t selling well, and few people can argue against the financial standpoint that no money was really being made with them. Wave 4, if those characters hit the shelves at all, would be exceedingly rare.
Thus ended the Babylon 5 toy line for most collectors.
