Hasbro Star Wars Designer Mark Boudreaux Retires

Legendary toy designer Mark Boudreaux is retiring after a 43-year career working on some of the most iconic Hasbro Star Wars toys and vehicles.

Boudreaux joined Kenner as a University of Cincinnati co-op student in 1977, the year that George Lucas’ Star Wars first hit theaters. During his lengthy career, he designed all of the 3.75-inch scale Millennium Falcon vehicles, including the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Battle Action version for which he was honored with a 2015 TAGIE Award at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair for Excellence in Toy Design.

As senior principal product designer for Hasbro’s Star Wars team, Boudreaux’s work has come full circle, most recently with a 40-year-old toy that made its live-action debut on The Mandalorian. Developed as an original toy that kids could use to extend the Star Wars adventure at home, the Imperial Troop Transporter never appeared in the original films and didn’t enter the Star Wars canon until it appeared in animated form on Star Wars Rebels a few years back. Following its live-action appearance during the season-ending cliffhanger of The Mandalorian on Disney+, the vehicle is back in stores as a new addition to the Star Wars Vintage Collection lineup.

Boudreaux also designed the gigantic Jabba’s Sail Barge, which was successfully crowdfunded through the Hasbro Pulse HasLab platform.

There will be additional changes to the Hasbro Star Wars team following Boudreaux’s departure.

Veteran droid builder and designer Chris Reiff is joining the Hasbro Star Wars design team as an associate principal designer. Reiff has worked professionally on Star Wars-related products for the past 25 years, including recent books such as the Haynes‘ Owners’ Workshop Manuals for Rebel Starfighters, Imperial TIE Fighters, and the Millennium Falcon.

Sam Smith will be moving off the Star Wars brand following his run as product design manager. Smith will transition to other lines within Hasbro’s action brands portfolio.

The Hasbro Star Wars team will continue to be led by Vickie Stratford, senior director of product design.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.