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Messages - Nicklab

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5836
The Vintage Collection / Re: The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
« on: December 7, 2013, 01:06 PM »
That's a great point about the CommTech Reader. Way ahead of its time and shy of the mark of real interactivity. If they had integrated that technology into the vehicles/playsets, or beyond to any kind of gaming, then maybe. But that was 15 years ago (!!!). The more I think about it, it's the toy industry in general, rather than any particular brand, that is suffering right now.

There was a second generation of CommTech chips in the works.  The figures that were to be offered with that second wave of CommTech technology eventually became what we saw in the POTJ line.  Rumor had it that when you placed multiple second gen CommTech chips on the reader that they would interact with one another.  But from a marketing standpoint the concept fell flat.  Hasbro probably would have been better served by packing a figure with the CommTech reader, but it's all ancient history.

The action figure segment seems to be reaching for SOMETHING to bring it back.  But I think it's really suffering because the market has become oversaturated by properties that THINK they can sustain an action figure line, and a shift towards video games on either console systems, computers and handheld devices.  I suspect that what may help is if we see a game developed by both Hasbro and EA with content that's unlocked by codes with a figure.  Will that happen?  We'll see.

5837
The Vintage Collection / Re: The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
« on: December 6, 2013, 02:52 PM »
I know Episode VII is going to be ga ga gangbusters and will have the full spate of product we expect but I agree with you, it isn't going to be the SAME product we expect.  Video game/Interactive model is the now and it is going to happen. 

I agree.  The action figure model has been running since 1978 as we know it, and that trend appears to be on the decline.  Unless Hasbro can find some way of making those figures & toys interactive with gaming systems.

What I think we're likely to see in the next 1 to 2 years?  The Kinect concept is pretty big with X-Box, and I think we're going to see other consoles pick up that kind of technology.  I think Hasbro is very likely to offer a lightsaber that interacts with these consoles with a game.  Perhaps in a partnership with EA.  And I think Disney can bring those parties together to make something like that happen.

But the lack of media support is also at play here.  However, with the new animated series launching next year I think it's likely that we'll see an uptick in sales.  Will that translate across the board, and not be isolated to just the Rebels series?  We'll have to wait and see.

It's funny though.  I know that in it's time we decried the CommTech reader of 1999 as nothing but a gimmick.  But the concept seemed to be a little bit ahead of it's time.  The concept had some foresight regarding interactivity and media combined with figures.  I suspect that this "New Thing" might actually owe something to the concept behind the CommTech reader.

5838
The Vintage Collection / Re: The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
« on: December 6, 2013, 02:05 PM »
It does seem that play patterns are shifting towards interactivity with gaming consoles and computers.  When I go into TRU these days I'm struck by the enormity of the Skylanders feature display at the front of the store.  Some 30+ feet of shelf space is dedicated to this particular property, and it seems that popularity is due to how the toys interact with video games.

As for the current spate of sales?  We're in the home stretch of the 2013 retail season.  And we always see significant sales this time of year.  It is worth noting that retail sales stats show that spending in 2013 is DOWN from spending during the 2012 holiday season.  That macro statistic indicates a more broad softness at retail than being isolated to any one intellectual property like Star Wars.

As for Star Wars?  I believe I've said this before, but it bears repeating.  I think we're in a transitional stage.  Hasbro is trying to find the next big thing from a play pattern / marketing standpoint.  And Lucasfilm / Disney are still dealing with the new realities of the corporate takeover.  Much of the licensed future of Star Wars is going to depend on how Episode VII shapes up, along with the upcoming Rebels animated series.

So fear not, Chicken Little.  The sky is not falling.  We're just waiting to see where things are going next.

5839
The Vintage Collection / Re: Amazon Vintage TIE Interceptor
« on: December 5, 2013, 04:26 PM »
Not as good of a deal as Slave I, IMHO.  I'll wait for it to go on sale again later in the season.

5840
The Vintage Collection / Re: Amazon Vintage TIE Interceptor
« on: December 5, 2013, 02:34 PM »
Slave I was 40% off with it's lightning deal.  Basic pricing for the TIE Interceptor is $39.99, so I imagine we're looking at a sale price of something along the lines of $23.99.  We'll just have to wait and see at 4 PM ET.

5841
The Vintage Collection / Re: Amazon Vintage Slave I w/Carbonite Block
« on: December 5, 2013, 01:24 PM »
Got mine.  At $42 the price was definitely right.

5842
The Vintage Collection / Re: Amazon Vintage Slave I w/Carbonite Block
« on: December 5, 2013, 11:16 AM »
this is going to be on a Amazon lightning sale today at 1 pm eastern time

What is a Lightning Sale? Or the real question I have is how cheap are we talking?

We could be looking at a significant savings during the lightning sale.  I'm hoping that it might go as low as $39.99.  I'll definitely be checking it out at 1 PM, because I've been holding off.  Here's the link.

5843
Saga Legends / Re: Saga Legends "Mission Series" Figure 2-Packs
« on: November 30, 2013, 05:57 PM »
And for $10 a pop iirc...  People are kinda dumb. :/

+1

That figure PLUS the Obi-Wan he's packed with are going to be pretty readily available soon enough, for the whopping sum of....




Wait for it...




Wait a little more.....



$10!


Collectors are dumb, impatient people sometimes.  They really are.

5844
The Bullpen / Re: The Avengers: The Toys
« on: November 30, 2013, 07:13 AM »
The Helicarrier is on sale at TRU this weekend for $39.99

5845
The Vintage Collection / Re: Toy R Us Vintage Republic Gunship
« on: November 29, 2013, 01:36 PM »
$89.99 on Black Friday along with the MTT

Black Friday Deals At Toys R Us


Saw these in the store today at $89.99 each. Also on sale are the Jedi & Clone 4-packs at $29.99 each.

5846
The Black Series 3.75" / Re: Amazon Droid Factory Multi-Pack
« on: November 28, 2013, 10:56 PM »
Heck yeah! I was hoping it would stay at $40 for a while and pick one up but I just placed my order for a set. Came out to $37 after tax and shipping for me in Texas, but still a great, great deal.

They've actually got a special going at Amazon for a free month of Amazon Prime.  That translates to free shipping!

5847
The Black Series 3.75" / Re: Amazon Droid Factory Multi-Pack
« on: November 28, 2013, 10:55 PM »
$29.99 as of now

WTF?!?!

I sent an email to customer service at Amazon.  Let's see how many of these orders they'll price adjust.  I only placed my order about 1 week ago.

***EDIT - 1 hour later, and I have confirmation from Amazon Customer Service that they're refunding me the price difference.  Very cool, Amazon!!!

5848
The Black Series 3.75" / Re: Amazon Droid Factory Multi-Pack
« on: November 28, 2013, 11:51 AM »
I finally got around to opening the shipping box for my Droid Factory 6-pack.  I'm glad I bought it at the sale price, because when I looked at all of the figures in the set, I was kind of underwhelmed with the character selection.  FA-4 and TC-70 are cool, but otherwise the set seems a little lame.  There's nothing really new about them.  Aside from FA-4 and Jabba's protocol droid, the rest of the figures in the set feel like a bit of a letdown.

5849
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Toys R Us (Or: Die, Dinosaur, Die!)
« on: November 22, 2013, 03:54 PM »
No sign of any of the TRU Holiday Express stores around here just yet.  But then again, it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  But I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up seeing some of those seasonal stores pop up in the next week or two.

As for other Brick & Mortar toy stores?  I've seen more of these Smart Toys locations popping up in mall locations.  The prices are on the high side, but seeing how they don't have to worry about other toy specialty chains as competition, they can probably manage with some holiday traffic.

5850
The Black Series 3.75" / Re: 16 Most Useless SW Figures
« on: November 20, 2013, 05:04 PM »
As a rule, I tend to find almost ANY list post on a website (that isn't say a wishlist poll) to be an absolutely useless exercise, and totally designed to drive web traffic.  I can't say that this iO9 looks any different.

Move along, move along.

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