In theory though you would expect that the product managers could request sales data from the internal business unit that manages HTS.com. 

If its anything like the company I work for their willingness to share data is suspect and the product managers don't realize the turns on a Saga Legends Stormtrooper is 1,000 times that of an X-Wing Biggs.

I think that's a cop out on Hasbro's part.

 

I think this is a cop out as well. 

I've managed enough product lines and whole portfolios to know that some products within your portfolio have better margins than others and you need to be looking at the whole portfolio, not individual items or waves.  You need to balance gross margins with turns.  There is no point getting great gross margins if your turns are terrible (e.g. backed up pegs with TPM).

I don't know that they should go to a 2x each new figure in each case as there are going to be figures that kids likely won't care much about (Toryn Farr), but I do think Hasbro could do a lot better job managing their case assortments.  Particularly when you look across the lines Legends, Mission Series, TBS, CW/Rebels.  I think its tough when you've got four different repacked Jedi Anakin figures on the shelf across all the lines and they all back up, especially when stores are only allocating a few pegs and re-order when the counts get down to near zero.

I frequently drive by 3 of the 872 ToysRUs stores in my area, but getting to a KMart requires mapquest and a packed lunch.

And a Glock.

I guess I just don't sell as much on Ebay these days.  I remember when it was a few cents to list, then relatively low percentage basis on the final sale.

Now its free to list your items!  Unfortunately now they hit you when the sale completes.

I agree that ebay has become a lot harder for the casual seller.  I used to feel okay about buying cases of figures to get what I wanted and then ebay the rest.  These days its no where near the trouble to do that because of all the fees, the hassle, etc.

Yeah, its pretty sad when you have to mark up shipping just to break even. 

Don't forget your PayPal fees as well.

I'm with you Justin.  If I can strike a deal off-line with people I do it every time, especially if I'm the seller.  It saves you a TON in fees.

Are these sets exclusives to the different retailers listed below (and Lego.com)?

75013 - Umbaran UHC (Target)
75024 - HH-87 Skyhopper (WalMart)
75025 - Jedi Defender Class Cruiser (TRU)
 
I must have missed the memo and thought that these were going to be available through all retailers. 

Jayson posted this sweet link to a Wired.com article on Yakface.com

I haven't crunched the numbers, but it implies that Star Wars has been a huge revenue driver for Lego. 

It looks like there have been about 375 different Star Wars sets, which appears to be more than all of the licenses combined.  And it would have cost you $14,762 at retail to put this collection together.  No wonder my wallet feels so light...

I had a nearly complete (just missing a few TPM items) boxed Hasbro 12" collection that I sold off individually.  I probably got $0.75 on the dollar for what I paid for it. 

A handful of items are selling at a decent premium.  Half sold for about retail, and about 1/3 sold for steeper discounts of $9 for a $20 figure. 

As I mentioned previously, probably 1/2 of my collection sold to international bidders with nearly all of the big ticket items going internationally.

I did sell my stuff in the November/December time frame so I might have gotten a little boost from Christmas shopping.

It was amazing how much room I created by clearing out my 12" collection.  All those boxed items took up a ton of space.  Probably eight very large moving boxes worth of stuff.

It was a lot of work though.  Finding all the items in my collection, taking photos, finding comparative pricing on eBay, listing them on eBay, re-listing them on eBay, shipping, and dealing with all the auctions was a lot of work, but I ended up getting $2000.