Author Topic: 2005 - year wrapup  (Read 12327 times)

Offline CHEWIE

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 14630
    • View Profile
2005 - year wrapup
« on: December 16, 2005, 12:12 PM »
From what I've seen, wasn't this the best year for modern collecting?

Seems like other toy lines have pretty stocked product, but everywhere I go, people are looking through the Star Wars items and grabbing whatever they can find that's left.  It has been this way since April, with very few times of pegs being overloaded - and that was only with a few figures here and there that truly were pegwarmers.

So what are everyone's final thoughts as this line ends?  Would you have liked to see it go a bit further? Maybe another wave or two?  What were you really happy with?  Where were you let down?  What did they miss the boat on? 

 :P

Offline Jayson

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 11050
  • I am one with the Force and the Force is with me
    • View Profile
    • www.yakface.com
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2005, 12:22 PM »
The main thing I was disappointed with this year was all the exclusives, and their lack of availability and the pricepoint.


I would have rather seen them available at every retailer at maybe 2/3 the price. By doing this, Hasblo would have gotten their product in the field, virtually guaranteeing sales and making more money to boot.

They almost got it right with the Evolutions line, but they didn’t continue that line long enough.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2005, 12:23 PM by jedijaybird »
Yakface.com Owner/Content Manager
Follow me on Twitter - @yak_face / @JediJaybird

Offline Darby

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 4236
  • I'm not with that guy
    • View Profile
    • darbyharn.com
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2005, 03:20 PM »
The ironic thing about this year is that Hasbro planned for it to perform the same as the previous movie years, to the point they were going to pull the plug in the 4th quarter for TSC.  And now they have absolutely the hottest line out there, and very little product to show for it.  I'm not complaining (too much), I've found pretty much everything I wanted to find. 

This was the best year of the PT era, by far.  My biggest gripe was the exclusives.  Too many and way overpriced. 

Offline Jim

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1806
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2005, 03:21 PM »
Though I am sick of the line already, I would agree that is was a good line.  I only had two problems with it.  First we still never got a Mace figure that was over the top like the Obi pilot.  This is still the one fig that has never been done right.  Second gripe is the repaints.  I only saw 1 Shocktrooper and 1 Black Pilot at retail.  And I looked daily.  The distribution it seemed in some areas really sucked.  I would of certainly bought them if I found them.  Hopefully they might show up after the holidays at clearance.  Much like the Commtech Stormies did a few years back.  I aint holding my breath though.   Getting all the Clone repaints showed me that Hasbro was listening on the army building mentality but at 1-2 a case it failed IMO.

Offline Jeff

  • Administrator
  • Jedi Elder
  • *
  • Posts: 26285
  • Leave me where I lie
    • View Profile
    • www.JediDefender.com
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2005, 03:23 PM »
The main thing I was disappointed with this year was all the exclusives, and their lack of availability and the pricepoint.

My biggest gripe was the exclusives. Too many and way overpriced.

I'll go in for a third on this point.  

I really enjoyed all the new stuff, even the goofy repaints at the end of the line, but tracking down all this exclusive stuff was a pain (I'm still missing the WM Twin sets) and the prices we had to pay for some basic figures ($10 at TRU, $13 at Target, $15 at SWShop) sucked ass.   >:(
Editor-in-Chief  - www.JediDefender.com
On Twitter?  Follow JediDefender -> @jedidefender

Offline Brian

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 11749
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2005, 03:32 PM »
I'll agree with what others have said.  Aside from the exclusive headaches, and some troubles with distributions (Tarkin, repaints, etc.), this was easily the best PT line.  The figures were overall pretty great, with increased (sometimes VOTC level) quality and articulation, and things sold well so we weren't always stuck with a ton of pegwarmers (with some exceptions).  We really got some neat stuff this year, and Hasbro made some better decisions as far as offering more clones than in the AOTC timeframe, where we basically had preview clones and red clones.  Good character selection for the most part too, with not TOO many versions of main characters, at least not as bad as previous years it seemed.  I'll also agree on some we missed out on, we still need a good Mace Windu (after 3 movies now), and there are others (Padmes) that need to be addressed as well, but hopefully we'll see that in the future.  All in all though, TONS of product this year (most figures in a year ever maybe?), and some really nice figures out of the line.  Take away the crazy amount of exclusives (and insane prices), some distributions issues (which are always a problem), and it was a good year overall.  One thing this movie line reminded me of is how crappy the AOTC/Saga line really was.  Although I was quite excited hunting them down at the time, those figures (for the most part) sure do look crappy now...especially the initial waves.  Good year for collecting in 2005 though, even if it was a little (very) hard on the old bank account :).

Offline Gatillo

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 962
  • I'm a llama! So what?!?
    • View Profile
    • Yes, I work on Antarctic bugs!!!
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2005, 04:38 PM »
I think this line did a lot for SW collecting.  A lot of stuff was easily accessible (craplusives aside) and nicely priced (again craplusives aside).  We did not get a huge $100 point vehicle and that is a bit dissapointing for me but I understand that big vehicles not move fast (no pun intended).  The line had some amazing figures and vehicles (ARC-170, the gunship which I love and will probably buy any color variation they make, I am a vehicle sucker and the wookie copter) and not as many main characters as previous lines.  Even the deluxe figures were really nice (Obi and grevious aside).  I never got lightning plapy and now I regreat it.


Aside from the elusive pricey exclusives and the fact that I never saw a black pilot, a tactical ops trooper and a second shock trooper >:(, I had a great year with this line. 8)
You are never alone when there's a clone.

"Feel don't think"...and she slapped me right after I said it too.

Offline Jesse James

  • Staff Member
  • Grand Master
  • *
  • Posts: 35448
  • Slippery When Poopy
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender.com
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2005, 07:29 AM »
I think, without a doubt, that Revenge of the Sith had THE best movie year ever...  It has had bumps though at times, and some that look to be more like ruts for future trouble actually.

The line's success, I believe, is attributed 50% to a vastly improved film this time over the predecessors...  People didn't want to like Star Wars after Episode I came out and basically was a flop to the general public...  Episode II came out and while it was better to many people's eyes, it still was a flop in the eyes of the general public.  It wasn't "cool" to like Star Wars because Star Wars sucked...  I liked the movies enough, but die-hards are bad to judge a film by and the toy lines I believe suffered tremendously based on the respective film's success rates.

The other 50% of the success the ROTS line has had I attribute to a very high jump in quality over the past two toylines tied to a film.  The figures were vast and varied, they were made to appeal not just to a single demographic but in an attempt to appeal to "everyone" as best the company felt they could...  Really, ROTS felt like it was still a collector's year on top of a movie year "devoted to kids".

Hasbro can claim kids drive the line, but the simple fact we got two sculpts of Clones tells me Hasbro doesn't even believe this mantra completely anymore.  Kids are important but fickle, and they know they have to cater to us even in film years.  I like that.

Hasbro had great hits from the basic line, to Deluxe, and beyond.  The Evolutions concept is probably their best idea in 10 years, and they've touched on really making the basic line get to where it needs to be for collector's to generally be on cloud 9 most of the time.  They still regress at times it seems, both in ROTS and in some future Saga'06 figures, but Hasbro's improved the line since 2003 quite a bit I believe...  I just wish they were more constant.

Sales are high, undoubtebly, and I'm anxious to see quarterly reports after X-Mas time.

At the same time though, Star Wars is going into unknown waters...  And Hasbro DID drop the ball at times, as has retail.

-Target's exclusives are absolutely dickish at this point I believe.  The pricing is out of control, and Hasbro fuels that fire but really ought to rethink what they're offering I believe...  Price and availability make them the "chase figure" of this line, and a dangerous edge to be walking on for Hasbro...  This could be the kind of stuff that ultimately kills collector support for Star Wars much like it did for Star Trek, especially going into a time when kid support is going to start drifting away as it inevitably will.

-Distribution was poor from about April to August...  You couldn't find a Clone on the pegs till September in most areas, and that's a huge negative for the line.  I think it hurt.

Similar distribution problems have gone into the holidays now, where retailers were burning out on Star Wars, and haven't seemingly ordered enough to satisfy demand.  Even I'm at a point where I can't find X-Mas gifts for the kids.  Again, at a crucial time everything everyone wants is gone...  Hell practically everything nobody wants is gone too!  We're at December 17th now...  Where's the ****?

-And looking towards the future, I see Hasbro regressing in quality some.  I'm hoping it's more a case of older items maybe just now seeing release, so their quality levels are perhaps more atuned to 2003 than 2005/06, however some cutbacks on some figures started surfacing in the ROTS line...  This is disappointing if it's going to be the start of a backwards trend in the line's quality on certain figures here and there...  Or that only one figure out of a wave is really gonna get the quality work while the others get shafted.

What happened to an entire wave ala the Cantina Wave, where each figure impressed you equally?  That was setting a line standard, and that's where we should be.  This just strikes me as a forseable issue that will frustrate some collectors.  I bought my ROTS figures, I loved them...  I'd hate to pay the same (or potentially more) for what feels like less in the upcoming years.

Anyway, just some observations...  Star Wars is popular.  Even old stuff that was basically crap last year this time is being bought up at times.  My local Toy Show had clearanced Episode 1 stuff going for as much as $10...  How much sold, I do not know, but I do know that something lit a fire under those fat balding comic book guy's asses to jack their prices up...

I think times will change as we get further from the movie though.  And a good movie it was...  It's amazing to look at Star Wars as something other than a dying line at the moment.  This same moment in 2002 it looked like we'd be lucky to get a handful of figurs for 2003 because pegs were clogged to the brim with crap and the line had gone through its worst slump since the Episode 1 figure glut.  How things can change with good figures (overall) and a good movie that even the most critical people were enjoying it seemed.

Here's to hoping for some good TV series to perhaps keep things afloat for quite a while.
2011 Rebel Fleet Trooper Gets My Seal Of Approval!  But Where's The Friggin' Holster On Him!?
Jedi Defender.com Contributing Editor, Twitter @JediDefender & @Jesse_James77

Offline TheBlackDog65

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 613
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2005, 11:44 AM »
I think this has been a really outstanding year for Hasbro and for the 3 3/4 inch line. Most of the product was solid, more of the overall line was outstanding, and the horrible figures, though still there, were less then before in a movie year. I was not a fan of the deluxe figures, I actually think outside of the Anakin to Vader and the Vader Table that these figures were really poor. Also, those spinning attack figures did not work at all. There were some great solid vechiles and I personally believe that the ARC 170 is perhaps one of better ships we've gotten lately.
Hasbro put togeher a great line this year, but I have to also state that they have re-earned their title of ReHashbro as well. Much of their success has come from taking a basic figure, ship etc and redoing the figure or ship etc. We can see that with the clones, with the Jedi Starfighters, the Gunship etc.
For the future I think the biggest thing that the ROTS line has done, is to continue to raise the bar for what Hasbro can do (looking at the SA 41 and the Obi Wan Pilot as examples). So in the Saga line, I think we will find some great figures, and a few that really will raise the bar. However, we will also see the rehash continue, or the remix (like Boba Fett), and I think that will impact the line somewhat, because of collectors like me. I bought one of everything in the 3 3/4 line for ROTS (more of some), but am now going back to how I was prior to ROTS and only buying one of the figures (except for a few clones or army builders) and I will be passing on about 1/2 of the line (the rehash or remix if the remix is not a huge improvement on the orginial figure). Thus that will decrease demand, and I think the farther we get from the movie, the less interest will be there by the kids. Luckily, I think as you can see at rebelscum, you have a new generation of young teenagers who are now caught up in collecting, which will fuel the drive.
In the end, I see some wonderful figures, a few outstanding, lots of rehash and remix. This year was a great year, and I will remember it for restoring the thrill of the hunt and of collecting SW in general. The future is yet to be determined, the jury is still out.
"For too long gentleness has been equated with weakness.  Yet it takes more strength to be gentle than to be mean."

John Keeshan

Wants: Saga Wave 3

Offline Darth Broem

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3001
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2005, 09:40 AM »
I was totally stunned how well things went this year both for the movie and the toy line.  I was almost to the point where I did not think of buying that many ROTS toys.  Until I started seeing the trailers and the toy product online. 

The figures themselves were so much better than anything we had gotten with Ep1 and 2.  Finally some articulated figures that were not in one pose.  Yeah, it helped tremendously that the film itself was actually a good movie this time around.  Maybe not the best Star Wars film but it was certainly watchable.  Yes, the general public seemed to be enthusiastic about it this time around. 

Yes, there were some turds thrown in the toy line and the movie but not nearly as bad as the past 2 movies.  Say what you will about the lack of clonetrooper sculpts but the Commander and SA molds were quite nice and kept the collectors happy for the most part. 

I am floored how to actually see kids in the Star Wars aisles this year.  Twice kids beat me to a red shoktrooper (the only 2 I've seen) and seemed to know what they were.  I walk around and I hear Star Wars mentioned in a much more positive light than in years past.  It seems to have a cool factor again not only for this year's film but the originals as well. 

I don't know what the future holds but right now it seems quite bright.  Hopefully the T.V. series will actually be good to keep it up for a few more years. 

All in all I am pleased with what happened to Star Wars this year and pleasantly surprised. 

Offline Greg

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1899
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #10 on: December 18, 2005, 10:06 AM »
I really enjoyed this year. The Post- OTC, Clone Wars Animated, and Sneak Preview figures really held me over till ROTS. ROTS was not my favorite Star Wars line ever, but this year was the first year where I didn't have too much trouble finding stuff and I only had to order 3 things online. i thought the clones would be very, very hard to find, but I could pick up a clone every time I walk into my Wal-Mart if I wanted to.

Offline Darth_Anton

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 10672
  • Whatever
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2005, 02:15 PM »
This was one of the more fun years of collecting for me, and most expensive. I'm glad we had a year like this, but I hope the remaining years are a bit more mellow, but with product just as easy to find.
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel - The Imperial Communique -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyEfCtMv1lWhxSH-B1Scr4g
"Snark is the idiot's version of wit."

Offline SpudTrooper

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 678
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2005, 04:47 PM »
This was one of the more fun years of collecting for me, and most expensive. I'm glad we had a year like this, but I hope the remaining years are a bit more mellow, but with product just as easy to find.

i doubt it   :-\

Offline Reid

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3255
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2005, 08:11 PM »
This year was pretty good. It was my first Midnight Madness, and also the first time I was obsessing over seriously collecting a line. I rate it 7/10.

Offline CHEWIE

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 14630
    • View Profile
Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« Reply #14 on: December 19, 2005, 02:06 PM »
Looks like most peopel really enjoyed 2005 - I know I did.  It was expensive as hell, and an army builder's dream.  So many things went right this year, that is't hard to be negative.  There are a few things I think they missed out on though -

(1) Large land vehicle - an AT-TE or Juggenaut in the $100.00 range should have been made.  So much is said that large items don't sell, this seems to be the year where they would have though.  Star Wars was too popular this year to not have a large scaled item like this.  It would have been the centerpiece of the line.

(2) Lack of Separatists - another vehicle, like the Tank Droid would have been ideal, plus some sort of Deluxe 3-pk with all Battle Droids, or two Battle Droids w/ one Super Battle Droid.  So many Clones, but only Jedi to kill...

(3) Padme/Lars Family - only one Padme figure, and still no Owen or Beru.  That's a shame.

(4) Repaints -  most of the repaints like the Shocktrooper and black Pilot were just too hard to come by, and shortpacked.

Other than that, what could I complain about?  I think it was the best year for Star Wars merchandise since 1983 - period.

 :P