I agree with the need to capitalize on ROTS while the movie is fresh in kid's minds. With the sheer quantity of figures that were released during the movie year, the greatest battles and heroes and villians assortments were not a bad idea. I'm sure many kids filled holes thanks to those assortments, as parents weren't going to buy 60 plus figures in a single year.
But I want to continue kicking around this dead horse I keep talking about. Playsets. And maybe playsets isn't the right work- Settings with Props would be more accurate for what I am trying to describe.
Consider: The newly redone Saga X-wing with Dagobah muck and swamp monster. This thing looks great, was unexpected, was not being clamored for, and is doing very well. It is a diorama in a box.
While there are new people in the hobby, there are some of us that have been here a long time. It is true that the list of figures that "need" to be done, particlularly from the OT, is getting small and is starting to look more like a list of figures that need to be upgraded.
I want Hasbro to bail on the big box stores for a while, and try something new. Galactic Hunter has a blogger section that touched on this recently, and it is something I have been making noise about on these forums as well.
- I have over a thousand figures (I've been collecting since POTF2 first hit, I don't mean to sound boastful). I really question whether I need a single one more to be happy. While I continue buying ones I like, I don't feel excitement about that anymore. I buy them, cut them open, look at them, and put them in a baggie with their accessories. Sometimes they sit on my shelf for a little bit, or join one of the dioramas already on display. but most of them simply don't have a home on my display shelves because.... I need settings and props!
Yes I can, and do, some of this on my own. But more and more of my collecting money is going to Medicom, Gentle Giant, and the like because I have just about had my fill of what Hasbro has to offer.
HEY HASBRO!!! I want backgrounds so that all of these scene specifc characters have a cool place to sit. I don't want row after row of random figures lined up on a shelf that I need to constantly dust. And I don't want cardboard fold-out too-small pieces of junk that the big-box stores would carry.
I want a 24" long, 14" high, 12" deep cut open box with scene specific backgrounds and props. OK, it doesn't have to be those exact dimensions, but I'm trying to give you a starting point. Make the boxes generic, and sell the backgrounds and props seperately. Make the boxes capable of joining together, so I could make a monster one to fit my Hoth scene with AT-ATs and rebels in a trench. Go crazy and give me a plexiglass front door so I don't have to dust all the time, and so it could sit on it's own on a table top and look good.
These types of things don't require a ton of tooling.
I don't claim to say that everyone wants these. But I think there are a lot of us out here who would see them and say YES!! A chance to get some of these guys out of their storage containers and on display in a product we aren't ashamed to put in the entertainment center in the living room. Right now that spot is reserved for Gentle-Giant statues, maybe Hasbro would like a piece of that pie? I wouldn't mind giving them some coin if they do.
Don't be afraid of it because it is different, do it because it is different. The fact is Hasbro is losing me, and no amount of repainted clones and ships is going to keep me around another 8 years.
But even if you don't, thanks for the last 12 years, it has been fun.
Dan