Author Topic: Thoughts on the Droid Factory "Build A Figure" Idea?  (Read 49995 times)

Offline Phrubruh

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #135 on: March 19, 2008, 11:54 AM »
This seems very cheesie to have two silver droids in the build a figure packs. I already have a TC-14. Why can't they be blue and green? Those characters are way to close to make two different figures.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #136 on: March 20, 2008, 09:46 AM »
If we're getting two movie accurate protocol droids, how come we're not getting all movie accurate Astromech's then? That's what keeps me up at nights.
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Offline Daigo-Bah

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #137 on: March 20, 2008, 05:40 PM »
This seems very cheesie to have two silver droids in the build a figure packs. I already have a TC-14. Why can't they be blue and green? Those characters are way to close to make two different figures.

To be fair, it's a pale gold and a silver  :P.  I see your point, but I'd rather have production versions of 2 film protocol droids than ridiculously-colored  versions. (I'm not aware of any EU protocol droids that are blue or green, etc, but if there are, that's pretty ridiculous IMO  :-\).  Anyway, this is the first outing and Hasbro always seems to have a strange introduction to things: I'm remembering the first wave of POTJ and 30AC as being headscratchers.
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Offline master windu

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #138 on: March 24, 2008, 06:53 PM »
havent any one seen the pics yet its a brown coloured plo koon and an astromech in 1 pak with a leg or something
and the droid that is created is the droid is a bounty hunter the same 1 like c 3p0 if you get me honest there is pics ill send another message when i remember the page

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #139 on: March 25, 2008, 04:40 AM »
Good lord, that's hard to read.  Would you mind using some punctuation?  This is a forum, not an instant messenger.  Thanks.

Offline Phrubruh

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #140 on: March 25, 2008, 10:59 AM »
Too bad the droid factory figures aren't out yet. That way I can build a protocol droid to translate what master windu said.
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Offline master windu

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Re: Droid Factory Build A Figure
« Reply #141 on: March 25, 2008, 11:20 AM »
Too bad the droid factory figures aren't out yet. That way I can build a protocol droid to translate what master windu said.
haha very funny im only 13 you know
and any way its yakface.com that the pictures are on so go on over and check it out

Offline Greg

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Anyone annoyed by the Droid Factory thing? *Long Rant*
« Reply #142 on: June 22, 2008, 12:30 PM »
I know I am. Don't get me wrong here, I love me some droids, whether they are Astros, Protocol, or Battle. I think getting a fifth figure after buying four is pretty cool as well, and the obscure droids look awesome. I am, however, pissed off at the way Hasbro is slotting the droid pieces with the figures. I realize that Hasbro is a business, and trying to maximize sales/profits is there ultimate goal. But, they could have made this Droid Factory better for casual collectors and/or kids. Hasbro seems to be slotting the Droid Pieces in poorly just to make some additional completists for the line. Take Wave 1 for example:

R7 Droid
Ak-Rev
Bane Malar
Yarna
Darth Vader

R4 Droid
Ewok with Wokling
Han Solo
Luke Skywalker
Chewbacca

I'm a big fan of aliens/obscure characters from the OT. I'm kinda annoyed that if I want to complete one droid from this wave, I have to buy yet another Darth Vader. I was planning to buy Yarna, Malar, Ak-Rev, and the Ewok. My Droid Factory collection at that point would consist of a headless R7 Droid and an R4 torso. How fun.

Now, I am aware of the idea of swapping pieces with other collectors. However, that might be a bit difficult for kids or casual collectors. They probably don't frequent message boards and such. Hasbro loves to talk about how they 'need' to put main characters in every wave for kids. Yet, they spread the Droid parts between the obscure and main characters. Seems really kid friendly. Even if kids are into the aliens only, parents probably won't be overly enthusiastic about buying another Vader so little Billy can complete his Yellow and Black R2-D2.

This Droid Part issue seems to carry over into Wave 2. From what I've seen, the Droid parts are split between army builders and the main characters. If I wanted only army builders from that wave, I'd end up with a couple of incomplete Droids. I could mix and match the pieces, but unfortunately the right legs for both droids only come with the Jedi figures. The good choice would've been to pack one droid amongst four army builders, and the other droid split between the 'Hero' figures and fifth army builder.

Now, Hasbro has said that some figures will be carried forward into future revision cases with new Droid pieces. This could be a nice alternative for me to fully complete droids, but I feel I shouldn't have to take time to read through every case breakdown on EntertainmentEarth.com to find what figures to buy and when. This Droid Factory thing seems like a planned cash grab on Hasbro's part. Seems to be even worse than the TAC Coins if you ask me.

This year I was planning to purchase about half/two-thirds of the Legacy Collection, a small of Clone Wars figures, and a bunch of vehicles. Until Hasbro fixes the Droid Factory thing, I'm going to support only the things that Hasbro is doing right. That means no Legacy collection for me. Hasbro could have handled the placement of Droid parts a whole lot better, and I hope they fix the situation eventually. I'd hate to pass on all of those rumored ANH figures, but I will if the Droid parts are spread among figures with seemingly no logic applied.

Offline Theo Zissou

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Re: Anyone annoyed by the Droid Factory thing? *Long Rant*
« Reply #143 on: June 22, 2008, 02:19 PM »
things would of worked out alot better with the ewok having the r-7 piece and the vader in the r-4 set. looks like i'll end up with another vader as well just to finish off the r-7 :/

Offline ctonra

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Re: Anyone annoyed by the Droid Factory thing? *Long Rant*
« Reply #144 on: June 22, 2008, 02:36 PM »
I think however Hasbro packed them they are bound to tick someone off.  if they do it they way you suggest, What happens when some one only wants a few of the army builders??? they are then in the same situation an incomplete droid.  What I would really like Hasbro to do is to offer the parts to us maybe online or something. So we can get the parts we need to complete the droids without buying another Vader or characters we would otherwise pass on
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Offline JediJman

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Re: Anyone annoyed by the Droid Factory thing? *Long Rant*
« Reply #145 on: June 22, 2008, 02:45 PM »
We'll have to see how it pans out, but it sounded like Hasbro was making an effort to put droid parts in figs from similar scenes or grouping by main characters versus secondary ones.  I'm going to get them all, so don't really care.  Think about this though - how pissed would you be if the droid parts were just randomly inserted with each figure?  So you could buy every one of the BAD figures and still not be able to build the droid - or have all of the same droid piece.  :P  Just saying - it could be a lot worse.
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Offline Greg

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Re: Anyone annoyed by the Droid Factory thing? *Long Rant*
« Reply #146 on: June 22, 2008, 03:02 PM »
Yeah, it could be worse. It won't be quite as big of a deal to me if the price of figures stays at $7.00, but I don't want to be paying $8.00 +tax for a droid piece.

I still feel that Hasbro could be handling the situation a lot better. I don't expect them to offer the pieces online, as that would cost them figure sales. However, I think they should work harder to group the Droid bits by more of a theme or common trait between the figures. They repeatedly recognize what figures are aimed at collectors in each wave and which ones are not. If Hasbro tries to make everyone a completist with the BAD concept, they might lose sales on other items.

I'm hoping that the cardback pics on Jediinsider.com are not final, because I really want to enjoy the Clone Wars wave army builders and the Wave 1 background characters without having one-legged trash cans on my shelves. If they are final, then hopefully Hasbro can really impress me with Wave 3.

Offline P-Siddy

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Re: Thoughts on the Droid Factory "Build A Figure" Idea?
« Reply #147 on: June 22, 2008, 11:05 PM »
I'm not really bothered by this because these BaD things are EU, and I'm not worried about figures that weren't in movies. I also am selective about the figures I do buy, so I'll probably give my pieces up to local Defenders who need them.

Offline JediJman

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Re: Thoughts on the Droid Factory "Build A Figure" Idea?
« Reply #148 on: June 22, 2008, 11:09 PM »
You know we're going to get the BAD figures in some kind of Legends/Greatest Hits offer a year or two down the road anyway.
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Offline Adam_Pawlus

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Re: Anyone annoyed by the Droid Factory thing? *Long Rant*
« Reply #149 on: June 23, 2008, 05:36 PM »
Yeah, it could be worse. It won't be quite as big of a deal to me if the price of figures stays at $7.00, but I don't want to be paying $8.00 +tax for a droid piece.

It's probably going to be a big deal, then.

I still feel that Hasbro could be handling the situation a lot better. I don't expect them to offer the pieces online, as that would cost them figure sales. However, I think they should work harder to group the Droid bits by more of a theme or common trait between the figures. They repeatedly recognize what figures are aimed at collectors in each wave and which ones are not. If Hasbro tries to make everyone a completist with the BAD concept, they might lose sales on other items.

It's probably best to view the build-a-droid as a marketing concept much like the mail-in offers.  This is done to sell more product, not to reward collectors.  With Marvel Legends, it was pretty much the same way-- you want to own a giant Sentinel? Prepare to shell out some cash for the whole wave.  One good thing they're doing is including parts with some of the repacks, which, if you're an army builder (or if you know army builders) could be a very good thing when it comes to actually completing the droids.  (I know it'd be easier to just pack them in the way we'd each prefer, but it'd be easier still to just ditch the build-a-droid concept and sell the figures outright.  Ideally, the solution to make everybody happy would just be to drop the program entirely, although I don't think we'd end up with quite as many astromechs if they did this and I do love those little guys.)

The thing that raises my eyebrows the most is the whole (as I understand it) "we're making the droid for one wave only, if you miss the wave 1 droids during wave 1, then they're not going to be around in wave 2."  As a marketing tool, this is a great idea, but it seems limiting the droid parts you can get might be a bad move for people out there who aren't always so lucky to find figures during their first shipments.  Hopefully they'll consider cycling them back if there's-- and this probably reads as silly as it sounds in my head-- significant collector demand for more of an R2 unit's left leg.

My hope is that the whole build-a-droid thing furthers the whole "community" angle and helps to build the online network of fans willing to trade and deal with fellow collectors, which has been and should continue to be a good thing for everybody.  While not a HUGE fan of networking myself, I'll do my best to try to make sure fans can get the parts they need of I have extras, and I hope everybody else will as well.
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