Author Topic: 2009 Clone Wars Packaging  (Read 12287 times)

Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #30 on: January 13, 2009, 04:13 PM »
Quote from: jedi_master_sal link=topic=18699.msg410062#msg410062
  So something else about the package has got to make them want to look at them.


Maybe the big honkin red Star Wars logo will do the trick, no?

Not entirely. Yes, the logo is the definitive graphic for the brand. But there are several factors why just the logo (and a character pic) isn't going to be enough:
• We adult collectors already grips about having too much and just looking at a few SW collecting message boards will clearly show you that we are on the downswing of collecting. Yes there are exceptions so you don't have to point it out for yourself. But the percentages are definitely starting to swing in the direction of downsizing collecting new stuff. In this vein packing won't make a difference to some of those who are collecting less overall, while it may help keep others of that same group collecting.
• With no new movies, the casual fan isn't as interested. The cartoon show while good isn't really known to the masses. And again, you've got to seperate yourself from being a SW fan for a moment here. I'm talking ALL of humanity or at least the USA for instance. Most people don't know or care about the cartoon, so it's not a draw. So with regards to the cartoon specific characters, most people won't know who they are even from the picture. Having the logo on the card only indicates what toy line it is. But without character recognition it's a tough sell. At the very least a flashier design of the cardback may pique enough interest from a casual buyer or parent to look at the toys and perhaps buy something.
• Just slapping the good ol' SW logo on something does NOT mean it's going to sell well. Granted there is already a huge fan base, but even within that fan base there are varying amount of people who will buy one thing or another. SW is strong, but not that strong... As we ourselves know, having the Logo on something does not mean that product is of good quality. THere are any number of action figures that can attest to that fact.

A stronger design with something catchier to it will bring in more casual buyers. Hasbro shouldn't really be concerned about we collectors in this as we are built in sales to a point. It's the kids and more importantly the parents of, who are the ones to draw in to buying their (Hasbro's) product.

The reason I happen to prefer the Clone trooper and Stormtrooper cardbacks are because of the iconic nature of the helmets. As well it was easy to distinguish between CW and Legacy lines. And as even in the article about the new packaging states, it is awesome to see a veritable army of troopers hanging on the pegs. Hopefully this new design will incorporate a design that will enable us to immediately tell which figure a line is from. Yes there is that character pic, but that means I really do have to look at each and every figure's cardback to determine if it's even in the line I want to collect. With the Clone/Storm trooper cardbacks, I could skim just the Stormies as that was the only line I was buying, then pare it down from there to the actual figs I wanted. Likewise at least in the case of my local TRU, they actually kept cardbacks separate for months. So CW was on one side while  Stormies were on the other. That made it even easier to find figs.

Again I don't mind looking through figs. But this new design almost assuredly means I'll have to look at them all. Maybe the design team has a trick up their sleeve that we haven't seen yet. And I'm hoping it's shown at Toy Fair.

I guess call me stubborn as well, but I'm just not ready to see the trooper cardbacks retired. I thought it was an excellent design. Clean and crisp and not only says "Star Wars" but is a shout out to the actual wars in the movies by being the troopers who fought in them.

Well whatever the case, we've had a nice debate about this. The cool thing about collecting is we don't have to agree on this type of stuff and can still enjoy collecting just the same.
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Offline ruiner

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #31 on: January 13, 2009, 05:44 PM »
Sometimes less is more.

Offline David

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #32 on: January 13, 2009, 06:23 PM »
I actually really like this packaging. I've never liked the Vader/Clone/Stormtrooper heads. :P
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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #33 on: January 13, 2009, 08:11 PM »
I actually really like this packaging. I've never liked the Vader/Clone/Stormtrooper heads. :P

Ditto this.  As I predicted prior to the line switch-over back in late July, stores didn't give a flying rat's ass about "Legacy Collection" versus "Clone Wars" versus "Saga Legends"; all they cared about was that the pegs were full of some kind of Star Wars figures, and even then, their interest in full pegs was debatable.  Because of this, the pegs were horribly complicated to navigate in most places I have shopped, as the two/three lines were mixed amongst one another, and you had to lean to one side or another to see what figure was where.

The 30AC figures were easy to navigate due to the large picture placed on the card rather than in the blister, and I'm thrilled they're bringing them back in a similar fashion.  I just hope that Saga Legends is either abandoned completely or placed on a drastically different card style so I don't have to look through them at all come July 2009 (or whenever this newest reboot is going to occur).


Offline speedermike

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #34 on: January 13, 2009, 08:40 PM »
I agree--I hate the sea of white that currrently is Star Wars. The white and light blue is all very...medical looking.

Sal, I agree with most of what you are saying, but to an ininformed grandparent, a Trooper helmet is not iconic.  Vader, yes.  Yoda, yes.  But you have to be pretty familiar with SW to immediatly relate SW and the white helmets.

That being said, I really like this new packaging.  I like the big character picture at the top. I hope that the Lagacy figs are not white also, or at least a mirror image of this card.
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Offline Brian

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #35 on: January 14, 2009, 11:14 AM »
I kind of like the packaging as well.  It certainly seems eye-catching, and the red/white really stands out.  I'm someone that doesn't really collect carded (although I do keep a lot of the cardbacks for some reason), but its nice to have a nice "line look".  Like most everyone else, my favorites have been the VOTC/OTC/etc. lines, but I do like that this packaging has the big character artwork like the TAC cards did.  I wasn't ever a real big fan of the current line look, aside from the fact - like Jesse mentioned - that its pretty easy to quickly scan the sides of the packages to see what's on the pegs.  I'm interested to see what the Legacy look of this packaging will be like.

Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #36 on: January 14, 2009, 06:22 PM »
I kinda like it, I like the use of Red.

I am very interested to see what they do for the TLC/Legends line. It would be cool if they used different colors, like keeping the TLC figures with a blue Star Wars logo and blue area for where the character name is displayed and then moving the Legends figures to a complete different color like green or go black.

That would be a nice way to differentiate between the lines. I think right now, while cool, the helmet designs are too similar to each other and to the casual observer there is currently no difference. If they go with something like colors, a kid can tell their parent "make sure the packaging is red".

Great example, I was helping an elderly couple at a Target one morning get all of the figures on their grandson's list. The kid had all Clone Wars characters, but the grandparents were grabbing Anakin, Obi-Wan and C-3PO all from Saga Legends instead of Clone Wars. I asked them, "did he say from the cartoon or from the movie", to which his grandmother replied "he wants toys from the cartoon" - so I showed them how to tell what was from the cartoon vs. what was from the movies.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #37 on: January 14, 2009, 08:36 PM »
• With no new movies, the casual fan isn't as interested. The cartoon show while good isn't really known to the masses. And again, you've got to seperate yourself from being a SW fan for a moment here. I'm talking ALL of humanity or at least the USA for instance. Most people don't know or care about the cartoon, so it's not a draw. So with regards to the cartoon specific characters, most people won't know who they are even from the picture. Having the logo on the card only indicates what toy line it is. But without character recognition it's a tough sell. At the very least a flashier design of the cardback may pique enough interest from a casual buyer or parent to look at the toys and perhaps buy something.



I've got to beg to differ here Sal.  I hit a lot of stores while I was doing my Christmas shopping.  I have a couple of young nephews who are really into the show.  And what I noticed in the stores was that the animated Clone Wars line was outselling the movie style saga figures.  And in significant fashion.  I could not find a Clone Wars figure unless it had just been put out.  It seems that this animated line may be outperforming the movie line.  Will this trend hold true for long?  That remains to be seen.
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Offline JediJman

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Re: New Star Wars Packaging
« Reply #38 on: January 14, 2009, 11:06 PM »
I like the packaging.  I like it better than the current Legacy/CW packages and I think it will make finding the figures easier for kids, moms, and collectors alike.  The picture of a character stands out way more than the "iconic" white helmets.

It actually sounds like most people here are cool with the packaging, but even if they weren't, I have serious doubts that sales would be significantly impacted by pacakge design.  If your package is hard to open or not evironmentally friendly or doens't fit well in the retail stocking location then sure, packaging can negatively impact sales. 

But most collectors are going to buy this stuff whatever the package looks like and anyone not collecting is in it for the figure, not the package.  Can you come up with a serious scenario where someone doesn't buy a SW figure based on the package design?  Really?  I don't think so.
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