Author Topic: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line  (Read 57319 times)

Offline Jeff

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Collection
« Reply #75 on: February 3, 2010, 03:30 PM »
That's the only thing I hate about this new line being the mainline.

Things I still have concerns about this being the mainline:

- smaller bubbles = less room for accessories and no pack-ins :(

- With no clamshells, how are they going to hang on the pegs?  Will they have the "slot" like the Vintage cards did?  If so, it'll be a bitch - you'll have to pull figures off the pegs to get the one you want... not to mention how many folks will just "pull" then off and pop the slot, ruining the cardback.  Or will they use the more standard J-hooks, which would be a lot easier to hang/sort,etc.

- What size will the cardback be?  Will they go back to the Vintage size cardback or will the new ones have the new smaller cardback size we've seen this year?  If they are the smaller size, it's going to bug my OCD that they won't match the Kenner and VOTC styles hanging on my wall already.  :(

J-Hooks and classic cardback size will make me happy.  The vintage peg slot and smaller cardbacks will make me sad.  Guess I wait until TF to see...
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Offline JACKOFTRADZE

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #76 on: February 3, 2010, 03:56 PM »
All solid points but I order by the case so my chances of getting intact card are better. Lets be realistic here guys, these cards are going to be spotty. I hope they have more rigidity than the original series. Hopefully they will be more like the Joe Cardbacks, they used a thicker cardboard.

With the crappy distribution and waning sales, old stock, Bearded Hot Wheel Collectors and crappy situations like the EU wave I am more committed to ordering online than ever.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #77 on: February 3, 2010, 05:01 PM »
Well, let me be the first to seriously say the lack of a pack-in really sucks on behalf of Hasbro, and it greatly diminishes the reason I buy figures.  I just bought an extra AT-AT Driver Sunday to complete a 2nd BAD...  So now I won't be compelled to do that.  Once again Hasbro cuts down the ammount I spend in a year which is fine by me, but they're complaining we don't support the line (By "we" I of course man collectors). 

I do...  I always have.  But my support is waning.  I've gone from buying tons of army building figures to sometimes only one of a certain character.  I still stock up on others, but the reality is I'm sure in 2008 and 2009 I bought a LOT less army builders than I did in the previous few years.  That's not MY fault though, that's Hasbro's for bumping prices.  The same applies to me buying fodder...  I just simply don't do it as often anymore, and instead now wait for sales.

Now, I did buy an extra here and there to complete a droid...  But now that too is gone, and I won't have incentive to buy a random repack like I did before.  Why buy my umpteenth Star Corps Clone if there's no droid part?  Why buy another Snowtrooper when I've got beyond an AT-AT's compliment of them?

No reason, so no purchase.  I'm one person so obviously I don't mean a lot, but it starts to add up as others I'm sure are doing similarly.

It's simply disappointing to me is all, that the one thing that pushed me to consider the price-hikes as balancing out is now pulled from beneath us.  What's the difference between 2010 figures and 2009 figures that we can't get parts to build droids?  The cardback/bubble I'm sure is partly to blame, but then a price drop should've followed IMO.

I'll be buying in 2010, but I can safely say that I'll spend less this year than last year.  A steady decline in the ammount of stuff I buy every year isn't good though, and it's also not my fault.  I want to buy, but I certainly hit my threshold at the $7.50+ prices...  Something had to give, and it's been a lot of somethings that go beyond even the basic figures.  I'm one guy, but one guy that spends less and less every year.
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Offline Brian

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #78 on: February 3, 2010, 05:33 PM »
Yeah, the lack of a pack in does sort of stink...but I guess I expected it with the vintage look.  We knew that the droid parts were going away, and to be honest, aside from the larger (or more) accessories we occasionally got - or a figure stand - I don't know if I'd care much otherwise.  Sure, some of them are nice, but if they aren't there I can't say I care too much.  Now, the fact that the prices are going to be just as high makes it sting quite a bit more.  I can understand Hasbro's point of view with there being less produced=higher prices, but it does make it tough when they keep taking stuff away but the price stays the same.

Jeff brings up some interesting points earlier as well.  I'm fine with the clamshell going away as well, but what does that mean for putting them on the pegs?  I also hope the cardbacks are the same size as previous "vintage" versions.

Offline JACKOFTRADZE

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #79 on: February 3, 2010, 06:27 PM »
While I would love to see a good pack in I did not consider this Emo-generation, Yu-gi-Oh game **** appealing at all. If fact, they will do me a favor by not packing them in. I rather see the current high price stay the same, continue to invest in the line and still be at retail.

I do not buy this "so many collectors left spiel". Pegs are empty with Legacy not overstocked, this is the same story with Collectors across the country. They sound like a bunch of Politicians blaming everyone else but themselves. Frankly, I am getting really tired of it. Hasbro dropped the ball big time in a lot of areas. They need to fess up and suck it up. Stop pointing fingers and telling us to support the line more. I am out of room:
http://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=19969.0
I support his line and then some with custom fodder. They need to take some responsibility, it's a real turn off.

Let's shine a light on what they contributed to the current mess:

- Comic Pack choices. (Waiter Wedge anyone?)
- Horrendous Distribution: 2 straight years of Drought/Glut
- The ARC/Y-Wing Debacle. They should have delayed the SKU instead of heading in with a $65 ARC. (They admitted the value was not there with the ARC and that was a filler spot until the Y-Wing production caught up. Now they blame inflation for the price. Again they are taking ques from Washington.)
- Figure Variants. Major ball drop here 4 times.
- The Organas. anyone could have seen those warm pegs coming a mile away.
- $50 for a Tie interceptor. Sorry inflation is not that bad...yet.
- Mighty Flopps. (When are they going to learn sub lines do not fly.)
- Ecliptic Tie. The King of Vehicle Dogs. You could not even give those away at $10.
- The Ancient and irrelevant 90's Crimson Empire Power Rangers with the reuse of the most ****** legs TAC could offer. Hell, even Academy Biggs had better gams than those with more articulation.
- Joker Squad. (Maleval and the Female Trooper were nice.) Weak overall.

So sorry, but screw Hasbro's finger pointing at the collector. I have my own middle finger to point at them.
« Last Edit: February 3, 2010, 09:36 PM by JACKOFTRADZE »
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Offline Darby

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #80 on: February 3, 2010, 10:02 PM »
The pack in has never did it for me, but after BAD, we're all a bit spoiled.  I'm thrilled with the new vintage cards.  There's a lot of doom and gloom out there, so I prefer to look it as glass half-full.  We're getting vintage cards back, new figures, a new AT AT, a new Jabba, and the price isn't going up.  It's not going down, but it's not going up.  If we're nearing the end, and I think we are, for a dedicated movie line anyways, I plan to enjoy it for what it is.  I will likely be buying cases, knowing now that the cards will be truly vintage.

Offline Darth Broem

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #81 on: February 4, 2010, 12:05 AM »
The only thing that has really gotten me to buy much lately were the red carded two packs for the price of one.  I have entire Jedi and ANH waves and B-A-Ds now.  Originally I left a lot of those figures on the pegs because of the price. 

Offline JACKOFTRADZE

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #82 on: February 4, 2010, 12:56 AM »
It's not going down, but it's not going up.  If we're nearing the end, and I think we are, for a dedicated movie line anyways, I plan to enjoy it for what it is.  I will likely be buying cases, knowing now that the cards will be truly vintage.

I hate the doom and gloomers but what I really hate the blame game from Hasbro. They better get their act together this year because as you pointed out the flat level the line is in right now is definitely not good long term. 2010 will really decide the future of the line. I plan to support everything movie based in a big way.

I want to add if they were going to give up in the near future I highly doubt they would invest in such heavy tooling for all of these new vehicles especially a BAT-AT. So even if it goes bad I think 2011 would wrap up the line at least for a hiatus period.
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Offline Paul

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #83 on: February 4, 2010, 09:09 AM »
Prequel Figures in a "Vintage" line is what will kill the line for me.   

Yes, I am an old narrow minded horses rear-end, but that is the way I feel and no amount of "Get over it" posts will change my mind.

I'm just glad the "Vintage" is back.

Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #84 on: February 4, 2010, 10:51 AM »
While I would love to see a good pack in I did not consider this Emo-generation, Yu-gi-Oh game **** appealing at all. If fact, they will do me a favor by not packing them in. I rather see the current high price stay the same, continue to invest in the line and still be at retail.

I do not buy this "so many collectors left spiel". Pegs are empty with Legacy not overstocked, this is the same story with Collectors across the country. They sound like a bunch of Politicians blaming everyone else but themselves. Frankly, I am getting really tired of it. Hasbro dropped the ball big time in a lot of areas. They need to fess up and suck it up. Stop pointing fingers and telling us to support the line more. I am out of room:
http://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=19969.0
I support his line and then some with custom fodder. They need to take some responsibility, it's a real turn off.

Let's shine a light on what they contributed to the current mess:

- Comic Pack choices. (Waiter Wedge anyone?)
- Horrendous Distribution: 2 straight years of Drought/Glut
- The ARC/Y-Wing Debacle. They should have delayed the SKU instead of heading in with a $65 ARC. (They admitted the value was not there with the ARC and that was a filler spot until the Y-Wing production caught up. Now they blame inflation for the price. Again they are taking ques from Washington.)
- Figure Variants. Major ball drop here 4 times.
- The Organas. anyone could have seen those warm pegs coming a mile away.
- $50 for a Tie interceptor. Sorry inflation is not that bad...yet.
- Mighty Flopps. (When are they going to learn sub lines do not fly.)
- Ecliptic Tie. The King of Vehicle Dogs. You could not even give those away at $10.
- The Ancient and irrelevant 90's Crimson Empire Power Rangers with the reuse of the most ****** legs TAC could offer. Hell, even Academy Biggs had better gams than those with more articulation.
- Joker Squad. (Maleval and the Female Trooper were nice.) Weak overall.

So sorry, but screw Hasbro's finger pointing at the collector. I have my own middle finger to point at them.

Great points made JACK. I agree completely with this post.

While I'll state I buy less due to room for all of this stuff, and having bought a home recently, there is a lot of blame to pricing, choice of characters made, availability.

If the price is too high, we're not gonna buy,
If the characters made, don't fit the grade,
If it's lack of availability, it's actually quite silly,
we ain't gonna buy...

Corny as that "peom" may be, it rings true for many of us. Price is way to high. Taking away what is the best pack-in to date and keeping the same price, just isn't going to fly with us. Constant reissues, or unneeded upgrades over previously never before made characters, or characters that DO need an upgrade (Ponda Baba, and Dr. Evazan for just two examples), keeps us from buying. And number one...if these are produced in lower numbers not only is it going to make it harder for us to get, but of course the numbers will look lower.

Cut back on the damn Legends line! ramp up production on the Vintage line. And for the love of gawd, do NOT include Legends line in the vintage line. Keep those two lines SEPARATE! It's the only way we can easily show the difference to the store clerks and tell them exactly what figures we want. Otherwise, Hasbro, you're just going to keep perpetuating the same problems all over again. And worse, you'll blame we collectors not yourself for it.

I like MANY other collectors have spent thousands if not tens of thousands on this stuff. Show some damn respect for us. We ARE your core base for the realistic line. Trounce on us and yes, we'll leave. Not make the figures we want, yes we'll leave, complain about the complaints we have, yes we'll leave. Granted some of our complaints may seem frivolous, but WE are the consumer. It's OUR money you're after ultimately. If we weren't buying form the likes of Wal*Mart, Target and Toys R Us, the you wouldn't have a leg to stand on for this line.

I may be but one person (who in just the last 15 years has spent well into the tens of thousands for just your stuff alone), but add us all up and we make a formidible force that you just plain can not afford to lose.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #85 on: February 5, 2010, 10:58 AM »
The down side (or up depending on how one looks at it, and who,) is that I'll be getting these carded. Hopefully the case packs will be such that ordering cases on-line will suffice.
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Offline Jabba the Slug

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #86 on: February 6, 2010, 03:27 AM »
I am very, VERY satisifed w/ the direction of this line. NO, I'm not one of the old-school collectors who grew up w/ the OT, and, although I respect their opinions, I think the realistic line needs fresh new direction, especially w/ the rise of the TCW line (which Hasbro loves to say is for the kids). I'm very much enthusiastic to see a SA Darth Maul or Zam Wesell on these cards (not to pull anyone's legs here). ;)

And WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO BESPIN LUKE'S ANKLES?!
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Offline darth punkinhed

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #87 on: February 9, 2010, 12:06 PM »
I got sick of the glut, I haven't bought a single figure in 2009 period. Partly due to the cost, partly due to the distribution but mostly due to the assortments. Seriously, they repack everything but can't repack Darth Reven, Darth Malek or pre-cyborg grievous? Minor rant but seriously, rotate the legends figures hasbro. I missed a lot of figures that I wanted but I just couldn't justify the cost. Hasbro can say all they want about rising cost, etc. but they have the volume across the board that can keep costs down. They can't tell me they use different plastic formulas for everyline they offer or different paints across the lines. The cardbacks shouldn't even be an issue since they're paying for a large sheet of board and as long as the waste is minimal they're still probably getting the same number of cards per sheet. Bandai is making 3 1/4'' Power Rangers figures in a $5-6 dollar range and probably in smaller numbers. Toybiz managed to keep the costs of Marvel Legends figures in a 6'' scale around $8 and now we pay more than that for a Hasbro 3 1/4'' version? None of it really adds up except for Hasbro seeing the secondary market and getting an idea of what can be sustained. That's the only thing I can think of as originally the ARC-170 was a $30 ship that did at one time sell for $60-$75 in a ROTS box on the secondary market but that's around the new retail price. But those days are gone. If they could get the new "vintage" line to be around the $5-$6 range I'll bet they'd see an increase in sales volume regardless of what figure gripes there may be. Mainly because it's an easier pill to swallow.

Now that I've ranted. I think the vintage carback is the way to go. They shouldn't have ever changed it. My reasoning is that Star Wars is the only toy line where there is a market for vintage cards without figures on them. Change the graphic, maybe; but leave the original concept alone. To me it identified the brand. Changing it every year is just retarded to me. GI Joe always seemed to do OK on what basically amounts to the same design. Send the occasional accesories pack to retail for cantina tables, control panels and mouse droids or what not and be done with it. Better yet, release playsets that aren't exclusives and not $50! I'll be ordering these by the case which is what I don't think Hasbro considers. But once they are done with this Vintage concept I'll probably be done again. I don't need SA variants of all figures. Some of them I think would be fine like the old school style with nearly no articulation at all! I know, Blaspheme! Many of us do order by the case bypassing Wal-Mart, Target and TRU all together. That has to skiew their numbers regarding the collectors somewhat. I'd just like them to get off their asses and finally make a decent Death Star playset. I bet that'd boost at least some figure sales if they'd just release the right ones. 
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Offline efranks

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #88 on: February 12, 2010, 08:35 PM »
The latest from Hasbro;

Quote
In 2010, Hasbro is taking STAR WARS fans back to “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” with 28 STAR WARS 3 ¾ inch VINTAGE ACTION FIGURES.  The selection includes all-time favorite characters from throughout the six-film Saga, such as LUKE SKYWALKER, 4-LOM, DENGAR and HAN SOLO.  Each of the figures in this assortment will feature the exceptionally accurate design and superb articulation customary to Hasbro’s action figures, and they will be offered in packaging reminiscent to that of the original 1978-1984 STAR WARS packaging!

So, 28 new figures plus repacks, I'm assuming.  That's in line with what they stated in one of the Q&A answers I believe.  Twelve figs per case, that would be about 4 cases for 48 total figs in 2010, also about what they stated before.

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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: 2010 "Vintage" Basic Figure Line
« Reply #89 on: February 13, 2010, 09:12 AM »
Reminiscent of the original packaging? Could mean the difference between doing a carded set or not.
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