Author Topic: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...  (Read 5879 times)

Offline austinPOTF

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Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« on: July 13, 2004, 06:51 PM »
on the Freeze Frame cards like all the wailing we see about POTF2 Commtech/POTJ/Saga re-packs on the OTC cards? I ask because I wasn't around for the POTF2 Red/Green cards and didn't pick up any POTF2 figs until TRU had the massive FF blowout that helped me gather up 42 of the 52 FF figs.

Personally, the re-packs don't bother me that much since I skipped on a majority of the POTJ/Saga stuff. I love the OTC card backs so much I don't think I'd care either way.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2004, 07:24 PM »
Some peple did...  I know that, to me, it was insanity because some of the figures repacked were such terrible pegwarmers at the time, just as now the OTC repacks are filled with some less than stellar choices.

The repacks caused a back-up of figures too...  OTC could, but I think the popular cardback is going to help them, at least for a while.  That's up in the air yet though.  Saturation happens, and you coulud easily see the same thing happen as the repacks of old.

The FF figures were an odd-duck because they were offering a new pack-in...  I don't know many people who went die-hard for the FF's though.  I knwo I wanted a complete loose set though, so I bught at least one of every FF figure at the time...  And oddly, some of the more over-saturated figures became some of the more rare FF's.  Fett and Sandtrooper come to mind, as does the AT-ST driver.

I think a lot of the gripe is a lack of something people REALLY want, IE: new figures.  Sme folks just didn't want the downtime...  I know I could've stood some more new stuff beyond just the Bespin and Dagobah waves, but the time off's been ok too.
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Offline Scott

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2004, 08:29 PM »
I don't recall it as bad but mainly because the figures were not that old at the time.  Some of the first Wave figures like Stormtrooper had been recarded a couple of times and was available at retail for a while.  It was around the tail end of FF though and their Repackorama Horse **** case assortments that had resulted in the worse Glut of Figures up until that point in time that Hasbro royally pissed people off...

The "Mystery 8"  People had gotten word from Jen at Hasbro that there would be 8 more figures at the end of 1998...speculation and enthusiasm was really high.  Dreams of Amanaman and General Madine and FX-7 were dancing through peoples heads and wishlists.  One September day they announced them...it was the Flashback Figures...and they were all resculpts.  Oh man...Resculpts were the worst thing since sliced bread.

I say now resculpts are actually welcome due to the advancement in figure sculpting and articulation and the comparitive crappiness of some of the POTF2 efforts...and repacks are a waste of time since Kiddies really aren't in to the line as much as they supposedly were back then ::) :P

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2004, 08:51 PM »
Yeah, as I recall a lot of folks were PO'd because they wanted the FF and had just bought such and such figure without it...  That was more a complaint than figures being repacked at all.

I do recall the resculpts of Flashback causing a lot of trouble as well, especially the Luke.  Ironically the LUke turned into one of my favs of t hat line then...  And Beru became insanely sought after as one of the only "new" figures.
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2004, 09:26 PM »
From a Canadian perspective, I would think that in general (people like Dale, Bob and others excluded) the repacks are now welcome.  Most people in general don't have so many connections to friendly Yankees, so finding stuff is tough.   Many of the OTC figures never actually made it to Canada on the Saga cardback and had to be purchased on line or through collector stores.  Granted, not much OTC has shown up in Canada at this point, but we are always behind by several weeks, so no big panic yet.  

Canada in general has always sucked with respect to Star Wars collecting and often I never saw the original release of the figures, so the recarded figures were welcome.  I had a basic checklist of figures to get and it was just plain nice to see them.  

One figure I wish they had recarded but haven't yet is the imperial officer.  Three head sculpts and if only they'd take Jesse's advice and slap those heads on the Ozzel grey uniform, the world would be just a little happier.  It may happen yet, but I refuse to hold my breath.
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2004, 09:32 PM »
Well, since most of the "crying" is done in the forums, I can't really comment on it since I wasn't participating in the forums back in that era.  But I'd fashion a guess that if the forums were as active back then as they are now, then yes - there'd have been a lot of bitching and complaining about those rehash/re-releases as well...

BUT, I think there's two things that are a little different this time around though:  One, that the ratio of re-releases to all-new figures in the OTC line is much worse than it was in the early POTF2 era when they started coming out.  At least there were still a lot of new figures mixed in with those re-releases in the red/green/FF era(s).  So that's working against the OTC.

But secondly (on the other hand), I think most of the complaining about the OTC line was earlier on when we first heard the OTC lineup, and figured out that only about 17% of the figures were going to be all-new.  But now that people are actually seeing these rehashed figures on the beautiful new OTC card designs, a lot of collectors are changing their tune and contemplating picking them up since they're so sweet looking.  Hell, even loose collectors, or folks who only buy one of each figure, are delving into the OTC for the same reasons you've hopped back into the mix, austinPOTF.  Just an awesome looking product.

And like I (somewhat sarcastically) said when I first saw the OTC card design many months ago, I wouldn't mind if Hasbro re-released ALL the prior OT figures on these cards!  Looks like they were listening, eh...?   :P

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2004, 09:43 PM »
Quote
if only they'd take Jesse's advice and slap those heads on the Ozzel grey uniform, the world would be just a little happier

Actually, I'd rather they just repainted the Officers in light grey for "Techs".  

If they make a new officer in tunic, to replace the "officers" from POTJ and Saga, I'd rather they actually used a new sculpt...

Only because Ozzel's body is a bit puny.  I'd rather they make a generic lower level officer that's built better than a wimpy old dude.  No buff figure though of course either.  The POTJ/Saga Imp. Officer's sculpt was JUST right.

Ozzel's cool enough, but besides his sculpt I'm not wild about his arms either.  Very unposeable.  

1 super poseable officer sculpt though, with various generic heads?  Count me in for quite a # of those!  Recolor them even...  I'll take whatever Hasbro dishes.
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2004, 09:59 PM »
Uh-oh.  Don't get Jesse started on those Imperial Officers!   ;)   ;D

But yeah, I'd happily accept those three IO noggins on Ozzel's body (or better yet, an all-new SA body), if they wanted to go that rehash route again with the OTC.  Hell, then repaint Ozzel's body in both a black and olive green color, and I'd snatch 'em up by the buttload!  9 different IOs, that we've never gotten before, with a simple repaint and noggin swap.  That'd be EIGHTEEN I'd have to buy, and that doesn't even include any army building yet!   :o  Sounds like easy money (for Hasbro) to me.  What the hell are they waiting for?!
« Last Edit: July 13, 2004, 10:01 PM by JediMAC »

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2004, 11:38 PM »
I'd go as far as to be accepting of an Ozzel bdy with new arms...  The arms are the only real gripe I'd have though.  They really aren't poseable for anything but the choking pose or "arms behind the back" kinda pose.  

Gotta have more than that for the generic officer fodder dagnabbit!
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2004, 12:22 AM »
Sorry, I was just using the Ozzel body as an example of the grey tunic rather than re-releasing the black.  I have an Ozzel around here somewhere, but not open yet and obviously not on display.  Putting those three head sculpts on the same body as the original IOs with grey paint (or plastic) versus black is more what I meant than specifically on Ozzel's body.  

I'm just forever baffled as to why army builders are not a standard item in each wave?  I've never really seen a stormtrooper, scout trooper, snowtrooper, clone trooper, arc trooper or just about anything else sit on the pegs.  I did find an imperial officer once well after release, but wonder if it wasn't a returned item.  
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Offline proudfather2

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2004, 05:50 AM »
Personally, I don't recall anyone really having anti-repack sentient like they do with the OTC. It was more like a minor annoyance than anything else. Then again, the OTC line does consist of the most repacks for the size of the line than we’ve ever seen before. Again, personally, I don't mind so much.

Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #11 on: July 14, 2004, 09:45 AM »
Well, the general negative opinions of the POTF2 repacks in the FF era didn't start until the recarded figures themselves started to come out in such abundance and just sat around.  I know I made a fairly lengthy post a few months back (it is in one of the threads about repacks in this very forum, I think) about what it was like at the time, but long story short, there were more new figures released during that year, but Hasbro was still in their "one figure is considered a wave" mentality (as in 8D8 and the Ugnaughts) with the remainder of the case being recards, and this caused a lot of problems.

The negativity didn't start until the constant recarded pegwarmers were outnumbering the new figures by a margin of at least 10:1.  The best way I can explain this to someone who recently began collecting is to tell you to imagine going into a Wal-Mart, finding a half aisle display of SW figures consisting completely of about 100 each of the Hoth Rebel Soldier, HOF Han Solo, HOF Chewbacca, HOF Obi-Wan, and HOF Anakin, with maybe one or two of the more recent figures hanging around as well.  Of course, back in those days, we didn't even have main characters hanging around; it was about 100 Rancor Keepers, Hoth Rebel Soliders, and Nien Nunbs on the pegs.

Hasbro had to do their "$2 off coupon" promotion to try and clear out the older figures, but even that didn't work as the only figures left were the aforementioned Rancor Keepers that nobody really wanted another one of.  And there was such a backlog of figures as it was that even if they sold 100 figures at the 2 dollar off price, they still had a crapload of stuff hanging around.

In the end, Hasbro ended up having to take back a lot of these unsold figures from the various retailers (in a move that actually preceded the Episode I buyback by about six to eight months), and a lot of the later figures from 1998 became insanely difficult to find (RY/DST and any of the EU figures come to mind).  

So yeah, while the negative reaction to those repacks occurred after they had been released (as opposed to the pre-release negativity with the OTC recards), it was just as bad as the mood nowadays.  What makes it worse is that the 1998 fiasco seriously killed a lot of the line's momentum at that time, and Hasbro swore they learned their lesson about repacks and would never do it again.  And, as the bard Wayne of Campbell once said, "and monkeys might fly out of my butt." ::)

Offline Jeff

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2004, 10:58 AM »
I gotta agree with those above...

During the PotF2 days, there was some grumbling about re-cards, but there were always more NEW figures than re-packs.  And, when the Red Card figures were repacked from the Red card to the Green Card most were only a year or two old, and it was only the second carded version.  Not a lot of reason to complain yet.  When they were re-packed for FF and then over-shipped by a LARGE amount, that's when the complaining started for most people.

I'd also add, that the biggest reason there is SO much complaining about re-packs now is due to the sheer volume of them.  If they had chosen to simply re-card Cantina Han for the Saga line, then the OTC, I'd have no problem with that.  Once a year at the MAX... and I'd still understand they are just trying to keep that figure available.

The problem I DO have is that the same figure (Cantina Han) has been recarded/repacked to death this year... at least 4 times in the last 16 months:

Saga 2003
Saga HoF
OTC
Pack-In with Sam's Club Falcon
* and potentially a 5th time with a new Cup set

Can you say overkill?  The same figure in FIVE different forms over 16 months is TOO MANY.  Completely different from re-issueing the figure ONCE per year on a new card!  If they had found a way to spread out the different Han sculpts over all those re-packs, there'd be less complaining for sure...

So, that's my biggest beef with the repacks.  Not that they are repacking figures, but the sheer volume of repacking the SAME figure five times over the last year!

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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #13 on: July 14, 2004, 11:18 AM »
I thought Padawan, M.D. made a good point about how the repacks of then screwed us on new figures too...  You wanna see some PO'd people?  See anyone who never got an EU figure or RY/DST because of the repacks.

Now, the Fan Club offered them in abundance, but at a higher price...  At the time that was fine to me, but looking back I see how people got hosed on that who couldn't afford it.

I know now if they were offering umpteen figures through the Fan Club at high prices just because of repacks, I'd be much more vocal about a distaste for these things now.

The entire EU line didn't surface around the Pittsburgh area.  I know I at least never saw a single one from that line ever at retail.  I heard some did, but not myself and I was doing more routine toy runs then, than I am now.

I also did not spot RY/DST...  Not to mention a LOT of the "new" FF figures got screwed...  Figures a lot of people were looking forward to for the first time, like Ishi Tibb, Piett, etc...  These figures I actually found lying in a TRU bin on clearance because TRU had gotten them but repack after repack after repack clogged the shelves.

I can say "good fortune to me" now that I got those for less than retail, but that was a 100% stroke of good luck that I even found them because I showed up at a TRU right after it oopened one morning.  As it was, while I was digging out what I could, someone swarmed in and started shoving his fat, comic-book-guy-like body in my space trying to force me away from the bin.

Pathetic...  I'd gotten what I wanted though, even the hottest figure of its time, the Rem. Helmet Vader, and I'd gotten some for friends in the area too...

That's a 100% fluke though...  Had I been 5 minutes later, and I wouldn't have found that wave at retail either because that was the only time I ever saw them.

Another doozy in that wave, and still one a lot seem not to have is Zuckuss...  *sigh*

Yeah, Repacks were equally annoying then, if not vastly more so.
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: Did people cry about the POTF2 Red/Green re-packs...
« Reply #14 on: July 14, 2004, 09:38 PM »
Interesting to mention those repacks specifically Jesse.  

What didn't come to Canada?  

Late FF carded figs Ishi, Zuckuss, RH Vader didn't come north.  

Late Ep I never made it north: TC-14, holo sid, etc.

Late POTJ never came north: last two waves.

Later Saga (almost middle now) never came north: nothing beyond Palpatine/Djas Puhr.  Though it now seems we are having TRU clogged with gold Saga cards including throne room Luke, snowtrooper etc. all on US cards.  It would appear that TRU USA is making room for OTC stuff by shipping the US Saga cards north.  greeeeeat. ::)
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