Author Topic: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?  (Read 8124 times)

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #15 on: October 5, 2007, 10:39 AM »
I've got about 8 of that TIE pilot.  Could definitely use a few more.  I wonder if he's on their list of figures to resculpt, or if they're happy with this one as it is.

Offline JACKOFTRADZE

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #16 on: October 5, 2007, 11:05 AM »
I doubt a resculpt so soon. The sculpt is great the articulation is lacking a tad. For this figure I have to say I am quite happy with him I just want about 12 more. I have about 8 as well and all are assigned to ships. I hope they include him on the basic legend list.

At the current mixed rate of Legends sales I will be surprised if this sub line continues....
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #17 on: October 20, 2007, 09:14 AM »
Beyond the MqArmybuilders, is there anyone who's haveing trouble locating any this year?
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Offline Darby

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #18 on: October 20, 2007, 10:25 AM »
There isn't an army builder you can't find anytime you walk into a store these days, except maybe the 501st Trooper and I see him every once in a while.  I think there are too many clones this year - I think every single trooper in the films has been available in some fashion this year, except the Utapau one - but at the same time they're available for the people that want them.  I think people have the ones they want, though.

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #19 on: October 21, 2007, 09:16 AM »
but at the same time they're available for the people that want them. 

Exactly. Historically, that's always been one of the top complaints, I can't find any troopers. Now it's more like, I can't find them right away.
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Offline Darth Broem

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #20 on: October 21, 2007, 10:45 AM »
I am happy they are out there honestly.  I am glad they  are pegwarming a bit.  I don't have the resources to buy 5 of each at one time.  Or the fact that my wife would have my head if I came home with more than 4 figures of the same character at onece.  It's nice to pick them up at my leisure over a few months.  Yes, some picks are not that good for a mass release.  However, I want all the Sandtrooper variants, at least one of each AOTC color - red, white, blue, green, yellow, the all white ROTS trooper, the Coruscant Commander, SA shocktroopers and SA 501st (if I ever see it), etc. 

I think one main reason that they are not off the shelves yet is this.  There are so many to pick from this year at one time.  We don't have the only a few army builders on the pegs for months at a time.  It used to seem like one 4 would be out at once if that.  Now we bunches of army builders at once for the most part.  Think about it

Sandtroopers
ATOC Clonetroopers - 5 colors
Shocktroopers
501st Troopers
Comic Pack ARC troopers
Jawas
Death Star Troopers
Stormtroopers - Removeable helmet
Even Saga Kashyyyk Troopers (can't remember the name on Saga packaging)
All those SAGA clonetrooper repaints
Airborne Troopers
Galactic Marines
Order 66 packs,

All of that.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #21 on: October 21, 2007, 10:53 AM »
I think that yes, we might be wrong on the troops thing.  I just came back from a store right around the corner from me.  It gets a LOT of collector traffic, and there's also a local collecting shop that supplements their own stock from this store.  And you know what?  It's packed to the gills with army builders.  I can go there and buy at least half a dozen of the following and not make a serious impact:

-AOTC Clone Troopers
-ROTS Clone Troopers
-Galactic Marines
-Death Star Troopers
-Stormtroopers
-Sandtroopers
-501st Clone Troopers

In the past I could understand why people clamored for some army builders.  Back in 1999/2000 the CommTech Stormtrooper was THE army builder.  Part of the reason why is because the sculpt was so much better than any previous Stormtrooper plus the fact that it did not really ship in great numbers.  And the same went for the Clone Wars ARC Troopers and Clone Trooper.  They weren't out in substantial numbers and they got gobbled up.  And in the case of the Clone Trooper there, it was one of the first really super articulated figures on the market, so naturally collectors and army builders were drawn to that figure.

But now?  Hasbro has flooded the market with Clone Troopers.  Just take a look at RS's class picture of the ROTS Clones.  It's an obscene number of Clone Troopers.  And they're almost all great sculpts.

Based on what I'm seeing at retail on a regular basis, it seems like the right time to dial it down a bit on the Imperial troops and the Clone troops.  I know I'd like to see a shift in focus with the troopers.  There are definitely people out there that want to build Battle Droid armies, Rebel armies and the like.  Pegwarming troops are not good for the overall health of the line.  The line needs to have broad appeal so that it will sell better.  So if that means a little less for the army builders...so be it.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2007, 11:00 AM by Nicklab »
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Offline JangoTat

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #22 on: October 21, 2007, 03:55 PM »
i actually like the fact that the Army builders are peg warming just because if you ever want more you can pick the closest location and get it instead of going to half a dozen stores looking for 2 to 3 clone or what not. and they are all still good figures. so hasbro continue producing troopers.heck just because some people are burnt on  clone building doesnt mean EVERY one is.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #23 on: October 21, 2007, 09:16 PM »
I understand there's still some demand for the army builders, but if the line pegwarms and it's the army builders at the forefront of that?  Hasbro needs to take the bigger picture into account and do what's best for the line.  And that might mean dialing back on the characters that are pegwarming.

In this case it means some of the army builders, even though some of them might be great figures.  And it also means Vader.  Hasbro has been a little Vader obsessed this year, with one in the coin album, one in the 30AC line and one in the SL line.  They need to strike a better balance so that the line will have some longevity.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #24 on: October 22, 2007, 12:42 AM »
I do think white armor overload is a problem and mixing in other style army builders would help.  I really wonder though why DST's did poorly while Yavin Guards (at least by me) are non-existant.  I would personally rank them as comparably "dull" looking, yet the Imperial is the one that is easiest to find.  I wouldn't say he did poorly by any means, I'm sure more than enough sold to make it a profitable figure for Hasbro, yet something about the DST hurt the figure's sales...

Could it be the somewhat lacking quality of that figure?  Interesting regardless.

I personally like him and have tried picking up extras here and there...  But my nearest WM too is a sea of mostly white armored troops, and every time they dwindle at all, more seem to come about.  I've been trying to capitalize on price-matching to get some extras and help thin the herd a little, but then more Legends seem to show up in their place.

I will say, Stormtroopers and Sandtroopers tend not to last long, at least by me...  Marines, AOTC Clones, and ROTS clone repaints all tend to linger a bit longer.  Airborne are almost gone though for some reason.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #25 on: October 22, 2007, 09:15 AM »


I think one main reason that they are not off the shelves yet is this.  There are so many to pick from this year at one time. 

I whole hartedly agree. Ever since last year, there's been at least one army builder in every wave (except Wv5 '07.) It's tough to keep up with if you don't have the means.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #26 on: October 22, 2007, 11:19 AM »
I stopped by a store this morning, and it's not one of your ordinary stores.  It's a Toys R Us that's in the backyard of their corporate headquarters, and the suits visit it on a regular basis to gauge how well certain displays work, what's selling and what isn't, etc.  While the Times Square store might be the flagship store of the company, this particular store is kind of a bellweather indicator of how things are selling across the Toys R Us chain.

This store has A LOT of shelf and pegspace devoted to Star Wars.  Being the dilligent collector that I am I took a good look through a lot of the figures on the pegs.  And it was the same story.  Loads of Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers.  With this store it's both the SL AOTC and ROTS Clones plus the 30AC Galactic Marine and Stormtrooper that are loitering.

Frankly this kind of thing gets me worried.  My memory about the state of things in stores circa 1983/84 isn't super-clear, but I really hope that this isn't a case of history repeating itself.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #27 on: October 22, 2007, 11:31 AM »
I don't think it's a case of things repeating themself Nicklab, at least I hope not.

Back in the end of the ROTJ era, the people interested in this stuff were moving onto other things - GI JOE, Transformers, He-Man, etc.  Star Wars pretty much died out because there wasn't the type of media there is today.

Now we've got not only the internet to keep things interesting, but a lot of the market is adult collectors who are devoted to Star Wars.  I don't think we're going to drop the line for some other brand of toys; at least not as long as Hasbro continues to put out quality in their line, and we have things like Force Unleashed, the Clone Wars and the live TV series coming around.  I'd say the Force is a lot stronger now than it was after ROTJ and has a lot of momentum going towards these exciting Expanded Universe adventures; and that EU might be the future of Star Wars. 

There might be some buildup of army builders right now at retail, but after Christmas I'm thinking we'll see most of those gone.  I remember people thinking the line would end by 2007, but it seems to be getting even bigger; especially with a new generation into this stuff as well.  I've never seen kids more excited about Star Wars as they are now... I think this is only the beginning of another great 5-10 years of this hobby.

Offline ruiner

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #28 on: October 22, 2007, 04:49 PM »
It's simply convienent to have the option of picking up troops. 

A year ago, you could never find any - now your chances are pretty high if you're on a mission to pick some up, more than likely you'll find some by just hitting a few stores.


Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Clones/Troopers...Are We Wrong?
« Reply #29 on: October 22, 2007, 05:06 PM »
Very true... although I am pretty much up to my share of troops, every now and then it's nice to just grab a couple extra when I'm not finding the new waves.