The Playset Thread

[CHEWIE]

Bumping this lovely thread for the sake of the past debates that have gone back and forth, as we now know that a Sarlacc Pit playset/diorama-esque Battle Pack is coming.

Along with the Lars Homestead, this makes two environment pieces for collectors to look forward to this year - thank you Hasbro.

[Brian]

I definitely like this "environment pieces" approach Hasbro is testing out now (although the Lars homestead pack is a little pricey for my tastes).  I hope this is something we continue to see.  If we can't get true playsets, these are just fine with me.  What else could we see in this size/format?  Personally, I always wanted to see a Dagobah playset (even just the vintage one repainted/spiffed up).  That is something that, size wise, could probably fit into this sort of assortment.  Lots of options here though.

[Jesse James]

I think complexity becomes the issue there Brian...

The Lars homestead is, according to Hasbro, not much more than a base and a dome...  Likewise the Hoth Turret is a base with a top (not counting the hatches) and not much more.  Simplistic is the key...  That's part of why price becomes such an issue to me.  Hasbro claims an impressive tooling expensive and I'm assuming that's all based on the size of the item, as the complexity (number of parts, etc.) is minimal...  A $20 fighter/ship is far more complex than these items, but costs only $20... 

The other factor I'm thinking is production numbers...  They're low.  Targets got what, 2 of each UBP or slightly more/less per store, and ONLY at Target?  That's pretty low production numbers for anything in SW...  That means higher costs too.

If Hasbro's willing to put these items out again to lower costs, maybe that's something that'll help move things along with "bigger and better" things, but I dunno...  More UBP's this year means more $50 low production numbers items.

[CHEWIE]

Do you mean to say Jesse that the Target stores in your area only got in two of each UBP last Christmas season?  Each of the stores in my area must had dozens of each (on the endcap, and tons on risers about the toy aisle), though different districts might get different shipment quantities. 

Also, I think that a lot of the "cost" for Hasbro is made up by the repacks they throw into these sets.  Without those, they probably at this point would not justify making these.  If they continue to sell well however, we might see Hasbro start looking into making some of these "stand alone" sets; i.e. not packed with a bunch of extras, which also makes the cost to the consumer jump.

I agree that these sets are more than what I'd like to pay... I'm not all that surprised though to see TRU have such a high price on the Lars set, their Star Wars items past the basic figures are about 20-25% more pricey to consumers than what we see at Wal-Mart and Target (at least on things like this - basic figures, when exclusive to Target cost about $15.00, which is completely insane).... mid sized vehicles and Battle Packs are $25.00 there as we already know, as compared to $20.00 at Wally and Target.

Really, 2-3 years ago, the idea of something like this was all just speculation and opinion on our part.  So, we've come a really long way the past couple years on the playset front.  Not as far as I'd like to see, but we're getting closer.

BTW - a Dagobah environment sounds great Brian... I'd be up for it.  Seems very doable in this format too.

[Jesse James]

Some seemed to, yes.  I'd say never more than an endcap full though.  Never saw a pack on the risers here...  All endcaps, and all sold through at full price at any store I visited.  There were hardly enough to go around actually it seemed.

[CHEWIE]

I saw the Endor set on clearance a few times after Christmas.  Never picked up that set though. 

Just wasn't anything "new" other than the logs to warrant me getting it.  Still, a great set for a Christmas gift though I'd think.

[iFett]

I saw the Endor set on clearance a few times after Christmas.  Never picked up that set though. 

Just wasn't anything "new" other than the logs to warrant me getting it.

Those were the best parts of that set.      I love me some lame pack-ins.

[Rob]

There were tons of the UBP's at the Targets around here last year.  Endcaps at every store I went into.

I never did see one on clearance.

[Morgbug]

Bumping this lovely thread for the sake of the past debates that have gone back and forth, as we now know that a Sarlacc Pit playset/diorama-esque Battle Pack is coming.

Well I re-read my three posts back on page one and stand by what I said at that time.   

[Sprry75]

Me too.

[ruiner]

From Sandtroopers:

1) In every Hasbro Q&A I have seen, every site complains about wanting more playsets, more playsets, MORE PLAYSETS!! Now the Sarlacc Pit and the Lars Homestead playsets are coming out and most people are underwhelmed by these offerings. To be honest, they're rather lame and have very high price tags. What kind of marketing research was done for these playsets? I really don't see the Lars Homestead set as being a good seller at all. Shouldn't playsets be based on scenes of major action in the movies therefore making it an exciting piece that children as well as collectors would want to buy? The Lars Homestead is not. Our fear is that these are test items. So my question comes down to this - If the Sarlacc Pit and Lars Homestead playsets don't sell well, will we see a further turning away from Hasbro manufacturing playsets?

And Hasbro's response:

We're sorry you feel that way, Troops. We hope that collectors are willing to consider these. In our opinion, these are some pretty cool sets.  Who thought that we would ever see toys of the Sarlacc pit or Lars Homestead? It should be a dream for fans, and we hope that these will find an appreciative audience.  We don't consider these two to be playsets in the traditional sense, as they don't have multiple play areas, lots of kid-targeted features, etc. Instead it was our intent to capture the flavor of two very iconic scenes from the OTC, an alternative to what otherwise might be a vehicle-based exclusive. The Sarlacc set is built to follow the format established by last year's Ultimate Battle Packs, and would not otherwise exist without the success of last year's sets and Target's support for the concept. Unfortunately, we did not have the set to show in package, as it looks *great*.  Likewise, the Lars Homestead set is not a playset per se but given the central role the homestead plays in the story of Luke, we felt that if was something that many collectors would want to have to build out their Tatooine scenes. Our stance on playsets has not changed, namely that unless there is a compelling, persistent (i.e. in many episodes) environment in the upcoming entertainment around which we can build a strong playset, then we will not pursue due to the extraordinarily high cost of tooling, development, and marketing.

[Darth_Anton]

Leave it to Sandtroopers to call Hasbro's product "lame" to their face.

[Phrubruh]

That would make me mad enough not to do anymore of these type of enviroments ever again. Nice job Sandtroopers. No wonder no one ever visits that site.

[ruiner]

Yeah, not cool.  Hasbro is taking A LOT of time out of their busy schedules to answer these questions.  The least Sandtroopers (among others) could do is show some respect and common courtesy.

[jedi_master_sal]

what's teh horsecrap thought from Hasbro about not doing playsets if it's not in UPCOMING ENTERTAINMENT??? That's a NEW stance. They've had other excuses before. This one is NEW.

What about the frickin' Death Star? There's hardly anything more iconic than that for playsets where a lot of action occurred. It's in the 3 OT movies and made an appearance in ROTS. It's the place of many great scenes. There's so MUCH potential for playsets with the Death Star.

it's a shame that Sandtroopers called Hasbro out and no doubt that is a sting that Hasbro is feeling. I wouldn't blame Hasbro at this point for saying "screw collectors."

Hasbro, not all of us feel this way as Sandtroopers does.

While I'm not overly excited about teh Sarlaac pit, I DO want the Lars set. And if getting these means the future for larger playsets, I'm ALL FOR IT!