Let me just start by saying that I do like the look of this sample. I understand the requirement set forth by Lucasfilm to refresh the packaging every year. Specifically when it comes to Hasbro (which is what I collect) I dislike the frequent packaging changes simply because as a MIP/MIB/MOC collector it gives Hasbro an excuse to try to get me to buy the same product I already had over again.
The time has come though that the licensees should really stand up to the annual packaging change requirement - keep their lines humming along with the same packaging styles and maintain their pricepoints, instead of using packaging changes as an excuse to increase their prices.
The number of licensees who STILL have product on the shelves today that feature the 2008 Blue/White packaging style is testament to the fact that the packaging styles should last for at least 18 months (if not two years) instead of just one year. I'm not talking about Hasbro either - Lego, the tall talking dolls from Diamond, those Marbs things, heck even small throwaway stuff like tins and candies you see as you walk through the registers at stores like TRU, lots of it is STILL in the Blue/White packaging.
If Lucasfilm is going to require the packaging refresh, then they should bare part of the burden of refreshing the product on the shelves.
People who buy Star Wars stuff aren't going to buy Star Wars because the packaging is "eye catching". This mentality, in my opinion, is old school marketing. Now that we're in holidays mode, most of the (grand)parents I see in the toy aisle are specifically looking for Star Wars because that is what their (grand)kid WANTS - it's not because they went into the store, looking for Bakugong (whatever the hell that crap is called) and said "hey, that Star Wars packaging sure looks spiffy, let's buy junior that instead!"
Here's another example - my niece wants some of those Zhu Zhu Pets hamster things. My sister tells me she wants two of them in particular. My response to my sister was like "are you kidding?" If you find one grab it who cares which hamster it is, isn't something better than nothing? Apparently not, my niece only wants the gray and tan ones. My point is that no matter what the packaging looks like, kids WANT what they WANT, for most kids the packaging goes into the trash never to be seen again.
This was the same thing when my own son was younger - he wanted specific things, if we tried to substitute it with something else it was a disaster, and even if we had him with us looking through the toy store, he gravitated to the things he liked regardless of packaging.
To think that your packaging is going to win a kid over to your product line is just ludicrous.