They are well aware that this will happen... this is not the first year they've done this - same thing happened in 2008 and 2009.
Isn't this about the time that collector interest dropped off sharply?
I know being Canadian makes me an oddball, so there's that. But Hasbro has had those of us interested in OT stuff on hiatus for nearing nine months now. A smattering of US carded stuff has trickled in but since there's no point in being in stores regularly, I've missed most of it. With another several months to go I find I really don't give a crap anymore. I've got a garage sale coming in a week or two and originally it was going to be mostly titaniums, PT figures and ships. Now the OT stuff is being thinned fairly dramatically as well.
I just don't care anymore about this stuff. The hunt was a big part of the fun. I could always buy at higher prices from online dealers if I wanted to but that was never the point. Now with a massive break in time and really crappy distribution over the past year plus what I consider questionable decisions from Hasbro on what is in particular lines, I'm just out. I completely agree with Hasbro's push on Clone Wars and what I've seen of the cartoon has been enjoyable so marketing wise from that perspective, they're right on target. The old guard has been told to screw off and I'm getting the message loud and clear. Unlike the gaps we saw in the old days that lasted for the last two series' out of a particular line I'm not coming back in this time. POTJ did a fine job of luring me back in with some really cool stuff and I suspect I'll buy an occasional figure or upgrade but one of everything and army building are done. Dioramas are done. Side lines are done.
I'm sad but I'm happy too. Weird.