I love reading those guys comments about Hasbro. While the SW line has not been perfect and there is always room for improvement, the amount of product that sells in the line is probably 2 to 3 times the amount that sells in the Legends line. Add on top of that the size of the figures and the less articulation, i'd guess SW would make tons and tons more money than Legends
Those guys think Legends is the end all be all in the toy aisle, but I'd bet that sales for other toy lines are even higher (Trasnformers, Power Rangers, TMNT etc)
The other big challenge is that Hasbro is taking over a mature line that doesn't have a whole lot left to do to interest collectors. They'll almost have to cut some articulation out to try and reduce the unit costs and they'll need to pump out the Main Characters to keep sell through high with the kiddies (see Vader, Darth) Its almost a no win in my opinion...they are banking on the movies being huge but that in itself is risky (see Spider Man 2, FF and in some stores Hulk) figures still on the pegs
I'd pretty much guarantee that TMNT, Transformers and others outsell what we prefer. Shelf space alone should be an indication. And while I note that those lines may not always move super fast, they move at a slow steady pace and when you pluck a single figure of each of the 24 pegs dedicated to them, it adds up to a lot more than emptying one of the two pegs dedicated to Star Wars or ML. I wish it weren't true, but it is.
As for ML versus Star Wars, I think the SW sales would be much greater than 2-3x ML sales. I think the prices are comparable now (at least in the US, there's still a discrepancy here) and I often use the Toybiz (formerly) to illustrate how high the prices are for SW stuff that is smaller, less well accessorized, less well articulated and less well sculpted often. As Scott notes, the licensing fee for SW is the likely cause of that. But I wonder how much is a Hasbro decision as well. Toybiz' other really popular line, for a time, LOTR shared many characteristics of the ML stuff. Perhaps the pricing is why Toybiz is dumping lines, or perhaps Hasbro really is just ripping us off.
Relating to Scott's last paragraph but somewhat as an aside, I am really, really tiring of the promotions that are tied in with the movie lines. I see and appreciate the rapid, substantial sales that occur. But they're always short lived and frankly no company has learned how to properly supply for a movie. The number of units produced is always astronomical for early waves and the cooler, later stuff never seems to come down the line.
Spiderman movie fare is probably the exception to this rule. But aside from that Franchise, none of the movies has done particularly well, IMO, with their toy lines - Hulk, FF, X-men - and I don't see it doing well for Superman or Ghost Rider or any of the others coming in the future. Even when movies are hot, certain items don't sell - Hulk/Thing feet/hands, bump'n'go crap or other bike like things.
As a collector and a fan of the comic stuff first, movies second, this really irritates me. Many of those subsequent lines that have higher quality (and more comic accurate) figures and they just don't make widespread retail - Hulk Classics, FF Classics and potentially others. Even the figures within the movie lines that are pretty cool seem to be later waves and don't make it to the shelves.
Note to Hasbro/Toybiz: even if a movie has tremendous box office returns in the first two weeks it may suck (FF?) to the general public and kids in particular. Market to both segments of your buying market, kids and collectors, from the start. Don't hold back more interesting figures until later in the line in favor of "classic, kid friendly, action feature laden" figures (i.e. crap). Blend those unusual figures (notably villains and variations thereof) into the early lineups. Yes, I know you need to get the basic Rogue/Wolverine/Storm/Magneto into the lineup early, but slip in something interesting for the rest of us (why doombot waited for six waves I'll never know and did it ever arrive?) and maybe, just maybe we'll spring for one of those early basic (=crappy) figures at the same time instead of just waiting for the better stuff to arrive. 'Kay?
Sorry, ranting pointless post in many respects but it's raining today so I'm crustier than usual.
