The Future of Star Wars Collecting?

[Dave]

Interesting to read the article on how video games are a factor in their decline as many video games are just downloaded and not bought in stores. 

This could lead to the opposite of doom and gloom for Star Wars as it may mean they double down on collectibles.

I personally am amazed this store is in business as nearly every one I walk in to is different, and generally a total mess.  The collectibles are randomly scattered in the store and their exclusives are tough to find in store, but easy to order online.

If done right these guys could become a bit of an Entertainment Earth, but with hundreds of retail locations that also carry used video games.

[Darth_Anton]

Interesting to read the article on how video games are a factor in their decline as many video games are just downloaded and not bought in stores. 

I'm a huge proponent of Brick and Mortar support and I had always made it a point to purchase a physical copy of the few video games I do buy. However, after taking advantage of some on-line promotions, the truth is that it's just plain easier and often cheaper to just order at home no matter how much I want to support brick and Mortar.

[McMetal]

I guess overall I would be disappointed to see it go too, it's a good outlet for a lot of the stuff I collect, but I loathe walking into the actual stores. It's just an awful customer experience I think, for many reasons. I do think their website is pretty well done though, and I have bought a lot off there. They also have the best Local Search functions of any big retailer.

[Mister Skeezler]

It seems like it's hit or miss though. Some Gamestops seem to "get it," while others really don't. The one nearest to me always seems annoyed when I ask about action figures. They'd rather talk my ear off about new Kingdom Hearts games (which honestly I'd rather peel my face off than give a **** about). So it's like some are almost like game purists, and others are general pop culture. The game purist Gamestops always try to push me toward ThinkGeek.

[Nicklab]

I don't get the sense that they're knocking on deaths door, but they're definitely facing a lot of the challenges that have faced a lot of other retailers.  Their business model does seem to be considerably different from some of the chains we've seen fail over the past decade.  Just looking at TRU and Sears/Kmart, they both had very large stores to manage.  GameStop stores tend to be considerably smaller which has to benefit them from a cost standpoint.

The delivery of games electronically is a big game changer for their model.  This phenomenon hit the music industry in a big way where consumers moved away from owning physical copies of media.  We definitely have to wait and see what happens moving forward and if GameStop can make their stores more about an experience or customers and not just being a venue to buy a disc.

[JediJman]

I hope they stick around as well, but won't be surprised to see them close shop.  I rarely see anyone buying stuff when I've dropped in and there always seems to be 2-3 working.  They can't manage a store the size of a bedroom with one person?

[Mister Skeezler]

It'd be nice if we can get some clarity from Hasbro at ToyFair as to their distribution plans going forward. It's hard to get amped for a line that's impossible to find, and I'm honestly too busy to hit every store in Massachusetts with the hope that I might eventually find something somewhere. It's like if the choice is between scouring Walmarts across two states to find nothing, or spending time with my kids, I'm going to choose the latter.

I don't have this problem with other lines I collect.

[CorranHorn]

At this point I don’t think the issue is going to be at Hasbro but with their two biggest accounts - Walmart and Target.

If you’re like me, then you see the following at these two stores:

Walmart - bare pegs, wave 2 and 3 showed up once or twice at a store and now there is nothing. Likely means Wave 4 will be a blink and you miss it event here

Target - flooded with Wave 1 at every store. Just this week at 3 stores near me I asked if they could see what was in back. Each time the person helping me brought out a cart full of more Wave 1 figured or even unopened cases of Wave 1. With so much backstock on Wave 1, these stores will never receive Wave 4.

Obviously Hasbro has a part to play in both of these scenarios, but at this point they can do nothing and just wait for the big 2 to act.

[Mister Skeezler]

Yeah, that about sums it up for me too. Though I haven't seen anything past wave 1 at any of the Walmarts I've visited. And now, they don't have anything at all really.

[JediJman]

Yeah, that about sums it up for me too. Though I haven't seen anything past wave 1 at any of the Walmarts I've visited. And now, they don't have anything at all really.

The Walmarts near me either don't have pegs for Vintage or are jam packed with Wave 1 cases. 

[Darth_Anton]

Well, with all the recent announcements, the future looks pretty darn good.

As long as it's all getable. 

[Jesse James]

Locally speaking WM has been good on TVC with multiple Wave 2 and 3 shipments up to and through the holidays, but since then there was a Wave 1 dump for some reason and not much happening since. 

Target has been a wasteland since the Solo launch really.  They haven't gotten much new in except for exclusives which they've been great on...  as opposed to, oh, I dunno, someone else.

That said, WM did put out Mimban Stormtroopers finally, but it doesn't take long to clean out a store on those since it's been a case or two.  Some stores seemed to restock but I've not seen anything beyond two cases in a store.  And one case is 8 figures, so that's not hard to clear out really.

If it's a repacked exclusive though?  For a high price?  Got those for days.  I went a tad ape**** buying $15 AT-STs there, and the TIE Fighter looks like phase 2 of that situation.  I was shocked to get the Mimban Trooper honestly.

But WM got in every TVC wave till just now...  wave 4 is nowhere to be found.  They also got all the basic waves in at least once.  I got my Solo figs there, but that was a one and done scenario on those.

[Brian]

After the cool reveals of Celebration Chicago, particularly the Mandalorian, Clone Wars, and of course the Rise of Skywalker, it made me wonder what the Star Wars line will look like in 2020 and beyond. We know more movies are coming eventually, but it seems like the focus will be on tv streaming for the foreseeable future. I'm sure the Black Series will likely continue on as usual, with maybe more focus on the Mandalorian here and there. They have hit their stride pretty well there now.

The real question is 3 3/4". Will Hasbro have a 5 POA "for the kids" line? (Not sure what the rating will be, but maybe not squarely aimed at kiddos this time). What about TVC? You could arguably continue on much like the Black Series line, especially with RealScan improvements. Will we see vehicles, etc? Is it possible we get a more scaled back line (which is already slow on releases), similar to the Power of the Jedi days? The non new media related figures in the 5 POA line has been few and far between since the Disney era began, might be new territory next year.

[Dave]

I had mixed emotions about their announcement that they're taking a break from new movies.  I like seeing the new movies in the theater, but maybe a pause on new blockbusters will allow Hasbro to build out some of the product lines that were pretty thin over the past five years.  I'd love to see them take the time to build out creatures and side characters from Solo, Rogue One, TLJ, etc.

Hopefully that also means that they'll lend more support to creating figures for The Mandalorian and other streaming media.  Rebels and Resistance were both pretty thin on figure assortments.

[Matt_Fury]

Distribution will most likely continue to be a problem.  Hopefully, with Hasbro Pulse, there will be improvements on getting items online...although exclusives will probably still be a problem.  I'm looking at you Walmart!

Haslab could bring some interesting possibilities.  I'm kind of kicking myself for not jumping in on the Khetanna....but I also like being married, so there's some balance there.