Author Topic: Celebration VI  (Read 27635 times)

Online P-Siddy

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #90 on: August 28, 2012, 11:30 AM »
That was my impression of Derryl when I met him at TF.  Very helpful and courteous.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #91 on: August 28, 2012, 12:02 PM »
That was my impression of Derryl when I met him at TF.  Very helpful and courteous.

My impression from what I've read, heard, and seen on web videos is of a completely different DDP than my past perception... I was 100% impressed with the courtesy and humility I saw from him with CVI.  He's earned the benefit of the doubt from me going into 2013.  I just hope that he and their team truly have learned from their mistakes over the past couple years.

Offline Darby

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #92 on: August 28, 2012, 07:10 PM »
I had about 15 minutes with him at NYCC and he was extremely courteous and engaging.

Offline JediJman

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #93 on: August 29, 2012, 12:46 AM »
They also reiterate several times that the Vintage Collection was/is the worst selling action figure line of all of theirs so far, and that CW and Movie Heroes both outsell it.

I call bull**** on this.  I hit a number of different stores across Minnesota and Wisconsin and I never see the CW or MH stuff selling.  And yes, I know for a fact that it isn't just case replenishment because it is the same partial case of figures on the pegs week after week and month after month.  Vintage on the other hand seems to sell like hot cakes - at least whenever something new becomes available.  I've personally bought about 4x or more vintage than any CW and even my kid likes the vintage stuff better than CW or MH.  I can believe that vintage performed below their plan/2012 estimate, but not that the actual sales are somehow smaller than these other lines, even with the higher price point.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #94 on: August 29, 2012, 03:39 AM »
As for how sites are reporting and interacting with Hasbro?  It's certainly complicated.  Every person who is working as a reporter on a collecting site started as a fan.  Nobody is doing this purely as a journalistic pursuit.  And very few have any serious journalistic training.  And very often their lines of questioning may be guided by their own personal interests.  Is it admirable that some collecting sites went to Hasbro with reader questions?  Sure.  And there is something kind hearted about them keeping those questions in their original form from the readers.  But in the grand scheme of things, you need to do some editing of those questions in order to make them coherent for both Hasbro and the readers.  Because this Q&A session frankly came across as a completely unfocused mess.

As someone who was there for 2 hours after the convention closed with Derryl and Bryan from Hasbro, Dan Curto, and Paul and Chuck from JTA, I can attest that what transpired that night was anything but an unfocused mess. The six of us sat in the darkened convention center exhibit hall and had a completely open round table discussion about the state of collecting right now as a conversation with questions sprinkled throughout. It was hardly a simple ask and answer grilling nor did we just dump a load of questions on their lap and say "answer these". One question sparked another which lead to another and so on. Very freeform.

There were a lot of things said in that 2 hours that didn't make it to the page whether it being proprietary information or something just omitted because the question has been asked and answered ad nauseum through prior discussions at cons, QnAs or through simple deductive reasoning. Also, it's very hard to translate the body language and wry smiles that Derryl and Bryan cast when we touched on topics that are not quite ready for public dissemination.

This experience was the highlight of the convention for me as I/we got to pick the brains of those responsible for the Star Wars line on a personal level. Derryl and Bryan were very gracious in giving up their time, and to be honest, they would have done it for anyone, not just for representatives of a few fan sites.

I've been in these types of sessions with Derryl, as well as Brian Parrish, Mark Boudreaux and others, along with other collecting site reporters.  In my experience the Hasbro staff have all been very nice, and incredibly generous with their time.   They are all fans of the saga, and consider themselves lucky to be working on the Star Wars license.  And there is a sense that some of the things they're working on are for collectors like them just as much as us.

As for these sessions?  Lots of info flows out of these informal sessions, and I was able to break stories on numerous topics following my time with the Hasbro team.  I've even seen ideas pitched to the Hasbro team from reporters, some of which eventually wound up being produced (the Cade Skywalker / Darth Talon comic pack specifically comes to mind).  The trick with these Hasbro sessions is how you break down the information and present it to your readers.  You can edit it and present it in an organized fashion, or you can just put it all up online in the manner in which you heard it.  Ultimately you have to serve your readers, and that means organizing the information in such a way as to give some weight to the important stories.  That just takes good editorial judgment and a clear writing style.
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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #95 on: September 1, 2012, 11:58 AM »
Why does the Sandtrooper come with a leaf blower?

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Offline SnTrooper

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #96 on: September 1, 2012, 12:27 PM »
Why does the Sandtrooper come with a leaf blower?
It looks more like a flamethrower to me.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #97 on: September 1, 2012, 02:17 PM »
Wow.  I didn't realize until I saw the blown up image that this Sandy features electronics.  Bummer.

I think the concept definitely works with the lightsabers nicely.  It could work well with droids, too, but I think the execution hasn't been quite right. 

But this?  It kind of looks silly.  The blaster is just way too oversized for starters.  Add in the fact that electronics like these cuts down on articulation, and it really hurts the figure.
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Online P-Siddy

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #98 on: September 1, 2012, 03:39 PM »
But it's for the kids.  They love light-up figures and limited articulation.  ::)

Offline Jayson

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #99 on: September 1, 2012, 05:07 PM »
I'd like to see a Snowtrooper with electronic E-Web cannon
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Offline Scockery

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #100 on: September 1, 2012, 05:49 PM »
But it's for the kids.  They love light-up figures and limited articulation.  ::)

Especially after the non-replaceable batteries run out.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Celebration VI
« Reply #101 on: September 1, 2012, 06:18 PM »
I'd like to see a Snowtrooper with electronic E-Web cannon

If they could integrate it with the power pack for the E-Web, it would be awesome!  But I think that what's holding Hasbro back from doing some really cool electronic features are the child safety standards & the cost.
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