Author Topic: Late 2003/04 Figures  (Read 18623 times)

Offline roguestormtrooper

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #90 on: August 12, 2003, 01:02 AM »
Amen... :o

Offline Darth Broem

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Re: More News...
« Reply #91 on: August 12, 2003, 11:18 AM »
I am happy with a bunch of new OT background characters for next year.  So far new ones are:

Jabba The Hutt
General Riekaan
R-3PO
General Dodonna
Captain Antilles
Possibly 3 dignitaries (2 for certain)
R1-G4
Rappertunie (sp?)
R2-D2 - Drink Tray
Kitik Keedkak - Hopefully (crosses fingers)


Hopefully the Sandcrawler will have at least 1 new figure.
Hope we get these from that one list from last year.

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Offline Darth Broem

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #92 on: August 12, 2003, 12:33 PM »
Well I for one am excited about 2004.  We are finally getting some figures that have been on the wishlists for quite awhile like Riekaan, Dodonna, Jabba, etc.  I was not sure if we ever would get R1-G4 abd Rappertunie.  I just hope Hasbro keeps them coming.  

Offline Vator

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #93 on: August 12, 2003, 01:17 PM »
2004 looks great.
- June 22, 2004 12:13 AM -

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #94 on: August 12, 2003, 01:36 PM »
So, now I have a somewhat related question...

What should I do with my custom R-3PO?  Should I retire him to my plastic figure cases?  Or some sort of droid factory diorama?  Perhaps Palpatine's apartment from EPISODE I (there was a red Protocol droid that didn't get any screen time named TC-6)?
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Offline Scott

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #95 on: August 12, 2003, 01:49 PM »
LOL, I have the same dilemma Nick, not sure, I have a custom K-3PO and R4-I9 as well that are still floating around my collection.  I say just throw 'em into another scene and say they were just off camera ;)



Or you could dirty him up a little and throw him into EpI stuff, although I think TC-6 was cut or else seen in the background of the Senate???
« Last Edit: August 12, 2003, 01:51 PM by OCB »

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #96 on: August 12, 2003, 02:03 PM »
Well, I'm thinking about the TC-6 route.  Although, my custom R-3PO has black highlight paint.  TC-6 had gold highlight paint around some of the detail areas.  Drat, I hate doing fine detail painting!
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #97 on: August 12, 2003, 02:19 PM »
One thing going back several posts that I wanted to offer for Jesse James' attention...

Jimmy is right about a certain point:  core characters DO sell better than background characters and army builders.  I have some data to back this up.

In the case of Toys R Us, and the NY metropolitan area (quite a high sales area):  when the SAGA line debuted, Toys R Us had orders in for roughly 200,000 pieces (figures) of Collection 1.  The orders for Collection 2 were roughly half that, at about 100,000 pieces.  Core characters, as most know, were almost exclusively in Collection 1 (with some army builders in the mix here, like Clone Troopers & Destroyer Droids), while several army builders (Geonosian Warrior, Endor Rebel Soldier, Royal Guard, Battle Droid, Super Battle Droid, Imperial Officer, Rebel Trooper, etc) were in Collection 2.

By 2002's end, Toys R Us in the NY metro area had sold through most of their Collection 1 stock, while Collection 2 did not sell as well.  One store in particular had only about 100 pieces of Collection 1 left, while it still had some 1,500 pieces of Collection 2.

In summary, the general public IS buying Star Wars during a movie year.  Especially core characters.  Moms and Dads are buying their kids Star Wars toys, and most often it will be the most recognizable characters.  Those are core characters.  While we as collectors have certain demands of the Star Wars toy lines, the general public has their own criteria when buying figures.  And in my own experience, nine times out of ten when I was looking through dump bins, circa mid 2002 for new figures, parents and their kids were looking for core characters.

I do not mean for this post to stir the pot.  Rather, I wanted to offer the information since it is pertinant to the discussion. that Jimmy and Jesse James were conducting.
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Offline Simdog

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Re: More News...
« Reply #98 on: August 12, 2003, 02:39 PM »

Hopefully the Sandcrawler will have at least 1 new figure.
Hope we get these from that one list from last year.

General Madine
Weequay
Chief Chirpa
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Leia - Bespin Gown


Quote

All the figures that were announced so far are cool with me.  Other characters names that I want that have been tossed around are:

Hermi Odle
Hem Dazon
R5-D4        its gotta come with the Sandcrawler
CZ-1

Offline Jimmy

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Re: More News...
« Reply #99 on: August 12, 2003, 02:52 PM »
Quote
Hopefully the Sandcrawler will have at least 1 new figure.
Hope we get these from that one list from last year.

General Madine
Weequay
Chief Chirpa
Cloud Car Pilot
Leia - Bespin Gown


From what I have been told these figures are still popping up on some internal lists. When they'll come out is the question... but I'd feel safe on betting we'll see these sooner rather than later.

I think a few things hang in the balance and Hasbro will watch over the market the next coming months more than ever...
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #100 on: August 12, 2003, 03:00 PM »
For clarity here, I'm gonna quote what I posted in the first place, which like I said, had nothing to do with me saying Army Builders outsell Core Characters...

I said...

Quote
Is he an army builder though, and thus should outsell a regular background character?  Yes...

So should an Army Builder like the Hoth Rebel outsell a Cantina patron, or droid?  Yes...  That's what I said, so hopefully this is clear to those who misread, or didn't read my posts now.  

Quote
In the case of Toys R Us, and the NY metropolitan area (quite a high sales area):  when the SAGA line debuted, Toys R Us had orders in for roughly 200,000 pieces (figures) of Collection 1.  The orders for Collection 2 were roughly half that, at about 100,000 pieces.  Core characters, as most know, were almost exclusively in Collection 1 (with some army builders in the mix here, like Clone Troopers & Destroyer Droids), while several army builders (Geonosian Warrior, Endor Rebel Soldier, Royal Guard, Battle Droid, Super Battle Droid, Imperial Officer, Rebel Trooper, etc) were in Collection 2.

As for this, that seems iffy as far as the validity of the #'s if you ask me.  I'm not saying you're wrong, but I don't exactly know you're right either.  

Either way though, we're talking about something that's not really even relative to what was being discussed.  The issue was, does the Hoth Rebel deserve as much articulation and attention as any other figure, which I feel all figures deserve the same ammount of attention personally.

As for how well army builders sold in 2002/early '03, I personally cannot find a 2002 army builder much at all anymore.  It's mostly main characters left over (And mostly April 23rd junk) or some background characters like Lott Dodd, or some other boring secondary character.

SBD's, Clone Troopers, Geonosians, Battledroids (red or tan), etc...  They all are gone from my local stores.  That's just the Pittsburgh area of course, I don't travel all over the country anymore, and each area is different, but that's what I'm personally seeing.

And once again, nothing's fact till one sees actually #'s...  Hasbro themselves have said in the past that they recognize the market for army builder figures, and that they indeed DO sell well.  I'm not saying that, they have...  It's why they remixed army builders multiple times in POTJ's run, why they made the e-tailer 4-packs, why they made the Clone Wars 3-packs, and it's why they're still cranking out an army builder here and there from the classic trilogy.

Like I said though, different markets during that one year window when you have a movie too, and the 3 years when you have downtime.    

Jimmy said that NO army builder outsells any core character (I believe that's near exactly what he said, I lost that page it was on), but I personally don't agree with that...  I think the Commtech Stormtrooper has outsold MANY core characters...  I think quite a few other army builders have outsold different core characters as well.

It's pretty specific information, and nobody here can give a TRUE answer.  It's just what you think, but I believe the POTJ Imp. Officer can and would outsell say the Commtech Han Solo...  I think the Imp. Officer may already have outsold him actually.  But nobody can back that up so it's a moot point really.
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Offline Darby

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #101 on: August 12, 2003, 03:40 PM »
Around here at least (Iowa) it varies.  Some army builders are extremely popular (POTJ Scout Trooper being the most memorable) while others like the bearded Endor Soldier or the Destroyer Droid or the POTJ Bespin Guard were less so.  This year core characters don't last on pegs, unless its Jango Fett, and even the repack KE version out now seems to be moving too.


Offline Nicklab

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #102 on: August 12, 2003, 03:46 PM »
Quote
In the case of Toys R Us, and the NY metropolitan area (quite a high sales area):  when the SAGA line debuted, Toys R Us had orders in for roughly 200,000 pieces (figures) of Collection 1.  The orders for Collection 2 were roughly half that, at about 100,000 pieces.  Core characters, as most know, were almost exclusively in Collection 1 (with some army builders in the mix here, like Clone Troopers & Destroyer Droids), while several army builders (Geonosian Warrior, Endor Rebel Soldier, Royal Guard, Battle Droid, Super Battle Droid, Imperial Officer, Rebel Trooper, etc) were in Collection 2.

As for this, that seems iffy as far as the validity of the #'s if you ask me.  I'm not saying you're wrong, but I don't exactly know you're right either.  


I can tell you how I viewed this information, JJ.  It was straight from TRU's computer system shortly before the April 23rd release date.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #103 on: August 12, 2003, 07:15 PM »
That's cool Nick...  I wasn't really disbelieving you, just the #'s seem awfully rounded, which is sort of strange even though ordering takes place in round #'s generally.  Of course, I'm sure those #'s changed after the initial release plus what was ultimately sent back as well, so they weren't that round ultimately I guess, haha.
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Check Hasbro NOW
« Reply #104 on: August 12, 2003, 07:44 PM »
I did round the numbers, since it was some odd multiple of twelve (12 figures per case).  But the basic numbers were roughly 200K Collection 1, and 100K Collection 2.  I saw it in the computer.  It's the ratio of Collection 1 to Collection 2 that's more relevant.

As for the year end inventory, it was from a high-sales TRU.  In fact, the store was in the top 7 in sales in the northeast.  And with greater sales, it's easier to see trends develop.

I can't cite individual sales numbers for specific figures since TRU's records are based more on a Collection  SKN # than figure by figure.  However, there are still 2002 figures that would be considered army builders that still linger on the pegs.  

The situation regarding army builders is something that's got to be taken on a case by case basis, rather than categorically.  Some army builders sell very well.  Others do not.  Blanket statements as well as blanket concepts don't always apply well in every circumstance.

Hasbro designs the line in part to appeal to collectors, in part to appeal to casual buyers, and it's all to make money.  They're trying to sell toys, bottom line, at the lowest cost that they can, so that they can make as big a profit as possible.  With that very simple axiom in mind, it's easy to understand why certain decisions get made with the line, and why not every single piece is a work of art.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2003, 09:02 PM by Nicklab »
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