Author Topic: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018  (Read 29523 times)

Offline Darby

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #90 on: January 17, 2018, 01:37 PM »
I still have a soft spot for the Mol Cal Officer, which was an early OMG they're doing everything figure, along with K-3PO. But he definitely needs an upgrade.

Offline Jeff

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #91 on: January 17, 2018, 01:39 PM »
I have said it before, but my expectations for TVC 2.0 are very tempered at the moment.

People are going to bitch that it's mostly repacks to start.  People are going to bitch about the price.  People are going to bitch that the new figure choices are too Disney Star Wars heavy.  People are going to bitch about other collectors "not doing their duty" and buying repacks. Etc Etc.

And then there's distribution.  There are some early report/rumors of 8-figure cases, which may make it easier for stores to actually sell through cases of figures instead of situations where Target is opening cases and sending 4-6 figures per store like the tail run of the 2013-2014 Black Series 3.75" stuff.  Will stores be able to sell through the repacks to make way for new figures?  I hope so, but who knows.  It's a lot to ask people to spend $13-15 for repacks simply for the pretty cardbacks.

I am hopeful for what TVC may bring, but I'm not expecting it to usher in some 'return to the glory days' for the line overall.

I am excited to see Hasbro attempt to make SA 3.75" figures a larger part of the portfolio again.  I am excited to see the stupid Walmart boxes go.  I know Hasbro was trying to differentiate the SA stuff from 5POA, but they lost a LOT of carded collector sales doing that.  I am excited that maybe we'll get a reason to dust off the old JediDefender Wish Lists if Hasbro can finally get back to knocking off some long requested SA updates (ANH Leia, ESB Lando, AOTC Cliegg, Sim Aloo, Yakface, etc).

So basically, I'm hopeful for what TVC 2.0 might bring, but fully prepared to see it bashed from the opening moments...
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Offline Muftak

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #92 on: January 17, 2018, 04:45 PM »
My gut is telling me that everything has flip-flopped from the "golden age" of ten years ago, when the 2 current lines consisted of 30AC/Legacy/what-have-you featuring new sculpts, new characters, etc, and the "Legends" line featuring repacks and rereleases.

When "Vintage" returns, it will be primarily a rerelease line while whatever current 5POA movie line will be the home of new sculpts. "Vintage" will be a way to keep Vaders, Troopers and Fetts on the shelves, and I have no hope at all of any new OT sculpts.

The 1-in-10 newly-sculpted SA "Vintage" figure will always be from Disney-era media, bar none.

Go ahead, Hasbro: prove me wrong.

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #93 on: January 20, 2018, 01:26 PM »
I agree that this line will probably lean heavily on Disney era product, However, I do expect a few new OT sculpts per year. Hasbro's been pretty good at giving us runner-ups in fan choice polls and they themselves are still first and foremost fans. I had faith that this line would come back and I have faith we'll see some new OT sculpts.
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Offline Dave

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #94 on: January 21, 2018, 01:40 AM »
Do we have any idea of the quantities they’re making?  Part of me worries that this is going to be like the 6” Vintage line they had recently where it seemed some retailers didn’t get these at all, stores like Target got one or two cases and that was it.  Basically if you didn’t find them during the five days they were hitting you had to scavenge on eBay, etc.

Offline Rob

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #95 on: January 21, 2018, 08:33 AM »
I agree that this line will probably lean heavily on Disney era product, However, I do expect a few new OT sculpts per year. Hasbro's been pretty good at giving us runner-ups in fan choice polls and they themselves are still first and foremost fans. I had faith that this line would come back and I have faith we'll see some new OT sculpts.

A few new OT sculpts per year isn't good enough... I need a few NEW OT characters per year.  Even if it's just two or three.  With the exception of the EE Droid pack, Mosep Binneed is the last one I can think of, and that was almost three years ago.

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #96 on: January 21, 2018, 01:13 PM »
I agree that this line will probably lean heavily on Disney era product, However, I do expect a few new OT sculpts per year. Hasbro's been pretty good at giving us runner-ups in fan choice polls and they themselves are still first and foremost fans. I had faith that this line would come back and I have faith we'll see some new OT sculpts.

A few new OT sculpts per year isn't good enough... I need a few NEW OT characters per year.  Even if it's just two or three.  With the exception of the EE Droid pack, Mosep Binneed is the last one I can think of, and that was almost three years ago.

Please forgive the incorrect wording. You're right of course!
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Offline GrandMoffNick

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #97 on: September 2, 2018, 10:28 AM »
Question

Would it cost Hasbro as much to take a figure from recent Walmart Black Series and card it in the Vintage Collection as it would to take a figure from TAC or Legacy and do the same?

I assume there's something about a more recent fig that would be less, but not because I have any actually knowledge
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Offline Muftak

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #98 on: September 2, 2018, 01:46 PM »
It is my understanding that around the time the first Vintage wrapped up and the "Black Series" began (2013-ish) Hasbro began to shift production out of their old Chinese factories into cheaper ones elsewhere in China, and also in Vietnam. Adam Paulus at GalacticHunter has pointed out figures seeming to be from the same mold (Like single pack Shoretroopers vs 2-pack Shoretroopers) are actually the same digital file turned into two different molds at the different factories, with the Vietnam ones usually being a little crisper in detail.

Using new/different factories throws the wrench in the development because the old molds may not be readily available or compatible with the current factory's setup. Sometimes Hasbro doesn't even own the mold, and when they stop using the factory that toy is off the table for good.

I would imagine all the WalMart Black Series figures would still be readily available--and the Vintage Collection seems to bear this out--and less so with the TAC and Legacy figures.

It has been presented by Hasbro in the past that sometimes a brand new mold is a cheaper option than digging out the old one.

Offline GrandMoffNick

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #99 on: September 2, 2018, 02:22 PM »
Thank you. That is what I assumed (not all the details of course). I've just been laughing/annoyed with some of the talk of "well why doesn't Hasbro just repack a bunch of old figures instead of the stuff they are" in the Vintage Collection. I'm not saying Hasbro is amazing, but once again they can't just do what each and every fan individually wants.

I apologize in advance. I gave myself a self imposed banishment from posting on any site that isn't JD so you may have to skip over a few more of my incoherent rants again.
« Last Edit: September 2, 2018, 02:26 PM by GrandMoffNick »
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #100 on: September 3, 2018, 10:30 AM »
The recent publicized shift from production in China to Vietnam may be a bit of a thing now. The ownership of those molds can be a point of contention between Hasbro and the factory to whom they have subcontracted the production.  That's been a topic that Hasbro has discussed at some length, and I heard it from them personally going back over 10 years ago.

The detail about the tooling being built from digital files is interesting.  Because it would seemingly give Hasbro the ability to send those files to the factory so that they could build their own tooling.  So going forward, ownership of the molds might not be such a problem when it comes to reissuing a figure that was previously produced in a factory that is no longer working with Hasbro on figure production.

I'd be okay with Hasbro reissuing some figure that appeared as far back as the 30th Anniversary Collection.  There were some great figures in that line.  Hell, even the ROTS version of Ki-Adi-Mundi was an awesome figure, and that's 13 years old!  But I would call that the definitive version of the character, and it would look great on a TVC card.  But how many of these digital files for figure designs does Hasbro have on hand?  How far back do they go? 
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Offline Muftak

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #101 on: September 3, 2018, 11:12 AM »
The detail about the tooling being built from digital files is interesting.  Because it would seemingly give Hasbro the ability to send those files to the factory so that they could build their own tooling.  So going forward, ownership of the molds might not be such a problem when it comes to reissuing a figure that was previously produced in a factory that is no longer working with Hasbro on figure production.

Excellent points. Certainly Hasbro had no compunctions about having the same digital file being tooled up at two different factories (in two different countries) at the same time to produce essentially identical figures (paint apps notwithstanding.) The issue is in the pricing: tooling makes up a large chunk of production costs, which is why a reuse/rehash of existing tooling cuts costs. During a movie push and making the 5POA movie line figures the biggest crunch Hasbro is feeling is time, so having multiple new molds cranking out figures everywhere they can makes sense. It's not the same with Vintage Collection figures.

Hasbro now builds a Vintage Collection wave to balance costs between new tooling and old tooling, essentially selling the more cheaply produced "old tool" figures at the same price as the new ones to have the ability to bring us the newly tooled figures at a better price. Just looking at the figures, they are as intricate as the 6" figures, so you can make the leap that the tooling is just as expensive no matter the scale. (Heck, I could even argue there is some threshold where it begins to cost more for the miniaturized detail.)

All this is just a long way around of saying the old tools are still very valuable and necessary to Hasbro's Vintage Collection strategy. And until they get us to accept that a 4" and a 6" figure will cost the same at retail, it will remain that way.


Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #102 on: December 30, 2018, 01:15 PM »
Overall, how do you all feel like these are performing?

I have mixed feelings. It seemed like wave 1 was selling pretty well at first, but what I've seen in December was, instead of Waves 2 and 3 hitting the shelves, it was still wave 1, over and over again, stagnating.

Was lucky to buy waves 2 and 3 on-line, but would have preferred to support retail. I'm concerned about the 2019 waves. 
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Offline Rob

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #103 on: December 30, 2018, 05:21 PM »
I still haven’t seen anything past wave one in a store. 

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: The Vintage Collection Returns - Spring 2018
« Reply #104 on: December 31, 2018, 12:53 PM »
And it occurs to me that waves 2 & 3 still haven't hit HTS, which is disconcerting.
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