Author Topic: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?  (Read 14710 times)

Offline Jeff

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2005, 06:45 PM »
I will continue buying 1 of each carded 3.75" figure until I die... OTC Internet Wedge included.  :-[

I will continue to buy 1 of each "new" 3.75" figure to open and display.

I will continue to buy 1 of each "new" 3.75" scale vehicle, playset, accessory, etc to open/enjoy as I see fit.

I can't quit... I just can't do it.

"It is too late for me, son".  :P
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2005, 06:50 PM »
"It is too late for me, son"

Tell me about it - I just can't quit. The day I solidified my standing in not being able to quit, was the day I decided to become a MIP/MOC completist in 1998 when for the three years before that I had simply been a opener only. From that point on when I got two of every item and then retroactively went back and bought all of the POTF2 figures, vehicles, mini-playsets and multi-packs again that was when I declared I was in it for the long haul.

*sigh*
Peter

Letting my collecting OCD get the better of me on a DAILY basis... and loving EVERY minute of it!

Offline JediMAC

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2005, 07:06 PM »
I can't quit, as much as I may want to with all this upcoming rehashed bull****.  My only option at this point is self-termination.  :P


That said, **** Hasbro.  >:(

They'll definitely be hearing from me in oh... about 48 hours, exactly.  :-X

Offline Gatillo

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2005, 08:11 PM »
I stop buying Hasbro's crap years ago.  I just buy what I like for my loose collection.  If a figure is really cool looking, then I might buy one to keep carded but I don't do that for all figures.  The truth is that about 35 to 45% of the Star Wars line is pure crap.  I have no compulsions. :-X
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Offline Vator

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #19 on: July 13, 2005, 08:15 PM »
Passed on 90% of the OTC, and am going to pass on 99% of this announced new crap.
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Offline Famine

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #20 on: July 13, 2005, 08:25 PM »
I can't quit, as much as I may want to with all this upcoming rehashed bull****.  My only option at this point is self-termination.  :P


That said, **** Hasbro.  >:(

They'll definitely be hearing from me in oh... about 48 hours, exactly.  :-X


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Offline Darby

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #21 on: July 13, 2005, 09:32 PM »
It's not so much I want to quit as Hasbro is making it very easy for me to do it.  The upcoming Wedge is proof positive the lunatics are running the asylum now, and today's steady stream of rehash/repaint news only reinforces it.  I've been a loose incompleteist since after 1999.  I'm only buying new figures I want (provided they are any) from now on.

Offline Morgbug

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #22 on: July 13, 2005, 10:13 PM »
Thanks for the responses guys.  When I initially posted it I knew guys like Jeff, Matt and Pete were sort of stuck and I didn't want to offend them.  In all probability I'll end up with the exclusives and all sorts of other **** as well, if only to get at some of the clones in there.

I spent about $8000 last year (I thought that was a lot until I went to C3 and saw the true lunatics, guys that put anyone here to shame) and that's not insubstantial.  I'd guess maybe 40% went to Hasbro, 20% to vintage and the rest to other collectibles not made by Hasbro and other toy lines altogether. I know that's not anything to Hasbro at all, but it's disappointing to know that they really don't seem to care at all about collectors. 

Is the blue clone (special ops) in the 5 pack cool?  Hell yeah, but since the #6 clone it's based on is the same price as the #41, why the hell are they doing that?  I don't hate #6 as much as some people, but that's just some seriously ****** up logic.  And packing in rehashes?  Why, why, why?  Anakin, fine, but retool it a little, it wouldn't cost much (****, there's no real cost in that box for them at all, it's pure profit) but a clone pilot?  Did I miss it in the scene? No, so take your pegwarmer and shove it up your ass.   Please.  I even like the damn pilots, but put the black pilot in there, give people a reason to want the damn box. 

And rehashing POTF2 stuff (hello, Hoth box?)?  Come on.  You resculpted the damn snowtrooper to give us what was supposedly a better sculpt and now you're re-using the old sculpt?  Huh?  Just huh?

I'm like lots of folks here, I can't just stop either.  I'll still pick up clones.  But honestly, I was at a point where I was going to fill out the 15-20 odd pieces from ROTS that I'm currently missing (from the 1-32).  All these announcements today quashed that thought.  I'll still buy Bail and some Jedi I'm missing because the poses are more neutral than the Saga stuff.  But any of the figs I don't have and are marginal?  **** it.  Same goes for new stuff coming.  Hasbro doesn't want to make an effort for my dollars?  No worries at all, here's a short list of who wants it:

Gentle Giant - busts, statues, bust-ups
Sideshow Collectibles - skip all the Hasbro vehicles and I'm almost good for one
Kubrick's - duh
Master Replicas - sabers, hilts, helmets
Tomy - love those mini-dioramas, but don't know if I'll see more

I can live without Hasbro.  Retail supply up here sucks, so I'm online anyway. 

BTW Matt, ask Hasbro about their retail store and why they seem perpetually sold out of army builders.  Ask them why they always seem to have ****** figures in stock at the same time.  Ask them if they understand.  Yet.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #23 on: July 13, 2005, 10:29 PM »
I would never consider stopping collecting the 3-3/4" line for four reasons -

(1) I am not a completist

(2) I open everything, who knows where half the weapons are

(3) I am a customizer/diorama builder

(4) I love Star Wars  ;)

 :P


Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #24 on: July 13, 2005, 10:35 PM »
As much as I bitch (constantly) about Hasbro, and as much as I think this all stinks of "We want this line to fail so we can quit making SW toys" (something I'll touch on in a more appropriate thread), I'm probably going to get at least half of the "final 12" they just announced.

The point isn't that I am getting half of them, but that I'm not getting the other half.  Up until now, I've gotten one of every uniquely sculpted figure in the basic action figure line, EU or not.  If there was a repaint that wasn't gratuitous, I would pick that up.  Now, with repaints of the Neimoidian Warrior and the Wookiee Warrior(s) that are totally gratuitous and not based in any "reality" as it pertains to the film, I've given up on that too.  So, basically, I'm no longer a completist as far as the basic line goes.

I'll keep buying the characters I want, as long as I can find them and as long as Hasbro keeps making them.  Unfortunately, the former is getting more difficult as the days go on, and I don't see the latter being representative that much longer either.

Offline Darth Broem

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #25 on: July 13, 2005, 10:37 PM »
Well I just saw pics of the upcoming ROTS 12.  I will undoubtedly be getting many of those.   I actually llike the Anakin and Kenobi exclusive from Target.  Damnit.  I was thinking it was going to be total crap, but unfortunately I kind of like it.  When I kind of like something Star Wars it usually ends up in my house at some point in time.  

Hell I even like that freaking Evlolutions set repaints to.  LOL!

However, 2006 does concern me overall if it's just going to be repacks.  Hopefully they includes some NEW figures.  

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #26 on: July 13, 2005, 10:50 PM »
Am I thinking of quitting?

No, not really, but like others, I'm not a carded completist...  I'm not even a loose completist for the line overall.  I pass on many ships anymore, as well as Deluxe figures I find to be a disappointment.

And being that I open everything too, it makes these repacks generally easier on me.  Ironically though I found myself wanting a lot of the stuff from the OTC, like the Jawas, Gam Guard, Sandpeople...  It was nice.

I'm less impressed with the repacks being tossed around right now though.  For instance, the Hoth set is an abysmal failure.  The figures are poor, not just in sculpt, but in articulation.  They're cheap at Toy Shows if you really want a Snowtrooper army.  I got AT-AT Commander figures for cheap out of AT-AT's I bought for cheap...  I'm not impressed.

I'd go a step further than you did Brent, and even say the set would blow even if packed with ONLY the Saga Hoth Trooper.  I think that figure blows too, so short of new figures (insert sarcastic laugh here), the set isn't a winner in my eyes.  Maybe someone's, but not mine.

I like rehashes of good stuff...  I like the #6 Clone (I'd prefer #41), so seeing it doesn't bug me.  I like the Preview Wookiee...  Some rehashes are good.  I like astromech repaints, especially of that spiffy Preview droid.  I'm the only one, but I like the Neimodian too.  Weird, I know.

But, there's a lotta piss-poor re-releases that are going to make a lot of people either A) quit entirely, or B) change their collecting habits dramatically.  Can't blame anyone there.

The Evolutions stuff, that doesn't bug me in the slightest...  So long as it's easy to find.

I see your points in that Hasbro is making it REALLY hard to stay with them and support this line at times though Brent, but even moreso for you being north of the border, but also for lots of different "types" of collectors. 

On another minority note here though, I like the black suited Clone Pilots.  I'm an EU (and fan-fiction) fan though.  And like the Neimodian, I can't say in good faith that it was a good idea considering how many pilots I see on my trips out.  He's dwindled, but still is a pegwarmer.
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #27 on: July 13, 2005, 11:05 PM »
Thanks for the responses guys.  When I initially posted it I knew guys like Jeff, Matt and Pete were sort of stuck and I didn't want to offend them.  In all probability I'll end up with the exclusives and all sorts of other **** as well, if only to get at some of the clones in there.

You could NEVER offend me on a topic such as this one. My wife and I met through I mutual love of both Star Wars and Star Trek, yet now, even she is like "when is enough, enough?"

God bless the condition known as OCD 'cause it runs through my blood stronger than any midichlorians through Anakin Skywalker - seriously.

Sure I don't army build to the extent of some of the other collectors, but I know I am a crack addict and Hasbro produces my crack. Pure and simple.

As much as I bitch, when the end finally does come, I will mourn the line's passing much in the same way I mourned the loss of the Playmates 5" Star Trek figure line.

Being that I work as a website manager as part of the marketing department where I work, I'm very much in tune with branding and marketing and what helps actually SELL a product. What boggles my mind more than ANYTHING else is the amount of cost cutting Hasbro is willing to do in order to raise their profits in the short term at the expense of the brand. It's almost like someone at Hasbro is angry that they have this license and wants to put the final nails in its coffin. I just can't explain it.

One thing that echos here and on other boards is that if Hasbro actually wanted to, they could produce good product, raise the price point and all of us would still buy simply because the product is good. Like if they went to a line that was nothing but Evolutions Sets for new versions of the core characters and then re-tooled rehashes with Battle Packs, I would actually be okay with that.

It's when they repaint or recast in a translucent plastic a figure that (a) we just got or (b) have multiples of that I get frustrated. I mean Anakin #2 and Obi-Wan #1 are going to start giving Cantina Han a run for his money. They both came carded, they both are coming with Jedi Starfighters, Obi-Wan came with the Target Cup and now they are getting the "Lava Reflection" treatment. While I would have been okay with the Lava Reflection treatment, I would have preferred trhat they use the later release Anakin and Obi-Wan figures instead, if for no other reason that to "mix it up" a bit. However, the scary truth is that I LIKE these Target "Lava Reflect" Anakin and Obi-Wan figures and almost wish that this is how the two figures had been released initially. The bases are nice (albeit they're going to get a lot of use with the sep leaders having them too) and it's almost like Target asked Hasbro to make them 3.75" versions of the Anakin vs. Ob-Wan Unleashed figures.

It's hard when you love a line so much, are friends with other collectors who clearly love the line as well and collectively you all know that if Hasbro would just let your group be the focus group for the line, you would produce FAR SUPERIOR product than Hasbro comes up with.

I no longer buy into the rhetoric that Hasbro suggests figures to LFL and they pick and choose which ones they make. I mean who at Lucasfilm is going "repaint the Nemoidian? BRILLIANT!" I mean really.

I think all of us here would have GLADLY seen the #41 Clone repainted with Green stripes for Gree's grunts, Yellow stripes for Cody's grunts, Red markings as ShockTroopers and Blue markings for the 501st Legion all released as variants to #41 or as newly numbered releases.

Commander Bly and Commander Gree were easy re-tools of the respective figures so I can't blame them there. I also can't really blame them on the Grievous Bodyguard and the Wookie Warriors. The bodyguard sculpt could be better, but it is what it is and there WERE the two variations on color in the movie. These are choices I could see even us suggesting to bolster the army building potential of the line.

As I write this post, I'm still going through all of the pictures on GH and right now I just stumbled on the Crap Battlers and the [du]MPire garbage. Effort was put into developing, sculpting, tooling and manufacturing these turds. And the bread and buttler line gets 15 repaints for the remainder of the year? What a load of **** that is!

Now I'm looking at the Titanium stuff - and while I do think this little line is nicely done. I don't collect it, but if I was an Action Fleet collector, I would view any work on this line to be a HUGE slap in the face, especially with the 6" Titanium vehicles coming out. Also as a 3.75" collector, when I see things like the Titanium Republic Swamp Speeder (or whatever that speeder with the two clones is called), I wonder to myself, if they have this sculpt like this, why can't a version be made for the 3.75" scale too? The toy industry has long had the ability to scale up and down from source sculpts. If they were sculpting this vehicle for Titanium, why not start at the larger 3.75" size and then scale down for Titanium? Perhaps there's a piece of toy making logic that I'm missing, if there is, someone needs to explain it to me... VERY .... SLOWLY, 'cause no matter what you say, I'll still be confused.

Ok - enough ranting for now...
Peter

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Offline Dressel Rebel

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #28 on: July 13, 2005, 11:40 PM »
I would rather perish than stop.
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Offline Nathan

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Re: Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?
« Reply #29 on: July 14, 2005, 12:11 AM »
And rehashing POTF2 stuff (hello, Hoth box?)?  Come on.  You resculpted the damn snowtrooper to give us what was supposedly a better sculpt and now you're re-using the old sculpt?  Huh?  Just huh?

And there's the real crux of the problem. I can understand repacking POTF2 when you don't have newer sculpts and you're too lazy to do them, but what the hell is the logic behind using a crappy version when an upgraded one is available??
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