The Future of Star Wars Collecting?

[Nicklab]

The business side of things keeps creeping into the overall conversation about how Hasbro is approaching Star Wars.  First there was the earnings call where the new CEO was talking about boosting profits as the economy seemed to be set up for a downturn.  Hasbro then had poor sales performance in the 4th quarter.  And now they've laid off a significant number of people - even the spouse of a notable person on the Star Wars team!  I think we have to expect Hasbro to attempt to scrimp and save wherever possible. 

I get that people in the TVC community are pushing for high standards in quality, sculpting, articulation, et al.  The price point should correlate with an appropriate perceived value.  The one thing that I see in the community is this kind of fatalism, as if we are witnessing the last gasp of the Star Wars brand.  The number of times I've heard prominent people in the community say that "this might be the last opportunity to get this done definitively" has struck me as alarmist.  The line has gone through peaks and valleys before.  I'm not watching what's happening next month.  I'm watching for what might happen next year or the year after that.  But where I do agree is that Hasbro's capacity to completely re-work the look of a main character seems to be limited by the tooling and sculpting budget.

After the livestream reveals I heard absurd criticisms of the upcoming Endor Han Solo because the figure used legs that came from the SOLO version of Han in the TVC line.  Such as "Harrison Ford is 6'2".  Alden Ehrenreich is 5'9".  This figure will be too short".  So I took it upon myself to measure that SOLO version of Han as well as the TVC Bespin Han Solo.  I think there was maybe 1/32nd of an inch difference in height between the two figures.  I understand people who run websites need to generate content, but that was just the most ridiculous observation.  And ultimately it was rooted in this whole "barbell hips better than ball hinge hips" mantra.

The one thing that I think the fatalism doesn't take into account is the way Hasbro has historically operated.  And that is with incremental improvements to characters over time.  Collectors never seem to factor in the concept of longevity for the line.  If every main character gets done definitively in the space of 4 or 5 years, then where can Hasbro go with those characters past that point?  Hasbro is always considering the long game.  Look at just how long Hasbro has taken to touch upon every single character / figure from the Kenner line.  We're closing in on 30 years since Hasbro launched the modern era with the Power of the Force 2 line.  Kenner released those 96 figures in the space of 6 years.  We're in year 28 of the modern era and there's still 1 notable figure absent along with a few debatable ones.  Do we see a pattern here?

[Rob]

I'd honestly take less articulation and more character variety any day. 

That said, if it really comes down to this or the 3.75" scale dies, I'll take this... I guess.

[Matt_Fury]

I'd honestly take less articulation and more character variety any day. 

That said, if it really comes down to this or the 3.75" scale dies, I'll take this... I guess.

I would too, Rob, the issue is what figures would we tolerate less articulation on.  I want the most definitive version of a figure in my collection.  The latest Stormtrooper is an excellent example.  I would also want Jedi figures to be super articulated.  Someone like the Imperial Dignitary or the Emperor (As far as I'm concerned, we have a definitive Emperor so I don't need another) or other figures that aren't seen as particularly active in the films/TV shows I'd be ok with.

I guess the best course of action is for us to figure out what we want, then boost the hell out of my YouTube channel so I become big enough to get invited to a Q&A.  I'm willing to fall on my sword for the community so subscribe to Matt's Collection on YouTube today!   

[Rob]

I would too, Rob, the issue is what figures would we tolerate less articulation on.  I want the most definitive version of a figure in my collection.  The latest Stormtrooper is an excellent example.  I would also want Jedi figures to be super articulated.  Someone like the Imperial Dignitary or the Emperor (As far as I'm concerned, we have a definitive Emperor so I don't need another) or other figures that aren't seen as particularly active in the films/TV shows I'd be ok with.

I guess the best course of action is for us to figure out what we want, then boost the hell out of my YouTube channel so I become big enough to get invited to a Q&A.  I'm willing to fall on my sword for the community so subscribe to Matt's Collection on YouTube today!   

Something like you're describing would work... a TVC line of fully articulated core characters and troops and such... and then a secondary line that's TAC in scope (costs $10?) and includes secondary and background characters, never before made characters, with limited articulation and nice sculpting would be amazing.  I don't play with these things, I don't really care how many joints they have, as long as they have enough to qualify as action figures and not as statues.

[Dave]

I 100% agree that more limited articulation or even 5POA figures are totally fine if that means we would get new stuff.  I too don't make photo novels or pose my figures in overly dynamic ways, I just want to be able to display the characters on my shelf, and right now I'm not really getting anything new to add to the shelf.

I know some people care about a 100% accurate, definitive version of a figure, but honestly I don't need another (even if its slightly different/better) Darth Vader, Endor Han, etc.  What I've got is good enough in nearly all situations.

I'd love new Andor figures, or ST figures, or anything new.  There is so much cool stuff out there that we don't have - that if a $14 price point for a all new 5POA figure is what Hasbro needs to turn a reasonable profit, then I'd much rather have that than a $14 repainted TVC figure I essentially already have.

[Nicklab]

I would too, Rob, the issue is what figures would we tolerate less articulation on.  I want the most definitive version of a figure in my collection.  The latest Stormtrooper is an excellent example.  I would also want Jedi figures to be super articulated.  Someone like the Imperial Dignitary or the Emperor (As far as I'm concerned, we have a definitive Emperor so I don't need another) or other figures that aren't seen as particularly active in the films/TV shows I'd be ok with.

I guess the best course of action is for us to figure out what we want, then boost the hell out of my YouTube channel so I become big enough to get invited to a Q&A.  I'm willing to fall on my sword for the community so subscribe to Matt's Collection on YouTube today!   

Something like you're describing would work... a TVC line of fully articulated core characters and troops and such... and then a secondary line that's TAC in scope (costs $10?) and includes secondary and background characters, never before made characters, with limited articulation and nice sculpting would be amazing.  I don't play with these things, I don't really care how many joints they have, as long as they have enough to qualify as action figures and not as statues.

I think the idea has always been sound - character appropriate articulation, but keep up the sculpting and paint standards.

What I disagree on is having different assortments.  Keep it all in The Vintage Collection.  Multiple assortments have had a checkered past.  Hasbro could take a lesson from their own history and average the costs across all of the figures.  A wave of 5 figures could have 2 super articulated figures, like a Jedi and a trooper, and 3 figures with less articulation.  And hopefully that could lower the MSRP slightly so that Hasbro can build up sales volume.

[Dave]

What I disagree on is having different assortments.  Keep it all in The Vintage Collection.  Multiple assortments have had a checkered past.  Hasbro could take a lesson from their own history and average the costs across all of the figures.  A wave of 5 figures could have 2 super articulated figures, like a Jedi and a trooper, and 3 figures with less articulation.  And hopefully that could lower the MSRP slightly so that Hasbro can build up sales volume.

I agree that retail can't support multiple assortments right now.  If they mix and match articulation levels they should keep it all under one assortment and price point.  This was the old math they used to use where some figures will cost them more and some will cost less, but they're all priced the same - e.g. Ephant Mon vs. Jawa.

[Muftak]

The magic ingredient we are missing of course is sales volume. That would cure a whole  host of difficulties the line is struggling with.

It has always been a pretty brutal survival of the fittest in the toy aisle. This is no longer a kids' toy line, so maybe it is time to either reset it to being toys or move on to a true specialty collector line. There seems no way to straddle the fence anymore.

[Rob]

Do we really know what their sales volume is like?  I can almost never find more than 3 or 4 figures on a peg at Target... I'm not in Walmart often but when I am they have even less.

Are they producing stuff and it's moving fast or are they not even producing anything? 

More interesting characters tied to current properties could drive sales... they also straight up split the fanbase between 6" and 3.75" - if there's a volume issue, it probably started with that.

[Muftak]

Anecdotally I would say we can be assured that there are way less figures produced today than 10 or 20 years ago. Even if every peg at every Target and WalMart were full, you can't deny there used to be 6 pegs versus today's one or two pegs. And that's not even considering the loss of pegs at TRU, KMart, Kaybee...there are less figures around these days.

Figure sell through because collectors need one full case each (or two cases if they collect loose and carded) and automated inventory systems seem to not replenish when the case is sold, but rather on a set interval unless there is inventory on hand. So a case hits, gets bought in its entirety, and then the store gets another case or two 6-8 weeks later. It is a really slow drip process that looks like empty pegs 95% of the time, unless something like 3xLando happens.

[Rob]

Anecdotally I would say we can be assured that there are way less figures produced today than 10 or 20 years ago. Even if every peg at every Target and WalMart were full, you can't deny there used to be 6 pegs versus today's one or two pegs. And that's not even considering the loss of pegs at TRU, KMart, Kaybee...there are less figures around these days.

That's all true, but 10 years ago I was spending Saturday afternoon with my friends driving around to 7 Walmarts and 8 Targets looking for new stuff.  Now I order it on Amazon or Hasbro Pulse which at least partially replace sales at K-Mart, Kaybee and TRU.  Is the reduced shelf space more an indication of the rise of online shopping or a decline in sales?    I'd imagine it's a mixture of the two, but I'm sure theres' not a 1:1 relationship between reduced pegs and reduced sales.

[Muftak]

You are not wrong. I would say that collectors were going to get theirs any way they could. I've picked up plenty of missed figures at comic shops or off eBay. Online makes that easy now for those who know what they are looking for. The reduced retail presence kills the casual buyer and the kid impulse purchase, without those the line lives and dies on the dwindling collector numbers.

But yeah, this is all anecdotal. After the huge glut of figures from 2015-2018, I can't imagine any other explanation than a massive correction in production numbers that has led to 2019 Rey being a scarce figure.

[Jeff]

Is the reduced shelf space more an indication of the rise of online shopping or a decline in sales?    I'd imagine it's a mixture of the two, but I'm sure theres' not a 1:1 relationship between reduced pegs and reduced sales.

It's also inventory management.  If one peg holds 8 figures like Nick was saying, that one peg is now holding $120 in TVC inventory.  Back in the 5POA days when TLJ/TFA/Solo figures were $8 each, that same inventory $ amount would have been 15 figures on two pegs.  It just feels like Target isn't willing to sink $ into holding too much inventory at one time anymore.

The cost of making these figures is everything.  The cost is affecting the make-up of the line (character selection, need for re-use, 50% of figures being repack/repaint, etc).  It is affecting how much stock retailers are willing to hold.  It is forcing some collectors out (reduced sales).  It is forcing others to rethink their habits (buying online vs daily toy runs), which in turn hurts brick and mortar retail sales and their inventory and the cycle continues.

I still love collecting this line (3.75" Star Wars), but man I wish TVC was dead.  I wish they would have killed the bubble which would have forced them to rethink the 3.75" line.  They could have come up with cheaper, smaller, easier to ship packaging (like the trooper 4-pack boxes).  They could have pivoted to putting some 5-10POA weirdo figures into the line occasionally to help offset the cost of the SA figures without people bitching "this isn't up to TVC standards".  Mainline figure costs wouldn't have had to jump to $16.99 this spring.

Alas, collectors bitched, the bubble stayed, and here we are with our $17 "look how we fixed/updated/repainted the figure this time!".  The card and bubble sure look cool though! 

(I know easy for me, an opener to say - I get that the look/style of the bubble/cardback is everything to some buyers... but that ain't me.)

[Dave]

I wonder how much of their need to straddle mainline retail vs. online collector focus is impacting their decision making.   I feel like they're trying to sort of accomplish both, and failing at both.

If it were retail focused I agree with Jeff and they should have killed the bubble, reduced articulation, and lowered price to get more peg space and volume.

If it were collector focused it would be new stuff, potentially TVC higher articulation, and higher prices.

It seems like we've got a crappy Frankenstein of high articulation, and lots of repaints to make the financial math work.  Retailers aren't happy and collectors aren't happy.

Either they should split the line or go all one way or the other.  I don't think what they're doing is sustainable as they're burning out the collector community and not making a big enough impact at retail to keep the line churning for another 5-10 years.

[Nicklab]

I came across a new Walmart planogram the other day.  It actually had 4 x pegs for TVC, but with 2 different UPC's / assortment numbers.  At first I thought that a couple of them might be for the Retro Collection, but examining it closely seemed to indicate that Retro might be taking a break for a few months at this particular store.  Another thing to keep in mind with planograms?  They can vary based on the size of the store and its toy section, and they change every couple of months.

Cost is definitely everything.  One thing that's been coming to mind is not just the increased cost of manufacturing in China.  With the growth of the Chinese economy wages have also increased along with costs.  But transportation is another big factor.  The "Global Shipping Crisis" has made it clear that manufacturing in North America might help to decrease some of those transportation costs as well as delays.  I hope it's something that Hasbro is examining as a possibility.

As for figures?  I would be in favor of keeping TVC level articulation where it's appropriate - Jedi, Sith, Troopers, etc.  And articulation that's on par with 2007 - 2010 standards for characters that aren't in need of as much articulation.  I think a Legacy Collection quality figure with the modern paint apps would be pretty damned good.  I continue to see people in the TVC Facebook group say that Hasbro should just reissue figures like the Rancor Keeper and others in TVC and be done with it.  There's no need to re-invent the wheel with some of these figures.