Collectibles > The Vintage Collection
The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
Darby:
Everyone has pretty much said it. So has Paul Harrison, for years now, but if he were to leave it at that, there'd be no site traffic or revenue, so...
Jesse James:
There's something there to what you said McMetal in that I know I've had a LOT of what you said, in my personal life, and toys are kinda down my list. I mean I love my hobbies so don't get me wrong there. They're fun, but I have had major health issues since I was young. I've been with the same woman for going on 14 years. I've taken her sons as my own kids. We've had football since they were 6 and now into college. There is work work, side work... I maintain a veritable fleet of cars myself for family.
I love toys, but I can't say toys make me mad. Frustrated when I can't find what I want? I can get that. And like others have said, I hate Wal-Mart as much as the next guy but there's absolutely no evidence to even suggest that Wal-Mart was in some "race" to get the exclusive rights to 3.75" SA stuff... fact is, they may very well have been the only place to step to the plate to take those on even. There's a chance we may be lucky they're out at all (perish the thought!) much less that they're out and we're all pitching a conniption about a fart crosswise with Leia's eyebrows or a misapplied paint app here and there.
Then again TRU Target KM and WM may all have been vying and bidding hard to get SA 3.75" in their stores... but why don't I believe that to be the case?
Everyone's personal life is different for sure. I just know personally for me toys are just fun... and even though things aren't how I want them, and they really aren't right now, I'm always able to find things I do enjoy. The Speeders in TFA (wherever the hell they were or weren't in the movie) all were really fun items to me. I'm looking at 5POA stuff as at least customizable for me. I'm in love with the SA Rogue One we got because man, I love that Jyn Cassian and DT... I only wish I had 2 dozen Scarrif Troopers!
And today I got 4 Acid Rain guys in the mail and I'm a pretty happy toy guy today. :)
Diddly:
The distribution issue is a problem faced by EVERY toy line too. I see new Marvel figures maybe twice a year, and right now my stores are full of the same 2-3 figures that are going on 2 years old now. I don't buy WWE figures, but they change their packaging designs every year like Star Wars does, and you can find 3 different types of packaging on the shelves.
JediJman:
--- Quote from: Jeff on March 22, 2017, 04:49 PM ---
--- Quote from: JediJman on March 22, 2017, 03:03 PM ---Okay, but to play Devil's Advocate the Walmart line is an "Exclusive." We have almost universally paid higher prices for exclusive product, so the "norm" on SA figures shouldn't be $13ish, especially if you factor in they've bounced down to $10 and $6 on recent clearance. You also have to factor in that there is some added profit incentive to sell that product in all stores versus just one retailer, even if the retailer is a big boy like Walmart. I don't think it's beyond reason to say that a $13-15 range for SA figures could be both profitable for Hasbro and meet collector desire for something more than 5 POA.
--- End quote ---
Ok... so which is it? You just said the norm shouldn't be $13ish, then you turned around and started talking about a $13-15 range being profitable? :P
And, like we've talked about before, being profitable isn't enough anymore. It has to be profitable enough to hit certain margin expectations.
--- End quote ---
This was in response to the notion that we'd have to pay $20 for a SA line of 3.75" figures sold everywhere (not just at WM). My rough math is as follows: if a WM Exclusive costs $13, then those figures would probably be in the $10-12 range as a non-exclusive. If Hasbro needs to sell for more than that to get to the higher margin expectations, a $13-15 price point should be profitable for them, while not moving the consumer's price point all the way up to $20. I'm assuming the $13 was an acceptable margin for Hasbro, so with level costs (maybe even lower due to higher volume) and a buck or two bump in price, this should be margin accretive. Make sense? Am I missing something? ???
Jayson:
It's really tough for me to get worked up about toys. I've been collecting as long as I can remember, and like everything in life, things change. Who would have thought that after 40 years we'd still be getting new toys and new content, irrespective of their "perceived" quality?
There is not some grand conspiracy to kill the 3.75" SA line in order to up-sell collectors on 6". There are not Hasbro suits plotting the screwing of life-long collectors in order to usher in a new generation of younger consumers. The market is the market and the Hasbro's target market is children, not man-children.
Adult collectors have had an unprecedented run of getting some of the most obscure figures in any line, canon or otherwise. And there are more options than ever to cater to the adult collector with dispensable income in nearly any scale imaginable. If you can't find anything that you like, or if everything sucks since Disney took over, you need to rethink your fandom. No one is forcing us to consume the latest items they throw the Star Wars logo on.
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