San Diego Comic-Con 2015

[Jeff]

The JediDefender Q&A with Hasbro at San Diego Comic-Con 2015 has been posted to our soundcloud account for you to enjoy...   thanks again to Darth Anton for helping us out with our West Coast coverage once again this year!

[P-Siddy]

Thanks, Anton, for the interview!  Nice job, to both you, for doing it, and to Hasbro for evasive answers regarding SA 3.75" figures.

One thing that would be nice is a name-change for one of the Black Series line scales.  That way if a question is asked about 3.75" figures, Hasbro won't go to their default answer about 6".  Anytime Hasbro says TBS, it's about the 6" line.  That's the mindset.  I don't know how much more direct Anton could be about the 3.75" line and Jeff quickly rattled off 6" stuff.

[Darth_Anton]

Thanks Siddy! I kept trying to think of how to direct Jeff back on course, but we've gotten to know each other decently enough that it's making me soft on him. He's a real genuine guy. But, I also think it shows that they're obviously personally excited about the 6 inch line.

[Nicklab]

It seems like this uncertainty and information blackout that we're dealing with is not limited to Hasbro.  Check out this NY Times article about the Star Wars presence at SDCC 2015 and what seems to be a concerted effort to not overhype THE FORCE AWAKENS film release and very likely all of the associated licensed merchandise:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/business/promoters-of-coming-star-wars-film-have-a-delicate-dance-at-comic-con.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1&referrer=

[P-Siddy]

Thanks Siddy! I kept trying to think of how to direct Jeff back on course, but we've gotten to know each other decently enough that it's making me soft on him. He's a real genuine guy. But, I also think it shows that they're obviously personally excited about the 6 inch line.

Yeah, I got the same impression after meeting and talking to him at a couple Toy Fairs I was at a couple years back.  I guess what I don't understand and I think a lot of people are wondering this as well is, what's the harm in saying, expect # 6" figures, # 6" vehicles, # 3.75 figures, etc.  It isn't revealing anything about the plot or what is being release (if it's just TFA or if there's Classic or Prequel, too).  In the end, all fans want to know from Hasbro is "How much money should I be bringing to Midnight Madness on 4 September?" so they can budget for it.

Nick, that's a pretty good article.  If Disney and LFL are holding back on info that's their prerogative.  I think it does generate interest going into the movie by knowing very little about the story.  The spoiler-free people will be happy.  Disney/LFL have been throwing little bones out there with that BTS video.  Quite frankly, the movie industry has a habit of showing too much in trailers that one can piece together the entire movie before going to the theater.  It's nice to have some mystery.

[Brian]

Although the little of what was shown looked very nice (looking forward to those new 6" figures), I have to say that I was disappointed there wasn't at least a little more.  For the last 3-4 conventions, where all Hasbro could say was "we can't talk about Fall 2015 or beyond", they seemed to give the impression or even straight out said "wait until SDCC".  Was this seriously what we were holding our breath for? The giant TIE (while really cool) wasn't quite the reveal I thought we'd get.  I thought we would at least see the finished figures for Rey, Finn, etc. that were leaked months ago in prototype form.

I can understand having secrecy going into the movie as well, and don't even mind that to some extent, but it would be nice to have an idea what the line will look like for budgeting and all of that.  I know not everyone has to do that, but I know that I do, and its nice to have an idea of what's coming.  Plus, I think that any character that has been shown in the trailers could have been shown in toy form.  So, for example, if the 3 3/4" is going to be 5 POA or whatever, show us a Rey, Finn, and Poe so we can get an idea of what they're going to look like.  They are starting to run out of chances to promote this prior to Sept 4 (not that they necessarily need to), and it would be nice to get a look at at least a few things.  That being said, it might be out of Hasbro's hands on this one too.

[Darby]

This is all Disney:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/business/promoters-of-coming-star-wars-film-have-a-delicate-dance-at-comic-con.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=2&referrer=

[Nicklab]

Well, after they spent $4 billion on the whole franchise, I can see why they might want to execute a very controlled rollout for Star Wars under the Disney banner.  They want to make sure they recoup the investment for the Star Wars intellectual property.  And that's not just about THE FORCE AWAKENS, but the whole plan of a new trilogy as well as the Anthology films, theme park updates and licensed merchandise.

[Jeff]

Well, SDCC is over and I came to this realization:

Any excitement I had for FORCE FRIDAY^TM is gone.  I've got this nifty Hasbro calendar counting me down to... what?   

I was pretty excited about the possibility of a retail reboot and a new line... but after SDCC, I'm not sure why I should be excited about heading to my favorite retailer at midnight for the 9/4 shopping spree.

Am I supposed to head out and stand in line hoping there will be something for me to buy?  Will I be setting myself up for a massive disappointment?  What if I choose to go to Target, while all the 3.75" collector figures are now exclusive to TRU or something?

And how much should I budget for?  I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't just show up and spend a thousand dollars 'on demand' on this stuff.  I've been setting aside some cash assuming that I'll be buying something, but who knows if it will be enough for whatever they're planning.

Hasbro, I get it.  Mickey Mouse won't let you say anything about the new stuff so you don't over-hype your movie/investment.  Maybe that's for the best.  Maybe I should do the same... I'd hate to get me too excited too, to the point that I buy a bunch of stuff I don't maybe need because it's new and exciting.

So yeah - thanks Hasbro and Disney for giving me the chance to realize I don't have to buy into your Force Friday hype like I bought into the Midnight Madnesses of the past, only to stare at my 2005 Holo Yoda, 2008 Holo CW General Grievous, or whatever figures thinking, "why did I buy this" and remember - oh yeah, I was caught up in the hype.

Not this time, I guess.

[P-Siddy]

That's a pretty good summary, Jeff. 

Where to go, What to buy? How much to budget?

Instead we hear "We can't talk about Fall 2015 and beyond" or "There will be something for fans of all scales".

[Pete_Fett]

Agreed, great summary Jeff.

I had pretty much forgotten about what Midnight Madness was like - especially since the last major one was 10+ years ago.

Back in 2005, I did the midnight madness at Toys R Us, then after getting "done" there, I immediately went across the street to sit outside of the Target. Right before they opened, my wife joined me so I'd have a 2nd person to help me get an opener of Lava Reflection Vader, and then once "done" there, I went over to WalMart so I could get the Modern Early Bird Kit.

The funny thing is that SO MUCH of this stuff was produced, none of it ended up being hard to get in the days that followed. Toys R Us ran out of Dagger Squad B-Wings but got PLENTY in eventually, in fact I even scored a 2nd opener eventually on deep clearance, Target eventually had pegs of Lava Reflection Vader, and WalMart had stacks and stacks of that Early Bird Kit.

So in addition to the "where should I go" and "what can I expect" questions, the "how much has been produced" question is also important.

From what I have seen NOTHING has been produced in any great quantity anymore, production runs are a fraction of what they were 10 years ago and we are definitely back to a post-EP1 "buy it when you see it or else you may never see it again" environment with many cases the situation being that you don't see certain products EVER.

So IMHO, what we saw (or didn't see) at SDCC should be an indicator of just that - buy what you see, if you see it, cause the way things were back in 2005 is LONG gone.

My hope is that we'll get a better idea of what exclusives are going to be where closer to Force Friday and then beyond that all other purchases can be handled via online retailers. I might still do the Midnight Madness, but not if all it'll get me is a wave of 12 5POA figures, that will be easier to buy by the case.

[Brian]

Great points Jeff, my feelings as well.  I'm really starting to get hyped for the movie at this point, and want to feel the same way about the toys, but there's just nothing there.  Like it has been mentioned, it would have been nice if they were allowed to at least show off the characters/things already seen in trailers or officially released stuff.  The new "big 3", Han/Chewie, or something along those lines.  Or, if nothing else, some explanation of what is on the way...like "12-24 figures in the Saga Legends style, 6 new Black Series figures, this number of vehicles, etc."  We've seen retailer lists and all of that, but it would just be nice to have something more to go on.  I'm guessing we'll at least see some sort of information release maybe via Hasbro's official channels online or something?  Hopefully.

[Darby]

I definitely see the concern with going into it blind. I mentioned before I'm kind of ok with this, but at the same time I'd like some idea of how nuts this will be so I can plan accordingly. That being said, from a few of the Q&A's popping up, seems like the line will be fairly robust and will be heavily centered on stuff from TFA, so good and good. I think I'll focus on just the figures (I'm completely behind 5 POA so I doubt I'll be disappointed - well, the price) and then see what's what with everything else.

[Matt_Fury]

I'm in the same boat.  I don't need to see everything that is coming out, but knowing that TFA will have better than 5 POA action figures in the 3.75" scale would be good enough for me.

Right now, I'm just counting down the days when my Stormtrooper kit shows up from Anovos.  My oldest son is going to flip when he sees daddy dressed as a Stormtrooper!

[Jesse James]

I'm not going out anyway so I guess I'm not really thinking much about it.  I'll either be working Saturday or have a football game to be at the night before and the next day, so I'm not going to be out partying it up buying toys I guess. 

But yeah, knowing what to budget for it is a nice thing, and Hasbro should at least be laying some things like that out for us.  Just a "wait and see!" isn't going to cut it for many.

That said I've lost hope of much of it appealing to me anyway, so I guess I'm already not really feeling like I'll be missing out except that my friends are all going and I can't join them. 

I overbought in 1999...  Definitely was too young to know to bide my time on soooo much stuff.  Didn't buy a buttload as much as I regretted that what I did buy I could've had for less than half, easily.

2002, learned my lesson from 99 and only bought that WM TIE Bomber (bought every one my WM had!), and didn't buy a single figure from that line till a long while later.

2005, bought some of what I liked.  Prices were fair, figures were pretty high quality in collection 2...  Didn't buy vehicles, didn't buy a ton really, but I did get some of those Jedi and wasn't disappointed in that choice.  I also didn't go out till that morning for Target Vader...  That was probably pretty dumb of me actually.    Should've stayed in bed.