Collectibles > The Black Series 3.75"
Toy Fair 2015
Jeff:
I'll kick off this thread with some news sent to us by Hasbro today...
Hasbro will be exhibiting a variety of fun and exciting Star Wars products from across its portfolio of brands, including Star Wars action figures, Star Wars Galactic Heroes and more. There will be no toys based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Star Wars Episode VII) shown at Toy Fair this year.
No Ep7 stuff. Probably not a big surprise since it's so early... and it gives them something exciting to tease at Celebration in April with a bigger Ep7 reveal at SDCC.
Jesse James:
Yeah, prototypes make you think that they're focusing that way with the line, and I doubt there's much exciting news between now and then... Toy Fair suffers, or at least the Star Wars end of TF suffers. I'd wager other lines from other properties dominate it and Star Wars is the footnote. Ironic, given the year's end has a film, but not terribly surprising either.
Nicklab:
Gotta love something like this. I can almost see someone like John Cleese coming out in a Monty Python sketch to say something like:
"We formally announce that the announcement that you are hoping we are prepared to announce will not be announced at all. At a later point in time we will then make an announcement to announce to you that there will be an announcement."
That being said, I can't say that I'm surprised. The timeframe for the toy line (as we know it) for THE FORCE AWAKENS has been thrown off by the Christmas release date. We used to see a movie line about 3 months before the film release (that was the lead time from Toy Fair to the theatrical release of REVENGE OF THE SITH). But this lead time between Toy Fair and the theatrical release of TFA is more than 10 months. This announcement that no TFA product is going to be shown makes sense. What will we see? I think Toy Fair is going to be dedicated to Rebels/Saga Legends and the remained of The Black Series. So what will Hasbro show from those lines? I'm hoping for a Ghost vehicle for the 3.75" system as well as some ROTJ themed TBS figures. But beyond that? Who knows.
As for the line for THE FORCE AWAKENS? I think we'll start seeing something at Celebration in Anaheim. That's in April. I think Hasbro will show off a preview wave that will probably hit retail around August. After that? Just looking at the calender...
-Star Wars Weekends - May 15 – June 14, 2015
-San Diego Comic Con - July 9 - 15, 2015
-New York Comic Con - October 8 - 11, 2015
Do any of those events work with how Disney/Lucasfilm and Hasbro want to roll out the licensed merchandise? There's also the matter of how does the toy line roll out work in conjunction with the holiday shopping season. Product will probably need to be initially offered at the end of October or in early November.
Given that time frame? I think Hasbro will reveal the line either at San Diego Comic Con or at some standalone press event in August or September. Comic Con has basically served as a mid-year Toy Fair, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the TFA line revealed at that time.
Dave:
I wonder with JJ Abrams leading this film if we'll even see much previewed or pre-released merchandise like we've seen in the past from a Lucas led company.
Nicklab:
That's got to be a point of great debate. Not just with JJ Abrams, but with Bob Iger (head of Disney), Kathleen Kennedy (head of Lucasfilm) as well as Hasbro, other licensees and all of the retailers.
You get the sense that the filmmakers want to preserve some sense of surprise. That seems to be a mantra that has been coming from a lot of the cast. And that's a different stance from what we saw during the PT era of films. But there's also A LOT of money on the table when it comes to the licensed merchandise.
I think Hasbro and the other licensees are going to strike a balance. The initial releases will probably be tailored in such a way that there will be some release that takes advantage of the holiday shopping season, while keeping things spoiler free.
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