Did he answer the phone "How you doing?"

I'll keep the PS2 and Gamecube since right now they are at their height in terms of development and more importantly the number of titles available.  My kids are happy with em so that will last them. I'll probably wait for 2 years or so before I buy in. I've gone cheap in my middle age. I know in 2 years price points should drop, game costs may not lower for new games, but the amount of games that are out used or at a discounted price point is significant that I can then buy two to three games for the price of one game right now. I have to admit though, I am looking at the 360 and the Wi instead of the PS3. We'll see in two years or so when I am ready to get serious whether one is the 360 or one is the PS3.

UGH's this year can sit or others can chase em down. I won't spend extra money on figures I have since I open anyway.

Your'e gonna have to hunt hard because they don't hit hard in Dec. more like Jan. is when figs starting warming.

Disagree . . . every year (non-movie) they say January and every year near the middle to end of December guess what shows up at retail . . . . at least in my area, the new wave. And yes, they do not hit hard, one or two cases per store, then in Jan. and Feb they begin to trickle out more. That is the key, one must know the area one lives in and when stuff hits.

Nope, easy pass on the SBD and the R2. Still want the Mace, Marine, Airborne and will probably get an Obi since he is my favorite. December means I return to the hunt.

Quote from: Morgbug on October 19, 2006, 02:59 PM

Trust me, once you drop one aspect of the completeness, the rest of the psychosis falls to the wayside much more easily. 

Oh, so true.  I was a diehard completist for 10 years, but once this year's line hit, I didn't see the need anymore.  Late 2002 and into 2004 brought us a few repacks, but it was only a couple, so it didn't bother me.  The OTC line was almost completely repacks, but the stunning cards convinced me to forgive Hasbro.  But I'm not doing it anymore.  That being said, I'm not "mad" at Hasbro because there are so many different collectibles lines by other companies to keep my interest and earn my money.  I still enjoy buying the occasional figure, but I don't need to buy them all. 

I have to agree with this. I am back where I was in 2002 with OTC line where I only picked up the new figures that I really liked. I am back to being a non-completist and focusing on the figures that my 12 year old wants (which is not much), or items I want that are new to me.
I also agree that the first 3 waves next year will capture more of my attention and money.  I will probably actively hunt for those items. 
However, I do think the line is facing some challenges down the road. I don't see major movement by Lucas to capitalize on the momentum from ROTS to bring new items (TV show, animated cartoon etc.) out that will not just support, but drive the line. As a result, kids like my 12 year old son are losing interest in the line, and I personally feel that when kids stop actively buying the line, the line is beginning to wither.  I'm not saying the line dead, or is in a serious situation yet, but I do think the beginning of the end could be coming because as the volume goes down in the line, retailers watch that and when volume reaches a certain point (and we are not there yet) the retailers will not continue to buy the line. At the point that Walmart and/or Target do not feel that the line justifies the shelf space (and I think we are several years out) the line will die. Like it or not, at this point in time, Walmart and Target will determine the future of this line. As long as volume holds on up, the line will do fine, but when the day comes when volume drops to a certain level, the line will die off.  Or in another scenerio, I could see the line come down to being like the CW line from several years ago, where Hasbro comes out with product to support a Lucasfilm project. In this case the product hits for a couple of months (for a season or for a reset period) and then there is a mad scramble to get it before it disappears.  If the product has some good army builders and figures that appeal to collectors and kids, the demand will outpace the supply, and then the whole focus of the line changes.  Instead of knowing that eventually someone could find the product in a re-release, both collectors and kids would have to work hard to get what they want before it disappears. Just some thoughts that I have.

I really think the question here is not what do I think about the future of Star Wars collecting, because that is far beyond my control. I can answer the question of where am I with Star Wars collecting ajd Hasbro.
This is a question I have spent some real time thinking about over the last 2 months because I have reached a point where I felt I was getting too much into the hunt and the hobby at the expense of other things. When I spend $100 to $200 a month on this, for me that is too much. I just increased my 401k contributions to 12% of my wages (I can save up to $15k a year before employer matching is added to it) and thought that I want to increase the amount of money in my nest eggs. So part of this is a financial decision on my part. I have also watched others I know get too much into the hunt or into the hobby at the cost of other items and in the end, decided regardless of anyone else, I had to make some changes.
The basic line has reached a point that I am bored. I am done with most army builders. No need to have an army because any display is small, 3-5 clones, a Jedi etc.  I don't do big (except for the Balrog that just came out, but that isn't SW). I am down to themes in my collecting and whether or not I like or want the character.  My themes are Jedi, Clones, Main Characters.  I just don't have time, room or want to put my money into everything. So, I will buy from each wave, only those figures that fit my themes, that I do not have (NO, absoluetly NO rehashes) or that are significant improved sculpts. Otherwise, pass.  That will scale me WAY back on what I am getting.
Next, vechiles.  I'm done. I will get the snowspeeder since I do not have one, and my son wants one. But that is it, no more. My son is 12 going on 13 so he has stopped playing with most ships, and I just don't have the room; well, I am not going to make the room for items that can never be in scale and are over priced for what they are. I am tired of seeing the Jedi Starfighter redone in how many paint colors just to make it easier on ReHashbro.
All other items at retail, I am done with.  I would imagine that next year I'll pick up 20 figures probably and that is all.  I made a conscious decision in my teaching to move more of my collecting dollars over to my students so that we can engage in higher learning activities that will hopefully broaden their understanding of concepts, and give them something to remember. My 12 year old summed it up last June for me when he said (he was in my class), "Dad, one seven dollar figure can buy 2 books, or 1 pair or group of 4 science project supplies.  I think its worth it for us to back down from collecting and for you to help the kids in your class out." Out of the mouth of babes or children.  That made me think, and by doing this I estimate I will save anywhere from $35 to $50 (just for figures) and I can send that money to the classroom and buy enough supplies to fuel 1 science or social science project a month for my class, or buy a literature group a set of 6 books that they will read.  I narrowed my son's comment to Plastic or People (kids)? There really is no choice. That and I am starting my Masters this year and finishing an endorsement so time is very limited and what time I have, I don't want to consume it all with hunting. I will hunt when it fits into something I am already doing, or order online if the price and the want is right.
I have also gotten back to a hobby I love, which is taking plastic minatures of soliders from time periods, modifying them and painting them and putting them in a display of no more than 10 to 12 on the display piece (a block of wood with a diaramha of vegetation on it). I have enough figures but the time to do this hobby is consuming. But my daughter loves it and is doing it with me so if it is something else that keeps my 13 year old hanging around Dad, good thing.

On a side note, please realize that as a teacher I do get a supply order that covers the basics each year, and from $150 to $200 for other items. It seems that no matter what, I spend $1000 to $2000 a year doing this. To do the things that I really like, and that the kids engage in like mummifying chickens (Ancient Egypt and then when we do micro-organisms we go back and ask why the decomposers/bacteria didn't decompose the chickens), an Astronomy Family Night to show consellations and look through telescopes, to buying micro-organisms for the kids to looks through in telescopes after we have grown them (again, I am in Utah and in the winter the ponds around here are frozen often), plastic half circles to chart the movement of the sun during the school day, supplies to make instruments for heat light and sound, growing mold and bacteria in aguar and petri dishes, and it goes on, requires money. I know that by doing these hands on activities that my kids understanding of the concepts increases by connecting them to things they have done in real life.
So to answer the question to where I am with collecting it comes down to this; time is very precious right now and my free time goes to my wife and kids.  Next, I have a personal commitment to teach according to a certain philosophy and part of that requires some funding from me. I'm tired of getting 2 to 3 figures I like, and a bunch that are rehashed and I either don't need or don't want. So, I'll pick up the 2 figures or so a wave I want and that fit a theme of what I want to collect. If there is nothing I want, then I can just fade away and won't be missed in the collecting world. I don't want to fade away and not be missed by my students.
That is where I am at. I have backed off big time, and though I still consider myself in the hobby, I am not what I was six months ago.  My wife is pretty happy about it, but most importantly, I am extremely happy. 

Wow, where have I been?  Man oh man, I should have been in this thread a LONG time ago.  This is what is one item that is taking over on from my 3 3/4 Star Wars collecting (cutting back to only a figure or two that I want; my must haves on the SW line). 
I have bought many of the 1/32 figures, focusing on the 82nd, 101st, and Big Red 1 when they were out from Normandy, to Market Garden, to the Bulge (and their German counterparts). 
I buy some vechiles, but not duplicates.  I LOVE that they are doing a Pak 40! Anyway, I think for the money, this is the best thing out there for collecting!