I don't apologize for Hasbro. Nor do I defend them. There's nothing in it for me. I don't work for them or any of their subsidiaries. I just get tired of adults who have nothing better to do with their time than complain about the accuracy of toys.
I'm not apologizing for Hasbro as I see alot of moves from them that don't make the best of sense sometimes as well, I'm just trying to bring a sense of the actual business decisions that they make to people that do not understand them or take them into consideration. These toys are a business first and foremost, and like it or not, we are not the prime audience for them. We may think that we are, and they do their best to cater to us, but face it, there are alot more kids out there that adult collectors. I don't know how many of you have ever worked in any capacity in the toy industry or know anyone who does/has, but there are alot of things at work in their every move that we are never privy to. I happen to have known many toy professionals over the years and do a bit of consulting for some smaller companies so I have gotten a bit of a glimpse behind the curtain. They do not make toys to satisfy adult collectors, they do it to make a profit, nothing more, nothing less.
Look at my statement about Gentle Giants and Master Collector, these companies cater to the adult fans, who they know are uber demanding about accuracy. They know that thier products have to be as accurate as possible or they will not move, especially at the prices they have to charge to be profitable since they are only selling to a rather small part of the overall global population.
Hasbro manufactures playthings targeted at kids (and the young at heart) and they know that they do not have to be "perfect" as most kids (their core audience, remember) will look at a Barc and look at a Bikerscout and not care about the differences as they just want a cool toy. Just like back in the Vintage days. A good portion of the line (especially early in the line) look very little like their on-screen counterparts, but they still sold like hotcakes as kids just wanted Star Wars toys. If Hasbro didn't cater to their core audience of kids, do you actually think we'd see so many rereleases of the same items? They know that any "collectors" out there will have them already, but there's a really good chance that kids will not since kids generally get 1 toy at a time while the "collectors" more often than not will buy the entire assortment in one shot (usually wiping out the pegs so that it's weeks before the kids even get to see the new figures that the collectors consider to be "peg warming" by the time the next assortment is due to ship).
When Hasbro shines, they shine brightly as seen by many figures in recent memory, but they just as often fall short of "what could have been". I just happen to be a reasonable, intelligent adult that understands the business world and who doesn't have a large portion of my life revolve around toys and their "film accuracy" or lack there of.