Why the overkill on Vader? I know the retailers probably got a ton of questions from parents trying to find one, but we're post movie year now. Vader sat up here almost as much as any other figure at one point (ok, not as bad as Mothma, Luminara or Padme). Sure, they sold out around Christmas but that's more than 11 months down the road. I can easily see these figures sitting on the pegs for a very prolonged period of time, at the end of which retailers will call it a failure because
look, even Vader won't sell If this chase figure thing is for real, then this is where I get off. Hasbro obviously thinks they're so desperate they need to create artificial demand by having us live in the stores in hopes of finding holos or 'bounty hunt' figs. The only thing that's obvious is that they're not in contact with reality. Chase figs alienate collector bases, and when that's your bread and butter, you may as well pack it in.
This is really odd. Not your statement, rather the mentality involved as coming from Hasbro. To use sportspicks as an example again, the regular figures sell, for the most part, like crap. Everyone knows they'll sit and Wally eventually clears them out, so why buy them. Now I know that won't happen with clones, but to use Wave 4 Rev 4 as an example, here's what won't sell:
2x Darth Vader with lightsaber (Saga #13), 1x Anakin Skywalker, 1x Ki-Adi-Mundi (Hologram), 1x General Grievous, 1x Neimoidian Pilot.
The Neimoidian pilot will sit, much as the other Neimoidians did simply because it's in every single wave. Ki Adi is in the same boat. Vader/Ani/Obi/Grievous will sit also, simply because they aren't (presumably) new sculpts. I could be wrong on the first two, especially initially, but I think it time I'll be proven correct.
Do you think Hasbro is bright enough to pull one of those six out of the assortment for their chase figure? I don't. They are still stuck in the surreal world they communicated at C3 - kids drive the line. Kids want Vader, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Grievous.
All of those sat here for prolonged periods at regular retail prices.
Anyway after all that filler, my point is that only half of each case is going to sell well. Chase + clones (- Jedi?) will do fine but it will only take a retailer two cases to have a full case left behind. I assure you, we've seen it with sportspicks and it is the future here.
Generally speaking this is really disappointing that there isn't full cases with just new figures in the line. I'd happily order those cases, chase figures be damned, if I wasn't getting rehashed figures in them.