I have mixed feelings about this all.
While I don't mind a slow down of product as I had planned for years to reduce my budget. (And that's been working) The fact that we've basically been told there will be yet again a several month gap between new realistic product is bothersome.
The last wave of comic packs getting scrapped bothers me. I REALLY wanted those sets. I'm guessing this means the Delia Blue and Jarael sets. I really wanted those figures.
Variant missteps this year, not including accessories and such... Really Hasbro? You're going to blame the manufacturing plant for those mistakes? We as consumers don't stand for that kind of stuff which translates into less sales. Retailers will let you know about it too, and that means either a fundamental change in manufacturing from you (using a different plant or pressing on the existing one to do as you say and not just settle for whatever funk they send you), or you come right out and tell us from the onset that variant B or set A won't be made or made with certain accessories.
The FAILINGS of the variant Hoth Rebel Trooper, Imperial Scanning trooper and no accessories in the McQuarrie sets should be quite enough for you, Hasbro, to reconsider how you and you're manufacturing plant operate. Those two figures alone were much anticipated and would likely have been multiple purchases for a great many people. The McQ sets would likely have sold better had the accessories been included. Once I found out they weren't I knew I was going to bypass them for certain. Initially the sets intrigued me even though I'm typically an opener. In the case of those two McQ sets, I'd have bought them to stay boxed. But without them being displayed in their iconic poses with weapons in hand, the sets became very boring and uninteresting. BTW, thanks for saving me money on that then.
Doing away with BaD parts if you're not going to drop the price of your figures by at least $1, will no doubt have a big impact on collecting. Just look around here and on other collecting sites. You'll see post after post form people who bought more figures this year than previous years due to those BaD parts. In some cases buying whole waves of figures JUST for those BaD parts.
I can agree that Oola Needs remade, the Cantina Band is Meh to me. And Jabba's band is even more Meh. The bands don't scream action to me, so what we have is fine by me. Though I'm sure not everyone shares that sentiment.
Hasbro, you've done a lot of things right, and some things right by we collectors, however, this business strategy of holding off for months until the latter half of the year is what is really killing this line. Not we collectors. We would happily buy all year round if you made this stuff available to us. So please, when your first and second quarter reports come in and you see a slide in SW product, look at yourselves first for the decisions you've made and STOP blaming we collectors. In many cases we've been buying SW toys for decades. Under your specific brand name for 15 years, approx. So don't give us a hard time about loyalty to the line and your business in particular.
For the mixed waves, I'm again Meh on it. I expected it to come to this eventually. I'd rather have this now to be honest, rather than having to have an "anchor" character for each wave. Anchor to me means WEIGHING DOWN a line. In this case, the umpteenth Han, Luke, Leia, or Vader figure. I'd rather see new characters never before made or only those previously released characters in serious need of an upgrade in both sculpt, articulation, paint app and overall quality.
Well, I've said my peace (piece-whichever it is) for now. Don't get me wrong Hasbro, I love the majority of what you produce, but it's the when and how you are producing it that is causing the greatest amount of consternation among the collecting community at large.