It seems like, for the most part, everyone was pretty happy with what Hasbro had to show at Toy Fair. Whether it was in the display room, or in their presentation for the year, it does look like the basic figure line (and everything that accompanies it) has a lot of neat stuff on the way. I'm sure there are still more surprises to come along, and we'll see even more at SDCC. That said, the other big topic really seems to be the pricing.
We've all seen it coming, or even starting at retail already, but it seems like lines all around are getting more and more expensive. Eight dollar basic figures seems to be the norm for now, and even Galactic Heroes 2 packs are hitting that price now. Battle packs seem to be getting less figures for a higher price, and now it seems like any vehicle larger than the "starfighter $20/$25" assortment is going to cost at least $60. I'm afraid to see what exclusive vehicles will run now. That seems to be the only avenue for OT vehicles right now, and I wonder what something like Wedge's X-Wing will run. We've also seen increases in the comic packs and pretty much everything else SW-related (although I think its happening in most other lines as well).
Anyways, my point is, how much is too much? With the economy what it is, people seem to have a lot less to spend on this type of thing (non-necessity, hobby-type stuff). Hasbro's release pace certainly hasn't slowed down any since the ROTS days, although we continue to see the back half of the year being quite heavy once again. I'll admit that I'm someone that usually buys most of the basic figure related stuff, but I'm also not a completist (although I have been since Build a Droid started I guess). We now have three lines running (TLC, CW, Legends), and that's just the figures. I couldn't imagine trying to keep up with everything as completists do. Anyways, have any of you reached your breaking point? Are you dropping lines, or just becoming more selective? Its tough for me to collect anything but SW anymore, since it is such an expensive hobby on its own (not even getting into anything considered "high end") just grabbing Hasbro's offerings. It sort of reminds me of when I used to collect sports cards. We kept getting less cards per pack, prices were going up, there were more and more "lines" of cards out there - and pretty soon I just quit. I didn't follow that market after that, but I think it sort of changed/crashed a short time later - at least for awhile. Do you think collecting is headed that way too? Do we need to have a breaking point to streamline the products again?