There’s definitely layers to that conversation. The audience here might be a bit over the criteria that’s become important in some circles because most here have seen so much over such a long time. Among the criteria that’s important with a lot of that crowd?
-FINISH THE 96 - In terms of Hasbro having re-made the Original 96 Kenner figures in modern form. Some have expanded on the idea, and want all of the O96 figures specifically within the Vintage Collection. That’s where they lose me in some respects. Because the conversation gets fractious because they don’t consider VOTC or VTSC to be the Vintage Collection. SMH….
-DEFINITIVE VERSIONS OF CORE CHARACTERS - Hasbro has touched on most core characters. But with a good deal of them their most recent versions could be 10, 15 or 20+ years old. Another aspect of this is how well have previous versions of the character represented them in figure form? I know that Hasbro really struggled with Mark Hamill’s likeness for a long time. And only in the past few years have they gotten pretty good at delivering figures of Luke that look like Luke. Farm boy Luke has stuck out in the social media crowd because he really hasn’t been done well compared to current standards.
-LOST CAUSES - This one irks me to a degree. When I was reporting for a couple of collecting sites there was all sorts of talk about the Tonnika sisters. I think I figured out what the deal was, and I maintain that it seems like a lost cause, no matter how many petitions circulate.
-CHARACTER CAMPAIGNING - Sometimes this actually works. Because there was a pretty substantial petition for Velken Tezeri that got some traction in the community. Lo and behold, now we have him. And numerous people on social media have been trying to find that next character to launch a social media campaign to get them made.
-OBSESSING OVER SOME DETAILS - In some of these crowds it seems like some people think they’re design engineers. And the obsessive focus on hyper articulation is over the top. The conversations about hip joints have been farcical. When the TVC Endor Leia was released you would think that Hasbro had committed a war crime because the figure didn’t have wrist articulation, but did have swivel forearms.
I think part of the reason that the conversations have evolved along these lines is because of how the line has been shaped during the Disney era. 5POA figures were launched as a cost cutting measure, but also to keep prices down. We also learned at that time that backgrounders were far less likely to sell with casual buyers. The trooper focus has gotten pretty crazy. And tooling dollars seem to be scarce, so we get more repaints and reissues. But we have also gotten some amazing figures. I didn’t think Hasbro could really improve on Darth Vader. But then the version from the OWK series came out and it was a game changer.
I don’t think all of the social media conversations are ridiculous. Some are definitely out there, and they’re missing the forest for the trees. But some of it has brought some positive developments. Yet I agree with a core point here - the line lacks the richness of character selections that we got pre 2013.
