Since you've already responded with Target getting 80% of the overpriced exclusives as it is this year...What can we expect for Target exclusives next year?..And at what cost?
Given the fact that Wal-Mart, the nation's number one retailer, is becoming more and more interested in alternative forms of shopping that do not include Star Wars in a long-term retailing outlook, we expect that the entire Star Wars line will become a shared exclusive between Target and Toys R Us around June of 2006. As to which store will get what and how much it will cost, I cannot say at this time. What I can tell you is that next year's exclusive offerings will follow the trend of what you have seen this year, adjusted for the rise in production and shipping costs, of course.
As a result of this, Hasbro will be instituting a 2.00 fuel surcharge to every figure we sell, meaning that the retail cost will go up by approximately 12 dollars. Therefore, a basic SW action figure will cost 18.00 by the summer of 2006, but Target has already expressed that they feel customers will pay an even 20, and we will not question their statistics which are not made up.
Since the cost of figures are going up, we have decided to do a "Let's Do It All" line in 2007. This line will include nothing but Super Articulated versions of the main characters, background aliens people have been begging for for years, and the remainder of the vintage lineup that has yet to be made in the modern era. These figures will, by this point, be a Target exclusive and due to rising production and shipping costs, the retail price for these awesome basic figures will be 49.99. To offset this price increase, we plan to include a Pog of a random SW character in every package.
Any ideas? how about a " transforming Tum-Tum Pregnant/non-pregnant Padme" Exclusive deluxe figure? Look, in a play simulation you could pretend Padme gets "knocked up." How about a not-cool action feature of pressing a button in the package and air goes into the tummy simulating pregnancy? You could charge 27.63$ to ensure it won't pegwarm and everyone has to have one!
The one you call "stormie" suggested something very similar to this earlier in this thread, and as such, I will include your recommendation along with his when I speak to our Board of Directors later this weekend.
Note: I used "not- cool" as a descriptive adjective since your stance @ Hasbro has been to NEVER promote or create Good-Ideas from customers.
We have enough good ideas on our own that we don't need the suggestions of collectors. If it were up to collectors, you would never have the Force Battlers, the Attacktix, the Epic Force, the vastly subpar 12 inch line, the Jedi Force figures, the 2" Unleashed, the Star Wars Choppers, the Star Wars Transformers, and so on. If it were up to you guys, all we would have would be basic figures and vehicles, decent 12 inch dolls, the 7 inch Unleashed line, and the Galactic Heroes figures and vehicles. And really, who thinks that would work well as the only SW product on the shelves?
It is high time that the collecting community follows the lead of its
Imperial Overlord and admits that Hasbro is infallible and that anything we make is worth a million dollars. We don't care what collectors think!*
What Playsets can we expect from The Saga Collection 2006?
We plan on reissuing the awesome Death Star Detention Block Rescue playset from the POTF2 line as a Toys R Us exclusive in 2006. We have no plans to reissue any other playsets at this time, nor will we do any more newly sculpted ones, because, well, that would require we actually work on something.
Where's the Cream Filling?
We are aware of the demand for cream filling, and we are looking at several different ways of reincorporating the cream filling into the line in the future. For now, might we suggest a Twinkie? They'll survive the nuclear winter you know. Plus, they've got that Twinkie the Kid guy, and he's awesome. We need to buy the Twinkie license so we can do Darth Twinkie or a Stormtwinkie or (dare I think it) a Neimoidian Twinkie!
*DP Reality Note: The last sentence of this paragraph is an actual quote uttered by a Hasbro/Kenner representative at a convention in 1997.
