I get the feeling that Hasbro has been probably pulling some shenanigans on collectors. And it really goes back some time.
2015 was supposed to be this big, resurgent year for Hasbro's Star Wars offerings. There was the first new movie in 10 years, and the first movie of the Disney era. Loads, and loads of new product - but all 5 POA offerings. The 3.75" Black Series was living on, but as an exclusive sub-line, with a whole bunch of reissue figures. As things progressed the movie lines began to shrink somewhat. I think both Hasbro and the retailers came to terms with the fact that this was no longer like the PT movie years, both between retailers and the customers. When we got to the line for The Last Jedi I noticed significantly less product than for TFA. And there was a gradual decrease with Solo, too. And then there was the completely non-existent line for The Rise of Skywalker.
2018 seems to have been the big year for things to be in state of flux. The Vintage Collection was re-launched after a 6 year hiatus. And naturally the first wave was loaded with reissues, except for one new figure. What was the result? Massive pegwarming. That hurt the ability of Hasbro to get new figures to retail. And the loss of Toys R Us as a partner in 2018 also really hurt the ability of the Hasbro Star Wars line to get to collectors. Once the movies ended and TRU was gone, Target and Walmart didn't seem to want to devote substantial shelf and peg space to Star Wars.
I think what we've been seeing over the past few years is a significant shift in strategy. I think it's due to that logjam that happened in 2018 and the aftermath of that, the changes at retail, and the changes with collectors that Hasbro had to re-assess the landscape and adjust. And I think that included pulling back on the quantities of Vintage Collection that was being produced until they could really grasp where demand truly was. In the back of my mind I have thought that Hasbro might have tried to artificially increase demand by creating a shortage. Did that happen? I don't know for certain, but it seems like it might have happened. Online retail seems to be the way to go in order make sure you can get what you want. As nice as it is to find something in a store, the guarantee of getting an order fulfilled with exactly what you want seems in line with what customers want. What seems like a positive side effect is that the online sales data might be convincing brick & mortar retail to carry more of the line. Because these new figure finds at stores have been really encouraging. I was shocked but pleased to find the new Emperor Palpatine figure in stock at GameStop!
As for the future? It looks reasonably promising. But I still miss having a vehicle assortment for the 3.75" line that's available at mass retail. That's a sore point for me. I'm also concerned about character depth. It looks like main and secondary characters are getting all of the attention, and the deeper cut characters that made the line rich and contributed to world-building are falling by the wayside.