6046
JD Sports Forum! / Re: Jedidefender Fantasy Football 2012
« on: August 29, 2012, 07:38 AM »
I was tied up during the draft, so it was auto-draft all the way for me.
Bringing Balance to the Force
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6047
The Vintage Collection / Re: Celebration VI
« on: August 29, 2012, 03:39 AM »As for how sites are reporting and interacting with Hasbro? It's certainly complicated. Every person who is working as a reporter on a collecting site started as a fan. Nobody is doing this purely as a journalistic pursuit. And very few have any serious journalistic training. And very often their lines of questioning may be guided by their own personal interests. Is it admirable that some collecting sites went to Hasbro with reader questions? Sure. And there is something kind hearted about them keeping those questions in their original form from the readers. But in the grand scheme of things, you need to do some editing of those questions in order to make them coherent for both Hasbro and the readers. Because this Q&A session frankly came across as a completely unfocused mess.
As someone who was there for 2 hours after the convention closed with Derryl and Bryan from Hasbro, Dan Curto, and Paul and Chuck from JTA, I can attest that what transpired that night was anything but an unfocused mess. The six of us sat in the darkened convention center exhibit hall and had a completely open round table discussion about the state of collecting right now as a conversation with questions sprinkled throughout. It was hardly a simple ask and answer grilling nor did we just dump a load of questions on their lap and say "answer these". One question sparked another which lead to another and so on. Very freeform.
There were a lot of things said in that 2 hours that didn't make it to the page whether it being proprietary information or something just omitted because the question has been asked and answered ad nauseum through prior discussions at cons, QnAs or through simple deductive reasoning. Also, it's very hard to translate the body language and wry smiles that Derryl and Bryan cast when we touched on topics that are not quite ready for public dissemination.
This experience was the highlight of the convention for me as I/we got to pick the brains of those responsible for the Star Wars line on a personal level. Derryl and Bryan were very gracious in giving up their time, and to be honest, they would have done it for anyone, not just for representatives of a few fan sites.
I've been in these types of sessions with Derryl, as well as Brian Parrish, Mark Boudreaux and others, along with other collecting site reporters. In my experience the Hasbro staff have all been very nice, and incredibly generous with their time. They are all fans of the saga, and consider themselves lucky to be working on the Star Wars license. And there is a sense that some of the things they're working on are for collectors like them just as much as us.
As for these sessions? Lots of info flows out of these informal sessions, and I was able to break stories on numerous topics following my time with the Hasbro team. I've even seen ideas pitched to the Hasbro team from reporters, some of which eventually wound up being produced (the Cade Skywalker / Darth Talon comic pack specifically comes to mind). The trick with these Hasbro sessions is how you break down the information and present it to your readers. You can edit it and present it in an organized fashion, or you can just put it all up online in the manner in which you heard it. Ultimately you have to serve your readers, and that means organizing the information in such a way as to give some weight to the important stories. That just takes good editorial judgment and a clear writing style.
6048
The Bullpen / Re: Thor: The Toys!
« on: August 28, 2012, 08:24 PM »
Because you live in the upper midwest, and you have to compete with all of those Norwegians and Swedes for Thor figures!
6049
The Bullpen / Re: Thor: The Toys!
« on: August 28, 2012, 07:19 PM »
Sif is turning up too? Interesting. I managed to score that wave when it was current at TRU. But I'm still a little hopeful that the 2nd wave of Deluxe figures which included Heimdall will turn up, too.
6050
The Vintage Collection / Re: Vintage Collection Rumors
« on: August 27, 2012, 08:50 PM »
Seriously? A new Lobot? I can STILL find one hanging on the pegs at a local mom & pop shop near me.
6051
The Vintage Collection / Re: Vintage Collection Wave 17 (2012 Wave 7)
« on: August 27, 2012, 08:14 PM »
6052
The Vintage Collection / Re: Celebration VI
« on: August 27, 2012, 02:07 AM »
The character duplication across multiple lines has definitely been troubling to witness. Case in point, look at the Qui-Gon Jinn figures offered in 2012: there was the TVC version, the Discover the Force exclusive wave at WalMart, the regular Movie Heroes version, a second Movie Heroes version with the electronic lightsaber, and the Duel on Naboo battle pack version. Out of these 5 figures, only 3 were unique. And the TVC, MH and DtF versions were all based on the same figure.
Now, was this Lucasfilm mandating the oversaturation of Qui-Gon Jinn? Somehow, I doubt that. And what's worse, is that we saw the exact same thing with Obi-Wan Kenobi figures, too.
Lucasfilm Licensing's reasoning to change the packaging is well reasoned. Retail research shows that changing the appearance of packaging helps to keep things fresh. It's also a natural transition point for UPC codes, and the clearance of old stock. These are things that may not seem important on the surface to collectors, but it does help a toy line maintain some momentum at retail.
As for how sites are reporting and interacting with Hasbro? It's certainly complicated. Every person who is working as a reporter on a collecting site started as a fan. Nobody is doing this purely as a journalistic pursuit. And very few have any serious journalistic training. And very often their lines of questioning may be guided by their own personal interests. Is it admirable that some collecting sites went to Hasbro with reader questions? Sure. And there is something kind hearted about them keeping those questions in their original form from the readers. But in the grand scheme of things, you need to do some editing of those questions in order to make them coherent for both Hasbro and the readers. Because this Q&A session frankly came across as a completely unfocused mess.
Now, was this Lucasfilm mandating the oversaturation of Qui-Gon Jinn? Somehow, I doubt that. And what's worse, is that we saw the exact same thing with Obi-Wan Kenobi figures, too.
Lucasfilm Licensing's reasoning to change the packaging is well reasoned. Retail research shows that changing the appearance of packaging helps to keep things fresh. It's also a natural transition point for UPC codes, and the clearance of old stock. These are things that may not seem important on the surface to collectors, but it does help a toy line maintain some momentum at retail.
As for how sites are reporting and interacting with Hasbro? It's certainly complicated. Every person who is working as a reporter on a collecting site started as a fan. Nobody is doing this purely as a journalistic pursuit. And very few have any serious journalistic training. And very often their lines of questioning may be guided by their own personal interests. Is it admirable that some collecting sites went to Hasbro with reader questions? Sure. And there is something kind hearted about them keeping those questions in their original form from the readers. But in the grand scheme of things, you need to do some editing of those questions in order to make them coherent for both Hasbro and the readers. Because this Q&A session frankly came across as a completely unfocused mess.
6053
Discover the Force / Movie Heroes / Re: 2012 TPM Multi-Troop Transport (MTT)
« on: August 24, 2012, 04:35 PM »
I saw one of these last night. A big box like this is definitely impressive. But the vehicle itself is not all that inspiring. Especially when you have to plunk down $130 + tax for it.
6054
The Bullpen / Re: The Avengers: The Toys
« on: August 24, 2012, 04:28 PM »
TRU, and about $16.99, IIRC.
Like I mentioned, I have an extra up for trade.
Like I mentioned, I have an extra up for trade.
6055
Modern Trading / Re: FT: Gamorrean Guard, Tarkin, Rebel Fleet Troopers & more
« on: August 24, 2012, 04:26 PM »
Updated with some Non-Star Wars item HAVES
6056
The Bullpen / Re: The Avengers: The Toys
« on: August 24, 2012, 04:14 PM »
Yup. I bought three, actually! One of which is up for trade.
6057
The Bullpen / Re: The Avengers: The Toys
« on: August 24, 2012, 02:23 PM »
Found the Deluxe Chitauri with chariots today
6058
The Vintage Collection / Re: Celebration VI
« on: August 23, 2012, 11:11 PM »
I just know him from the inordinate ammount of time he would take photographing everything at a Hasbro display. I've seen him at various events for years and years, and we even wound up on the same tour of Hasbro's sculpting shop in Rhode Island when they said screw Toy Fair, we're doing our own thing.
And +1 on the quality front. If you compare even the middle of the road offerings from Hasbro in the Star Wars line, the quality is well above what we're seeing in action figure lines from some other companies for major movie toy lines.
And +1 on the quality front. If you compare even the middle of the road offerings from Hasbro in the Star Wars line, the quality is well above what we're seeing in action figure lines from some other companies for major movie toy lines.
6059
The Vintage Collection / Re: Celebration VI
« on: August 23, 2012, 10:13 PM »
Jayson - props to you for getting an answer to the distribution question. It's definitely sad that a single wave clogged up the distribution system for an entire year.
SSG has posted some galleries from the C6 floor. I guess the upside to Sir Steve being one of the more anti-social guys in the collecting site press corps is that he gets his pics uploaded pretty fast!
SSG has posted some galleries from the C6 floor. I guess the upside to Sir Steve being one of the more anti-social guys in the collecting site press corps is that he gets his pics uploaded pretty fast!
6060
The Vintage Collection / Re: Vintage Collection Wave 16 (2012 Wave 6)
« on: August 23, 2012, 09:24 PM »
I managed to score most of this wave today. Interestingly enough though, I didn't see a Vader on the pegs! The rest of the wave was there, though.
Also, this was at WalMart. The TVC carded figures scanned, but the Lost Line cards would not scan. WTF?!?!
Also, this was at WalMart. The TVC carded figures scanned, but the Lost Line cards would not scan. WTF?!?!