JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => The Vintage Collection => Topic started by: speedermike on August 22, 2012, 04:44 PM
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Not much to say here, but it's been a while that I've had the opportunity to open a thread. Are we really expecting to see much at C6? San Diego was such a bust that I hope something interesting materializes. Also, Is Hasbro doing a Q&A, or just displaying product?
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They are doing a small presentation as well as interviews afterward again with sites
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Not much to say here, but it's been a while that I've had the opportunity to open a thread. Are we really expecting to see much at C6? San Diego was such a bust that I hope something interesting materializes. Also, Is Hasbro doing a Q&A, or just displaying product?
Yes, they are having a presentation on Friday and one-on-one interviews with site.
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Oh. Can we suggest questions? Or is it too late?
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I wonder if they'll be at NYCC?
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After how many times I heard people rationalize the poor showing for the Clone Wars line at SDCC by saying they were holding things back for CVI, I damn sure hope they have something to show off that has not already been leaked.
Seems like a good place to unveil the Yoda branding for next year too...
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I wonder if they'll be at NYCC?
In a bunch of the SDCC interviews the Hasbro guys mentioned they would be skipping NYCC, but it always seemed to be stated while talking about exclusives and HTS. I'm not sure if it means only HTS won't be at NYCC, or if Hasbro is skipping it altogether. I don't think there has been an official announcement from Hasbro regarding their attendance, so who knows.
Seems like a good place to unveil the Yoda branding for next year too...
I don't think a date for Episode 2 in 3D has been announced yet, so I'm guessing it will happen at C6 along with the preview of the new line look. I wouldn't complain if they cancelled the re-release though.
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I'd say NYCC is off the table at this piont... Hasbro was pretty clear that they're wanting to minimize their con footprint to basically SDCC. Even at C6, they're a blip compared to other presences... It's weird. They're a company (brand) in flux IMO. I think Star Wars is maybe seen as something of a dying thing, by them. Maybe I'm wrong.
At SDCC they said TCW has a future but I'm not sure what that means... If not much is at C6, which wouldn't shock me right now, I think that line's future is in serious doubt.
At this point I think the 2013 line launch is where we'll see what this line's future will be... It's sort of like 2012 has been tossed in the fire at this point. :-\
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This is such a dismal thread...but if you do get the chance, just ask this...
"Where the f*ck are the toys and why can't I buy 'em?"
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We've lined up our Q's... Basically Hasbro's response to why you can't get toys would be, "We understand there's some frustration but things are starting to trickle out to retail now... We heard the AT-ST just showed up at K-Mart and it's pretty great huh!?"
...and so on.
C6 seems like Hasbro's time there is highly limited. There's something I know they're prepping for the following weekend that's a bit more of a priority, but yeah, unless they shock me by revealing a lot, I think their footprint at this show will be minimal compared to other license holders.
I mean, no exclusive for the ONLY SW dork convention? Yeah... I wouldn't count on them wow'ing you. :-\
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So what's the deal with this Con? Does Hasbro have a booth, display cases, or what? Is there any likelihood of seeing/hearing about anything new prior to their presentation tomorrow?
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So what's the deal with this Con? Does Hasbro have a booth, display cases, or what? Is there any likelihood of seeing/hearing about anything new prior to their presentation tomorrow?
I've been wondering the same thing - I was sort of expecting some breaking news from the Hasbro display cases by now. Since it's in Orlando the convention is on East Coast Time, so I'm wondering if it hasn't opened yet today?
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Didn't Hasbro say they weren't even going to be at celebration, of was that somewhere else like NYCC?
EDIT: LOL, I just got a text from my buddy there. I guess Hasbro is there, he just played with the new Speeder bike. Just asked if there's anything new.
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Didn't Hasbro say they weren't even going to be at celebration, of was that somewhere else like NYCC?
Per Jesse, it sounds like they've got a small presence with some Q&As with individual fan sites and NYCC is an unconfirmed no-go.
A questioned I'd like answered is if the correct red headband Kithaba will be making more of an appearance on pegs (or online... and if it's online would they differentiate between brown and red versions). I know I'm smoking crack, but is it too much to ask from Hasbro?
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My buddy just reported that there's nothing new at Hasbro as of yet.
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Figures, there probably won't be anything new.
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Thanks for the info guys, I would have thought we would have seen pictures up at some of the sites by now too. (IMHO, Facebook does not count because most people are blocked from seeing that at work, and anyway why would you want to drive traffic to their site, but not your own? but I digress...)
I guess if there are new reveals they would save them for the presentation.
Although it seems like they could at least put out the Republic Dropship and stuff like that which has already been confirmed but was conspicuously absent from SDCC.
Will keep checking back!
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Believe me, they're a small blip there... There's something Hasbro's doing next weekend that, for them anyway, is much larger so I think that MIGHT have something to do with the limited effort at C6, but I wouldn't count on a lot of anything wow'ing you out of this show, honestly.
I'm expecting a bit of a retread of SDCC, maybe a couple 2013 pics we didn't see yet (next wave maybe) and that's it. Just a guess though, I dunno.
Jeff's there for us... It's a busy show to try and "cover" too though. You want to have fun and try and cover it.
If anything pops up we'll post it when we get it.
I'm leaning towards the Q&A's being about as interesting as this show gets though.
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So is someone going to ask about the "distribution problem" or is Hasbro going to get a free pass again?
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I would have thought we would have seen pictures up at some of the sites by now too. (IMHO, Facebook does not count because most people are blocked from seeing that at work, and anyway why would you want to drive traffic to their site, but not your own? but I digress...)
Well, we are all fans first and foremeost, so maybe we're all busy enjoying ourselves instead of wasting precious show time editing and posting dozens of photos. :P
Like a few others have said, there isn't really anything "NEW" at the Hasbro booth yet. Most everything is just stuff announced at SDCC. There were some hints that there will be some new stuff shown at the panel, so standard protocol for them.
So is someone going to ask about the "distribution problem" or is Hasbro going to get a free pass again?
(http://jedidefender.com/jsmentek/deadhorse.gif)
If you guys really want me to waste some of my ten-minutes with Hasbro beating them over the head with the obvious elephant in the room, I can, but to me it's a waste. Vintage is dead, headed for clearance and they are re-booting with Droid Factory.
If you really need to hear Hasbro state the obvious, then check out what they said when my pal Jayson at Yakface (http://fb.me/1eMpzYZVV) asked them today.
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Wow - kudos to Jayson for getting a pretty good answer.
DDP admitting that stores like Big Lots, Tuesday Morning, Five Below, etc... are going to be the beneficiaries of these waves is very interesting.
My guess is that they waited until now because if at this point, you haven't ordered from one of the online retailers, you're not going to (so that revelation won't hurt sales at places like EE or BBTS); they know that the brick-and-mortar stores aren't ordering and/or getting anymore; and they must have signed some deals with those chains to start moving the product out of the warehouses.
I can see it now - "Hey guys, I found yet ANOTHER Shae Vizla at Five Below today, anyone need her?"
::)
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Doesn't explain why the stores with empty pegs refuse to stock any more of any waves. But that's the damned stores.
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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 (http://photos.sirstevesguide.com/g6430-basic-3-3-4-action-figures.html). 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! ;D
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Does anyone actually know Steve? I remember years and years ago when people were just positive that it was Sansweet in disguise.
Anyway, about the Vintage figures showing up in discount stores...I gotta say it, but Hasbro deserves to have a sucky financial year. Their cases are terrible, and we all see that immediately, so I can't figure out why they can't.
The product they make is amazing, it really is. (Did you see the Dark Knight figures? Holy sh*t they are garbage.) But Hasbro's inability to learn from previous mistakes is just so frustrating.
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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.
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I'm not too surprised by the lack of anything new today from Hasbro, but I'm assuming they're holding at least a wave or two and a couple interesting nuggets on the line for their presentation tomorrow, ala SDCC (if not actual figures in the display case, then at least pix or a verbal list). With them due to skip NYCC this year, I'll be pretty disappointed if they don't mention anything new at CVI and we're forced to wait all the way 'til next February's TF.
Wow - kudos to Jayson for getting a pretty good answer.
DDP admitting that stores like Big Lots, Tuesday Morning, Five Below, etc... are going to be the beneficiaries of these waves is very interesting.
Does that presumably include the usual suspects of TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Ross? I hope so, since I don't have any of those other stores near me. I could do without anymore figure dumps at Kohl's however, since they're far from a "bargain" there, and are usually quite a bit more than Target, WM, etc.
I just know him from the inordinate ammount of time he would take photographing everything at a Hasbro display.
Those of us who have been perusing the boards long enough likely remember him better for a particular incident involving a Toyfair Vader and "camera battery".
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Once again, Hasbro could not find a Republic Dropship to put into their display case. I just have to laugh at this point. It's like they just don't want to acknowledge this thing exists.
See the release date on the Maul/Talzin BP is 10/1...seems about right.
Who is the light green tinged clone on display with the vintage/DF figures?
Any sites live tweeting or streaming the Hasbro presentation today?
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If you really need to hear Hasbro state the obvious, then check out what they said when my pal Jayson at Yakface (http://fb.me/1eMpzYZVV) asked them today.
I think the issue is that Hasbro hadn't given a straight answer until now. I didn't necessarily see it as "beating a dead horse" as much as "putting the horse out of its misery" since nothing definitive had ever been stated as to where these figures were, when and where they were being released, and so forth. This is the first time I'd ever heard someone from any site ask Hasbro straight up what the deal was and have Hasbro give them a straight response, unobscured by talk about "ifs" and "maybes." Kudos to Jayson for doing that.
Anyway, sorry for the derail onto distribution issues (again), and back to actual convention discussion. And Jeff, thanks for whatever information you can pass along on your trip, but remember that, first and foremost, you're there to enjoy yourself. :)
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Not sure if this is where to post this, but the latest "CurtoBurns" podcast is an interview with Derryl DePriest, discussing all things SW. Not necessarily any huge reveals, but an interesting listen if you have the time. A few highlights:
Hasbro has the license through 2020 now
CW and MH news/info was held back for CVI, so we should see that this weekend
"About 20" was the number given for CW for 2013, similar make up as this year the way it sounded
New things being tried for Fall '13 and Spring '14 for collector interest
He also talked more in depth about the distribution this year, and took much of the blame for it. It sounds like the banked on TPM being a bigger draw than it was, in combination with stores over-ordering on that first wave. More details in the podcast, but it is a good listen.
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Who is the light green tinged clone on display with the vintage/DF figures?
Badly painted AOTC Clone Commander (Legacy wave 2) or a Clone Sergeant.
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Hasbro panel is over, hope you were following along with the tweets...
Was quite disappointing. DF Wave 2 was shown and there were a few other new things, but pretty slow overall.
One thing that jumped out at me is with the news of the completely retooled, smalled price point, smaller ship Class II line. Sounds great for them to get out some new smaller sculpts to get the price back down to $20, but what does that mean for the chances of repacking the N-1 or Mando ship into that cheaper, smaller line-up? I plan to ask them about that this afternoon...
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OK - so the Class I vehicles continue to be kinda cool - a smaller JSF for Yoda - I can dig that. The mini-rig that was supposed to be in the MTT - definitely! A re-release of the Dropship with a realistic pilot and 501st coloring - okay, I'll take it, but I still want my Clone Wars version... :-\
Class II vehicles re-sculpted at a smaller size? WTF?!?!
Only minimal new figures shown.
No sign of any additional TOR figures or even mentions of what characters they are - like was promised at SDCC.
No new exclusive reveals, which is, in a way, a good thing... it means that this fall, here are the exclusives to keep up with:
Target:
Vintage 3-Packs (already out)
Return of Darth Maul Battle Pack
Toys R Us:
Ewok & Yavin Pilot Sets (already out)
Speeder Bike w/Biker Scout
Vintage Endor AT-AT
Vintage Millenium Falcon
KMart:
Vintage Endor AT-ST (already out)
Vintage AT-ST Pilot 2-Pack
Vintage Ewok AT-ST Hijackers 2-Pack
Did I forget anything?
(and before anyone says anything, I intentionally left off the Target exclusive Lamer-Pods set)
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Oh, and McMetal - there IS a dropship in the display... I don't know if the pics I uploaded last night have been processed by the guys yet, but ut's there on shelf. Cant post the pic from here, but I'll tweet it on the JD twitter for you... pic.twitter.com/Kdsljq4v
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One thing that jumped out at me is with the news of the completely retooled, smalled price point, smaller ship Class II line. Sounds great for them to get out some new smaller sculpts to get the price back down to $20, but what does that mean for the chances of repacking the N-1 or Mando ship into that cheaper, smaller line-up? I plan to ask them about that this afternoon...
My guess/hope is that they plan on getting the new Naboo Starfighter and the Mando Transport both released in Vintage-style packaging - something they should have done to begin with (like what they did when they put out the new Snowspeeder - in SotDS packaging for all, in Vintage packaging at Target).
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I would have thought we would have seen pictures up at some of the sites by now too. (IMHO, Facebook does not count because most people are blocked from seeing that at work, and anyway why would you want to drive traffic to their site, but not your own? but I digress...)
Well, we are all fans first and foremeost, so maybe we're all busy enjoying ourselves instead of wasting precious show time editing and posting dozens of photos. :P
Like a few others have said, there isn't really anything "NEW" at the Hasbro booth yet. Most everything is just stuff announced at SDCC. There were some hints that there will be some new stuff shown at the panel, so standard protocol for them.
So is someone going to ask about the "distribution problem" or is Hasbro going to get a free pass again?
(http://jedidefender.com/jsmentek/deadhorse.gif)
If you guys really want me to waste some of my ten-minutes with Hasbro beating them over the head with the obvious elephant in the room, I can, but to me it's a waste. Vintage is dead, headed for clearance and they are re-booting with Droid Factory.
If you really need to hear Hasbro state the obvious, then check out what they said when my pal Jayson at Yakface (http://fb.me/1eMpzYZVV) asked them today.
Jeff, I would personally appreciate it if you would stop enjoying yourself and upload pictures and whatnot to the front page. Also, if you get another chance, please do ask Hasbro about the distribution. Feel free to use the following as a script:
Hey you cocksucking dillholes, what the ****? Me and a bunch of other nerds are having a tough time finding toys, so I have one question in two parts: 1) Why do you suck so bad, and 2) How and when are we going to get our goddamn toys?
Then say "Keep it real, yo," and drop the mike.
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Smaller class 2? What? Is that what Hasbro said or did someone misinterpret them?
Already limited by what they can do, and they shrink it? So is that a new fighter Tank that's smaller? Doesn't make sense...cuts back on what they can reissue (is there anything to reissue that's smaller...Luke's sandspeeder?). They are gonna Battle Pack that assortment out of existence.
Deluxe "class 1" with two figures included? Again...wha...? Won't that raise prices on those?
The MTT one is interesting. The Yoda one is goofy.
So was the sandtrooper shown actually for Movie Heroes? He's holding some big vacuum cleaner gun.
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Oh, and McMetal - there IS a dropship in the display... I don't know if the pics I uploaded last night have been processed by the guys yet, but ut's there on shelf. Cant post the pic from here, but I'll tweet it on the JD twitter for you... pic.twitter.com/Kdsljq4v
Thanks Jeff, I appreciate the update. Was it the Clone Wars or (blecch) "realistic" version?
Had a major crisis here at work and missed all the hasbro shtick. Did they really not show the first Clone Wars wave of 2013 as I read they would this morning? Did they show ANYTHING for Clone Wars?
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1 new figure. 501st Jetpack Clone Trooper and also R2-D2 using the CW B-A-D sculpt.
And 4 repacks (Anakin, Obi-Wan, phase 2 rex, R2-D2 and Battle Droid)...from what I could tell. That's wave 1. Looks like Rex might have a new gatling gun.
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1 new figure. 501st Jetpack Clone Trooper and also R2-D2 using the CW B-A-D sculpt.
And 4 repacks (Anakin, Obi-Wan, phase 2 rex, R2-D2 and Battle Droid)...from what I could tell. That's wave 1.
Thanks brother! I just checked out the presentation stills over at SSG, so I was able to see these for the first time. The jetpack clone looks like the only vaguely interesting one of the lot, IMHO.
I have already read a few comments from fans that think these are ALL new or at least slightly tweaked figures, enhanced articulation, softgoods, etc. I can't say without closer comparison, but let's hope so. Or not. Don't really feel like buying these again to be honest.
So despite all the jokes, they rolled out exactly what everyone feared - another Obi, Ani, and more clones. Has the ship already sailed on all the insanely good toy fodder from Season 4?
I wonder if there will ever be anymore Class II ships released for this line? I really wanted the Jedi T-6 shuttle, the Trident Drill Squid, Trandoshan Skiff etc. to show up someday.
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The CW Battle Droid now has the Firefighter Droid's arms.
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Galactic Hunter's facebook page has photos of 2013's Class 2 vehicles and their boxes. (SSG has photos, too).
Slave 1 is a smaller one-seater. The Fighter Tank is new and smaller, the smaller hatches that opened on the original no longer do. Now only one pilot fits in the center and one in the top hatch. (http://photos.sirstevesguide.com/after-panel-reveals/p44280-hasbro-star-wars.html)
Obviously no break off wings on the Jedi Starfighter. I won't miss those.
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With the lack of anything interesting coming out of C6, I have to say that I now consider this the lowest point this hobby has reached since 1995. Spring of 2003, when there were no figures for 6 months was close, but, to me, this is the lowest low.
Clone Wars seems dead, and we may never see many of the cool crazy designs from the later seasons. I'm just not buying anymore resculpts.
Vehicles, aside from the Naboo Fighter, to me, are dead as well. I'm not buying smaller, less accurate sculpts. (I do think these look like good toys, and kids will like them.)
As far as figures, I no longer collect one of each, and now that they are so hard to come by I've lost track of what's even out there. There seems to be a few nice figures in the first Droid Factory wave, and maybe 1 in wave 2, so I'm not buying them for the droids. I just can't make it financially justifiable in my head.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love this stuff, and for many years lived and breathed it. But now, I don't know...there is literally nothing to get excited about.
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I must say, they really seemed to have gone out of their way to make droid factory as boring as humanly possible. Is there a single new character in either wave 1 or 2? Resculpt city, apart from the droids. I mean did we really need CW Mace? Mace with armored wrists? Of all the interesting new prominent characters in the clone wars series and they pick one of the most boring possible? I dunno, after the k-mart sets and the final TVC wave I just don't see much coming next year thats particularly interesting. Hopefully wave 3 is better. Aliens Hasbro, give me aliens.
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Were also getting a CW 501st AT-RT with 501st ARF Trooper, and Poggle the Lesser's Tactical Droid TX-21. :o
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Were also getting a CW 501st AT-RT with 501st ARF Trooper, and Poggle the Lesser's Tactical Droid TX-21. :o
Where was this reported?
Nevermind - I saw the pictures on SirStevesGuide.
I do like the Yoda JSF Mini-Rig more and more. The ability to change out the Build-a-Droid dome makes it even better!
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I was a little bummed by the overall small showing at C6, but I guess that might reflect the more conservative approach Hasbro claims to be taking. I am looking forward to Toy Fair, since that event seems to consistently have an abundance of new toys shown.
It was nice to see Wave 2 of the Droid Factory line, but overall the first two waves are a little disappointing. The only brand new characters are two of the Build-A-Droid figures. The selection is decent, yet pales in comparison to some of the more recent waves of TVC. Rex and Mara Jade look cool, but Mace and the Clone Pilot are useless and it seems too soon for Biggs, Ceremony Luke, and another Vader and A-Wing pilot. Perhaps I'll feel differently upon seeing the figures in-person, but right now I'm not impressed.
As for the other new stuff, I really like the direction the Class 1 vehicles are going in. The Dropship and AT-RT sets look great, and Yoda's JSF looks like fun. It seems like a better value, and having an "enemy" packed with each vehicle should keep things more exciting for kids. Hopefully some sets with three figures and a larger than normal accessory will be worked into the assortment. I will happily pass on the new Class II vehicles, but as long as Hasbro keeps getting normal vehicles out via exclusives I won't complain about the new ones. I understand what Hasbro is going for, and hopefully they are successful.
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Someone said the Class 2's are scaled down due to a request from Lucasfilm.
Whatever.
Strange that the CW class 1 vehicle will have better articulated figures than the movie themed stuff. Still wondering about the price point what with the added figure.
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I'm busy with work this weekend and so Jeff's largely been on his own till evenings when I'm home to do photo editing for him... His first Hasbro gallery is going up here soon though. Uploading as we speak...
Hopefully new stuff later but probably tomorrow, so stay tuned. I've got work and it's 9 here so I won't be up all night doing photoshopping. :) Sorry.
Spent last night locked in volunteering at my kid's football game since half the people who agreed to didn't show up to do their work.
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Still wondering about the price point what with the added figure.
As I tweeted earlier, the Class I and Class II are both being targeted at $20. Essentially the Class I are the new BPs, but with two figs and a ship instead of three figures.
Oh, and the first half of the Hasbro pics are live, still working on the rest. I will say that Celebration was a lot easier to cover when it was in Indy and there was nothing else to do at night but upload pics. :P I did have a nice time at Downtown Disney tonight though!
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Were also getting a CW 501st AT-RT with 501st ARF Trooper, and Poggle the Lesser's Tactical Droid TX-21. :o
Wow, that's awesome! They both appear to be in the animated style too and not realistic versions.
Guess it is the closest we will ever get to getting Poggle himself.
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With the lack of anything interesting coming out of C6, I have to say that I now consider this the lowest point this hobby has reached since 1995. Spring of 2003, when there were no figures for 6 months was close, but, to me, this is the lowest low.
Clone Wars seems dead, and we may never see many of the cool crazy designs from the later seasons. I'm just not buying anymore resculpts.
Vehicles, aside from the Naboo Fighter, to me, are dead as well. I'm not buying smaller, less accurate sculpts. (I do think these look like good toys, and kids will like them.)
As far as figures, I no longer collect one of each, and now that they are so hard to come by I've lost track of what's even out there. There seems to be a few nice figures in the first Droid Factory wave, and maybe 1 in wave 2, so I'm not buying them for the droids. I just can't make it financially justifiable in my head.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love this stuff, and for many years lived and breathed it. But now, I don't know...there is literally nothing to get excited about.
I'm with you, man.
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Being out of work pretty much killed my collecting desires so unless it's something my son wants for his birthday or christmas, I'm not gonna get it.
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Those new mini-vehicles are neat, but they remind me of the original POTF mini-mini-rigs at the end of the line. Given the tough year, not a good comparison.
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I find it funny that that MTT Mini Rig comes with the Battle Droid and Obi-Wan figures that SHOULD have come with the MTT.
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I guess seeing the Class II packaging with Yoda in the corner confirms AOTC 3D is actually happening.
Kind of a weak showing, but the Yoda Jedi Starfighter is awesome. :)
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Overall, nothing too exciting, but about what I expected I guess for the most part. Through SDCC and C6, we've gotten to see the first two waves of Droid Factory (making up 20 of the "30 plus" figures for 2013). I'm curious how much will be left for the rest of the year. If there's only another two waves or so, they are definitely scaling back - which I guess I'm ok with.
As far as the figures for Droid Factory themselves....they all look well done, no problems there, but as others have said not necessarily anything all that exciting. I'm still trying to decide if I'm wanting the Build a Droids bad enough to buy entire waves (as I have been with vintage), or if I could start skipping more. If there is only 30-35 figures for the whole year, it isn't necessarily a big hit either way, but honestly I don't care too much about new clones, etc. with the focus on AOTC next year. I'm happy with the new OT stuff, and Mara Jade and Rex look cool too. Of course, the exclusives we heard about at SDCC (speeder bike, etc.) are great too.
For Clone Wars, I honestly thought we'd see a little more...or at least a little more new. I guess the Obi-Wan, Anakin, etc. are "new versions", but I really don't care. I just re-watched the "Bounty" episode this week and starting wishing for the new outfit Boba, Dengar, new outfit Asaaj, the other hunters...but I'm wondering if they'll ever get to that stuff. Now there is news of them slowly transitioning to POTF2 type articulation. It seems like this line is limping into the sunset now.
Movie Heroes...didn't care this year, and likely won't care about much next year either. I'll probably pick up that BFG Sandtrooper just for fun (like the light up Vader), and anything else along those lines. Honestly, if we have to have this line, I'd just as soon they make it considerably cheaper and make the figures like the lower articulated battle pack figures. Solid figures that can stand and hold their weapons for kids.
The "mini rig" vehicles are pretty neato, and the fact that they are including movie stuff in that line now has me excited for what we might see come the time of the OT's 3D releases. As for the down scaled mid size line, I'm actually ok with it. I can see that most of us won't care about these or pick them up, but I appreciate the attempt to get back to a $20 price and have a solid toy for kids. The AOTC era Slave I (not the BMF version) was junk (at least the one I had), and falls apart constantly. My nephews (and now our daughter) plays with this one as Boba's ship, and the wings constantly fall off. Having a smaller, solid version is fine with me. Plus, most collectors have (or have the means to find) the larger versions of these ships already, so it doesn't too much matter to me if they do downscaled versions for the kids, especially if it gets prices in line a bit more.
Overall, nothing too exciting, but at least a little bit of news. It really seems like there is a scaling back for next year, and that might not be a bad thing. I look back at this year, and it really had to be a disaster for Hasbro. All three lines pretty much sat all year long, and aside from the 2003 drought that was mentioned somewhere, I can't remember it ever being this bad. I honestly didn't see anything aside from a handful of figures beyond that TPM wave (and it is still that way). Thank goodness for online ordering I guess. I hope they get things figured out next year and beyond, and this new conservative approach brings SW "back". Oh, glad to see the ESB Slave I "tease" too, too bad they couldn't have just shown it. I'm guessing a TRU vintage boxed exclusive or something? Oh, I also noticed in some Q and A's that the "Yoda look" is supposed to last "about 6 months", so I'm wondering if those rumors of an AOTC release in Feb and ROTS in the Fall might be true and we'll see another cardback shift later in the year. Who knows.
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More pics uploaded and our galleries are filling out a bit more...
JD's Celebration VI Coverage! (http://www.jedidefender.com/celebrationVI.php)
Trying to do a little more photo work tonight then bed for me, and hopefully do a little more tomorrow.
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Oh, I also noticed in some Q and A's that the "Yoda look" is supposed to last "about 6 months", so I'm wondering if those rumors of an AOTC release in Feb and ROTS in the Fall might be true and we'll see another cardback shift later in the year. Who knows.
Actually, there were LOTS of rumors going around the C-VI floor that ROTS 3D would happen a LOT sooner than "Fall". Like, 4-5 weeks aftre AOTC 3D (think Feb and then April, right before the early summer blockbusters hit).
Again, all rumor for right now, but I heard it a lot from various folks... grain of salt and all that.
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That'd be fine by me... I would almost rather they breezed through stuff than drug it out a year at a time. It's clearly not got the legs it had when it was new and dragging it out like you're supposed to be anticipating something great is just not a good idea IMO.
Sure as hell didn't help with the toys either.
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Agreed. I think this is a great idea - but they could also wait until this time next year (end of August) for the 3D re-release of ROTS too and I think it might actually do well - there really isn't much out right now unless you want to go see something like Avengers or Dark Knight again...
I wonder who will be on the packaging for the ROTS 3D stuff...
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I think dumping it out in the fall would've been the best, if you're gonna have these big gaps... Right around T-Giving... Get that pre-Christmas jolt to the line... February = bad timing.
I still think Star Wars, as cool as we all think it is, is back to not being quite as cool for EVERYONE, and so I think it's maybe not a good idea to drag it out a year for each movie... especially the PT. The OT I think you could do that, but the PT's left a sour taste in the mouths of anyone who can take themselves to the movies without a ride.
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I was reading through JTA's Q and A with Hasbro (a good read), and it is surprising to see how much blame Hasbro places on Lucasfilm for the distribution disaster that came about this year (among other things). There seem to be a lot of "Lucasfilm mandated..." type answers, which I don't doubt, but it is surprising to hear them admit. They also reiterate several times that the Vintage Collection was/is the worst selling action figure line of all of theirs so far, and that CW and Movie Heroes both outsell it.
http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/content/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10434/#details (http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/content/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10434/#details)
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They also reiterate several times that the Vintage Collection was/is the worst selling action figure line of all of theirs so far, and that CW and Movie Heroes both outsell it.
I read that, too. Good article.
I'm surprised by that answer and that distribution stunk for all lines, but then again, I only collect Vintage. But from what others have complained, Movie Heroes would have the same character (maybe not same sculpt) on the pegs at the same time as Vintage, and with Vintage being $1 or so more than MH, obviously mom and pop are going to go for the cheaper version. But there was some quality control issues with some Vintage army builders and that hurt figure sales. I don't know. Maybe SW figures aren't that popular as I think they are but? Maybe since I'm on here with a group, it feels that they are more than I think they are?
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Hasbro is full of it. I read the JTA article also and Lucasfilm is partly to blame yes, but as a corporation/business you decide to release different lines to boost sales. Fine, I get that. How can vintage sell to collectors when you're not making the product available in all areas? This has been an issue for me since TAC wave. I had to order Han in the probe contraption via star wars shop.com. Hasbro when given the suggestion about using HTS for the sales of backed up vintage stock, the rep replied that they don't want to leave out the retail chains. Now I don't know much about big business but money is money. IMO hasbro wants that big check from Walmart, target, TRU and Kmart before they will take small change from us little collectors who for the most part only want individual figures any way. So distribution isn't a concern for them. That's a bunch of hogwash. Granted they can't control what the stores get as far as which figure is in what case. But if they really.have their ears open and eyes on what lines are moving and what lines are not, then why not use your company website to make some profit rather than none all. That idiot rep stated that they want consumers to use HTS as a last resort. WTF? Last resort? I enjoy going to my local target or TRU and picking up what I want. However, if those chains don't have what I want, wouldn't it make sense for the consumer to use HTS to fulfill their needs by purchasing product from hasbro's site and therefore giving hasbro business; not only from the sale of the figure or figures but also from the overpriced shipping. I'm not holding my breath expecting things to change where distribution is concerned. I'll be taking a pause for the cause when I get my royal guards and come back when vintage comes back.
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I thought that the people saying they were done when vintage ended were being close-minded, but maybe they have the right idea.
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It was a good article, but sometimes, I don't know, I think JTA just gets a tad bit ahead of themselves or assumes too much.
Like when the guy said he suggested to DDP that they sell stuff on Hasbro Toy Shop, DDP supposedly lit-up and wrote that idea down. Now if that was me giving the interview, I would be more inclined to think that DDP was mocking the question. Like "oh duh! I can't believe I didn't think about that, how silly of me for being so stupid"
And of course any collecting site that feels the need to tell their readers mid-article that they need to buy every figure they see to help support the line... really? No, really? I'm sorry, but I already buy 3x of every figure that comes out - two to open and one to keep on card, and you're telling me I gotta go buy more? I know you're not specifically talking to me when you write that, but just like you shouldn't be making those kinds of commentaries to me, you also shouldn't be making them to the collector who gets one of everything to open, or the collector who only buys the new sculpts or the collector who only buys OT characters, etc... What you want to buy is your choice and no one should be buying more than what they want or items they don't want because they think that their individual purchase is going to make/break a toy line.
Hasbro does seem REALLY quick to beat the "it's Lucasfilm's fault" drum this time around and claim that TVC sells far worse than Movie Heroes or Clone Wars, but if there is nothing on the pegs besides Movie Heroes or Clone Wars what do you think is going to sell? And their attitude that Movie Heroes isn't for collectors and now, all of a sudden, neither is Clone Wars - well all I gotta say to that is f**k you DDP - if you were going to have this attitude, you should have been up-front about that with the Clone Wars when you started it back in 2008. Of course you weren't going to say stuff like that back then because you wanted the collectors to buy into the line. Now that the line is dying, which is clearly because the kids aren't buying, you're going to cater to them because some wack job parents called complaining because Johnny wasn't blessed with the hand-eye coordination required to stick a small plastic gun into a small plastic hand?
And of course like I mentioned earlier in another thread - if articulation is out of the question then why is the same Sandtrooper that is shipping now in the Lost Line wave, and is going to get re-packed in the Legacy Collection also going to appear with a light-up gun in Movie Heroes? Aren't you afraid that bad-hand-eye-coordination-Johnny's mom is going to call in and yell at you about this figure?
Like P-Siddy said - it's simple - parents who are making the casual purchase for their Star Wars-fan child are going to take the path of least resistence - they're going to go with the product that is a) readily available; and b) cheapest - and in both cases this year, that was either a Movie Heroes or a Clone Wars figure. What I seemed to notice locally was that once all three lines were at the same price - nothing started to move, and don't give me that "well, in between your visits the figures are selling out and being restocked" crap, when you're frustrated with your local store that you hit every day, you start to count and catalog what's in stock, so you can clearly see if you missed something going out or so you can track how well things are selling. Well if nothing moves and counts don't change for months at a time, what proof do you have that any one line sells better than another?
Right now everyone is just pointing fingers and laying blame with everyone else because things have been so lean this year. Only until people wake up and take ownership of their own decisions and start to use some common sense are things going to change. And right now, I still don't see anything truly changing. Both the Movie Heroes AND Legacy Collection are going to have, minimally two EXACT SAME characters at the EXACT SAME time - the Red Geonosis Battledroid and the Sandtrooper. Who knows how many other double-dip characters we're going to see next year (since we've only been shown 2 figures out of a 12 figure case for MH wave 1, who knows), but all I know is that if the best you can do is show that you're going to have two figures in the Movie Heroes line that are also in the Legacy/BAD line, your lack of understanding what the true problems are is incredibly disheartening.
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And of course any collecting site that feels the need to tell their readers mid-article that they need to buy every figure they see to help support the line... really? No, really? I'm sorry, but I already buy 3x of every figure that comes out - two to open and one to keep on card, and you're telling me I gotta go buy more?
No offense, and I don't mean to single you out, but this is a big part of the problem. Why do collectors buy one of every figure, or worse, three? Is everything they make really worth buying just because it has a Star Wars logo stamped on it? That's the kind of thing that sends the wrong message to Hasbro and allows them to get away with the stupid decisions they make. Like you said later on in your post, both the Movie Heroes AND Legacy Collection are going to have, minimally two EXACT SAME characters at the EXACT SAME time - the Red Geonosis Battledroid and the Sandtrooper. This is the same kind of thing Hasbro did this year by releasing Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in both the Vintage line AND with Movie Heroes. Oh yeah, AND in a Battle Pack. With regards to the upcoming BD and Sandtrooper, are you going to tell me that both sets are worth buying?
To be honest, I'm glad there were problems with figures showing up at retail this year. You know why? Because it sent a signal loud and clear to Hasbro that not all collectors will gobble up the crap they put out. Hasbro released way too much TPM crap expecting collectors to go nuts over it (which they kind of did, initially), but then they kept sending more of the same with carryover figures in other assortments and what happened? Walmart, Target and TRU are stuffed to the gills with all the undesirables (which is pretty much everything for the exception of Darth Maul). The result: retailers didn't want to order any more cases because they might just sit on pegs like the other stuff. The big retailers don't know the difference between a Battle Droid and a Death Star Trooper. They just see Star Wars. So this is precisely why a bunch of cases are sitting in a warehouse. Distribution problems? Nah. It's hard to distribute what isn't being ordered. Let's see what happens with Droid Factory and let's see what kind of message collectors give Hasbro. Will they gobble up yet another batch of Clones, Anakins and Obi-Wans? We will see....
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I'm curious to know if Hasbro was asked why they put the same character in two lines at once. While I understand the price difference, I can't imagine there's that much demand for a even character like Obi-Wan.
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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.
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No offense, and I don't mean to single you out, but this is a big part of the problem. Why do collectors buy one of every figure, or worse, three?
So let's see if I have this straight:
Force Guy is blaming Pete Fett and completist collectors for our current toy woes
Collectors (completist or otherwise) are blaming Hasbro
Hasbro is blaming Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm is blaming...? They should be blaming the Maker for that Jar-Jar infested atrocity they just worsened by putting in 3D.
I think the most important question that no one seems to be addressing is who are the kids blaming? 2/3rds of these toys are aimed at them, after all. Or are they really as completely content and satisfied with their Star Wars goodies as Hasbro's been suggesting. Personally, I think everyone's full of crap. DDP and Hasbro know full well that this is hardly Lucasfilm's fault, just as Force Guy knows this obviously has next to nothing to do with completists. Seeing as how few completists there are anymore these days, that's asinine to suggest they have much, if any, pull on the line's development, character selection, and marketing. Sure, lots of people buy lots of garbage, and yes, I understand that it's especially confusing to some when others purchase items they don't particularly like, but hey - that's collecting. To each their own. I DESPISE soft goods, but I'm still buying multiples of that furball of a red tee-pee Royal Guard in a few months. I blame all you articulation junkies for that garbage (and the dozens of other soft-good fiascos that came before the ERG). Now that feels better - I got to blame someone for something too! As an aside on completists, if the handful of them still out there upsets anyone now, just wait until the B-A-D line hits again next year when completists will multiply ten-fold (or more) as far more "normal" people are forced to buy dozens of figures they don't want just to complete their Build-a-Droids. There's going to be a LOT more blame to go around when that starts happening!
To be honest, I'm glad there were problems with figures showing up at retail this year.
While I certainly understand your point, and have also greatly enjoyed watching Hasbro attempt to squirm through the bitchslap that retail has recently handed them, I would've probably put that a bit differently, or at least more tactfully, considering your current surroundings and the fact that everyone else here is certainly not quite so pleased. My wallet and wife are certainly less pleased that I have to pay 2-10x retail on eBay to get most of these silly little plastic 4" treasures that I really don't need.
That said, I've got to agree with some of the sentiments above, that based on Hasbro's early showings for the 2013 MH line, with a 100% overlap on their small test sample, they're clearly not learning from their mistakes. Even if things were quite far along in the 2013 line's planning, the TPM fiasco should've necesitated some hasty re-arranging of things. That, on top of the fairly uninteresting character selections in the first two B-A-D waves, gets me even further worried that Hasbro's not going to be able to get this retail disaster turned around. At least not until the OT hits 3D in 2014, when I'm assuming the core fanbase (old farts) will be briefly reinvigorated. Of course by then, we'll be looking at $15 figures with 5 POA across the board, so who knows how bad the outlook might be at that point.
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No offense, and I don't mean to single you out, but this is a big part of the problem. Why do collectors buy one of every figure, or worse, three? Is everything they make really worth buying just because it has a Star Wars logo stamped on it? That's the kind of thing that sends the wrong message to Hasbro and allows them to get away with the stupid decisions they make.
Like I went on to say, it is foolish to think that any one individual's collecting habits impact the success/failure of the line.
So I apologize, but I fail to see how my desire to have two complete open sets of the figures or a complete MOC set of the figures is a "big" part of any problem with distribution or any other problem for that matter. My collecting habits aren't even a blip for Hasbro.
Never mind the fact that Hasbro sees sales only sales numbers to their retailers and how much those retailers re-order, and since re-orders aren't happening, then they conclude that stuff isn't selling.
If Hasbro really wanted help solving this, instead of being pig-headed, they should have taken advantage of a resource that would have only gladly been tapped to help - namely us.
How hard would it have been I to set up an email alias called pegproblems@hasbro.com and every time you go into a store, snap a picture the pegs, send it to that alias along with the address of the store? My local stores got in nothing beyond the BluRay wave, and for the better part of the year, the pegs have been empty or close to empty. So, for example, why isn't my local Target restocking ANYTHING? And I mean across all three lines, not just vintage.
To me, not until they answer that question will they have found the solution for their current problems.
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I really think it's a couple of things coming together to ruin what has been a pretty good ride.
1. The collector base has shrunk, maybe more than we even know. That is only expected 7 years after the last theatrical movie. The cartoon didn't bring in new collectors, at least ones who graduated to say the Vintage collection (kids locally segregate these in terms of 'theirs' and 'ours' - seen it in person).
2. Hasbro overproduced this year in anticipation of another blockbuster SW movie run. TPM 3D didn't register with the public. This is either the movie (probably) or people don't care.
3. The cost of plastic has made keeping pace with a line this big very hard in a struggling economy. Toys have always been a disposable purchase, especially for collectors, and when a figure costs what you make in an hour - assuming you make anything - then you make choices. Hasbro is trying to minimize this by reducing articulation, reducing size of ships, which in turn alienates collectors.
So from where I stand, you take all that and combine it with the fact that the SW universe is extremely well covered - we all have lists but these are thin now - and there is no engine producing new characters to cover, at least not that Hasbro considers worth the trouble, then you have a receipe for disaster. If it's accurate that the AOTC/ROTS movies are next fall, then the AOTC heavy early waves of next spring may struggle. In any case, I expect the brand is facing a serious crossroads in terms of what it will be in the future.
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Yeah, there is an engine for new characters, the Clone Wars, but I can't understand why they choose to ignore the great selections out there now. Clone/Obi/Ani rinse repeat is not getting it done.
And the Clone Wars show brought me back to SW collecting, big-time. I will not be staying once that line is gone though. Not a threat, just the way I feel. They've done enough to kill my enthusiasm the past few years to make it easier to let go.
Lucasfilm sure seems to be getting painted as the corporate bully in this situation. Maybe toy companies should show a little solidarity next time around and re-work those license renewal contracts to situplate the Lucasfilms' only contribution to the toy business will be creative input. Leave the marketing, sizing, and associated leg work up to the companies that are actually producing the stuff. I know, dream on...
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LFL annouced that ATOC 3d will be in theaters September 20th 2013 and ROTS 3D will be October 11th 2013. I hope this time the movies are actually in 3D. TPM had so little scenes that looked 3D and even then they looked flat and cheap.
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LFL annouced that ATOC 3d will be in theaters September 20th 2013 and ROTS 3D will be October 11th 2013. I hope this time the movies are actually in 3D. TPM had so little scenes that looked 3D and even then they looked flat and cheap.
I noticed in a write up at IGN that they mentioned the scenes shown at CVI from both AOTC and ROTS looked much, much better than TPM - so hopefully that is a positive sign.
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They also reiterate several times that the Vintage Collection was/is the worst selling action figure line of all of theirs so far, and that CW and Movie Heroes both outsell it.
Distribution is part of that problem, but $11.89 + Tax per figure during a bad economy might have something to do with that as well. And even if people wanted to shell out over $12 for a single figure, they couldn't find them. The last 4 or 5 waves, I've been getting off Amazon at $12.99 a piece. I'm as dedicated as they come, but the pricing is finally starting to make me feel like I'm putting way too much coin into this hobby.
It was only 6 years ago that figures were $4.99, 5 years ago they were $5.99 / $6.99. I know everything is more expensive all the time, but I have a hard time thinking that costs have risen 80%ish in the last 4 or 5 years.
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The Clone Wars would beat the crap out of the PT in theaters. Whether it is 3D, 4G, or whatever.
I wish they would have saved some of the CW 3-4 part story arcs for theatrical release. Put one out every 4-6 weeks during the summer, and you would hit a lot more audience than the tv show- tv just has too many options. I would have loved to have gone with my daughter to see 3-4 CW movies over the summer. I didn't bother going to TPM. I think theatrical releases would have kept the CW toy line much stronger as well.
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Official Hasbro Press Images Posted (http://www.jedidefender.com/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Conventions/Celebration_VI/Hasbro/Official_Press_Images)
If you're interested in hyper detailed shots of the 2013 stuff, check it out. The mini Yoda Fighter is really interesting. I kinda like the mini stuff replacing Battlepacks.
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So with Movie Heroes, we get Anakin again, Yoda again, Obi-Wan again, Vader again, etc., and more Clones....yippee.....isn't it safe to say that 2013 is the year Hasbro jumps the shark? Seriously. They are completely out of ideas. I hope all the lines tank for them. If they're not going to put forth any effort, why even bother?
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I noticed that too, in the official pics we can see the "carry forwards" mentioned for the Movie Heroes line - Maul, Vader, Anakin, Yoda, etc. plus older AOTC versions of Obi-Wan and Jango? Again, the line isn't for us, I know...but they kept saying how they learned things from this year, but I'm not seeing it yet. Hopefully they are shipping way less of it, and that might help.
I was thinking about this today, and now with AOTC/ROTS 3D hitting next year, and possibly the OT the year after that....I wonder what happens then? We know that Hasbro has the line until 2020 now, the live action series seems to be going nowhere, CW is all but dead in the water, and if they decide to push all of the OT movies out in a couple months in 2014, that's a lot of nothing for awhile. Maybe they'll start making "Detours" style figures ;). I wonder if we'll ever see the days of the way scaled back SW line, like POTJ. I always look back fondly on that time...neat figures (at least for the time), fairly easy to find things, decent prices, and a release schedule that people could keep up with on a limited budget (I was on a $30/month budget or less while in college/just finishing and didn't have any problems). Granted, the current entertainment now changes that a bit, but now it seems to be "Hey, Star Wars is still around!" with attempts to take up half the action figure aisle with various Fighter Pods, multiple action figure lines, etc.
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Maybe they'll start making "Detours" style figures ;).
Please don't give Hasbro any ideas! I'm happy with a scaled back line, to be honest, as I'd much rather refocus my collecting dollars on Blu-rays, travel, home improvement, and more "normal" real-world types of things. The 2020 license extension is scary enough, but if CW is gone and the live-action series isn't happening (which I doubt is true), then at least Hasbro will be forced to stay focused on movie (and EU) figures bottled into just one or two figure lines at retail. I think that'd help the overall health of the line: One kids' line full of underarticulated repacks, and one collectors' line full of all the good stuff.
As for the rest of the C6 showings and news, I'm excited to finally get that ESB big Slave-1 version out of the way, and just as happy to hear they're finally going to eventually knock out the MUCH needed larger version of the desert skiff. If Hasbro's smart, they'll co-ordinate that with a (hopeful) release of Jabba's Sail Barge. Speaking of which, has anyone posted a link to the finished Tatooine diorama from C6? I haven't seen anything pop up around the collecting sites yet, and was anxious to see how it all turned out.
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the new ceremony Luke has no ankles...
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That's because he's from 2007 and not really "new". :)
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I'm just glad that 2013 is going to be an inexpensive year for me, collecting-wise, that is.
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Yeah I sort of like having things scaled back a bit, I just hope things are easy enough to find that I can pick/choose and not revert back to case ordering ALL the time... I'd like to know that, if I wanna skip a case and only get a couple figures from it, I can do that. :-\
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I kind of mixed emotions about BAD right now, but I'm just trying to think positive that there will be other figure in the other waves in which I'll be able to trade for FA-4 and other movie ones... or there will be a droid part swap at a future Celebration.
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I'm just glad that 2013 is going to be an inexpensive year for me, collecting-wise, that is.
Yeah, I won't be spending much. I think I'll spend the money at strip clubs into displaying the stuff in a better way.
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Yeah I sort of like having things scaled back a bit, I just hope things are easy enough to find that I can pick/choose and not revert back to case ordering ALL the time... I'd like to know that, if I wanna skip a case and only get a couple figures from it, I can do that. :-\
I agree that scaling back the quantity will be nice, but that doesn't mean I want boring, less articulated, rehashes.
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I agree that scaling back the quantity will be nice, but that doesn't mean I want boring, less articulated, rehashes.
+1
If Hasbro scales back, great, but let's make excellent choice in figure selections. I don't think too many people were clamoring for Yavin Celebration Luke again (or a Bespin dinner Vader... although I see the need to put in Vader once a year, so giving people something different is good).
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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.
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That was my impression of Derryl when I met him at TF. Very helpful and courteous.
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That was my impression of Derryl when I met him at TF. Very helpful and courteous.
My impression from what I've read, heard, and seen on web videos is of a completely different DDP than my past perception... I was 100% impressed with the courtesy and humility I saw from him with CVI. He's earned the benefit of the doubt from me going into 2013. I just hope that he and their team truly have learned from their mistakes over the past couple years.
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I had about 15 minutes with him at NYCC and he was extremely courteous and engaging.
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They also reiterate several times that the Vintage Collection was/is the worst selling action figure line of all of theirs so far, and that CW and Movie Heroes both outsell it.
I call bull**** on this. I hit a number of different stores across Minnesota and Wisconsin and I never see the CW or MH stuff selling. And yes, I know for a fact that it isn't just case replenishment because it is the same partial case of figures on the pegs week after week and month after month. Vintage on the other hand seems to sell like hot cakes - at least whenever something new becomes available. I've personally bought about 4x or more vintage than any CW and even my kid likes the vintage stuff better than CW or MH. I can believe that vintage performed below their plan/2012 estimate, but not that the actual sales are somehow smaller than these other lines, even with the higher price point.
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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.
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Why does the Sandtrooper come with a leaf blower?
(http://www.jedidefender.com/gallery/files/gallery/Conventions/Celebration_VI/Hasbro/Official_Press_Images/Movie_Heroes/SandTrooper.jpg)
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Why does the Sandtrooper come with a leaf blower?
It looks more like a flamethrower to me.
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Wow. I didn't realize until I saw the blown up image that this Sandy features electronics. Bummer.
I think the concept definitely works with the lightsabers nicely. It could work well with droids, too, but I think the execution hasn't been quite right.
But this? It kind of looks silly. The blaster is just way too oversized for starters. Add in the fact that electronics like these cuts down on articulation, and it really hurts the figure.
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But it's for the kids. They love light-up figures and limited articulation. ::)
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I'd like to see a Snowtrooper with electronic E-Web cannon
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But it's for the kids. They love light-up figures and limited articulation. ::)
Especially after the non-replaceable batteries run out.
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I'd like to see a Snowtrooper with electronic E-Web cannon
If they could integrate it with the power pack for the E-Web, it would be awesome! But I think that what's holding Hasbro back from doing some really cool electronic features are the child safety standards & the cost.