JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => The Vintage Collection => Topic started by: StBrianOfMinneapolis on October 19, 2017, 11:02 AM
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Hear me out on this one.
I am a guy who generally opens every toy I buy and leaves almost nothing in the package, so buying repacks that come on cool TVC cards has not been too appealing.
I am also a guy who has stated I would happily pay around $20 a figure for a new subscription line of 3.75” super articulated figures designed for collectors.
The opportunity before me is to tell Hasbro they screwed up by boycotting the first two waves of the TVC relaunch, or realize that “buying in” to a relaunch of a non-exclusive line I really want is a steal priced at $12.99. Two waves of repacks will run about $110. With my previous comfort in paying $20 a figure for a hypothetical toy line, that $110 cost will be absorbed into the first 15-16 new sculpts I buy as the line continues. After that the line will be smooth sailing while enjoying continuous waves at $12.99.
All this is true even though I did manage to pick up an extras of 3.75” TBS from Walmart including two extra Reys, Finn, Poe, Kylo, and a bunch of Stormtroopers when they were marked down to $5.84 this past summer. It has been hard to overlook how excessive these new repacks will be, but I have pulled my head out of my butt and now I see the light.
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You must do what you think is right, of course. ;)
I'm of the mind that if someone spends more than they feel they should and/or buy things they don't like (for whatever reasons) that will lead to burn-out.
I'm also the guy who would not support a figure sub service unless I got rich. I understand why people would get rich but I don't get enough (whatever it is) out collecting action figures anymore to routinely spend $20+ each on them.
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Hasbro is making their own product management decisions. If they need to milk existing molds they should understand the supply and demand curve and make fewer of those figures if they think there is less demand (FYI Hasbro - I will not be buying repacks).
I'll be buying every truly new figure they make at whatever reasonable price they charge, and hopefully they'll make more of those as I'm guessing there will be plenty of collectors that only go for the new stuff.
I'm only giving Hasbro the money they deserve and not writing them a blank check for products I don't care for or personally buying up piles of overstock just to support the line.
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Dave, I agreed with everything you said until I realized I don't have to approve a blank check, instead it's just $110 or so to vote in support of this line to ensure the releases of Yak face Sim Aloo, and maybe the Tonnika Sisters.
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I can think of about 1,000 other places I'd rather use that $110 than to show support for line being made by a company that I've already spent thousands of dollars with over the years, and made a $788 million profit on revenue of over $5b last year.
But hey, it's your money! :)
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If they need to milk existing molds
There is no 'if'. Milking existing molds to kick off a 3.75" SA line is the new norm.
- 2015 - full case of repacks (Chewbacca, Vader, ROTJ Luke) before we got to the new TFA figures
- 2016 - full case of repacks (Ackbar, Ahsoka, Lando, ERG) before we got to Rogue One stuff
- 2017 - full case of repacks (Ponda, ProtoFett, Sandtrooper, Tusken) before getting to the TLJ figures
- 2018 is probably gonna be the same...
The repacks are mixed for me. I'm not a carded collector anymore, so they do nothing for me for the most part. I'm sure there are plenty of TVC collectors out there who will re-buy them because of the card though.
If they clean up the visor deco, I can see myself grabbing a couple FO Stormtroopers. Maybe a couple Hoth Troopers if I find them on sale. Can't see myself buying all the repacks though.
Repacks to me are the price we pay for keeping the line at $13. I'd pay $15-20 each if it meant less straight repacks and more all-new figures, but I fully understand that's because I'm lucky enough to be in a spot in my life where I can waste $15-20 on an action figure and not hurt my family. :-\
I've already spent thousands of dollars with over the years
I think it's safe to say tens of thousands... :-X
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If they need to milk existing molds
There is no 'if'. Milking existing molds to kick off a 3.75" SA line is the new norm.
- 2015 - full case of repacks (Chewbacca, Vader, ROTJ Luke) before we got to the new TFA figures
- 2016 - full case of repacks (Ackbar, Ahsoka, Lando, ERG) before we got to Rogue One stuff
- 2017 - full case of repacks (Ponda, ProtoFett, Sandtrooper, Tusken) before getting to the TLJ figures
- 2018 is probably gonna be the same...
The repacks are mixed for me. I'm not a carded collector anymore, so they do nothing for me for the most part. I'm sure there are plenty of TVC collectors out there who will re-buy them because of the card though.
It has become the collecting equivalent of Lucy pulling away the football before Charlie Brown can kick it. You know she's going to do it, but maybe this time she won't. Same thing with Hasbro. They offer up these repacks saying "The new figures weren't ready for the line rollout" or "We couldn't reveal those characters yet", and the reissues "Are there to keep core characters in circulation" or to "Hold the peg space in the planogram until the new figures are ready".
To say it's frustrating is an incredible understatement.
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I think it's safe to say tens of thousands... :-X
It's definitely at least $10,000 - I'm not sure it's $20,000 though. For me at least.
I mean, it PROBABLY is... I've got around 3,000 figures that I bought from anywhere from $1 to $13 (with a few exclusives being higher), then all those play sets and vehicles and creatures...
That money is spread out over the course of 22 years though. Of course, I'm also not counting Gentle Giant and Lego in these numbers.
I'm definitely keeping that $110.
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I'm in for army builders and anything I haven't seen already. Plus, my displays could always use another Chewbacca or R2-D2.
I see no change in my collecting habits, I will buy what I want and pass on what I don't think will fit in my collection.
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Try the Kool-aid you guys. Seriously, its going to be worth it.
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I think it's safe to say tens of thousands... :-X
It's definitely at least $10,000 - I'm not sure it's $20,000 though. For me at least.
Just checked my database and looks like its slightly above $30,000 for me (counting Kenner and Hasbro, but not Galoob).
Hasbro already has a decent down payment from me and is not getting another $110 for repacks. I'll wait for the new figures.
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I'd be more supportive of re-packs if Hasbro included the harder-to-get releases, canon be damned.
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Like Jeff said, this is the "new norm". Fact is, even at least this first year, TVC isn't going to be a focal line or anything. It seems much more, to me, just a sub-line kind of like how it originally was, and how it currently is, with just a little wider retailer net than just Wal-Mart. But still limited numbers. I'm not shocked in the least that repacks are happening.
Not sure what I'll buy and what I won't. I keep the TVC packaging, and I kinda like having all of it, but I'm not sure how much I'll want TFA figures on it. Like Han, Leia, Phasma, Finn are not things I'm sure I'd rebuy just for cardbacks. Rey, Kylo, and a Stormtrooper I might though, and Poe because I'd be fine having another figure of him I guess.
Rogue One, I'd rebuy all of it happily. I liked the movie more, I like the era more, and to me that's like OT figures really. I'd love to see all the Rogues get the TVC treatment with (obviously) better figures for the mains including Krennic. I'd just love to see RO figures galore really in that line. Would love the Stormtrooper with the new pack, the tankers, AT-ACT Drivers, Shoretroopers of all variety... And I'll gladly buy Cassian, Jyn, and more Death Troopers for the card.
I'd love some sensible repacks too though. I think the Hoth Trooper is a good choice, and I think the Echo Trooper would be an even better one. But I mean it's inevitable they'll slip a Vader in there, maybe TVC Han will make a comeback... I want all new figures too, but I'm not banking on the line having more of those than repacks. Maybe. They pull it off now with TBS at Wal-Mart, so maybe after a year they'll get to more new. But yeah, this is how it is. This is how it's been, really.
I'm just glad things I prefer are going to be out again in some form, at more than one store.
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I'll probably end up buying the repacks just because i think figures on vintage cards look so awesome anyway. What's frustrating to me as a collector though is the expectation that we should buy anything just to support the line. If they really wanted this to succeed, why not charge a buck more and throw a collectible POTF coin in the package? They'd save on figure design and production, but give those of us who are less excited about doubles a stronger incentive to buy them all. It feels to me like the narrative is "We'll give you some of what you want if you'll also buy some things you already have." Followed by a strong dose of "If it doesn't sell, collector's didn't support us enough. If it does sell, we have justification to raise the price."
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I'll probably end up buying the repacks just because i think figures on vintage cards look so awesome anyway.
I definitely will for that very reason.
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I've been thinking this over recently, and going through some photo archives of Vintage Collection figures. And it crossed my mind that we probably could use some strategically thought out reissues from the Vintage Collection, especially since Hasbro will be continuing on with the numbering scheme of the original 2010 - 2012 run. The ones that immediately came to mind include:
TVC 09 - Boba Fett
TVC 41 - Imperial Stormtrooper
TVC 50 - Han Solo (Bespin)
TVC 68 - Rebel Soldier (Echo Base Battle Gear)
TVC 93 - Darth Vader (ANH - also functions as a ROGUE ONE Vader - no need to reinvent the wheel here. And put it on a ROGUE ONE card)
TVC 98 - Grand Moff Tarkin
And then some running changes...
VOTC Han Solo
VTSC Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues - with new face portrait)
TVC 52 - Rebel Fleet Trooper (alternate face portrait and on a ROGUE ONE card)
TVC 94 - Imperial Navy Trooper (alternate face portrait and grey/olive uniform)
I would be on board with most of these reissues. Some are characters that just continue to sell. And others can be easily repurposed to current/recent entertainment.
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Along those lines, one figure that needs to happen this time is the Jawa. They can use one of the figures from the last two pack.
I think we're getting new versions of both Vader and the Stormtrooper, from RO, so they may use new numbering. Tarkin and the RFT on RO cards would be fun, though they may try and give new versions of both too, considering they have digital sculpts of the six inch forthcoming. A RO TIE Pilot comes to mind. The bounty hunters.
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Thoughts on all the repacks coming in the Vintage figure waves?
I get it that Hasbro is trying to milk it for cash, but I'm worried this is going to be a colossal peg warming failure.
- $13 a figure puts these $3 higher than the Galaxy of Heroes line, so not as kid friendly
- 13 POA seems oriented towards collectors, but nearly all repacks is not oriented towards collectors
It seems like a very muddled strategy that is the worst of both worlds. Either go all new or at least kitbashed and keep it expensive, or go 5POA or a lower price point and appeal to the masses with popular hero figures.
I think the only way to find the truly new figures is going to be by ordering them online.
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I think these will probably sell ok. Nick mentioned in another thread that the Maul, Obi-Wan and Anakin are tied to the new season of Clone Wars on Disney+...I've never seen the non-animated CW versions of Obi-Wan and Anakin in a store, so I would be tempted to pick them up. Maul usually sells well, he's the PT Boba Fett.
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We really need some of the Jabba goons re-released for the barge. Would love to pick up an additional Weequey, Woof and Nikto, but the secondary market prices are outrageous.
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I'm all for repacks. Means I won't feel bad about not really collecting anymore. :P
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Thoughts on all the repacks coming in the Vintage figure waves?
I get it that Hasbro is trying to milk it for cash, but I'm worried this is going to be a colossal peg warming failure.
- $13 a figure puts these $3 higher than the Galaxy of Heroes line, so not as kid friendly
- 13 POA seems oriented towards collectors, but nearly all repacks is not oriented towards collectors
It seems like a very muddled strategy that is the worst of both worlds. Either go all new or at least kitbashed and keep it expensive, or go 5POA or a lower price point and appeal to the masses with popular hero figures.
I think the only way to find the truly new figures is going to be by ordering them online.
It seems to be working so far... I think we're underestimating the number of younger collectors who don't want to pay $40-$60 for an aftermarket figure on a Vintage card back. Then you've got suckers like me who collect variants and are buying them again.
Also, it's about to be $13.99, not $12.99.
I think they'll still sell, and if they don't, Hasbro's costs are so much lower only doing new head sculpts that it doesn't take as much for them to do okay on them.
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One thing to consider is if these will even make it to stores. By the time they are released, Targets will still have Jyn and Snoke figures along with X-Wing Luke and Poe all over the pegs. Walmart will likely stop ordering. All just like this past spring and the last year or so.
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If these do indeed come with photo real faces, I’m definitely in for Han and Luke... and maybe multiples of them. Those are my favorite versions of those characters, and to me the new face painting stuff is a game changer. Overall, I don’t mind the repacks to some extent. I recognize it is just necessary for our 3 3/4” figures to keep coming. Not sure if these will be a “shared” (online) exclusive like the Leia/Vader/Han wave...if so it shouldn’t be a problem. If it is a retail thing it is tough to know. Might be better to spread the repacks out throughout waves, but I guess if it isn’t over shipped it should sell through.
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There is a lot of diversity in Star Wars collecting these days, and there is still a portion of the collector base that is extremely loyal to the 4 inch line. I think it will be okay regardless. Most orders will likely come from Amazon or Hasbro Pulse. The biggest issue will be finding mint cards and keeping track of exclusives.
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Does anyone think that there's any possibility that photo-real heads could be added to the Bespin Luke, Bespin Han and General Lando before their release? It seems so odd that these weren't announced with the revision.
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I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I read a report that these waves would be offered online only, so there is no possibility of them clogging brick-and-mortar retail. I'm okay with that quite honestly. I'll order a case of each wave from an online retailer, just like I did with the previous wave and the wave that included Boba Fett just to have the variants in my TVC collection, so yeah, I guess some might view me as a bit of a "sucker" in that regard. But my hope is that the photo-real detail will be applied to all of the "human" character faces and I have my fingers crossed that the C-3PO will be on a Star Wars cardback as an added bonus.
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Does anyone think that there's any possibility that photo-real heads could be added to the Bespin Luke, Bespin Han and General Lando before their release? It seems so odd that these weren't announced with the revision.
As stated in the thread for that wave (https://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=25052.msg617168#msg617168), all human figures are supposed to have new photo-real heads but the pictures provided by Hasbro are just the old versions. That was all they had available (in other words, photo-real heads are not ready to show off yet). They did add the usual "subject to change" CYA note though.
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Jeff, do you really expect people to read every word in every thread? :P
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Does anyone think that there's any possibility that photo-real heads could be added to the Bespin Luke, Bespin Han and General Lando before their release? It seems so odd that these weren't announced with the revision.
As stated in the thread for that wave (https://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=25052.msg617168#msg617168), all human figures are supposed to have new photo-real heads but the pictures provided by Hasbro are just the old versions. That was all they had available (in other words, photo-real heads are not ready to show off yet). They did add the usual "subject to change" CYA note though.
Missed that! Thanks for bringing that to my attention. :)
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I've been thinking this over recently, and going through some photo archives of Vintage Collection figures. And it crossed my mind that we probably could use some strategically thought out reissues from the Vintage Collection, especially since Hasbro will be continuing on with the numbering scheme of the original 2010 - 2012 run. The ones that immediately came to mind include:
TVC 09 - Boba Fett
TVC 41 - Imperial Stormtrooper
TVC 50 - Han Solo (Bespin)
TVC 68 - Rebel Soldier (Echo Base Battle Gear)
TVC 93 - Darth Vader (ANH - also functions as a ROGUE ONE Vader - no need to reinvent the wheel here. And put it on a ROGUE ONE card)
TVC 98 - Grand Moff Tarkin
And then some running changes...
VOTC Han Solo
VTSC Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues - with new face portrait)
TVC 52 - Rebel Fleet Trooper (alternate face portrait and on a ROGUE ONE card)
TVC 94 - Imperial Navy Trooper (alternate face portrait and grey/olive uniform)
I would be on board with most of these reissues. Some are characters that just continue to sell. And others can be easily repurposed to current/recent entertainment.
It's interesting to look back at this and some of the figures I cited for reissues were on the mark. Plus it looks like Hasbro upped the ante with some of these:
TVC 09 - Boba Fett - Now with improved facial printing
TVC 41 - Imperial Stormtrooper - IMPROVED with the Rogue One Stormtrooper sculpt
TVC 50 - Han Solo (Bespin) - On the way with improved facial printing
TVC 93 - Darth Vader - Done with the earlier removable helmet release and improved facial printing
VTSC Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues) - The TVC version is on the way with improved facial printing
The new facial printing tech is definitely a game changer for some of these figures. I can't wait to see the improvements. As for the Clone Wars characters? The Obi-Wan Kenobi figure looked pretty good already, but I think that Anakin Skywalker can really benefit from the improvements.
The phase 1 Clone Trooper SEEMS like a natural choice for a re-release. But with the final season of Clone Wars focusing on the end of the Clone War, why re-release a "shiny" and not one of the phase II Clones? Or even one of the 501st Clone Troopers, since that unit was with Anakin Skywalker? These are just a couple of the figures from TVC that could benefit from re-releases.
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It's interesting to look back at this and some of the figures I cited for reissues were on the mark. Plus it looks like Hasbro upped the ante with some of these:
TVC 09 - Boba Fett - Now with improved facial printing
TVC 41 - Imperial Stormtrooper - IMPROVED with the Rogue One Stormtrooper sculpt
TVC 50 - Han Solo (Bespin) - On the way with improved facial printing
TVC 93 - Darth Vader - Done with the earlier removable helmet release and improved facial printing
VTSC Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues) - The TVC version is on the way with improved facial printing
The new facial printing tech is definitely a game changer for some of these figures. I can't wait to see the improvements.
Wait. Is this a thing? As in, we're getting another re-release of VC 09 Boba and VC 41 Stormtrooper?
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It's interesting to look back at this and some of the figures I cited for reissues were on the mark. Plus it looks like Hasbro upped the ante with some of these:
TVC 09 - Boba Fett - Now with improved facial printing
TVC 41 - Imperial Stormtrooper - IMPROVED with the Rogue One Stormtrooper sculpt
TVC 50 - Han Solo (Bespin) - On the way with improved facial printing
TVC 93 - Darth Vader - Done with the earlier removable helmet release and improved facial printing
VTSC Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues) - The TVC version is on the way with improved facial printing
The new facial printing tech is definitely a game changer for some of these figures. I can't wait to see the improvements.
Wait. Is this a thing? As in, we're getting another re-release of VC 09 Boba and VC 41 Stormtrooper?
It was speculation on my part.
I think that Hasbro upped their Stormtrooper game with the Rogue One Stormtrooper. No need to reissue VC41. And the VC09 Boba Fett reissue has been confirmed for a while.
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Boba has been out for some time now
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I believe the correct terminology is Boba Fett has been available online for quite some time
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I believe the correct terminology is Boba Fett has been available online for quite some time
Well said. :D
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I was just pontificating on these waves with the current state of the Vintage Collection. Although I will certainly pick up the updated versions of these, and I don't necessarily think that these are bad choices, I'm now scared that these are going to severely hurt the line. I'm hungry for new figures. I'll buy them. But, I'm just one collector. If these 2 waves end up sitting in warehouses, I can't just can see much more becoming available after that.
I dunno. Hope Toyfair offers some hope.