JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => Past Hasbro 3.75" Lines => The Legacy Collection => Topic started by: speedermike on March 22, 2009, 11:14 PM
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I recently saw the new 3 3/4 Marvel and Wolverine figures in the store, and noticed that the card backs are smaller than the SW cards. Do you think that with today's economic troubles, and the awareness of ecological concerns, that the SW cards should get smaller? I know that I would personally like a smaller package, as I am disgusted by the amount of trash each figure now generates. And, honestly, what's more important that economy and the planet, or cards being too small for your star case?
BTW, the Marvel stuff (figures and packaging) look great.
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No doubt the packaging is bloated and on many many products is bigger than it needs to be functionally. Unfortunately, companies want to print exciting images and large logos on their packaging to catch consumer's eyes in the aisle. So, unless cardboard becomes really, really expensive I doubt you'll see smaller cardbacks.
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I'd prefer much smaller cards for sure.
I think if carded collectors would give this a thought, they would too. Easier to fit in storage bins, can fit more, etc. Even though I'm not a carded collector myself, I like the idea of less trash.
What gets me is the something Rob pointed to. Shouldn't the product itself be the selling point? It's not like we can't see these figures on the card anyway. However, the new design on the squarish white/red card is rather bland, so you do get to see the figure more. I still think the bubble should be a lot smaller, though I understand does it this way as a theft deterent as well.
Anything though that can leave a smaller imprint on the environment is better for the most part.
I just so happen to clean out my garage this weekend and tossed a lot of crap away I had been keeping for years for what I thought were good reasons and would eventually use. I came to the understanding that I don't need to keep all the packaging anymore. We're talking years of SW boxes, cardbacks, etc. I bet the neighbors thought I was throwing away a whole toy store...lol.
Anyway, yes, smaller size card AND bubble.
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For storage and environment reasons I wouldn't mind the SW cards being smaller, but I think the Marvel stuff is too small. It just doesn't look right to me. I'm not exactly sure why. But its not pleasing to the (my) eye when its that small.
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I'm a fan of smaller cards/bubbles as well on action figures. I noticed the same thing when picking up the Marvel Universe figures, and I sort of liked the size of that cardback. It seems like there is entirely too much plastic "junk" involved with action figures these days, but I'm sure there are various reasons (packaging/shipping) for it that I'm not as familiar with. I'd be fine if Star Wars figures came packaged in a way similar to their vintage days (and also like the current Joe line). I don't get too worked up about packaging either way I guess, but I'd be fine with less of it overall. I'm not a carded collector for the most part, so I toss the bubbles/etc. anyways (often keep the cardbacks though, depending on the line) - but I could see these newer lines (ROTS in particular, with the rounded bubble) being a pain to store.
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Packaging sells the toy IMO - especially since there's tons of video games and other electronic gadgets out there that the kiddos are more interested in. I'm sure we would all be fine with less packaging to deal with, but perhaps Hasbro is testing the waters with the new Marvel stuff?
I think the main reason I'm holding onto the new comic packs is the art displayed with the package. Other than that - I'd probably ditch this line in a heartbeat especially since I have no interest in most of the characters/figures.
- carded collector
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Just my two pence, but I didn't even think those Marvel figures were as big as Star Wars figs... I guess since the card was smaller, my mind's eye saw them as proportionally smaller... Of course, I never put them side by side, only saw them about 40 feet apart at the local super wally.
As for my preference, I'd prefer less packaging. I have a closet more or less full of carded/boxed items, and I've been working on opening them all, so I can move somethings around and finish a room to display all my stuff (listen it makes sense in my head...). And I'm shocked by the volume of packing I've been throwing out. I've done my best to minimize the volume that goes in the can, by separating all the card backs, and stacking all the bubbles, etc, but still its a lot of stuff.
Don't know about you guys, but I'd be ok with Hasbro having more generic bubbles. Basically don't have each figure in their unique pose, but more a container to hold them generically, and only special packaging for odd shaped characters (R2, etc.). I know that doesn't work from a marketing perspective, but I don't care about that stuff personally, because I already know what figures I want before I shop. Guess that harkens back to the Vintage line for some of you, that's just before my time as I was born between ESB and ROTJ....
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I can't say I'm really a fan of the idea of smaller bubbles/cards for one main reason:
Larger bubbles = more room for ESB trench guns, a Kybuck, 1/2 a Drum, Cantina tables, Torture Rack, etc.
The Marvel stuff has smaller cards/bubbles and still costs $8. It's not like the smaller package is making the thing any cheaper. At least with the larger bubbles on the sw stuff, we get the option of occasionally getting some "value-added" stuff as accessories to help off-set the $8 price.
With all the "Hasbro is ripping us off" and "these things cost too much" talk, it's sort of funny to see people asking for LESS for their money. :P
If the choice is $8 for a smaller card/bubble like the Marvel Line has (which has NO room for a BAD piece or the occasional big accessories) or the current "big bubble" look of Star Wars, I'll stick with what we have now, thanks. ;)
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All I can say to Jeff is, that was put very well!!!!
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I echo what Jeff said.
The current price, to me, justifies the bigger bubble and thus often a larger accessory. The Cantina Table, Obi's table, the hoth gun... All good points. And on Legends figures the lockers with guns, and of course the BAD parts which are the ONLY thing that (when you complete a droid) makes the price of figures today a little easier to stomach for many.
The card and bubble are ultimately very inexpensive cogs in the overall wheel... I'll take the large bubble that allows for the big stuff then, rather than smaller bubbles that won't get us anything cheaper ultimately.
I do think figures are overpriced, and I think things like battlepacks going up by $5 (despite going down to 4 figures/pieces) is ridiculous really, especially when doing a comparison across the board... And the excuses for why things go up varies from week to week too, and is a blame game. However, we are getting some quality stuff in those oversized bubbles, and that (as Martha says), is a good thing.
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Sounds like those who were hoping to see smaller cardbacks in the Star Wars lines are going to get your wish...
"The new card is actually 5.5" x 8.25", reduced slightly from the current 6"x9" card size to conform to retail planogram modular sizing (actually the same size as all of Hasbro's new basic figures). (http://yodasnews.com/)"
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Woohoo! Less trash!
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Like I said before, smaller bubbles = less room for cool pack-ins... :(
From the Q&A at Han's Hideout (http://hanshideout.blogspot.com/2009/05/hasbro-star-wars-q-session-11.html):
** The smaller card size will limit the pack-ins we can fit in, but the reality is that costs have forces us to scale back on the number of larger-scale offering we can include. We still hope to sneak the occasional one in when we can and feel it's imperative to round out the figure.
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Prices up, coolness down... The line's nto doing well, and yet they wonder why? Or maybe they don't and fully expected to see it take a downturn, I dunno. I just know that there's been a lot of big negatives to the line in the last 2 years or mabye three... Weaker accessory pack-ins, figures that you used to get in 2-packs now are singles... The line's really jumped in cost/perceived value I think, and that's a big negative for the future.
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I saw the new cards for the first time in person today and they look pretty good.
Definitely nicer for people who collect carded figures and you are displaying them on the wall.
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I saw the new packaging as well, and I can definitely see how they modeled it after the Marvel Universe line. Small bubbles (about as tall as the figure) and big enough for a figure to be put in a neutral stance with a few accessories (weapons) tightly packed in. Looks a lot better and "cleaner" but I wish there was a way to better differentiate the TLC figs from the Clone Wars figs.
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I wish there was a way to better differentiate the TLC figs from the Clone Wars figs.
Aren't they going to be different colors? There's Red for CW, Black for Legacy, and Orange for Legends.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3592/3319399935_567da27d60.jpg)
click here if image doesn't work (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanshideout/sets/72157614622607848/)
If they stick with that, it should be easier to just scan the top of the cards to see what's on the pegs...
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Good, I'm not crazy. I've seen the Legends figures on the self and wanted to refer to them as orange cards as opposed to red a many were calling them.
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Saw the SL figures today... I dig the new look, and it's awesome to see such great artwork once again.
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Aren't they going to be different colors? There's Red for CW, Black for Legacy, and Orange for Legends.
Well, I picked up the first twelve Saga Legends figures today and I would consider the color on them more of a "rust" color, but "orange" is also close enough.
If they stick with that, it should be easier to just scan the top of the cards to see what's on the pegs...
You would think that, and perhaps it was due to how closely the pegs were, but I had a very had time trying to find the figure I was looking for as I browsed what was on the pegs looking for a MOMC specimen for each of the 12 figures. I had to tilt the entire peg towards my left side so that I could see down the right-side and look at the pictures of the characters in order to see if the character I needed was on that peg.
Also the hook is a tad small so removing a figure at the back of the peg was a bit difficult and it felt like I was going to bend the J-hook as I removed the figure from the peg.
I do think the packaging looks nice, but if you're a MOMC collector, you're in for a really difficult time with these cards.
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Good, I'm not crazy. I've seen the Legends figures on the self and wanted to refer to them as orange cards as opposed to red a many were calling them.
I think when people were referring to them as "red cards" it was said in reference the Star Wars logo itself an not the color coding of the bubble inserts.
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This may be a stupid question, but once the line switches over to this look - is it still known as "Legacy Collection"? I know sometimes the line gets re-named with a different look.
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Yes, they're still dubbed "Legacy Collection" although they did drop the "The" off the new cards. (http://www.yakface.com/2009/june/SLsizes3.html)
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If they stick with that, it should be easier to just scan the top of the cards to see what's on the pegs...
You would think that, and perhaps it was due to how closely the pegs were, but I had a very had time trying to find the figure I was looking for as I browsed what was on the pegs
I thought quite the opposite Pete. Very easy trying to find the figures IMO especially with the large character pics compared to blah of Legacy/Legends. Not really a fan of the new card size (even though we're likely never to get nice accessories or two packs again)
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I thought quite the opposite Pete. Very easy trying to find the figures IMO especially with the large character pics compared to blah of Legacy/Legends. Not really a fan of the new card size (even though we're likely never to get nice accessories or two packs again)
Perhaps it was limited just to my situation - the store where I found them had packed the peg hooks very close together so you couldn't really tilt a figure to one side or the other to see what figure was behind it.