Willrow Hood

[CHEWIE]

You know, it's not fair one bit to really call Ellors Madak a pegwarmer.  That whole WAVE pegwarmed and was easily the highly produced wave in POTJ - at least in my area.  TRU literally had 25 each of Ellors, Ketwol, Sabe and the Bespin Guard at one time and all four could still be found last year at two differnet TRU stores in my area.  It was the overproduction, not the character/figure itself.

 

[Scott]

But  hey...it's just a figure. Don't take it so personally.

-DD

And those characters had speaking parts and were actually important to the films...not just some douche who looks like a janitor running through the background.

 Hypocricy at its finest 

[CHEWIE]

Scott, I just don't think this figure will be made... of course I could be wrong.  Of course I'd buy it, but I want it for custom fodder.   

I'm going to go ahead and make a custom of him though pretty soon.  Hell, why not. 

 

[Darth Delicious]

 Hypocricy at its finest 

The public education system at it's finest. 

Not only did you butcher the spelling, you didn't even get the meaning right. How is referring to a fictional character with a derogatory descriptor taking things personally, exactly?

The shot I took at you? You can consider that personal. 

Sorry to seem as if I'm taking a piss on your dream, but hey...I just happen to think it's lame.  Obviously not everyone agrees...you've got a lot of support for your idea, so enjoy that.

Chewie: You make a good point about the POTJ wave in general...I concede the point on that. The Montebello TRU outside of LA still had a shelf full of Sabe, Ellors, and Ketwol last time I was there...at full price no less.

I just foresee a bunch of unsold ICMG's on the shelf, and then everyone crying that their local store isn't restocking.

Still a fan and still having fun,

-DD

[Scott]

My point is that in the end it is just a figure (as you point out) Don't come in to this thread and bitch and complain about all of the people here and everywhere else that are voting for him

You are the one who seems to be taking it personal that people are supporting one of the most influential and most requested figures of all time, sorry that we have your undies in a ringer

[Matt]

Still a fan and still having fun

How do you have fun without a sense of humor?

 

[CHEWIE]

Ok, come on - there's no reason for anyone to get mad at anyone here.  Some of us are voting for ICMG, some aren't.  This isn't politics.

And oh yeah, I voted for George W. Bush twice. 

 

[Matt]

And oh yeah, I voted for George W. Bush twice.

Fool me once. . .  shame on, shame on you.  Fool me--can't get fooled again.

Some of us are voting for ICMG, some aren't.  This isn't politics.

It's not that people aren't voting for ICMG.  That's fine.  People can certainly vote for whoever they want.  But it's the outright rage and anger toward ICMG that I have a problem with.  No, I take that back--I don't have a problem with it, I just think it's silly.  This hobby requires a little sense of humor (how many Cantina Hans have you bought?) and these people that are so vocal with their anger in ICMG even making the list--they appear to have little-to-no sense of humor at all.  And some are even to the point of saying that they'll quit the hobby if he winds up getting made.  I seriously hope they do.  They're humorless pricks, and this hobby doesn't need them.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play KOTOR for the 37th time.

 

[Morgbug]

And those characters had speaking parts and were actually important to the films...not just some douche who looks like a janitor running through the background.

Here, I'll explain it to you:
If I modify your quote to be less specific:

And those characters had speaking parts and were actually important to the films...

That applies to a whole whack of figures we've had made, be they ICMG, Momaw Nadon, Ketwol, Muftak, Yarna D'al Gargan, BoShek or anyone else like that.  These characters all had no speaking.  They're visually interesting?  You think that's all it takes for a figure is to make it visually interesting?  BoShek?  Oh yeah, he's got visual interest all over him.  Whoo, he's got a helmet and a gun and a flight suit   Wow, I think I'm wet just thinking about him. 

You know, you seem like the kind of buyer that thinks just like Hasbro wants them to think.  How many kids/casual fans have a hot clue who Ketwol or many of the other aliens are that have 3.45172 seconds of actual screen time (and that's being generous)?  Visually interesting doesn't mean diddly squat to kids, they want Luke and Vader and Obi-Wan and Darth Maul.  They sure as hell aren't buying up the Padme figures. 

Your statement can be easily applied to the vast majority of the characters from these films.  Aside from massive geeks like ourselves, no one buys this ****, don't kid yourself.  I've no idea where you work, but most of the people at work just chuckle at the notion that I still buy toys.  I guess if you're working the blue light special at Kmart or some such thing, then sure, it's not a huge surprise.  But the average adult has no idea why any of us are this nutty.  But we're not talking about that arena. 

As for visually interesting, well, I'm not quite sure how anyone with the name Solo attached on the end is overly visually interesting, so why not Willrow?  If all we're after is pure visual interest, I'd suggest we'd be better off dumping a goodly 50% of the line right away, because a fair bit of it sucks. 

As for taking it personally, don't flatter yourself.  It's a discussion board, or do I need your permission to address you?

[Ithorian Clergy]

Pack him at one per case and even at 2 per case he'll sit no more than Derlin and Veers are now

This remains to be seen.  I think Veers and Derlin are going to look like the objects of a scalper's affection compared to ICMG.  

[Morgbug]

Rieekan then.  Tell me again why we needed him repacked?  My TRU has the deluxe Rieekan sitting on the pegs still cheaper than the new version and neither is moving.  Only folks buying him around here are the carded completeist psychos.

[Darth Delicious]

Wow Morgbug...that last line especially makes no sense. 

 I actually work for a comic company, so buying toys isn't all that out of the ordinary in my professional circles. And as I know a lot of people who buy and sell collections, I'm pretty secure in the knowledge that kids love strange aliens, Jedi, and especially wierd alien Jedi. As for the Solo kids, at least as Jedi, they'd have a chance of appealing to the population at large, and therefore sell more than "random human holding a port-a-potty."

As for thinking how Hasbro wants me to think, you don't know a damn thing about me. I just think that Willrow is a bad idea from a sales standpoint, and that is ultimately what matters to Hasbro. Assuming ICMG did win (which again, I don't think he will, and even if he does, I don't think he'll be produced, at least not in a regular assortment) but assuming he did, I can imagine Hasbro chalking it up to another reason not to listen to the fans. We want new ships, their philosophy is "ships don't sell." People want more Padme, their philosophy is "Padme doesn't sell." You get a ton of Willrow's sitting around and eventually they say, "Wow, fan figures don't sell." Voila, no more fan figures. And it seems once Hasbro makes it's mind up on something, it's set in stone. Just an opinion, but I guess that's not allowed.

And by the way...none of that stems from rage or anger as you seem to think it does. I don't have any animosity toward anyone who wants to vote for Willrow. Hell, except for Chewie, Jesse James and a few others on here, I don't even know you people and therefore could hardly care less in the grand scheme of things. And it certainly doesn't matter what Bill Cosby thinks about my sense of humor or lack of one.  All the anger, rage and name calling started with some of the Willrow boosters...Cosby even went so far as to call me a humorless prick. Over an action figure...AN ACTION FIGURE! Talk about humorless! The only person I even remotely insulted (until Scott tried to be clever, and even then it was tongue in cheek) was Willrow as a character. I didn't realize I was committing a mortal sin. You'd think I just drew cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. But as even you pointed out, I thought this was a DISCUSSION board, I thought it would be okay to express how underwhelming a choice I consider ol' Willrow. I guess I was wrong.

You want to vote for Willrow, hey, that's your thing. I'm sorry that dissenting opinion on your holy grail is not allowed. I think I'll move on to a thread where the cultists are a little less zealous.

-DD

[Jesse James]

I'd like to see this thread calm down on all levels please.  I'd say that, if you don't like a figure choice then going into a thread for it is a bad idea...

That's part of the problem I'm seeing at that "otheR Site", in that people are going into the campaign headquarters for the various figures and just fighting, so basically I'd say we should drop it really...  This is for Hood, and the reason for it being sticky has been explained...

I think things have stayed fairly calm though, so I do applaud that...  DD, you should come out into this portion more so you got to know the others...  You'd maybe actually have been on the Wilrow bandwagon!  OK, not likely.   But still it's nice seeing you off customs and out here too.  The support for that figure runs deep around here though...  It's sort of part of the culture of JediDefender.com actually.

DD's not in agreement on the ICMG, that's obvious...  It's ok though.  Everyone just has to respect the disagreement and move on if you feel that you can't make an argument any clearer.

I personally think the ICMG has as much sales potential as half the line really.  Hasbro's never said aliens sell well, and actually they're generally focused on collectors when they are made so I think they feel quite the opposite.  And I saw lots of POTJ figures pegwarm, and in lots of abundance...  I feel certain the production numbers on the waves were pretty equal overall, as it's my understanding that a wave getting "shortened" is not a common occurance in the modern line...  Numbers are pretty even.

But like I said, that's my perception of why ICMG will sell like most anything else Hasbro makes.  I don't think they have faith in these polls anyway but treat them like a PR move more than anything.  This one, obviously, is more a hand-in-hand working with Toy Fare than it is a way to appease fans...  Toy Fare gets publicity they'd otherwise never have gotten from SW collectors, that's for sure.

Anyway...  I voted for Katarn first (but I'm so not hopeful to get him at this point), I'm putting in votes for ICMG though too...  It is what I'd like the most out of this. 

I'd buy all 25 figures though in multiples if they made them, but that's me.

[Matt]

And it certainly doesn't matter what Bill Cosby thinks about my sense of humor or lack of one.  All the anger, rage and name calling started with some of the Willrow boosters...Cosby even went so far as to call me a humorless prick. Over an action figure...AN ACTION FIGURE! Talk about humorless!

Oh, Darth Delicious, please don't get me wrong.  When I mentioned anger and rage, I wasn't necessarily referring to you specifically.  It's just kind of a general vibe I've gotten from some of the people across the various online communities out there.  I think there are quite a few people who are genuinely upset that this guy's even nominated.  Hell, one guy at Rebelscum even likened JD to Nazi Germany over this deal.  Can you believe that?!

And you're right:  It's only an action figure!  Why get so upset that it's even nominated in the first place?  They're bent out-of-shape about it, which is silly to begin with, and then I get bent out-of-shape about their being bent-out-of-shape, which is even sillier, and then you're bent out-of-shape about my being bent out-of-shape because they're bent out-of-shape, which is the silliest thing of all.

And as far as senses of humor go, I'd like to think that I've got one.  Not a very good one, as most of the people here can attest, but a sense of humor nonetheless.

[Morgbug]

I actually work for a comic company, so buying toys isn't all that out of the ordinary in my professional circles. And as I know a lot of people who buy and sell collections, I'm pretty secure in the knowledge that kids love strange aliens, Jedi, and especially wierd alien Jedi. As for the Solo kids, at least as Jedi, they'd have a chance of appealing to the population at large, and therefore sell more than "random human holding a port-a-potty."

Cool job, but could it be that your opinions are biased by the work you do?  I've no doubt at all that within the circles you work in there are lots of kids that buy aliens, Jedi and the rest.  That's all fine.  But I think you've been to Hasbro Q&A's yes?  Don't you get the feeling it's not those kids and the big, annoying kids that show up at the Q&A that Hasbro wants to target?  The kids I think you know fit the "collector" aspect of the line, something Hasbro has repeatedly said is not the target market for them.  So I don't think any aspect of this process is really targeted at the "average" consumer. 

As for thinking how Hasbro wants me to think, you don't know a damn thing about me. I just think that Willrow is a bad idea from a sales standpoint, and that is ultimately what matters to Hasbro. Assuming ICMG did win (which again, I don't think he will, and even if he does, I don't think he'll be produced, at least not in a regular assortment) but assuming he did, I can imagine Hasbro chalking it up to another reason not to listen to the fans. We want new ships, their philosophy is "ships don't sell." People want more Padme, their philosophy is "Padme doesn't sell." You get a ton of Willrow's sitting around and eventually they say, "Wow, fan figures don't sell." Voila, no more fan figures. And it seems once Hasbro makes it's mind up on something, it's set in stone. Just an opinion, but I guess that's not allowed.

You're right, I don't know a thing about you.  My only experience with you is your posts here at JD, but then given your relative newb statues over here (not in general), you don't know a thing about me so we're even. 

As far as sales go based on that list, what will sell is one of the following figures:
3. Clone Commander (Galactic Marine pictured)
4. Commander Neyo
7. Darth Maul
11. Hermi Odle
17. Luke Skywalker (ROTJ)
20. Padme Amidala (snowsuit)
23. Quinlan Vos
25. Yarna D'al Gargan

Why?  OT connections, clones, fanboys love Maul, Padme's hot in that outfit.  Even at that, I can't really see too many parents supporting Yarna.  Can you imagine the conversation?
Billy: mommy, I want this figure
Mommy: you want a figure of a fat woman with six breasts?
Billy: please mommy, please, I really want it because it's a cool looking alien with visual appeal
Mommy: no, sorry, I'm going to find the manager and find out why a pornographic figure is being sold in a childrens section

If sales are the only concern for Hasbro and the fans have little say in the matter, make a clone, make a Maul or make a Luke.  Is it fan's choice or mass market appeal?  I ask because I don't spend all my time on star wars.  If guys are happy with EU, so be it, but I don't know most of the characters listed and I think the majority of the "market" is in the same boat - they don't spring for the comics.  If we're talking about this being a SWS.com exclusive or EE.com exclusive, make whatever they want, the fans will find it.  But if it's a sales driven enterprise alone with Walmart/Target/TRU being the primary retailers, making anything outside what I listed above is retail death. 

And speaking of retail death, Duros, Amanaman, Antilles/Dodonna were great sales pieces?  I bought them all on clearance prices.  Ephant Mon sold well, but I suspect because of a combination of price point and cost of production that figure was significantly underproduced. 

And by the way...none of that stems from rage or anger as you seem to think it does. I don't have any animosity toward anyone who wants to vote for Willrow. Hell, except for Chewie, Jesse James and a few others on here, I don't even know you people and therefore could hardly care less in the grand scheme of things. And it certainly doesn't matter what Bill Cosby thinks about my sense of humor or lack of one.  All the anger, rage and name calling started with some of the Willrow boosters...Cosby even went so far as to call me a humorless prick. Over an action figure...AN ACTION FIGURE! Talk about humorless! The only person I even remotely insulted (until Scott tried to be clever, and even then it was tongue in cheek) was Willrow as a character. I didn't realize I was committing a mortal sin. You'd think I just drew cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. But as even you pointed out, I thought this was a DISCUSSION board, I thought it would be okay to express how underwhelming a choice I consider ol' Willrow. I guess I was wrong.

So be it, but my impression of you thus far is that you've rolled in here to do your best impression of Bill Cosby for whatever reasons personally motivate you.  Perhaps that's just the ongoing flaw of interpretation on discussion boards, but it's the vibe I get coming off you - that you have some animosity towards Cosby and JD in general.  If I'm misinterpreting that, you have my apology. 

You want to vote for Willrow, hey, that's your thing. I'm sorry that dissenting opinion on your holy grail is not allowed. I think I'll move on to a thread where the cultists are a little less zealous.

Nope, not a holy grail.  Not cultists, not zealous.  Nice talk though, add that to the douche comment and I'm not really that confused where my opinion of you thus far has come from. 

Look, Willrow is a joke, nothing more.  I agree he probably won't sell well, but I don't think he'd sell any worse than Ellors Madak or Antilles/Dodonna did.  He has at least as much customizing potential as those.  But at the same time I think people are being foolish on multiple fronts: many of those figures, OT, clones, some Jedi and a Padme or two are locks within a very short period of time.  Voting for them is a bigger waste and plays right into Hasbro's hands.  I'd wager the fan's choice figure is already in preproduction.  The whole point of voting for Willrow is to stick it to a company that as you said once Hasbro makes it's mind up on something, it's set in stone.  I don't think ANY of the fan's choice figures have done anything great for Hasbro period.  Why change that?