30AC Sith Infiltrator

[Nicklab]

The ludicrous thing that this thread screams out to me is that nobody is investigating WHY Hasbro felt the need to scale the Sith Infiltrator down.  And it all boils down to WalMart.  WalMart remains Hasbro's biggest account, is the US's largest retail outlet for toy sales, and as a result holds great sway over what Hasbro can and cannot sell.  If WalMart does not want a $39.99 Sith Infiltrator in their stores in a non-movie year, then Hasbro has to fall in line.  In fact WalMart holds that kind of influence with a number of manufacturers who want their products in WalMart stores.

So is there outrage over that part of the equation?  Not really.  Because people don't want to look that deeply into the issue.  Personally it makes me want to avoid WalMart stores at all costs.  And for the most part I do except for when they have an exclusive.  I'd rather shop at Toys R Us and Target stores.

Now did Hasbro miss the boat on the Sith Infiltrator?  Yes.  They had their window of opportunity and let it pass them by.  They should have produced this in 1999 when Star Wars was DOMINATING toy sections.  In 1999 they could have made the Sith Infiltrator in a scale that might be more appropriate, but probably would have been somewhat scaled down in order to sell at a $39.99 price point.  WalMart would have carried it at that time.  But like I said, that time has passed and I'm sure there are a number of people at Hasbro who wish they could do the EPISODE I line all over again.

[CHEWIE]

Yeah, 1999 or 2000 would have been the ideal year to make this, at least then it probably would have been made larger.  I'll still get this, and realize very, very out of scale and a little silly looking compared to a figure standing next to it.  I'd rather it be out of scale that not made at all though.

Personally though I'm actually wanting to customize it.   

 

[MetalJedi]

Now it's time to play psychiatrist.  I think Matt, MetalJedi and Anton basically telling me to relax here actually equates to them saying "I agree, but I'm so disappointed in this ship too that I can't stand to be reminded anymore."  I know you guys hate to agree with me, but sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet blaster bolt.

 

Actually, when I saw the pics I wasn't disappointed because Hasbro loves to give us underscaled vehicles. I'm used to it. Should I be? Probably not, but complaining to Hasbro isn't going to make them change it.

[CHEWIE]

No they're not going to change this ship and probably will never make a larger version, but showing unrest might help influence them to not try and make the next ship that undersized.  Of course the real factor to them comes down to dollars in their pocket, but I hope the next time they make a new sculpt of a decent sized vehicle, it's more to scale than this.  I think more people would have preferred this being more of a $40.00-$50.00 range toy closer to the size of the X-Wing.  I would think that TRU would have wanted to carry it, but that would probably push the price up another 10% or so.  But heck I would have paid it.

 

[Jesse James]

I'm a firm believer in complaining about anything you want change in MetalJedi...  Seriously, don't doubt the persuasive power of repetitive citing of flaws.  Hasbro surprises you once in a while, and scale vehicles are in their grasp, I'm certain of that...

Now me personally, I don't think the Sith Infiltrator was really "possible" to-scale...  Larger than this, it most certainly is.  I think $30 to $40 pricepoint was doable for this ship.  A problem with the SI though is it's repaintability...  It's less than a fighter I think.  It's a tougher sell to slap a new deco on this and try to EU-it to collectors...  Jedi Fighters, that is easy.  And really Hasbro could do it with any Rebel Fighter too...  Just look at the Titanium 3" ships if you want to see the various routes they COULD go...  Green Squad A-Wings are another fine example.

The Infiltrator...  Not so much.

So to me I didn't expect a larger vehicle, I wouldn't "accept" something underscale even if it's 80% to the actual scale it should be, and Hasbro just wouldn't have an easy time repainting this to max out their investment.  So I understand why they did what they did...  to an extent at least.  I personally would've aimed for $30 and had it rest as a centerpiece to this year's vehicle line-up, but that's me and my business model, not theirs.  And it'd still be incredibly underscaled.

Hasbro's completely capable of making things to actual scale though.  Of that I have zero doubt.  I just think some vehicles are out of that grasp and the Infiltrator falls into that category (though not by much...  An AT-AT, or Sandcrawler, are way out of the running, the Infiltrator is just out of it by a margin).

In my ideal Star Wars Collecting World, Hasbro would make all vehicles to-scale and would skip anything that was prohibitively large like this.  I'd rather do without the SI honestly, and see the money put into something else that's done right...  An X-Wing would be my ideal first choice in a premium ship/vehicle line...  Then the Y-Wing.  Then the AT-ST...  B-Wing...  Cloud Car...  Slave-1...  N1 Starfighter (needs work, but it's scale is already decent)...  Snowspeeder...  etc.  And repaints of them mixed in for exclusives and such.  Different fighter squadrons, Slave 1 with Dancing Twi-Lek Girl "nose art", other EU paint schemes, etc. 

But that's just me.  I'd rather not have any Sith Infiltrator than have one like they are doing, but I'm thinking of it from the perspective of where the money for it could have gone and been better spent elsewhere.  Or at least as I perceive it to be "better spent".  Some people love the SI regardless and obviously the money was spent right where they think it should've been.

Now the V-Wing...  I'm in for a number of those as I'm 90% sure it's to-scale.  This year's been saved for me.

[MetalJedi]

I'm a firm believer in complaining about anything you want change in MetalJedi...  Seriously, don't doubt the persuasive power of repetitive citing of flaws.  Hasbro surprises you once in a while, and scale vehicles are in their grasp, I'm certain of that...

I understand that, but it took them forever to give us a scale X-Wing and a Tie Fighter with correct wings, ships that are both in 3 of the 6 movies. I never expected them to make a scale SI. Granted complaining does effect some changes in the figure line, but I don't remember them doing much with the vehicle line. I know they are capable of giving us scale vehicles but I'm sure they'd rather just throw something together and give us "something" instead of nothing.

I'm with the ones who say they missed the boat when TPM was out. Why wait almost 10 years to give us something that could of been to scale and *gasp* an exclusive and released when TPM merch was everywhere instead of jammed into the mid size vehicle line later on in the line especially in a non movie year.

[Dressel Rebel]

I'm a firm believer in complaining about anything you want change in MetalJedi...  Seriously, don't doubt the persuasive power of repetitive citing of flaws.  Hasbro surprises you once in a while, and scale vehicles are in their grasp, I'm certain of that...

I understand that, but it took them forever to give us a scale X-Wing and a Tie Fighter with correct wings, ships that are both in 3 of the 6 movies. I never expected them to make a scale SI. Granted complaining does effect some changes in the figure line, but I don't remember them doing much with the vehicle line.

Plus we have this thread here to talk about the Infiltrator, what do you want to do, praise this piece of garbage?

[MetalJedi]

Plus we have this thread here to talk about the Infiltrator, what do you want to do, praise this piece of garbage?

Naw, I'll leave that up to you since that's all you've been doing lately.

[Paul]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuMjqPSM2Qk

Here is Hasbro on video demonstrating the Sith Infiltrator......

Oh and quess who that is in the background taking Photos?  (Hint:it is not me or Rob, but it is a Forum member and one of the first people I met in NYC)

[JesseVader08]

A forum member?  You've got me stumped Paul. 

[ruiner]

Cory Chaos?

[MetalJedi]

Anyone find this or the V-Wing as of late?

[Darth_Anton]

No. It seems that everyone's getting the previous assortment.

[Artoo]

Nope, WM dosen't even have room for ships. The SW part is squished together next to that "Naruto". It used to be pretty big until SM3.

[Nathan]

Is it absurdly underscaled? Of course.

Do I think making it any larger is really practical in the current retail environment? No. Frankly, as it is, I think this will sit.

Do I still like it, as a toy? Definitely.

Am I going to buy it? No, but only because it's too low on the priority list. I would do so if I had unlimited money/space.