Legacy Wave 13 - Expanded Universe

[JACKOFTRADZE]

Who the hell knows. They gave a lot of cryptic and confusing answers this week. does that mean that wave got pushed back too? They wonder why collectors are leaving: Droughts, gluts and broken promises.

[Pete_Fett]

Who the hell knows. They gave a lot of cryptic and confusing answers this week. does that mean that wave got pushed back too? They wonder why collectors are leaving: Droughts, gluts and broken promises.

Agreed, it's not like we don't have a slide that says this wave will be on the shelf in mid-December..... 

[Jabba the Slug]

Sad, isn't it? Sometimes Hasbro wonders why they're losing so many sales, but it's also because they're failing the collecting community that's supported them so long.

[Darth Broem]

All of a sudden they are not excited about the EU anymore.  I guess because of the comic sales and the supposedly incredible sales of the Clone Wars stuff?  At least with this wave people actually know who some of these characters are.  Plus they have key names like Solo.  I am not not a big comic book reader but even I have heard of those Solo kids the past 10 years probably.  Those two troopers look like could move pretty well.  K"Kruhk looks like a fun figure just to add to the collection.  I am not to sure how good or bad Shaak Ti will go over.  I mainly want to get the wave so I can get BG-J38 assembled.  Anyway it looks like a decent wave of EU figures. 

[Darth_Anton]

I'm not a fan of the EU, so this doesn't really bother me.

[jedi_master_sal]

I'm not a fan of the EU, so this doesn't really bother me.

I'm not a HUGE fan of EU either. However the figures already announced I've been greatly looking forward to. Especially Delia Blue, Darth Nihl, and Jareal. All were slated to be in comic packs and now may not come out at all. I think that would be a missed/wasted opportunity for Hasbro. Jareal could possibly be used as a base figure for random female Jedi with a repaint and head swap.

Anyway, all I can say is that Hasbro is making it easier and easier for me every day to scale back on this line. I love SW and always will. I love collecting toys, but some of this BS just plain needs to stop. This year just proves how terrible of a job Hasbro has been handling the line. While we're getting some of the best made/sculpted figures ever, it's the timing of them hitting market in some cases, or the all too high pricepoints in other case, or the drought of product in others. Now killing off lines (comic) or sub-lines (EU)? Repacks to save money Hasbro have run their course of much of the stuff you're reissuing. We understand that EU is a niche market. Fine, then only make a few figures per year of that.

But PLEASE, do not show us this stuff in a finished state then pull it away from us. That's not just a tease, that's like a c0ck block. It's a bad business practice. You've even said it before that you don't like to show stuff until you know it's coming out. Well, we're holding you too this. You've shown it to us, so make it get to market. Otherwise, you're showing yourselves to be more full of hot air that the Goodyear blimp. And that's a lot of air to be sure...

Oh and one other thing, don't blame we collectors for the downturn in the line. We've stuck with you in many cases for a decade and a half (well since the line was Kenner in the mid 90's) and I'm not even going back to the vintage days. For some that's an over 30 year loyalty/investment/whatever you want to call it.

We are NOT the problem. So don't insult us by repeatedly saying it in one form or another. You don't think that could be yet another reason why people are dropping the line or scaling way back?

Okay, I'm done. Enough soap box for me today. I shouldn't get a headache from posting at a collecting site. 

[Jabba the Slug]

I'm not a HUGE fan of EU either. However the figures already announced I've been greatly looking forward to. Especially Delia Blue, Darth Nihl, and Jareal. All were slated to be in comic packs and now may not come out at all.

Yep, Hasbro's said that they're planning to cancel the line after the Fall 2009 wave (Tholme, Exar Kun...), which is now slated for 2010)

We can confirm that the Comic Pack, as a mainline SKU, will not continue past Spring 2010 at this point.

We all know Spring 2010 was supposed to bring the Nihl/Deliah wave. However, in another Q/A, they also said this:

The comic packs have really been struggling lately, and right now we will be challenged to get to the 2010 packs that were shown at Comic Con.

So what is Hasbro really going to do? Will the EU Wave 13 be delayed also? Hopefully Hasbro doesn't pull any last-minute stunts here.

[JediJman]

Does anyone know off hand how many of the Fan's Choice figures were EU based?  I don't have the list handy, but it sure seems like demand is strong enough for non-movie figures to continue.

As for the comic packs, I agree with Sal that they have/had some pretty choice EU figures lined up.  If CPs will not continue as a mainline SKU, then how about these possibilities:

 - Convention exclusive (we already know a few others are slated for this, but there are multiple conventions per year)
 - Online Exclusive
 - Recarded as basic figures or multi-packs (not sure if they are already produced in CP packaging - I assume not)

Here's another idea for Hasbro if they are concerned about sales: How about working a buy rate strategy?  In my line of work, we typically break down sales into penetration or buy rate.  Penetration being the number of people who buy and buy rate being the amount purchased per person.  If you have ten people buy one item, that's no different than one person buying ten items, but you often have opportunity to grow with one or the other. 

If Hasbro is concerned about weak CP sales, then how about forcing a higher buy rate per consumer?  They could bundle pack two or three comic pack sets together (maybe a Wal-Mart Exclusive), so anyone that wants these is FORCED to buy a full set of 2 or 3 comic packs.  They may lose some casual buyers, but I bet they would easily make up for it in volume among the remaining buyers.  With many products, 80% of the volume comes from 20% of the "heavier buyers" anyway, and you probably would convert some of those light buyers into buying more than they would have with this strategy.

[Jabba the Slug]

Hmmm... sounds like a good idea, but I don't think Hasbro would do bundle packages, especially since CPs are already at a high price. Bundling them (with 2 CPs) would might as well be 1 BP. I do like the bundle idea, though. 

[JediJman]

Hmmm... sounds like a good idea, but I don't think Hasbro would do bundle packages, especially since CPs are already at a high price. Bundling them (with 2 CPs) would might as well be 1 BP. I do like the bundle idea, though. 

I'd definitely be okay with these in a Battle Pack format as well - just thinking that a "bundle" might be the easiest way to go if they are already set for comic pack packaging.  I don't know enough about their manufacturing process or what the status is on these to know cost implications of moving to some other package format, but I would totally be open to a bundle pack of some kind.  Even the existing comic pack package with a second top bubble for another set of figures would work okay for me. 

[Jabba the Slug]

THE ALIEN BESPIN GUARD *WILL* BE RELEASED!  
Hasbro has confirmed to Galactichunter.com that Utris M'toc will indeed come in the EU Wave 13:

Per Derryl Depriest (the guy in charge) at Hasbro, "Bespin Guard (Utris M’toc) *will* be coming out in the EU wave.".

Good news!

[JediJman]

Yay!  That's one down at least.

[Jabba the Slug]

Yep, glad it's coming. I was getting tired of all the figures Hasbro was axing from the line!  

[Darth_Anton]

Good. It better not mean that the 2nd scanning trooper is going bye-bye then.

[P-Siddy]

Good. It better not mean that the 2nd scanning trooper is going bye-bye then.

Agreed.