Since this is the Comic Packs thread, and I feel that one of the biggest problems with the Comic Pack lines was the Wal-Mart ones - which had a Rebel Pilot set that sat in a lot of areas; I feel there's a link that can be made with Hasbro going cheap by using the same mold too many times in a short time frame.
Hasbro using the same mold to make up costs is part of the reality of collecting today. It's not going to go away. If it's this grossly upsetting ot people, I highly suggest abandoning the hobby, and NEVER buying a repack from them, because it's not going to change.
And like I said, Hasbro's saying Rebel Pilots sell. From their lips to our ears, I've heard this first-hand. They're not doing well in your area, and apparantly anywhere you travel CHEWIE, and I saw clearanced Evo sets too so I didn't miss clearanced pilots in my area, but retailers don't always necessarilly consider clearance automatically equalling "bad sell-through". If they met their goals for the prices they paid, they're happy.
And guess what? Yup, you're going to see more stuff like them if they're at all happy with what they saw.
When product made by a company is less than satisfactory, that's the fault of the company that makes the figures. Is it not? Look back at the exclusives that Wal-Mart carried before, there's almost always some sort of "crap" packed in there too. For example, remember the Anakin/Dooku? That Anakin was a complete waste of plastic.
And this is what I keep trying to drive home, and you keep ignoring CHEWIE. Someone at Wal-Mart, called a Merchandiser, bought that. There may (and probably even was) direct conversations about the product. What you see, is often request, especially in the case of exclusive toys like the Droid Factory packs, or the Comic Packs... Do I think that Anakin sucks? Hell yeah, of course I do. But Hasbro has to meet certain standards the retailer expects. Plus he has to do this at the factory that has the molds he needs to make the assortment. If that Anakin is all they have to meet that criteria, that's what you get. It's cheap, it's there to make the new parts less expensive, and to probably make the sets affordable to Wal-Mart who have demanded they meet a specific price-margin.
It's not like Hasbro can pull out any mold, or whip up all-new figures and meet the margins.
People said, "well look at the Targets Geonosis sets", and yes they're superior I think. But I don't know what those cost Target, or what Target's merchandiser requested on them. Perhaps they were more flexible? Perhaps they have a more knowledgeable buyer?
Hasbro did NOT shove these toys down Wal-Marts throat though. Denying that is just ignoring the truth.
Not that I'm trying to back up Wal-Mart, but if a company believes that they were going to be carrying a product that could come back and become some sort of problem with their image, more power to them. That's how the free market works. And I'm pretty sure that Hasbro can absorb such a small drop in the bucket to maintain the relationship with any of their retail partners.
Acutally, no that's not how the free-market works. Actually it works under contracts that say if you make this for me, I'll pay you. But Wal-Mart seems to have decided that something in the material they agreed to purchase wasnt' acceptable after production began.
You sell your customs online... If someone ordered something from you, and you said, "Here it is", and it was nice and what was being offered to the person from the start, but they said, "Well I think that aliens boobs are too large, so I'm going to have to say no because it might offend my kids and wife", would you still expect to be paid? You put in the work, the time, and to the specifications of whatever nudnick ordered it, but once he saw it, some small thing raised his ire, and so you're stuck shopping it around to someone else... possibly at a loss.
I never realized the free-market was so "free".
My economics prof is rolling in his grave... if he's dead anyway.
Hey now, I don't think by any stretch of the imagination you were the only collector in the Star Wars community asking for more Rebel troops. You just were the only one with it in your signature.
Really? Because I remember lots of arguments against me wanting something that had "already been done good enough" to a number of people, and not many people coming in and saying this or that needed an upgrade along with me.
As for the head swapping, I think it's a great thing and Hasbro would be foolish not to take advantage of it. But by that token, they can do the same thing with other army builders just the same (and have, to a lesser degree).
Is it fair to compare Rebel Pilots to Death Star Troopers, or Fleet Troopers though? Rebel Pilots have, afterall, a variety of uniforms, for a variety of molds. Not to mention different headgear for each. Then they all have somewhat more memorable sequences with lines and things, compared to other similar army builders... And then they have EU based on them, which is isn't the same for other similar figures.
I mean it's not like the Fleet Troopers or Endor Rebels really have that. So will Hasbro get us 4th Yavin Tech from the right at the Ceremony scene? I hope so, but hey, I'm not counting on it either.
But the body is done, and it's a cool figure, so I'm hoping that Hasbro will at least get us more Yavin Techs to buy, even if they're the exact same figure from the battlepack.
Now, you may think the more Rebel Pilots the better regardless of the time frame, but when supply exceeds demand, that philosphy creates a problem for the retailers - and eventually Hasbro.
Nope, you're completely wrong.
What I do believe though, is Hasbro created several new molds between the B-Wing and A-Wing pilot, and all the X-Wing molds, and they are wanting to recoop costs, which they have done well with that, according ot Hasbro saying that Reb Pilots have done well at retail.
They wanted to recoop the costs, they put stuff out to do it, and retailers wanted it. I know your claim is that you travel, and you see this and that, but if there's one thing in this hobby I've learned, it's that what one guy sees another guy doesn't. To be perfectly honest, I don't know that you're seeing everything you say, and I just know in my experience it's different, and Hasbro says it's different too.
Now again, what the retailers and Hasbro consider good sell-through may mean that 25% of something got clearanced. I don't know that though. All I have is Hasbro saying they did well, and will slip more into the line-up, and I'm happy about that. I mean, sorry if I take that as the gospel, and your business trips as the not-so-concrete sales data.
I'm really trying not to sound like a dick, but I just don't know how to say it any other way at this point. Hasbro overrules what people claim to see at the stores. If they say Vader sell,s you have to sorta believe that. If they say Jedi Fighter repaints sell, you sort of have to believe that.
I feel this topic is a prime example of Hasbro doing dumb ****. I think the difference is you are a huge fan of pilots, while I see them as just okay. If we were talking KOTOR characters or something where I have the same bias in favor of them as you do for pilots, I may even be presenting a similar argument as you are right now.
Except I'm backing up my argument by Hasbro saying that what I'm telling you is the truth, and that they do sell well, or at least well enough that Hasbro and retailers have been ahppy with them, and more will be coming.
Seriously, that's the jist of this argument, to me, start to finish.
Hasbro says something does well, and people say, "No way, and you are lying", and that's that. Or Hasbro says, "We have to put out ++++ because it helps financially support other aspects of the line", and someone replies, "No way, and you are lying".
I'm far from a Hasbro guy, never have been, and I've never been one to let them off the hook with stupid stuff. I bitch pretty much non-stop about the line, just varying aspects of it. But no matter what, I can't get behind the, "Hasbro's a bunch of lying jerks" camp tha tfeel like Hasbro is somehow less in the know than they are based on what they see out at stores, or what they see on forums, or what they think they perceive as a "guaranteed sell".
Maybe I've just become a happier collector in my old age where I realize Hasbro's going to put out some stuff that isn't my cup of tea, but which is health for the line's longevity for reasons I maybe can't see, or which aren't immediately tangible in my mind.
As far as blaming Hasbro though, especially on these exclusive comic-packs... Well I just know too much about the process of exclusive product, and dealing with Wal-Mart to blame Hasbro. WM's the culprit there.
Maybe someone really angry about it should bring it up with Hasbro then? Complain about the WM exclusive packs, and whatnot. I just know it's not all Hasbro there, so I'm not bothering because I think I already am aware what the response would likely be.
