SDCC "Revenge of the Jedi" Death Star Mega-Box Set

[Scott]

There will undoubtabally be returns/cancellations/credit card declines at some point and they still need a way to sell them no?

To me...exclusives are exclusives and while it is nice they offer up some of all of the exclusives online at no point in time are they obligated to do so and so I'm glad I got an Indy set of figures at cost.  I probably would have been OK with paying more for them on eBay but I would have been ticked if 6 months from now they made more or rereleased them.  It is called collecting, not buying, it is supposed to be work, there are going to be rare things...my two cents

[Jesse James]

It's hard to argue with that...

I look at the SDCC Death Star set as something that had a lot of forewarning (since February) that it wasn't even likely to be around after the show...  So I can't see a ton of anger over it.  It's kind of like the 2005 Anakin/Vader figure from Toy Fair that had fancy packaging.

Some people were mad about that not being widely available, but at the end of the day it was just packaging, which I kind of look at this SDCC2011 set as just that...  those kind of exclusives are ok, to me.  It sort of minimizes the damage, at least in theory, since it pretty much just ammounts to packaging being exclusive.

I can't say the same on the IJ figures...  Something new, something nobody has and nobody had access to...  that kind of stuff irks me more, but that's just me.  To me, that kind of stuff should be made widely available, or at least more widely available than it was anyway, after the show.  I get the inflated price on it too, and can deal with that, but limiting something new always hurts.  Be it Sgt. Slaughter, Zarana, or IJ figures, or a random SW figure they decide to make exclusive.

Imagine the outrage had the McQuarrie figure set from 2007 been like this.   

I also take into consideration the source though...

In this case, Hasbro, who mass produce toys.  I find the extreme limiting of exclusives then, all the more annoying.

I'm more accepting of it from Sideshow though, or Gentle Giant...  I can see their stuff being a lot more difficult to get because they're catering to a wholely separate crowd with what they make.  It's more costly in general, shorter runs, etc.

If it's new, I think Hasbro has a little more obligation to get a more satisfying ammount out to public...  If it's a packaging variation (ultimately), it's not as big a deal and impacts a smaller segment I'd assume, so it just makes a little more sense to me to go that route.  But that's just me...  It probably varies by each person I'm sure.  I hate looking at collecting as a "chore" though.

Stuff like that seemed to kill the Playmates hold on Star Trek, and I just would hate to see that creep into a mass toy line like Star Wars now too.

[JediJman]

It is called collecting, not buying, it is supposed to be work, there are going to be rare things...my two cents

I disagree.  My interpretation of collecting is gathering up things that you enjoy.  If someone views it as work, then maybe this is not the right hobby for you.  I have frustrations over availability of the items I want, but having something "rare" really make me feel better about my collection.  Inevitably, other collections will be different from yours due to the timing of when people started, what they decided to collect, how much they can afford, etc.  I have yet to hear a really valid excuse for exclusives - they sure seem to work against manufacturers and retailers as much or more than they could ever work for them.  To be honest, having something rare doesn't make me feel better...it makes me feel worse that something cool isn't/wasn't more readily available to all the people that wanted it.

Some people were mad about that not being widely available, but at the end of the day it was just packaging, which I kind of look at this SDCC2011 set as just that...  those kind of exclusives are ok, to me.  It sort of minimizes the damage, at least in theory, since it pretty much just ammounts to packaging being exclusive....  To me, that kind of stuff should be made widely available, or at least more widely available than it was anyway, after the show.  I get the inflated price on it too, and can deal with that, but limiting something new always hurts.  Be it Sgt. Slaughter, Zarana, or IJ figures, or a random SW figure they decide to make exclusive.

I can see the point you're trying to make here, but the Death Star set was not just packaging.  I fully intended to take the cards out and toss the mega packaging.  You have at least two mini-figures on cards unavailable elsewhere, along with a Rebel commando that might not be part of a general release.  I hope those items are offered up in some form later on, but we don't know that for certain. 

As for the early warning about limitations of the set, I don't think that's really what people were frustrated about.  Its not what upset me anyway.  If they want to make an exclusive and limit it to the show to get people to go to the show, then fine.  But they offered it up to people outside the show, giving non-SDCC people some hope of getting one.  Then they let you put it in your cart on the website, so it at that point I Think a lot of people felt like it was a done deal. 

In my case, I was checking the site all morning, had two PCs ready and waiting, and was already logged into the site with my CC info set.  When it went online, I managed to get a set in my cart (on each PC) right when they came up at 10:30.  At that point, I've done everything humanly possible to get one of these outside of Ebay or the show.  But instead I spent two hours refreshing and got nothing.  That's what I'm pissed about.

[Jesse James]

Yeah the whole HTS debacle is separate to me.  They screwed the pooch by not having their site ready.  Part of me really wonders if Star Wars Shop hadn't **** the bed right before the show, woudl things have been different?  Would they have ordered an allotment of Indy stuff that ultimately never happened then?  Or the Death Star set perhaps would've gotten a bigger run and been at two outlets?

On the issue of the Crumb and Mousedroid, I'd disagree that they're not available anywhere else.  I have both of them, just not on those cards.  Again, a packaging thing...  But I get the frustration of carded collectors too, so I'm not dismissing it at all.  I just look at it as the packaging being the draw there, and to me that's just a necessary evil of packaging collecting over the actual toy.

The Endor Rebel, well he's a stickier situation, but ultimately (and I love my Endor Rebels, so I'm speaking with some experience here), I'll be ok without him.  Mostly because the black guy was wearing a vest ala the Saga Endor Rebel, not the trench coat, so I'm not as into it I guess.  I'd like it sure, but if i don't get it I'm not as upset had it been say Nik Sant with the vest packaged in there or something ya know? 

I agree wholeheartedly on collecting being work though, and that not being much fun.  It's something I've hated about collecting since Day 1, and GENERALLY Hasbro has been good about making sure it isn't work.  I think when the hobby becomes work, it's a nail in the coffin on the line's future.  I've never really looked at it as work other than the traveling to find toys.  Something that's become increasingly difficult because of gas prices, and a year of distribution woes (be it Hasbro picking bad figures to carry forward, or be it retail simply refusing to order anything and clearance what needs clearanced).

I look at the Death Star set as absolutely nothing I don't have already, except maybe the black Endor Trooper, but a packaging that's really nice.  And so for that, I'm generally ok with those things being a little tougher to track down, or maybe as a little more of a "Thanks for coming to SDCC".

As far as exclusives go, I dunno...

Store ones make sense in the idea that it drives foot traffic to make an extra sale on groceries or whatever, which is important.  Or for TRU who are hoping you'll just buy it all there instead of trudging over to the competition (even though they have something exclusive you want too, which doesn't make a lot of sense, haha).  Exclusives at shows seem like fan wanks half the time though, nothing more, and so highly limiting them maybe hurts all the more.

I'm a big detractor on exclusive pack-ins though too...  I want an animated Bossk, pretty bad really, but I'm not willing to buy 2 ships I don't want, and a bunch of other figures I don't want, for over $100, just to get him.  Stuff like that sucks to me just about as much as this whole SDCC fiasco has been sucking for others.

[Captain Piet]

Just wanted an opportunity to purchase this, no more no less. Hasbro didn't even allow for that.

[Jayson]

Just wanted an opportunity to purchase this, no more no less. Hasbro didn't even allow for that.

The opportunity was there, the quantity available was the issue.

[JediJman]

Just wanted an opportunity to purchase this, no more no less. Hasbro didn't even allow for that.

The opportunity was there, the quantity available was the issue.

I blame the ordering system over the quantity.  I was right there at 10:30 when lots of quantity was available.   

[Pete_Fett]

Well - Big Bad Toy Store has this up for pre-order for the low-low price of $280.

According to the thread on this set over on RebelScum, BBTS has 46 of them to sell.

Interesting...

[iFett]

I only see 4 left for preorder.  Good luck kids!

[Pete_Fett]

Considering that they cancelled any duplicate orders for the same shipping address (regardless of different name/e-mail/account/credit card) - I find it EXTREMELY odd that BBTS was able to acquire this many. I don't care if it was via the SDCC booth or via the HTS website.

So two collectors who are roommates would have been denied. But Big Bad Toy Store is able to acquire enough sets to have almost 50 for sale at double the price?

[JediJman]

I only see 4 left for preorder.  Good luck kids!

I am not sure I would buy one for $130 at this point.  No thanks.

[Morgbug]

... I would have been ticked if 6 months from now they made more or rereleased them. 

I don't disagree with anything you said in the rest of the post but I won't even be remotely surprised to see these things pop up and become as common as dirt within six months.  I don't think Hasbro will necessarily be selling them, but look at all the ToD wave stuff floating on Ebay and selling cheap right now - with accessories.   

[Jesse James]

Thing is, the TOD wave showed up before it came out overseas...  These, you never know.  I think anything is possible, at this point.

[Paul]

My entire HTS order was cancelled.  So the rumors of our JD.com giveaway have been greatly exaggerated.

[JediJman]

My entire HTS order was cancelled.  So the rumors of our JD.com giveaway have been greatly exaggerated.

Wow, that stinks.  Did you have personal stuff in that order as well?  Hope not.  Did they say why they cancelled?