San Diego Comic-Con 2015

[GrandMoffNick]

Not being able to budget for this is a kick in the nuts. I'm concerned I'm going to go to Target, buy what they have only to find out tru chose to carry a line target didn't

[Phrubruh]

You know, you don't have to buy anything. 

I wonder if the stores will change their stocking policies for this movie. Will figures actually be available long after the release date or will the pegs and displays stay empty long after the movie is released. The Ep1:3D thing kicked them in the balls and they never properly stocked after that.

[Nicklab]

Again it looks like the release schedule for THE FORCE AWAKENS and Disney's strategy is the big sticking point for EVERYTHING.  Disney appears to be committed to not over-hyping the film and avoiding the over-saturation of the market with product.  That NY Times article about the lack of Star Wars presence at SDCC 2015 stated that Disney is projecting ticket sales that may reach $2 billion.  That kind of money trumps everything else, including toy lines.

The next significant event on the calender before that September 4th street date is the Disney D23 expo in Anaheim.  That kicks off on Friday, August 14th.  And I imagine if Disney/LFL licensing/Hasbro is going to reveal anything else, they would do it at that event since it's only 3 weeks before the street date.  I suspect we may see something from the Asian eBay sellers around that time, unless there's a significant clampdown on their activities, too.

[Jeff]

Took some time this AM to check out some other site Q&As...  I love this one at SSG:

SSG: In the new Universe two-pack line, which includes Ahsoka and Vader from Rebels, they’re listed at $14.99.  That’s a bit up from the current price point at $9.99.  Will these figures be of a higher quality, or is it just that the $9.99 price point isn’t sustainable anymore?

JL: At Hasbro, we don’t always control what retail prices the figure’s at, so you’ll see some variation.


"Hey, your little sign says $15 for 2-packs - what's up with the $5 price hike?"
"we don't control prices"

Really? 

The next significant event on the calender before that September 4th street date is the Disney D23 expo in Anaheim.  That kicks off on Friday, August 14th.  And I imagine if Disney/LFL licensing/Hasbro is going to reveal anything else, they would do it at that event since it's only 3 weeks before the street date.

I'm not buying D23 as an avenue for much news, though. 

I haven't seen anything from Hasbro to indicate they'll be at the 2015 D23 Expo.  No panel announcement, no booth announcement, nothing. The only thing D23 has said about Hasbro so far is that Hasbro will be sponsoring a Disney Trivial Pursuit contest/lounge.

Hasbro has been very open this year about when and where they will debut stuff.  Before Toy Fair they told us there would be no TFA and to wait for some news at SDCC.  If they were going to show stuff at D23, I think that would have been the mantra instead of "wait until you see Force Friday!"

For them to show up at D23 unannounced with a bunch of new TFA toys?  That'd be a great way to anger a bunch of fan sites (you know who I mean, Nick) who aren't currently planning to be there.

[Nicklab]

Yes, but the people in question have a fear of people and crowds, preventing them from attending conventions where you might actually be able to do ACTUAL REPORTING.  Hence their absence from pretty much any con where Hasbro is in attendance.  Besides, it's easy to just stir **** up, right?

[GrandMoffNick]

You know, you don't have to buy anything. 

You lost me here.

My point is that if I budget $x for September 4 and knew what was being released, I could go into target see what they had from my want list, leave stuff i may like but know not as much as other itrms and then head to tru hoping they had the rest.

With no complete list I may find $x worth of stuff I find worth buying at Target. Then find out I should have passed onsome things because something else at tru was more spend worthy

[Jesse James]

A hasbro designer recently said on twitter basically "see you for Force Friday for the full reveal" or something along those lines, so I think it really is just that.  I think there is a slight chance some toys are revealed on Hasbro's new "Pulse" site too.  I didn't plan on buying a lot even if I did know, so I guess this isn't bugging me too much.  A little but but not a ton.

[Scott]

That is wrong though...everything will be revealed through leaks in the next few weeks...everything which is even more baffling about this to me

[Dave]

That is wrong though...everything will be revealed through leaks in the next few weeks...everything which is even more baffling about this to me

I would hope that Hasbro/Disney is aware of the leaks that are likely to happen.   I assume if they wanted to control the message they would have revealed stuff at SDCC.

I'm guessing its all driven by Disney's desire not to over promote the film at this point.  Which I'm 100% behind.  I would be fine with them not releasing any toys until Dec.

I know people want to be able to budget for their purchases, and I get that concern, but I'm guessing that is pretty far down Disney/Hasbro's list of issues.  I can't imagine anything is going to be hard to find and should linger for months, so hopefully everyone has the budget flexibility to fill their collections throughout the fall.

I've been itching to buy the teaser poster for TFA as well, but that isn't available for purchase, and is fairly lame in comparison to all the other teaser posters.  I wonder if this is all part of Disney's plan to keep things on simmer for as long as possible.

[Phrubruh]

Come Sept 4th, the marketing on this movie will be seen on the moon. Disneyland is getting large star wars exhibit to replace the lower level of Innoventions. Epcot is getting the same thing for one side of their Innoventions building.

[JediJman]

What is the date this new stuff is slated to be released at retail?  Same release date for online merchandisers?

[Jeff]

I'm guessing its all driven by Disney's desire not to over promote the film at this point.

No need to guess, it is exactly that - time to post that article again for folks that may have missed it.

Check out this NY Times article about the Star Wars presence at SDCC 2015 and what seems to be a concerted effort to not overhype THE FORCE AWAKENS film release and very likely all of the associated licensed merchandise:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/business/promoters-of-coming-star-wars-film-have-a-delicate-dance-at-comic-con.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1&referrer=

And...

What is the date this new stuff is slated to be released at retail?  Same release date for online merchandisers?

#ForceFriday is September 4th.  No one seems to want to admit to it publicly, but it is believed that 9/4 will be the day that on-line shops can start taking orders as well.

[Jesse James]

And yes, what Scott said...  most of this will get leaked I bet.

Retailers, if nobody else, will leak it because they always have street dates broken.  It is science.

[Jesse James]

SDCC 2015 Image Galleries

Final update to the galleries...  Added some more companies to the database, and wanted to take a moment to thank Anthony (Darth_Anton) and Carlos (solrac) for both taking time off the show for us to take pictures and do more for the site and our readers.  Really appreciate that and already looking forward to next year!

[Darby]

Decent interview dealing exclusively on the Marvel line, but has good hard questions on the 3.75 scale that I think may have some insight into what can we expect for SW going forward:

http://awesometoyblog.com/2015/07/16/sdcc-2015-hasbros-marvel-team-interview/

In short, they're going forward with Marvel 3.75 and apparently with renewed interest.