Playsets... what are the options for the future?

[Jesse James]

The only one i'd be really into, at this point, is the Sailbarge.  And I'd pay $100 or over for a good, to-scale (it's not that big actually) Sailbarge.  I'd go $120 max I suppose...  And I'd need to not be on some time limit to buy it.

It's a fun ship, a ship that would double as an action-filled playset...  I'd enjoy that.

Death Star and things I'm interested in, but as a modular playset, not a single, large ticket item.  

On the Barge I'd want no frills, no pack-ins...  Just a large playset.  Market it around some figures at the same time...  re-release of Luke or something, I dunno.  Pack-ins, I've found, are only irritating anymore to those who dn't buy ships for whatever reason.

If they did do a pack-in, re-releases would be cool I guess.  Gammorrean or whatnot.

If they REALLY wanted to wow us, a Pit of Carkoon "stand" for it would be amazing...  

[CHEWIE]

Yes, a stand for it and somehow an incorporated Sarlacc Pit would make me pay $200 for it in a heartbeat.  I would sell my dog if I had to in order to get this.

 

[JediMAC]

sigh...

I'm right there with you, CHEWIE, wishing playsets were a priority for Hasbro...

Sorry Bobb, but you don't count in this coversation, since you already make your own high-end SW playsets!    But if you wanted to make another one of those Death Stars from top to bottom for $150, I'd gladly hook you up!  Slap in a conference room, and I'd bump it up to about $200...  

That said, I'd pretty much shell out whatever Hasbro was asking for if they made a real nice version of any of the aforementioned items.  I'd also throw in a Cantina and Jabba's Palace on my playset wishlist too!  I'd prefer to stick to around $100, but if they did a kickass job, and made it reasonably close to scale, I'd double that amount.

I think the best case scenario (realistically), is to create some modular playsets.  But not crappy ones like the POTF2 sets, but real nice ones, fully encompassing specific scenes in each one.  Pretty much the same way Bobb made his Death Star - offer up level by level, for about $30 or $40 a pop.  I'd bite, for sure!  Folks (and even kids, God forbid) could pick and choose which levels they wanted.  Stagger their releases a little as well, to make it easier to stomach the cost of each subsequent set, so collectors wouldn't be thinking of the price as a whole, but rather just in smaller portions.

But yeah, the cost of creating the molds and all that probably wouldn't ever make this idea feasible, unfortunately.  But hell, we can still dream, can't we?  Or at least continue to ogle at Muftak's incredible work...  

[CHEWIE]

I agree with what you are saying.  I don't understand why they can't at least give us something like the interactive Simpsons playsets (but without the sounds).

 

[JediMAC]

Moving Justin's thread over here to the TSC section here so we can continue on with the conversation from a while ago.  Kinda surprised nobody bumped this one up several months ago with the announcement (and pix) of the beautiful upcoming Attakus dioramas.  Sounds like a lot of folks are going to be buying those breathtaking pieces regardless of what they cost, so I think the sales on those will very much answer the question posed in this thread here.

I'm guessing those Death Star and Dagobah sets may run about $500 each (and there's two sets in each diorama).  So if that's indeed the case, I'd say a lot of collectors (both with and without the disposable income for high-end stuff like this) are going to bite the bullet and buy these beauties when they finally come out, especially since it sounds like they're very much in scale with Hasbro's 4" line.

I know I've seen some mindboggling customs pop up on eBay over the years that I've thought about chasing for $500 - $1,000, but I always just figured I'd be patient to see what Hasbro, or another official licensee (like Attakus), might come up with instead.  Hopefully the wait pays off, and hopefully Attakus surprises us with a price point more in the $200 - $300 range (doubtful).  Either way, I'd say some folks will pay top dollar for some realistic and accurately scaled ships and dioramas.  Not so sure my wife is going to agree with me doing that, but... 

[Darth Broem]

I thought I saw a picture of a Hoth playset for the Titanium collection from SDCC.  Where they actually going to put sets out like that?  I might go for those since they remind me of the Micro Collections.  Granted I would like to see some others made like the Death Star or Jabba's Palace or the Cantina. 

Hasbro just is not going to make playsets or large ships ever.  I almost wish they would let some other company try to make them.  It's just aggravating to have all these cool ships and environments from the entire Star Wars saga not represented with up to date toys.  Not this repainted stuff from the 70's and 80's.  I am ready for new vehicles and playsets.  But alas it will never be apparently. 

[Nathan]

High End Vehicles/Playsets - How much $$ would you pay?

I dunno, 50 bucks max, if it was something I really wanted.

I totally agree with the staggered modular playsets idea. Instead of doing a $800 Death Star or Cloud City the size of an Excursion, I'd rather see small sections sold separately that can be combined. I.e., Death Star conference room, hangar bay, Detention Block AA-23, Turbolift, corridor #1, corridor #2, etc. You can just buy those sections you have the money, space, and interest for--or go all out and get all of them. Everyone's happy.

Or assemblable cardboard ones might work as well.

Either way, I still have some of those MicroMachines mini playsets which I'm quite attached to.

[Rob]

I would ALWAYS rather pay more money and get NEW stuff that hasn't been made before - and bigger vehicles/playsets qualify, than pay $5.00 for another repack.

[Jesse James]

I'm that way too Rob...  I'd sooner pay $50 for a scale AT-ST that had tons of detail than pay $20-$30 for the half-assed vintage sculpt again with a purdy box...  Plus, with vehicles being so "collector-oriented" anymore, I think something higher-priced and substantially better is a nicer route to go.

Like the 12" line, it'd be sweet if Hasbro handed vehicles off as a sub-license somehow. 

Hey 21st Century Toys or BBI...  I hear you guys were looking for something to do?

[Darth_Anton]

If Hasbro did one high end palyset a year, I'd be willing to pay upwards of $200 for it as long as it was a decent size. More than one a year would be tough.

[ruiner]

I like the modular playset idea.  And I think it's the only way Hasbro could make it work at retail.

I believe the trash compactor sets sold well - it's great for Hasbro, once a collector buys one set, he/she HAS to buy the rest, right?   

In theory it works.

[Jesse James]

A little private company I know is making 1:18 "battle" playsets where you buy a building by the floor, and it stacks.  This, actually, is an idea I've submitted to different companies at different times (Hasbro included).  Our own Muftak's sort of done something similar to this too, in customizing.  He's made multi-level dioramas that stack a bit...

I've always envisioned a Death Star done this way...  You buy it by the floor.  They make a single "standard" size cube, maybe a variety of interiors though, and you buy as many as you want, and stack the cubes as high as you want.  Ideally they'd connect side-to-side as well.  You stack 'em up or out, make a Death Star as big as you want...  It'd work with other environments too.  A hoth Trench piece that can connect on either end to other same trenches...  Make one small segment with a scale laser tower and one larger segment with gun-outlets and a cannon (ala the vintage Imp Attack Base).  Either end can connect though, sort of like the old micro collection playsets... 

I'd dig stuff like that and they could be done relatively cheap actually.  Don't get into frills, complex "action features" or anything, and you could do these incredibly cheaply.  Pack-in an army builder or a variant type figure...  It'd be pretty nice.

[Brian]

I also like the modular playset idea.  I think, as far as Hasbro's basic line, this would be our only chance at getting more playests..and even then its a slim chance.  Don't get me wrong, I really like the highly detailed stuff that is coming from Attakus (or things like that), but when it comes down to it I really doubt I could afford it right now.  I think, if done pretty well, I could scrounge together $100 for a really nice Death Star playset.  Heck, I'd probably go for the re-release of the vintage one if they decided to do it.  That is a piece I always wanted as a kid.  Who knows what it would cost today, and it probably doesn't matter, because no retailer would bite on it now because of shelf space issues.  I miss the vintage days for reasons like that.  I remember being a kid and they had all kinds of figures, vehicles, beasts, playsets, etc....and they had them everywhere.  Good times .

[CHEWIE]

I'd scrounge up a few hundred bucks for good playsets... there's just so many figures that need a display home Hasbro!

JJ, what company are you talking about?

 

[Vator]

I think he's talking about Build-A-Rama, but I may be mistaken.