Anyone else thinking of dropping the 3 3/4" line?

[Morgbug]

Of course they've had a good year, there was this little movie that came out...

I'm not expecting them to be negative, just truthful and that's not practical or realistic.  

Our JediForce figures have already been dumped (clearanced) and we aren't getting the later waves.  Same for the Force Battlers - the first wave is dead here.  I did note that in the US wave two is out in force and I didn't see much of wave 1, perhaps they are selling there.  

Attacktix, which I didn't think was awful when I saw them at C3 has sold poorly here and in my US travels I see a ton of the early stuff sitting (Boga = flop?).  That's a success?  It was popular at C3 with kids, but how many of those kids were there on their own?  It's highly probably that mom/dad were fans previously so there's a natural fit.  But retail sales = good?  Doubt it.  Selling out?  My ass maybe.

Dumping Unleashed?  Let's put aside for a second I both like and collect that line.  Is there any hotter property in the Star Wars catalogue right now?  Lava Vader and Target Clone?  Maybe, but sure not generating the interest UL is.  The line started very, very slowly for them but how as a company do they measure success?  McFarlane produces a very similar product and sells it at a lower cost, so is it because UL is too expensive to produce?  Nah, can't be.  Still like to see a rationale explanation of this one.  

Fall resets?  Maybe in the US, but not up here.  Hasbro reps don't go anywhere near retail here and have never, EVER taken stores off shelves.  It sits there until it moves, period.  While that's of little consequence to US collectors it's a death knell for the line in Canada.  

Having spent the day at a dozen retailers in the US yesterday, I seriously question the sanity of repainting the Neimoidian and Wookies.  Great, now we can have multi-patterned peg warmers.

[Nathan]

Bah. Everything is either "we will not rule out the possibility" or "there's always a chance". I can see why they don't want to promise anything and thus paint themselves into a corner, but it's still rather annoying.

"Because Darth Sidious’ final lightsaber design developed so late in filming, Hasbro didn’t have time to prepare one for this year. However, considering how well the role play line has preformed and how incredibly cool the character's scenes turned out to be, the Sidious saber remains a consideration for release at a later date. Mace Windu’s Episode II and III saber on the other hand will probably not be released. As a secondary character, it’s difficult to justify the expense of developing a completely new saber."

Huh? "Secondary character" my eye! In AOTC Mace probably had more screentime than Palp, so why is Sid's saber under consideration but Mace's is not?

And melodrama aside, how much work can it be to create a new handle, I mean honestly?

"Everyone is extremely happy with how well the line has done, the key this time around was not letting retail over order the initial assortments. Product is already on it’s way to fill any gaps on the shelves and close attention is being paid to what’s moving and what’s slow. As the stores reset for the Fall, there should be plenty of Star Wars toys to go around."

Yah. Sure.

That is true, any blame is often (or always?) shifted elsewhere. I really think it would go a long ways if Hasbro would show up to one of these Q and A's and just do a simple "our bad" on a few things. I think it would improve many collector's opinions of them and their company if they could/would do something like that. I suppose it isn't exactly common these days to hear a company say they screwed up, and it might be unreasonable to think that they would, but if it were possible it might go a long ways in their collector-company relations.

Eggzackly.

For example, I think many of us will admit that repacks are probably a bit of a necessary evil...and to be honest, I am sure they do help Hasbro improve their "profit", so I don't necessarily have a problem with it...within reason. I think many people would feel this way. Heck, if you want to do repacks...just poll the collectors...we'll pick 'em for you .

Certainly. I really don't mind repacks at all, as long as they are well-chosen and spaced out. In fact in the Hey Hasbro! forum I have a big list of repacks I would really love to see (for example, EpI Eopie).

[Brian]

Our JediForce figures have already been dumped (clearanced) and we aren't getting the later waves.  Same for the Force Battlers - the first wave is dead here.  I did note that in the US wave two is out in force and I didn't see much of wave 1, perhaps they are selling there. 

Attacktix, which I didn't think was awful when I saw them at C3 has sold poorly here and in my US travels I see a ton of the early stuff sitting (Boga = flop?).  That's a success?  It was popular at C3 with kids, but how many of those kids were there on their own?  It's highly probably that mom/dad were fans previously so there's a natural fit.  But retail sales = good?  Doubt it.  Selling out?  My ass maybe.

Dumping Unleashed?  Let's put aside for a second I both like and collect that line.  Is there any hotter property in the Star Wars catalogue right now?  Lava Vader and Target Clone?  Maybe, but sure not generating the interest UL is.  The line started very, very slowly for them but how as a company do they measure success?  McFarlane produces a very similar product and sells it at a lower cost, so is it because UL is too expensive to produce?  Nah, can't be.  Still like to see a rationale explanation of this one. 

That's something I was curious about too after reading that RS Q and A this morning.  It sounds like they have every intention of continuing on with these "other" lines (aside from Unleashed, and also, Jedi Force I think was a "most likely")..and I'm kind of surprised.  None of them seem to be doing exceptionally well from what I have been seeing.  Target and Wal-Mart are sitting on piles of Jedi Force stuff, particularly the vehicle/bike stuff.  The figures at Target have started to slim down from what I've seen.  Somehow, the first wave of Force Battlers finally disappeared from Target (taken in the back maybe? I can't believe that they all sold), and the 2nd wave is hanging out now.  The clones and Chewie have sold, Mace sits.  Wal-Mart is buried under piles of Anakins and Obi-Wans.  Attacktix does seem to be slimming down, but I guess I really don't pay enough attention to that area to be sure.  The "exclusive" lines like Micro and Titanium seem to be pretty thick, although I don't think you can find the first waves of either right now in town.  Anyways, I've said it time and again, I kind of wish Hasbro would streamline things down a little bit.  There's just too much Star Wars stuff out there in retail land...which is partly understandable for a movie year...but clean it up for next year.  I think it will only hurt in the long run having 50 different lines out there at once.