Star Wars Line Headed for Ruin

[Bravo]

Fun news from Celebration -whatever and Jedi Temple Archives q&A with Hasbro's Deryl Depriest.

Reducing the basic vehicle size to make them cheaper...Slave 1 becomes a one man fighter smaller than a Kenner X-Wing. Lucasfilm wanted this for some reason.

Clone Wars figure line will not see any new characters and the plan is to eventually make them 5 points of articulation. THis is because kids rip all the parts off, can't get them to hold weapons and their parents send Hasbro nasty messages about it.

(Not from Hasbro, but Clone Wars cartoon's fate is in the air...fears of a mid season cancellation. WTF??)

Hasbro says the VINTAGE Collection has been their worst selling figure line ever.

Lucasfilm is telling them things to do, Hasbro had to beg them to keep the Vintage collection around. DePriest has fought to keep collector focused lines around (according to him).

The Phantom Menace 3D screwed up Hasbro's plans. (It's 1999 again).

New vintage Lobot and Hammerhead were planned for some release, (maybe never at this rate)

I'll save some money next year. Not that I've been buying much at retail this year.

[Felix]

I've read for a while fans have been really wanting an ultimate Slave 1....this does not sound like it.

The thing about Clone Wars, is it's limited in it's story. They can't venture off too far from the fate of the movies, so a cancellation at some point is inevitable. For the most part, it's the separatists invade some planet of innocent aliens, and the clones and Jedi rescue them with the aliens helping out. This plot can only get rehashed so many times...and bringing darth maul back was a very bad move. Savage Oppress was villain enough to fit any role. Lucas just couldn't leave it alone, he had to fuck with Maul.

I enjoy the vintage collection cards, but even in my 30's, I still open the toys up, so this expensive packaging is kind of pointless.

Meh, I've lost interest in G.I.JOE lately too. I despise that they're making the director recreate what was probably a great film, into whatever Hasbro wants it to be. I have only myself to blame for having any interest in a greedy corporate empire's franchise.

I'd really like to see somebody come up with something new, interesting, and fun for people of all ages, that doesn't require merchandise to become a hardcore fan.

[Swindle]

Funny thing, I only have a passing interest in Star Wars figures here and there, so the larger background BS doesn't impact my buying habits anyway.

[Bravo]

Recent rumors that the next packaging change releases, Legacy Collection with Droid Factory (build a droid parts), was getting cancelled. Now those rumors are true and no one knows what the heck is going on with 3 3/4" Star Wars this year. Word is some of the figures revealed at conventions will appear this fall in different assortments.

So, it's gonna be dry 6 months or so for new product that isn't underscaled vehicles.

[Felix]

They really have milked these movies and toys for all their worth, there's just so much they can do. That's why we've seen all of these other sub-lines getting more attention, the playskool type figures, angry birds and such. Who does Hasbro think these toys are for, kids? Off the top of my head, the only new thing I am hoping to get is Mara Jade.

[Bravo]

Yes, it may be awhile before there's anything interesting, unless there's some exclusives.

Hasbro press release:

Star Wars fans,

The Droid Factory line which was slated for spring 2013 has been cancelled. We were very excited about this line at its inception and wanted to give fans an early sneak peek when we unveiled it at Star Wars Celebration this past summer. Unfortunately since then, through the course of development, we realized that the price would have to be increased and we felt that the value we were adding with the droid parts was no longer substantiated.

As a result, we have decided to rework our 3.75” figure program to create a line that is on-par with the quality and pricing of the Vintage Collection. Many of the figures intended for the Droid Factory will become available in this new line in the fall. We’ll be able to share more news on this at Toy Fair.

We also recognize that there were many hard-to-find Vintage Collection figures in 2012. So, as we shared last December, we will re-release many of these figures this spring before the Vintage Collection goes on hiatus, making way for some of the most exciting new initiatives for SW collectors in years.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.

I'm sad, I like the bonus droid part, but I didn't want to pay any more than current retail...shit, I don't want to pay current retail prices. There'll be no pressure to buy iffy figures to complete a droid, either.

[Bravo]

Rumors are true. New 6-inch collecter aimed line. 3 3/4" to continue under "Black Series"

www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/01/29/hasbro-star-wars-black-series-action-figure-toys/1872035/

$20 a figure. Good luck with that. Why start off with pilot Luke? The figure will never have a fighter in his scale.

[Felix]

The figure looks good, the price isn't too far off from what they ask for 1:18 figures now. You're right about the vehicles though. An accurate X-wing in 6" scale would be ridiculously huge. Forget about a Falcon or an AT-AT. 6" scale is fun though, I still have my Sigma6 figures. I could see collectors who just want a nice Han Solo, Chewbacca, Vader, Luke, Stormtrooper or (input any main character here).

Makes sense to do more scales and sell the same shit over and over. Star Wars has been milked for all it's worth.

[Bravo]

As long as they still make 3 3/4", which they are.

It's probably a more worthwhile venture than these little kiddie crap ideas that seem to last a year or two then are never heard from again. Fighter pods, galactic heroes, jedi force...whatever. Angry Birds. I actually think kids are into Lego Star Wars than any shit Hasbro comes up with, and that must really annoy Hasbro.

Update: Rumors from German Toy Fair is that the Clone War 3 3/4" series is ending after the next wave. Not a shocker, as they've added like two new characters in the past year, reduced articulation and only shipped 18 different figures in 2012.

[Bravo]

3 3/4" pictures from German toy fair





No idea where that droid is from.

[Swindle]

I'm always happy to see another Padme fig.

[Bravo]

Everything decent coming summer/fall. Lousy year for SW collecting, but everyone knew that already.

Slave 1 (ESB) (big) will be an Amazon exclusive. Another gunship reissue. TIE Interceptor. Nothing new-new, except Ewok catapult at K-Mart...assuming that's new.

It seems Clone Wars toys are done. Kaput.

New series of $6 movie figures will 1980 levels of articulation, 5 points. That Vader/droid set is that series' 2-packs ($10). Almost all are prequel characters that have been done to death.

I remember Target Order 66 exlcusives that were $10 and some of them had 2 good figures.

Rising production costs and bitchy parents have taken their toll.

[Bravo]

Ewok Catapult coming