MEAT!
1 II heard a while back that Toyfair Magazine would be offering an exclusive figure (I think his name was ) CZ-3... a white desert protocol droid similar to C-3PO... any truth to this and if so when it would be due? -Eric
Two people sent in this question this weekend. And I have never heard
anything about Toyfare (for the record, Toy Fair is a place, Toyfare is
a magazine, I'm gonna start ripping on people about this or just not
posting questions) getting any Star Wars Hasbro exclusives. While it
is possible-- Hasbro needs to do some oddball stuff to get interest back
up in the line-- I've never heard of this before you brought it up.
2 I just saw the new 6" anakin with his naboo helmet, why would they make this why not just make an accessory pack with the helmet or a podracing pack with his headgear and some tools. its the same anakin with a helmet included. -Darkart99
Congratulations, you've discovered the pattern.
Hasbro LOVES to package an existing toy with-- in this case literally--
a new hat. Chewie was given chains, the Cantina Band a new instrument,
Luke was given a bone... it's just the way the line is. It seems to be
working, because people continue to buy the same toy over and over...
but I haven't picked up a 12" figure since the Ponda Baba wave. People
have been asking for accessory packs for some time, but as the 4" line
has showed us, they probably can't even get them to market if they really wanted to, beyond the initial batch at least. This is a line that needs serious work... sure, that 12" Boss Nass & Sebulba are EXACTLY what the doctor ordered... but at this point, at a $25+ price point, after a couple of really bad years, will anyone care? If the stuff gets better like this, I hope so.
3 Would you blame variation hunters for the glut of resculpts? It seems Hasbro saw how collectors would buy multiple figs with minor variations, and decided to take advantage of this market. -Michael
I blame Batman. It's a very successful sales model, and now that Star Wars has slowed down, they probably say "well, it works for ol' pointy ears, so let's repaint Luke." Unfortunately, this will probably work for the classic line since there is very little to make that isn't a resculpt or a character so obscure, only you and I will buy it. As for Episode One, Hasbro has managed to make ME stop wanting the stuff. Anybody who knows me can tell you that anybody who can turn Adam
off of Star Wars 4" figures has got a serious talent... plus, well, it seems obvious to me that the toy market at large isn't exactly thrilled with Star Wars right now.
(For the record, I like Batman, I'm a huge fan of all the DC-based Animated lines, and I can't wait for the Alfred figure coming out later this year. [No, no typo there.])
4
Because it's built-in to the arm. A lot of people assumed he had an external one when Toyfare, for no readily apparent reason, pictured three Expanded Universe figures on the cover with the wrong weapons.
5 First, since they've done practically all the first POTF figures in POTF2, are we going to see the "last three" figures (Amanaman, Imperial Dignitary, and Romba/Warok 2- Pack) which everyone undoubtedly wants? -Nigel
First, "everybody?" I don't think that many people want the Dignitary.
I think Amanaman has a good shot of showing up some day, because he's a cool, weird looking alien and like I've mentioned before, would make an awesome exclusive. The ewoks... while I want to see more than three lousy ewoks, I seem to be in a minority. We could use more. How am I supposed to do an Endor diorama with three?
6
While I can't speak for Philip, I will gladly go to a convention that flies me out there. (But if I can somehow weasel my way into the program at San Diego, I'd probably hitchhike to that.)
7
First, I should say I'm a DVD bigot. I used to be just a widescreen
bigot, but I decided to become a DVD one as well. In the past year and
a half, I have purchased ONE movie on VHS-- and that's Tim Burton's
masterpiece, Ed Wood. (I love that movie.) The main reason for this
lack of videotape is because I like to skip around when I buy a movie
sometimes after I see it once or twice. There are times I just want to
watch the Jesus Quintana scene in The Big Lebowski... but let's face it,
the gold is the supplements. I LOVE my Spinal Tap DVD, there's just so
much cool stuff on there (it was one of the first discs I bought).
Second, I think Lucas is missing an opportunity to make even more money
(so he will, in fact, be richer than anyone on this planet) by delaying
the release. Either that or if he announces the DVD after the VHS
release, well, he's got some great marketing people because a lot of
people are going to buy the DVD even if they have the VHS.
But more importantly, I think it's weird that everyone assumes that he
HAS to do DVD. I think it's downright unusual to do VHS and not DVD
rather than the other way around... when you're as rich as he is, taking
out an ad in a paper or writing letters won't change his mind. And why
should it? It's his baby. I'll wait for the DVD, and if I still want
to see Episode One when the time comes (or if it's in the box with
episodes IV-VI) I'll most likely snag it.
It's because of the Star Wars: Special Edition videos-- of which I have
had three BAD sets at the time of purchase, the last of which I just
opted not to replace-- that I don't plan on buying any LucasFilm
videotape anytime soon. (If my SE letterbox set wasn't totally screwy
three times over, my opinions might be different.) Plus I'm just not
that interested in any movie at $35, even for the widescreen "limited"
edition, which is reportedly 1.5 MILLION copies. This must be some new
definition of "limited" of which I was previously unaware. 20,000...
that's pretty limited. 5,000 is limited. 1.5 million is pretty big
figure which many videos only hope to reach.
(So for me, it's simple. If I can't be sold what I want, then I won't
buy something I don't want. I don't want VHS, so I won't buy it. If
I can't buy DVD, then I can live without the movie in my collection.)
8
Like I told most people who started collecting
Star Wars for no good reason, "don't buy these because I like them, buy
them because you like them."
That aside, McFarlane has a great line-up this year, the TransFormers
brand seems to be the strongest it's been since the movie came out, and
of course, Playmates' Simpsons line seems to be quickly gaining the
"most favored figure line" status. There's a ton of cool stuff this
year, so take $50, go to the toy store, and pick up a bunch of stuff.
But if Star Wars has lost its appeal, and you don't have your eye on
something else, this might be a good time to stop buying toys and start
saving for something else. A new stereo for your Man or Astro-Man CDs,
perhaps. Or some new Man or Astro-Man CDs for your stereo. Or that
really spiffy Doors box set with all the studio albums in it.
9
Any thoughts????
I thought collecting the cans in the first place
was kinda weird. Personally, I'd value a set like that, in a case like
that, maybe around $50. Not that I'd buy it for that, like I said when
I started this column, I just plain don't care about the Pepsi cans...
I'm a toy junkie. The best way to treat this is simple: if you look at
it, and you simply cannot justify spending that much money, then don't.
A lot of people might also not buy it, meaning an eventual price drop is
probable.
I just looked on eBay, and a set of cans ending in a day missing a
couple of the cans is at $12. Heck, a guy is selling the Canadian sets
(20 cans) for $8 a set. Even the price of the Destiny cans has dropped
pretty significantly... if you want something, don't forget, you can
shop around-- the Fan Club has a lot of exclusives, but this is not one
of them.
10
Because if Hasbro gave us EXACTLY what we want, it
probably wouldn't sell very well. I'd be more excited about the line,
I'd go out of my way to NOT rip on it, and I probably wouldn't have
started collecting two other lines that are starting to be more
interesting than Star Wars was for most of 1999, but collector loyalty
probably isn't worth as much to a company as overall sales. A small,
loyal group can't carry a line these days... but I have my doubts
Episode One can carry the Star Wars brand given the combined 2000
product is about as exciting as dry white toast. Now Darth Vader
resculpts... like many of you, I STILL have yet to see this figure
outside of collector stores, so I do think there's still a market for
classic resculpts. I'd rather have new stuff, but if the level of
improvement is like the regular Han to the Cantina Han, then I'm all for
it.
FIN
Questions for March 1, 2000
1
I think you pretty much nailed it with the "too much time" thing.
2 I think itīs a must for Hasbro to continue with the 3pk line, because itīs the best way to create more cantine aliens and Jabbaīs palace aliens, why Hasbro donīt make more? -will
After 1999's distribution, I think none is better than some I flat out can't get. Sales were weak, retaillers were mad they kept getting old product, collectors were mad they couldn't GET product, and well, many of them just plain sucked. All things considered, they weren't all that great, but they were cheaper than buying 3 individual figures.
3 I think Episode 2 is the most critical movie of all as far as keeping the Star Wars universe running alive and well. If Episode 2 fails to deliver, I worry that the lifespan of new Star Wars products (especially action figures and vehicles), would be similar to the year of 1985 for Kenner. Do you feel the same way? -Avery
A successful television series would probably do
the trick at keeping the Star Wars toy brand going, but apparently
nobody wants to go there right now. The movie CAN do it, but like I
said with Episode One, the way the world is right now, no matter HOW
GOOD it is, people are going to hate it. And very few movie-based toy
lines ever last past a year nowadays... the Trek movie-based lines, the
Batman film figures, pretty much anything you can name based on a movie
has a very, very short shelf life. As I write this, I'm trying to
think of a film based toy line that wasn't retro that saw decent
sales... and you know what? I don't think there has been a movie
that did well by itself... that is, without a sequel. The Batman
lines used to hold out OK for the next film, but now it doesn't look
like there will be a traditional Bat-flick any time soon, although
the animated lines continue to do pretty well after the original
animated series stopped seeing new episodes. Jurassic Park lives on as
what seems to be a Wal-Mart exclusive line of repaints, and most of the
other lines (Congo, Waterworld, Godzilla) are damned to the clearance
bins of Kay-Bees everywhere.
So to answer your question, yes, Episode Two is important to the sales
of the line. Hopefully, it will be a much smaller line, I'd rather
have fewer toys than lots of toys that look alike. Regardless of the
film, the line probably has legs for at least a year after a new movie
is introduced. After all, with all the people who actively hate Star
Wars (I'm just miffed at most of it these days) who still buy the stuff,
how badly can it do if produced in conservative quantities?
4
Yes, there was a grey plastic Interceptor in the original Return of the Jedi line. I highly reccomend picking one up if you have the means.
There's also a MicroMachine and a few other version... but the Action
Fleet one is probably the overall best.
5 In one of the questions you responded to on February 28, you had said that you had wanted more than 3 Ewoks. I know of the two pack of Wicket and Chirpa, who is the third? -BikeRebel
Wicket and LOGRAY, yes. The third was a new ewok that was basically a repaint of Wicket with the hood molded on in the Endor Complete Galaxy set.
6
Potential, yes. Potential sales, not so much.
As far as classic stuff, save for non-film toys, there is virtually no
possible vehicles to make. I mean, sure, they COULD do an Action Fleet
scale Star Destroyer or Rebel Transport... but I know and you know they
wouldn't be very good. As far as continuing the line, well, who
knows? There's still quite a bit of product that never saw release for
Episode One, and it seems that the micro stuff did pretty poorly,
considering how cheap most of it is now. While Episode 2 is too far
away to get a definite answer from anybody, I'd say if we did see more
of the stuff, it'd be a much smaller line of toys.
7
From what I understand, it's going to be some time soon... probably
after two or three more waves of the current packages. Then again,
they're good at throwing things out (either cancelling them or shipping
early), so it's tough to say when they'll actually start sitting at the
toy store.
8
I don't have mine handy, but the keyboard version is a bit shorter and has articulated knees. There are some other differences, but I don't have mine around right now... they are different enough to be worth picking up.
9
Honestly? I'd assume it was a standard Imperial Shuttle, since we saw him using one at the end of the Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition. Of course, odds are you don't have one and don't have the $200-300 to blow on one... so either wait for a POTF2 rerelease (HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA!) or start skipping meals and using lower grade gasoline for a while to scare up a few bucks for the original.
10
While we've heard a few of the older (read: late 1999) figures will be repackaged, it is pretty likely these were just as you said: mock-ups. There's really nothing that Hasbro has done that'd indicate that they would repackage Flashback Vader before CommTech Vader, but well, it is possible (however unlikely) that they'd go ahead and do it. I'm banking on "not."
FIN
|