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11-21-2010, 10:32 PM | #11 |
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Realistic / Vintage is half their production each year. If half of a line is or may possibly be on the verge of sputtering out that raises a flag. While clone wars is a success with the kiddies and it obviously shows by using the clone trooper sky effect box art for all other packaging, the realistic vintage line seems to have played its cards so to speak. I have followed the Star Wars Q&A's from the very beginning over at Rebel Scum and many have requested the vintage cardbacks for years. I was asking, not making an argument, whether or not if Hasbro is releasing the realistic line with many retoolings or repacks that it was an indication that Hasbro believes the sales are not where they are supposed to be.
The whole Vintage situation has been something that has been building for YEARS. Prior to Clone Wars, all of the market (kids and collectors) were focused on a single assortment of figures. Following Clone Wars, the "collector oriented" segment started to fall almost immediately because kids were more interested in figures based on the hit show rather than "background cantina alien 22". Or if they wanted realistic figures, they'd be skewing towards Saga Legends and its easily available set of "star characters" All that on top of the issue that, by this point, Hasbro has pretty much done all they really can with a majority of the films as far as figures. Yeah, they can chuck some extra articulation here and there, but for most collectors, the upcoming Han Solo (with medal) isn't vastly different from the Vintage figure he got in 2004. And as we saw with Legacy/Build a Droid, background characters aren't a sure thing either (in my area, the first things to sell in Build a Droid were the core characters collectors complained about seeing, and most of the shelfwarmers were the "2 second characters" collectors were demanding!) Again, I don't think you're seeing a decline in "realistic figures" you're seeing a decline in "collector figures". And I think the fact you are seeing so many "minor tweaked" releases on Vintage cardback is very much proof of that Quote:
I said that the line may face a similar problem to SW and Joe once Bay stops making movies. I posited that it may occur about two years after the nest movie.
Then you have Spider-Man, which got and continues to get significant shelf presence despite the last movie coming out in 2007 and the most recent cartoon has been off air for over a year. Will there be a drop off? Maybe, but going from a 6 foot shelf space to a 4 foot shelf spacing is still a LOT of product compared to what most brands get.
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Originally Posted by TheRealDubya
Any sort of panic at this stage is just pure unsubstantiated reptile brain stem fear.
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Originally Posted by SmokePants
This is why companies are secretive -- because we all want the truth, but most of us cannot handle it.
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11-21-2010, 10:39 PM | #12 |
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Quote:
<sigh>
Realistic / Vintage is half their production each year. If half of a line is or may possibly be on the verge of sputtering out that raises a flag. While clone wars is a success with the kiddies and it obviously shows by using the clone trooper sky effect box art for all other packaging, the realistic vintage line seems to have played its cards so to speak. I have followed the Star Wars Q&A's from the very beginning over at Rebel Scum and many have requested the vintage cardbacks for years. I was asking, not making an argument, whether or not if Hasbro is releasing the realistic line with many retoolings or repacks that it was an indication that Hasbro believes the sales are not where they are supposed to be. Is the "new" realistic product petering out? Absolutely, and if you really look at it, there's really little reason it shouldn't be. They're basically down to extremely minor background characters as far as "new" figures from the films go. Some people might argue for "definitive" versions of some characters that have been rehashed several times, but short of a major change in articulation standards line-wide or going virtually all "Expanded Universe" they're really running out of "new" stuff to make. I suspect the 3D re-releases (starting in 2012 and going through 2017 with current plans) will allow for one (several years long) last hurrah of realistic-styled product, which will basically carry the Hasbro license through to its' current expiration date (2018). The Clone Wars series will probably end in another year or two, and it's still questionable whether the live-action series will ever materialize. Whether the license gets renewed (I wouldn't be surprised if it got a relatively "short" extension...5 years or so), given to another company (pretty unlikely), or possibly even allowed to expire probably depends on whether there is more current media coming and/or whether George Lucas/Lucasfilm finally decide they've made enough money. Given that Lucas will be 74 years old in 2018, he just might decide it's time to enjoy retirement. Last edited by Jmacq1; 11-21-2010 at 10:42 PM.. |
11-22-2010, 09:33 PM | #13 |
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In 10 years action figures probably won't even exist at retail in any significant way anymore; price will be the main cause IMO... a 3.75" figure will probably cost $15 by then.
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11-24-2010, 02:08 AM | #14 |
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I have noticed some slumpy sales over the past few years, starting with ROC but it is accross all lines. There are millions of reasons for it but the begining I think was the crazy case ratios with Indy and since then there has been one mistake after another in relation to just about everything.
And I know hasbro fanboys hate to hear that as much as they hate to hear Mattel is still the number one company, but the truth is what the truth is. Add to all of this the controversy over the green and yellowing Clone troopers (due to lesser plastics) and Hasbro's insistance they never heard of this (even though multiple websites have asked in Q&A's) you get mess upon mess. Call me negitive butI keep thinking the action figure market is about to implode. Smaller WM's are dropping lines left and right and no one is noticing that the toy ilses are shrinking. It's seriously gotten to the point I can find Alleys easy as I did today) Jungle Vipers are pegwarming, all of this is not good. SW will stand for longer than the rest but even then it will fail. I figure 5 years max is what is left, so my view is enjoy it now. |
11-24-2010, 02:24 AM | #15 |
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Nah, I think the action figure market will last longer than five years; once our generation stops buying toys then it is over IMO. That's probably another 10 years away... can't see a bunch people who collected toys in their 30's still buying them in their 40's.
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11-24-2010, 04:23 PM | #16 |
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But that still doesn't excuse Mattel from among the WORST case packouts in the industry (going on for well over 10 years), poor marketing of anything outside Hot Wheels, Barbie and Fisher Price, and YEARS of QC issues on scale worst than Hasbro (gimp ankles on MOTUC for well over 2 years, and DC figures are still shipping with fused joints) Mattel may be the bigger company, but it doesn't make them the better company. Quote:
Add to all of this the controversy over the green and yellowing Clone troopers (due to lesser plastics) and Hasbro's insistance they never heard of this (even though multiple websites have asked in Q&A's) you get mess upon mess.
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Call me negitive butI keep thinking the action figure market is about to implode. Smaller WM's are dropping lines left and right and no one is noticing that the toy ilses are shrinking.
I don't think action figures will ever go away, but I do think that the rules are changing and Hasbro's decision to become an IP company will probably end up a smart move in a few years.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRealDubya
Any sort of panic at this stage is just pure unsubstantiated reptile brain stem fear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokePants
This is why companies are secretive -- because we all want the truth, but most of us cannot handle it.
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