So sad. I guess theres not much happening in the TLJ thread.
No, it’s just your thread topics are poorly considered.
So sad. I guess theres not much happening in the TLJ thread.
No, it’s just your thread topics are poorly considered.
Alot of the recent SW toys are terrible. Asking top dollar for figurines with horrible facesculpts, cheap plastic, poorly done boxart.
We all have to admit. Toys just dont sell anymore. Baby/toddler toys, yes. But anyone older than 6 is getting a nerf gun or a new game for the xbox or PS4. Even legos is suffering with the younger crowd. Im a huge lego fan. But I'm a 10 year old at heart and have the patience to complete a puzzle. I think everyone under the age of 25 is ADHD.
Lego has become so popular and expensive that here it is all mainly just empty boxes on the shelves and the insides are locked up in cages out the back. There are even specialized gangs that focus purely on stealing it. Its a big issue.
Yeah...I paid $450 on eBay for the Ultimate Collector's Series Falcon from a few years ago. At the time, it was the largest Lego set ever. Three ft long, 2 1/2 ft wide, 5195 pieces, & a 311 page book. Took two weeks to put it together. Ultimately, it was just too big to display, so after a year, I sold it for $1100. Today, that same set can go for SEVERAL thousand.
They came out in October with an updated set with over 7500 pieces that sold for $800.
Not for the faint of heart, indeed.
Some more specifics and granularity on SW toy sales through Dec and challenges facing all movie tie products.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...les-fall-in-2017-as-movie-tie-fatigue-sets-in
Sell Mortimer, SELL!
Great post with some great points, but I'm hesitant to blame Disney only because Hasbro has been going down hill for a looong time, and Jurassic Park is proof that Hasbro's licensing division in general seems to be doing a crap job, not just the team working on SW. I think it's more coincidence than anything. Hasbro is still doing great things with their own licenses. Take their My Little Pony toys. Their new brushables, that is the basic Pony toy are vastly superior to the old version of these toys, with more details, better hair,and more playable features. For example, the old brushable toys may have came with a comb, or an animal companion. While these don't come with accessories in that sense, this figure you can remove her armor to make her "good", like they do in the movie. The old brushables were all the same same sculpt with either a horn or wings sculpted in, but the same basic shell with only the hair being the real difference. The eyes, too, were all the same. The new ones have more expressive eyes painted on, with better quality hair that is actually manageable. It's also bigger in scale than the older brushables, and pairs better with Hasbro's "Guardians of Harmony" collector's line. Here's a new brushable (left) with an old brushable (right) :My findings in Germany so far: Since Disney took over the franchise everything Star Wars has become insanely expensive. The toy aisles in the shops are either completely devoid of SW merch or if they carry anything it is discounted merch from two years ago - which is not selling. The first wave of new figures will arrive but after a very short time they are put on discount. 3 3/4" 5-POA-figures are 14.95 € here, 6"-figures from the Black Series 34.95 €, Black Series 3 3/4" SA figures can only be obtained through etailers for at least 24.95 € each. The only way to get certain figures beyond wave 2 is online. Last year the only shop in my vicinity put the TFA figures on clearance; all ended up in the bargain bin and did not sell. I have no idea what happened to them.
@Bryancd : First, please let me thank you for your insightful reports and news "breaks". I enjoy them very much. :thumbsup
I've been a SW figure collector for 34 years now. One thing I have learned is that etailers and shops are not allowed to order individual figures but cases only. Hasbro puts together these cases and sells them to the shops. When all cases are sold Hasbro has earned a golden nose and can claim that the products were a huge hit and the sales numbers went beyond expectations and call the line a major success.
However, that does not tell what happens to the cases at the shops. Since Disney has taken over the case assortments have become very bad. Potential army builders are packed in once whereas main characters in boring outfits are repacked over and over again. That makes some figs very hard to find in places. The re-packed figures start to clog the pegs and block the place for new products that would sell (like new aliens). The shops won't order any more cases from these future waves because they still have plenty of product left that has to be sold first (but which does not sell). Shops do not necessarily recognize hot items (unless they have a collector in their team who could guestimate the chance of selling the figure of the assortment). They see the brand name "Star Wars", believe it is cool and order the stuff. Then they are faced with boxes of toys that don't sell because of various reasons. So the sales numbers offered by Hasbro only show that they have managed to sell their stuff to the shops, they do not reflect how many figures end up with the customers (kids and collectors). This is a very bad situation because the brand is endangered: Shops don't buy any more cases because they won't sell, collectors don't get the interesting figures which come in later waves.
So why do the figures not sell? I can only answer this from my personal perspective as long time collector. First, the nature of the target audience has changed. The traditional collector has started 40 years ago and collects the figures mainly for nostalgia. They have become used to super-articulation. 5-POA is not that appealing. The kids of today are more into electronics, iPads & Co. Action figures are out. Second, the merch has become too expensive and is loaded with unnecessary features (see the AT-ACT that started at 300 $ - who would buy such an expensive thing?). Third, the character choice is very questionable at times. This is only partly Hasbro's fault because if the characters in the movies are boring they can't do better than create boring figures. However, Hasbro is to blame for these bad case assortments and constant re-packs. Just take a look at how many times Jyn Erso has been re-packed. Now she is in the TLJ line. WHY? She's not even in the movie! Her place should have been better used for C'ai Threnalli who is a visually much more attractive character and who will sell very well.
Ah well. As I said, this is my personal view as a long-time collector from Germany. Maybe there are truths out there I don't know, but it saddens me a lot to see the once mighty SW line to decline like that. I really hope the Vintage Collection will change things for the better a bit (I need that tank! ).
Great post with some great points, but I'm hesitant to blame Disney only because Hasbro has been going down hill for a looong time, and Jurassic Park is proof that Hasbro's licensing division in general seems to be doing a crap job
That might be a result of the character choice. Take Zuvio. He appeared in all major formats. The text on the packaging of the big BS figures indicated he would be an important character in the movie. Then the movie launched - and the audience had to witness that Zuvio was in it just for a second. It was a blink-and-you-miss-him moment; he even did not have a single line. There was no chance the audience could relate to him in any possible way. Nobody wants a figure of a character you cannot relate to. So Zuvio is still rotting on the shelves. Another example: Phasma. Hopelessly under-used character, but she had one advantage: She looked extremely cool which saved her from the rotting status. But the character itself was so lame. TLJ didn't change that. I was pretty disappointed seeing Paige being killed after a minute or so, but damn, her figure is so damn cool with that breathing gear!...it's after the film is released that i guess sales drop off on a lot of things....