A Blogger Of Opinion
Obviously you folks can see the piece that I recently wrote interviewing toy sculptor supreme (my opinion) Paul Brooke, who created the unfreakinbelievable Vintage Original Trilogy Collection‘s Chewbacca figure for Hasbro. Still, I’m going to plug the heck out of it because it took me a lot of hours to transcribe all of that. I’m in awe of anyone who can sculpt, and I’m truly in awe of anyone who can sculpt figures that I absolutely love. So, if I come across a little too enthusiastic, please realize that I’m not impartial when it comes to my toys, and I’m going to encourage the heck out of the people who sculpt the pieces that I think are great.
Now on with the post…
Folks out there seem to be in a tizzy over repainted and repurposed action figures that will be finishing off the 2006 The Saga Collection line for Hasbro. I’d like to make a few salient points in defense of Hasbro (because, after all, I’m their biggest cheerleading fanboy nerd).
- Basic Economics
Gasoline is $3+ per gallon in the United States right now, where it was $1 and change just a few years ago. On a global scale, the cost of petroleum products is up dramatically, and that does factor into Hasbro‘s costs. Our favorite action figures are made from petroleum-based byproducts, which brings the overall cost for a basic figure up. So unless Hasbro raises prices (which they’ve tried to avoid time and again) they have to find a little more room in their numbers for profit — thus, repainted and repurposed figures. To add 22 figures to the line at the last minute means that it’s doing well, and to maximize their resources they’re using what they have to make new action figures. - New Buyers = New Interest
There’s obviously a renewed interest in Star Wars action figures, as the pegs at most stores will tell you. Many new collectors don’t want to seek out items on eBay and waste time bidding, even if they’re bargains. Joe Sixer and his kid want the convenience of walking into a store and seeing that cool "monster" from the Cantina, cash and carry. To borrow a phrase from NBC, "If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!" While completists, myself included, may not enjoy buying a repaint (Clones-excepted) it’s a necessary evil. No one at Hasbro holds a gun to our collective heads. I think of them as investments for newly sculpted figures; a savings bond of sorts. (Ultimately, if the repaint is an improvement, I’m all for it.) - Diverted Resources
I know that we’re all comfortable with our heads buried in the sand, but Star Wars isn’t the newest toy in Hasbro‘s toybox. There’s some super hero action figure license that they picked up (Marble Legions?) and it’s getting a lot of their resources and attention. We have a dedicated team who are stewarding the line, but it seems that a lot of focus has been diverted to that other line. If this team can get decent product out there with 22 repainted/repurposed figures, we’re doing OK.
Buy up those Clones (if you like them). Buy up the Astromechs (if you like them). Buy up the Confederacy Droids (if you like them). The kids will take care of Chewbacca, Darth Maul, and a handful of neat aliens.
The best thing that collectors can do is show Hasbro that we support their experiment with troop-building, and that we support the line.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:31 am
couldnt say it better myself….i ve always enjoyed looking at all this hobby of mine from business perspective….I asked myself recently, what would I have said if I was a shareholder of Hasbro….
July 28th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
I think the beef is not so much with repainting or re-purposing, but in their very strange character selections. Those cinema scene cantina figures are just really puzzling…they aren’t good sculpts, and they aren’t in demand. I understand if they want to focus on AHH, but why not re-release the Gotal wave, which was in line with modern standards, and was pretty hard to find?
July 28th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Since I stopped collecting vintage figures around 1994 (having been collecting since 1977 off and on), I used to stumble upon the figures from the modern line in stores and I was, frankly, blown away by the selection. Almost every single figure I ever wanted as a kid was now being made and the temptation was immense for me to just buy buy buy. I mean the first time I saw the Sandtrooper (the beefy chest version of the POTF2 line even) I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Then I think I found out there was a Leia Slave Girl, Tarkin, Rebel Fleet Trooper, Vader with removable mask, easy-to-get Yak Faces, not to mention numerous Cantina aliens that between 1977 and the mid 90s seemed an impossible dream! I have only begun to collect again, heavily, since just before the release of ROTS. I love the line, sure there are things I could bitch about, there are some decisions by Hasbro that are producing figures I don’t really want or need, and to be honest I’m glad I waited a while longer so that the newer more realistic sculpts could start happening BUT there is so much that is good about the current selection that blows the vintage stuff away in terms of quality and quantity it’s just so hard to complain for very long. Not that I think we should stop complaining completely, I mean I’m sure Hasbro has people who are smart enough to crunch the numbers and separate facts from fan-fiction and know that they are doing a good job and producing tons of stuff we lap up and love and maybe we all love it just a little too much and like to feed the habit as often as we can and the economics can’t keep up with how quickly our appetites recover from having just purchased the latest wave.
July 29th, 2006 at 5:40 am
Personally, I like the offerings for the end of this line, even if they are repacks and repaints. I might be most excited about the repack of the CW Kit Fisto, because I’ve always wanted that since I wasn’t collecting then. Same goes for that Chewie.
I love clones, but I’m not keen on the concept ones. I will be looking out for the Phase I clone, the 501st commander, and the 41st Elite though.
July 29th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
I’ve read a lot of people complaining about the last 22 figures but I just can’t understand why. I’m just as guilty as a lot of people for sitting quietly back while the complainers let the world know that Hasbro has somehow done them a huge disservice…….Hasbro did a fantastic job in the last couple of years to keep the line fresh for both newbies and old-timers like myself. I’m looking forward to the rest of this year and the start of next year…..if they can keep this up I’ll be into this hobby for years to come. If your happy and you know it clap your hands..or at least let Hasbro know you think they are doing a good job.
July 31st, 2006 at 7:13 am
Well said Adam, simply well said!!
July 31st, 2006 at 8:58 pm
A very good summary of the reasons Hasbro issues repaints now and then. I certainly am looking forward to the clone wave (if it even hits Canada) and complainers need to chill out — I think the majority of people (aka the quiet majority) don’t mind repaints or a few undesirable figures from Hasbro, it gives us a chance to save up cash for the exclusives and vehicles. My wallet welcomes the periodic breaks, knowing that even better stuff is coming down the road.
August 1st, 2006 at 11:15 am
Adam, kudos on this post. It’s refreshing to see a fellow collector contemplate and understand the basics behind why Hasbro does certain things such as the rehashing of old figures. The real question to bear on these final 22 figures I believe is the particular choices. For example, why choose such a poor quality EU based Darth Maul that pegwarmed 4 years ago and not a better figure that non-hardcore collectors will recognize as from being in the movie? Same goes for the Battle Droids, well in this case why don’t they use the superior Episode 1 based figure which doesn’t suffer from the droopage all BD’s have since 2001.These rehashes are going to make up a fair amount of the Star Wars toy lines for the remainder of these years and will be of benefit for all the reasons you stated in the long term. The choices for rehashes just need to be improved slightly.BTW, I’m totally digging the Galactic Blogger, it’s the coolest new feature on any of the major collecting sites. Though I think there should be something posted on the front page to always remind people that it’s been updated. Not necessarily a news post, but a little ticker on the side to say it’s updated.