SWTF Vader/Anakin

[Dominic]

A line like this can afford to have bad toys or bad back-story. One being good can cover the other. The cross-over line as a whole screws up both points. I have bought 2 for customizing and regretted both. I have considered others, and just avoided them because they were not worth using.

They could have split the difference with new characters. Hasbro would own the character (name, stats, back-story) while Lucas would own the control art (complete with SW specific elements).


Dom
-wondering who the hell is buying these damned things.

[Shockwave]

My problem with the line hasn't really been the quality but the fact that almost all of the "new" stuff for the last 3 years has been from either Clone Wars or the new trilogy. There's still plenty of original trilogy vehicles that haven't been done, but Hasbro seems to be ignoring them. Or in the case of the one we've finally gotten, half assing it like this one (the Star Destroyer).

[JediTricks]

They could have split the difference with new characters. Hasbro would own the character (name, stats, back-story) while Lucas would own the control art (complete with SW specific elements).

What's the benefit to Lucas that way? Nothing. They don't control the characters, they don't control the content, all they control is the entirely worthless design materials and art.

-wondering who the hell is buying these damned things.

Kids. Obviously. Otherwise the line would have folded long ago as it actually used to be better than it is now.

My problem with the line hasn't really been the quality but the fact that almost all of the "new" stuff for the last 3 years has been from either Clone Wars or the new trilogy. There's still plenty of original trilogy vehicles that haven't been done, but Hasbro seems to be ignoring them. Or in the case of the one we've finally gotten, half assing it like this one (the Star Destroyer).

It's about kid-recognizablility, kids are seeing the new movies and the new show right now so it's easier to catch their attention with that. Since they're the primary focus, it makes sense to pander to what they know most. It also explains why Hasbro thinks they can get away with the little $8 versions that are Happy Meal Toy-levels of terrible.

[Shockwave]

Yeah Yeah yeah, we know it's aimed at kids. The problem with this is that there hasn't actually been anything new in years. Each "new" wave has literally been just the same reissues of that Grievous starfighter, Anakin and Obi Wan starfighters and the clone crap. And it's literally been like the same 5 toys over and over again. I'm just saying that they could at least put out something new and could make a decent mix of old and new trilogy stuff. That way, they have new stuff for the kids and new stuff for those of us that remember the originals. Then everyone's happy. Surely, that would be a better business model than just rehashing the same crap over and over again and leaving fans (and potential sales) out in the cold as a result.

[BWprowl]

It also explains why Hasbro thinks they can get away with the little $8 versions that are Happy Meal Toy-levels of terrible.

I'd actually heard those Basic figures turned out better than the full-size ones. Everyone was saying Obi-Wan was pretty good, and I heard the Y-Wing was good too.

Granted, I still haven't bought them because I'm pretty much over the line (only ever bought Jango Fett and was utterly underwhelmed by it) and most stores want like Ten Goddamn Dollars for the Basics (although when you consider that they're also charging Ten Goddamn Dollars for the basic SW action figures...), so who the hell knows.

[JediTricks]

Yeah Yeah yeah, we know it's aimed at kids. The problem with this is that there hasn't actually been anything new in years. Each "new" wave has literally been just the same reissues of that Grievous starfighter, Anakin and Obi Wan starfighters and the clone crap. And it's literally been like the same 5 toys over and over again. I'm just saying that they could at least put out something new and could make a decent mix of old and new trilogy stuff. That way, they have new stuff for the kids and new stuff for those of us that remember the originals. Then everyone's happy. Surely, that would be a better business model than just rehashing the same crap over and over again and leaving fans (and potential sales) out in the cold as a result.

I know, the line has been limping along with 1 or 2 new molds a year at this point and tons of filler. The problem is that the filler is selling year after year to the kids, kids love TF and SW and Clone Wars specifically, and the line is aimed towards younger tweens so there's a fresh influx ready to jump into the line year after year, and they keep buying the same junk over and over. Hasbro doesn't see collectors as a remotely viable market for the line, so there's no benefit to putting out any new stuff. And that's fine, less drag on me to track down and decide upon a new mold that'll just turn out mediocre anyway. Would I really want to see the B-wing, A-wing, TIE Interceptor, Rebel Blockade Runner, Landspeeder, or other vehicles ruined by being designed here? Not really. Maybe when there were mini-figures to interact, but there's really nothing left for anybody but the most gullible of suckers now.

The bottom line is that the current business model - new packaging every year, new paintjobs, old molds based on current entertainment - is selling decently enough to keep all the major retailers interested after several years of a line that collectors have felt was in the toilet, so the business model they have now is working better than the one that delivered more new molds per year.

It also explains why Hasbro thinks they can get away with the little $8 versions that are Happy Meal Toy-levels of terrible.

I'd actually heard those Basic figures turned out better than the full-size ones. Everyone was saying Obi-Wan was pretty good, and I heard the Y-Wing was good too.

Granted, I still haven't bought them because I'm pretty much over the line (only ever bought Jango Fett and was utterly underwhelmed by it) and most stores want like Ten Goddamn Dollars for the Basics (although when you consider that they're also charging Ten Goddamn Dollars for the basic SW action figures...), so who the hell knows.

I had heard that too and when I found a basic Vader / ROTS Jedi Starfighter on clearance half-off, I bought it after hearing those things, only to discover the toy is utter garbage in both modes. There's very little articulation but plenty of kibble, transformation is limited at best, vehicle mode is highly compromised.

[Shockwave]

I get the business model, but I'm just saying that the market is there, regardless of Hasbro wants to try to claim it or not. Obviously they don't, we've certainly seen that often enough with the regular TF and GI Joe lines and even SW. But that doesn't change the fact that the market is there and they could viably accomodate it if they wanted to. Either way, I just like bitching about it and hey, this is a forum so here's my bitching.

[JediTricks]

I get the business model, but I'm just saying that the market is there, regardless of Hasbro wants to try to claim it or not. Obviously they don't, we've certainly seen that often enough with the regular TF and GI Joe lines and even SW. But that doesn't change the fact that the market is there and they could viably accomodate it if they wanted to. Either way, I just like bitching about it and hey, this is a forum so here's my bitching.

There's generally a market for anything, Hasbro is only concerned with enough of a market that can pay for A) the high costs of cutting steel into tooling; and B) the corporate overhead. When the market can accommodate those 2 factors, Hasbro pulls the trigger. Since there's no competition for the market, if they don't pull the trigger they really don't have to worry because that market isn't going to go somewhere else for the fix. From a business perspective, that is the catch-22 of becoming a big corporation, you have more control but you less reason to accommodate your market. I bitched about it years ago when it first started happening, but ultimately the crumminess of the final product (due mainly to giving a non-Transformers team the job of creating Transformers) made it not worthwhile to pursue.

[Onslaught Six]

It's 2012, you'd really think they would have come up with a new way to reliably mould plastic by now than cutting up steel.

[Dominic]

This is really a text book example of the moral hazard as applied to licensed products.

It is not unusual to hear complaints that licensed products of franchises, (especially in regards to fiction), are inferior in one way or another. The idea is that the product (including content) is being pitched at people who are buying a brand more than anything else. And, unfortunately, there is evidence to support that this model work.

The problem is that this creates a moral hazard for the companies. They know that they have built in markets. So, they can predict what their base sales are likely to be. In the case of SWTF, where the license combines 2 A-list properties, the base number will be high. They may not have too many long term or repeat buyers. But, because most of the sales are to youngsters, the replacement rate will probably match the attrition rate. Hasbro has no incentive to spend time/resources on improving the toys or the story content.

We even see this problem with the main TF line. Hasbro is cheating on things like QC and distribution because they know that people will buy TFs. Collectors will gripe and complain. But, many of us will still come back and/or self abuse ourselves to buy our figures. Little kids will buy any Bumblebee figure without worrying about movie Wheeljack being cancelled or the Vehicon being short-packed.


Dom
-and that is why focusing exclusively on brand or characters is bad.