price bump to deluxes

[Shockwave]

Who is going to buy a 5 points of articulation figure for more than 5 or 6 bucks?

Or at all.

[Dominic]

I can see buying a simple (and cheap) figure for a kid. But, $10 for 5 points of articulation is just out of order.

[Onslaught Six]

Star Wars is traditionally a few bucks more than an in-house property like GI Joe, or even Marvel, even if the figures are the same quality level, so.

[JediTricks]

Who is going to buy a 5 points of articulation figure for more than 5 or 6 bucks?

A 3.75" figure? Fuck if I know. Then again, maybe TRU is trying to build up stock so they can show they have a lot of product collectors want... no, that's really too stupid.

[Almighty Unicron]

I haven't bought a SW fig since the 90s when they re-released the old trilogy (I was so turned off by phantom menace, even as a 7 or 8 year old that I didn't want the merch from it). Have the toys changed in any significant way in twenty years?

[Shockwave]

I haven't bought a SW fig since the 90s when they re-released the old trilogy (I was so turned off by phantom menace, even as a 7 or 8 year old that I didn't want the merch from it). Have the toys changed in any significant way in twenty years?

YES!! The articulation, especially on the Saga collection, droid factory and the black series are WAY better than anything in the old PotF line. My Darth Vader, that I've had for about ten years now (I think it was the anniversary collection), has more joints than I can count, a full, painted, three piece helmet, just like in the movie and even an Anakin head underneath that that moves separately from the lower part of the helmet (which provides the neck articulation). Add to that the fact that he also came with the greatest Obi-Wan Kenobi figure ever. It's his crumpled robe with the lightsaber hilt on it. It even has a boot print so that Vader can step on it.

So yeah, figures are significantly better now than they used to be. That's why I find these figures with just the 5 points to be so egregious. Hasbro can, and has done better. These figures are a step backward, not forward.

[JediTricks]

I haven't bought a SW fig since the 90s when they re-released the old trilogy (I was so turned off by phantom menace, even as a 7 or 8 year old that I didn't want the merch from it). Have the toys changed in any significant way in twenty years?

Sculpting got way better, then articulation got way better, then paint got worse, then sculpting got worse, then articulation got sloppy, then they split into an expensive "collectors" line at $10 a figure and a cheap "kid" line at $6 a figure where the figures had only 5 points of articulation. Then they screwed even that up and now the prices on both have gone up.

[Dominic]

Similar things have happened with Marvel over the last few years. (A decade ago, Marvel was licensed to Toy Biz, so long term comparisons are more difficult.)

But, after hitting a sort of peak about 5 years ago, Marvel figures have declined (worse paint and articulation). The line has now been split between a high-end "black series" that consists mostly of recolours and repacks of better figures from a few years back and junk with 5 points of articulation. The better figures are now hovering around $15 each. (And, many of those are not worth that price.)

Both Marvel and SW still have a 6 inch line aimed at adults/older collectors. But, the price on those is steadily climbing. (2 years back, they were ~$15. Now, they are creeping up to around $25.)

Skipping toys is getting to be easier and easier.

[JediTricks]

Similar things have happened with Marvel over the last few years. (A decade ago, Marvel was licensed to Toy Biz, so long term comparisons are more difficult.)

Marvel wasn't actually licensed to Toy Biz when they split, Toy Biz owned Marvel

But, after hitting a sort of peak about 5 years ago, Marvel figures have declined (worse paint and articulation). The line has not been split between a high-end "black series" that consists mostly of recolours and repacks of better figures from a few years back and junk with 5 points of articulation. The better figures are now hovering around $15 each. (And, many of those are not worth that price.)

I'm sure you mean "now" instead of "not". And note that Marvel has followed Star Wars' path, and yet just like Star Wars and Transformers the quality keeps declining as the price increases at this point.

Both Marvel and SW still have a 6 inch line aimed at adults/older collectors. But, the price on those is steadily climbing. (2 years back, they were ~$15. Now, they are creeping up to around $25.)

SW 6" haven't had a price increase. That said, they have tanked miserably while the Marvel ones have survived.

[Dominic]

Just fixed the error. (Thanks for catching it.)


I can see how the SW 6 inch line tanked. (I know I have seen them for $20+. Maybe I am conflating it with a hobby shop or something.) As good as many of those figures looked, they were big. In a line like Marvel, which can get by with fewer characters, big figures can work. But, SW is (at least in part) about mobs of troops. That becomes impractical (for a number of reasons) with larger figures.

Collectors are often reluctant to start a new scale. (Even 25A Joes had a slow rate of adoption to start, as many collectors saw it as "starting over" when they had already spent time and money building large collections.)