Questions ? ? ? ?

A few Questions that I have

1.) I know that quite a few Authors/Writers/Artists actually post but it seems that most of the time they come here after the Book/Comic is already out. Do the Fans (Us) Influence the Fate of star wars at all?? Do they come by this website or others to get a feel for what the fans want. Do any of the Big Dawgs at Del Ray or Lucus's people drop by?

2.) What is the big cash cow for star wars (Other then the movies) is it the books,comics,Computer/Xbox/Gamecube games,Toys?

3.) Del Ray has the contract for now but do they plan to keep it? Does Lucus what them to have it?

4.) What is the average age seem to be of the Lit Board? (I suspect that the Mod's have that info since you have to sign up)

That is all for now....lol

 

1) After talking with us, Kathy Tyres convinced LFL/DR to move Mara getting pregnant up to her book. That's the biggest impact so far (that we know of)

2) I'm assuming books, since there's more of 'em.

3) DR's contract is up on Dec 31, 2005. No word on if LFL will renew it yet.

4) no idea on the average age, but you have to be (or lie about being) over 13 to sign up

 

Although there are more Books they do not stay on the Bestseller list for very long. The computer games and the such also seem to sell very well.

 

Actually, I bet it's games that make the most money, because they cost more than books and even purists and casual fans will buy them.

 

Also how many publishing companies over the years have ever had the rights to publish star wars?

 

Games cost more, but I don't know if they sell as much as the books. I know lots of people who don't buy the games. only SW game I ever bought was Jedi Academy for the Xbox.

 

I dont buy the games either. Hell, I dont even have an XBox or PS2.

 

The biggest cash cow for SW are the action figures. In my life I have probably spent upwards of 1000 dollars on SW figures. And I haven't regretted spending a penny.

 

Games cost more, but I don't know if they sell as much as the books. I know lots of people who don't buy the games. only SW game I ever bought was Jedi Academy for the Xbox.

You're missing my point, which is that people who don't obsess over Star Wars as much as those on this board/haven't even seen all the movies/know little or nothing about Star Wars comparable to your average Star Wars nerd, can enjoy a Star Wars game. On the other hand, these people are vastly less likely to pick up a novel on the subject.

Using yourself as an example just doesn't cut it, as you are obviously very... devoted to Star Wars mythos, judging from your post total.

As a Junior in High School, I can say that a conservative percentage of my school that has played a Star Wars game at some point in their life is 50-60%. However, for those that have read a Star Wars novel... probably around 15-20 people. And those who have read more than just two or three? Even less. In fact, I am the only person I know of in my school who has read a New Jedi Order book. And don't think I haven't made an effort to find other Star Wars fans in my villiage, either.

Sure, this is only one school, but I think mine is pretty representative of any suburban high school. Actually, I think we probably have a higher number of people who read for fun than most.

Yet more evidence: How many EU books have been advertised on television? Two, (maybe three). How many video games? A bunch.

Heck, advertising in general for video games has been higher than books in any media, (internet, television, magazines...).

This shows greater marketablility potential from LFL's studies. They wouldn't sink more money into advertising a product that sells less.

 

I agree with you Rogue_Ten

I was lucky enough to find several people in high school who follow the books as well as JediTrilobite at my college who reads but other then that I dont know many people. It does not seem like the books could generate enough money to out do the video games

 

Exposue to Star Wars is very dependent on age group. Anyone old enough to see any of them in the theatre in original release is probably more likely to have collected some SW stuff.


3.) Del Ray has the contract for now but do they plan to keep it? Does Lucus what them to have it?

Supposedly all the paperwork has been prepared for the renewal, and it's just a legal isse now awaiting the final contracts and signatures.

 

i would say that among the different SW franchise license holders, that probably Hasbro has been most profitable on using their license for toys (well except around episode 1, when they severely overestimated demand and made too many wacky products)

as for using advertising as a measure for sales.. i'm not sure that it is a fair measure. seeing TV commercials for video games is common, and seeing TV commercials for books is relatively rare. i think that this trend is less a sign of sales strength and more a sign of targeting audiences. generally books are marketed in print (magazines, newspapers, online) and often are tied to getting reviews, where people can read an opinion about the book, possibly an excerpt, and a bunch of clips from various sources (other authors, other news reviewers). plus it migh be tough to build a TV commercial to pitch a book (do you pitch it like a movie, but have no visuals) or appeal to author familiarity?

 

You have to realize that Kenner Toys (went on to be swallowed up by Hasbro), grossed a billion a year for seven years straight through to the year after RotJ. It is by far the most successful Star Wars licensee.

And unlike everyone else who have far shorter deals, Hasbro has the Star Wars toy license up until 2015.

 

Someone mentioned my name? What?

 

Also how many publishing companies over the years have ever had the rights to publish star wars?

Del Rey did the movie tie-ins for the original trilogy, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the Lando trilogy, and the original Han trilogy. The Bantam acquired the contract and put out books beginning with the Thrawn Trilogy and ending with Hand of Thrawn. Then, the contract went back to Del Rey, where it still resides. Additionally, some other publishers have focused on other materials. (Some may be subsets of Del Rey or Bantam, I'm not sure.) Skylark put out the Glove of Darth Vader and Galaxy of Fear series. Boulevard/Berkley released the Young Jedi Knights and Junior Jedi Knights books. West End Games published the old RPG materials; Wizards of the Coast publishes the new ones. Starlog published the Technical Journals. I am not sure who did annotated/illustrated screenplays, Art of books, and the like. I believe Scholastic has done some childrens' books.

Feel free to add to the list!

-Paul

 

i've heard on sw en direct something about a comic featuring darth maul and anakin fighting.
does this comic realy exist? if it does whats its name?

 

The comic you're referring to is called Jedi Quest, and yes it does exist. I don't know if Dark Horse ever reprinted it as a TPB, though. Anakin does fight Darth Maul, but it's only a force vision, it's not real. It happens in the first issue, so if you're only interested in the fight, you can look at a local comic book store to see if they have Jedi Quest #1.

 

DH should round up all the issues that haven't been put into TPBs, and do a little clean up.

 

We've been suggesting that for years (see link in sig, and petition at DH forums), but to no avail.